MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - UFC Abu Dhabi: Whittaker/de Ridder, Ilia & Arman Beef, UFC Fall Fights | Ft. Mike Bohn & Sean Zittel

Episode Date: July 25, 2025

Brian Campbell is joined by special guests Mike Bohn and Sean Zittel on this Friday edition of Morning Kombat! With the former champion Robert Whittaker having lost three of his last six and red-hot Reinier de Ridder riding a streak of three straight stoppage wins in just nine months to open his UFC career, Saturday's middleweight main event has all the feels of a true crossroads fight with legit title contention at stake. What aspect of this matchup on paper has you the most intrigued? Dana White announced a slew of fall 2025 fights. Which fights are the most intriguing? Ilia Topuria says he would rather vacate title than fight Arman Tsarukyan. Plus, BC and Sean Zittel talk the latest in boxing news.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Friday, July 25th. All the 25s and you've entered Morning Combat. Welcome in the best damn combat sports show they ever put together. RIP Hogan, still not really sure where I feel on that. But hey, anyway, I'm your boy BC Brian Campbell, Luke Thomas on vacation for the final episode. But that hasn't stopped or slowed the news cycle as we are ready to hit you right between the eyes with a fantastic show today featuring two to first time guests around 1215 ish Eastern time today. We'll welcome in boxing podcast or insider Sean Zatell as we look at the latest things going on with Zufa boxing, the Ali act and so much more, boxing uh podcaster insider we look at the uh latest

Zufa boxing, the Ali act with a look ahead to the got another first time gu more elite MMA artists i game today, one of Canada as well. So we got a lot things UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday to some big fight announcements in the future. Before I welcome them in, why don't you follow what we got

going on here? Like the video, subscribe on YouTube, tell a friend, spread it with the aggressiveness and carelessness you did those STDs in college. Check out our YouTube channels as well. And one more plug if I can. All right? Let's go to morningcombat.shop. Let's go right now. It's the end of the month. Our specialty features this month from the Three Gut Margaritas shirt to the technical thriller. Get them why they'll last because they won't. That's the whole point. Not to mention autographed and unautographed Lucha posters. Shout out to Average Joe are check it out. Morning Combat dot shop.

Get you and your loved ones outfitted for the summer. All right, let's do it. Let's bring in my guest to kick off the show from MMA Junkie with Love and the host of the fantastic Bonfire podcast. He's also a bearded individual. Let's welcome Mike Bone. I wanted to say for the first time, but I'm wrong. Cause Boner, you were on the Three Margaritas Show, brother.

Welcome back to MK. I was, that was a memorable day and happy birthday, Brian. Oh, thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. So 47 never looked this washed, but happy to be here. Happy to circle the globe one more time thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. So 47 never looked this washed, but happy to be here. Happy to circle the globe one more time with you. Mike, big fan of your work these days. How's life? How's everything? You're tearing ass over there at Junkie.

Thank you. Yeah. Life is good, man. Can't complain. I thought New Orleans was an awesome time last week. I hadn't been there before. It's always cool to go to like a first time city. And obviously like personally speaking, you know, Max Hallway and Dustin Poirier, two fighters have gone back further with covering this than almost anyone in the sport. And they've been very good to me over the years. So a little tough seeing them fight again, but I thought the whole week was amazing. And you know, Dustin went out and about as good a fashion as he could have outside of a win. So that was a fight week that will stick with me. They blend together so

much at this point in time after doing it for so long, but that one was a special one. So I'll be, I just stay an extra day out there on Bourbon Street, saw a full on bar brawl on my last night which was insane. But yeah. You should have took some video. We could have put it on heavy. I do have video. I'll send it to you after the factor. Maybe if you know why the producers want, it was wild stuff.

Thank you. Thank you. Hopefully you didn't wait in line too long at Cafe Dumont for those overrated powder donuts. But shout out to New Orleans. Shout to that war hat behind you. Very shop esk. I like that from you. There you go. Yeah.

No, that was a gift from Dustin directly. So what can you say? You gotta put it on the set when that happens. Yeah. You gotta wear it all day. That's what I'm talking about. All right, Mike, we got a lot to get into today. Very appreciative that you would fill that chair

of Luke Thomas and probably filling it with less violent IBS, to be fair, right? That's sort of a theme of that man's aggressive life. But let's remind everybody that today's episode of Morning Combat is brought to you by DraftKings. With DraftKings, of course, the crown is yours. Shout out to everybody watching right now on the DraftKings network, listening on your podcast feed or on YouTube, however you consume it. It's time.

Oh, it's almost time. One more thing. I almost forgot about that Aussie kid. Hey, our producer, our director, our bong enthusiast, one of the nicest guys in the world. How about the main card minute podcast, Luke Nocita also on the ones and twos today. Luke, I even introduced you without referencing your dad's nuts. So that's a good thing. Almost. You were that close. You were that close. Guys, I'm hype. Bobby Knuckles fighting tomorrow and we got a day card. I mean, I couldn't be happier. So let's go.

Well done right there, Luke. Happy to have you with us as always. All right, let's hit it, topic number one. Uno, yes, it's UFC Abu Dhabi this Saturday and that's a pretty damn good fight night card with a middleweight main event that you must see, of course, with title implications, with former champion Robert Whitaker having surprisingly lost three of his last six

entering this matchup against a red hot Dutch night and Renear de Ritter, who is the on a three fight stoppage spree in the nine months since he has joined the UFC Saturday's middleweight five rounder feels a bit like a crossroads fight with the winner catapulting pretty damn close to the top of this division. So Mike Bond, what aspect of this matchup Knuckles versus the Knight has you the most intrigued as we head into Saturday? I think just finding out if Robert Whitaker still has it, right? Like is this as

you said, three and three in the last six, where just is he? Cause you look at the fighters he's lost to all due respect to Rainier. He hasn't obvious like in the UFC accomplished what those guys have. Um, and we'll find out if he is capable of being that, but yeah, like this is one you got to think Robert must have there feels like maybe a path to one more title shot for him. He's saying it like this is my last run here. He has history with no matter who comes out of that title fight, which could make it both like a backstory for a rematch but also tricky because he did get finished by both guys.

The Homs at one being particularly definitive. So he's just got to prove that he's still here and I still have faith in Robert Whitaker. I don't think he's someone who's fallen off dramatically, just had some hard fights, but if he loses that one, I think we start having to ask some more serious questions about what his future looks like. And is he still that guy who has held a spot in the top five,

six of this division for what, like a decade now? Yeah, I think that's very well said about what this fight really represents and how we look at one of my favorite fighters of all time, Bloody Knuckles himself, the Reaper, Robert Whitaker. 34 years old, so Mike, you never really know if we're gonna see the beginning of someone coming or going, so to speak, from the aging factor.

I think the biggest shock, I don't wanna say disappointment because you never know who's gonna win these things, but the biggest shock wasn't necessarily that Whitaker is three and three and his last six, largely against elite opponents. It's more the one-sided nature in how he lost. I mean, we are literally talking

about a living legend right here and I don't offer that nickname liberally or is that the right word? I don't know, I'll have to ask Luke later. But let's throw to a quick graphic here showing the names that this man has gone through, whether win or lose in his lifetime there. You're talking about two title fights without Asanya. I thought he won the second one, maybe I'm crazy, I don't know. How about 10 rounds with Prime, Yoel Romero, DDP, Chumayev, you see it all the way going back to the welterweight days.

This man is one of the best fighters in the history of this promotion and certainly a top three in this division. Although DDP is crashing this picture quickly. Mike, how will we tell if Rob still has it here on Saturday? Cause it is an interesting matchup where we don't expect that already are is going to be looking to strike with him. You would think not, but, uh, you know, I think some people would have said he would

have welcomed being on his back against Bo nickel, hoping he could hunt for a submission or whatever. And he's has to have gained tremendous confidence in striking. But yeah, I don't think if you ask Reneer, like, where do you want this fight to unfold? I don't think you would say the majority on the feet. So Robert has always had really good defensive wrestling, offensive wrestling when he wants to pull it out. So if we just see him failing to stop that first wave of takedowns, the second wave, because RDR does have some tricky moves, like just because he shoots for wave of takedowns, the second wave, because RDR does have some tricky moves. Like just because he shoots for that first takedown

doesn't mean his takedown series or his grappling chaining ends there. He's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve. So if Rob is not like shutting down that first wave, that second wave, I feel like he's still very much that guy. And that's enough to be competitive and win a lot of fights in this division. We were wondering, you know, could he do that with Hams on?

And the answer was a defeat of no RDR is absolutely not the takedown machine that Chumayev is with the same force. Um, but that would make it even more telling, right? Like a guy who's a little slower, who doesn't have that intensity. If he's just chucking Rob around in there, that's a big problem. To echo once more to the times that Whitaker in recent memory has not only been handled, but handled without care, been kind of destroyed. Is it a size thing? I mean, look, he's the former middleweight champion. He's one of the greatest, you know, champions we've seen, but as he's slowing down just a bit,

when you look at the DDP and Tremaya losses, how much do you think size and brute strength played a factor there? Yeah, well, those gotta be the two strongest guys in the division are up there, right? So I don't wanna make it a complete indictment, but if you ask Rob, which I did, the Tremaya fight, he feels that was more a technique,

mental lapse, you don't hear him be like, he was just so powerful for me. And then he seemingly got him in the perfect submission technique with some preexisting jaw issues as well. So it's almost hard to know exactly how to read into that one. And if he says that's all fixed and it's good now that you would imagine would give him even more confidence where he wouldn't just have to tap so quickly if RDR gets his back and wraps the forearm around the chin or the throat or whatever. So I don't want to think it's entirely size dependent.

Like he looked fine in there in that regard. I think it's just fighting some, some really good guys. And I don't know, I still don't even know what to make of the DDP fight, because it was just so weird and he was doing well and then he got clipped and it was just like an insane downhill after that. Yeah. I mean, you know, and he has had some injury illness situations that compromised that very peak

of his prime. Maybe that led into how badly he fell ap knockout loss to Adesanya You never know, but he ha reinstall his greatness has that early knockout o a nice reminder regarding teeth that Chumayev just

a big topic. Of course thi Rob show up to media day Let's hear from Whitaker talking about the recovery from that mouth surgery. How are you feeling? How's the health? How long did it take to rehab from the last fight? And if it's not a secret, how much did the teeth cost?

Yeah, I'm 100% recovery. Honestly, it wasn't too long afterwards, because I just got them taken out. So I got the implants put in, just had to wait for them to settle. So if anything, they're better than they were before. And the price was paid by Uncle Dana. So it's a work injury. The fight against Hamzat, you said it before, that your problems with the teeth started way before the fight.

So the reason why the jaw cracked was because it was on a badly hurt jaw before. What do you think if he locked the same type of move on somebody who didn't have those jaw problems like yourself, would he crack that jaw as well? It wasn't the jaw, it was the teeth that got moved. My jaw was fine. Honestly though, I shouldn't have been in that position to begin with. It's not a strong position to be in, but who knows? Maybe we'll find out in a few weeks. Rob would also say at Media Day that if he has it his way, of course, this fight will be contested

the entire time on the feed. It would be interesting to see what Renear Derrida would look like late in a fight. He doesn't typically get there. He is that submission expert at great success. Of course, at one championship winning titles in two divisions before coming here. But obviously, Mike, the run he's been on in the last nine months escalating seemingly in difficulty of opponent. Although you can certainly question how dangerous was Bo Nicol really at that point. That was more of a, we needed to find out type of moment. All in all, and I'll tell you the Draft King odds right now, Robert Whitaker still a slight favorite at minus 155,

but that wild card, Zsuzsuz expert of RDR plus 130. Mike, RDR is a wild card guy. meaning if things go his way, they can really go his way. We've also seen, albeit though against a much bigger fighter and Anatoly Malkin that like if it's a pure striking war, oh boy, he could get handled in there. Do you look at him almost like in boxing, we say a puncher's chance, like if it goes his way, he's got a shot or even if this fight goes five rounds, could you see a path to victory here for RDR? Ooh, that's a tough one just because I still regard

Whitaker as one of the better five round fighters. Like I've seen, especially in this division, like you look at those fights with Derrick Till and Cannonier and Paul Acosta, and the list goes on and on. This man knows what he's doing over a five round fight. I haven't seen that out of Rainier. So the idea of him going out there

and winning like a 49, 46, 48, 47 type of decision, that doesn't feel like a realistic outcome to me. Obviously it can happen, but if he's winning, it feels like it's going to be in a finish. And if he can't get it, like I could see Whitaker maybe getting a TKO in the later rounds or maybe winning that decision himself. So I don't think Renear even plans for that, cares about that. He's going in there, I think, to finish the fight and he could do it, man.

They just had their face off, what, like an hour ago at ceremonial wins there. He is a big freaking guy. And I know we talked about the size and the strength of Rob earlier with some of these opponents, like he's getting another one here. Rainier is massive. We know he's been a champion in multiple divisions. So like if he goes out there and he can bully Rob and wear him down and lean on him and pull him and all that stuff and then get the fight to the ground,

he can do this. He can finish th got one of the most impor ask for right now and tha momentum. Yeah, momentum to get to that in a secon to listen to what the dark when basically asked what is your plan to kind of s

the later rounds? Is your Dorita and get after it? Let's hear from him. Considering this is your first main event in the USC, you envision yourself changing your approach a little bit, pacing yourself because of the potential of it going 25 minutes or no? No, I think just hit the gas. That's kind of what I do.

See if I can get him out there early or maybe get him tired. And then both of us might get tired in the last couple of rounds. Must be a big podcast fan with that all gas no breaks way of living right there. But let's go to quickly to Long Island Luke, our betting expert. When I look at the odds here, Luke, your boy from Australia is the better fighter, but I feel like the odds makers who always know, even when we question them, they know.

It feels like they're not sure how strong the momentum of RDR is and how much Rob has left. Do you get that same feeling? Yeah. I feel like it's more what Rob has left or maybe like what Rob's teeth have left kind of thing there. But yo, Rob at middleweight, he's only lost to champions. He's only lost to Hamsot. Seven of his last 10 fights have come against current top 15 guys. RDR, yeah, he's on a nice streak, still hasn't fought anyone in the top 15.

I feel like good value on Rob here too. Minus 155, I would take that all day. But on the other hand, RDR, I feel like you just got to take by finish at that point because Because if he doesn't get it done early, he's probably not going to get it done. But you know, you already know I'm riding with Bobby Knuckles. Let's go. Bobby Knuckles, well, thank you, Luke, would say this week that he believes in his BJJ. He believes he will have no problem if the fight does go there. But this is what we're trying to figure out, Mike. Is this just a red hot streak against the right names at the right time?

Did RDR DR who used to shoot for the moon and you know, try to win the heavyweight championship at one, but yet came into the UFC with a fuck it attitude. I'm just going to go out there, fight who they give me and see what happens. When you look at this and you're ready to make your prediction does the dark night, the Dutch one get this done? I'm going to say no, but he has, he's capable. Definitely. Like we talked about, like this is everything this man has dreamed of, right? Like he was in purgatory. No one was talking about him. He was stuck in a horrible contract with one and there was a path to him never being relevant

again. So the fact that he's here, that he made his debut was in September. And here we are with his fourth fight and fighting a former champion in a main event. Like this is the things he could have only dreamed of two years ago when he had no idea what his future looked like. So if there's anyone who's, you know, we're not talking about skills here, how they match up and, you know, striking wrestling. Like I'm just talking about the mental side of things. Like this guy could not have more motivation and drive to get this done. Whereas Robert Whitaker, like when was the last time he fought someone ranked number 12, like it's been years and years and years. So, um, this is like, uh, I'm still here type of fight for Rob.

And this is just for an era like, you know, I could, everything I want, all my dreams, a title fight, it's all on the other side of this. So, um, this is the moment for him to show up and show his best. That could translate into a win. But until I see the fall off from Robert Whitaker that we've talked about and. You know, pondered about, I can't pick against him quite yet. I'm exactly right there with you. And I am a big fan of our DR interviewed him a bunch in his one days and really believe.

Great dude, really believe. But I believe when things go his way. And this might be a fight. It'll probably be a fight where it won't go his way. So I like Whittaker by decision. I don't throw out the idea that he could stop him on strikes just the same. But when you look at what's really at stake here, I don't think RDR is a win and you get a title shot because we do have some big names atop this division. It would certainly set him up for big things. But even though Whitaker's coming in on a one

fight losing streak, we already know if you're a former champion with a big name and you get a viable win, you could be knocking on the doors. Is there any chance Whitaker could, with a win here, could be facing in your eyes the winner of that August middleweight championship in Chicago between Chumayev and DDP? It feels unlikely just based off this one win, but it really depends. Like who deserves it the most? It's I think the winner of Nasruddin Imobov

and Kyle Boralho, right? But I don't think Imobov is someone the UFC is tripping over itself to put in a title fight. Like he was supposed to be the backup and then all that weirdness with the Paris main event. So I think they would reluctantly give it to him if no one else was available and it was best for their timing. And then you look who else is out there.

There's no one that feels like this is so clearly the next guy outside of that, of course. So Rob, all those things you said, the things that he's done, the name value, maybe they do a show in Sydney, a pay-per-view in like February and the timing lines up there. Drickus has fought there multiple times if he wins. So like it could be location dependent, all that stuff. He's at least got a chance if he goes out there and does something and given like what he'd be four and three in the last seven fights, that's all you can really ask yourself for. The person that feels like they would be more sellable for the title fight right away would be

Rainier if he does something impressive, finishes the job because he has trained I think pretty extensively with both guys and he's you, we wanted to see the awkwardness of a Rainier Dorader versus Drakos 2 plus C's fight. We need that. That would be awkward and delightful. Just the same. Let's get into this co-main event in the Bannom Way division as former champion.

I always struggle. Peyoter, Patal? Pyotr. Pyotr, my man. He'll be, by the way, minus 375 favorite, according to Draft Well, you uh he'll be by the way, m according to draft kings that streak in which he l and four out of five to w

title contention. Suddenl he should have gotten the in a potential rematch wi though, like Whitaker wel the backside of the rankings, we'll get a 35 year old Marcus McGee who is riding a six fight win streak. Now, largely against secondary opposition, the decision win over Jonathan Martinez last time was a nice boost to really give him what amounts here for me, a tryout on the elite level.

Would you think Marcus McGee has shown us yet that this is possible, that he could get through Jan as a, by the way, plus 295 favorite, and that he could prove to us on Saturday that he is of this elite ilk? He could, he's shown a lot of good stuff and they picked him in this spot for a reason. If Jan was gonna fight way down in the rankings,

this is someone I thought deserved a chance like this and it makes sense from the style stuff and all that. I I'm still super high on Jan and think he is capable of a lot of good things and big wins and maybe even getting that belt again. So we'll I'm sure get into it from his side. I love this fight. And for McGee, like, yeah, could he land something crazy out there? But Yon's chin is very good.

Obviously, his striking is elite. So the path to victory is going to be very, very, very tough. But if he hurts him, if he really is aggressive in there and wears Yon down, perhaps he can win this fight on a decision. But I just, I don't see it. This is a real tough uphill climb for him. It really is. It's a huge opportunity though.

And given his age and the window that is available to him, you certainly have to take your best swing and jump through it. He's almost looking like a tourist on Instagram on, you know, being a part of a big card like this in a big spot in the co-main event and seeing his name in light, seeing his face kind of stuff. He certai

Mike at 32, yawns not don fuels in his last two fi song, you dong, Devinson a lot closer to being not but possibly as you menti title, then he is going in the other direction. So when you look back at that streak of four defeats in five fights, we certainly have some explainable situations, including the disqualification

there, but do you think maybe it was a, a grind of so many big names back to back to back in a short period of time that maybe there was a burnout or something there that slowed him down? There could be some complacency. Bantamweight is just insane dude like these guys are so good who put those four fights in front of everyone anyone maybe outside of Marab like who's coming out with a significantly better record and winning all those instead of losing them so like I in that sense I don't want to beat him up too much there There could have been some of that. Like he was in a weird spot after those Aljo fights and maybe it just took some time to pick up the pieces, but he feels like he's fully back and motivated.

And I love that he took this fight. It is very smart of him. I think I know the risk is immense, but like if we're talking about him, maybe getting a title shot and getting that belt back, like he said he was offered Umar and Omega Madoff in the main event of UFC Baku and Umar couldn't make it still dealing with the hand stuff, but like if you could get a title shot off of either of those, just because of the situation, isn't this the significantly easier fight? And it's a three rounder, like, you know, one win and it gets in there.

And I'd much rather have that fight come against Marcus McGee than Umar and Omega Madoff. So, uh, he's the benefit of some good timing and you know, Mara beats Corey Sandhagen. This guy's gonna need someone to fight. So I think he's in a real, real good spot here if he gets the stuff. Yeah. And I, I really agree with you on that regard.

And, uh, I mean, he, he kind kind of should have or could have already gotten a title shot based off of those two wins. This is such a pick your poison. I mean, like you said, the difference between McGee and what the difficulty of Umar brings, and I wasn't really sure about the Umar setback on the injury. I was actually going to ask you that, like, why are we not getting that fight this time right now? But I wonder if it's better for, for Jan in terms of getting that next fight, if it is depending on who wins or do you think he can get it either way? I think he can get it either way, just cause if Marab beats Corey, like who, who's the next guy after that, if not this. So, uh,

it's a bit of a tough sell. Like we, we remember that first fight. I think we're off shot what 40 somethingowns in there. Jan to his credit stopped most of them and there was a lot of personal stuff between those two like leading in at the weigh-ins so you can definitely sell it and if Jan goes out there and and styles on this dude I think it is something you could sell like he is a guy that I think still has a pretty passionate fan base who a lot of people think is extremely talented he's picking up on the English more like there's, there's ways to go. And it seems like Merab is down to do that fight again, too.

He's talked about it, being open to it. So it's a, it seems like a pretty strong path here. And I've been saying this a lot in recent months. Like I would love to see more fighters do this in terms of just like trying to get some forward movement of their own in the division by fighting a guy who's down like the rankings. Like, in theory, yawn should win this fight with the highlight something spectacular. And that is more valuable than winning a competitive five round decision over umar and like, you know, your sellability, all that stuff. It's an easier fight. Like go out there and treat the number of 12 guy, number 12, rank guy or whatever McGee is like, he should be treated, uh, by a guy with your standard. And I think that does more for you than if you go to

a blood and guts decision with number six. Yeah. Damn right. On that one. And the maniac certainly, uh, has his own form of danger here, but I like Jan in just about every category. I hope Jan continues to add onto that English, by the way, because he's cold-blooded seemingly at every turn. I even like when he stood up against, what was that whole Habib bit that went on this week of,

do you remember the specifics of that? He even pushed back against that. It was something that Habib had said that the media was like, does this apply to you as well? And he's just like, no, Habib can have that thing. I'm different, whatever. While showing respect though, at the same time, he's certainly cold blooded. Quickly, Long Island Luke, you're not throwing plus money at McGee here, right? We're all in unison. No, but I don't like the fucking odds on Jan. So I'm taking the over two and a half. Also

worth noting McGee trains at MMA lab where Sean O'Malley used to train maybe possibly still trains. Sean O'Malley got that fluky split decision against Jan. Maybe that team knows something, you know, just we're just saying. Yeah, maybe. The tie goes to the runner when it comes to a big time fighter like that. And I like by the way, the cold bloodedness of Jan saying, yeah, I'd rematch O'Malley again, but only if it was, you know, on the path to the title because he believes that guy was a fraud all the way, the cold bloodedness of Jan saying, yeah, I'd rematch O'Malley again, but only if it was on the path to the title, because he believes that guy was a fraud all the way. Let's keep going down the card. Shara Bullitt at middleweight here,

coming off of that first defeat in the UFC against Michael Venom-Page will be a monster favorite. Minus 675 against the tough Canadian, Marc-Andre Ber burial at plus 490. Mike, we knew Sharra Bullitt had some flaws even during the one-eyed pirate win streak that he put on there. Did the MVP fight. Pop the balloon at all for you in terms of trying to figure out

exactly where his ceiling is. I think so. Like it feels like he lost a lot of momentum, energy around him coming off that loss. It was a tough one. Even just look at the numbers that we have this week, it is nothing compared to his first three, four UFC fights. So he's got something that he needs to rebuild here. And yeah, there's a lot of pressure in that regard.

And fighting my fellow Canadian, Marc-Andre Berriot, I think I can't avoid this man's fights. He's just fighting in front of me every few months. And last time we saw him, he put a guy out on a stretcher out there in Montreal. So I think he can win this fight and yeah, Shara needs to show something here, some evolution because he made a lot of excuses after that loss too, saying he was sick, all these different things. So you got to prove it here. But it does feel like there's just not that excitement and interest in him that there was prior to that fight with MVP. Certainly here. Then maybe this is that perfect setup, as you said, to get him that. But Berrio

damn near killed Bruno Silva, who we always have to say was blinded permanently in both eyes by Weidman in that ridiculous fight earlier before that, but that snapped a three fight losing skid for Berrio. Still, I don't know. Shara looks good to pretty good at times, and you know he can break out spectacular strikes like a double ass 360 spinning, double reverse elbow type of tilt. That's like some video game shit right there. But even more than him doing something spectacular right here, I want to see him control every terms of, you know, all the terms of this fight and put on the kind of victory that would give you more confidence in him moving forward, because certainly there's a very marketable side to him. And, you know, one-eyed fighters have won a UFC title in the past, just to be fair with that regard.

There's more to talk about on this card, but I want fighters h title in the past, just t regard. Uh, there's more this car, but I want to s featured prelim bout as b down to Bannon weight in fight against Syed, Neur will be a minus 1 42 bett the plus 1 20 neur maga here comes after a time

in which Mitchell was finished in three of his last five fights at Featherweight, including the end of that insane grudge back-to-back war with Lord G. Anne Silva, which seemed to be a lot more about stomping on weird Hitler ideologies than even the real beef between them. Ultimately, Mike, is this the right move for Bryce

at this point in his career in your eyes to go down and try to find new life? Yeah. Why not? Like what's, why not? He's clearly hit a ceiling at featherweight. He's not getting, you know, he already fought Ilya Taporio, right? We saw how that, we fought other elite level guys. Um, he needed to switch something up if he didn't want to just be a guy who goes out there and wins one loses one, all that type of stuff. Can he make a run here? Like Bantamweight is a deeper division than featherweight in my opinion right now. So he's got a lot of work to do. This is going to be a tough challenge, but this is a good

new layer of paint on his career, I guess, to see if he can try to make something happen. Cause it feels like featherweight was going nowhere. You starting to wonder though, is he of the strong, the Sean Strickland ilk where it's like, is it dangerous to bring this guy to other countries? Right? Is somebody going to throw a, a boomerang at Colby Covington again? Is it going to be one of those? So I mean, it seems like his, his day one, that story about him in the change room or whatever, just like, you know, going full hanging out was the worst it got. I haven't heard anything bad as far as horror stories from over there. So it seems like he's been on his best behaviour. At least the media day was interesting, but... Yeah, the media day was weird. Let's investigate it just a bit because we do play up the weirdness on this show.

Here's Bryce Mitchell at media day misunderstanding who he's talking to Bryce, I welcome you. Sayid Nurmagomedov, your first opponent from Dagestan. What do you know about the Dagestan MMA school? And do you have any understanding of how to fight against it? I shoot cron, habibi Alhamdulillah, salam alaikum, Abu Dhabi He spoke Russian by the way. Al-fawz inshallah. Al-fawz inshallah. Al-fawz inshallah. Al-fawz inshallah. Alhamdulillah.

Thank you. I am from Russia. Oh yeah, I thought you were speaking Arabic. No, the question was Arabic. Oh boy, oh boy. This guy's a wild card. Look, some people still, I don't even say rightfully, want to cancel him or see him, I don't know, maybe change his tune on some of the more disastrous things he said publicly. One media member did bring that up one more time. Let's see Bryce's reaction. Like people were saying it should be canceled at some point. Is it is this thing over or like some people are still mad at you back at home? Revelation two nine, revelation three nine, the synagogue of Satan has formed an army against me. They compass me about, yeah,

they compass me about but the Lord will strike them down. Thank you. I don't remember the book where Jesus fished with Hitler there, Mike. I've read that book, front to back. Just want to let you. Thank you. Uh I don't remember the book where Jesus fished with Hitler there, Mike. I've I've read that book uh front to back. Just wanna let you know. Yeah, no, I missed that chapter. Yeah.

Yeah. Thank you very much. Uh do you think he gets this done here? How good in your eyes is Said or Magomedov? He's good. Um this is a tough fight for Bryce. It'll be interesting and that will be the telling thing of whether this was a big mistake or not, right?

Because Bryce considers himself an elite grappler and Said is very submission competent and a great grappler himself. So like, you know, he said the reason he dropped down is because he felt like he was getting dummied a bit by John Silva. If Said goes out there and is able to handle him in the same way, then it's like, where does Bryce kind of go from there? And I think he's capable. Like, Said's had his up and down moments in the UFC, but he's clearly a very skilled guy and has some solid finishing instincts, both on the feet and the ground. So

this will be, like, I know what he is, and I don't think he's going to be a champion or anything like that at Bantamweight, but he can be a top 15 guy for a while. This will be telling if Bryce can get through him, if he can actually make some noise in this division because Said is very competent. Said, 33 years old, has lost two of his last three, but certainly put together an overall pretty good run in a very difficult division. I have seen the side by side photos, by the way, of Bryce, you know, for the photo shoot for Fe and Bantam kind of looks the same, you know, really does a little. Yeah. A little more to define, but yeah, pretty much. All right, Mike, when you look up and down the rest of this card, what storyline, what fight stands out to you the most?

Man, it's hard to say. Like there's a lot of meat on the bone for this one, right? Like I, I'm a big Nikita Krilov guy. I think he's, uh, you know, like the comeback fight after what, like two years away did not go well for him last time, but light heavyweight man, this is a wasteland out there. So a guy like him, he hasn't had his title shot. He puts together a few wins in a row and has some consistency. He can be there and at worst it's going to be an exciting fight few wins in a row and has some consistency. He can be there and at worst, it's going to be an exciting fight that ends in a finish because I think he is only been to the score cards once in his entire career.

So that's always always good. I'm always down for Nikita Kriolov fight. Dude, there's a lot of interesting things on this fight. And then the rebounds to against Tabitha Ricci. First of all, first of all, you'll get people in the comments saying that's a, you know, shorts or underwear only fight, but I'm telling you, that's a good ass fight on top of that. Right? Yeah. It's solid. I mean, I, I've been high on rebus for a while. I don't like that. She did the jumping up and down weight classes so many times thing. I think she is a significantly

better straw weight as she is a, than she is a fly weight and hopefully she's finally settling in. I understand why she bounced back. These are the fights the UFC was offering her up weight classes, down weight classes. They clearly want to give her opportunities. But when I look at her and the opponent she has to fight, I always think she performs better as a straw weight. And I think the record reflects that. I think she's five and two in the UFC at straw weight and like three and three feather or fly weight. Yeah. She has to lean on her chin too much. She gets hit a lot when she fights at, uh, at the one, two, five right there. Our baby shark is coming off that loss to Yan Xiaonan, which snapped a wind streak that seemed to say that maybe she's turning toward contention

here at age 30. This does feel like a big fight for Richie in terms of trying to turn that corner. Yeah. She, she needs to win this one if she wants to be something here. And Zhang Walle needs people to fight and needs people that are interesting. So assuming she sticks around this division, I don't know what's going on with her maybe moving up and fighting Valentina and if she would come down after that win or lose. But yeah, this division is in desperate need of fresh faces, interesting challengers. And do I give her a chance of winning that title fight? No, but you know, fans seem to like her.

She's got that relationship with Kyle Walsh and all that stuff. So like there's something there that you can at least work with. Yeah, I saw a horn tweet from Paul Locosta. I think he likes it too. Very interesting stuff. He likes to stir the pot in a lot of different areas and shake during press conferences. I've got to say, long out, look, your boy,

a flyweight, Asu Almabyev, you were hyping him up for some time. He lost to a very almost absurd looking Manel Cop, who was virtuoso striking wise in that fight. Does he bounce back here against Ochoa? Yeah. I mean, he also got I poked to shit in that fight from an L cop. So, you know, he's got Jose That's true. Jose Ochoa, you know, he looks good, but he's a little unproven. He knocked out Cody Durden I don't know how much value we can really put in that win a sue by the way I got it plus money earlier in the week. He's now minus 125 But either way also got to give a shout out to the curtain jerk or Marcus Buchaca making his UFC debut here. I mean, I feel like Luke Thomas would speak on this

better than I can, but BJJ legend. So let's go Buchaca. Yeah, Luke Thomas would take his thing out no doubt. But Mike Buchaca, is this like, the curtain jerk thing seems a little like, we're not sure who you are. So you're maybe our next rebellious Desponier. Let me keep you there until you show us that you have life.

Do you think this guy who's only lost in MMA is to Umar Khan, the current one heavyweight champion? Are you expecting much here? I hope so, please. I think they put him in the spot maybe because his Jiu-Jitsu background, it's an Abu Dhabi. Maybe there's some sort of connection, try to get people in the door earlier,

get them excited by a high level J a high level jujitsu practitioner. But we'll see, man. Another guy I talked to with Renear Doritter earlier, like was in one championship purgatory, felt like his, his career was over and he was never going to get an opportunity like this. And he gets it probably later in life than he would have wanted to, but he's here. The heavyweight division could not be more wide open and desperate for someone to do anything interesting.

So like, please, can we go out there and, uh, get a quick submission, do something to drum up some interest and you know, he's fighting a rank guy right off the bat. It doesn't take much at heavyweight, a couple of good wins, a couple smart comments on the microphone. And he's right there fighting in, you know, title eliminators, all that type of stuff. So he needs to deliver. We'll see how much he's improved his game in terms of being well-rounded.

Budai, not the most exciting guy, but solid heavyweight. Nevertheless, he needs to go out there and do something dominant to get some traction there or... Dude, we need heavyweight. We need some viable heavyweights. It's time. Please. I don't want one to blow up and there not to be a third season of Chotry's one championship apprentice edition.

Yeah, sure. But wouldn't you love Umar Khan and Vitaly, or sorry, what's Malikin's first name? Anatoly. Anatoly Malikin, excuse me. I'd love to see those guys, uh, toiling in the UFC just the same. All right. That is your, Oh, we're real quick to TV fighter alert turkeys, Ebo Arsalan and led heavyweight who got, got submitted by the whole class timeout breaking a wind streak. That guy makes fun fights every single time.

Maybe not full on Slava clause level, Mike, but you got to tune in to see that guy brawl. Yeah, he's a, he's a killer in there. All right, that is your UFC fight night for this Saturday, but let me talk to you a bit about summer travel, right? We all go through this weekend getaway with the wife. I've been taking the kids on these college tours, and you know about the frustration in this hot weather of staying, you know,

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All right, let's go to topic number two right here and let's bring back a well a man, right? Alright, let's go to topic number two right here and let's bring back a well-smelling man, I'm sure. Mike Bond to talk about the slew of events for the fall that Dana White and the UFC have announced. Mike, look, I get on them. I get on them aggressively. I'm gonna get on them later in the show about this Aliak BS but main event wise, late summer fall, we're we're putting **** together, are we not?

We are, this is a great, great streak. The summer main events were good and it looks like fall is gonna be very nice too. I mean, you add Islam and Jack to the back of the slate in November, which is seeming likely. And then, hey, if you can get another Ilya Toporiya fight to close the year in December,

I know he had said he was gonna be on that card. We'll see if that comes to fruition, but this is good stuff. The, the fighters are fighting BC. Can you believe it? That's what I need. That's what I need. Okay. We got to stop talking about promoters. Uh, let's get into it here. UFC 320 is of course is October 4th in Las Vegas. And this was the centerpiece of this big announcement from Dana. Even though people are trying to guess Pereira's weight on Twitter and trying to guess if he was Aspinol's

next opponent, no, Alex Perera will get that immediate rematch against new light heavyweight champion, Malgomet Ankaliyev, that's the main event. And how about this for a damn Colmane, Marabdavazvili will look for his third title defense this calendar year in his quest to set a UFC record for four in that 12 month period when he defends against the always dangerous Corey Sanhagen.

And they also added a banger. Why? Sir, I just met her. How about Yuri Prohatska and Khalil Rountree Jr. at light heavyweight bombs away. Michael, 320, big business, dude. Yeah, love it. That's a great trio of fights.

We haven't really, it felt like they were straying away a bit from the double title fight cards is, you know, unless it's a spantum weight or women's bantam weight or a women's fight or the fly weights on the men's side. Um, but this one, like this one to punch is amazing. These are two prominent title fights, uh, featuring two amazing athletes, four amazing athletes. And yeah, let's go. This is, this is good stuff. And I'm really curious to see as I'm sure we'll get into, uh, what this means for Alex Pereira and what he can do with a win or a loss. Well, let me ask you that. Well, let me ask

you that. I'm very happy that they didn't send him to heavyweight just to fill the hole of John Jones putting on that soap opera. And now he wants to come back. You know what, John, why don't you F off, all right? That's BC talk and not Mike Bone, all right? Let me ask you this though, how happy are you to see him try to fix the glitch? Meaning no disrespect to Uncle Iav, I probably would have favored him against Pereira at any point when they fought,

given the tough style matchup, but you did hear Alex say he wasn't 100%, not as an excuse, but we know this guy turns around on no, no notice injuries aside and still gets it done. He kind of needs to fix this hole in the resume in my opinion, before going to heavyweight. Definitely. And it seems like that's what he wanted to do, right? Like people are asking, why are they doing this fight? No one cares about ankle. I have what's the upside. This announcement for this particular one of the title fights was kind of met with like, eh, that's because we knew it was coming.

But it depends what, how we got here and why. If Alex said, this is the time I want to go to Heavy Weight, I'm sure they would have put them in there. Does that like right away for the title shot? Maybe not. Maybe he does another fight first, but Alex has earned himself the right to ask for whatever he wants. And if he went to the UFC and said, as you would put it, that was a glitch that night. I need to make this right. This is the fight I want. Even if it's the one that you guys don't see as the most upside, he's earned the right to call a shot and try to fix that. There can be downside, a lot of downside for him here.

I think like people just assume, oh, if he loses again, he'll just go to heavyweight. Why is him at heavyweight appealing if he loses this fight? I don't understand that, especially if he gets knocked out. Damn right. You just said it. That's the truth. That's the damn truth right there. And that's what you get on morning combat.

Two pay per views in one month though, Mike, because October 25th is going to give us UFC 321 from Abu Dhabi, where we tend to get very good fights, probably has something to do with the large site fee they get at these global destinations. But Tom Aspinall will take on Cyril Ghan in the main event, his first defense of the full undisputed heavyweight championship. We're also going to get Alexander Ratkich against Azamat Mirzakhanov, Atlight Heavyweight, and Alexander Volkov, who I know probably the UFC didn't want to run back

a Aspinol-Volkov rematch, even though Volkov did lose that very questionable decision to Cyril Gahn, but when Dana White came up to and said, "'We'll take care of you, kid,' apparently he met Jelton Almeida, and I don't hate that fight either. What do you think about what we've seen here on October 25th, Mike, with Aspen all fighting gone, who's not coming off a great performance?

Yeah, I'm fascinated just more so like by the outside optics, like we can all agree. We think Tom Aspall is going to win this fight, right? Like I think he's he's going to be heavily favored unless he slips on a banana peeled or, you know, heavyweights, heavyweight, and someone lands a crazy shot and finishes the fight there. I'm more just interested to see how many people care about this fight. What kind of movement movement it has because you can talk about Tom Aspinall being you know a big deal. He's done great in the cage. Amazing fights, amazing knockouts. This guy's never headlined a pay-per-view. This is his first one. He's been co-main event on the other ones.

This fight stateside will be in the middle of the day, one of those afternoon pay-per-views, and it's just a hard sell. Cyril Gaunt is not going to go out there and start talking shit and trying to build this fight out. He already has the fight. You know, Tom's doing his part saying, you know, this is his third title shot. I'm going to rid the division of Cyril surreal gone as far as being a title contender for good, but beyond that, what's like the hype and all that stuff that it's going to draw the interest in this.

So this is a big time like moment for Tom Aspall. Is he someone that fans will want to watch an afternoon pay-per-view against an opponent that's not doing much to drum up the fight. That will tell us a lot about how much people care. If this does banger numbers and everyone's talking about it, I think that's something that maybe perks up John Jones' ears a little bit, don't even want to go down that road. But yeah, this is going to be very telling in many ways of what Tom Aspinal actually is as an asset and an interest point for the fans.

Yeah. And it would be telling as well if he got pushed rounds, which no one's really been able to do. So that would be a big part of the entertainment factor. Long Island Lucas shared with us the Draft King's odds for these fights on the horizon. Aspinall minus 345 to the plus 275 gone. Makes a lot of sense.

And we have real quick sound here from Tom Aspinall reacting to the announcement of this fight. Thanks. He's back. It's about blooming time. It is about time. It is about time. It's been over a year since I thought it's crazy, isn't it? I know. Over a year and the whole time I've been fit, the whole time I've been ready to go. Doing what I've been told to do, which is stay ready. I've stayed ready.

We know what's gone on. We're not gonna talk about that. But we now have a fight. We now have a fresh fight that I've been waiting to fight this guy for a long time. And we finally get a chance. 25th of October. It's on. Heavyweight title is being contested. I'm disputed heavyweight title. You're disputed heavyweight. Yeah, I'm very excited about it. Cyril's gonna be stood across from you,

because this is a fight that we've talked about for a long time. It could have, should have maybe happened a little bit earlier, I'm disputed heavyweight title. You're disputed heavyweight. Yeah, I'm very excited about it. Cyril's gonna be stood across from you, because this is a fight that we've talked about for a long time. It could have, should have maybe happened a little bit earlier, but we're finally here and getting the opportunity to defend, undisputed as well. You've got to... When you're in any kind of position, you can never be looking past your opponent, so I'm not doing that by any stretch.

But ultimately, I want to beat everybody. That's my plan is, I don't just want to beat the next guy, I want to beat the next however many guys there are. Yeah. But it was a tough test, man. I'm not looking past him at all. He's really good. He's really good. Like I said, new wave of heavyweight. Yeah. Doesn't move like anyone I've ever really fought before. But also I don't move like anyone he's fought before. So it's going to be fun. You know what? It felt like a disappointment when this was announced, although it's like, what else are they going to do? I do really like the lessons that we have to learn here and the anticipation of seeing that.

I don't want necessarily gone to finish him. And then John Jones is like, see, guys, I was right all along. I plan this. You know what I'm saying? But Tom seems to have the right attitude. This is the right match up here to keep this division moving and give him a shot. So I'm fired up for that. Also, UFC Vancouver October 18th,

we're going to get a three round Manon Ferro, Jasmine Jazzdivicious bout. I'm all in on that if Ferro can bounce back from that competitive title loss to Valentina. And UFC Noche 3, the downgraded fight night card from San Antonio that will go head to head on Netflix with Dana Whi full card. Just four Mexi

the card in the third tri history. Diego Lopez versus Tatiana Suarez, Amanda Lem anyone going to watch this card though? If, if all the bosses and all the fans are watching Canelo Crawford? So I guess all the Mexican fans are going to be watching Canelo. You know this. Yeah. So from what I see here on ESPN's website says the prelims start at 3 PM Eastern. The main card starts at 6 PM Eastern. So I wonder how much overlap there will actually be.

I would assume they'll effort their best to have it minimal. Maybe we're getting the main event as like the first or second fight of the night walks. I can't imagine a world where they're going forward with the Canelo Crawford fight as there's still a UFC event ongoing. I just don't see that. So I think it'll be okay. But yeah, the, the no che card is far from inspiring. They had this one's been a disaster, right? Like the sphere was the most spectacular, amazing thing. And then they try to go to Guadalajara for this new arena. It's fricking not finished.

Like you haven't seen the card. Yeah. You have this level of scrambling in a little bit for something like this, but they're doing their best. The card as of right now is a little bit weird, but I'm sure they're going to do their best to maybe convince Alexa Grosso to take a fight. It's getting pretty close though. Like we're like seven weeks away. So I'm surprised like Irina Aldana doesn't have a fight confirmed as we keep going there.

So I think they'll try, but man, that main event is awesome. Like I can't wait for Silva and Lopez. That's gonna be awesome. All in on that, just the same. Also quickly on the Draft King Zod's, Ankaliyev minus 180 over the plus 150 Pereira and their rematch, Marab minus 380 against the plus 300 Corey Sanhagen.

All right, let's keep it going here with topic number three. Ilya Tupori on the news after a long sojourn with the Nelk boys at his house produced some very interesting content, including further juice to the headlines about a potential title defense against Armand Tsarukian that La Leyenda himself doesn't seem to want at all. Let's go to the videotape.

Listen, when you put so much effort in the game and you have a guy in front who you don't know that maybe he could pull out from the fight, that's not something good for us. It's not on my back. Bro, I don't fucking care. They are're gonna give him a fight before the title shot because there is no way if I'm the world champion I'm never gonna give him a Chance to fight for for the title. I will be like listen if that's the case take my belt And I don't do it So Mike bone, um, I really want to love this guy right here. Okay, I really do.

But that is some shots fired. Oh, by the way, brought to you by Cuervo. There you go. There you go. There you go. There you go. There you go. There you go.

There you go. There you go. Apologies for the mis-execution there, but you get the point just the same. I wanna back to Aporia because you cannot deny the talent, the star power, the guy we need to take that baton and in some ways be the face of this company and build toward this inevitable eventual super fight

with Islam Mahachev, number one and two pound for pound, no matter how you have them. But when you see this from him, the arrogance, the, the, the level of like, I'm not gonna fight this guy. I know Sarukin has one fight in 600 days right now at this moment. I know he pulled out of his title shot. What do you make of the aggression to say, no, not you, Armin? Well, if I'm correct, I'm pretty sure after he knocked out Alexander Volkanovsky,

Ilya Toporia said he was not gonna fight Max Holloway and would not give him a title shot, and that's the fight we ended up getting. So I put little to no stock in this. I agree, Armin's not gonna be next. Like Ilya, I think he's probably gonna end up fighting Justin Gaethje next. That's my personal opinion, not reporting anything here,

just the way things seem to be trending from what I've seen in recent days and weeks. So I think he's just messing with them a little bit, trying to troll him. I do think if push came to shove and the UFC said, Ilya, this is the fight we want, here's the contract, he's gonna sign it. He's not gonna take a stance and say,

no, I'm not doing this, take the belt and book Justin versus, uh, Armin for the vacant belt. Like that's not happening. So he's messing with him. He knows that fight isn't there anyways. And maybe it's, you know, some promotional stuff that he's working on, but for him to sit there and say, like, I would rather give up the belt than do that. I mean, come on, bro. That's, yeah, and of course shots fired brought to you by Cuervo. Now is this good a time to enjoy the tequila that invented tequila?

Let's get into it. Thank you. Brought to you by Cuervo. And of course, they're behind our pregame previews. UFC 319 on the horizon, who will be our third guest. Get ready, get fired up for that. We do have some responses, though, in this conversation. And that's a tweet first from Armin Saryukian, who said, imagine calling yourself a champion,

but you're already looking for a way out. You can vacate it or I'll take it either way. It's mine. And then the creative video meme idea here from Armin, bringing out his pet duck. Ilya, Ilya, stop running, Ilja. Stop running, Ilja. Good boy.

I'll make it quick, no worries. Good boy. That man lives a good life, it seems, okay? I'm not trying to talk about his bank account. I'm also not trying to talk about Toporia putting over the Nelk Boys' podcast with Netanyahu. All right, that's it. I know that's for Luke Thomas's political podcast right there. But would Armin try to sit out and further this inactivity to try to get a title shot,

or would he have to go through a Patty Pimble and a Max Holloway to try to keep pace atop this division? He's going to have to go through a patty pinball at a max Holloway to try to keep keep pace atop this division? He's gonna have to go through someone. I mean he credit to him. He's doing What he's trying to do that video like he's putting himself out there a little bit. This is some obvious tension You know, no george in love here. It seems to be george and hate between these two So it's uh, it's building to something but this guy needs to prove something, right? You don't pull out of a title fight on way and day for any reason and just automatically get the good graces of another title shot. Like it's just, it's not the way it's ever been.

It's not the way it's going to be. He needs to do something here and he knows it. Like he did step one by making weight as the alternate for UFC 317 and said he would do it again for UFC 318 wasn't needed, but he's at least efforting. I think his big f-up along the way is when they offered him Mateus Gamrot for the Saudi main event or maybe Abu Dhabi on this card tomorrow. It was something on that side of the world and he said no. For what? We we're still, we're here seven months ish after that fight was supposed to happen with Islam in January and nothing has happened.

You've really made no forward progress. You haven't fought, you have no fight booked. Like before we know it, he's going to be out for a year and like, it's just not the right situation. So who knows if they offer him any fight, you got to take it on whatever card and just get the win, make your statement on the mic. We have it all building here with you and Ilya and maybe you get that fight, but right now it's not next for him.

So this is all just window dressing until we get, you know, Ilya's next fight and their next fight, because maybe they're on a collision course. Maybe it happens if they both lose whatever, but But right now, like, I would be shocked if Armand Serukin's next fight was for the UFC lightweight title. I'm with you. But this division, very fun at the top. We got Max reinserted. We got Patty looking for a big fight. Gagey still lingering. Let's effing go.

All right. Let's go to topic number four as we close out our time here with a very generous here, Mike Bond of MMA Junkie and the Bonfire fame. But when we do have first time guests like this, we like to close with a little bit of fun. Sean Zatel still to come around the corner. But first, let's play a little segment fun we call getting to know Mike Bone. All right.

I've got seven personal questions. Let's see if Mike has seven personal answers or maybe we find out he was a varsity athlete just like Aaron Bronstetter back in the day. Mike, let's go number one here on this personal hot seat. What do you believe makes you different from everyone else in the competitive MMA media space? I mean, I think the thing that allowed me to stand out early was just my, you know,

leaning on the facts and the stats and that type of stuff that no one was really doing at the time when I came in. I don't even know if fight metric was a thing when I started doing this coming up, it'll be 13 years that MMA junkie on August 1st. So it's been a long time there. And I think the ability that when I came in, MMA junkie was not really doing any video, no social media presence outside of a Twitter and a Facebook count, I think.

And I had the opportunity to kind of shape all that stuff and what we do and start like, you know, moving towards video type content and all those things. So I think, you know, it's hard to replicate. I can't sit here and be like, do this to anyone else who's inspired, like aspiring. I got in at a great time at a young age and was given a platform and opportunity where I could do a lot of the things I wanted to do and try to grow things. And that's all kind of coupled, you know, what I've been able to do. And definitely the opportunities to travel to some places around the world, Japan, Brazil,

like five times, Australia, all these things, which a lot of people in MMA media are not fortunate enough to be able to do. And I've been really grateful for those opportunities, but the more you're on the road, the more you get to know people and entrench yourself in this industry. And I've been given a lot of chances to do that over a dozen plus years. So I guess that's, I'd say the opportunities I've been given have been maybe different from people and I'd like to think I've tried to take advantage

of them to the best of my ability. It's clear that you have Mike, you're not the young kid on the block, you're in the midst of your prime and doing a great job and I see the rapport you have with the fighters that shows me that you're a fair and friendly individual and certainly you have been in your coverage of the big stories and sometimes you gotta

take sides on things like that. Let's keep it going here and find a little bit more about Mike. I'm not sure if you've heard Mike, but I was cage side for a little fight called Adesanya Gastelum at UFC 236 that damn near changed my life in 2019. Hey, shout out to Max and Dustin Part 2.

Couldn't live up to it. I had that same feeling when Whaley and Ioanna life in 2019. Hey, shout part two couldn't live up same feeling when Waley a killed themselves in the What's the best fight you as an MMA journalist that unforgettable for you. Th the two you mentioned. I

of being there. Amazing n that stand out, Yuri Prohazka and Glover Tashira in Singapore was a cool one. That was an amazing fight and always weird when it's happening at like 11 in the morning, local time, right? I think the first fight of the day on that card in Singapore was like 5 a.m. or something. So those are always like, you know, a little bit more eerie, especially, you know, in that part of the world

where the crowd just has a bit of a different energy when a war like that is going on. But another one here in Toronto, the first UFC event actually ever covered for MMA junkie was John Jones versus Alexander Gustafsson won UFC 165. That was like literally just right down the street here. And that was still to this day, uh, one of the greatest fights I've ever seen in person, uh, had the chance of sitting next to, I believe we'll talk about a bit. The late Jordan Breen, that one was special to me. Uh, another Toronto shout out Cubs Swanson and do who Troy was amazing. And, uh, Connor McGregor versus Nate Diaz too, was a pretty special one as well at UFC 202.

Well, I think you could fill Luke Thomas's shoes. You gave me 25 answers for one question, but I did appreciate hearing the big moments that meant a ton to you. You never, you know, you are changed to some degree by these crazy fights. You know what I mean? You'll never forget how you fell.

You'll never, and I'm always thankful for the access we do get in those situations. We're not only ringside, cage side, a lot of times we're backstage interviewing them right after too. So, uh, that's what keeps us a fan and that's what fuels our passion ultimately for this game. All right, Mike, MK culture is wild. It's, you know, we make fun of each other on an aggressive basis and you know, maybe to a negative degree, you've been framed as a handsy airline passenger and a ladies man.

When it comes to the ladies and airplanes, I gotta ask, what is the real story Luke Thomas referenced about you meeting a chick on a plane and maybe even making out with her right there then? What happened here? If it wasn't for the show, this story would have been left in the past for no one to reference or recall or anything like that. But speaking of big fights, it was on the way to a big fight. Mayweather versus McGregor, you know, got get on the plane and sat on the tarmac, I think,

for two or so hours. Had a nice woman sitting next to me. We started chatting while we were waiting. They bring us some drinks and then we find out we're getting de-planned, which was not ideal because I think that's when they were doing the grand entrances for that fight week. So I think I had to write off being able to make it down there in time for that. But when they de-plane us, I think they said it was like a four hour layover that we'd be waiting for, gave everyone like a $50 gift card to go spend at the bar. So you keep drinking a bit, get back on the plane, seating's the

same. And that point had had a few hours with this nice little one to get to know each other a little bit. So maybe it was just a kiss goodbye. We'll see. I'll leave it at that. Okay, okay. We'll leave that in history. It doesn't make it any less impressive that you had that in between time, but you did use you use that in between time outside the plane to your your advantage. I mean, that's how a real man

operates. Apparently well done. Mike bone. Hopefully there's no females in your life watching right now. Let's go to question number four. You shared obviously to go from ridiculous to serious, touching tributes regarding the end of former MMA pundit, you know, ahead of his game in podcast and radio, the great Jordan Breen, I remember his work on Showtime fondly,

and the role that you played as a friend in his life, maybe who kept track of him at times, and certainly his passing is a very tough moment for many in the MMA industry, including you, Mike, but on a positive note, what would you say are the most important thing you learned from Jordan Breen that you've tried to apply to this industry? I think just not to take it too seriously, right? Like at the end of the day, this is people fist fighting in a cage, half naked in front of the whole world.

And as much as we want wanna treat it like a real sport or put it in the context of, oh, it's just a niche sport and all those things like, the end of the day, it's pretty amazing and goofy that we got to cover this for a living and that it's turned into what it is. And just his appreciation for those ridiculous and weird and wild aspects of the sport,

which is his biggest passion early on, Japanese MMA, things like that. Really learned about a lot of people, a lot of fighters through him, just knowledge that I could never, ever have gained myself because it doesn't exist out there for, you know, stories to read or things like that. He had a super computer of a brain, probably forgot more about the finite

details of the sport than I'll ever learn. And, you know, I think that's saying a lot. So a special mind, we lost a great person for our MMA community. I'll just say in closing on this, his memorial service is actually tomorrow out there in Halifax. All the information is posted on my ex account with a link and there's still the link to the GoFundMe in his name. We're trying to launch a scholarship

at the University of Queens College in his honor and hopefully give someone who's passionate about sports media, mixed martial arts media, whatever it may be, the opportunity to, you know, be in a scholarship under his name and help their educational efforts be guided with that. So if anyone has the means to donate, we're still working towards our goal. I think we're about 60% of the way there. So hopefully you're sharing all that Mike, definitely a great tribute to a unique individual with a unique style.

So certainly appreciate the friendship you had and the nice things that you've said about him after his passing. A couple more and then we'll get you out of here, Mike. I mentioned earlier in the show that I was wrong. You had appeared on an MK episode in the past and that was the 2022 Beer House Live Three Margaritas Show that was a debacle from start to finish.

And Luke Thomas drank himself into a podcast legendary status with his, with the fury of his frat guy, Marine histrionics. What do you remember most about trying to be part of that? Q and a given to give and take talk session we have. Yeah, I think you said it trying to be, I don't know if I, I'd love to go back and re-wrack the tape and see how many words I actually spent comparatively to the amount of minutes I was up there, because it is lopsided to say the least.

I think it was just weird, because I think I came straight in from ceremonial wins or the press conference, whatever it was that day, and I was not on the level or even remotely close. I tried to catch up a little bit, but I was not in place with the vibe of that. And it was just like, okay, when can we make a clean exit out of this situation?

I love being up there, but it got to the point where you're up there for 15 minutes. I think I said two words. And I was like, all right guys, let's work on an exit point here. I felt bad. I really did, but it turned out to be a legendary moment

in MK history. We appreciate the role you played in it. Mike, three months ago on your Bonfire podcast, congratulations on launching that, you set up shop at Kayla Harrison's backyard. We got a fire pit, we got an emu. I'm a big fan of Kayla's personal journey and really the image, the inspiration she puts out there. What was the biggest takeaway you had from that very unique

episode of your podcast? Just on top of that, we did like a big feature on her life for MMA junkie. So just the access, like, you know, she led us into her home there for hours, like completely carefree about our presence there. And, you know, like welcomed us into her home, like it was our own. And, uh and she's got an incredible compound there her uh her guest house i could only aspire to have as my real house at some point size wise so she uh took that pfl money and made it very well invested and like she's got

a freaking classroom where she homeschools her children in there she's got everything she needs and it was really cool to be there. A lot of bugs running around, but a lot of animals that she intends on, I think even expanding more like her farm and rebuilding all this stuff. So yeah, it's very cool. She's a very wholesome and down to earth person.

And I already knew that coming in, but once she lets you into her home and you see how everyone behaves there. It's a, it's even more impressive. So I guess the most memorable thing was that moment from the screenshot right there. Like that was, that was a hundred percent genuine. I'm sitting there fully focused on chat with her and I turned around and felt like I was about to get my eyes pecked out.

And I, according to her, it was because I had the silver chain on there and he liked shiny things. So I'm glad I kept all my eyes off of that. It reminds me of that time in Phoenix I had that Jake Paul fight when he came in on a horse and the horse bit Luke right away. It was like, oh, I know this guy's not trustworthy. No, but good stuff.

Big fan of the women's Bantamweight champion there in the UFC. And to close, Mike Bone, your visit today. Thank you very much. We all have goals and dreams, right? Some people even have ways and means. I've been lucky of late to call boxing on the highest level, which just tickles me, you know, incredibly. It's the greatest job of all time. If Mike Bond had his way,

where would you be in five to 10 years from the standpoint of that's my dream destination? This is always such a tough one because I felt like I got the dream job so early on, right? Like there's so many years where I was watching everyone in this industry do their thing. Ariel, Luke, the list goes on and on, John Morgan, and just dreamed of being, you know, in that spot, being able to talk to these athletes and, you know, engage with them every day. And, you know, as I said earlier, 13 years at MMA junkie coming up on August 1st and you know it's an honor MMA media is is a difficult landscape there's a lot of you know risk of burnout and it's just another ending no off week type of thing but I'm still feeling like

I'm as passionate as ever about it and you see, the shrinking opportunities, things like that. Like if there's still a position like this at an MMA junkie at things like that in the next five or 10 years, that would be awesome in itself. And of course, just naturally you want to keep progressing up and doing their thing. But I love being on this side. You know, I'm not going to sit here and be like, I'd love to be, you know, an ESPN analyst on a UFC broadcast or in the booth or anything like that. Like, I love being on this side and engaging. And hopefully as things evolve, you know, with the podcast continuing at junkie,

I can just continue trying to be a an important presence on the media side and tell these people's stories and educate the fans and all that type of stuff. Like, I've already lived in the dream. I would be honored if I could continue to do this for another five to 10 years. Oh yeah. With the natural progression that comes along with them. Hell yeah. And you did bring up the obvious part that this business changing so fast in front of

us. You might be either working for Dano or not one day, okay? But hopefully not. We don't get to that point. Mike Bond, MMA Junkie, the Bonfire Podcast there. I don't know why we waited this long to get you on. Appreciate you taking the time to fill in for Luke Thomas today. No, thank you so much BC.

Hope to come back at some point and you're definitely in the queue for an appearance on The Bonfire. So let's make it happen. That's what I'm talking about. Let's get, so let's crack some beers. We'll go hang out with some emus right there. Love to hear that.

Follow him on the social media handles. Where are you at? Mike Bon MMA probably. Mike Bon on X, Mike Bond MMA on Instagram. There it is, Toronto's finest. Thank you so much. We great having you on this show. Sean Zatell right around the corner.

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and a 5G service area. Monthly rate on the Total Base 5G Unlimited plan for new subscribers applies only to the monthly rate for your plan. Additional terms apply., website for details. All right, we let off with some MMA, but you know my heart beats box. And I'm very excited to bring on a first-time guest analyst here as Luke Thomas rounds out this vacation. And boy, we got some big things to talk about. From Las Vegas with love, but he's in New York this weekend to cover the final top-rank card on ESPN. He's a boxing podcaster and insider, Sean Zetel, brother. Thank you for joining us today. How are you? I'm good. I'm good, Ryan. Thank you for coming here. I hope it's not amateur hour on my part. I thank you for the opportunity. Shout out to Luke as well. And I'm actually at the world's most

famous arena right now, getting ready for Xander Zayas to weigh in for his vacant WBO super welterweight title fight against Jorge Garcia Perez who upset Charles Conwell. I was at that fight back in April. Zayas is fighting for a belt. Sebastian Fundora vacated who just knocked out Tim Tzu in the rematch you commentated on Amazon Prime. So that's where I'm at right now, Brian.

That's where, yeah. Well, you've been doing fantastic work. I came across, well, I saw you in person a lot of fights, but didn't know you. But when I started to see the work you do on the Porter Way podcast with Sean Porter, I realized not only, yeah, there it is. Not only do you have a shitload

of NFL replica jerseys in your closet, but damn, you got some great opinions and you haven't been afraid to share them of late. So what outlets are you, where can people find your work these days? So for the longest time, I was at the Boxing Voice and Fight Hype, proud to have had stops there.

They both are continuing to have a lot of success. Shout out to them. And I went the independent route, Brian. I've turned down some gigs, so it's not for lack of opportunity. the independent route, Brian. I've, and I've turned down some, some gigs. So, you know, it's not for lack of opportunity. Some of them were gigs funded by what went on to be the ring magazine owned by Turkey, Alice Sheik now. So, but I wanted to stay independent so I could be as truthful as possible while remaining respectful, of course. And so between

the port away podcast, I had some appearances on the Fight Life from ESPN in the last couple of weeks, but I'm really just holding it down on my channel, trying to do what Joe Rogan and Pat McAfee and Jason Whitlock, and what all these guys and yourself and Luke have done, just build your own platform to where you don't have to compromise so much

in what you want to say. Well, I certainly respect that in a very big way and wish you luck and hope everybody follows your work moving forward. Let's get into our big story today. It is a big one. It really is. Even though it crosses over to both combat sports,

Congress preparing a TKO backed bipartisan bill that would amend the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act that first cam then was briefly amended name. And the whole goal to create a UFC like busi Now, Sean, the reactions and aggressive in each di

this bill has yet to be v hit where it's going to h But even though this bill has yet to be voted on and to really hit where it's gonna hit later this year, but even though we knew this was coming, seeing the details, the two representatives, one Democrat in Sharice Davis, the representative of the former MMA fighter, and then Brian Jack on the Republican side, that I'm seeing, rightfully,

journalists in the know going, hold up, hold up. This may be billed as being all about the fighters, but this ain't nothing but all about TKO, but I have seen on the flip side, boxing fans going, well, what are we gonna do? Go back to the four belt system and the ridiculous rankings and all this stuff. A lot of people wanna see a unified boxing.

They wanna see a a unified boxing. They want to see a cleaned up boxing. What do you think this announcement really says though, after digging into the details and trying to figure out what TKO is trying to do here? Well, I have a different name for the act. I don't think this 2025 bill should be called the Ali Act. I think it should be called the ARI Act, you know,

change the L to an R. This is the ARI Act for Ari Emanuel, who of course heads the TKO group. This bill really has nothing to do in the spirit of the original ODDLY Act in 2000. It's about UBOs, unified boxing organizations. And you know, that's what it's really about. And before we get to how boxing fans should view this,

because they're right. I mean, boxing has been, become so fractured, and the last two-plus decades have seen the sport decline that I understand why they're trying to pitch this as the American Revival Act. But before we get to that, Brian, I know I may look like, I preface this, because I know I may look like a long-haired, because I know I may look like a long haired hippie

and all that, but I'm actually not. I'm actually an independent. So, but this critique I'm about to have does not come from the place people may think it comes from. I'm center of aisle. I don't, I actually don't vote. But anyways, point being, the irony is not lost on me that Mr. free market capitalist, America First, Dana White, is trying to institute

a socialist pay scale with the lollipop being free healthcare. That's just very funny to me that that's kind of the pitch to get people, again, I'll say it again. Isn't that Canada's pitch? I think that's Canada's pitch too, right? And he's doing this, mind you. So Dana said, if you have just a little bit of savage in you in today, in 2025, you can go straight to the top.

This is not savage of Dana White and Ari Emanuel. This is subversive, not savage, subversive. Because to hold hands with Turkey Alashik, literally hold hands if you're Dana White and Have him kind of lean on you to subvert US law and then Ari Emanuel. We know his connections He was once Donald Trump's agent his brother was worked in both Barack Obama and Joe Biden's political cabinet So this is a guy who who wields more power than just about anybody in Hollywood and then politically Has his hands in both aisles

and can get what he wants done. And then Brian Jack, of course, I think it'll be mentioned on the show later. He accepted $33,000. Yeah, let's show that. Yeah, if you can show that tweet, Long Island Luke. So this is a tweet, you can back it up on that website, opensecrets.org,

that Congressman Brian Jack, one of the two representatives, this one a tweet, and you can back it up on that website, OpenSecrets.org, that Congressman Brian Jack, one of the two, represented this, this one on the Republican side, that is aggressively pushing this for TKO. He received 33,000 in campaign fund from BGR Group in 2023 to 24. That same group represents the Muslim World League, an NGO funded by the Saudi government.

Right, so Dana's group is actually trying to hurt free market, lay as fair capitalism and boxing, which has produced a Floyd Mayweather, produced the Mike Tyson. And it's amazing to me that Congress could even entertain trying to pass this bill by when the ink's not even dry from UFC's $375 million lawsuit. And that lawsuit's only number one of two right Brian. It's it's amazing that You could be trying to establish a UFC like model when you're about to undergo your second antitrust suit for said model

It's so much to impact at once and This comes at a time where UFC is not firing on all cylinders the The Conor McGregors, look, even I don't watch mixed martial arts, Brian, but even I know John Jones in so many words, kind of ducked Francis Ngannou and then certainly ducked Tom Aspinall. So Dana is running it and Conor McGregor, he can't get him back in the octagon no matter how many times Conor says he's going to come back in the octagon. Ronda Rousey's long retired.

Once he actually produces a star, he runs into the same issues you run into with fighters in boxing. They want autonomy and they want a piece of the pie that they're entitled to. And what's not outlined in this bill is any transparency to the fighters. So the fighters, look, this is your fight more than it is ours, right, at the end of the day. You guys gotta do something, especially the more higher paid fighters and the fighters who are getting overpaid right now

by the system, they're, look, I've read the whole 21 page bill but I tell the audience, you don't really have to do that. Two plus two is four. If Turkey Al-Ashiq is coming in, overspending fighters, even making Eddie Hearn and Al Hayman blush who wants overspent fighters to try to get their model off the ground. The Canellos, the Crawfords, the Devin Haines,

the Shakurs, the Edgar Berlangas, on and on and on. They are accepting getting overpaid and maybe closing the door behind them for fighters to ever be able to do that again. There's a reason why despite the UFC being such a well-oiled machine compared to the Wild West cluster, you know what that boxing is.

But despite that, it's kind of like the free market. Yeah, sometimes you get poor people on welfare, but then it also produces a lot of innovation and riches, and that's your Floyd Mayweathers, that's your Mike Tyson's, and that's why your Conor McGregors, your Francis Ngannou's had to play the B side to these guys. And I really feel like on the part of Ari and Dana, Ari's already representing the NFL, the NHL,

they got UFC and WWE. These are not people who love boxing and have a passion for boxing. I get it, I'm an adult. It's about business at the end. There's Stitch Duran in the background. Yeah, Stitch Duran in the house. Yeah.

Stitch Duran came here all morning combat. Hell yeah. Dana White's never been a friend of mine Stitch, I appreciate you, thank you. So it's, I look at it as, this is just my opinion. This is really just Ari sending Dana out to tie up a loose end is how does this talk to me need boxing stuff every now and then manage to lure one of our guys or our ex guys

and give them a record payday that we never had to give them and wind up producing these random astronomical gates and pay-per-view numbers, this is them more. And that should be, I think it shouldn't that be, if we are to consider combat sports, which is this term that came in the lexicon of the new millennium, if, then this is an attempted monopoly of not just mixed martial arts and boxing, but combat sports.

And then when you bring in the WWE combat sports and entertainment. Yeah, it's for the fans. Yeah, they're like, well, what do I care? Why does this matter to me? I'm sick of it, because it has been like pulling teeth. A lot of the fighters, the American champions, they have become divas. We spend more time talking about who's the ace side.

We all know, and it's tired and it's over with. But UFC or TKO is doing this at a time where they're not firing on all cylinders. They're struggling to match their top dogs with their top dogs as well. Their pay-per-view numbers are down. They can't stay out of lawsuits. So I don't know if-

If gouged ticket prices ridiculously. So it's like, that's what's coming to boxing. So here's the point here to me. This isn't about not liking or not trusting anyone from a Dana White to TKO to Turkey Alashik and all that. This is about they have an extremely unfair advantage in mixed martial arts that they absolutely use to crush, keep out the competition, control their own fighters

under draconian contracts that are constantly getting updated to have even more control, especially after Nganu crawled through the shark sink ship pipe to get out of there. And now they not only wanna bring that to boxing and use their political connections to change all the rules, they want to be the only game in town and have those same advantages that's going to shut everyone else out.

And that's really the evil brilliance of this bill. They got Mohammed Ali's widow Lani to sign off on it because what does it say publicly? It says we're gonna have better medicals, we're gonna have better It says we're gonna have we're gonna have better t to have, you know, better the lowest end to try to that what they're really able to build up those wa the rest of boxing from t

all the way through the r still exist today. And if you want all your food to taste like the cruise ship buffet every single day, and you love what's going on in UFC and WWE right now. And from my looking at the fans, they don't right now in a lot of big ways. And anyone that watches the show certainly knows the issues we have with how much money UFC is making compared to the effort they've been putting in lately. This is them walking right in and changing boxing. Will it be for the better? Will you be entertained? I mean, I don't know long term, but this isn't like they're just adding themselves to the party.

This is them taking completely over and kicking everyone else out. And I really don't know how people don't see this right now, or maybe they just don't care because boxing is that red light district sport, as Burt Sugar said, and because yes, it's completely disorganized in a shit show almost all the time. That's fair. But just because we have somebody who's armed to take it over doesn't mean they're necessarily the right person or doing it for the right reasons. That's where I stand. Let's see this tweet from representative Sharice Davis, the Democrat and former MMA fighter who says, as a former pro fighter, I know the risks athletes take

every time they step into the ring. So I'm teaming up across the aisle to make sure pro boxers get the fair treatment and safety protections they deserve. Sean, from your interpretation here, when I mentioned that the club show level people could be completely pushed out. And by the way, the people that don't know, the UFC has done that in minor league MMA to a large degree too. Only they bring them into

the UFC fight pass, pay them enough to keep them alive, but create a system where there's no separation between manager and promoter, which is what the ALIAC does by the way. And you have to on their terms that their make it. That's exactly w do right now in boxing. Um I was trying to tee up he Sean because I'm baffled

overwhelming. It's overwe Yeah, it's arrogant. So I as easy to say, well boxi now, you do have to be ca the keys to ultimately. Yeah, and people I think have overrated what Turkey's done in the short term. I think Usyk and Fury weren't as great a fights

as Fury and Wilder, for example. I think if you go back to 2021, you had a six month span where Ramirez and Taylor fought for undisputed, Canelo and Plant fought for undisputed, Fury and Wilder concluded a historic trilogy for the lineal title, Crawford and Porter fought, and I think Charlo and Castaño fought for undisputed around that same time they did in May of that year.

Nobody was saying, oh my god, we're getting the fights we finally wanted. And look, Better Bia, Bivelul and Firi Usik, for example, were both excellent fights with the highest stakes possible. I don't think either one was a Trinidad Vargas-esque classic. So I even think that's been a little overstated and you could even look at Turkey's Public Investment Fund with Saudi could be weaponized by TKO to do what you're talking about, to drive out all the other promoters like they did with Live Golf.

Eventually, privately owned companies cannot compete with a government fund of a country. And that's what you're going to... So once you could see a scenario where once the privately owned companies, I mean top rank, they made a lot of mistakes. This isn't all Turkey's fault. Same thing with PBC. They may be, they're having their last show and Dan Raphael had a great tweet saying,

this could be the last show, this is the last show on American. After the show concludes, this will be the first time since the 40s, American boxing isn't on a major American network. So, but you could see that as weaponizing Turkey's public investment fund from Saudi, Saudi Arabia to drive out competition and then once they're driven out and the fighters don't have that that freedom of movement

to to pit promoters against each other and bidding wars and they're the only game left in town after Turkey's driven everybody out, now the fighters got a real problem on their hands. And when you call boxing the red light district, there's a beauty to that. That's kind of part of the point of boxing. And it's gone way too off the rails the last two decades. But there's a phrase people still say in boxing,

which is, hey, when boxing gets it right, it's the best sport in the world. We still love it even more than the Super Bowl. And part of why that is, hey, when boxing gets it right, it's the best sport in the world. We still love it even more than the Super Bowl. And part of why that is, is because boxing is not a sanitized corporate three-letter conglomerate. It's not UFC, it's not NBA, NHL, NFL. Even in the UFC, which is like boxing, always been more uncut, less politically correct

than the other sports, but even that's changing. Dana has phased out real media from what I've heard. He puts useful idiots that he calls influencers now to get them in there. So even that's getting more corporate and sanitized and gimmicky. And boxing, as fucked up as it is, and I'm gonna excuse the language on the podcast,

but it's real. That the Wild West and late and and like there's that there's even a beauty in boxing when fighters get robbed because that sometimes is a microcosm of life that what you could do everything right. You could do everything right. You deserve it. And guess what? You didn't get it anyways. And that's just another way boxing is so So I think that's something. And so what I suspect could happen if they succeed in their plans

is you will get a more consistent baseline product in boxing. You will get, again, a consistent baseline product but those nights that come together that make people say, wow, this is, when it does it right, boxing is still the most special sport in the world. I'm not sure that Dana and them have that touch.

You have to be a boxing guy to have that touch. Even the zone, which is put on big fights, the reason why it hasn't captured the critical acclaim of an HBO or Showtime, there's a little something to it. You can't just go about it the way you do NFL, NBA, NHL. Yes, boxing has needed more of the structure that those three letter conglomerates have. But part of why boxing is boxing is the reasons

it's not like those other groups as well. And I think- I'm with you on there. There is a big charm to that. There is a part where I love, hate, what I prefer. A more organized front, yes, what I prefer a more organized front. Yes, but this isn't an organized front. It's a, it's a proposed dictatorship, a monopoly. And what I was trying to spit out before, and I couldn't find the words in that moment

was we're seeing them really minimize and, and, and, and take the teeth out of the regional MMA scene. That's exactly what they're trying to do with this, with this, you know, raise standards in healthcare. They want to make the minimums so expensive that these smaller promotions cannot survive at that level. In fact, this whole UBO thing or whatever they're calling this, this new idea in writing, they're trying to say that you basically need your own UFC Performance Institute if you want to be a boxing promoter that can put on this type of stuff. And while that sounds good on the surface of, oh yeah, more protections for the fighters, it's aggressively pushing everyone out just is how they're trying to frame what they're really

trying to do. Let's be honest about what they're really trying to do with this UBO thing. They're really trying to circumvent every aspect of what the Ali Act is really supposed to protect. Most importantly, this idea, even though I hate the four sanctioning bodies, I hate their rules, I hate their lies. I hate them at least even though we're going to see a foreign fighter fight for a title that we've never heard of only because that guy's promoter paid, you know, one of the sanctioning bodies, even though there's that bullshit, they want to eliminate that.

Why? So they can make their own belts, they can control their own rankings, and if you fall out of line with Dana or Turkey, well look, we can strip you of the title too. If that's the control you wanna promote her to have, and no separation of church and state in boxing, then get ready, because it feels like it's coming. Yeah, and you know, it's unfortunate,

because there's a karmic resolution to this for the fighters who have priced themselves out of fights and they've screamed bloody murder if a promoter tries to pay them anything that they're actually worth as opposed to searching for the overpaying fights. And to your point about the club shows, dude, they're going to be on the hook for a $25,000 minimum to provide health insurance to the fighters. And, you know, the real the real play economically as a fighter is to have the freedom to generate so much revenue for yourself that you don't need anybody's free

healthcare, you can afford your own. So again, that it's the irony is hilarious that Dana is trying to offer up free healthcare to keep a socialist potential socialist kind of pay scale. It's amazing. It's the opposite of what he claims to be standing for. What do you know? Let's check out a couple more tweets here. Here's Eric McGraken bringing up a very good point

about the association of boxing commissions led by Mike Mizzouli. The fun fact is that the ABC never consulted the athletes voice committee, which is part of the ABC, about this Ali Boxing American Revival Act. They are telling the world that the ABC board is in, in quote, unanimous support, yet the athletes were not consulted.

Oh, that's very convenient. And then we also have another guy who's on top of all this John S. Nash, bringing out a very important question saying, the twisted logic from various actors in combat sports is that the Aliyak is a relic of the past and doesn't apply to today's environment and I'm going to insert that yeah there's holes in it for sure but Nash goes on to say besides nobody enforces it anyway is sort of what you hear if that's the case then why is there such a push to change the protections?

It's, it's, it's obvious. You can see right through it. And why was Al Heyman in court twice from golden boy and top rank or the same stuff and. Fast forward to now golden boy and top rank and help accelerate, uh, this, this monop, monopoly play by Turkey and TKO really. Um, so yeah, it's, and there was gosh, Brian, there's so much to get at that I, there was another point I wanted to make

and I apologize. No worries. Let me, let me ask you this, okay? As we look at boxing moving forward, it's weird because the, the powers that be have, even though Turkey and Dana telegraphed this aggressively with that press conference, March 5th, to announce the union and really announce that be, even though Turkey and Dana telegraphed this aggressively with that press conference March 5th to announce the union and really announce that like, hey, other promoters, we're not going to be using you in about 12 to 18 months anymore. Turkey even

saying that Dana and I will crush the competition. We've still seen that competition line up to suck on the teep there of Turkey, maybe for financial survival in this climate in which American boxing is dying and you can't get it on the networks. But it really pisses me off that a big part of this, this new Ali Act Amendment in paper was to try to fix American boxing, yet it's obviously Turkey

that's systematically broken American boxing by putting so many big fights with young prominent Americans in Saudi Arabia. Canelo fighting at 7.30 AM in front of 3000 people. We've talked about it ad nauseam right there. So it's another one of those ironies in that regard. But when you look at boxing moving forward and whatever time left the powers that we have

to either compete against this or what, you gotta, I guess, look at the evil brilliance of Turkey, meaning that these promoters, even after knowing that they're on the outs, are still lining up to get their share, and all Turkey's doing is taking each of these young fighters, paying them their ring magazine ambassadorship, and really building that relationship

that's obviously gonna lead to two fights from now when the contract is up, to the old promoter who d an american tv deal or do with us? Now, I think tur on a lot of this, most imp fights on the zone where if you're a boxing fan. B

to the next six months to the powers that be remaining in boxing surviving, attempting to aggressively survive? Because it feels like right now they're like, we'll take the free money as long as we can get it. Well, I think that guys like Eddie, I'm going to, I do remember a point I wanted to make, which was before we get to guys like Eddie Hearn, I think trying to reverse course a little bit and say, well, okay, I see the writing on the wall now. You let the mask slip that you want to eventually

do away with all of us. Let me see if I could play you for a money mark. And in the meantime, see what my next plan of action is, knowing what the long-term goals you've revealed are now. But to boil it down to the fighters at first being overpaid as a Trojan horse and then the door potentially getting slammed shut behind them.

Look at Turkey in New York, when he recently hosted that sparring session where fighters were getting knocked out. Those were fighters, that was the microcosm of what's to come. Those were fighters seeing the money that's being handed out, rushing to New York with their sparring gear,

literally fighting, not even sparring, fighting and not realizing you're not scrapping each other at full speed to try to get a turkey bag, one of these famed turkey bags that's been going around for over 12 months now. No, no, no, no, you're fighting for free to claw your way onto an undercard, to fill a roster spot for an eventual TKO league that'll only guarantee you $150 a round. That is the microcosm right there. Young fighters thinking they're on their way

to a road paved with gold, they're gonna get the turkey bag when you're really just being used as another live body to eventually fill up the roster they wanna fill up. Now, as for what the other promoters plan plans are you know PBC right now having to send David Benavides overseas for the yard fight is a loss. They've tried to hold strong as much as they can but they have a very thin roster and an aging roster and then their biggest star Gervonta Davis can't stay out of trouble but they have an ace in the

hole with their Amazon deal and There's a lot of speculation about that. Is it just a distribution deal? How much is Amazon really in it in terms of years and money committed? But as long as they do have a network They have an ace in the hole that no other promoter in the United States has right now and that is a premium network in Amazon So we'll see what they can do. I think they're gonna have to entice the golden boys. They're gonna have to hope the golden boys

and the top ranks and even the Eddie Hearns say, well, we'd rather work with you guys on Amazon and continue to kiss the ring with Turkey, which will eventually slit our throat long-term, even if it's making us money now. Hearn, I think, is the one who sees the writing on the wall the most and is beginning to plan accordingly. He already changed his logo, which was funny. But he sees the

writing on the wall. And then top rank, they're in a tough spot when the genius behind the business is turning 94 soon and Bob Aaron, they're about to be without a network Todd the buff got them caught up in a mess with Kinehan in order to secure Fury. So they but I do think what's disconcerting though is this fight right here. This could have been Zayas and Fundora in a two belt fight. But even with death looming them in the face with even with the British and the Saudis, I mean, you know, using you the British are coming but in this case the Saudis and TKO are coming still

not working together to do a fight which is like okay then you almost ultimately deserve what's coming then but maybe maybe they can consolidate and do some fights on Amazon since TVC is the only one that has a deal but they need each other because TVC has a deal but they they need each other because PVC has a deal, but they have the thinnest roster out of all these companies. All those other rosters have deeper rosters, all those other companies have deeper rosters, but they don't have anywhere to show their fights outside of the zone,

which lost over a billion dollars in its first year or so under Leonard Babotnik, and they stopped telling us how much money they're hemorrhaging since. So do with that what you will. I don't know we'll see I could talk about this for you with hours including uh how you know TKO Zufa boxing gets from plan A to plan B and actually takes over the sport without buying a promotional roster but maybe that's to come but I would like to get your insight on some more positive news as we continue to look a last weekend we had real Alexander Usyk to uh, Ma

to a breakthrough victori fundora. So I want to tal for all three Pacquiao at barrios to that majority you had Sean Gibbons of M promotion saying, hey, moving forward, we want Rolly or we want Tank. And suddenly you're opening your eyes. Now Rolly would say, I'd love to get a Hall of Famer on my resume.

Here's Manny Pacquiao's response to that. He said that he would like to have a Hall of Famer on his resume. What do you think? He said to me, if he can beat me. If he can beat me. Also Ryan Garcia tweeting his hope or interest in a Manny Pacquiao fight, saying it's something that you dream of. I'm always up for the challenge. I'd be lying if I said I'm not interested.

If Manny wants to throw it down, let's do it. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the elephant in the room and the big money potential of even 48 year old Floyd Mayweather I want to hear your thoughts on the quality of the performance from Pacquiao and Whether you believe he could go on and sell a big pay-per-view with a guy like Rowley and even win it Where are you on this Pacquiao comeback in light of barrios not living up to expectations? I? Think the fight itself wasn't really particularly good fight. It was very average, ordinary fight and the drama in the fight was, wow, Manny Pacquiao 46 might really do this and he's winning. Up until Barrios closed strong and managed to hold on to his title in those last

three rounds. But I think, you know, it was a great, what was so surprising about it was the fashion in which Pacquiao fought and was able to be effective. George Foreman, you know, long gone from his peak athleticism days, reverse of the cross arm defense and withstands rounds of punishment just to set up one big moment. Bernard Hopkins, defensive wizardry, you know, not relying on any athleticism. Pacquiao at 46 basically still tried to fight the same, I mean, at a different level of pace,

which he's been fighting at a slower pace for the last decade, even more so in this fight. But for him to be bouncing around and using those big calves and his athleticism and speed and in and out at 46, I did not expect. And that's what was impressive about it is I've never seen a fighter maintain their athleticism That deep into their 40s. That's what was impressive

You know, I do think in the fight itself. Yeah, no worse than a draw. I don't see I didn't see seven rounds for barrios I could see seven rounds for Pacquiao No problem And I think Sean Gibbons is talking about the rollley fight because again, the first fight with Barrios, it wasn't that great, it wasn't that good. And then a rematch, I don't know. Yeah, we don't need a rematch. And you know what's funny is if Roley actually knocks

Manny Pacquiao out and retires him, remember Roley wished us all a happy Easter. Roley is a born again Christian. It'd be Pacquiao, it may seem like the most blasphemous ending of the torch retirement, because Pacquiao's not. Pacquiao is making it painfully clear to us. He's like, he's like Ali. He's like Roy Jones.

He's like Bernard Hopkins. I'm cut from Eric Morales, Marrera. I'm cut from the oldest school of thoughts. You have to knock me out to get me out of boxing. One of you young fighters got to send me home. I'm not going home until one of you send me home. So it may seem blasphemous that Rolé Romero is the man to do that.

So one of the greatest fighters that ever lived in Manny Pacquiao. But Rolé's actually a born again Christian, which is what Pacquiao cares about more than belts and anything else, right, Brian? So maybe he's the fitting man. And what's so great about what's interesting about the fight, not great about the fight, because what's sad about the fight for PBC is with tanks not being able to stay out of

trouble right now, Benavides has to fight in Riyadh season. You're left to a 46 year old well past his prime pack out and Rolly Romero as your best options potentially, right? But what makes the fight interesting is Rolly is actually a good counter puncher with some timing like that's what he did to Ryan. He countered his left hook with his own left hook, catch and shoot. And Rolly can knock Pacquiao out with a counter punch, but Pacquiao still has so much better feet than R's that he could

step around Roley, make him look silly. Roley's easy to get off balance. There's a chance Manny puts Roley on his ass. Dude, it's a good fight. It's like a rate. It could be sad that Pacquiao's at this level, but he's also 46 and he's at this level and Roley's never been hotter. This is kind of perfect, but there'd be no trash talk. Rooli's read the Bible from front to back three times. He says there'd be no trash talk, you know. I think he'd give us a little something, but it'd be tongue in cheek. It'd be, it'd be playful and respectful. But I think Roli believes he knocks Pac out. Wow. I think he fully believes that. And then Manny would look at this guy,

like I'll beat this guy at any age. You know, I just got to be wary of his punching power. But the Gervonta fight, if you think about it, can't be taken off the table. I don't like that fight. But it can't be taken off the table because the Roach fight isn't signed. Roach is starting to talk about,

look, this guy's bullshitting. I'm gonna have to move elsewhere potentially. And for PBC, which needs all the views it could get right now, Pac-Gal and Tank is the fight that brings the most viewership. And I don't think Floyd Mayweather is entertaining a Manny Pac-Gal rematch. I think the only way Floyd Mayweather would ever entertain a Manny Pac-Gal rematch is if it's some unforeseen money issues that we haven't heard about yet. And it'd have to be drastic because the rivalry with Pacquiao is an exception to the money mayweather mentality a little bit.

I think that's one that means something to him in a boxing sense that he's not trying to give up risking another payday for it. That's what I think. So I actually think Rowley and Pacquiao might be the most likely option. And that's an interesting fight. We talked to, look, I'm in. I've talked myself into Pacquiao versus Roley. Tank would be big business, but it's a weird fight.

I don't even know if people would be overly excited about it. I thought they should have done it two years ago. I'd still call that fight, by the way, believe that. I wanted to get into the guy in the co-main event of last week's PBC pay per view, and that's Sebastian Fundora, because he's really starting to stand tall, pun intended, as one of, if not the face

of the 154 division. He no longer has two title belts. He gave up one. Xandros Zias is gonna fight for that tomorrow night where you are, but Fundora not stopping Tim Tzu, getting a second victory, but looking for half the fight, at least like a destroyer who keeps his height in reach

and uses that as an advantage and sits down on his power shots. There is a plethora of fun fights you can make for him at 154 from Murtizaliev to Virgil Ortiz to so many more. Which direction do you believe Fundora and PBC should go next? Because I gotta take my hat off to Freddy Fundora, the father and trainer. anymore. Which direction fund or in PBC should go to take my hat off to fred

and trainer. Him and Seb hard on refining what was brawler. Now he might be but respect the boots of a guy who'd win wars of uppercut being a 65 guy do is wing his left uppercut on the inside. And everybody agrees Fundura's improved, right? And we're all saying he's using his height better, which means he's using his jab better. Brian, tell the, let

the audience know what's the most important and best punch in boxing. The jab. Yeah. The jab. All day. So if we're, so if we're saying his jab has substantially improved, that means we're saying he's substantially improved, period. And Fundura now has grown into a quality champion. And I'm brainstorming this, Brian. I'm picking this around. I think there's three tiers of champion in boxing. There's average champions, Mario Barrios, Tavoris Cloud back in the day, who fought Bernard Hopkins. Then you got your quality champions, and thenrios, Tavoris Cloud back in the day, who called Bernard Hopkins. Then you got your quality champions, and then you got your pound for pound guys.

I think Fundora has definitely grown into a quality champion now. He's not just another guy with a belt, he's a quality champion. And he's still vulnerable. You still saw Tim Zuh catch him with shots, but with him using his height more now and keeping you at the end of his jab

and pelting you with it, it's harder to find him than it once was. And maybe he makes the weight comfortably, which is scary for the rest of the division. Fighters, Virgil Ortiz is going straight to the upstairs to get off his feet after a weigh-in. Sol's back from, even boots coming up from 47, I imagine is gonna be that way.

Fundora will hang out two or three hours after a weigh-in because that's how easy he makes the weight. And he's, it looked to me in the Zoot fight, he's starting to take the shots better. Like his base is underneath him. He's growing into himself even despite coming off that knockout from Mendoza. So he's harder to hit. He's taking the punches a little better. He has a better sense of distance. His offensive repertoire off that jab is getting more lethal and he's tough as a $2 stake. The dude is a dog, man. Like, Freddy Fundora built him and Gabriela

into two pit bulls. I still think, so you're asking where should he go? Virgil Ortiz is the interim champion. Fundora and Ortiz isn't a good fight, it's a great fight. It's a fight of the year, potential candidate, can't miss type of fight. I still give the edge to Virgil Ortiz because you look at the shots,

Zuh was catching him with bombs, absolute bombs in between the shots. And Ortiz is busier than Zuh, he's a little bigger than Zuh. His feet are faster than Zuh and his hands are faster than Zoo. So he could build upon those bombs that Zoo was landing. But if he can't put Fundora down or knock him out, I don't know if anybody beats this guy over a 12 round war of attrition,

which is exactly what a fight with Virgil Ortiz would turn into if Ortiz can't put his lights out. So do I favor Fundora over the field? Not necessarily, but this quality champion who was once looked upon as a freak show might just be your next undisputed super welterweight champion. I wouldn't be surprised.

It's wild because he already had those superpowers of insane stamina, insane toughness, that willingness to brawl, all that stuff. Now you add power. Now you add a jab, boxing ability. Now you add a jab boxing ability. Now you add where he's not jumping into the deep end of the pool and brawling off the start. I wouldn't favor him against a Virgil or T's or boots, but I would against

almost everybody else in this division. And by the way, you got some veterans like Keith Thurman and Jamil Charlo still with PBC still around. So we'll see where he goes moving forward. Uh, Alexander Usyk getting the flowers finally that he really deserves Keith Thurman and Jamil Charlo still with PBC still around. So we'll see where he goes moving forward. Alexander Usyk getting the flowers finally that he really deserves after that knockout of Daniel Dubois in the fifth round last weekend

in which he walked him down on the road again in Wembley Stadium and took it to a guy who was arguably the most dangerous in the division at that moment. So you're hearing the top 10 heavyweight of all time potential of people that are starting to rank them there. You're hearing a lot of stuff. We're also hearing for his next opponent,

the WBO made Joseph Parker the mandatory, and that fight, I'm in. Joseph Parker deserves it, but Turkey don't want it. Let's go to the tweet that Ring Magazine put out saying Riyadh season and Sella not interested in making Usyk versus Parker. We know Turkey wants Moses Atalma, who is gonna be great,

but I think he just graduated high school. What do you think is gonna be next? And don't say Jake Paul and the MMA cage for the champion of the world, the pound for pound King Usyk. I actually am not mad at Turkey about this one. Just to show the audience, I don't just immediately, it's Turkey means I disagree with it. I get what Turkey's coming from.

Look, Parker is the most deserving veteran. I think clearly Parker and a geek, Kavya. If you're gonna pick one of the veteran guys who have fought their way to the front of the line, it's one of those two both very interesting fights. Kavya's an interesting fight because he's the best body puncher in the heavyweight division and uh Usyk doesn't like it to the body so easy enough there. Park is an interesting fight because he's not a huge super heavyweight like Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, not a 250 plus. Well now

these days he is about that high, but he's originally kind of like Usyk, he's 6'4 and he can challenge Usyk in areas just most heavyweights cannot. He can challenge him in IQ, boxing ability, foot speed, hand speed, positioning. I've loved that fight since Usyk came to the division. There's a whole tweet I could dig up from 2020, 2021 whenever Usyk came to heavyweight that I love that fight, Usyk and Parker. But we know that even though Parker's having this great late career revival, and even though Caballel is the definition of a dark horse, I apologize about the audio. Moses Aytalva is the next supernova. You know, he it's a stretch to call it a Canelo Mayweather type matchup

because Canelo beat Austin Trout. He was 43 and 0, unified world champion. Itama has done nothing. He's going to knock out Dillian White next month. The speed difference is going to be crazy. But I understand where Turkey's coming from. Itama as unproven as he is, the eye test is impeccable and he's the next supernova of the division. So he wants to put the next supernova is unproven, is unready as he might be against the current supernova to him that's sexier than the most deserving, very good veterans. And I actually understand where he's coming from.

Aytama, he'll probably get schooled because experience matters at that level. But eye test wise, I understand why Turkey would want to see it. I kind of want to see it too. But Parker is the more logical choice. And it is an interesting fight because he could challenge Usyk in areas other heavyweights can't compete in. No, I appreciate that, Master Stink analysis.

It is heating up there, Sean. Just about time at the end of the show. I know you've got some press activities coming. Xander Zayas fighting for that vacate 154 belt, the final top rank on ESPN show. It's been an absolute pleasure to have you on here. So I don't want you to be a stranger to MK moving forward. Tell us as quick as you can with the loud noise,

where can people find you? Because I hope people will be following your work moving forward. Just my name, Sean Zatel. I know it's an ugly last name. Thank you, Brian, for having me on. And just that, my name, Sean Zatel, I know it's an ugly last name. Thank you, Brian, for having me on. And just say my name, Sean Zatel on YouTube, Sean Zatel on Twitter, Instagram, follow me. And yeah, keep it locked in, everybody. Thank you, Morning Combat, shout out to Luke,

and thank you so much, Brian. Hey, appreciate the voice you have in this space, and you're doing great work, so keep it up. Hey, enjoy the fights this weekend. We got one of the young Vargas's, Shushu Carrington should be a good show there. The final top break on ESPN card. Sean Zatel, thank you for playing.

We appreciate it. All right, good stuff today. Appreciate and a special thanks once more to both of our guests, Mike Bond of MMA Junkie and the Bonfire Podcast. And of course, that independent journalist, Sean Zatell, who you can also check his work on the Porter Way Podcast with Sean Porter. And as you already knew, right?

This episode of Morning Combat has been brought to you by DraftKings with DraftKings, the Crown is yours. Thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors and you the viewers today, a reminder, you can reach the show. We're gonna be back with that next week at morningcombat.gmail.com. Luke will return, we'll be back in the studio on Monday.

Have you seen this shit? Next Friday from home, we'll be hitting you with the Dead Wrong with the fan submission. So get your stuff in. Sandine, you've been on fire, but our North Korean censors have been like, yo bro, that's a little too far. So I don't know if we're going to see any of those Long Island. Luke, you've been a, a real Patriot sitting in here and getting this show done here over two hours. The Luke Thomas vacation is behind

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Hey, how about that? Take care of yourself up here, guys, and thank you so much for being here. For Long Island Luke and our incredible crew here on MK and our special guest, it's BC signing off. 47 years old, folks, okay? Happy birthday, BC. That's what I'm talking about.

Thank you so much. You know I'm gonna be in Greasy Pizza and playing Fortnite with my kids and watching Happy Gilmore 2 on Netflix. What a time to be alive! We outta here! Thank you! This is an iHeart Podcast.