MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - 🚨UFC 290 Results: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez | Moreno-Pantoja | Instant Reaction

Episode Date: July 9, 2023

At UFC 290, Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez battle for the featherweight title while in the co-main, Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja will fight for the flyweight belt. Also on the pay-per-view main card, Robert Whittaker will face Dricus Du Plessis, Jalin Turner squares off against Dan Hooker and Bo Nickal opens the broadcast in his second UFC contest against Val Woodburn. (00:02:40) -UFC 290 (00:14:30) - Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez (00:30:20) - Alejandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Moreno (00:43:00) - Dricus Du Plessis vs. Robert Whittaker  (00:56:30) - Dan Hooker vs. Jalin Turner (00:59:00) - Bo Nickal vs. Val Woodburn  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

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. Hey, look at that everyone. Hi, how are we doing? How are we doing? I have no idea how the... let me close this off so we don't... hear that. There we are.

Hi everyone. Hi, hi, hi. It is 1.16 in the morning. 1.16 in the morning right here on July 9th, 2023. My name is Luke Thomas. Welcome. This is the official Morning Combat UFC 290 post-fight show. A very high production affair as you can see. I'm in my hotel room

in Atlantic City. You might be asking, where is Brian Campbell? He shall be here soon. Brian Campbell is doing a hit for CBS Sports HQ, so he will return here relatively soon. I gave him a key to my room because, well, you know, that's not sketchy, but there was no other way to do this to make this work because he has to do that. We couldn't do it in the room. We're not even, obviously, he has his own room on a different floor. So he's going to do that hit, then he'll join me. But for now, we're going to get to all of the results from UFC 290. So thumbs up if you're watching on YouTube. Please hit subscribe. Do us a solid. We wanted to be in Vegas. It was not, believe me when I tell you, it was not our choice to not be there. But here we were in Atlantic City for the Jerron Ennis and Roman Villa fight.

So Jerron Ennis beat the fuck out of him. All right. Neither here nor there. So if you don't want spoilers, now is the time to move away from that. Now is your time to just do something else and go on with your life. But if you want to stick around, you're sticking around for results from UFC 290, reactions, analysis, and your questions answered. I have a tweet up right now. You can go to at L Thomas News. And there's a place where you can put all your questions right there. We'll get to them at the end of the broadcast. We'll go for about an hour or so.

Before Brian gets here, let me just say this. I don't know how you guys felt. I missed some of the... I caught a couple of the prelim fights because Brian and I were calling the prelim fights for boxing. There were only three of them, but obviously we were occupied for about two hours of that broadcast. About an hour and a half of that broadcast. So we did miss some stuff. But I certainly caught some of the prelim fights. I caught the Lawler fight. Obviously the entire main card and everything else. Let me just say this.

Even missing what I missed, but just sort of reading around what had happened. That's the best night in MMA I've had in a long time. That card was great. Let me see here. Making sure everyone is good on this end. Yeah. Okay. Very good. Yeah. That was one of the best UFC cards in a long time. That was one of the best MMA cards in a long time. That was ridiculously fun. Ridiculously fun. That was so good. I really enjoyed that. I really thought that UFC caught a lot. I mean, they can matchmake in whatever direction they want. They can get a little bit lucky. Matchmaking is partly a science. It's partly engineering, and that's a lot of luck

too, right? That's really what matchmaking ultimately comes down to. They caught a little bit of luck with the Lawler fight. We'll talk about that a little bit later, probably on extra credit, unless BC wants to talk about it. But having that sizzle reel there was remarkably smart. It came off so well, so perfect. They don't do retirements well normally. Dude, they killed that retirement. That was so good. I mean, yes, Lawler had to do his own end of things, but they held up their end of the bargain. And that's really what takes it to the next place is when all the parties do what

they're supposed to do rather than just one of them. They did a great job. I thought the lighting in the arena looked good. Not that that was necessarily new of them. They did a great job. I thought the lighting in the arena looked good. Not that that was necessarily new, but they definitely did a good job with it, especially with some of the Mexican colors, with the green and the red and whatnot. I thought that was tremendous. The crowd itself seemed pretty excited. They were a pretty good crowd. They'd been there for a while too, from what I could tell. And just the insanity of everything that happened thereafter. I guess the most boring part of it, to be honest, is Bo Nickel just flatlining Val Woodburn, which we'll talk about. But the Jalen Turner and Dan Hooker fight was absurd. Oh my God, with Drickus

Duplessis. And then Izzy getting made. And then just having a 23andMe N-word moment, which was just, I mean, I don't even know what to say about that. We'll talk about that a little bit later as well. I'm going to sit here and say that's the most, what do you want to, I mean, action-packed, brutal dogfight of a co-main event between Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Moreno. I mean, that is just one of the best, that's one of the best title fights I've ever seen. That is easily the most blood and guts flyweight title fight I've ever seen. That might be the most blood and guts flyweight fight I've ever seen, much title or otherwise. I mean, I couldn't believe how good that was. And the main

event was hardly a bad fight, but it couldn't quite keep up with everything else. Volk doing what he had to do, taking the fight to the ground again. We're going to get to all of this here in just a moment, but ladies and gentlemen, UFC 290. We knew the card was good on paper, but there was a lot of talk about there being mismatches. There was a lot of talk about, you know, this would be a day where the chalk would, I mean, it was all kind of predictable. It was all kind of obvious with some of the takes. And I had a tweet that I wanted to share from earlier in the week. Now, ultimately, my okay bet picks don't really match up with this because I'm not good at making these picks, but for betting, certainly, in any way. But this is what I wanted to share. This is what I wrote two days ago. Two days ago, one, odds show strong

favorites, but I think it's more likely we get some upsets rather than steady executions. Anytime you get one of these cards, man, where there's just a bunch of favorites, yeah, sometimes it's just a brutal beatdown. That's true. But it's usually when the odds are a little bit more like really heavy, you know, minus or plus 400, minus or plus 500. And some of those, obviously the Bo Nickel one was well beyond that and that went the way it was supposed to. But I don't know, man. These arguments about you never know. Listen, the circumstances that created UFC 290, you cannot replicate them very easily. These things don't happen very often because it's hard to make them happen very often. And there wasn't a lot of expectation that this card could deliver it, but it did. It massively delivered.

Massively, massively, massively delivered. It was so fantastic. I'm sure many of you felt as well as I do. Like in the middle of that fight between Moreno and Pantoja, I'm like, dude, this is ridiculous. How could all of these things line up the way they did? UFC 290, easily the best MMA card of the year to date. Easily the best time I've had watching MMA in a long time. I mean, I've watched a lot of MMA.

I've watched some good fights almost every week. You watch some good fight or you watch some good KO. But this is the one thing I think sometimes the UFC misses. They didn't miss tonight. I mean, they killed it tonight. But here's what I want to say. It's not enough to put a bunch of interesting fighters on a card. Some fights are good.

Some fights are whatever. And then just throw it in the apex. Part of the reason tonight is special is because it actually felt like an event. A date. A moment in time where you had to be there to be part of it. And once it was over, all you can live on was the memories about how it made you feel at the time. And so that's why you want, to the extent possible, the promoter to put in maximum level of effort for promotion, maximum level of fine-tuning everything because you want it to be that experience.

You want it to be that experience at that event, on that date, at that time. Everyone was there together. That's what it was. And so a lot of those cards at the apex or whatever, they just don't feel that way because they can't feel that way. They're not designed in that way. They're not built for that. Tonight was, tonight was all of that.

And then some really, truly like when the UFC is on, it's, it's hard to beat. It's hard to beat dude. When they're on, they are fucking on. And you got a pretty great taste. I think of that tonight. You got a pretty great taste of the UFC experience. Okay, let's pull up, if we can, some of these results, shall we? All right.

Wow, that was crazy. All right, here we go. Let's talk about that main event. So, in your main event, Alexander Volkanovsky defeats Yair Rodriguez at 419 of round number three. They officially call it a right hook to ground strikes. He did that stance switch left hook where he does, let's see, he's orthodox, right? Yeah, that's right. He is orthodox and he does an inside cut kick and what ends up happening is he

will usually go back to stance and then Rodriguez would drive into him with his own stance switch so then he would counter that with his own right. Here we go. Here's BC. Hey, there he is. Perfect timing because I was just getting into the main.

Here we go. All right, let me give you this first. BC is here. How you going, dickbag? Put that on, please. Oh, wow. Look at the size of this chair. This is great.

I can move over, yeah. This is the state-of-the-art thing. Here, blow into that real quickly. I never... Okay, I'll leave that joke out of it. Go ahead. So I was just saying, BC. Thank you.

Glad you're here. I was just saying that was one of the best MMA events I've seen in a long time. Concur? This is one of the magical nights in this sport's history, and it reminds you of the card numbers that stand out in your mind. 116, 205, 217. For me, 236 there in Atlanta that night, which was more about two fights. This was one of those times where the magic, I like to call it, because, you know, the times that you get to sit in the second row covering it there and you can just feel it.

You feel like anything is possible. Now, we didn't end up getting a main event that was as competitive or dramatic as the fights that led up to it or the moments that led up to it. But you literally had that feeling like anything can happen. It just happened to be a horrible night for Mexican MMA after all the breakthrough there. But look, some people were a little turned off. I didn't rate this as a normal IFW on paper coming in. The fight card had some injuries that kept Jack Della Mandolina out after many tries to keep him on there.

But sometimes there's just that magic. And you love to see it because this is not only a major for the UFC. This is arguably their annual biggest card. It came through. And it came through in so many ways that I think it needed right now. It felt like a rejuvenation. It felt like an injection of what it could be and sometimes is. There was that magic tonight.

It carried all the way through from upsets to that co-main event. And then even to see the dominance of Volkanovski in that main event. From start to finish, this is a remember where you were, remember that. I mean, the names of these cards, the numbers, it can be like, if you said offhand, BC, what was UFC 255? I'd be like, nah, I don't really remember. I remember 290 now. And that's when you know it was a special night.

I mean, you love to see it, right? I was saying to the audience here, I remember being in the middle of that fight between Pantoja and Moreno, and I'm like, dude, what in the fuck is happening in Las Vegas tonight? Also, this is one more point about this, and I don't want to belabor it because I do want to get to the results,

but one thing I said to BC was like, part of what makes, to your point, about these things memorable is it's an experience you have on a moment in time. It's a night. It's a moment. It's an event. And these Apex cards, it It's a night. It's a moment. It's an event. And these Apex cards, it's not like they don't put some good fights on there or good fighters.

They obviously do. They do put good fighters on there. But it just feels so disconnected from a moment in time. Like when Nick Diaz go-go-plotted Tekken Norigomi for the Pride show in Las Vegas. Dude, that was like a chapter of a book that had to be written in fucking stone or something. Tonight, I'm not saying it was quite like that, but it felt like an event. It felt like an experience.

It felt like a moment of history and time that you got to just be there with. And they all can't be 290. They all can't be 290. But they can be more than just Apex sludge. And it reminds you, and specifically the DDP win, which I know you're going to get to, I was as stunned in that moment as I remember being stunned

from home versus Rousey, which is one of the great drop-your-draw moments of I can't believe what I just saw. This had that tonight. This had that a couple times in weird, different ways. And sometimes that magic is contagious, and I wonder if it's contagious coming out of this event and leads to more and kind of kicks off a fun second half of the year for the promotion. But either way, man, you just get the right night, the right mix of people in there. And by mix of people, I don't necessarily mean Donald Trump and Mel Gibson and Guy Fieri and all the

weirdos that were out there. But seriously, what a wild and crazy. I mean, when Izzy comes into the cage, he starts dropping N-words, and now no one's talking about it because, like, 17 things have happened since that moment. I know. I have to say, I thought his zing was fucking hilarious. He jacked it up because he said 26 in me. I guess it's 23 in me. But I have to say, when he was calling him the N-word over and over, I was laughing at my laughing at my dad I tweeted about it and this is why I can't stand Twitter because people just

decide what your tweet means even though it doesn't mean that at all people were like oh what are you bad it is you tweeting the n-word I'm like dude I don't like I find the shit hilarious but well I don't find it hilarious I was cringing during that to be honest oh you were cringing I know some people were I was laughing I'm sure I was laughing I'm sure uh Mel and Donald were like yeah that's what I'm talking about. Yeah, Bill Gibson was like, where? But at the same time, it sold the...

I mean, poor Sean Strickland. He must have seen that and been like, well, back to the apex. By the way, our live shot looks like if we were being interrogated at a border protection facility or something. Well, here's what you can say about this broadcast. All of the parties that make MK came together

to really put together the highest production value. And by that, we mean your old camera and us, too. Yes, yes, all right, yeah. Okay, let's talk about the main event. Here's the results. 419 of round three. He does a switch stance right hook. It floors.

He'd been throwing it several times, both in that round and then previously lands it. It clearly hurts Rodriguez. He stumbles back. I was going to say, you know how many times you've seen someone get hit with a punch, and then they kind of back up, and the other person goes for a takedown, and you're always like, no, you fucking idiot. Don't go for a takedown.

This was actually one time where it made absolute sense, because on the feet, Rodriguez is still going to do crazy ass whatever. Sure. On the ground, it's a much more controlled affair and he poured it on and got the finish. Volkanovski, clearly the best featherweight on earth. In my mind, the pound for pound number one fighter on earth. I don't think you can stop with the superlatives. I really don't. He is, he's a fighting genius. Give me your reaction. I mean, look here, I love bringing back one of my favorite lines in combat sports history, which was Larry Merchant after Manny Pacquiao versus Miguel Cotto on HBO. And he looked in the camera and was like, we knew Manny Pacquiao was great.

He's better than we thought. I mean, we knew Volkanovsky was your pound for pound king and among the greatest featherweights of all time and maybe knocking on that door of history among the truly upper table greats. And then he comes out there and completely rounds out his game in front of us, which he's been doing the last couple of fights, right? You didn't think of him as a finisher. Then he went in there against TKZ and knocked him out. You didn't think of him as a blood and guts warrior.

And then he survived what happened against Ortega and overcame there. And, you know, you don't think of him as a wrestler. And look what he did against Mahachev with the physical strength. And look what he did here. Identifying the thing that makes Yair Rodriguez so dangerous and then completely sucking that out of him by pulling on that gas tank, tanking him down. And then this is what great champions do.

The moment Yair Rodriguez in round three is finally starting to put something together, finally starting to figure out the distance, finally starting to get something going, and oh, by the way, the genius of Volkanovski switching stances constantly to not allow Yair to dig in with the leg strikes was great. But the moment Yair's finally turning it on, back comes Volk over the top.

Now, he did get a ball strike in there, wasn't there? A knee to the balls that kind of interrupted and set that up. That was the other way. Sorry, there was a headbutt. No, it was a headbutt to the… I thought Volk headbutted Yair, right? It was a headbutt, not a low blow. It was a headbutt. No, it was a headbutt to the... I thought Volk headbutted Yair, right? It was a headbutt, not a low blow. It was a headbutt where you're sort of like, oh crap, that kind of stopped the momentum of what Yair was trying to do. But when you talk about turning it on, the best example is probably Habib against Justin Gaethje when he may or

may not have been one more leg strike from being in peril. But seriously, what did Habib do when he turned it on? Took him down and finished him instantly. A little different moment here, but that's what the great ones do, right? And it's like, when you can come in, identify what that guy does great, and then completely take it away from him and just humble him and reduce him to almost nothing in the terms of danger, which is where Yair was for most of this fight. Dude, Volkanovski's freaking brilliant. And I was very late to figuring that out. Very late to saying, okay, he's great, but watch whenski's freaking brilliant. And I was very late to figuring that out. Very late to saying,

okay, he's great, but watch when he gets in there with a slugger that can hurt him. Watch when he gets in there with that. Watch when he gets in there with that. How about we just watch

the greatness unfold? Because I know he's talked about arm surgery after this. I know he did mention Tepuria, who was cage-side, and they talked about that. Go to 155, dude, because Volkanovski,

you do have a chance to exit this octagon one day with one of the most special careers we've ever seen. And I don't think anybody at 145 has anything for you anymore so let's go get back up there let's build the Mahachev rivalry let's keep that going because he's too good right now at 34 and you never know when that cliff is going to happen when he's going to get you know human and normal he looked fine tonight he's so good that I want to see that

against not just Mahachev but the best lightweights in the world because he's won this division. He's cleaned it out. He's won it. I love Tepuria, but he is Johnny come lately to the title picture. At some point, there has to be a fresh break. Make that break now because you just went in there against the most dangerous opponent of your title reign in Yair, and you

completely snuffed him out. I mean, what do you want to say about this guy? You know what really got me was if you just watch all of the, first of all, the takedown off the kick was like, you knew that had to be part of the game plan, right? It's an easy way to get takedowns on people because you don't have to fight for like, you're not wrestling against the fence and constantly trying to beat all these different positions. You just grab the leg and take him down.

He did that instantly. But more than that, dude, remember something. Jair Rodriguez just won from guard. That's how he beat Josh Emmett. Now, he beat the fuck out, remember something. Jair Rodriguez just won from guard. That's how he beat Josh Emmett. Now, he beat the fuck out of Josh Emmett first, but he won from guard. His guard is dangerous. His guard is lethal. You just wouldn't know it watching a fight like this.

Sure. So there was so much he was doing right. Like, he moved to half guard, the old Randy Couture style, where they like sitting on the leg because it kills it. And so, therefore, they can't really do anything from guard. And they're not pinned because they can move a little bit but it immobilizes them a little bit we were talking about this yesterday craig dude and craig jones gonna bring him craig jones is craig jones working with alexander volkanovsky almost feels unfair because volkanovsky can absorb everything so quickly he's so athletic and he's getting these like fucking genius insights from Craig Jones did

you notice how much control of one of the the legs of Yair in this way so when they were standing he would pull a leg out and then he would ride it to keep him his base pinned and then he would sit on top in order to reduce any movement there like dude they were calling him Volkan Magomedov on Twitter tonight with good reason because dude Craig Jones has given Volkanovski just the right kind of game. And it's not just a defensive game. It's an offensive game as well to stay out of trouble and make his body size and style of fighting work for him on the ground. It is fucking genius. First of all, Craig, we see you.

Nose beer. Nose beer. Second of all, these two fights, the impact that you have seen of this great coach adding to an already great team and a great fighter. The last time we've seen somebody evolve their game, in my opinion, this well-rounded to this level in every category was Demetrius Johnson, one of the greatest fighters of all time. I mean, like, Volkanovski is starting to near, in my opinion. What made DJ special? The fact that he mastered the entire game. That's exactly what Volkanovski is starting to near, in my opinion. What made DJ special? The fact that he mastered the entire game. That's exactly what Volk was doing. Dude, he was using, like, and this is another part that Craig is big on. Craig is big on half Nelsons.

Craig is big on Turks. Craig is big on all kinds of stuff. And you would just watch at every position he was doing what the assignment is. Like, what is your assignment in all of these scenarios? And he was, the weight was where it needed to be. The hand placement, the gripping sequence.pping sequence i was like dude what the fuck who you there here is the reality about volkanovsky he will at this stage like this version of him he will only lose one of two ways one he just makes an error like a quick one and someone just you know one of those kinds of get

you get caught moments or two father fucking time Like, the idea that someone at 145, because yes, can DePore a blast? Of course. Of course he can. But the idea, BC, that someone's just going to go in a fight with him and put it on him. He doesn't get hit clean.

Get the fuck out of here. They're not doing that to him at all. It's insane. He doesn't get hit clean. I mean, he's got to go to 55 now, man. He's got to go up there. He's got to go up there and show us how great he can be. And the DDP thing tonight did remind us that anything can happen anytime.

Nunes Peña won, remind us of that. But sometimes a guy gets on the level of mastery where, I don't know, man. I mean, is there a lightweight out there outside of Mahachev that you would favor over him in a betting standpoint right now? I mean, the thing is, Gaethje's brutal. Like, those guys can hit. Like, that's the thing. Like, you know, I could see him just catching one and, you know, causing problems. I mean, he's human at the end of the day.

Yes, but like, again, like technique for technique, skill for skill, his ability to slow down a fight, his ability to neutralize and manipulate distance, his ability to stay out of trouble. Of course, his cardio never fails him, so he never has to ration his... It's like he is a freaking marvel of fighting. And the sad part is he did play rugby, and he wasn't very good at it.

215 pounds, semi-pro, semi-pro. But holy shit, he has all the mental... And you see, I don't want to do this. I don't want to be like, well, like Mayweather, but I will say this, man. I don't remember a lot of guys in fight sports who I could count on to consistently outthink even good opponents. Yeah. You know what I mean? And you could always count on Mayweather. It's like, well, you don't win within six rounds motherfucker you ain't winning

the back six or four or three yeah it's like it's only a matter of time before this is taken away from you dude I feel that way

with Volk it's like you're clock ticking guys but think of how small he is think of like but it is like superhuman man strength

that he's got in there especially in a grappling sense and we didn't know three fights ago we didn't even know he had that did he even have that three fights ago I don't know that he did that's the best part I don't even know that he's got in there, especially in a grappling sense. And we didn't know, three fights ago, we didn't even know he had that. Did he even have that three fights ago? I don't know that he did.

That's the best part. I don't even know that he did. The Makachev fight and the camp for it clearly leveled him up. Yes. Clearly leveled him up. But like he was saying, for example, when I interviewed him however long ago, he was saying the Jose Aldo fight was the first one where he began to do that whole feinting, stance switching thing.

And he said it felt like he was an imposter in that fight, because that was really the first time he was using that style so directly. And I think he probably had some trepidation about the ground. Fuck. Not anymore. Not anymore. And also nearly, not nearly, but threatened with a head-and-arm triangle as well early in that fight.

Listen to the stat line here for Volkanovski. 66 of 97 significant strikes. By the way, the booth, the commentary booth tonight. Oh, dude. Okay. Not a strong showing. This is... John Anik was great.

John Anik. Here's the thing. Rogan and DC can't work together. Dude, it doesn't work. They can't work together. It doesn't work. And I know I was the guy who six months ago or nine months ago was like, you know what? A lot of people bag on them, but those two guys are just fun.

They almost feel like a watch party. They raise it. No, they talk all over each other the entire show. That's what they do. They just constantly dribble over each other. And he couldn't remember Jimmy Rivera's name, so we're in the middle of this fight that has nothing to do with Jimmy Rivera, and then we're getting this lesson about who's a cop now.

Do you think Dana liked when DC was like, run that replay back. Where's that replay? Why don't we have that replay? Yo, John, run that replay back. After Dana White lectured the Showtime Boxing for not having fast enough replays, there's DC being like, where the fuck's the replay? All right, neither here nor there. But a significant strike. The thing is, they're like, well, what makes it significant? It's like, Joe, DC, I'm not even mad at you. The

definition for that has been out for well over a fucking decade. It's any strike at distance. That is fucking it That is what it means. And of course, there's better ways to drill down and get more specific nuance It's a sort of a general category. It's true because overhand right is the count is the same as a jab But they're like well, what means if what does it mean to have significance? It's like oh my fucking god guys, like you should know the answer you shouldn't be asking questions, but okay Let's be fine. They're both smart individually, but they become dumb together. It's weird.

It's like when that one friend in your friend group that you're like, I will not have no Spears tonight. I will not have no Spears tonight. And then that guy shows up and you're dancing on top of a bar somewhere. Okay. Striking totals, 149 out of 198 for Volk. Seven of 12 on takedowns. You got it.

And he slammed him to set up that finish too, right? Just completely just... The final takedown, yeah, it was heavy. He crashed with him. He's strong as shit, dude. He's a fucking ox, that guy. And I know people don't like him since he shaved his head and has this new pirate look going, but I've accepted it.

Drew? Well, he did have that cut. So he's walking out and he had that... Everyone thought he was doing his best Nelly impression. It's hot in her. No, it's a cut over her. That's called the left eye Lopez. Real quick, though.

Best thing Volk said afterwards, and I love when the fighters are honest. It's easier to be honest after a win, but he said, I trained so freaking hard for Yair that there were moments. Remember he said in the post-fight, there was a moment in camp where he was legitimately like, I'm not sure. I'm nervous. I'm scared. When you face the best, it raises you to bring out your best.

It depends on the person. GSP fought the best and it drove you to bring out your best. Well, it depends on the person. GSP fought the best and it drove him crazy, right? He became a decision machine. And also, after Sarah, I think he began to court risk a little bit less. It wasn't just Sarah. Even by the second Koscheck fight, you could see it. But, yes. So, everyone's funny.

It's like, GSP was so boring. He wasn't, actually. He was actually very exciting for a long time, but then over time, he got boring. All right. He got outstruck in all three rounds, more so in the last 37 to 23. Listen to this. 37 of 46 strikes that Volkanovski landed were on the ground. Two of three for Yair. Just two of three. But Yair did cut him with an elbow from the bottom. He did. He did. I mean, he wasn't

utterly lifeless. Some of the, you know, it's kind of funny. You notice you don't see a lot of hand and foot combinations in MMA. Like in kickboxing, for example, it's very common. A guy goes, those are one, two, and then a high kick is a very sort of basic one. But there's many, many different versions you can do. And it requires a little bit of nimbleness to go from hands to feet, feet to hands, and back and forth. Yair can do it. Yair can do it. But even then, he had some success with it, but it was very much limited. Real quickly, so I don't mind the idea of Teporia.

I don't think Teporia beats him, but I don't think that's an unfair fight to make. I don't know. With Volk needing surgery now, which would take... Did he mention that he thinks he could still come back and fight at the end of this year with surgery? How's that possible? I don't think he thinks that's possible.

Okay, so if he's not going to be back this calendar year, I mean, he'll have to talk over with his team. The organization will talk over with him the promotion, but why would you linger? Really?

Because think about it, Luke. This is a vibrant division. Yes. If you walked away, who would you put in for the vacant title? Teporia and Max, right? Yeah. Okay, let this division move on. Let it heal.

You've dominated it. You've kicked the shit out of it. He might be going for the records. And I've got to tell you... Well, he has six title defenses. And what is Jose's... No, he has five. This is his...

He's had five title fights, so this was his fifth defense. Okay, so he's not going to catch... Six title fights. I don't know. It's up to him, man. It's up to him, but you get to call the shots. He won't catch... He probably won't catch it numerically, but if he gets to, like, six, and that's versus

seven or whatever... Well, seven different fighters yeah he won't catch you numerically but my point being is if he goes in there and like just beats the fuck out of Teporia and

he's like stopping all these guys now too yeah I think he now has two of six in title fight stoppages do you think deep inside Mexican MMA blames Aldana for

starting this this precipitous decline and collapse yeah yeah well you know what Grasso Grasso. Grasso has a chance. She's the last remaining hope. She's the last one,

yeah. It was like grand opening, grand closing. But you know what? You know what? That's actually not totally true because even though they lost, first of all,

they were all worthy competitors. Like Moreno, I felt didn't deserve to win, but dude, he fought his fucking balls off. Tell Adelaide Bird that. Okay? Yeah.

Dude, she gave no, who had the really fucked up scorecard? Ben Cartlidge, who we'll talk about in just a second. But I wanted to say this. The Mexican fans showed up, dude. They were cheering hardcore. And I'm telling you, the more you get that

in MMA, dude, it's only going to make it better. It's only going to make the fight sports better. It's only going to make events better. It's only going to make the fight sports better. It's only going to make events better. It's only going to make Mexico an even better talent pool. Here's the truth, fans. Here's the truth, combat sports fans, if you didn't already know. The Mexican combat sports fan is the best combat sports fan. Yeah, they're probably the best.

Across the board. What's the best fight week I've ever been to? Canelo versus Floyd. Why? Because that was... That was nuts. And it's consistent. So to see that great boxing fan base

now make the move to MMA and welcome in both sports, it's great to see for the heritage of the company, but it's great to see for that injection. And I love it that Grasso's defending on free TV against Shevchenko in the rematch on September and Mexican Independence Day weekend. And all jokes aside, man, one thing Dana was bragging about this week

is just like, he just can't believe how much Mexico is showing up. And he's not lying about that, Luke. In India for slap fighting? Yeah, so we can't get into that. We'll get into that on Monday. All right. All right.

So let's move on to the co-main event here if we can. Like I said before, just one of the most absurd fucking things I've ever seen in my life. I'm pulling up the results here, if we can. Like I said before, just one of the most absurd fucking things I've ever seen in my life. I'm pulling up the results here if I may. Alexandre Pantoja is your new flyweight champion. He wins via split decision. It was 49-46

Moreno and then two 48-47s for Pantoja. I thought 48-47 was fair. So 49-46 Moreno is Adelaide Bird, right? No. 49-46, okay, this is funny. 49-46 Moreno is Adelaide Bird, right? No. 49-46, okay, this is funny. 49-46 was Ben Cartlidge. Then what did Bird do? Bird screwed up.

She had one that was a fucking dud. Oh, she gave somebody the final round that they got dominated. Jalen Turner. Jalen Turner, that's right. She gave Jalen Turner

round three, which is like, are you fucking blind? Let me say something about this real quickly. I don't understand. I'm not going to in any way mince words.

I don't even know how it's possible to get a 49-46 Moreno card. I could maybe see a way for Pantoja if I had to. Yes. But, okay, definitely not for Moreno. Definitely not, okay? So I don't understand that scorecard at all.

The only thing I want to say is if you just look, go on MMA Decisions. Go on MMA Dec. If you don't believe me and look up Ben Cartlidge, not on that fight that I can tell, but overall, he's one of the very best judges that we have consistently. So it makes that card even more puzzling. It's a, it's a, it's a puzzling card to begin with. And for it to come from one of your star performers. Yeah. He gave him the last four rounds,

which is rough. I don't understand that. So I will say this. When we say a lot, close fight could have gone either way. I scored it 3-2 to Pantoja. A lot of people were like, dude, what are you doing?

It's 4-1 Pantoja. Do you see a world where it could have been 3-2 Moreno? I do. I see that world. Yes. He could have gotten 2-3 and 4. Because the way that Pantoja controlled with grappling by the letter of the law and the rules, it's still a gray area in how you interpret what the rules say about that, right? Yes.

Three and four could have gone either way. So, okay, one is definitely Pantoja. Five is definitely Pantoja. Two is definitely Moreno. The three and the four can go a bunch of different directions. So yes, it is conceivable and not utterly outrageous if you had 48-47 Moreno. But 49-46 is like, I don't know where that's going to come from. But you know what didn't suck? That fight was just...

This is a modern classic. That was the best flyweight... That might be the best flyweight fight I've ever seen. Yeah, I think it's better than the first Figueredo-Moreno one. The draw, that was just an absolute work. Which was amazing, yeah. So look, this division, again, post-DJ, post-Sahudo, shout-out to McMaynard, has been electric.

And it's still true that parity rules in this division. But what these guys raised in terms of their efforts and their willingness... I mean, dude, Pantoja took a fucking beating. Now, he won, and I thought he deserved to win. But dude, he, I mean, he had a problem with defense for most of this fight, to be fair. Pantoja.

Both of them did. I mean, he had a problem with hand speed, but the hand speed with no defense was getting him. Dude, he took a hellacious beating on strikes. They both were cut. They both, but they both just gave all. I mean, how many great speeches in between rounds by the coach?

I mean, it was just one of those epic, great fights. I got to say it. I try to shout out the rare, wholesome moments in combat sports, especially the ones that really get me. Amanda Nunes' family, you know, partying in her retirement, all that. Pantoja's father of mine ran afterwards. Dude, that was deep, man. I mean, it wasn't just having his kids and wife, and he almost had an Adrian moment hugging his wife, but to be like my single mom raised me so dad you proud of me now you're proud of me now I mean dude damn I mean that's heavy

as the Mexican fans are booing him too I mean that was just a he couldn't hear him you know what I mean like he was so in his own moment well no he did hear him because his opening response was guys guys like learn my story if you know my story you wouldn't which is true like how many people know his story very well? I don't know his story very well, to be candid with you. I mean, I've read interviews and stuff like that,

but like, do I really know it? I don't really know it. And they only, it's hard to even know unless they really want to tell you. But like, you know, you can just imagine like another Brazilian guy who comes from poverty probably and has had it tough as shit. Nothing ever, not a fucking thing in this world handed to him. And he had to just go and take it. And he had to wait for this one, too. And he didn't do it by the ways you would expect, which is like submission out of nowhere or whatever.

He did it by walking in face first to shots and just gutting it out and being a submission threat in key moments. But, I mean, when you consider that there were no Brazilian, which is such a rarity, there were no Brazilian UFC champions at the moment after Nunes' retirement. And he comes out there in the midst of the Mexican Renaissance in Las Vegas and gives that performance and does it. I mean, I wanted to cry watching him.

It was humbling, but it was like, he didn't win this on technique, Luke. He won this on will, dude. I mean, and when that happens, it's just like, damn. So he got six of 11 takedowns uh by the way moreno getting two of four i thought moreno's reversals were incredible yes he was such a fucking dog in this one so he might have been that what cost him was that he was a little bit behind the eight ball and having to answer yes what pantoja was doing rather than set the tone like for example volkanovsky setting the tone and the and the position and like defining the terms of

the contest whereas moreno was kind of reacting to it. Except for when he got off in round two with that jab. Then you were like, build off that. That's exactly what's going to win you this fight. But you know, these striking stats, and these are the final ones. I don't ever pay attention to the ones on the broadcast because they're always conditional. DC does. DC's got a lot of issues with stats, and they're all his fault.

I mean, they're entirely his fault. I like DC, but... You got anything to say about the tight referee shirt that the WWE made sorry back to the stats yeah okay so for the stats I mean they're all

pretty close the only real big difference is round 4 Moreno 31 to 20 that's the only real significant difference but Pantoja

3 minutes of riding time basically on 3 out of 4 takedowns and you got to imagine some of that's going to be a lot of that's going to be riding on the back. That's the interesting part, too.

You saw this in round five, and I guess it did make a difference, well, depending on how you looked. The booth was making a bigger deal out of like, well, if he's got the back and he's not doing anything with it, what does it mean? But it does, again,

I would love the opportunity to talk to Ben Cartlidge. I don't know if I'll get it, to ask him what he was looking at there. Not so much for round five, but... You think he's going to answer your texts? They usually don't know if I'll get it, to ask him what he was looking at there. Not so much for round five, but... You think he's going to answer your texts? They usually don't. They usually don't. But I'm going to try.

Go down to the Turkish bathhouse, ask for Douglas. That could be your first name. Douglas Crosby? Yeah. He used to text me all the time, and I would just ignore it, and they got increasingly fucking weird. Stick pics? No, no. But just being like, so-and-so thinks

I'm a big deal and I'm like, okay. All right, let's talk about this division's future. Hold on, hold on. Real quickly on this fight.

Both guys, I haven't looked. They sent Dan Hooker and Jalen Turner to the hospital. I can only imagine that those two fucking guys went

because they, you know who's, do you know who Moreno's face reminded me of at the end of that contest? Because it was all swollen in the front. Remember Erickson Lubin after fighting Sebastian Fundora?

Yes, yes. Where it looked like he was wearing a puffy face mask? Yeah. That's what Brandon Moreno looked like. I was like, no. So that wasn't great. But, dude, Pantoja's ability to just weather left hook after right hook after jab after jab. The fact that he's never been finished, dude, he is otherworldly tough.

He's a badass. He absorbed, by the way, if you're asking total, he absorbed 129 significant strikes today. 323 total. I saw some tweets where people were like, they are beating the careers out of each other. Yes, they are. There's no... Now, this is not the same necessarily as the Ferguson fight with Gaethje, where Ferguson was a little bit older,

and it was so completely one-sided, where you just get changed. But make no mistake, those two left a piece of themselves in the octagon tonight. They're not going to come out the same. You can't. How can you do that? How can you be in a car crash like that over and over and over again and be like,

yes, all I need is to just let the swelling go down. No, dude. Well, that's why I was going to transition to the future because with all this parody, it's like I have no idea what to expect. Now, Pantoja finished Raw Dog Royval two fights ago, but Brandon Royval, it seems like he's kind of next in line, potentially. Do you think they do the rematch there, or do they try to rematch Moreno? I mean, how do they not do

a rematch off one of the best fights I've ever seen? Well, probably because, I'll give you an answer, alright? Because we just saw four consecutive Figueredo versus Moreno fights, and this was the third fight between them, so it's like, the guy beat him, the guy's 3-0 against him. Maybe he doesn't have to fight Moreno again, maybe, okay? Like, he has 30 against him. Maybe he doesn't have to fight Moreno again.

Maybe, okay? Like, he has 3-0 against this guy. You know he's fighting Moreno again. No, no, he can't. Dude, if you're UFC, you have to pause

and go in a new direction. You have to. Do you? Dude, you're going to fight the... So Moreno's going to have back-to-back four fights against...

He's going to be the first fighter to have two quadrilogies. I mean, so, but technically, no, right? Because the ultimate fighter is an exhibition fight. That's right.

It doesn't go on his professional record. That's right. That's right. Like Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou. Oh, boy. We'll talk about that on Monday as well, which is... Ariel says it's looming. Yeah, he says it's very soon.

They're going to announce. Very soon. You never are like, which Ariel are you talking about? I don't know another Ariel. Do you? I mean... In the history of your life, outside of are you talking about? I don't know another Ariel. Do you? I mean. In the history of your life, outside of the cartoon. Outside of Little Mermaid?

Yeah. Have you ever met another male Ariel? Another male Ariel? No. He's one of one. He's one of one. Yes. He certainly is.

I'm trying to look at some of the stats here. Pantoja, yeah, they both went. Moreno was the first to get two takedowns. He got them in round two. Pantoja got two out of three. And then round four, he got three out of four. That was big. That was really big.

And then he got just one in round five at two minutes and 17 seconds of riding time. Dude, listen to the targeting on this. Like, so this is what they were, when they were throwing, what they were targeting, right? Moreno, 90% to the head. 90%.

And then Pantoja, not really all that different, 82%. Dude, they were... I said this. This fight had Gotti. I'm not going to compare it. It's the same as Gotti Ward. No. Had a little bit of that Gotti Ward energy, didn't it?

No, it did. It did. Do you... I don't know. By the way, Moreno's still young, but he has been in a lot of wars now. His career is going to come to a close much sooner than people realize. I did see some people do the, does this make him the flyweight Max Holloway, which is great fighter, was the champion, but isn't a dominant finisher in any single category.

Max finished Jose Aldo in back-to-back fights. Absolutely. It's not a fair comparison to begin with. But do you think there's something to that, that what's holding back Moreno from maybe an extended run here is he's a, he, I mean, he showed some like championship valor in a few moments, like, you know, reversals and then, you know, he, he fights with a very high IQ and I really liked a lot of what he did, especially early in this fight, but not being that consistent threat. Am I talking out of my ass? No, I don't think so. I mean, the problem is these guys, they're all pretty much good in the same ways. Now, let me say what I mean by that. Obviously, Pantoja is like a much

better operator from the back. Okay, so they definitely have strengths and then sometimes some very pronounced ones. But when you really think about it, like the elite ones, the elite flyweights, they've most, for the most part, they've got really good cardio. They've got really good durability. They can scramble offensively and defensively. They have fairly similar-ish striking styles. They're not radically dissimilar fighters. They've got an advantage in certain ways against the other ones,

but it's not like there's some guy at 125 who's just got lights out fucking Habib wrestling on him. like there's some guy at 125 who's just got lights out fucking Habib wrestling on him. There's not a guy at 125 right now that's got lights out power, for example, where you get these real big differences. You don't have one guy who's clearly a better athlete than the rest. They're all in fairly close proximity to each other, so that's why I think Moreno isn't getting in the, and he's got insane will, but that's why they're getting in these dogfights constantly because,

dude, not one of these guys is just vastly better than the other. It's not DJ beating up, you know, Kyoji Horiguchi or, you know, whoever. Wilson Hayes. Hey, dude, I took a seminar from Wilson Hayes. Wilson Hayes is the man. Wilson Hayes is a very good grappler, but to your point, in MMA purposes, they don't have distinct identities in that way. They're all kind of there. And so it just creates weirdness. Man, Jesus.

How soon are these guys even going to be ready? They've got to take a long time. Dude. They've got to take a long ass time. Honestly, if you're Brandon Moreno, do you fight this year? I would not do that. I would not do that. I would not do that. I would not fight this year at all.

Focus on your broadcasting career and your collection. Exactly. The dude makes money trading Funko shit, whatever those toys are. BC, we've got to talk. I mean, there's more we could say, but we've been talking forever. Dude, we've got to talk about Dracostuplacy. Okay, I'll reiterate what I said earlier about feeling like some home rousy feels. Dude, as I was watching it happen.

Now, am I a Whitaker super fan? No, I like Robert Whitaker a lot. I obviously came out. I'm going to have to eat a lot of crow right now. I came out when you said, what are the chances for Duplicy? And I'm like, there's no chance. I have to eat crow too. Yeah, I mean, we all do, right?

Except for Jed Meshew, who's having his moment. Why don't you go blow him? I think you want to blow him. He's a rival. You know what? He's a rival. He's a chief rival. You can get Brett Okamoto here, and you can get Jed Meshew.

Does this activate some jealous streak in you if I mention another media member that I suddenly want to blow them? No, I actually like both of these guys. Okay. I just, you know, you want to fuck them. I go head to head with him on the MMA Around the Horn show they got over there on MMA Fighting. Listen, I can't control who you want to blow. All right.

Well, first of all, Jed, you're going to have your... Jed's the only one to pick this, Luke. The only major person. I think I saw one other person took a flyer on a bet and sent me their screenshot. But yes, in general, he might have been the only one. Shocked. I mean, so let's look at what he did right there. I get that he's a very good fighter and he's unbeaten and he's huge as shit for this weight class. And maybe Luke, that whole idea

about fixing his nose does make him a much, much better potential fighter here. But Robert Whitaker is like, I've been calling him living legend, dude. He's like one of the greatest, one of the most well-rounded fighters, speaking of Volkanovski and DJ, one of the most well-rounded fighters I've ever seen. One of the most consistently great fighters who arguably was right there with Adesanya in that rematch. I scored it for Whitaker. Dude, this was like, hey, how soon can Izzy get out of this division so Whitaker can finally finish off his career, right? Right, right.

No, DDP went in there and kicked the freaking shit out of him. Dude, here's what stood out to me. Tell me if I'm wrong. It's not like Whitaker did in a moment. He was picking him apart good. Yeah, yeah. But overall, DDP was a monster in there. Yeah, yeah.

Here's what occurred to me when the fight was over. We knew that Drikus was a big, strong middleweight. We did know that. But, dude, watching Whitaker land punches on him, and, you know, they were good punches. They had an effect. But then watching Drikus land on Whitaker, dude, everything that Whitaker got hit with,

it moved him. Like, there was the, and on the ground, dude, the physicality difference. So here was a wake-up call for me. I knew he was a big, strong guy. He is much more than that. He is a, I think they called him a tank or like a bull on the broadcast.

Yes, dude. Like, part of the reason he's able to kind of get away with some of the spazziness. Although, I thought he kept it much more under control this time. Oh, his poise was great. Much more under control. But on top of that, that dude is a fucking T1 Abrams marching on you. So is it, did the nose change a lot? How much does that change?

Do you have bad nose issues? So at first, I don't know what he got. He said he literally couldn't breathe out of it before it got fixed. I can't breathe out of mine. When mine's fucked up, it's completely sealed shut. So I had a balloonplasty, which is where in the inside of my nose, there has so much damage from previous trauma. Nosebears, yeah. No, I wish.

I'm not a nosebears kind of guy. None of us are. It's hot. I've tried them. It doesn't work for me. It's hot right now, Luke. Yeah, it's not for me. Not for me. It's hot. I've tried them. It doesn't work for me. It's hot right now, Luke. Yeah, it's not for me. Not for me.

Not for me. So what ended up happening was they shoot this balloon into your face, and then they pop it, or they expand it, and it just crack, and then they drain out all of the... Dude, I was shooting boogers out of my nose, and I'm not doing a bit, the size of pterodactyls. I mean, you could not... I was pulling dinosaurs out of my nose every night. Just these boogers the size of my hand. Please keep going. All of this sort of dead shit that was in my face that got removed.

So for like the first six months after that, I could not believe how much better I could breathe. I had better sleep. I could exercise better. All of my problems returned because, you know, that's my luck. I could imagine making a difference I really don't think that's it. I think he is finally Starting to put all of the different pieces of his game together, dude He had good combinations that right hand he hit Whitaker with was clean as shit

There was nothing about that that was accidental a log in my eye You ever just have that happen Luke and he got to cut off your co-hosts and you're like, I just can't see. I'm trying to be serious for just a second. We have not been very high on Drikus. Dude, he earned this one fair and square. There was not a thing

fluky about it. No. When he takes Whitaker down at the end of round one and actually cuts him and lands big shots, even then, Luke, I remember thinking, wow, on the post-fight show, we'll it was so okay when he takes Whitaker down at the end of round one and and actually cuts him and lands big shots even then Luke I remember thinking wow on the post fight show we'll talk about hey he showed out he had a moment he showed us that he can be dangerous no that continued even though Whitaker came out and kind of started to pick him apart from distance you're like okay this is how

that fight's going to go to see DDP then come back over the top so he's as he's an extremely big middleweight but seeing him against Whitaker kind of reminded you that Whitaker's actually a small middleweight, former welterweight, and you must feel like an asshole picking him in your fantasy draft to go at light heavyweight against Jon Jones in the main event. Yeah, I mean, it wasn't one of my finer decisions. I'm not saying that I did anything but make rematches. I'm really not saying that. But okay, so are we eating crow? A hundred percent. Do we owe DDP and Apollo? Big time. Yeah, we do. We do. Dude, because I didn't think that was possible.

But to be fair, Luke, even if DDP raised his game, which you had to believe because this fight was so big and he was taking it as if it was a title fight that he would, this is Robert Whitaker that we're talking about. Could you have imagined Robert Whitaker getting stopped in the manner in which he did? Not by this opponent. No. By Adesanya? Yes. Not by, by Yoel Romero? Maybe. not by this opponent, no. By Adesanya, yes.

Not by, by Yoel Romero, maybe. Not by this opponent. No, I didn't see this coming at all. I didn't see him getting drilled on the feet and then finished off with big, and by the way, they were good because, you know, Whittaker's going like this, and so DDP just fucking unloaded right to the gut,

and that folded him a little bit too. Like, dude, he is a fucking war horse so no no I did not see that coming he might be the real African champion he might be the real African champion

this bit the bit that is now going to play out for the next six to nine months and by the way this fight will be hot the build to this fight will be hot

and that in cage head to head told you that made you feel that it's also going to be gross and dark as shit. Dude. I mean, seriously, okay? Adesanya just came out there and dropped the, I know he did it in a, he put the ah at the end.

Yeah, he dropped it at the end with the A. I'm sorry. It was still like, dude, this is not the place for this type of commentary. Anyway, what do you think we should have learned from that face to face because izzy wasn't scared but but it did look like izzy is now like we all are going oh shit this guy actually is for real it like izzy looked at him differently so i think izzy was drunk don't you maybe yeah i think he was i think my man had been enjoying a few i don't know what nose beers or beers.

Oh, okay. Don't you dare accuse that. No, no, no. I'm not. I mean, I would care either way. But he was... I don't think he was sober is the best way to say it.

I don't think he was sober because he kind of had that like close-talking drunk voice. Yeah, yeah. Like, oh, oh, oh. You know, I like his... I've been that guy. I've been that guy.

Would you say it was similar to the receiving line at a Morning Combat live show afterwards? A lot of close talking. Great people. It's like, if you want COVID, I know a great place to get it. The receiving line. They'll give it to you there. Oh, wait, did you see the MK fan who put the tattoo of Chido Vera?

I sent it to you. I sent it to you. Yeah, she DM'd me, too, and was wearing our t-shirt. Yeah, that's what I sent to you. I don't know her name, but shout out to you for... Chido Vera posted like an Instagram reel of a woman coming up and like she had

like his initials or whatever. Like she had written it. He had given her an autograph. She took the autograph and put it on her arm and got the tattoo. And while she was doing it

in the video, she's wearing an MK shirt. Yeah, yeah. She called herself KDP on Instagram, at ChunkyNoDrunky. Oh, yes, yes, yes. Thank you for showing up there at the convention center at the, you know, IFW wearing our shirt. That was fantastic. I don't love tattoos of autographs, Luke, but maybe she's a monster, you know, Chito

Vero fan who's going to say anything to that. Back to DDP, Luke. I mean, holy shit, dude. And he looked the part. I mean, he looked like a bad guy at the end of a movie. He looked like the foreign villain at the end of the movie. But his confidence level, like, but it's always been there. Remember after his first UFC win, he was like, remember the name, Drikus Duplessis.

And I stand here shocked that he just walked in there, and it wasn't one lucky punch, that he just walked in there and took Robert Whitaker the fuck apart. Dude, are you kidding me? Like, that really just happened. I know. I know. He beat him completely fair and square. And honestly, you can't say he beat him thoroughly because he was getting popped early.

I thought he was being made to look a fool early. The first two minutes, you're like, oh, yeah, here we go. It was exactly what I thought. And then he gets taken down, roughed up, and then they come out on the feet. He's not taking big shots. He's not letting Whitaker do his stuff. And then he intercepts Whitaker. He used his own game against him. He intercepts him and then finishes him off with these thudding shots. Does he have an elite? Do we know if he has an elite chin? So he's been stopped by Roberto Soldich. Yes. And then finishes him off with these thudding shots. Does he have a chin? Do we know if he has an elite chin? So he's been stopped by Roberto Soldich.

Yes. Who went to one and has had the worst start in one. He had an Eddie Alvarez level start in one. It just has not gone well. Like a Will Brooks in the UFC? Yeah. Exactly like that. It just did not go the way it was supposed to go.

Like you in your first year at William & Mary before you decided to join that fraternity? That's actually not a bad point. I had a much better sophomore year than I did a freshman year. But you in your first year at William & Mary before you decided to join that fraternity? That's actually not a bad point. I had a much better sophomore year than I did a freshman year. You get the idea. If you go watch that fight, you're like, oh, right. He's easily beatable. But he's so much better than that guy now. I think it was 2018,

2019, something like that. Maybe 2017 or even before. He is vastly different at this point. He still does look a little bit newborn giraffe on his feet a little bit, does he not? I mean, he's... It clearly fucking works. I mean, he does look like a bit of a goofball,

but he was kind of polished tonight. He had great poise. He was bragging about his stamina, which we didn't get to see in an extreme way. But damn, man. I mean, what do you think Jed Meshew II saw? You think he's just a white supremacist behind the scenes or something?

Maybe he did some 23 and Meekins like, I'm from Nigeria. Oh, man. Did you see Mike Perry? Speaking of 2% Africans, did you see Mike Perry got married? To Coach Latorre? Yeah, they did the thing, man.

Good for Mike, dude. I'm happy to hear that. Great to see that. Hold on. Let's talk about this real quickly. Okay, people online definitely agree with you more

that they think it's cringe, the Izzy thing. Yeah. You didn't think it was funny calling him the N-word? Okay, the whole, you know I like those type of interactions

even when they go crazy I mean, it was a circus. It was a complete circus. Even with it being a circus, overall, I think it was great because it actually achieved complete circus even with it being a circus overall I think it was great because it actually achieved what it's supposed to do

which is create like intensity to get you fired up for that fight look the fight's the fight's interesting now the fight matters now because of what happened to it right

that's big the N-word stuff was and okay just because I am comparing it to Jerry Cooney versus Larry Holmes which was a

one of the biggest boxing fights 1982 I think it was it was heavyweight championship it was the great white hope it to Jerry Cooney versus Larry Holmes, which was one of the biggest boxing fights in 1982, I think it was. It was heavyweight championship. It was the great white hope unbeaten Cooney against the new black champion that not everybody loved in the post-Ali thing and all that. And then it became 100% about race. And it was gross and nasty. And people look back on that with really ill feelings. I really don't want this to become that. But will it?

I was worried. Are they leaning into it? They're kind of leaning into it. A little bit. I mean, Drikus brought it up. I mean, can they do the whole real African champion bit without racial undertones? No, right? Well, I mean, what if Drikus wins?

I mean, what do you say then? You know, like, that would be... I mean, is there a way to present the... This is to declare the real African champion without it being that? Because people got on you for every time you're mentioning DDP in the build-up to this fight, you're mentioning apartheid and the country and all these bad things when that might not necessarily be the case. Well, yeah, they don't have apartheid anymore. I mean, they did. They did in our lifetime. People are, like, back the hell off because our country's all these bad things when that might not necessarily be the case. Well, yeah, they don't have apartheid anymore.

Yeah. I mean, they did. They did in our lifetime. People are like, back the hell off because our country's got a bad history. They did in our fucking life. We didn't have apartheid. Not in my lifetime. Not in my lifetime.

We've had our issues. We have gross shit all the time. Every country does. Every country does. We have that at home. Do you think there's a chance? Because the thing is this. South Africa does have a budding scene.

Yes. Do you think they put a fight there i mean they wouldn't put they wouldn't put it in the b-side guy's house would they well here's a better question if with francis not there if ufc is finally going to put the flag down in africa which is inevitably it's going to happen right is there any reason that south africa would be a leader in that outside of yeah is there a reason you know Africa would be a leader in that? Yeah. Is there a reason financially, all that kind of stuff? Would they be the potential leader in housing that?

If that's the case, then yeah, you do go to the B side there. I mean, we've seen big stars have to defend their belts in Brazil, even if they're not a Brazilian fighter before. That's true. Like, you kind of... I don't think they should wait for PFL to do it first, is what I'm saying. Yeah, they might. That'd be interesting. I mean, in the end, they I don't think they should wait for PFL to do it first, is what I'm saying. Yeah, they might. That'd be interesting. I mean, in the end, they probably don't. They'd probably go to Abu Dhabi or something,

where people from South Africa or wherever could travel to. But yeah, that's... I mean, dude, Drikus Duplassi is the best South African fighter since Trevor Prangley. That's saying something. He was actually pretty good in his day, and Drikus is actually better than that. So, great job by him.

All right. We've been on the air for a while. I at least want to answer some questions. Yeah, I've got to go finish my story for CBS Sports. All right, so we'll grab this up here pretty quickly. I'm on the clock. Me too. Dan Hooker taking on Jalen Turner.

Dude, that was a freaking awesome brawl. That was insane. I cannot believe that Dan Hooker ate that head kick, survived to tell the story, and then put it on Jalen Turner later in that fight. Here's what's crazy is this win, it did two things. It saved Dan Hooker's elite run, right? Yes, big time.

Even though he's coming off a win and a stoppage win against an unbeaten fighter, it saved that. But he also took heavy damage to get there which was our fear but i also think luke he was already known as an action hero hero i wonder if this fight like actually cements him meaning robbie lawler goes away tonight and his outside of being a champion robbie lawler's biggest reputation he's arguably the greatest action fighter in the sports history do you think hooker is is getting closer to sort of like m MMA or gaudy territory in that regard? Yeah.

Yeah, he is. I just worry that... Is that going to be his championship? That's going to be his championship, right? What? Going the distance of his career and being known as that... I'll always give you a great fight and I'll always try to fight the best. Yeah.

Yeah, I think so. I just worry because I saw someone posting a collage of all the times Hooker has been stretchered into the hospital. Like against Turner, against Poirier. Poirier beat the shit out of him. In a great fight, Poirier beat the shit out of him. Against Felder. Yeah. And there's another one I'm thinking about.

Barbosa? No, Barbosa beat the bags off of him. So this was impressive as shit in terms of his resilience, but I do worry about the cost of that. Dude, he looked ready to be finished at a couple points in this. I just am shocked. Jalen Turner's boxing looked crisp, but again, they talked about it on the broadcast, and I will say it, the weight cut.

Yeah, so we didn't talk about that. We missed that on Friday in terms of the timing of it, but he missed weight by a lot, right? So that's an alarming thing. Two pounds over, but with the one-pound allowance, I think. So still not great. He did fight with heart. Could you argue that?

I mean, that's a bad scorecard, Luke, and it's Adelaide Bird who gave it that because she gave Turner the final round, right? So it goes down as a split decision. Is there an argument for Turner to winning that? So you could give him... You have to give him one and two, then. One and two. Could you give him two? round, right? So it goes down as a split decision. Is there an argument for Turner to winning that split? So you could give him You have to give him one and two then. One and two. Could you give him two?

That was the craziest round, correct? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that was the one where Hooker got fucking I thought he was going to get flatlined

and then didn't. Dude, when he came back with that flurry like right after getting hurt. Yeah, and the problem is that Hooker had him on that

in the choke. Yes. You know, and it would have had it but for the bell. Last but not least Biggest is that Hooker had him on the choke. Yes. And it would have had it, but for the bell. Last but not least. Biggest win for Hooker since? Sex work became legal in Amsterdam. There it is.

Bo Nickel defeating Val Woodburn. I mean, what a waste of time. It was a waste of time. What a fucking waste of time. But in terms of escalating the waste of time, we got to see his hands. And they're pretty damn good, right? We kind of knew that from some of his previous contests. Yeah, but we didn't really know it.

You still don't really know it. I'm not saying we really know it now. But I'm saying, like, to see it. Like, he did shoot once, but he didn't win this with wrestling. He won this with his hands. And they were crisp and accurate and powerful. Yeah. And he really went with three punches.

But it was pretty sick, dude. I have to say, it is kind of amazing that Trump was there, and they showed him walking out with Dana and this regal thing. You know, listen, I know that the audience is—apparently he got a big pop, because I was there for the BMF fight, and it was a mix. Well, I would hope any president that is in disgrace, and I know Trump is arguably disgraced, but I know that- Arguably? Okay, I'm trying to not get into it, but I would think, in my opinion, they all deserve a pop, right? No.

George Bush should have been tried in the Hague for war crimes. No, absolutely not. The Iraqi guy who threw a shoe at him was very much in his right. So he knows the truth about Building 7? He probably does. What I'm saying is the guy has literally been federally fucking indicted. There's more coming. And they're just acting like he's this grandpa elder statesman.

Like, hey, there's nothing going on. This motherfucker had his mugshot taken not too long ago. Yeah, that guy sucks. And maybe he gets exonerated. Think of, I mean, look, this was a great night for the UFC in the fact that it was the biggest fight card of the year and it freaking over delivered

but it was also great the star power they did have but if you really look at it it is like UFC elite star power I mean it's fucking Mel Gibson

who's like disgraced in so many areas I know Mel Gibson it's like dude you know I mean remember how many times

Izzy called Dracus the n-word that is how many times Mel left that n-word on the voicemail for that lady. But dude, seriously, the thing that gets me is like everyone excuses it in our fan base because they all like love Trump's politics. And it's always like, dude, anybody in their life, anyone, who's like, dude, you know who

I like? You know who I like? Politicians. Like anyone who says that, you're a fucking loser ass bitch. Did they trace the nose candy in Biden's office? Was that Hunter's? Did they figure that out? Probably.

I mean, if it's anybody's. Dude, I told you this before. You know, they probably looked around and they're like, motherfucking Hunter. You know what I mean? I told you this before, but one of the times that Hunter Biden got a hotel room with a prostitute and did crack cocaine was in my hometown, Naugatown, Connecticut.

Dude, did you see Hunter Biden? That's one of the documented times. He came to the seedy motel that everybody went to after the prom. That dirtbag, he got kicked out of a Los Angeles sex cult for being too much of a piece of shit. Can you imagine? But that's my point. Imagine, because I have to see this where I live, because it's the exact opposite of UFC land, where people are being like, dude, fucking Nancy Pelosi showed up.

Hell yeah. You'd be like, you know how out of your mind you'd have to be to publicly display affection that way? Anybody doing that for Trump, you are no fucking better. You are no fucking better. I love politicians. They're not coming after Trump.

They're coming after all of us. You think he was handing out secrets about nuclear weapons, just like flyers tonight at the fucking thing? I wonder if he's investing in PowerSnap. Holy shit. That would be amazing. No, I doubt it, though.

If Trump's going to invest in anything... Even Trump looks at that and he's probably like, no, I'm not doing that shit. Okay, so let's set this up. Let's see what we have coming. We have some extra credit on the way. Yes. We have a Monday show live. We should probably bring a third person on who was there at Fight Week.

Yeah. We want to get Bronsetter on maybe? Yeah, or Okamoto or Mishu. Yeah, I know you do. I know you want to be in that sandwich. We'll have a hundred-partying sex party there on our show on Zoom. That would be great. Oh, God, that would be amazing.

So we'll have that. I'm going to try and... Oh, dude, I've got to tell the people this. Remember, have you seen this shit Friday in studio, which is one of the best ones we've had in a while? Yeah. The guy in the American flag with the giant... Oh, the humongous blunt.

Yeah, the guy with the mullet. That's right, guy. Yo, he found out that we shouted him out. And then he followed me on IG. And then we started DMing him. And dude, I asked him about his smoking tolerance, dude. He's like, you know, I'm a peak. I'm like smoking out today.

I'm like... I don't even know how that's possible. Unless you're just wasting it that guy is a legend Luke that guy is an American legend he's mostly just marijuana part man he's no different than that guy

we showed the drinking guy what's that guy's name you know the guy I'm talking about yes the one who could just like drink things very quickly and like wear sports jerseys this guy's the weed version of that

yeah he might be he might be also last thing on this BC and I were calling the prelims oh Squirrel Bait Squirrel Bait that's the guy's the weed version of that. Yeah, he might be. He might be. Also, last thing on this, BC and I were calling the prelims. Oh, Squirrel Bait. Squirrel Bait. That's the guy's name on his shirt. We were calling the prelims tonight over on the boxing side and during the middle

of me talking to BC, they just started doing a moment of silence with a 10 count, which we later found out they were not supposed to do when we were on air, but they just did it anyway. That's never happened to me before. Whenever shit happens whenever shit happens in your life you got no cell i feel bad that i just talked over someone's no don't feel moment of silence but i fucking did we're live on the air dude you you gotta go you gotta keep going you know all right uh you want to call

it a day yeah yeah it was a fun day though dude like let's let's say it luke that was a great one of the best nights in in in the 30 year history this was fun as shit this was a great any this was great i would love to and i have been in the last few years to some of those i don't normally say that yeah where it's like that when that momentum just keeps going you look at the guy next to you on the media run you're just like like what do we expect next like are you kidding me this is crazy 217 felt like that fucking a right yeah it know 205 felt like that damn yeah this was a big one

196 grabbed my heart and also the one later this month is tremendous and the same fucking day as Spencer Crawford are we back

we're back dude it feels good July's gonna be a good one I got a good feeling about July this year is because boxing's so

awesome this year if UFC comes out the second half of this year and just gives us what we're looking for, dude, we'll look back on this year. Even with the craziness and power slap and all that, 2023's been a hell of a combat sports year already,

even with the weirdness, dude. 2023 also, we'll talk about the Showtime results. Boots Ennis beating the bags off of Royman Vija. So we'll get to that as well. We done? Yeah, I'm not going to stay here any longer. I thought I was underdressed for this, and then i show up and you know you got me sitting on like a like a catholic pew over i didn't hey go look at al bernstein's tweet about caesars

you see you guys see al bernstein's tweet about caesars he was like i can't believe how fucking awful this place you know first of all it was awesome the first thing i said when i saw al backstage at Boardwalk Hall was like, yo, Al, sorry to hear about Caesars. And Joey was like, I hate this city.

I was like, yeah. Oh, hold on. We got to at least do one or two. Yo, Atlantic City's wild. Real quick, real quick. I'll make this fast. I'll make this fast. And then we go.

I probably got a couple questions in here very quickly. W. Kamau Bell says, feels like with slap fighting and Dana doubling down on being Dana when he makes it seem like UFC can't survive

without him, that the UFC's going to end up being a niche sport again and when it legitimately had a chance to challenge the four big sports what are your thoughts? No I don't know

tonight was a big night yeah I may have argued that on Friday but tonight is tonight was a big night tonight they came out swinging

they did man they came out swinging and yo how first of all I know you're going to get into Robbie Lawler probably extra credit on Monday

but like the production and the timing on all that. Like tonight, they, outside of DC complaining about replays and outside of the N-word, tonight was like,

UFC showed what they can do, dude. Tonight they were back. When they're on, they're tough to beat. They're fucking amazing. They're tough to beat. They're great. Most of these questions are,

does Duplicy give size, give Adesanya trouble? Probably. Would you stop with this? Probably. How many times did you pronounce whore guy so far, Talia? Okay, it's not whore a guy. You know what?

After that performance, Luke, it doesn't matter what your name is, right? You're going to eat a lot of whore guy crow. I didn't see that fight. She lost like 20 seconds or something. I didn't see that fight. Did he say Gomes put it on her Luke I guess so

do you think the headbutt effect we've done all these how many N-words is too many depends who's saying it I guess actually maybe we should

bring on Kamau Bell tomorrow and be like that is the rant is that kosher or not is that okay that he called another white guy the N-word 50,000 times

that was wild, dude. I don't know. You know I do love that shit. Come on, admit you love that shit. I mean, when Brock pushed DC, that was lame as shit. Yeah, it was lame as shit. Especially Brock had a black undershirt underneath his dress shirt. No one ever talks about that either.

Like when GSP wore the jorts. He dresses like a criminal. Yeah. You know what I mean? But I love when they come in the cage, dude, and do weird shit, all right? Remember, Abu Khar came in the cage and started punching Conor and stuff. And someone, and then Conor jumped off and kicked Dylan Danis in the face. No, that was Habib, but...

Oh, yeah, exactly. All right, we're going to call it a day here. Hey, thanks for watching us and putting up with us. We appreciate you guys. We'll see you on Monday. Plenty of content coming your way. Brian Campbell, Luke Thomas, the Morning Combat crew. This has been a state-of-the-art production.

Can you... Fuck. Brian Campbell Luke Thomas the Morning Combat crew this has been a state of the art production can you fuck yo Atlantic City's real weird so you're gonna hit a button and that will end the show yeah so one second ready three

two hold on hold on it happened