MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - UFC 273: Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan | Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev | 286

Episode Date: April 6, 2022

On episode 286 of Morning Kombat Luke and Brian do a deep dive on UFC 273. They start of by discussing the biggest storylines for Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan and Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimeav. The guys also discuss Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres and Ian Garry vs. Darian Weeks. PFL announced their May 6th card headlined by Kayla Harrison. They boys close the show with some quick hitters and fan submissions (12:30) - Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan (41:00) - Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev (64:00) - Rest of UFC 273 (72:50) - PFL Drama (81:45) - Quick Hitters Morning Kombat’ is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Bullhorn and wherever else you listen to podcasts.    For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit:morning kombat.store   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing the new McSpicy from McDonald's. It looks like a regular chicken sandwich, but it's actually a spicy chicken sandwich. McSpicy. Consider yourself warned. Limited time only at participating McDonald's in Canada. TD Direct Investing offers live support. So whether you're a newbie or a seasoned pro, you can make your investing steps count.

And if you're like me and think a TFSA stands for Total Fund Savings Adventure, maybe reach out to TD Direct Investing. Reveille, reveille, dogs. Look at us now, tip to tip. This is our life. This is our passion. That's the spirit we bring to this show. I'm Luke Thomas. I'm Brian Campbell. This is Morning Combat. It's a rainy day in your nation's capital here in Washington, D.C., but we're about to rain some analysis on you,

because Fight Week, well, we're in the middle of it, and it's it's getting closer three more days three more days until the fights take place hello everyone my name is luke thomas this is morning combat welcome we appreciate you joining us as i indicated i am merely one half of your hosting duo you can look to the gentleman on that side of the screen that's my partner i don't know you know what actually i say he looks pretty clean shaven uh showered looking pretty good today bc what's up bro i love the reality of this i'm probably like coming up on two days with no shower that's just the reality of working at home everybody's sick nobody cares anymore about hygiene it's great but uh happy to be here luke and you know you said weather report it's raining anal so that's. We'll see how this show

twists and turns from here. I want to shout out this fantastic. I wish it was. I wanted to shout out this great shirt here. It's a tour shirt from the great band, The War on Drugs, which has their new album, of course, the I Don't Live Here Anymore. One of our great listeners, Tyler King from San Francisco,

Luke, he loves this show so much. He's like, BCc i'm hitting up this concert and i gotta get you a t-shirt to wear on the show so i'm out here representing our boy tyler and a great band the war on drugs luke because we have built something here called the community a family luke okay and this family's got a lot of issues but i love it i love it by the way if uh for the next pre-game preview whenever we do that one we don't have one planned yet but if if and when we do and i'm sure we will uh would you drink one of these with me now i've never had this but i bought this uh they went on sale this

weekend of course was the first one to buy it i have four of them so i'll keep two for for collector's sake but i have this i don't know if you can see it or not let's see put it up here this is the pantera vulgar display of lager beer oh wow uh let's see it's uh pantera vulgar display of lager one pint one pint 5.9 alcohol so it'll get you tuned up a little bit would you drink this with me absolutely i thought you were gonna try to make me do some kind of weird chip challenge you know that's over dinner last night one of my sons said i saw luke's instagram daddy do you have to no they don't say daddy i mean what are we what are we doing here luke they're like you know uh they're like you're gonna eat that crap i'm like absolutely not son okay no just can't go he can't make me okay that's the thing just me just me i wasn't i wouldn't even

bother trying because i think you know you'd cry and shit yourself so um i'm not gonna bother trying but i am to do that today. So that should be a lot of fun. All right, on the show today. So on Monday, we focused in on UFC 273's main event, Volkanovski taking on the Korean zombie. Today, let's shift to the co-main and then the feature fight, of course,

Hamzat Shumayev taking on Gilbert Burns. Thumbs up on the video if you would be so kind. Please hit subscribe if you are new here. Welcome. We do this three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 11 a.m. in the East. east and of course you have a lot of content that goes far beyond it um let's see bc showtime is the label that pays if you want to get showtime and try it for free give it a test run kick the tires you certainly may showtime.com get a 30-day free trial if you

like it you can keep it if not go about your life bc i know we have some updates to the merch store which of course is morning combat dot store what can you tell us uh nothing nothing at all but you can buy our merch on there and it's fantastic doesn't this lady win something doesn't this lady win oh yeah well that's it's not really related to this but we did do the morning combat bracket challenge because of the ncaa tournament and we have a winner. Get ready. Luke, we always say mail, you know, we've got mail listeners. Apparently we've got a whole lot of Rosie too, because Rosie H has won the morning combat bracket challenge and she has received or will receive a $100 Paramount plus gift card. So Luke, that ain't no merch per se. And $50 gift card to the

MK store. Oh, okay. Maybe you got more info than I do so Rosie H is going to be outfitted what do you think Rosie's going to pick Luke I think she's going right after that tie-dye sweatshirt because that thing is amazing um whatever 50 bucks will get you so I'm going to guess a beanie a mug and a t-shirt something like that yeah it's not you can't get that for 50 bucks on our site but good luck I don't even know the prices this guy RJ Dunkelmaker is like I gotta make a little extra coin on the side here let's crank that price up we're gonna start selling NFTs

of us farting and it's gonna bankrupt people but it'll be fun on top of all of that I want to remind everyone it's a week unlike any other finally here the Masters returns to Augusta National where Hideki Matsuyama will defend his green jacket go join the first cut golf podcast where the entire crew is previewing this weekend's

tournament or this year's tournament excuse me from storylines to picks and even daily fantasy advice the first cut has you covered the first cut golf podcast is available wherever you listen to your podcast have you ever been to auga, Georgia, BC? I have not. Surprisingly, they don't let people like me in there either, Luke, and, you know, absolute dirt holes. But I was going to want – first of all, I have heard throughout my life that the first cut is the deepest. Baby, I know.

But I wanted to ask you, Luke, do you think our brethren over there at the first cut are going to be chatting about that famous philanderer this week? Probably. Probably. All roads lead to tiger in any kind of tiger says he thinks he thinks he can win it this year your thought no i know i mean he's gonna i mean dude tiger is golf ratings i mean for folks who don't know like when he competes the numbers are like 10x through the roof on television and attendance and everything else he's like mcgregor like either when he's there it's huge and and everything else. He's like McGregor. When he's there, it's huge, and when he's not, it's kind of a lot less.

So we'll see. By the way, speaking of Augusta, Augusta National is beautiful. Augusta the city, and I've been there a few times, it's a real dump. So no need to go unless you play golf at a very high level. Luke, have you ever attempted to join the club there in Augusta? No. And then they were like. Dude, let me ask you a serious question.

Have you ever played straight 18 holes? As opposed to playing? Nine or just fucking around. Oh, okay, okay. All right, all right. I mean, I know you're the straight man on this show. I was just trying to check in right there. No, Luke, I've played.

Have I ever played 18 straight? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hopbrook Golf Course, Naugatuck, Connecticut. You tee off on concrete, basically. I played that shit up and down, Luke, okay? No, see, I've never done that. I just go to the driving range. That's my favorite thing. I just go to the driving range and just happy Gilmore it as far as I can, basically. We had a scam in our town. If you joined the golf team, went to the first practice, and then never showed up again, you get to golf free all summer and just say you're join the golf team, went to the first practice, and then never showed up again, you get to golf free all summer and just say you're on the golf team. Everyone knew that scam.

It was fantastic. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. My favorite is just a public course here in D.C. It's called Haynes Point. For a dollar, they give you like 40 golf balls. And so for five bucks, a beer, and whatever, you can just have a good time. It's pretty fun, actually. All right.

What's it called? Bottom golf, Luke? Is that what it's called? That Top Golf is – have you been to the Top Golf in Vegas? I have not. It's right next to the MGM Grand Signature, so I've seen the action from above, but I haven't experienced it. It's a lot of fun, actually.

I've been to a few Top Golfs, and most of them were pretty – the one in Vegas was tremendous tremendous and the very the very i've said this before the very first time i went bellator was throwing a watch party for mma media i forget what was going on i was gonna say i was invited once by danny brenner and he said even michael chandler will be there and i ended up not showing up luke yeah michael chandler wasn't there just for the record but over to the left i can tell you who was next to me it was omar epps and jamie foxx throwing a bikini party or some kind of party where there was a bunch of bikinis

with women there next to them. So it's a sight to behold when you go there. If you've ever been in Vegas and you've not been to their Topgolf, I recommend going. Well, let me ask you this, because our producer, Mikey Mormyle, just slid and he said, all right, how about an MK Topgolf outing during International Fight Week? Can we just throw an MK viewer party there, Luke?

We could. Yes, they have tons of space. Yeah, we could. Actually, we could very much do that. Like we can advertise, come pay money, and get pictures with Luke, and brush his beard, whatever you got to do, right? Yeah, $10 Venmo for every picture,

you fucking peasants. All right. I'm teasing. You're like, anyone who attends must stop at MedMen on the way and fill up Luke's bag. It's like trick-or-treat here. It's great. Yes, I need a MedMen gift bag every time someone comes to the turnstile. All right, BC, let's get this show on the road here if we can.

We mentioned last week, or Monday, I should say, we talked about the main event. Let's start with the co-main event perhaps in some ways perhaps the most slept on fight of this card i mean maybe it's number two to kamzat and burns but still pretty wide gap between the enthusiasm for this one and the enthusiasm for that which we'll also talk about but bc let's go down memory lane a little bit before the illegal knee in the first fight what was your impression of what was happening uh i rewired i saw your tweet by the way that instructed people to re-watch it earlier this morning and said you know hey man maybe this was a better or more competitive fight than i realized check it out look at one of the rare times i took your

advice and i watched it again i'd watched it a couple weeks ago as well. But look, this morning, I'll tell you this. It's a great matchup. First of all, to take away the DQ, to take away the BS, to take away the 13 months of waiting for some necessary closure atop this bottleneck division that was caused by this, you know, untimely knee and disqualification. It's a great ass fight on paper. And at least for the first, let's say two full rounds, I really thought it was playing out that way. I think ultimately in the end through round three and through the majority of round four until the knee, we saw the direction that fight was going. Aljame Sterling came out super aggressive, super hard going for takedowns, looking to push the striking and the pace. And I think in the end, Luke, that caught up to him

once Peyote Jan, Pete Jan, whatever, Luke, was able to make the key championship adjustments there early in round three. Once he was able to stop the takedown, and once he was able to limit Aljamain's success on the feet with hard counter punches, and really just being able to limit Aljamain's success on the feet with hard counterpunches and really just being able to navigate. Peter Jan is so good in every category, but defensively, man, is he on point.

Once that change was made, not only did Aljo not have an adjustment of his own, I think the fatigue kicked in. I think the work rate. They talked up on that broadcast meeting, Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier, ad nauseum about how efficient Peyotre Jan is with his stamina and how much he exerts early. I think that was the case, Luke. Sterling came out, put his best foot forward.

We know he has advantages on the ground. We know he's long and athletic. But when they finally hit those championship rounds, we saw the guy that was on his way to victory. And that was Piotr Jan. In fact, Luke, I was wondering if he was going to stop Sterling in that next round. Now, if you're wondering where the scorecard sat at that moment, two of the scorecards had Jan up two rounds to one. A third scorecard did have Sterling up two rounds to one.

They gave him the first two rounds. But you saw where that fight was headed, Luke. So I think that is damned or not damned, diminished, right? Took away from what should be some high expectations for this fight because we all go by default. Oh man, yo, he wasn't on his way to winning that. I don't need to see this again. And obviously the fact that we've had to wait 13 months, the fact that Sterling took those pictures with the belt and sometimes he's playing into the villain side of this i think we've entered this fight not realizing once again how great these two fighters are in the sports deepest division this could be great theater on saturday night whether you rightfully favor peter yan or not luke

i was gonna say bc um for me the reason why I ask people to reconsider watching the fight is because, well, one, you always need to just to sort of stay fresh about what happens. Sometimes your memories can play tricks on you. But the other part was it seemed to be pretty clear after the second round the fight was turning. But in the first round, there was a lot that I liked from Aljamain Sterling, which we already know he was kind of raining on him. But, like, several things stand out to me about that. Number one, he got dropped in the first round, and was a lot that I liked from Aljamain Sterling, which we already know. He was kind of raining on him. But several things stand out to me about that. Number one, he got dropped in the first round, and I still gave it to him. It's pretty rare if you can get dropped in the first round and you can still win. Jan hit him with a clean right hand, sat him down.

He kind of got back up and did his thing. And overall, he did the better work. Also, Jan does a lot of his high guard there, and it leaves his body exposed. They had a lot of body work built into that. Now, it didn't amount to much because Sterling ended up fading. But I guess what I'm pointing out is I don't change my views about how competitive it was. I still think Jan was taking over, and that's pretty much what he does. He kind of lets the fight come to him and then eases back into it.

And then when he really gets going, it's all downhill from there for him. But still, I thought that Sterling and his team had a good game plan they had a pretty clear understanding of what Jan's threats were it seemed to me that that there was a little bit of Goldilocks syndrome that Sterling was suffering from he was trying to go either too hard or not hard enough in certain areas and he had a hard time getting right down that middle in fact I would say this is one of Daniel Cormier's better commentating jobs, sort of addressing some of this like overreach that Sterling was getting to. But still, here's the basic point I wanted to make. A lot of folks are really upset about how that fight ended. But it's all Peter Jan's fault, by the way. It's not in any way the fault of Aljamain Sterling. When you watch it again, you get really reminded of that. And more to the point, yeah,

whatever you want to say about how Aljo has acted after the fact they've let that taint the beauty of this fight a little bit this rematch is competitive I expect Peter Jan to win but it is competitive and it is interesting and these are two high-level guys and their first fight however else you remember it it was also competitive at least for large stretches of it and so I'm very curious to see what happens this time around, BC, which leads me to the second question here, leaning on the first now moving to the second. Who has more of a burden here?

Now, the odds makers have Jan as the favorite, but who has more of a burden to do something different this time, something new? Well, I mean, without question, it's Aljamain Sterling. Because, look, he's incredibly talented, and I don't necessarily like the disparagement that surrounded his name because of, again, like you said, something that's not his fault, the DQ, and then it's also not his fault that, you know, he had the neck issues and had to pull out of when this fight was supposed

to take place last year, and of course, Corey Sanhagen slid in, they put the interim belt on there, and Piotr Jan won a fantastic fight and really was the dominant fighter in that despite it being a fun fight to watch uh Aljo's got to change I think he came out too aggressive because I was wondering Luke if he thought look Piotr Jan's a little bit of a slow starter like we just talked about he's very efficient in his output he likes to make reads he likes to figure you out and then once he starts going downhill after that adjustment, everything he throws is tight and powerful and he begins to wear you down. I wonder if Aljo and team thought, look, we jumped all over Corey Sanhagen in our fight and took advantage and kind of stunned him in the first round. Let's see if we can do the

same. I'm not going to say that was a bad strategy the first time around. In fact, we just both talked about that. You know, he had success. He looked good in the first round. One judge gave him the first two, but look, he's got to be able to show us that, you know, there is a difference between being an elite fighter and ability and being a legitimate championship contender because you can execute when times get hard and you can make those adjustments and you can keep your poise. I think those are some things that were lost a bit on Sterling as this fight rolled on. It wasn't just the fatigue, or let's say the fatigue caused what I'm about to say, but Luke, his form got very sloppy as that fight rolled on. I mean, with the start of the round four, you know, he, yeah, he's still coming forward, but

he looks like he's going through the motions, trying to, you know, keep it together, trying to desperately find that next wind. He's got a lot of changes that he has to make that I think go beyond just strategy. I think he's got to be prepared in many ways for this fight to look a lot differently as it goes on, and he's got to make those changes right along with Jan in real time. If you're Piotr Jan, dude, this is what you do, man. You start slow and you begin to wear dudes down and turns out most people can't keep up with his cardio once it gets deep, with his power, with his technique and with the fact that he's just so stubborn. That's the best compliment I can give

Piotr Jan. The combination of his takedown defense, his hard shots, his poise where he's never really reckless, there is something so perfectly stubborn in his foundation that makes it hard to get over the top of that and to outthink that and outmaneuver that. Luke, I need to see a lot more of that out of Valjo if plan A doesn't hit. And at this level, plan A rarely does, to be fair.

Yeah, I mean, i'm torn on the strategy too bc because you know you don't want to overstate comparisons but there are certain boxers we've talked about a number of them where they kind of let the fight come to them and then they slowly i use this term or this this phrasing on the submission radio podcast last night they kind of slowly begin to pull the jenga pieces out of your game. And then when those things have been disarmed, that's when they just really kind of let it fly on you. And that's exactly what Jan has done in his career, and that's exactly what he was doing in this fight.

Still, BC, here's the thing about that. It's like, how do you beat a guy like that? Unless you can match him late with your adjustments, like you have all of these tools to go to that you can mix and match and pair and set up and whatnot. Does it make more sense to go slow and then try to pour it on late knowing he will as well? Or does it make sense to say, you know what, I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep up with this guy late, but I can probably get defensive.

And if I can scale a solution for three rounds, why not come out? You know, again, like are you going to beat Mayweather in the last six? Unlikely. You're going to beat him in the first six. Like is there an idea, is there something to the Mayweather in the last six? Unlikely. You're going to beat him in the first six. Is there an idea, is there something to the idea that he could win the first three and then, of course, the fight gets away from him? Easier said than done, and I still agree, even if you want to say that the first game plan was right

in the sense of taking it to Jan, he still went overboard on that level. Trevor Whitman, who was before Dean Thomas replaced him as this kind of broadcast analyst, was even saying he needs to dial it back a bit. So even then, they didn't exactly have the right calibration. But I don't know that that was the wrong idea, to be honest with you. And for this one, talking about adjustments, I mean, that's the thing, dude. It's like Jan's whole game is built on adjustments. A lot of fighters, good or bad, aren't necessarily built on that at all. I don't

know how you take that away from him other than BC making it a grappling contest. And to your point you raised, yo, Jan's takedown defense and scrambling ability is maybe the most underrated in all of the UFC. It's so good. And Sterling was able to have a couple of moments of success, but nothing sustained. I'll just say this way, man, this is an uphill climb for Al. And Sterling was able to have a couple of moments of success, but nothing sustained. I'll just say it this way, man. This is an uphill climb for Aljamain Sterling. I really believe that. I would agree with you on that.

But, Luke, to come back to the basis of me saying, okay, we can fall in love with how we think this ends and the narratives that we saw the first time and how they adapt to the second, but these are still two of the top 15 fighters in the world right now fighting off against each other in the sports deepest division is that an incorrect statement certainly yon is i don't know where sterling is ranked um but yeah i mean these are you know are these the two of the three best bantamweights on earth yes without question. mad in that first round and it's there for Aljo if he can time it and take this fight to the ground

but what he was one unable to do in the first fight was have success are there adjustments on the ground when it comes to the strategy that him and coach Ray Longo are looking to develop the second time around the problem with facing a guy like Piotr Jan is you don't really see holes to game plan for and like you just said he's constantly adjusting is there something ground focused using the fact that that uh sterling is is a very fast starter i mean dude that went over sandhaken still looks freaking great because it was how much more could he just focus on this being a ground fight and and try to capitalize this time i go go back to what Gilbert Burns told us. I think if Sterling or really any fighter tries to go and really like tightly control him. You know, hold him down.

Press him down. I don't think that's going to work. He is too strong underneath. His scrambling ability is just dynamic as any other elite fighter I've ever seen. But maybe there might be a way, and again, you'd have to train specifically for this, but remember Gilbert Burns was saying these wrestling guys, they have different moves along the cage where they don't use as much energy and whatnot. I was watching this video on some channel that just sort of popped up in my YouTube feed

of Islam Makachev showing something against the cage when you're pressing someone in and they give you the whizzer. You don't try and just level change and pick them up just take them backwards as they move their arms in certain directions and they shift their weight just take them that way and he was talking about how much more efficient it is and it takes less energy I wonder if some of those things are what Burns is talking about so and to answer the question with Aljamain Sterling you know you know you know that eventually Peter Yan's going to get to his base and you know that he's probably going to get away at some point why not build up more of a game plan again easier said than done but why not build a game plan to the extent possible that doesn't

account for trying to hold him down at all costs but lets him move a little bit and it frees you to open up with the ground and pound I think that is something I would like to see a little bit more because we know Sterling has good submissions, right? But just hunting a submission for the throat from the back, if he can even get to the back, it's pretty hard to do on Jan. He's good about keeping his limbs close to his body when he needs to and everything else that goes along with submission defense.

But if you can let him rotate to his base, grab a wrist, and then just start firing, I really believe that that is something different he could do. Score meaningful points, really kind of get Jan thinking about the defense. That was the weird part to me, BC. In the first fight, the first two rounds, you can see Jan is very much looking at the offense that Sterling has to offer. He's trying to do his best to keep up with it and blah, blah, blah,

and lands a little bit of his offense on his own. The third round starts, and it's as if he was utterly unconcerned with it. Like it didn't exist at all, but for a little bit of covering up, he needed to do it with a high guard. I mean, I think there's got to be some kind of way. Bodywork, I think, was one of them at range. But to answer your question on the ground, don't try and hold him down at all costs.

Make him scramble, and in that scramble find openings for big big damage i think that might get you a little bit further because i just don't think holding him down is really going to do anything and once jan was able to make that adjustment uh i said start of the third it was really in the mid second to be able to not only consistently stuff to take down but sprawl and almost pin aljo down i wonder wonder if he just said, okay, this door is closed, Luke. That door, it's hard to imagine if that door stays closed that Aljo wins this fight. But look, he's longer. He's an incredible athlete. I wonder if he looks to do the opposite. I wonder if he looks to slow down the pace and try to point fight a little bit, winning from the outside to try to save some of that thunder for late, is that a better strategy?

I don't know. We're going to find out on Saturday night. I just wanted to sort of, you know, remind everybody. I'm pretty damn excited for this fight, Luke. I don't like that we're here. I don't like that somebody can win a championship off a DQ. I get why that rule's in place so that champions don't pull a pro wrestling and just, you know, hit the referee to keep their title.

But for a worst-case scenario, I still really like this fight, Luke. I do. I do. Let me ask you, what effect, what role at all will Jan's coaches being basically not here have on him in the fight? It's hard to tell, Luke. It's hard to tell. It's hard to tell. I mean, you know, some guys are uber-dependent upon that direction. Some guys are, you know, they're taught during training camp and they go out there and perform.

I can't speak that for him, but it's something certainly to watch. But do you agree with essentially what I'm saying, where like across the board people are like, oh, yeah, I saw that first one. Sterling's got no chance in this rematch. It's really hard to say that given the skill level of both Luke. I mean, come on. Yeah, yeah, I don't agree with that at all that he's got no I mean that seems very silly I get that people are upset with him and blah blah blah but no that's very foolish especially to your point like man if you slip up at all and he finds your back you're

you're in trouble you're in big trouble I mean of course I'm taking to your point but other fights he's done that as well also remember who did he get did he get it on? Takeya Mizugaki, where he got an arm triangle hanging underneath him? I cannot explain how strong you have to be to pull that. That is, dude, that, I mean, understand something about that choke. A lot of the ways it was previously taught and still taught, you don't want to have symmetry with your opponent. You actually want to create an angle. And the reason why is very simple. It's like you're tightening the faucet to the right to get it to go. That's what the purpose is. To be able to not have that angle and then you're hanging underneath so you can't drive the force of gravity underneath, it literally has to be all muscle. That is a level of strength that is absurd, absurd grappling strength. So to that point, yes, I favor Jan, and we'll do some predictions officially on Friday, but this is not a gimme by any stretch of the imagination. So question here then, BC.

Yeah. Who's the number one contender? TJ Dillashaw, we think, right? But he's got the injury. So if Jan wins or Sterling wins, what the hell is next? You know, it may be Jose Aldo. And some people got mad at me. I made a comment sort of in passing when we talked on Monday's show about,

you know, Aldo's living a little bit more off the name than the true elite ability these days. And I didn't mean that as harsh as it sounded. He's won three in a row. And his most recent victory over Rob Font was just such a, damn, the legend's still here. Luke, the legend has a legendary name, and that really helps you when you're up at the top, and promoters are

looking to make, continue to make a name for whoever wins this championship fight on Saturday night. I mean, Jose Aldo would be the perfect opponent for either man coming out of here next, Luke, as a way to really, you know, you your old to your young uh traditionally in this game but it'd also be a great fight because Jose Aldo's still got heavy steam left I think Dillashaw is more deserving but you know there was a lot of talk hey how about Jose just fights Dillashaw in another one contenders fight do you have an update on TJ's potential recovery no I mean obviously since the fight with Sandhagen, he had to get surgery on his knee again. That's not going to be a quick turnaround at all. So probably 2023 to be our late this year, 2023, to be honest with you.

When you look at the top ten, Luke, you've got Aldo at three. Both Sandhagen at four and Rob Fon at five are coming off of defeats. And then you've got Marav Davila-Shilly at six, Luke. So, and Dominic Cruz right behind that so uh you know I wouldn't hate I wouldn't hate Aldo getting in there next and maybe doing Marav versus Cruz or I don't hate that at all yeah I like that I think it's good I like that a lot let me ask you this because look Sterling's got his name drabbed through the mud in the last 13 months, you know, up and down. Reasons that are largely unfair, but we understand. Nobody's talking bad about Peter

Jan. In fact, I said earlier, Luke, this guy's so well-rounded, I'm not even sure you can find a hole in his game to expose. Well, how about this hole? Not this A-hole. How about this hole, Luke? On the biggest stage in the championship round, he made a cardinal sin that you can't do, an obvious mistake in which the referee had just kind of warned him a couple seconds earlier saying, down, down, opponent down, and then he follows through. You did add the caveat of his coaches being unable to travel. Look, no one's without a weakness.

No one's without a chance to be exposed. Is there something there, Luke. No one's without, you know, a chance to be exposed. Is there something there, Luke, or is this just, you know, Chris Webber calling a timeout when he didn't have one in the championship against North Carolina? It is what it is, and you move forward. Or is there something more here? Yeah, I mean, if he was Russell Westbrook about a month ago where he was getting clowned by the entire league

for just a constant series of comical errors, maybe you would be like jesus like what is going to happen like greg hardy you just i mean i'm gonna he got cut by ufc but you just knew every time he was going to go out there something crazy was going to happen just follows him this was an egregious foul when you go back and you watch it again you're like jesus what was he thinking i mean this is just like no issue at all he was in the wrong like flatly um but i don't think he's got a habit of that. Maybe you could say some of that in the Jose Aldo fight with shots to the back of the head,

but even then that's, you know, I don't know if that's a pattern per se. I don't, I just don't see a pattern of error proneness. I don't see a pattern of cheating to get ahead in any kind of real way. And this one cost him big time. If anything, BC, there's a decent chance he might be a little bit more cautious about what to throw in in certain positions. Only time will tell. But I guess I just don't see that as a overbearing concern for me. Look, to be clear here,

in my reaction to your question about who could be next, and Aldo just seems to be in a great spot with TJ still hurt, you know, I had forgotten for a second that Aldo fought Jan and that it went disastrously bad, rabbit punches to the back of the head or not. You know, would you see them going back to that if Jan wins this on Saturday?

I don't. I think they could. I don't necessarily. I mean, I don't think it's the likeliest possibility, but I think it's not unlikely. If Jan wins, I don't think it's unlikely. All possibility, but I think it's not unlikely. If Jan wins, I don't think it's unlikely. All right. All right.

That's interesting. Just based on his need to compete and keep the title fresh and Dillashaw being unavailable, Sanhagen already losing. I'm not sure which is – I don't know if Aldo already lost, but Aldo's on a 3-5 win streak. As you indicated, just beat Rob Font. Sanhagen's coming off of the loss to Jan, so there's no other place left to go. Yeah. I mean, or they bring Triple C back.

You know, who the hell knows? That's another part of this whole conversation. You know what? You know what? That would be the time to slide him back in. It's a much more realistic fight for UFC to leap to make than to give Triple C the chance at history by fighting Volkanovski. They don't like when fighters take control of their own destinies

and walk away and leave the titles, you know, on their own terms. But if you look at what's the biggest fight we can make, and if Jan wins and we already did Aldo and TJ's not ready and no one else is really right there. Dude, Jan versus Cejudo is just a hell of a matchup, Luke. I mean, that's an amazing fight. That's like central casting. That's a great fight. So's like central casting. That's a great fight. So I like that you brought that up. We're certainly seeing Cejudo much more vocal about saying,

I'll go to Moscow. You know, like he seems ready. Look, it seems like Henry Cejudo has gotten the break that he's needed. He's exercised some level of control over his name and brand, whatever it gets him. We don't know, but he stepped away and said, I'm going to do what I want. He comes back and fights Jan and wins that man. Wow. You know, because Luke, you know, Jan looks like if he can put this DQ loss behind him, that even with how crazy deep this division is, dude, he looks like the face of this division for a while to come.

I mean, he looks like that dude, right? He's that guy, man. He's the fucking guy. I mean, Jan's a badass, Luke. I mean, he's the real deal. Did you watch the countdown? Not all the way. I skimmed it a little bit, Luke.

So, I mean, Korean Zombie is at Fight Ready, his gym in Arizona, training with him. And, of course, you recall, look what Henry Cejudo did for devison figueredo now we'll see what happens with john jones and young way lee young way who did who did not win but certainly performed a lot better in the second fight than she did the first like clearly dude henry is talented and clearly he has an eye for coaching and detail you see him going back and forth chirping at mcgregor but the stuff he tells mcgregor is all correct so you know i really i

have a lot of respect for henryjudo. That, to me, is a bit of an X factor. If Jan wins, you know, again, does the Aldo fight in Super inspire me? Not so much, but I recognize it's okay. But a triple C fight, now that is where, to me, all the intrigue belongs. I would love to see that.

By the way, you spoke to Mighty Mouse about this fight, did you not? Yes! Let me tee this up. So, I talked with the great Demetrius Johnson, Mighty Mouse, fresh off of his 1X mixed rules victory over Rod Tang, which we got into at length. This interview will go live today, this afternoon, a couple hours after MK is over. But, Luke, among many topics over nearly 30 minutes,

Luke, I'll say this, right? I've interviewed him a lot of times, and it hasn't always gone excitedly. It's DJ's personality. It is what it is. He's happy now these days. So you get a more lively chat with him, and it's great to see,

but I did specifically say, ask his thoughts, and the reason why I asked his thoughts on Jan Sterling, too, is we know about the rehydration rules in one. And DJ told me straight up, dude, I'm never cutting to 125 again. I cannot make it on, you know, and be healthy. So he's fighting at flyweight, of course, in one. He lost to Adriano Marais in his last title fight. But they get to rehydrate up.

So he's basically calling himself a bantamweight in terms of UFC concerns. So, you know, we talked about who are the best 135ers in the world today. And I said, look, who's going to win this fight Saturday night? Let's see what he had to say. I think Peter Yaron. I like Asimur Stone, but I think Peter Yaron beats him. Like, Peter Yaron has a very interesting way of going about how he beats people. And I think if you watch their first fight,

Peter Yaron was just letting Asimur Stone to get off on him. And I think that you watch their first fight, Peter Yan was just letting Ajmer Sterling get off on him. And I think that's what he does. Like he covers up. He has a certain way that he covers up where he can take a shot and he's able to give his shot. I think he's way more explosive on the feet, like with his combinations, which is that his boxing is far superior in that division. And I think he's going to be able to stop Adjomar Sterling's takedown and, you know, end up on top. But, you know, Adjomar Sterling said he had a legendary camp. He came off an injury in his neck.

So, I mean, Adjomar Sterling could get it done, like with his grappling and submission. And it's fighting. It's mixed martial arts. But if I had to, if my kids are like, Daddy, who do you think's going to win? I'd be pretty honest. Because I i think that first fight he was taking all odds and restoring shots and defending a takedown dude dj's smart as shit no dude he should get a a tv gig or a pop you know i know he's been streaming video games forever but he's really

good luke and i think he's he's come out of his shell more, maybe now that he's happier. The one thing that's so key with him, Luke, and we get into that, not to make this more about him than the Jan fight, but he's never cared about legacy rankings, what people say about him. He's very secure and balanced in who he is as a man. And it comes through in this interview, and I respect it a lot. But Luke, a little cliffhanger teaser for people to check out this later today. I did ask him what his fighting future looks like. How many more years would he come back to the UFC? Is it one or nothing?

You can find that out by watching the video. But, Luke, could you even imagine, as much as him versus Adriano Moraes in a rematch would be a heck of a fight could you imagine him and re-entering the 135 class at I at either the UFC or even Bantamweight at at Bellator which has a a huge tournament going on and countless names I mean Luke um don't uh you almost forgot that this guy is still among the best you know 10 fighters in the world right now yeah I mean what is he 35 so you don't you know he's not exactly uh the youngest guy in the world right now. What is he, 35? He's not exactly the youngest guy in the world, but he's got all this veteran experience.

He's seen everything you could possibly see. The guy is just as talented as they come, as experienced as they come. I think among hardcores, as well-liked as it gets as well, the casual fan base, whatever you want to say about them, I would love to see him. I realize it's not possible and part of the reason why i think he's

happy is because you know one caters to him in a way that ufc just doesn't cater to anybody so good for him he's in a place that he should be i think and and they're tough fights over there for him as well obviously the morice fight didn't go his way but but to answer your question like if he was back in bellator ufc dude he'd be a smart boy in that division. There is money fights. Should he want to play out the tail end of his 30s, you know, shopping from organization to organization, there are big money fights. Because, Luke, you remember the tail end of his flyweight run,

he was unwilling to go back up to 135. It didn't interest him. We all wanted him to fight Dominic Cruz in a rematch and become a two-division champion. He didn't care about it. I wonder if, you know, now that he's happier he's well paid maybe maybe he cares well you know watch the interview you'll find out Luke okay all right let's move to topic number two fair enough can't wait to see it topic number two this is the one that everyone is talking about Gilbert Burns takes on Hamzat Shemaev in a welterweight clash this will be the feature fight so not the main

co-main but the one just below BC, very simple question to start this conversation. Why is this, anecdotally it seems like, why is this by far the most popular fan-interested fight on this card? I have my own theories, but let me hear yours. Because, look, we've talked about this, and I've sort of looked it up and debated and racked my head. When have you seen a meteoric rise and a debut where somebody can come on the scene of the UFC, the highest level of the sport and go

from either unknown or, or contender or, or, you know, or prospect to like instant title contender where you really have no, no understanding of where that ceiling is. We've got a guy here, Luke, okay, who you can just tell, you know, emotionally his background in Chechnya and Russia, like he's just built differently. He willingly takes on almost this fun villainous character and yet he can go across two divisions. He's got sick knockout power and he doesn't just have a great ground game. When you rewatch these dismantlings he's had in his four UFC appearances, including Luke, how you don't even want to say easy it was against Lee's young young. It was like, I mean, dude, it was like a purposeful beating in which, let's not forget, he picked up Lee, slammed him purposely in front of Dana White and then is like talking I mean this guy

Luke is not just oh shit should he be fighting Kamaru now it's this guy is one of those special he's screaming that he is one of those special ones the kind of like you know the kind of shit we haven't seen since John Jones was rising, like that all sounds like ridiculous hyperbole, Luke. And at times when I look at these betting odds, I'm like, nah, come on, come on, bro. He's never fought past the second round in his life. And now we're putting in there with Gilbert Burns. But Luke, he goes up to middleweight, knocks out Mearshart like nothing, comes back down to welterweight after a year off and two disastrous battles with COVID in which he was basically retiring online. And dude, he chewed up and spit out one of the toughest outs in any division in Jianglian.

And just was like, I want it all and I want it now. Luke, Brock Lesnar is an interesting comparison because he came on the scene with such little experience and then was instantly a title contender and won the championship right after the loss to Mir and then rebound and then he's right in it this is different because Chamayev didn't come over here outside of really that 2017 Brian Stan interview that keeps getting played now where he predicted that there's this guy in Sweden that's coming on and he'll be here one day. Outside of that, Luke, when do you remember hearing Tremayev's name before 2020 when he comes out on the scene in the middle of the pandemic, opportunistically wins three fights, including two in 10 days? This guy came from seemingly, seemingly out of nowhere in terms

of the mainstream public eye. And now you're like, dude, I'm not sure. If he rolls through Gilbert Burns like the odds makers are telling you, I'm not sure he shouldn't be favored over Kamaru Usman. Dude, Kamaru Usman's the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world and on his way to entering the GOAT upper room. And we're like, you know what? I'm really not sure. And look, for anyone that heard that and was like, come on,

watch the four fights in a row and tell yourself anything different. Luke, I don't know if this guy could possibly keep this momentum going at this level. But the reason why this is the quote-unquote people's main event and the reason why the online numbers are butchering the two fights above it is because we not only have someone potentially super special in Tremayev, but we got the freaking most battle-tested, savage, badass guy standing across from him and 35-year-old Gilbert Burns that this is a hell of a matchmaking job by Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard. That's why, Luke. That's freaking why, okay? Hell yeah. Credit to Gilbert Burns, and he showed us the messages on his WhatsApp to his manager. He requested this.

So you got to give Gilbert Burns. Like, they didn't. I don't know if they forced this on him. It seems to me like he was electing to take it. And at a bare minimum, did. So I just want to make sure that Gilbert gets some credit here. That he wasn't necessarily strong-armed into taking it. But, BC, I saw a tweet from our friend Aaron Bronstetter. I didn't get a chance to see the video because it was blocked for you can only

see it if you're in canada but it was a really interesting question he was having a debate with robin black and he was apparently the the argument was is hamzat chamayev the greatest prospect in ufc history he might be he might be i would say if he beats gilbert burns and there's no question that he is to your point with the brock les they brought but Brock Lesnar I remember if you're folks who don't remember the ads when he came in in 2009 2008 whatever it was there was this video package that the UFC made and it was like from the ring to the cage and they showed Lesnar in like his wrestling outfit like grabbing the ropes and then it switches to him with the gloves on and it was this you know they were playing off of the existing popularity and fan base

that he had achieved from his time in college and the NFL, but obviously mostly from professional wrestling. To your point, Hamzat came out of the darkness. He's like Bane, ready to fight Batman. You know what I mean? Like you, you immediately adopted the darkness. I was born into it, molded by it. It feels like that a little bit.

Whether he is the greatest prospect in UFC history is certainly a matter of debate, and I wish I could see that video, but I'll say this, BC. This is a historic bout, truly a historic bout, and I made a point yesterday in arguing about this. It reminds me very much of Daniel Cormier heading into the Josh Barnett fight to win the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, and it reminds me of Saint Pierre just before the Frank Trick fight at UFC 54 because you get these moments where someone is on their way and you can clearly see that something big is going to happen, but you don't know exactly how and when

and what's going to happen. And then in his, I think it was his 10th or 11th pro fight, Cormier actually won against Josh Barnett. And then we knew, okay, this guy's championship material. That's a great comparison, Luke. That's a great comparison because despite the Olympic pedigree, right, and the wrestling credentials, dude, no one, no one thought, dude, seriously, unless you're a hardcore amateur wrestling fan,

when he was the late alternate to fill in in that Grand Prix, you're like, who? Yeah, but then remember, he beat Bigfoot and you're like, like he just smoked him like it was nothing and you were like whoa okay where is this going and then he beat Barnett the way he did and then what's the significance of this of GSP over Trigg of of Cormier over Barnett it's that and by the way these all happen around 10 or 11 fights if you look at him for Hamzat this is his 11th for GSP that was his 11th and for Cormier I think that was his 10th or 11th it happens right around this moment where someone who is clearly destined for something big,

how big, we don't know, but someone who's clearly good, they get a contender who's not just highly ranked or good, but if they can beat that contender, it shows you that they're ready for the championship level. Maybe not like the next fight, but like their championship material. That's what it shows you. That's what this fight is. If Hamzat Shemaev beats Gilbert Burns ladies and gentlemen make not a single mistake about it he is ready for a title shot Burns is that good and again I'm not talking some controversial win

or he squeaked by or the judges fucked it up I'm talking about imagine a scenario where no no doubt about it he was the better guy if you beat a guy like Gilbert Burns in your 11th MMA fight, motherfuckers, he is ready for the title after that. That's how good he would be. And so for those reasons, I want folks to understand, this is a historic bout. I think you're right. That's the right way to frame it.

And I didn't think of using that word, but it makes sense. And you look at that there's times that doors open when someone's coming on, whether it's out of nowhere like this or they surge and put it all together. And sometimes they're able to do things that you don't think is possible. The McGregor magic of 2015 and 16 were just like, dude, did anyone think he's going to knock out Aldo with one punch, then win the lightweight title, and then get the biggest fight ever against Floyd? No one, right?

Adesanya Luke, there was a window there where we're like, maybe he's going to move up and beat Blahovich and then maybe fight Jon Jones for the heavyweight title. Sometimes there's these openings. Dude, there is a potential opening, and it's putting, talk about putting pressure on somebody who's still largely unproven. This is the largest amount of pressure put on one man's shoulders.

But there is an opening here where if he handles Gilbert Burns with the ease that Luke I've been taking note every single analyst is saying you know what I don't want to believe in these fight odds but you kind of have to could you imagine if he then goes and defeats Usman dude we are going to be taking out all of our drums and banging them for him versus Adesanya. Dude, there is a path potentially for him to go down that, you know, very few ever get a chance to even sniff the possibility of. That's why we are this excited, as you said, well said there. But look, I don't know. He could come out there and be 80% of what we think he is and still lose and then still rebound. But, you know, we've been fooled before by prospects.

I always talk about, you know, Tom Dukenwa, Duhu Choi. I mean, these are guys where I was like, man, that's my guy right there, right? You know, sometimes it just doesn't work out. I don't remember short of Jon Jones in that early run ever feeling like somebody is so – I mean, even Johnny Walker, right? You're like, those are some freak knockouts, but, dude, I got to see more. I don't remember having this much confidence in someone this early, and I certainly don't remember the odds makers looking at a great, tough, difficult fight on paper

and going, minus 700, Hamzat Shumayev. Yep, that's the right line we're gonna start right there like holy shit Luke I love your point I love your point about like McGregor beating Jose Aldo with one punch and then beating Eddie Alvarez like something it's just impossible to imagine and it actually happened same thing with John Jones like I knew he'd beat Matt Yushchenko but Matt Yushchenko was a really good wrestler and John just fucking toyed with him or Brandon Vera dude Brandon Vera is now a natural heavyweight but like you know he was I realized that the name Brandon Vera for some folks like oh he was the guy that fizzled out but there was a time when

he was beating the Eilers and the Frank Mirrors of the world when it was like looking unbeatable and I knew John would beat him but I was like okay this could be reasonably an interesting competitive and then John just fucking mowed him down. You know, this is the thing. Things you can't even see, then they just happen. Not just like they happen, but like they happen with authority. I don't know what's going to happen on Saturday. But I will say that if a guy like Hamzat does this, not only is the bout historic, that's a historic win that you can add as maybe one of the more impressive wins

for anyone in all of MMA, given the relative youth, given the relative inexperience, and given the extraordinary difficulty that comes with beating. This isn't a Gilbert Burns on the couch, dude. This isn't a Gilbert Burns kind of taking this halfway seriously. This is Gilbert Burns going, I'm all fucking in. For Hamzat to beat that guy, holy shit. I mean, Luke, we talked about a lot of it from our Gilbert Burns interview

because it was such a great chat. And shout out to Gilbert for being that open, obviously. But, like, not only is Gilbert all of those credentials and experience and he dropped the best fighter in the world, Usman, in the first round of their matchup. Like, let's not forget that two fights ago. But he is also taking this as serious as it needs where he's training with Usman.

He's got the two mystery Russian men. One be Habib for all we know like you saw the video Danny Segura put out for MMA Junkie of the of the absurd strength training that Burns is doing ahead of this fight like not only is this so stupid of a tough matchup this early for Chimaev considering again he's never been past the second round but Burns is like no fucking stone left on turn to prepare for this and yet that line is not moving Luke I mean like it is it's wild dude it is wild the expectations of Tremayev and once again I tell you the proof's in the pudding Floyd go back and re-watch those four fights Luke could you say anything else? What we don't know about him yet still is what makes this such a great— you could shift this to the main event.

Nobody's complaining. Nobody, Luke. And here's the other part that no one's talking about. What if Gilbert Burns wins? What if he wins in a way that we're not expecting? When I imagine scenarios of hamza winning it seems dominant in my brain and when i imagine scenarios of gilbert winning they seem like workman like difficult but you know he get he threads that needle he gets it done and maybe that's fair

maybe that's unfair i'm just telling you what like what your brain cooks up but if he does he's been re like kindling the friendship with kamaru. He might have to fight Kamaru again, which is just all kinds of weird surrounding this bout. We have some audio I'd like to throw to you real quickly. Speaking about why he took the Hamza fight. Because BC, there's just a lot of weirdness involved. This is what he said. That wasn't the first option. We want to fight Kobe.

That was the fight I was looking for. But then they make the rematch. After the rem that was the fight I was looking for but then they make the rematch after the rematch the fight with Jorge and uh I knew it would be hard to get an opponent and then when when he beat Lee Jiliang I knew the hype would want to get crazy and no one wants to fight him and then I like I kind of I don't know no one was giving me a fight. I wasn't getting a fight. I was just like, I text Ali and say, I wanna fight this guy. I think they gonna offer to me. So I'm already letting you know, I wanna fight these guys.

We've seen the DM, we can confirm this. We wanna point this out. We saw Gilbert with the timestamp from the day and everything else, right after the last fight with Hamza and Lijian Ling. He literally hits up his manager and goes, I want it. His manager goes, why? But you did it.

Here we are. Well, I'll answer it for you. You wanted it because you're a savage. And I say that as a compliment to where you are in your career at this point. Yeah. Yeah. Let me always put that disclaimer in there, Luke, okay?

That guy's a freaking savage, but I mean that in the nicest possible way. Damn, I love this fight. Yeah, let's talk about Gilbert one more. What does Gilbert get out of this win? We talked about it in the interview a little bit, but now that we've had some time to reflect on it, because here's the thing about Hamzat.

It's not like he already has all of these things that we're imagining he could have. If Gilbert beats him, we have to recalibrate what it meant to beat him and what is the ultimate upside. Now, maybe he gets a title shot or maybe he has to fight Colby. So, like, reasonably speaking, BC, let's say Gilbert gets a win. And, again, not controversial, whatever that means. He was the better guy. What happens next?

It's going to be interesting what they do matchmaking-wise. If Leon Edwards gets the rematch with Kamaru and he's deserving, of course, would they go right back to the former teammates? I mean, look, this would be a monster win for Gilbert. If he does it by exposing Chemayev, then his stock is going to be – I mean, look, would his stock be even higher than it was after that win streak that got him the original Usman fight? Gilbert's stock would have to be higher because of what we think.

It would be higher, yes. Unless, Chamaya, the wheels just fall off right in front of us, right? You know, like, unless that happens where he's exposed. But if Gilbert wins and it's Gilbert winning, meaning he caused this more or less, this is him putting all of his chips in the center of the table because it took this guy a while to figure out how to get the best out of him. It took changing guy a while to figure out how to get the best out of him. It took changing a weight class. It took rounding out his game and making his striking as dangerous

as his decorated grappling skills are. And then, Luke, like a lot of people, he finally gets to that mountaintop and, you know, like Poirier against Habib, and it just didn't happen. For whatever reason, it didn't happen. At his age, Luke, and he's going to be 36 in July, Gilbert Burns. Dude, the only real chance to double back down right now is to go fight that toughest guy walking into the jail on day one. He's doing that. I mean, there's so much respect for him.

You can't even, but why is he doing it? Because the window, he's in that, he's in there. He's in that window right now of maximizing his ability. What I loved, what I learned about Gilbert from this interview is that some guys will say it, some guys don't mean it. I think he really means it when he says, the glory of the championship. Meaning, how do I make 80% of what my life has been,

the dedication to this sport, how do I make that make sense? All the time put in, yeah, getting the money's great. He's a family man, all that, you know, the fame, whatever. This guy doesn't care about most of that stuff, Luke, beyond the family, of course. He is here for the glory of it. And you know, sometimes the glory only really makes up 10, 20% of guys when they get to this level because they fight through the business bullshit. And sometimes it really is just about money. Still about glory for Gilbert. And I have a lot of respect for that. And that's why he's willing to take this. And Luke, if he didn't, you know, is it impossible for him to get back into title contention? No, but it's, it's,

it's certainly not likely. I mean, you know, you'd have to win a few times, some super elite guys. I mean, let, let me ask you this, Luke. If Kamaru defeats Leon this summer, and we don't really know how much longer Kamaru is going to fight, who is most deserving in this division? Who do you want to see him against beyond the winner of this Burns-Chemaya fight? This is what I've been sort of trying to noodle through. Like, what do you do if Gilbert wins, right? Again, we're talking about a world where he wins you know convincingly and fairly I think two things have are one thing actually will happen

one thing should happen I think that there's been this perception of welterweight that it's been the Kamaru Colby and then for a time the Jorge Masvidal show Jorge more as a popular interesting figure obviously the subsequent losses and everything else has pushed him out of that but there's they've sort of been the nucleus of how folks have talked and thought about Welterweight, right? Gilbert has been part of that conversation, but maybe a little bit to the side. I think if he beats Hamzat, people are going to realize that, like, no, no, no, no. It's not really the Colby, Kamaru, Jorge story. And again, Jorge's would have been pushed off already.

But that the real dominant players, the ones that really deserve to be respected and talked about is actually Gilbert Burns and Colby and Camara. He is the part of that triumvirate that gets kind of excluded a little bit. In terms of a fight, remember what he told us when we were down there? He was looking for the Colby fight. He's looking for who I want that dude, when Gilbert Burns puts his feet on the floor in the morning when he wakes up, the first thought that must go through his mind is I want the fucking smoke because he's looking for the toughest guys, the highest rank guys, the ones that everyone says are unbeatable.

He told us he loves the model that RDA has set up. And that's a win lose model a lot of times, but it does confer an enormous amount of respect over the long haul. And obviously he's in there to win it. So the point I'm trying to make is I would think the Colby fight makes a lot of sense because, yes, Colby beating Jorge is great, but Jorge is sitting back at, what, seventh or something? Gilbert Burns to me, if you beat Chamayev,

Gilbert Burns to me represents a threat that now Colby needs to pass or whoever wants to get back at Kamaru. Their roads lead to each other on this one. I just question how much more Kamaru wants to keep fighting contenders. And I know that Vicente Luque and Bilal Muhammad have a rematch coming up to headline a fight night. It's a great fight. They're both in the top ten.

Could the winner of that be in line? Maybe, but I don't think Usman's going to jump at that. I think if you're Usman, Luke, look, if Chemaev obliterates Gilbert, you're going to have to fight Chemaev unless you're going to give up the belt because UFC's, they're going right after it, and, look, if Chermayev obliterates Gilbert, you're going to have to fight Chermayev unless you're going to give up the belt because UFC, they're going right after it and they should, okay? But if that doesn't happen, Luke, you know, I don't know if Kamaru really is going to welcome a Gilbert rematch. I don't, you know, he may go like this. I'm going to keep pushing the Canelo thing just because I want to get paid. I don't think UFC will co-promote it. I don't think it'll

happen. But there are other money fights Kamaru can play out the string with, Luke, and make a lot of money and get even more famous. And those names involve Conor McGregor or Dustin Poirier, in my eyes, moving up and challenging him for the title. I think that would be more likely to happen than him going, okay, let's get Burns again, let me get the winner of, you know, Luque Muhammad. So I think as fans, Luke, and this isn't playing favor to either fighter in the Burns-Chemaev matchup, but what's the best scenario for the UFC and what's the best scenario for the UFC fan?

Hamzat Chemaev fucking dismantling Gilbert Burns. That's the best scenario for business and for fandom moving forward, Luke. And, you know, Kamaru versus that guy, if it happens, would be freaking wild. But, yeah, is there a world in which Gilbert wins this despite those odds, despite all this fanfare? You're damn right there is, Luke. This guy's never even passed the second round yet. You know what I mean? Of course there is.

Here's also something. And that's why this fight rules, okay? Yeah, I agree. One thing to think about, too, is there is a way that this fight goes, especially on the Hamzat side, because he's got big power, right? I mean, he knocked out Gerald Mearshart at 185. Like, his power goes up. If he fights Gilbert and they're exchanging on the feet,

let's say Gilbert gets a couple takedowns and, like, Gilbert's looking good, right? They're like, damn, man. Gilbert might, okay, he came fucking ready to go. And then he eats an uppercut and he gets knocked out. You still haven't answered really any of the questions about how Hamzat looks in the third fourth and fifth but it wouldn't matter it wouldn't matter because the win would be so authoritative so like there is a possibility where you get like the best outcome for the division and for the UFC and whatever and that you still can carry some of this mystery into a possible title fight

which by itself would be basically unheard of at the UFC level it is again a historic bout these don't happen very often like once a decade or so and we're back this is it so um seriously Hamza versus Usman at this point in Shamayev's career, dude, that's a lot like Brock versus Randy. It's different, but it's a lot like it. It's different, yeah, because Brock was so huge in that fight. I mean, yeah, but yeah, I see what you're saying. I really do. He won that.

He beat Randy Couture in what, his fourth fight? He was 3-1 after that fight, something like that? Crazy. You know, something just absurd. Yeah, because he what? He beat the Asian guy off of UFC. Then there was the Mir fight, and then he fucking put it on. He pancaked Heath Haring.

That was a fun event, Luke. Yes, and then, yes. So then they give him, he was two and one. He beat someone else. I forget who it was at this point. But in any case. All right, let's move to topic number five. Hey, guys, real quick.

Yeah. Luke, real quick. It looks like Kamzat's doing some media availability right now. Okay. He had a comment about Colby Covington saying he should be kicked out of the UFC. Do you guys care about this? He said he's a bitch and should be kicked out of the UFC. How about my knee sliding in?

If it means they'll make a fight between them, I care. He said they're asking if Colby really wants to fight him, and he said, I don't think he does. I think he's a bitch. He should be kicked out of the UFC. I think he'd call the cops if we fought. There you go. There you go.

Luke, I just looked it up. Lesnar went right from Heath Haring into Randy Couture, so that's wild. Yeah, there you go. That's pretty wild. All right, let's move to topic number three here. The rest of the UFC 273 card, BC, there's a ton of good fights on here. I don't want to spend a ton of time on them, but suffice to say, if you pay for this, you're going to get a lot of bang for your buck. Mackenzie Dern at Women's Strawweight takes on Tisha Torres.

BC Dern coming off that loss to Marina Rodriguez, where on the ground, obviously, was giving Rodriguez a ton of problems, but really couldn't get anything moving on the feet. And then Tisha Torres on a three-fight win streak, mostly beating Angela Hill. This is a tough fight for Mackenzie Dern, man. It is. I like this fight a lot. Women's straw weighs the liver, of course. But look, Tisha Torres is, she's emptying the tank once more to see what's left.

She's in her early 30s. She had that disastrous losing streak to all elite names, which, you know, she could have got caught at the end of that. You lose four or five times in a row to the best in your division. You know, it's hard to recover from that. I'll give her a lot of credit luke the win streak largely come against lesser names for sure but she retooled she's in the best shape of her life like by far i know tisha's been uh doing you know some body

building competitions and stuff she's geared up and ready and i think if you look at that fight you mentioned for dern it was a plateauing leveling out fight to go in there against Marina Rodriguez. I think it's still showing Luke that she's still a little bit too one-dimensional to the ground, but she did show a good fighting spirit, and she was in that fight. This is sort of that retooling opportunity for McKenzie, where she's got to go out there and put it on Tisha and make it look easy, and if she does Luke, she's still in the larger title picture here because of the, look, she's a potential marketable name no question she's got great ability I think she just keeps she needs to keep tinkering this could be that potential opportunity on the feet especially

because you know Torres is going to come forward she's going to dart in and out I really want to see the improvements that Mackenzie Dern makes in this one and uh didn't she chat with our boy Shaq no don't we have sound I think she did I think she did yeah if you look at her wins Mackenzie Dern's wins I'd argue the two best came before the Rodriguez fight when she beat uh Virna Janji Roba and then uh Nina Nunez but still there were some questions about that because you know Nina Nunez obviously had the kid and you know there's a lot of time off and Janji Roba obviously doesn Roba obviously can't lord the ground game over her. So those were great wins, don't get me wrong. But to me, Tisha Torres, who could stick and move, and

obviously, movement on the feet for Dern, that's been an ongoing issue. So this is one of those fights where if she wins on the ground, okay, that's Mackenzie Dern. I'm curious to see how she looks on the feet. I wanna see how she looks on the feet. I want to see how she looks on the feet. The takedowns need to be there, and everything else needs to be there. Also on this card, BC, this will open the main... Don't leave it, Luke. Don't leave it.

You've got to throw to that side. We've got to move along, BC. We've got to move along. Well, hold on. I know you love to Mutombo Shaquille Majore. You love to. The Persian Prince. You're like, yo, we're going to play some Shaq sound today,

and then you're like, you know, fuck Shaq, bro, okay? Yo, can we play the sound? All right, Shaq MMA on YouTube, please. Let's play the YouTube please you sort of analyze you versus Tisha fight preview stuff what's the biggest advantage each person has going into this fight um I mean I think Tisha her her biggest advantage is like that she's fast she's quick and she moves well you know I think she hits and gets out and her good cardio you know and she's very fast and gets out in points and then gets out so um she has a lot of experience i think most of her losses have been almost all like ex-champions you know or champions like now um so i think she

has her spirit experience and just her footwork. And then mine, I think my biggest strength for this fight is just that I just keep going forward. I don't stop going forward. You know what I mean? She better keep going. Look at that. You're like, you know what? If we're going to delay this show,

I'm just going to white trash all over the screen. That's great, Luke. Shout out to Shaq MMA on YouTube there, our French-Canadian friend. He's from Montreal. He lives in Vancouver. You don't care, but he's a nice guy. Yes. Also, opening this card, BC, this is maybe the most slept-on fight on this card,

and it's awesome. Vince from Hell Pichelle takes on Mark O Madsen Marco Madsen the greatest maybe Danish wrestler ever silver medalist in the Olympics multiple times silver medalist um in the world championships I'm told from wrestling folks that the guy who he kept losing to is maybe the greatest Greco guy in that weight class ever so you know coming up short to him doesn't say a whole lot Madsen undefeated BC but a little older had a bout with COVID and a whole lot of nonsense going on in his fight. Vince Pichelle, kind of an afterthought for a while,

but he beat Austin Hubbard, who was a very good fighter in his last contest. Dude, this one has action written all over it from the opening bell on. It does. And Marco Madsen still has to answer a lot of questions. He's 37. Yes, he's 3-0 since this transition. And Luke, you know I love watching guys like this who are... Because it reminds me of the old-time UFC when someone's such a specialist in one skill of martial arts away from mixed martial arts and then tries to mix it in. And sometimes you get Gokhan-sakied, Luke. We haven't seen Madsen take that L yet, but we have seen the doors open of exposure of his gas tank, of his striking, certainly not being on the same level of his wrestling.

He's going to be in a fight here, Luke, and I think he's going to have to make a marked improvement from what he showed in that split decision win over Guido where there were plenty of holes there. And it's going to be fun to watch. Also on the prelim card, BC, I'd be curious to know what your favorite is. Well, there's a bunch that stand out. First of all, Mickey Gall has won and lost in an alternate way

since the Sage-Northcutt fight, which I think was his fourth fight. So, you know, if he loses here, that would be two in a row. But if he wins, it would just sort of be the repeating of the pattern. Taking on, I think, a beatable Mike Malott. So we'll see what happens there. But for me, BC, you've got Aspen Ladd taking on Raquel Pennington. That's a huge fight. And then Ian Gary, sort of the next rising star out of Ireland, although he trains at Sanford MMA, taking on Darquel Pennington. That's a huge fight. And then Ian Gary, the next rising star out of Ireland,

although he trains at Sanford MMA, taking on Darian Weeks, a guy who's only, this will be his only seventh fight, so this is probably a little bit early for him. But Gary, this will only be his ninth fight. There's a lot to like on the prelim card for ESPN Plus as well. Yeah, we ran into Gary, of course, at Sanford MMA when we talked to Gilbert Burns. He had a Phoenix Suns jersey with his own name on the back. Luke, I'm interested to see if he ends up getting the featured prelim spot on this card because he's got, you know,

certainly some ability worth taking notice, but from an area of the MMA world, Luke, which is on fire at the moment, this would be a great time to sort of show everybody who you can be. But Luke, circle that Aspen Ladd-Raquel Pennington fight. Dude, talk about questions that need answering from Ladd, who keeps failing to make weight, abandoned weight, moved up to featherweight, and of course lost that one fight and has had just disastrous weight cuts, lock. Luke, I have seen her progress in this camp, and she looks to be by far in the best shape of her career, which, you know, it almost feels now or never, meaning if she can't prove once again that she not only can make 135

but can make it, I don't want to say easily, but competitively so that she's got plenty in the tank. Raquel Pennington is on a nice little win streak of her own, Luke, maybe finding out, you know, what's left in that tank of herself to try to pour out, this is the fight, this is the matchup, because if Ladd either loses this or doesn't make the weight on friday or anything luke how many more times can you cry wolf that that that you are the future of this division you can't so this is the moment luke this is the time uh are you expecting big things from aspen lad here i agree with you it's

shit or get off the pot right i mean this is, this is, you know, how old is Aspen Ladd now? So she currently sits at 27. There's still time. But to your point, she's a coming off the loss to Norma Dumont from October of 2021. And so she just needs to get right. And I agree between the weight issues and like the performances have been overall good, definitely good. But it hasn't, it hasn't matched some of the rhetoric around her, which I'm not saying she's the one out there banging the drum all the time that she's the future. I mean, partly there's a little bit of that, partly there's a little bit of promotional hype and everything around, but yes, I agree. It's time to start making a move towards the upper end of this division. And Raquel Pennington's about as good a test as you're going to get. Durable, experienced, has seen it all in terms of what fighters offer in every dimension. So you get a win over someone like Raquel Pennington, BC, I'm not going to say it erases the past,

but I think it would give people renewed confidence about what is possible moving forward. And Rocky's physically strong and stubborn, so it's not going to be easy to take her down and be dominant on top. So if Aspen can do that, which I think she needs to, Luke. Look, this is a big night. Big night for Ladd, Luke. And I don't know why all our viewers keep DMing me training pics of her.

Like, I follow her on Instagram. I mean, you know, it's like, hey, PC, do you know Ioana's in Aruba? I'm like, yeah, I knew that. I knew that, bro. Okay, thank you. I appreciate it. Okay, okay. I'm moving along now.

Topic number four. We talked a little bit about PFL. There's bad and then there's good. Let's start with the bad because it's sort of more interesting news. ESPN reported, I'll simplify the story. Basically, PFL has a challenger series that they do with FuboTV. And they had an event last week that was seemingly, I want to be very clear about some of the terms here,

seemingly presented as live. Now the PFL organization and made clear to not promote any odds around the fight. They didn't have an Ian Parker, so they were not doing any promotion of the odds under anything that they were delivering. However, sports books elsewhere were taking odds on this fight,

thinking that it was live, and in fact, it was not. This has got them in a bit of regulatory hot water. BC, I spoke to some folks in the know last night. This is my best read on things. This is my best read. I don't know what happened, but because there is so much suspicion inside combat sports of foul play or otherwise underhanded criminal behavior, you know, PFL has always acted, to my knowledge, above board.

I would be very surprised if this was somehow intentional. What I do think happened, though, is if you look at their social assets from that night, they were like, oh, guys are in the building and blah, blah, blah. And then Fubo, I don't know what they did in terms of what they were presenting it. So I'll just say this. I don't think PFL engaged at all in criminal behavior, but clearly somebody and a few somebodies got real sloppy along the way. Yeah, well, basically what happened was as this card aired, there was a huge surge in bets.

So that's showing you that people on the inside, you know, that know we're doing that. And I think the guy in the main event, Luke, he's a heavyweight. He was like a minus 150 favorite to start. And right before his fight, he was like a minus 2750. So you can see what went on there. That let off the alarms. Do I think PFL, you know, tried to do something nefarious? No, but it's sloppy.

And there's a lot of issues here. Not only did, as you mentioned, they promote it on social media as if it was live, but Fubo had their live bug all over. They're scheduled on the screen. They would say afterwards through a spokesman that it was a mistake, that they used the same graphics from the week before or what have you. But I just think it's a bad look in general, whether, you know, we criticized Bellator in the past couple of years when they

would have an international card and then air it six hours later. I just think it's a bad look in general at this point of live sports and streaming and a million networks that you're not airing something live. And the fact that this got to the level of books, putting out odds and no one in PFL realized that it's sloppy. So you're asking yourself, why does that matter? It's a massive stain on the brand name in terms of, in terms of, you know, being, being considered reputable, but also Luke, you know, the Arizona gaming commission, for example, basically cut ties with PFL. Now could that change? I'm not sure, but they removed them from their books and said we're not doing business with them anymore. Some of the bigger state betting commissions like Nevada and California,

they're putting this under review. If these big state commissions basically say F off, we don't trust you anymore, that's a bad look publicly. So I can't really remember seeing something like this happen. We've seen certain MMA stuff pre you know, pre-taped. And remember the whole debacle with the, what was it, the original Ultimate Fighter fights that Josh Gross got under Dana White's ire for sharing the results with. And my whole thing is, look, dude, I don't care when you film them. Put it live.

Like, this should never happen. And now that we are, as a community community embracing betting so so aggressively you know i mean on cbs sports on beyond i mean everywhere everywhere right we're hoping to get some of that betting money on this show too mother mother effers um you gotta die you gotta tighten that that ship up i mean we got an nfl team in vegas luke you gotta you gotta make sure tim donahue's not coming through that door if you know what i'm saying yeah i mean the last thing i'd say on this is in it i think the point you raised was right, we've seen kind of like pre-taped fights that were broadcasted later

for the reality show, and we've seen that for some of the overseas promotions at times. But I'm just going to say this. For a North American promotion that is on a big network, which I know they're on ESPN Plus and ESPN 2 and occasionally other places inside the ESPN family, but is heavily involved in terms of advertising revenue with gambling. You bring on Ian Parker. When the fights are live, you show the odds before both guys.

And again, for this fight, they did not do that. But I just want to point out, if you are going to be in that business, please don't pre-record your fights. Only bad things can happen because somebody's going to get the wrong signal somewhere. And you're going to end up in a situation like this. And's going to be real hard to undo don't fucking do it make the fights live and then just be done with it if you can't have it you don't you don't have the inventory to share it then just don't share it simple as that now they do have a card bc that they announced for may 6th so hold on that that cage has been known to be so smart shouldn't that cage have alerted us look i, I mean, come on.

You know what I mean? Yes, the cage. I mean, this shows you how smart that cage is. Not super fucking smart whatsoever. But okay. The card they announced for the May 6th event will air on ESPN2. Kayla Harrison is back against Marina Moknatkina. I will not pretend I know who this person is.

Ray Cooper III taking on Megamed Uma Latsov, which actually is a pretty good fight. Anthony Pettis is back against Miles Price. And then Rory McDonald against Brett Cooper, which is a really good fight. But also, shout out to the ESPN Plus card. Megamed Megamed Karimov taking on Joao Zafirino, one of the most underrated fighters on the regional scene maybe ever.

Sadib Hussein on that card. Gleason Tebow Larissa Pacheco BC what stands out to you aside from let's say Kayla yeah Julia Budd also on that undercard and I think uh she's going to be the one to watch if you're a Kayla Harrison fan and seeing okay Kayla resigned with the PFL let's kickstart another tournament they said this will be her final tournament and then the following year she'll enter into more of a super fight pay-per-view role whatever the hell that means. Luke will find out. But for now, Julia Budd's got to be,

she's certainly the most decorated name in the mix, but this has got to be the fight we have to build toward, you know, in this regular season and maybe even in the championship. So that's something to watch. I don't know anything about Kayla Harrison's opponent as well, but Luke, I think you'll agree. Kayla Harrison is must-see TV without freaking question. She's the main event for a reason. Ray III arguably had the had had the kind of year last year that could compare with

Kayla in terms of turning his fortunes around I know he had already been a PFL champion but look he proved last year he's he's the real deal Ray Cooper III is coming freaking on so it'll be good to see him return what does Pettis or Rory have left here's the thing about pfl betting snafu aside dude they won me over last year they did they got enough mixture of names you know and names you don't but should and uh the cards that they've announced thus far are pretty interesting now this will be a friday night may 6th that's a crowded ass weekend if you aren't don't already know because the next night is canelo alvarez moving up to light heavyweight for a title and also that absolutely loaded UFC Phoenix pay-per-view card so Luke this should be a fun weekend of fights I wonder does Bellator have a card that weekend too

it's you know they call them they call that first Saturday in May the biggest sporting day of the year because of the Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derbyby and then boxing, yeah. NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, and typically Yankees-Red Sox series as well. So there is. Bellator 280 will be May 6th in Paris, France, B.C. That's going to be Ryan Bader taking on Czech Congo. So that'll be in the afternoon. That'll be a late afternoon dish.

You know what, Luke? You and I should go somewhere. Hold on, let me read this card real quickly, real quickly. Ryan Bader, Czech Congo. Yoel Romero versus Melvin Manhoef. Melvin Manhoef is probably going to have a terrible injury after this. But this is the one that kind of interests me. Lorenz Larkin is back on the card.

Well, I mean, Melvin Manhoef, he's been an unbelievable competitor to watch, but, dude, he's taken a lot of damage. I'm not even sure he should still be fighting, to be honest with you. But the one that stands out to me more, Soren Bach taking on Saul Rogers. Dude, Soren Bach is the guy that sent, well, I don't want to say he sent Paddy Pimblitt packing, but I watched that fight. That was a five-rounder. You know, Paddy Pimblitt came out on fire, and Soren Bach kind of withstood it

and then took it to him and was taking his back in the fifth round, you know, and beat him cleanly. Soren Bach is the guy that kind of told me, like, Paddy Pimblitt's got some work to do, and now he's over in Bellator fighting against Saul Rogers. Saul Rogers is another, I think, a good Brit on top of it. So that should be a fun, a really good fun fight. Luke, I don't know where you and I are going to be that weekend.

Maybe we go to the Jersey City studio. But I'll tell you this, Dima Stahlheimer and his wife down there in Phoenix, boy, do they want us to go to their art enclave, Luke. They say it's all ready to be wired and go put the desk in there. Let's do it. We'll do live shows. It's a hat. Look, if it, if it ends up being, I'll perform in the desert, you know that, but we'll see what happens. All right. Uh, and last but not least, we moved to topic number five, just a couple of quick hitters. BC we'll just start with the Juliana Pena one. This is getting a lot of traction in media and I understand why, but I

really want folks to take a deep breath here. Here's what she said, quote, talking about Ronda Rousey. Ronda is old news, right? I think that's what, this came to us from the MMA Hour on MMA Fighting, quote, I think that's what's incredible about her is that she opened up the door and was destroying people in 10 seconds and became a star because she was demolishing people in the first round, and that's great. But she got knocked out twice and never came back. So how legit is she? And she continued.

She had to go to pro wrestling. And I get that, and I think that's great. But as a fighter and somebody who was competitive, I know that deep down it probably truly bothers her, the fact that she went away off on two knockout losses and never came back to make her name good. If it really truly does bother her, and if it gets under her skin at the end of the day to know that, you know, her legacy is kind of ruined by that fact,

that she never came back and never got back on the horse, then I would like to invite her to please come back. And if she would like to come back, I would welcome her with open arms. BC, seems to me that what's happening here is that Peña is responding to the incentives of the market, which is to say unfair and outrageous shit in order to further your own career. I don't know that I sign off on, like, there's a couple of bits of truth to this for sure, but there's a lot of it that's clearly designed. It's designed to be false so that she can, you know, either get a fight with Rousey or get her name out there.

And I don't like this kind of attention if it was me. But fighters do. And this is what they say. So, of course, it's wrong, BC. But my point is, so what? Yeah, I think she's really smart here. So, since Peña's won the title, she's gotten the pro wrestling promo down very well and knows how to deliver it and bring attention.

Let's not forget, Luke. She played the narrative up. What was that? They were enemies on the ultimate fighter. Yeah. Juliana Pena talked wicked shit about Ronda Rousey on that show. And let's not forget. Yeah.

And of course, Pena was supposed to fight Rousey before it all fell apart or she was closing in on the chance. I remember all that, but here's the deal though. Let's not forget Pena played up the narrative, whether true or not, that Amanda had promised her that title shot at, what, UFC 200 after beating Tate

and never came through with it, and she's scared of me, and we were all leading into that fight with Amanda going, come on, Juliana, really? Well, whatever, Luke. It was the motivation she needed to come through. Now, look, she's getting skewered by a lot of people on Twitter, media, fans, other fighters for disparaging Ronda. Is it fair? No, but there are some pretty damning strong kernels of truth in what she's saying. But I think she's calculated here and I think that's smart. What's the best

thing you can do for yourself? Lure back in a Ronda Rousey for a big fight in a fight you probably can win and continue to build your star if, of course, you can defeat Amanda in the rematch. But, Luke, you don't care what's going on in WWE, but Rousey made her comeback at WrestleMania, had a title match with Charlotte Flair that was supposed to main event the first night. Last minute, she was told, you're not going on last. Steve Austin is. He's going to have that match. I mean, it's freaking stone cold, Luke.

The reports, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, is that Rousey flipped out backstage and basically threatened not to come out and perform. So she had another kind of meltdown. She came out. The match was not well received. She had been off a long time. I think, Luke, the Ronda Rousey WWE experience, for the most most part has kind of run its course. Could she continue on and do big things? Yeah, if she wanted to, but there's no wow factor anymore. This is perfect timing if you're a Giuliana Pena, whether it's realistic or not, to get back the biggest name in there to give you that payday that you wanted all along.

So you could say, hey, Luke, maybe you need to focus on Amanda right now. I'm sure she's focusing heavily on Amanda, but this shows you're somebody who's smart, who's trying to build to the future. I'll just say this, like, here's the thing. I saw some people being like, you know, like, how could she say something like this? Listen, did Rhonda leave after two fights? And by the way, to hear that she had a meltdown backstage from Dave Meltzer's reporting isn't like the, I mean, is that on-brand behavior or is that on-brand behavior? I mean, the least surprising story I've ever heard about her.

You know, her exit from the sport was not great. It was not great, you know. But I've seen a lot of folks being like, how can she say something like this and blah, blah, blah. Yes, of course. If you want to be fair to Ronda and be reverential about her and say the things that are closer to the truth and of course you have to say about all of her pioneering work and how she kick-started the women's game and got everything possible and if it wasn't for Ronda there wouldn't be a Juliana and I'm on board with all that I don't like it when fighters say outrageous awful shit about their opponents to

be quite honest with you I don't like it at all. But the truth is, I don't understand how people can be fans of the sport and not look around and say, dude, as a fighter, you know, and a lot of them don't do it. Gilbert Burns doesn't do it, for example, not anymore anyway. This is what they are incentivized to do, to say outrageous, awful things, in many cases, untrue or at a bare minimum, unfair, certainly not complete in order to get the kinds of attention and other fights that they want. They are intentionally agitating into being provocative to get somewhere. Now you could go as far as the Colby Covington route where you can take it to a really another level, or you can just do what she's done, which is, you know, draw the ire of marks online and whoever else. So it's not that we are ascribing truth value to what she's saying,

or that, you know, you like it. I mean, it doesncribing truth value to what she's saying or that, you know, you like it. I mean, it doesn't do much for me one way or the other, but at a bare minimum, it's like, if you have been around the sport for a while, you don't have to personally weigh in when fighters bicker at one another. All you have to do is sort of take a step back and say, what is the purpose of this? Is she really doing this because she believes it may be part of it? Is she doing this to get ahead in her career? That's usually the best Occam usually the best that's usually the best explanation and it works because here we are talking about it and it works because i don't know if it's going to get ronda back but

it's going to get people to hate her as she goes into the amanda nunez rematch and i got news for you she's going to say more disparaging shit about amanda as well, whether it's true or it's not, for the purposes of aggrandizement in the game. Well, maybe it's her truth, Luke. Maybe it's truth for her, and so also for them. In fact, I'd like you to be quite candid with you to be more truthful on the show, because you soft-pedaled that shit saying,

Rousey's exit from the sport, what did you say? It didn't go as planned. It wasn't great, yeah. It was fucking disastrous. I mean, not just the little-not conversation, but this too. Disastrous. I mean, not just the little knob conversation, but this too. Disastrous? She lost twice. Is that disastrous?

No, the handling of it. And that's not me being disrespectful to the mental health challenges. And I know she openly considered. I was there for UFC. What was it? 209 where she bottomed out? 207? Whatever one where she, remember she refused to do any media?

And then Dana White came through. That's when Dana White told me that Nate Diaz was bigger than me. That was the, that was that press conference or that scrum that he did. So yes, dude, did she handle it poorly? Like that's the worst shit I've ever seen an elite fighter do. I've never seen that before or since. At UFC 205 before the weigh-in, they did the stare down with Nunes and Rousey and she refused to do

interviews there and there was a report she had a big meltdown backstage so I'm not here to clown on anyone who had legitimate mental health challenges and let's not forget she went on the Ellen show and said you know I considered suicide like that's serious to me but look her handling of her exit from the sport and the yeah I mean it's fucking disastrous it's about as it's about as from high to as low as you can get, and it just was never a good look across the board. I mean, that's your personality in a lot of ways, Luke. It is what it is, but I'm not going to sit here and damn pain you

for finally getting to this point, realizing how this game is played, and then playing it, Luke, okay? The thing is, Luke, you know, whether we're talking about corporate politics or whatever, it's a dirty game. You don't have to play it dirty to win, but you do have to play it, okay? Start playing that shit. Yes, that is true. There's a couple quick hitters on some fights that were made.

Jan Blachowicz versus Rakic. It'll be May 14th. Oh, yeah. Give me that shit. Give me that. Same card. Caitlin Shukagian, Amanda Hibas, May 14th. Also BC.

Luke, Shukagian resigned, and it was up in the air that they might not resign her despite being ranked number two in the division. I wonder what kind of contract she took. I wonder what kind of contract she took because she didn't have much leverage. And then last but not least, BC, we saw him box his amateur bout with a ton of terror in his face when he was getting punched. But Frank Gore is going to make his pro pro boxing debut on may 14th with none other

than game bread promotions which i believe is jorge masvidal's organization so and look nobody cares but i gotta take an l all dead wrong myself that week that he was preparing to fight darren williams the ex-nba point guard i i went on this camera many times and said guys i've seen the look that i need to see frank gore's gonna to go in there and commit a homicide against you. Well, in fairness, I saw the same look. I was there with you. It was tremendous. I was dead wrong because Darren Williams knew how to handle himself, Luke.

Okay? He let those hands go. That's that Fortis MMA training, bro. But, yeah, dude, I mean, Frank Gore looked intimidating as shit. What do you want me to say? Darren Williams was all – I mean, he's big too, but he was nice. He was, you know – Frank Gore was kind of hunched over and just literally he was ready to hurt something.

But that's why you got to fight him out. All right. Maybe those days are behind us, Luke, doing that celebrity stuff. Who knows? We'll see what happens, all right? From your lips to God's ears. Of real fights, though, okay? Not only are we ready for real fights, Luke,

we've got this great e-mail address, so I want to instruct our fans. If you're going to send shit, don't send it to BC's DMs. He's not going to help you out. Go to Mikey Mormarl, our great producer at morningcombat at gmail.com. Friday's dead wrongs and Wednesday, it's you and your tight t-shirts that you bought

from our merch site. Thank you very much. It's called Fan Submissions. Woohoo! We've got mail, listeners. Yes, yes. We need a sound thing that we can play with that. You've got mail, and then someone going, listeners. I'm told by our staff that Rosie has touched base with our team.

She says thank you very much. She's going to enjoy those gift cards, Luke. Got a whole lot of Rosie there. By the way, this could be a completely fabricated thing that we're just repeating from the producers because we've seen no evidence of this, but they claim that there's a Rosie and they claim that they've given her prizes. They're like, please give us a five-star review on Apple. We'll never give you anything, even though we claim we did.

Yeah, that's great. Okay. We are giving them that live show, Luke. All right? We are. Yes, that's true. That part is true. Yes show luke all right we are yes that's true that part is true yes ifw baby we start off with ryan this week hey guys love the show and appreciate the analysis as well as the candor candor and topics outside of fighting i hope

this gets a chuckle or two from you that's not how we spell tuki. We spell it like it's written in Spanish, so we spell it T-U-Q-U-I. But the hilarity of this is they had sent this to me before the show, and I sent this to my wife, and even she thought it was fucking hilarious. So, yeah, it's good. So, Luke, they sent it to you to make sure that you didn't flip out, right? Because it's family. It's family, Luke. Yeah, yeah, just to make sure that you didn't flip out, right? Because it's family. It's family, Luke.

Yeah, yeah, just to make sure that it was all wholesome. And it's quite wholesome. It's very funny. Okay, because if they put Reggie Jackson in a meme, you're damn right I'd be into that, Luke. Okay, there you go. This one's from Jordan, a self-proclaimed MK superfan here. Not only am I in the audience all day, nearly every day, I am currently in jail as it relates to the January 6th unpleasantness. I have never worn gloves while lifting because I do

not lift. That being said, I believe there is no upper bound limit to this meme. I've personally viewed it 49 times and believe it a worthy addition to your program. If you want to win another award, you should do well to feature this meme on your program. Can we go full screen? I've got to read this.

They did. They did. This one is very good. Although, in fairness, this has turned out to be Purple Monkey Dishwasher, where every time you tell the story, you slightly change one element of it so that over time it bears no resemblance to the actual story.

The actual story was not in high school I could drink. I didn't drink hardly at all. It will come as a great surprise to you if you see. I did not party much in high school. Made up for it in college. The argument was after college when I had sort of fully filled out. I was about 230, 240. I remember one time I drank 18 beers and I didn't feel a thing.

And I remember that quite distinctly. So I had guessed that 40 was possible at that point. That was the claim. Your lying ass said you could still do it. I got to find the tape. Maybe it wasn't one of those. Oh, yes. There might have been a time early in MK when I was drinking every day

where I probably could have, but today I don't think I could drink four without fucking croaking. You're like, I could dunk. I could drink 40 beers. And then, you know, to be fair, Luke, people think we didn't tell the name of the liquor that you shot because we were drinking. What was it, actually? I forget. Thick Boy Wig Ski. It wasn't, Luke, people think we didn't tell the name of the liquor that you shot because we were drinking. What was it, actually? I forget.

Thick Boy Wig Ski. It wasn't, Luke. It was the Kraken. But there's a reason why we didn't tell you because one time you disparaged a sponsor on air and they had to reprimand you. Yes, I did disparage. I didn't know they were a sponsor. So what do you want me to do? Well, two shots of the Kraken got you loose. I thought you were going to take your top off, Luke. Also, I didn't feel they were a sponsor. So what do you want me to do? I'll tell you the truth. Well, two shots of the Kraken got you loose.

I thought you were going to take your top off, Luke. It was cool. Also, I didn't feel a thing from that, but, you know. Oh, sorry. Let me get corrected here. Dead wrong me on a Wednesday. Our producer, Ashley, who's given this show a lot of great things, including our new set and one-time COVID, Luke,

she says it's Bacardi spiced rum that you drank too of. Yeah. Who smiles less, Ashley or Grumpy Cat? Yeah. Apparently smiles less Ashley or grumpy cat? Yeah. Apparently that, yeah, I won't say anything else that I'll get. Yeah.

All right. Let's keep it going. We love Ashley. This one's from Derek. Hey guys, Derek, the barber here from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Looking forward to seeing you guys in July for international fight week. It blows my mind how terrible BC is with names and words like ear. I'm glad he's a good sport about being hazed also it's michelle porrera not potato or potato you simple fucking i know you kept saying on the show you kept saying m Mary Bell. That's how they say it in my country, Luke. I'm sorry. Meet our bell. Luke, if we ever make it to Idaho, I want Derek cutting my hair, okay? And he won't charge $100 either, I'll tell you that much.

Better not. I'm getting my hair cut today. I'm going to get fucking robbed again. In your house or are you going somewhere? No, no, no. I'm going to the place I go to, but it's... All right, what's the listed price? Because I pay $24, but I get a massage, and I get a hair wash and a face thing.

So I get a hair wash, and they'll do a slight beard trim for free, and then the list price is $85. Oh, dude, get the... Luke, Luke, what is wrong... Bro, what is wrong with you, bro? Dude, how many times do we have to have this fucking argument? Have I not shown you real estate prices in this city? I've literally sent you pictures of what shit goes for you, and it's out of fucking control. If you told me that your haircut was regular price, like 50 bucks because it's prime hipster city, I'd go.

Okay, hold on. So the best haircut I ever got, I went to a place years and years ago. They still might be around. It's a chain in this area. There might be a couple outside of D.C. It's called the Grooming Lounge. And I used to go there, and they would bring you a cocktail. They'd do a massage.

They'd do the face towel. Whole thing, $45. And I met a lady there. She quit Grooming Lounge, but she was so good. She came to my house for a couple of years and would cut my hair, same price every time. But she moved to another part of the country, and I lost. And so I went to a couple places that were like $30 and $40, and they would cut my hair same price every time but she moved to another part of the country and i lost and so i went a couple places that were like 30 and 40 and they were fucking my hair up i went to this other place it's 85 90 and dude i grant that is an insane shit price to pay i don't like it but i don't know where to go to get a price we're back i'm

back at 50 if you can show me that price i'll do it reach if it doesn't come within around if you get what i'm saying then it's a rip-off luke and by the way one day when tuki follows uncle gringo's journey into community college i'll call her up and tell her why you couldn't afford it okay you see you're coming to the city on what day so you're coming in june or whatever right father's day weekend here's my challenge to you you seem to think that i am very confused and that you can navigate the city's haircutting places far easier than I could. Challenge is on, buddy. You can come here.

Show me a place where you can get a $50 haircut that looks good in the city. Show me. There were years in this job, 2019 is one of them, where I was just traveling a stupid amount almost every other week. Dude, I've gotten haircuts in Las Vegas, New York, Los Angeles. It is not.

It is just not. It's not, Luke. Okay? Yeah, I've gotten haircuts. When I went to Vegas for the Canelo fight, I got a haircut for 50 bucks. Dude, I'm interested in $50 haircut places that do a good job. I can't find them. My point is, Luke, you'll agree with this while you sometimes can have a nice

styled head of hair you don't have like elaborate you know bgl hair that needs to be like permed and and like you know what i'm saying look for 85 bucks am i telling you that my haircut is amazing have i ever said that it's a very stand every time i go i went to cartagena and i was showing the guy on my phone what kind of haircut I want. He's like, oh, it's a classic cut. I'm like, yeah, that's all I want, bro. I just want a classic cut. You know what I'm saying?

Dude, help me. If you've got to figure it out, by all means, bro, throw down that challenge. I would love to see it. I would love to see it. Can I give a quick shout-out? Luke, I don't get cheap haircuts either, but I've got to give a quick shout-out to my barber, Dion, because he loves combat sports,

and I talk to him about combat sports every time i get a haircut and i put him on to mk and all the showtime shit oh shit so shout out to my barber dion you gotta ask dion to come to the mk studios and hook it up that's what you gotta do bro i'll ask him i'm getting a haircut in the next couple of days i'll ask him tell him i was watching that comedy special that showtime put out a couple years ago. You might be surprised. Do you know what Shob has? Oh, here you are doing bits. Here you are doing skits and bits. Shob has a barber named Jamal who's Asian as shit.

I listened to it, Luke, okay? I'm telling you this, all right? It was great. All right, here's Dave from Baltimore, the Beltway factory town. Long-time Luke fan, but BC's growing on me. I don't hate him or gas station delicacies once in a while. Best show in the game. Keep on donking.

What is this here? It's a little involved. It's a little involved, but the gas station taquito safe place might be the hit of this whole thing. Oh, God. Luke, imagine if you and I sat down for a some type of long-range interview with anthony smith and we just put it all on the table that might be needed luke okay let's just air all the grievances out i think i think that's i think we're due i think we're due yeah because lionheart i wonder if lionheart's factory town mma ready and i just haven't

haven't realized this luke okay yeah you haven haven't realized it. That's the reality. Him and I could train together. That'd be great. I could maybe turn him against you. That'd be a nice turn of events. Hey, Danger Mouse is back with memes to showcase the glory of MK winning not one but two awards last week. So congratulations from me. And now on with the memes.

Just a quick topical one to start with. A little strong. A little strong. But we served people up with the memes. Just a quick topical one to start with. It's a little strong. A little strong, but we served people up with that slap. You know what I'm saying? Secondly, now, BC, you said you wanted to give Luke a gold vape pen, so I've designed one for you. I think I've done pretty well on the wording on the plaque. Maybe it will help him quit.

BC, a special gift for Luke on Williamson. To my friend, co-host, fellow Donkin award winner, every time you suck on this, think of me. Your friend, Brian Campbell. Wow, Luke. I'd use that too. Yeah, you would.

Finally, we have Luke's family's reaction to the news of the award. God. God. Oh, that one hits close to home yeah god damn that is vicious yeah it does wow all right hey the best part is dude the best part is they can do this because they'll never see it they'll never see it they'll never see it no they won't they won't um hey antoine from alaska sent us one i don't think he sent it to the address send that shit in i want to see the mountains with you dude that guy antoine the guy that that ran the steps of january 6th and kept running to

alaska guys pulls off chigs at six foot eight there in alaska just sweep look i would do i bet you it's deadwood south there dakota like i would do damage up there in that 50th state with 49th, whatever. All right. Damage to your liver. Damage to your dong. All right. This one's from at Rodriguez works. Good morning, gents. I would like to introduce you to an MK ultra comic cover starring Luke Thomas and King CT.

I won't bore you with all the details of the zombie horde, but I'm sure you'll figure out all of the Easter eggs, eggs, eggs, eggs, coming from an OG listener who has suffered the pressures of rage, tirades, rants, malpractices, tech difficulties, dick jokes, soap boxes, insults, hearts on sleeves, and joy, we are loyal. We are the crushed. We are the diamond donks. And yes, donk is played out luke your thoughts on this go back and blow it up a little bit here let me see this yeah cory can you blow this guy

okay so i get a couple of these um the hot dog i get the person next to the dinosaur skeleton is because you said people and man walked on earth at the same time the sad guitarist with his shoes untied that's Jay right and I guess I guess that's Anthony Smith at the top and then the old person is like the one you make fun of on what you call it

who's in the top left can we zoom in on that is that a Texas flag? Okay, so it's the BBL to the far left. Who am I punching with the weights? That's the one I don't quite get. That guy's got two shake weights. Yeah, I don't get that one.

Then the Davey Crockett hat. Is that Shavkat Rachmanov? All right, so who's the dude with the ax? Oh, my live view cut out or BC's cut out. Okay. BC's cut out. All right. So, all right. So then there's the predator holding the flag of, I'm not sure what that is. And then in the far back, I don't know what that is at all. Do we know what that is? Corey, you got any guesses? I guess it's just, yeah, no worries.

Well, I got to say, this is the most devotion to an art project around mk that i think i've ever seen short of the unbelievable photoshops of web scream it's pretty good i think i think that is that dude the guy who sings those terrible those songs the guy in the purple jacket at the very top left oh no no no you mean the bottom bottom left yeah with the weights yeah that might be but i don't know why he's got weights give us a second we'll uh we'll push it back in yeah we're we're can they hear bc or not they can't hear bc I see BC on Zoom. He's going to join us here in a second.

I got to say, this is a pretty well done drawing. I guess BC's side is a little bit more decipherable than mine. But I got to say, me being the Incredible Hulk in all green and punching someone in the face, very on brand. Very on brand. Love that one a lot. That's good. Yeah, we're still waiting on BC's thing.

Hey, put this on. My wife got me a new vape, which I should not be smoking, but, you know, addiction's a funny thing. Check this out. It lights up. Ready? I'm a fucking two-year-old.

Hey. Look at that. Alright, we can close the show, can't we? I mean, what are we doing? Alright, BC's saying not to close it. He's saying not to close it because he wants to get back on. We have one more fan sub. Perfect timing.

Alright, BC says I can throw to it. Now, I don't have any set up here, but we're going to play it. So this is the last... At Crazy Crumps, he made the last fan sub. Let's hit it if we can, Corey. What's up, donks? I'm here in Liverpool with yours truly, the only scouse, Jan Sixer. I've only got three things to say.

Brian, fuck you, and fuck your liver. Two, Luke, fuck you and your liberal coffee orders. I mean, if that is just not the greatest thing you've ever seen in your life, I really don't know what is. Okay, so BC wants me to tell you guys that that guy is going to get free merch because that was unbelievable. That was perfect. That's exactly what we wanted. If you notice, that was the poster that was up on one of the, I guess, famous bridges in Liverpool. Pardon me, I don't know a lot about Liverpool. Billboard, excuse me, Billboard, not poster. Billboard. And we were like, take a picture with it,

get some free merch. My guy, who has a Scouse accent, loving Trump. Don't see a whole lot of those, I guess. Nevertheless, though, he did exactly what we asked. He insulted us, which is perfect. You will get free merch, sir. You will get free merch. Oh, okay, so email the show, sir.

MorningCombat at gmail.com MorningCombat at gmail.com and we will get you some free merch sir you will get free merch tell him to oh okay so email the show sir morningcombat at gmail.com morningcombat at gmail.com and we will get you some free merch all right we can hear bc now i'm back just in time for you to close the show but that guy was that guy how does that guy not live in you know somewhere in a van down by the river ready to run the steps again luke this guy's fantastic you? If you're going to flee the scene after January 6th, you might as well just go leave the country. That's really the key here. Might as well just go back to Liverpool. Apologies for the tech difficulties, Luke. I forgot to plug it in.

I mean, that's where we're at with this award-winning show, I guess, right? Listen, for once, it ain't me. For once, motherfucker. Yeah. Yeah. All right. BC uh good show today the demetrius johnson interview one more time is out when it'll be out later today 3 30 p.m eastern time go to youtube.com slash uh morning combat and you can check it out okay so uh there you go there's our social

handles luke i'll i might be going on vacation or i might not we'll see if my family can recover well if not you'll be on the show with us on friday and uh oh excuse me if you if you don't go on vacation you'll be with us on the show on friday if you are on vacation we'll still have a good friday preview show as well we're working on that already so uh thumbs up on the video hit subscribe again showtime is a label that pays showtime.com 30-day free trial if you like it you can keep it if not you can bounce morningcombat.store is going to be the place to get that merch and again we will uh send it out to the person who uh what was his name crusty clown or crusty crumps or whatever the fuck uh his his name was at crazy crumps crazy

crumps crazy crumps uh we'll get you some merch as well. All right. Thanks to everyone who watched. We'll be back on Friday. Got a lot more content in the in-between. So thanks to Malka, CBS Sports, BC's Live View, and Showtime. Until next time, may all of your gains be loyal.