MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - 🚨UFC 287 Results: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2 | UFC 287 Post-Fight Show

Episode Date: April 9, 2023

At UFC 287, Alex Pereira will battle rival Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight championship. In the co-main event, Jorge Masvidal faces Gilbert Burns in the welterweight division. The ESPN+ pay-per-view main card also features Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio, Adrian Yanez vs. Rob Font and Raul Rosas, Jr. vs. Christian Gutierrez. We'll go over all of the results from these bouts plus offer analysis, answers to your questions and more. Morning Kombat is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher 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

Is that better? I think now we're cooking. Now we're cooking. I switched over. Sorry, I had to switch everything around, so it got a little bit messed up, but I think we're cooking now. Now we're cooking, right? UFC 287 results, I think we're good now. Sorry about that. Had to get it all set up. All right, UFC 287, I'm Luke Thomas. I'm one half of the host of Morning Combat. We're going to get this cooking. All right. Cooking with gas. UFC 287 post-fight show. I've got a tweet up.

If you want to post a question, I'll take a look at those. We'll get to them at the end. Sorry for all the issues. We're good to go now. Took me just a couple of minutes, but we worked it all out. We're going to get to everything that is available. So one more time, thumbs up on the video. Please hit subscribe.

Thank you for patiently waiting. I greatly appreciate it So one more time. Thumbs up on the video. Please hit subscribe. Thank you for patiently waiting. I greatly appreciate it. One more time. UFC 287 took place at the Casilla Center in Miami, Florida. Of course, live on pay-per-view. In your mother effing main event. The champion again. Israel Adesanya.

Adesanya. Whatever you want to say. Defeating Alex Pareda. Via punches. K.O. Adesanya, whatever you want to say, defeating Alex Pereira via punches, KO, at 421 of round number two. Holy shitballs, everyone. Holy shitballs. It doesn't work the same because they didn't have the exact same history. In fact, there was disputed draws and losses and it's not the same, but in the fourth meeting between Juan Manuel Marquez

and Manny Pacquiao, Marquez sent Pacquiao to the land of wind and ghosts in the worst KO of his career. I don't know if his career was really ever the same after that, to be quite honest with you. I mean, he fought Floyd after that, but it didn't, you know,

what do you want to say about that fight? Either way, we talk about these meetings where it's like your fourth time, and if you haven't beaten them, what really is going to be different this time? But the reality is, it can always be different, of course. And the truth is,

for someone like Izzy, I think he was bothered by some of the talk. That his time was up. That this guy had his number. That he had no hope of ever returning. No hope of ever being champion again. He was going to be in career limbo. I mean, listen, if he had lost tonight, what would he really have done?

I don't know if 205 is the best fit for him, although I think he can obviously win fights up there and beating some names. But his frame is really best suited for this weight class. I think his speed is best at this weight class, or at least it's certainly whatever advantages conferred. He still has it at 185. He's got better punching power, I think, at 185 and everything else. But this was, I mean, this was it. This was the moment. It was either going to, you had to win this, or really it wasn't going to be clear what else you could really do. It isn't to say you couldn't keep fighting, but fighting for what?

Fighting in what ways? Fighting for whatever had to happen. I don't know if he was putting that kind of pressure on himself more than he wanted to, you know to settle scores, not keep them, which was what he was saying previously. But this was an absolutely critical juncture in his career. And sometimes what separates fighters, even though Pereira had the three wins over him, and two of those wins via vicious KO, what really separated them in terms of how far apart they were in ability was not necessarily that much in either direction. And frankly, it goes to show you

that in either case, in either Izzy's case or Paredes' case, if you make a mistake against either guy, the consequences are catastrophic. They're catastrophic. So let's talk about how he did it. And then I want to talk about some of the broader themes because that's what everyone else is going to be talking about too. How did he do it? It was a sneaky right hand. And it wasn't just, he was kind of covering up and then he rolled with it and then threw it. And then another one landed on top of it. And then I think he followed up on the ground.

But by that time, I mean, when Pareda crashed to the mat, his head bounced off of it. Right? So he was done by the time he crashed. But to me, it was not just that he threw this right hand when Pineda was kind of attacking. There is something to be criticizing Pineda for. In fact, Gabriel Varga has made an entire YouTube video about this. He's a great kickboxer. He fought in Bellator kickboxing,

Glory kickboxing, a bunch of other places. Highly decorated Canadian guy. Very nice. And he was sort of pointing out, I mean, you guys can see it. Like when Pareda holds his hands, he kind of holds them out here a little bit. Now he's so tall and he's so rigid and he has such good vision that he kind of gets away with it. He doesn't have tremendous head movement, either offensively or defensively. He doesn't really sit it up and then slip and all that kind of stuff. He brings his hands up a little bit to the middle, and he kind of leans and gets out of the way, but not like to the side, just kind of straight back sometimes. Or sometimes he doesn't really move at all.

He kind of keeps his hands out there, which is why that right hand, not the final one, but the end of the first round in the first MMA fight, so the last contest, where you saw Izzy kind of jab and then hold it and then throw the right over the top and then he had a great success. But notice why he was able to do it. He could do it and even step at an angle and then throw. And the reason why was pretty obvious, right? Because Paredes' hands are kind of out here.

It's almost like he's driving a car, right? They're really out here. Look at all this space, you know? And it sounds like, oh, well, anybody could take advantage of that. Like, hardly anyone could take advantage of that because he has other ways of setting up his game that make this not as much of a normal liability. But when you're getting in close like that and you're trying to finish off another guy who's hurt but not done, and you're fighting out here like this, everything is just completely wide open. He's just wide open. But the bigger part to me is not even that. The bigger part to me is, I don't know, man, maybe Izzy had to get finished in the last fight. Maybe he had to

be pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed. And maybe he had to be, you know, driven to the spot that he was in, but it worked. I mean, he's been criticized of late for having, you know, relatively boring fights. The first round, I thought, was kind of quiet. Second round was definitely heating up, but the point I wanted to make was, it was not just that Panetta kind of holds his hands a little bit low, and that Izzy had the presence of mind to throw the right hand, that's nice. But it all started with the reformation in attitude. It all started with the reformation, I thought, in game plan. Yes, he was doing some sticking and moving in this contest, which I think you have to. He was getting pressured at times, which of course is inevitable, but he was doing much more pressuring this time. To me, he was much

more offensively minded this time. This time, I think even amidst getting just shelled and battered by Pereira, he had an offensive mind. I mean, go back to the last fight. Go back to the last fight when he's getting pressured. What does he normally do in those circumstances? He tries to juke, cover, and escape. Or juke, cover, and then clinch. He didn't do that. He didn't do that this time. He rolled, waited, and fucking popped him, man. That's what he did.

He fought fire with fire this time. And look at the result. Look at the result. at the result that was the difference he was this close the first time they fought in kickboxing in fact you could argue he should have won it and he was winning in the second kickboxing fight before he made a catastrophic mistake and of course he paid for it and he won the majority the vast majority of the first MMA fight until he didn't. And in this one, he was like, not only do I have to shed the demons of all of this,

which I want to talk about in just a second, but more importantly, what has to change in order for me to get a different result? Where you're getting this close and this close and this close. And the answer was, he was kind of always in awe of, not in awe, but he was too deferential to me in the first MMA fight. He was just way too deferential. Where there were times where he was attacking again at the end of the first round of the first MMA fight. But in general, it was a little too much sticking and moving.

A little too much accepting of pressure. And maybe he was headed towards that one again this time to an extent, right? Those leg kicks from Pereira were adding up, bro. They were really being a problem for him. And he was getting to them much quicker, much quicker, much quicker this time. I'll pull up the stats here like I always do in just a moment. But the mindset change, the game plan change came from the mindset change, but they were interlocked. They were together. You had to take the fight to this guy as best you can. That doesn't mean being a dumbass and then just running over

there. It's not what that means. But it means having a game plan that is built around pressing him backwards to the extent possible. A game plan built around, you're probably going to have to have more output. A game plan built around, you're probably going to have to have more output. A game plan built around, you're going to have to be in the line of fire more. You're going to have to take it to him however best you can. In this particular case,

the final sequence was him serving it up, but I thought Izzy was winning the second round up until I think he was having trouble with his leg, which could have swayed it. He may have lost it at the end there had it gone the full distance. It's hard to say. Again, Pareda got his licks in.

The guy doesn't suck. He's good. But the whole switch of mentality, it's not a dramatic one. It's not a dramatic one, but it's enough of one. It's significant enough to just deliver the results that he got tonight.

Just a remarkable, remarkable champion, a remarkable fighter. For everyone who complained that his fights aren't exciting enough, here you go. It takes two to do that. Of course, you have to give Pineda all the credit in the world. Again, quiet first round, but the second round was heating up. That fight was moving in, I think, a better direction than the last one was. In either case, there was just more happening earlier in the fight anyway. And he did it. And man, we got to just say, dude, like we've never seen anything like this in kickboxing or

MMA where a guy has three losses, two via KO, and then they come back and win in the fourth meeting with their own KO. After, by the way, being, again, towards the very end of that frame, I thought Izzy had done the better work in the majority of that frame. We'll look at the numbers here to see if that's true. But then getting a little bit battered with the leg kicks and it adding up. Man, I just want to talk about that for a second. This guy lost his title. He had to come out and walk out first. He came out to Headstrong, I take you on,

which I don't like as a song. I hate that song. But, I mean, I just want folks to imagine something here. We had Rashad Evans on. We talked to him this week for MK. And he talked about losing to Machida and then how hard it was to come back against Thiago Silva, where he had to get a mental coach and all this doubt and fear and everything else.

Just utterly, I won't say incapable of putting himself together, but like struggling with it. Really, like almost having to like pantomime it to get through it. Imagine having been knocked out twice, right? Not back to back, but in, you know, because obviously it was only one MMA fight in this time. The last kickboxing fight in some time had elapsed. But I'm pointing out to the same guy gets the one decision win, then gets the KO, then gets another KO.

You lose your title and you have to come back. And if you don't beat that guy, your career is in serious Rich Franklin no man's land territory. And then to get out there and win. And I want to make one more point about this, if I may. Dude, after he lost that fucking belt at the last time they competed, he had a real difficult choice to make. And everyone can say that they're going to make the choice to double down and really fix it and double down and get the result and double down and do those things. But a lot of times it all ends up happening what Rashad went through, which is they kind of pantomime it

and they can't actually make themselves believe it. And they struggle with it. And maybe they win, maybe they lose, but they barely look like themselves. Or sometimes they just lose outright. In fact, there's stats where guys get finished. Oftentimes when they come back, they don't, especially when they're older,

they don't win any subsequent contests. It's like, that's it. Like they lose the immediate. I think it's true for all, irrespective of age. age if you get knocked out then the chances are you lose your next bout um that is a absolutely in mma in mma that is without parallel i think the most i've ever seen an elite fighter who still got viable years in front of him with his back up against the wall answer the call and rise to the occasion like this i don't know if i've ever seen anything quite like this uh in terms of the very specific nature of this rivalry the way in which he had lost the responsibility

he had in this contest because remember what he had said like how was izzy beating forget about this fight forget about the last fight with potato all the other fights before this one how was Izzy beating? Forget about this fight. Forget about the last fight with Panetta. All the other fights before this one. How was Izzy able to do that? How was he able to win? Takedown defense, which got much better over time, particularly along the fence line, less so in the inside space of the octagon. And he was just a much better striker. He had better footwork. He was more creative. He was more accurate. He lorded that kickboxing ability over them and then shored up some of the other defensive liabilities to make that a more complete package. And of course, he's had takedowns of his own. He threw up a triangle on Gastelum, blah, blah, blah. But that's really the crux of it. But he couldn't really do that in the same kind of way to Pineda. And I thought there was going to be more wrestling. And maybe

there was some in the game plan, but he didn't even go to the wrestling this time. Earlier this week, someone had asked me, what's a good game plan? And I thought the Corey Sandhagen game plan against Chito Vera was going to be something of a blueprint, right? Where you're doing some sticking and moving, but you're also leading a little bit more. And then mixing and takedowns, top control time, put

in some ground and pound down there, some insurance in there, right? Some money in the bank. And then as the rounds go on, you know, just sort of lap them out. Again, maybe that's what would have happened if it had kept going or something. It's really hard to say, but it didn't look like it. It didn't look like wrestling him out was in the game plan. It didn't look like any of that really was in play. It was just, we're going to beat him with what our strengths are one way or the other. And he did it. And he fucking did it, man. It was just, we're going to beat him with what our strengths are one way or the other.

And he did it. And he fucking did it, man. That is just one of the most unbelievable things. Man, you guys know, I've been ride or die for that guy from almost the beginning and with good reason. He's just one of the most electric, amazing talents I've ever seen. And that doesn't, of course, that only continues tonight, but I wasn't even sure about this one. I picked him to win on MK, I did, but I wasn't sure about it, man. I was like, this is a tough one. I thought he could do it, but I knew it was going to be real dicey, but to think he was going to go there and do that. Again, you know, he was hurt. But the presence of mind and just the offensive orientation to do something like that.

And man, you know, I've seen people all week shit on this. Not just all week, but especially this week. Absolutely shitting on this guy. Dismissing him. Writing him off. My lord, the number of people who called him cringe this week for wearing the dog collar and everything else. It's like, look, man, you know, maybe someone else's theatrics work for you. Maybe they don't. But in the face, I mean, can you imagine this? In the face of all of that and all these people, all the negativity, everything, all of it,

silencing it all at once. Like, dude, his, I mean, his belief in himself, I'm sure it wavered at times. I'm sure on some part of him, like the reason why it felt so good is because he felt the heat of the doubt. But dude, his mind to do something like that, to mentally steal yourself when I think he was, maybe he was the underdog, maybe he was the favorite. If he was the favorite, it was ever so slight. But either way, neither guy was a heavy favorite, whoever it ended up being. But amidst all of the broader narrative doubt, amidst all of the broader, I mean, I think his peers talking about him and I think also his just recognition of where his career is at this stage if a win is not produced and everything else, dude, his fucking mind bulletproofed it.

He bulletproofed himself, you know, mentally anyway. He mentally bulletproofed himself where even hurt, even under duress against a guy who KO'd him twice and beaten him three times. He still had the presence of mind after all of that to sit there, wait for his opportunity, and throw in the middle of the fucking firing. In the middle of the fucking rounds coming down range, zipping by, right? And you can hear it. It's making your ear ring just from the pocket it's creating as it

passes you. In the middle of all that, he still found the opportunity to land the right hand and fucking put his lights out. Just ridiculous. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. What a champion. What an athlete. What a competitor a guy like that is. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, he's gifted athletically. Sure. Yes. He's obviously very talented as a fighter. Obviously, dude, what a competitor. What a competitor. There are the number of fighters. Your favorite fighter in all, unless it's him, obviously, your favorite fighter would not be able to deal with what he had to deal with this week. And then, of course, this boogeyman in this way, most of them, and I wouldn't even blame him. Again,

I wasn't so sure he was gonna, you know, I was like, I think he might, but it's, but to that kind of self-belief, some of that has to be manufactured. Some of that you have to will yourself to win but the other part is, man, you got to make a handshake deal with yourself. The other part of it, it always is partly like self-talk and self-rallying and self-actualization

through words and deeds and everything else but the other part of it is there has to be a part inside of you that despite all of the doubt grabs it and holds it. And there has to be that connection. That handshake has to be made between all of the positive stimuli you're giving yourself and then internally some part of it grabbing a hold of it and rooting it and then making use of it. Because you can do all the pantomiming, man. You can do all of the self-talk. You could say nice things to yourself, but if the doubt lingers

and you haven't fully addressed it, all the self-talk just won't work. Well, it fucking worked. It worked. It worked, man. To have that kind of unwavering capacity is remarkable. Now, it leads to a very basic and obvious question,

which is, well, what the hell happens next? What the hell happens next? I don't see any other way where they don't just do this another time. So a fifth fight between them. I don't see any way that they don't for a couple of reasons. One, I thought Pereira won the first round. It was close. Again, it was relatively quiet, although he did better with the leg kicks. And then in the second round, I thought Izzy was doing really well up until the leg kicks started battering him and then it compromised his movement.

So anyway, Pineda didn't look bad. He didn't look bad. He was looking like he normally looks before it all obviously collapsed under him. So for that reason, it was competitive. And the other part is, like who else, like if Paredes stayed champion,

well, that would be different, right? Because now you've got fresh matchups with Marvin Vittori. If you got fresh matchups with Whitaker, you've got fresh matchups with Paulo Costa. You got a bunch of fresh matchups. Izzy being back, all of those matchups are old again.

Like, there's no real value to that. So, I don't know what the champ now wants. Maybe he wants to go to 205, and I don't know. I have a feeling that he knows that another one of these is coming, because I just don't know who else would be. And folks might say,

well, what about Hamzat Shumayev? But Hamzat Shumayev, like, he has no top 10 win at 185. Like, you know, I'm not opposed to fast-tracking him, but he would have to get something against a top five opponent at 185 before we relent to that, right? That seems the right thing to say, I'm guessing. Anyway, so it seems almost inevitable that they will fight another time. Now, how soon? On what card? I don't really know. It's April. It's early April. It's now the 9th of April, officially is the time of

this recording. Let's see, May, June, July. Could they do International Fight Week? Unlikely. Unlikely. Maybe they could do that. I don't know if the champ wants to do that, which would be weird because Izzy and Volkanovski headlined and then co-maned, respectively, the last International Fight Week. Do they want to run that back again on this next one? Maybe they do. Maybe there's time for it. It's a quick turnaround, so I doubt it, but I'm just sort of pointing it out. But they're going to do it again. I mean, I just don't see any way. Let me pull up the rankings. Who is sitting at 185 that I'm forgetting? There must be somebody, right?

So, Whitaker sitting at 2, Vittoria at 3, Kennedy at 4. Yeah, no. Man, again, if Alex had stayed champion, you've got a bunch of fresh matchups. But without him, they're all stale again. And Deleuze didn't win, so that wouldn't be fresh. Strickland is sitting at 7. He's too far away. Yeah.

Yeah. Who the hell else is it going to be? Who the hell else is it going to be? They're going to do that one again. And by the way, like, would you count out Pareda in a fifth fight? I wouldn't. You know, this was a good win ultimately. And I mean, an absolutely triumphant moment in combat sports.

But he didn't go in there and just beat the shit out of him from beginning to end. This one was competitive and then perilous at times, and then it all kind of fell apart for him. But that is inevitable. Let's look at some of these numbers if we can, because you guys know I like to do that. So let's take a decent look. And by the way, I want to point out something too. I just sort of, you know, cards on the table. I was not able to secure an interview this week with him. I don't think he did any extra media this time. He's always doing extra media. Of course, he doesn't have to.

Again, these guys don't... You guys know my rule. Everyone's like, would you ever want to interview Jon Jones again or were you mad at him or whatever? And it's like, I mean, he doesn't owe me anything. I mean, it would be nice if he wasn't a prick

during the press conference, but he doesn't owe me anything. Same with Izzy. He doesn't owe me anything, but he didn't do morning combat. He didn't do aerial show. He didn't do anybody's show. He kind of kept to himself. Now, I don't necessarily love that.

As a media guy, of course, I always prefer to talk to the athletes, the ones that I want to talk to anyway. And he's, for me anyway, top of that list. But I want to contrast that with like the Ronda Rousey media blackout, right? Where she wouldn't do any press and was like, there was like this weird hostility to all of us after that loss to Ronda. I mean, just think about the fucking mentality of a guy like Izzy versus the mentality

of Ronda Rousey. Now she was a decorated champion. She was an Olympic bronze medalist in judo. I have great respect for her abilities and what she means to MMA and I'm not saying I could do any better I in fact I would crumble were I to have to face the same kind of insane circumstances that she did where she had to fly from Australia after getting you know upset in this historic way and you know it was all bad and you know she had this this hostility she had to the media where she wouldn't show up for anything and you know wouldn't even look anyone

in the eye and wouldn't talk to anybody and then she goes and gets fucking pasted by Amanda Nunes Izzy had three losses to the same guy two by vicious knockout and he came back here and he dialed back the extra media, but he still did media day. He still did everything else. He did the presser. He did everything he was supposed to that he's contractually obligated to do and then goes out there

and vanquishes his rival. Think about how mentally steeled you have to be if someone as good a combat athlete, athlete again bronze medalist in judo and a UFC champion after all of the pressure she felt couldn't really handle it anymore look at what he was able to do just another completely different fucking level and man you know again it wasn't I don't think it was in any way wrong to either pick Pereira to win. It won't be wrong necessarily to pick Pereira to win next time if that's the way you feel.

It's not like it's crazy. These fights are competitive. These dudes are well-matched. These are close contests, right? The first guy to make a fucking mistake is going to lose, right? I mean, that's really the way it goes with these two. But I just want to point out, people have been underestimating this dude all the way through. All the way through, dude.

I documented it after he beat Whitaker the first time when he knocked him out. Every single stage of opposition, there was someone else in his division chirping. There were media chirping, fans certainly chirping, overrated, not that good. And then as he got more into his tenure, oh, he's boring this, he's boring that. And certainly his style became a little less, there was so much tape on him. Guys had such good game plans. And also champions kind of get set

into a rhythm and a routine. He got shaken out of it by Alex Pareda, but then coming back and winning like this, man. Dude has been continuously written off, continuously shit on, continuously told that he's this or he's that. And made fun of for his unique way of thinking, his unique way of looking at the world, his unique personality. Which some things you may like about it, some things you may not.

Fine, fine. But I hope at some level, anyone who's doubted this guy, anyone who's ever had a moment where they don't think he's that great Where he's really not up to the task Yo, he's that fucking guy He's that guy I couldn't imagine The competitive pressure He put on himself The training pressure he put on himself

The guy's never out due to injury He's always in rotation He's always busy He cleaned out this fucking division And then this fucking guy who did that to him, he goes and sends him to the land of wind and ghosts. Holy shit, folks. If he doesn't have your respect after tonight, then, you know, I don't know what to tell you. Okay, looking at some of these numbers here, which I love to do, let's look at them. All right. Not a whole lot going on. First round, Pineda numerically

outstruck him, landing 20 strikes to Izzy's 15. That sounds about right. A little bit busier with those leg kicks. No control time, obviously. Second round, Pineda technically numerically outstruck him, but it gets a lot closer. 29 to 26. And obviously the last three were the ones he got from the right hook. The second one and then the one on the ground. I'm not sure how they counted it. Let's look at placement. This is the interesting one.

Leg kick. 16 in the first round by Pareda. 10 in the second round, so those slowed a little bit, but they were still pretty active. Izzy, 7 of 8 in the first round for leg kicks. Just 2 of 3. So the leg kicks, again, that changes his offense completely. And that's a fucking other thing, man. Dude, I have so much respect for this guy, and I have so much respect for what he won

today. And I know there's going to be some jerk job in the comments. Oh, fucking Luke is a nut hugger. What do people who think, you know, Red Bull tastes good think? I don't know. I don't know what these people think. But the reality is this. What was the big lesson from the Blachowicz fight? Now, partly Blachowicz was much bigger and he had the grappling and he had the top control. So that was a big one. So maybe you thought, I don't know if Izzy's ready for 205. Okay, fair. That's a fair point. But the other part was he was able to check the leg kicks that forced Izzy to push into

him and go to second order offense because he couldn't get it going. It's a fairly similar thing here. He couldn't really, he had some leg kicks that were doing good work, but there really wasn't what was doing the best work. Targeting to the head, Pineda, just one strike in the first round. One. In the second round, seven. Okay, fair enough. And to the body, three shots from Pineda, 12 from Izzy. Excuse me, three from Pineda, five from Izzy in the first, 12 from Pereira, I'm sorry, in the second, nine from Izzy to the body. Yeah, in terms of targeting, Pereira, 16% to the head, 30% to the body, 53% to the leg. For Izzy, 43 to the head, 34 to the body, and then 21 to the leg.

Let's compare that to the last fight to see where that was. Now granted, obviously that was five rounds or nearly five rounds. Okay, so is he in the first fight? 47 head, 24 body, 27 leg. In this one, he was 43, 34, 21. So he went a little bit more to the body this time and a little bit less to the leg, roughly similar to the head. For Pereira, in the first fight, he went 46, 29, 24. This time he went 16, 30, 53. So he dramatically shifted. For the sample size, it's not the same size but he dramatically re-altered his targeting again first fight 46 to the head this fight 16 30 drop in the first fight 29 to the body in this one 30 so that's the same. But to the leg in the first fight, 24% in this one, 53. 53. So he decided to make a much more concerted effort to do this. And then of course he closed range and then he got hit with the right hand and that was it, dude. What a win. Holy smokes. What a win. What a triumphant moment for a guy like that. All right, let's talk about the co-main event if we can here. Gilbert Burns defeating Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision.

30-27, 30-27, and then 29-28. Boy, after that first round, I was a little bit worried. I was like, shit, does MK have a Gilbert curse here? Because remember, we interviewed him right before the Hamzat fight, and he looked good in that one, but lost and then the first round was like a little bit more competitive than I thought it would be but uh so I was like oh shit man I don't know if I don't know if he's gonna get it done here but he got it done and um it was a little bit of a I won't say a safe performance from Gilbert but though he definitely took his time in the first round both guys did and it looked like he and he had told us this, he thought that Jorge was going to throw everything at him. He said, this is Jorge's last chance. Jorge has

acknowledged it's basically his last chance. If he didn't win, he was going to be done. And he was like, well, that means he's going to be dangerous. That means he's going to throw everything absolutely at me. That means he's going to really take it to me, which is a good way to think about it. But then he came out and he was actually hanging back and counter-striking. I think that took a second for Gilbert to get some adjustments going. But I mean, here's what stood out to me. Obviously, Gilbert's wrestling is just really, really good at this point. Once he's on the ground, he didn't have tremendous ground and pound, which is what he told us he really wanted to work on. Now, granted, Jorge is real good about collar tying, overhooking, rolling with stuff, wrist control.

So he's going to be hard to hit. So that was still a little bit surprising, but I guess maybe it shouldn't have been as surprising as it was. But good wrestling, good top control. The speed of Gilbert Burns, the hand speed with that double jab right hand that buzzed the tower a few times, I think drilled him a couple times too. I think it caught Jorge by surprise. I mean, here was just the way Jorge looked to me. He looked to me like he had a good game plan, right?

Like, let's counter-strike, let's make him pay, let's see if we can draw him into a firefight. That's not the worst idea. See what your takedown defense can do for you, see what your submission defense can do for you, and then see if you can draw him into a firefight. That's not the worst idea. See what your takedown defense can do for you. See what your submission defense can do for you and then see if you can draw him into a fight and whatnot. But the problem was, dude, he just looked old to me tonight. I have a great deal of respect for Jorge as an athlete.

I have a great deal of respect for his abilities as a fighter. I've long believed. I mean, he's always been kind of like a fighter's fighter. He's always been really well-rounded, always kind of... Sometimes he would play down to the level of his competition, but sometimes he played up. And I know he had a bunch of setbacks too.

And then he had that sojourn, quite literally, in the wilderness for the reality show in the jungle, and then came out kind of reformed in 2019 and had the the the great series of wins that he did um i've always had a great deal of respect for the guy and to come from nothing like he did where you're dropping out of school and you're fighting people in backyards like what's the long-term plan there my guy like draw a straight line between that and having multi-millions in your bank account. 99.9% of people who try that are going to not make it.

You know what I mean? But he did. But he did. I think he also had an absurd belief in himself. I think, again, he had very much well-rounded, crafted ability. He was always a guy who really worked on his game and all the different parts of it. Never quite had an ace in the hole until right about 2019 and then you know found his opportunity but I have a great deal of respect for him for what he was able to do but he he just looked old tonight he looked old he looked like he couldn't anticipate the punches coming very nimbly not that

he's ever been like great at slipping shots per se but um it just looked more so he didn't have the same pep in his step he could be i think was it the third round he was like slowly retreating towards the fence line getting flat-footed he was swelling up easy he just wasn't you know he's 38 it's 170 pounds man it's just not a great place to be it's not a great place to be and it bums me out too like i know he said he's happy with the money he made which i'm very glad to hear. But Jorge is one of these cautionary tales to an extent in the sense that he got money.

So like maybe all's well that ends well. But the part to me that kind of stands out is that he didn't make it until right until he had the very last window to make it. Right before he fell post-prime. Like right at the end of his prime. And he only made those checks at that time. And he made some good ones, but he only made it at that time.

And I would have liked to have seen him make a little bit more money. I would have liked to have seen that. I think in a different arrangement, he could have done even better than he did. Although obviously he did quite well. But he just, you know good he had good wrestling defense he had good ground-to-pound defense you know but the speed was kind of catching him when when Gilbert was

able to kind of regauge the distance and then double up on the jab or find the angle man he was lighting him up he couldn't see some of the curve shots and they were coming down here and then coming up like there was just he just didn't have the same anticipation. He didn't have the same drive. He didn't have the same durability. He didn't have the same... He just looked like weighted down almost. So Gilbert Burns afterwards was like...

It sounded like what he said was, I'm not fighting anyone else next until it's for the title. We shall see about that. He was telling us he was hoping that a win over Jorge, if he had the right performance, could potentially yield a title. Like he could jump the line over Colby. I don't think that's going to happen based on this. Obviously, if Jorge had won, he might have jumped the line.

But that's not in play. And so he retired. Let me see. What would we say is Jorge's best win is it the Till win is it the Ben Askren win maybe it's the Nate Diaz win in terms of the celebrity factor

in terms of the best win it's probably the Till win Cerrone win was good so he's got wins he finished his career on four straight losses which is about right I mean that's just again

he's 38 now but I guess, what was he back in 2019? No, excuse me, 2020. So he'd be 33 years apart, so he'd be 35. That's still pretty old. I think he was fighting Kamaru. Yeah, it's tough. So he's got wins over Nate Diaz, Askren, Till, Cerrone, Ellenberger, Pearson, Cesar Fajeda, Mutonchi, James Kraus, Darren Cruikshank, Pat Healy, Michael Chiesa Tim Means, Justin Wilcox, KJ Nunes Evangelista Cyborg, the original

Cyborg Noeke Kotani Satoru Kiraoka Excuse me Kiraoka, I apologize, Eric Reynolds And then it goes on down there from there He still has, you know, the Tobi Imada loss Kind of stands the test of time unfortunately for other reasons but he had a great career um you

know what what do you want me to say about after the post fight thing he's like a Trump's the greatest president ever and then he was like praising DeSantis which I'm guessing Trump probably won't like but whatever who cares um you know these aren't my These aren't guys I would vote for, but it's his night and God bless him for it, I suppose. Gilbert Burns looked good to me. Last thing on this, a little hesitant early, as I mentioned, not overwhelming middle and late. Remember, he's 36. He's saying that like, I don't want to fight until it's for the title. Maybe he'll get that. Maybe he doesn't. That also might signal to me that maybe he's contemplating retirement. Because at 36, he doesn't look bad. In fact, against no Magny, he looked great. He looked pretty good here tonight. But

I think he realizes that he probably doesn't have a whole lot of time otherwise. Doesn't want to risk it against somebody else. And if he has to get someone else and then loses, it sounds to me like I don't think he's very long for this welterweight road either, to be quite honest with you. All right. Wow. How about this one?

Rob Font defeating Adrian Yanez. Yes, it is pronounced Yanez. Yes, it is called. Yes, it is pronounced Yanez. There is an N-Y-A over the N. He doesn't pronounce it that way. You can say Yanez if you want. Doesn't matter. 257 of round one.

Whoa. What a performance by him. Introducing the new McSpicy from McDonald's. It looks like a regular chicken sandwich,'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 so Yanez Yanez came into this fight with a lot of hype and deservedly so he was 5-0 in the UFC tearing people up. We knew this was his biggest step up. I didn't

mind the matchmaking at all. I didn't mind the matchmaking because while I agreed that, and everyone knew Font was his toughest test, Font had tasted the top and found himself wanting. Chido Rivera and Jose Aldo and others. Lineker, others.

He's beaten a lot of other guys. Like, he's obviously very well schooled, has one of the best jabs in the sport, you know, certainly in that division. But he'd been off for a year, and maybe he needed it. I thought it was a good thing, but, you know, you kind of thought, all right, he'd been to the mountaintop, found himself wanting. How old is Rob Font? Rob Font currently sits at 35, So he'll be 36 in June.

So he doesn't have much time left either, especially at 135. So you kind of thought, tough test, but Yanez should be able to get past it. And he looked good early. When I say early, I mean the fight didn't go very long. Maybe like the first minute or so. But a few things really happened. One, Font's jab. We talked about this last week.

His jab. Folks were asking me, like, what are some of the differences in their striking styles? One of them is that the jab of Font, I think, is just more central to his offense generally. And two, he puts a little more steam on it. Right? I mean, the jab can do lots of other things.

It can blind you. It can stun you. It can pop your head up like an uppercut, depending on how you throw it. It can set up distance. It can help you change angles. I mean, it can do whatever you want. It can do lots of things. But for Font, while his is versatile as well, his tend to have a little more steam on him, a little more pop when he lets him go. I think you saw some evidence of that there. I think that disrupted Yanez a little bit. But the other part is that the collar tie. Boy, that was something I never saw coming. That was interesting.

The collar tie. That was a, whoever, let me say this, whoever in Rob Font's, either his presence of mind or whoever in his camp came up with the idea to collar tie Yanez. Ooh, slick. Super slick. Because he didn't fight it. You notice he didn't fight the collar tie. Right? He didn't roll under it.

He didn't grab it. Like, remember, guys, what do we always talk about in wrestling or jiu-jitsu as being the first thing that's the most important thing before anything else can happen. Grip. Your grip. Your grip is insanely important. It's the first order of what you're doing, at least in jiu-jitsu and wrestling, before everything else. If you don't have the right grips or the other person is breaking your grips, and you can't get gripping going, you can't get shit going. It's critical. Well, what is a collar tie?

It's a grip. It's a grip. He didn't break the grip. He didn't break it with two hands. He didn't roll under it. He didn't pull out. There's lots of ways you can break a collar tie. He didn't do any of them.

He didn't break it. And it wasn't ways you can break a collar tie. He didn't do any of them. He didn't break it. And it wasn't like Font had a super strong grip on it, but he attaches himself to Adrian with it. He can literally attach himself to him. I am now connected to you vis-a-vis my hand. Well, then that right hand just came around the corner and absolutely popped him in the most absurd of ways. I mean, what a... I don't know what they saw on tape. I'd have to go back and look at some of his other fights. I'm not sure what they thought of there.

And I'm not sure if they thought it was even going to yield that necessarily. But the decision to collar tie against Yanez who doesn't he does have good head movement he does roll but he doesn't how much like dirty boxing experience does he have not much the other part too was um i tweeted about this if you look at their stats they're all pretty similar in many ways um font will go for a takedown per 15 minutes, so they kind of separate there. But the biggest difference was they landed at almost an identical clip, but on the absorption rate, strikes absorbed per minute, Yanez was much higher. Much higher. I think he was in the mid fives. Font was in the high threes, right? Like a lot different. A lot different.

And I still think he's working out the kinks in his style. Adrian Yanez. I think he's working out the... We talked about Corey Sanhagen, right? Like he had the style where he was... If you watch his earlier fights, he's very offensively forward and minded. And he got hit a lot. Now he was able to make it work up until he started facing the elite.

But then it kind of cost him and it cost cost him, and it cost him, and it cost him, and then he finally began to get a better balance between the offensive and defensive ratios of their game, and to me, he still gets hit a little bit too much. I think his upside is still crazy high. Please don't misunderstand me, but this was a learning lesson. This was a learning lesson for sure about the different ranges, the different conditions where striking can happen. I'm sure he knows these things, but to be in the presence where you're breaking grips, however you're going to break them, boy, that was devastating. That wasn't the only shot he landed from a dirty boxing clinch. There

was one previous to that where he was also landing heavy shots. It was just that he got it back again and then landed that right hand. That came from like fucking Key West and it just came all around the corner and viciously sat him down. So tough loss for Adrian Yanez, but hell to see. I think he's 29, something like that, 29. 29, yeah. And he'll be 29 until November, so a little while longer, actually.

He's got time. He's got time to learn. He's definitely got some time. Alright, Kevin Holland defeating Santiago Ponzinibbio via KO into the third round. 316 of the third round. Ponzinibbio getting upset at the stoppage. He couldn't, he gets turned off of a kick and tries to turn back around

and then Holland kind of hides the left hand and then leaps into him and then catches him, hurts him and then he polishes him off with another shot and he was ass up face down and he took another one on the ground just completely uncontested as he's looking at the mat, he didn't like the

stoppage, I don't think he knew where he was or he must have forgotten what had happened or something. I know there were some concerns about referee Dan Burgliata, especially because he was actually the referee in the main event, but he had no choice. He had no choice but to step in and stop that one. So that was good. I got to tell you, I love this performance from Kevin Holland for the most part. He got chewed up with the leg kicks and didn't have a great answer for that. But in general, one, talking to his corner and listening to them. That was great. Number two is takedown defense. Very much on point. Three, lateral movement was great. And four, he's always had great pop. Dude, he can always hit. He can hit hard at 185. He can definitely fucking hit hard

at 170. He just needed the right time. So he was patient. He was listening. He was sticking to a game plan. And not everything went right, but he didn't get lost in it. Stuck to what he was good at, cover distance, which he looked fucking huge compared to Ponzinibbio, even though they're both obviously 170 pounds. I thought this was a solid win for him.

Is it his most spectacular, most crazy, or whatever? No. But I think it's a good thing. I think it's a good thing. Like if he's going to really make an effort at reconstituting himself and getting back out there. How old is Kevin Holland? As I go through everyone's age at this point, 30. Yeah. And November as well. Dude, he's still young. He's still young. He's not even exactly in his prime yet or getting there. I thought that was a great win for him. Not crazy. Didn't give it away. Didn't make a bunch of stupid mistakes. Takedown defense was on point. Footwork looked great. Movement looked great. Listened to his coaches. Found his opening. Took advantage of it.

Made good decisions. Like, yeah, what's not to like about that? That was a great performance. And then this one. How about this one? Christian Rodriguez defeats Raul Rosas Jr. via unanimous decision 29-28 across the board. I really want to talk about this one if I can. Then we'll get to some of your questions. I was never a big fan of him signing in the UFC at age 17.

And I really did not like this performance from him. I will tell you why. I know what everyone is going to say. And by the way, I've been voicing these concerns. You heard them on MK. I'm going to continue to voice them because it's a bad idea for 99.9% of athletes or fighters to sign with the UFC at age 18, male or female, 135 or heavyweight. It's a bad fucking idea. Some people will be able to get away from it, and the jury is still out on Raul Rosas Jr.

Let's not jump to conclusions and, oh, the sky is falling. But if you have concerns, you are very right to have them. And I've seen what everyone has done. They infantilized the kid. And I guess he is, but he's also a grown man at this point, 18 or about to be 19, however old he is. They want to infantilize him. And what they'll say is, oh, this was a great learning experience for him. Get the fuck out of here. Get the fuck out of here. That is not the takeaway from this event tonight. Now, it could end up being helpful, like any loss could be to a fighter, but it's not the

fucking point. And it's never been the point. That has got nothing to do with anything. Here is the problem. Two things. One, his standup looked really bad. Not even remotely ready for this level. Even an adjusted UFC level. What does UFC level mean? Fine. Even your most generous version of it does look bad, the stand-up. And he does have good wrestling, and he does have good grappling, but he doesn't have elite wrestling, and he doesn't have elite grappling. He has issues finishing the submission. He is strong. I'll give him that. And he will only get stronger in all likelihood. He might even end up going up a weight class, going to 145 or something as he develops. That's not the point. The point is this. He doesn't apportion his offense correctly. He bum rushes everyone, doesn't set up his shots. If he can't get the submission, then his entire game falls apart against guys who are even respectably good. I can't even remember a

Christian Rodriguez fight other than this one. And now, so not only do you have a skill set that's really not ready for anyone in the UFC for the most part, except like handpicked guys who are at the very end of the bubble, but more to that point, and the good news is he didn't take a beating, but more to the point is that, dude that dude i'm gonna keep fucking saying this until people start listening, which they probably never will But i'm gonna keep saying it until it's no longer true This is not the place to get formative development Now anyone who comes here who's ready to do good work is going to get development like for example We just talked about adrian Yanez, right?

He will learn from this. At age 29, he's too smart and too good to not get better from this. And that's not to say that Rosas Jr. won't get better, too. He probably will. All these guys who lost tonight are going to get better in some capacity, except Jorge, who is now retiring. But there's experience, there's learning lessons, and then there's formative experience. The building blocks of your game, the building blocks of putting a game plan together, the building blocks of getting it over the course of three rounds, or now on the regional scene,

five rounds. Getting opponents who can... He should have been fighting guys like this on the regional scene, which they exist over there. Like, you go to a good one. Like, you couldn't get him at, you know, at Crazy Steve's Fuckface Shack. No, you couldn't do that. But at LFA, they'd have guys who could mimic at least some of these particular challenges. They'd have guys who could do that. and he would be able to more piece by piece build some of these formative lessons, formative development before he ever got to the UFC.

Well, now he's here. They're going to have to give him matchmaking on a curve, which didn't work for Sage Northcutt, and it didn't work for Paige Van Zandt, and it didn't work for Dan Lozon, and it doesn't work for, and I watched the Dan Lozon career as well, it doesn't work for a lot of guys who are really young, because this is not the place to get formative development. Bellator is different. We have seen AJ McKee go from pro debut to winning a title all in one organization, because they actually can cater to that, because they're a little bit, I think,

more nimble. They don't have even a fraction of the same level of talent in terms of the overall roster, but because they can bleed into that regional side, they can give people more meaningful development at every stage. UFC has a hard time doing that because in order to give people what they need, they often have to sign well outside of their common standards to do it. So people are like, oh my God, I'm so amazed at what I've seen. Don't get me wrong. The kid is good. He is good.

He is talented. What has anyone seen that gives them prodigy vibes? Because I saw BJ Penn at age 22, different ball game. That was a prodigy. There's nothing in his game that speaks to me as prodigy. Nothing. He is good. He is very good in certain areas.

He is deeply lacking in the stand-up. He is deeply lacking when it comes to experience. He has vastly overestimated what his skill set can do for him at this juncture. Now he got a loss. He didn't get his ass whipped, which was nice. That would be the worst of all circumstances. But now he's here and he has to work on his development in a place, in the formative sense of it, that is absolutely not where you want to do that. And bad shit will happen when you do.

Everyone thinks that when I make these criticisms, I'm attacking some teenage kid. Old man screams at cloud and yells at teens. You know, like I'm Paul Blart Mall Cop trying to chase around all the 15-year-olds who are, you know, farting and hot topic. It's not what I'm doing. That's not what this is about. I have been watching this shit for a very long time, man. I keep seeing these movies over and over. The promoter has a vested interest

in selling hype. They have a vested interest in it. They have to sell authenticity too, but they'll sell plenty of hype along with it. And young kids like this, dude, stay in regional MMA. You might be broke for much longer. Stay there. You should have a five-round fight before you ever get to UFC at this stage. I don't know about rules about amateur state-to-state, but

in certain places, they'll accommodate that. You should be doing that. You should be having all of that. What the fuck was his striking? What was that? What was that? That is not ready for prime time at all. And not even frankly very close. Oh but he's young. He can get better.

Not everyone gets all that better. Like this idea that it's automatically going to happen. Especially when your development is happening here. Where you don't have nearly the same amount of latitude latitude to creatively pick the right challenge at the right time. Yeah, good luck. Good luck. All right, let's take a look at some of these tweets. See what you guys have for me. All right, all right, all right. Here we go to what extent do fighters who cut weight consider recovery in their choice of weight class you know what's one thing that occurred to me about pereta i don't think he's got a bad chin but i don't know how much that 185 cut does for his durability right again is he hits

hard all that shit right or you know a good accurate shot can do a lot. I mean, he's never been known as like a super hard power puncher, but he's got enough to do real damage, right? But I often wonder, man, like that cut, like he's barely making it, you know what I mean? Like there's no extra fat on him whatsoever. He must have a crazy diet to get

down and I wonder what it does to his durability. A 205, I wonder what it could be, you know? Can you think of a bigger back-against-the-wall moment in MMA history? No. No, I cannot. Bobby Knuckles is probably bitter, yep. Did you notice the eerie similarity between the end of round one at UFC 281

And the finishing sequence here, yes Literally identical, not quite identical, but very similar Is Paredes susceptible to the straight right? Was he wobbled? Dude, if you hold your hands like this You're going to be susceptible to punches coming around it He gets away with it, but he Because he's so sturdy and so tall And he's got good range management, he doesn't require a lot of, I mean, he puts a few hands on you and problems start, you know what I mean?

So, like, he's able to, he makes it work for himself, but it's a problem, sure. Pereira, this person says, risked more taking this fight. Yes, he did. He took a lot of risk, too. Sure, that's fair. He had to kind of do it, but yeah. Do you agree with Rogan's proclamation that Izzy is one of the all-time greats regardless of weight class? Well, he is at worst, in my mind, the second best middleweight ever.

Does that make him an all-time great? That's debatable. I don't know if I'm ready to have that conversation yet. His career is not over right now as it stands it's a harder argument to make um boy boy i gotta tell you after a win like that man you're just not gonna see many fighters ever ever ever ever ever deal with anything like that and win you're just never gonna see it like you could watch fights for another 20 years and not see anything like that and win. You're just never going to see it. You could watch fights for another 20 years and not see something like that.

Fuck, I've been watching it for longer than that. I don't know if I've ever... Marquez getting it, but Marquez was on the old... You know what I mean? Marquez was on... Marquez... Marquez was on, in the words of Infinite Elgin Tensity,

Dat Dare Creatine. You know what I'm saying? But, all right. Neither here nor there. Let's see. Where does this rank among spectacular moments in UFC MMA history?

Right at the top. How about UFC using new gloves tonight to prevent eye pokes? Yeah. Well, it wasn't just tonight. Apparently they've been using it for a while. The story just finally got out. Here's the thing about that. Only good news. not matted i hope everyone understands what i'm saying two thumbs up from this guy for the ufc putting these into

effect where they kind of curve the hands over like that right so it's hard to raise your fingers guys this technology has existed since pride fucking bellator under bjornbny was using this. Like, why did it take so long? Whatever. Better late than never, I guess. Is there any argument for a more marketable star for the UFC than Stylebender? I mean, there's always people

who can respond to large audiences, but yeah. He did himself some favors tonight. Could they do this fifth fight in Africa? Yes. I don't think they will, but they could. Izzy has beaten the top five at middleweight. So Izzy versus Jamal Hill next and Pineda versus Whitaker. I wouldn't hate it. I don't think they will, but I wouldn't hate it. Is this Izzy's best win? I think the Whitaker wins are better.

But, well... In certain ways, the Whitaker wins are better. But this was the biggest... There just can't be anything quite like what he had to deal with in terms of the mental difficulty and the competitive pressure. This is highly unique. Better career choice for Pereira.

Ask for a rematch or move up? Get the rematch. You can always go up. Where does Whitaker go from here? Fuck if I know, dude. Interim title? I mean, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know what they're going to do with that. How can Izzy be one of the best on the cage and one of the worst on the mics? I thought his speech on the mic was fucking awesome. You know, the joy he felt was only possible because of the absolute searing pain and self-doubt he had to endure.

What's bad about that? You never had your ass kicked by life? You never failed at something again and again? You ever tried something and it just blew up in your face and you embarrassed yourself? Dude, how many times have I fucking done that million times man million times and I don't have that kind of triumphant return moment to support me in the end like what hey man if it wasn't for you it wasn't for you that shit spoke to me

although Izzy had plenty of his own success in this fight, it did feel to me like the KO came against the run of play that Pineda seemed to be more dominant than he has been in his previous fights. Yeah, but he got overzealous. Let's see, let's see. Am I the only one that wants

to see Izzy versus Whitaker 3? I mean, I don't want to see it, but not right now. Is this the best revenge in MMA history? Yes. I mean, the thing is, St. Pierre losing to Sarah was like shocking. Like super shocking. Like I remember like the MMA world stood still. So getting that back when he did it in Canada, right?

Beating Sarah in Canada the way he did was pretty epic. Like, that was pretty good. Obviously, beating Matt Hughes' ass the way St. Pierre did was pretty big. Also, kind of like winning the BJ Penn Rally. St. Pierre had a few of those moments where he was shutting fuckers up, you know? It's a good one. It's a few of those moments where he was shutting fuckers up, you know? It's a good one. It's a good one. Do I think Rosas Jr. catapulted too fast to main event card?

Fuck yeah! Yes! Yes! Like, what the fuck? Someone says, I think Poetan got too comfortable. A little bit of both. Like they're saying, oh, they're saying you think it's the different strategy for Izzy and I think it's Poiton getting too comfortable. Both. Izzy, but if he didn't have this more offensively minded strategy in conjunction with Poiton letting his guard down, they work together.

Whose KO was better this weekend, Izzy or Mendoza? I didn't see them. I mean, he tweeted it, but I haven't looked at it in close detail. Fucking Brian Mendoza beating Sebastian Fundora. Dude, Brian Mendoza. Brian Mendoza a year ago was in swing bouts on boxing cards. Was on swing bouts.

And then he beats Jason Rosario with one of the most insane uppercuts you'll ever see. Gets this fight and then fucking sits down. I feel bad for Fundor because he wanted that Jermel Charlo fight, but what are you going to do? Yeah, someone's asking, can you talk about Masvidal's defense and striking? He just had, he couldn't anticipate what was coming. He just, he was getting caught flat-footed, you know. How hard are Izzy's haters going to cope after this victory?

They're already starting. Someone says, I understand your bias for Izzy, but this needs a rematch. Yeah, dude, I'm not against it. By all means, run it back. And again, if they run it back and you think Potato's going to win, I don't think that's crazy. I don't think that's crazy at all. Oh, questions about Kelvin Gastelum. I'm going to bring back extra credit for that.

Is that old shirt responsible for your tech problems? Probably. These questions are all basically the same. Why did Izzy use teep kicks against Potato to keep him pushing back and lower? I think he likes to have his feet under him a little bit better. So it takes longer to do that and bring him back. I don't know. I'd have to ask. I don't know if I'll get an interview or not.

I don't know how that's going to go. We'll see. Would you still give Alex the hill fight at light heavyweight? I wouldn't hate it. Right? Alright. I think that's it. Thank you guys so much for watching. Here, let's do this.

Let's do this. Yeah, let's do this. Hit that subscribe, y'all. Subscribe. Thank you so much for watching. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. I am so sorry for the early tech difficulties, but we got it done.

We made it happen, and here we are. One of the most triumphant moments you will ever see from any fighter in the sport. Insane, incredible, one of a kind in many ways. But the rivalry may not be over. They may do it again. I thank you guys for watching. We are out of here. Until next time, get some sleep.

Will ya? Yes, please.