MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - UFC Baku: Hill vs. Rountree Preview, Jon Jones on Full Send, Conor McGregor Latest Incident

Episode Date: June 20, 2025

Brian Campbell and Luke Thomas are live on a Friday to go over the upcoming card at UFC Baku.  Who has the advantage between Khalil Rountree and Jamahal Hill and how do the fellas see this main event playing out. Plus Rafael Fiziev and Ignacio Bahamondes face off in the co-main event. And Curtis Blaydes takes on Rizvan Kuniev. Given what Jon Jones said on the Nelk Boys podcast, is it finally time to consider a fight with Tom Aspinall as never happening? Conor McGregor is in the news again, this time for punching a clubgoer in Ibiza, Spain. What, if anything, is there left to say about the state of him and his career? Happy Friday donks! Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with @shop.mando and get 20% off + free shipping with promo code KOMBAT at http://shopmando.com! #mandopod Get MORNING KOMBAT merchandise now: https://morningkombat.shopSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Oh Yeah, it's Friday get fired the heck up. June 20th, 2025. This right here. This morning combat, the best damn thing that's ever happened to combat sports, right? Right? Am I right? I'm Brian Campbell, your co-hostess with the most s. That's Luke Thomas from Washington, DC doing his old guy huff on the glasses routine and this fantastic episode of morning combat today right now is presented by DraftKings and with DraftKings you already know the crown is yours LT we are less than one sleep away from UFC Baku Baku brother sounds like those old juice box where the adult juice boxes Boku sounds like a Boku I brought that to school in seventh grade I was living life all right. Oh, I know what a bow Sue ball is. It's the thing you stand on, but I don't know what anything else I can do. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I. They was, it was next level. It was next level. No, I'm I know what a bow Sue ball is. It's the thing you stand on, but I don't know what anything else is. All right. You, you, you appear Luke Thomas extra surly today. How the hell are you? I'm all right. I'm not surly. I'm not surly. I'm all right. I'm all right. I'm a, you know, it's Friday. Yeah.

Are we going to enter a world War or is this the wrong show? Look, sorry. Yeah. Yeah. Seems that way. Seems that way. So, fun times. We had a great run though. Happy to be here. The show is great. I mean, this show rules, right? So, that you can follow us below. You can like on YouTube. Shout out to everybody watching on the DraftKings Network or listening at home. Luke Thomas has a life in spec expectant. We may we may need to get Gary Brekka on the show Luke because I'm going to I think he would tell you

you have less than a year left. Yeah, he says lots of stupid shit. Okay, totally not backed by science in any capacity whatsoever. But if you tell stupid people on the internet that Gary Brekka is also stupid, those stupid people don't understand that and then think you're being unfair to him. But Gary Brekka is stupid. He's a con man and you should listen to a **** thing that he says. So there you go. My question is where does Kevin Lee

fit into all this? We'll get into that today as he's back. Also, I'm not saying I'm not saying this is healthy. That's not the point that I'm making. I am saying, I am saying that it's effective at waking me up. I am saying that if you would just allow to kicks to kick you right in the bag before the show starts, you'll be wide ass awake. Luke. Okay. Who says she didn't? Yeah. Good point. Good point right there. Uh, Luke, you just played Mr. Mom for a while

while your wife was traveling. Did everything go kosher? Yeah, it was great. There was nothing too hard about it. Tookie finished kindergarten. Can you believe that? Congratulations. She finished kindergarten. So that was a big deal. Yep. Shouts to her and we've got a summer full of summer camp ready for her and it's going to be great. Yeah. Get that splash pad up in the bullpen Luke. Let's go, all right? You know you can put one in your front yard

next to your weightlifting bench. It's funny you mentioned that. My wife bought a giant inflatable pool for the yard. There's neighborhood pools that are actually pretty well maintained, but she bought her one, so I'm gonna have to sit in that thing this weekend. Yeah, you will.

We got a lot more for you today besides Luke's parenting journeys. UFC Baku preview on the way. I mentioned Kevin Lee. He's in PFL this evening as the semi-finals roll on in two different divisions. We'll also have the latest news on that guy, John Jones, Conor McGregor. A lot of LOLs today, Luke, as the combat sports world continues to be weird as F. I mean did you or did you not see the picture that Turkey put out there of him, Crawford and Canelo having a feast like what about kayfabe brother these two are gonna fight to the death in a few months right like what are we doing here bro?

Yeah I mean this dude just doesn't have a fucking clue how to promote but you know who cares. Yeah yeah F them F them right? We live in a world now where literally nothing matters anymore. So like, well, you know, seven days removed from the most recent killing of a journalist by the Saudi Arabian government. What are your thoughts? I know it's so fucking hilarious to me. Everyone's like, this is the free speech company. Yeah. The one doing business with the government that

kills people for tweets. Okay. All right. I mean, they, they crushed that guy's hand and they said, can you tweet with it now? And then they just beheaded him. They're like, we had enough. We had enough torturing him for tweets, by the way, for people, for tweets about how women should drive. Yeah. I mean, well, you know, well, look, maybe he was on there. All right. I mean, maybe he didn't need to die for it. I'm just putting maybe M was on to something. All right, I mean, he didn't need to die for it. I'm just putting it out there. Maybe MBS was on to something. All right, enough politics and death.

Let's talk about cage fighting and let's talk about merch here. MorningCombat.shop is back. It's on, it's still here, it's still going. And by the way, skits and bits still available until the end of June. These featured shirts, remember, they're not here forever. They're here for a Chandler amount of time.

So get them while they're hot. We'll be back. That's the key. See you at the top. We'll get back with a, we'll be back with a new design come July. So skits and bits still available along with a bunch of our other evergreen height at morningcombat.shop.

And let's say hello to the third member of our team who is very dutifully manning that their merch shop comes to us directly from Long Island. But by way of a horned up guys ball back from down under, I never get tired. I just never get tired of such good bits. Hey, it's Luke. No, see how are you? I was more intrigued by the dudeifying. Is that a word, Luke? Luke, I look to good vids. Hey, it's Luke no Sita. How are you? I was more intrigued by the dudeifying It says that a word Luke look I look to you for that. What did he say?

Dude, if I said dude if Lee dude, dude if Lee dude if Lee yes. All right. All right Well, here I am just making up other words guys and doing good doing a PFL watch along tonight Baku watch along tomorrow There's a whole nine yards, you know leader leader your man matter. I don't want to speak for your girlfriend, but. She hates you. That's what I can't imagine. She loves this decision. Sorry, honey, they're in Baku. We have schedules and stuff. A lot. You know, everything's all good.

Also want to give a shout out to my niece and my nephew, both celebrating birthday this weekend, 14 and two. So celebrating with them on Sunday. So shut up. Was the second one an oops baby or did I just cross the line? No, but uh, well, maybe, maybe I'm nine years younger than my sister. And my parents straight up told me like they didn't call it a mistake, but they were like, you definitely weren't planned.

You know what I mean? They I heard that one. I may or may not have been told the same thing. But yeah, we move on. Wow. All right. Well, you rejects. I may or may not have been told the same thing. But you know, we move on. Wow, alright, well you reject so I accept you, okay? I adopt you into my life. Thank you for playing. That is the man behind the main card minute.

Check out his shit as well. Hey, check us out right now because it's time to get into today's show. And topic number one. It's a fight night card in a new location. For the first time ever, the world's leader in mixed martial arts will enter. Azure by John on Saturday afternoon East Coast time by the way for a UFC Baku fight night card headlined by a light heavyweight tilt between former champion Jamal

Hill and fellow slugger and former title challenger Khalil Round Tree Jr. Luke before we get into this main event matchup, which is a heck of a fight by the way, I Do want to just get your thoughts in general. Is it weird to you that the UFC is making this Baku debut? Before they've ever even made it to Barcelona to put to poria over or many other major to Barcelona to put to Poria over or many other major European and Asian cities that we would guess. I never had Baku on my UFC bingo card for 2025. We certainly know the larger ramifications with government contracts and everything that TKO is looking to do to fuel this company at the moment.

But we're also doing business with a dictator and, uh, there's genocide involved your thoughts on UFC Baku. Yeah. I mean, listen, it's not like I need to say, we don't have to dwell on this, but I do think it deserves a mention. We don't need to like favor European capitals over other ones just because you know, they're European that I'm not interested in that. And the reality is the UFC is a global brand.

I mean, they can basically go anywhere and it would at least make some kind of sense, right? I mean, I think we should be honest about that. But at the same time, and I realized that dude, nothing matters anymore. I completely get it. But I just wanna be clear about what we're doing here. This is a government that was engaged

in straight up ethnic cleansing against Armenians in disputed territory. Straight up ethnic cleansing. No other way to go about it. And to say nothing of the fact that they've got a guy who's been president for 2003, basically a dictator who's been, he's called president, but he's essentially a king. And there's massive repression of, you know know of their own population to say nothing of what they did to the ethnic Armenians and I realized people like oh it's far away I don't care I get it people are so numbed out at this point that they can't even bring themselves to say that doing business with people

like this is fucking gross as shit but it is it's insanely gross and again I don't need to see like Barcelona made preference, but it's like weird to me that they've they've never been to Hawaii, you know, and we're going to go to Baku. And the reason and then Dana's there, by the way, Hey, Governor Penn can pay up. If he can get out of his trial today, Governor Penn can pay up. I'm saying to you like, who won't the UFC do business with? Well, I got to know what's your line? Is it UFC Tehran, UFC Papua New Guinea where the cannibals, you know, you better get that tap before the crowd eats you. What is your

line on where's too far? I think young people are probably here to fuck heads like us and like, Oh, that's an outdated opinion. I don't think it is brother. I really don't think it is. I think it's fucking gross to do business this way. And, know, but like we live in a world, I mean, you know, we live in a world where the entirety of the boxing industry is doing business with a government that just fucking murdered a journalist for tweets and everyone just fucking shrugs. This is where we are, dude, like the modern world

and particularly our modern media world is so insanely broken that I realize this falls on deaf ears. And I don't even to talk about it anymore beyond what we're going to do just right here because everyone just gets pissy about it. But I just want to be absolutely fucking clear to do business with a government like this on these terms.

It's so warped. It's beyond description to me, but okay, nobody cares. So here we are killing in the name of Luke. You better do what they told you. Okay. Get in line. All right. Yeah.

Yeah. That's it. I would get, it's the free speech company unless you're going to Baku in which case if you try to exercise that right, they'll throw you in fucking prison or Saudi Arabia where they do business where they'll just ready to fucking kill you or Abu Dhabi. Well, they'll also throw you in fucking prison for exercising that right. So I just want everyone to be very clear like oh, it's the free speech company. No, it's the you're allowed to say slurs company. Big difference. Wow. Wow. That's Luke Thomas soap box or not. Luke, I back you on that. Let's get though into this main

event, a very good fight where we've got questions here as we speak right now, the Draft King odds for this light heavyweight main event. I believe they flipped because now we have Khalil Roundtree as a minus 130 betting favorite according to Draft Kings Jamal Hill who I saw as the betting favorite just a few days ago is now looking at a plus 110. So we know how close on paper this is but in in your eyes Luke does Khalil Roundtree have more advantages over Jamal Hill? Or do you think ultimately Hill has more ways to win?

The odds are telling you that this is bordering on Pickham. We know that they're going to slug and they're going to bring it. But who do you feel you're leaning to has the advantage entering this? Well, according to Long Island Luke, DK has this as a straight up pick, a minus 110 versus minus 110. Alright, and I I think I get that. I think that's I I understand that. I mean people might feel strongly

when we're the other about Hill or even roundtree following the loss to Poetan I I almost said win because in a certain way it was kind of a win in that roundtree. I think vastly overperformed Expectations and so people were very happy about that What I would say BC is I Think Jamal does actually have more ways to win and by that I mean I don't consider Jamal a grappler But I actually feel like if he wanted to make this kind of a rough-and-tumble at least clinch fight

I mean now now hills gonna give me Rouchie's gonna be good in the clinch But I mean it's sort of like put him on wrestling terms There's there's ways in which you could imagine Hill could have some advantages there The issue for me is I think on the feet advantages there. The issue for me is I think on the feet, roundtree is definitely going to have more advantages than Hill. Hill is a very good boxer and probably a better pure boxer than roundtree. But roundtree's kicking game, I think is clinch game to an extent. There's a certain amount of, you know,

great timing with the way which roundtree throws violence with the way he throws, he kind of gets after it in that particular regard. So for me, it's like I could imagine if he'll wanted to there are ways in which he can leverage us about beyond pure striking. I don't I'm skeptical that he will be see I don't I don't think he'll go that direction, but you know, he's a former champion. He's beaten better guys.

I think than roundtree has beaten. I don't think that's unfair to say. It's just that it seems like roundtree is maybe, I don't know if surging is the right word, but he overperformed against Poetan. And I think what he would say is, it woke something up in him, right? It unleashed something in him,

a self-awareness, a confidence that he wasn't sure that he had. He wasn't sure what his upside was. You know, Hill tasted gold, right? He had, he wore it around his waist. For a round tree, I think he was dealing with a question of like, could he even get to that level? And then he performed very well against Poetani. I thought, you know what, maybe I can. So I don't know if it's right to call a guy coming off of a stoppage loss a surging contender. But I do feel BC that we're dealing with a different kind of roundtree than maybe a year or two ago.

Yeah, that's my biggest question of how much did that performance against Pereira, which ultimately was a brutal stoppage loss. I mean, absolutely brutal. But obviously it's more about what the 35 year old roundtree proved to himself, to others about his ability to steal those first two rounds from the champion, his ability to make that a difficult fight at times until Pereira figured out his lane, turned it around and got him out of there. Let's not forget that it was a five fight win streak, including four by stoppage for

roundtree heading into that Pereira fight. But still, this is two, I'd say legitimate title contenders looking to put recent defeats behind them. It's not just this recent loss for Roundtree. It's a two straight losses for Jamal Hill, both by stoppage. But we're talking about when he lost the title to Alex Pereira and of course the most recent fight against Yuri Prochatska. The one thing I've said about Hill consistently

is even though he surprised me by making that run to the title and having that performance against Glover, I need to see him commit to top level elite shape before I'm gonna believe that he fully is maximizing his potential and his opportunity. Luke, you sent in a picture here of what he looked like during his pre-fight photo sessions kind of looks like an improvement. And I'm not seeing

the jacked abs and jacked abs don't dictate victory. We know that, but he looks like he came in serious for this one. So if we're talking about on the flip side, we want to see how round tree responds to the confidence boost that could have come from a title performance that was that, that got him a lot of goodwill. What do you think about the shape you see Hill coming in and knowing, dude, you lose three straight at the highest level, you're going to have to work the long way to get back here. I want to, I want to say one thing.

I realized that Jamal Hill has not shown grappling chops. When I say that, I think he's got that in the bag. It's based off of some some things I've been told about training, whether he's going through and I think he's got that he's just never really shown. So folks might be like, how can you say that he's never shown anything? Fact fact that is totally defensively. Yes, defensively. Yes. But offensively, he's not I'm just told certain things

about what's possible. So I want to be very clear about that. Okay, BC I apologize. Can you restate your question because I have to say and when possible. So I want to be very clear about that. Okay, BC, I apologize. Can you restate your question? Cause I have to say, and when you see Hill who looks to be in better shape than we're used to, you know, he can't go to three straight losses here. Are you feeling like even though maybe the bigger story is round trees mindset, Hill's coming in here with a lot to prove and get that monkey off his back from this losing streak to remind us that he's still in his prime and still in contention. I think both guys have a lot to prove here. I mean, we always sort of size it up where like,

what do they get if they win? And the answer might be a title shot, which is kind of always the question around these main events, whether their title or whether it's pay-per-view or not. But what I'm gonna say here is, I think Hill has a ton to prove. I mean, he was champion. He got injured.

He came back too fast and it blew up in his face and he's been trying to rebound. Obviously he tried it against Uri as well. And that went poorly. It's like, I can forgive a guy who came back too early, way too early from that Achilles injury. I can totally forgive him. Plus he fought the best guy in the weight class. So there are you know best of second. Yeah I said he lost the title to Pereira. He had given up the title due to injury. That's right. My bad on that timeline. Yeah and then he tries to come back against Yuri but Yuri showed real improvement

in that fight turning defense into offense. Like he just looked really great. And now you're at a place where it's like, okay, you're still relevant, you're still good, you're still in a good age in this weight class, and you got a guy who probably is not much of a takedown threat. You know, this seems like not tailor-made is the right word, but I mean, Any kind of excuse about like the stylistic matchup and the injury and getting right and getting back. All of that is now no longer relevant.

Like you just have to perform here. Yes, the reward could be big, but the loss kind of would signify that like whatever status he had conferred upon him previously. Might have been a bit of vaporware, which is not something he could get back. On the contrast, if you go there and you really show up against Kalil Roundtree, I think number

one would get him a lot of fans, but putting that to the side, just in terms of what it would prove about his place in the division, for Kalil Roundtree it's a similar kind of situation, BC, where it's like, again, a loss would not be like hugely great for him, it would be pretty detrimental, but the point is if you go in there you beat against a guy like Hill, you beat a Again, a loss would not be like hugely great for him. It would be pretty detrimental. But the point is, if you go in there and you beat against a guy like Hill, you beat a former champion, you beat a guy who's gonna engage with you

on the striking terms, which to an extent is stylistically advantageous, but still a dangerous proposition. It's like there are doubts about what both guys can be. You know that Hill was a champion and can strike it out, but where is he? Rountree, he performed well against other guys and even in a losing effort against Poetson, but like, you know, what actually can he contribute to this division? There's a lot on the line here about like, who are these guys in this title picture? Who are these guys when it, when a push

comes to shove? Who are these guys in terms of staking their claim to being the elite here? I think both of them back against the wall is a strong way to put it, but they, they have a lot to prove here and they really, in the case of Hill in particular, I think really needs a win in this contest. I'm interested in seeing what, I don't want to say Hill had a baby face turn, but we've known him as a villain, a purposeful villain. Sometimes purposeful, he leans into that and we've almost applauded him at times

for keeping things interesting at the top of this division by having little mini feuds with a bunch of people. Sometimes that goes too far and it's cringe, but I think he rightfully got praise from us after the loss to Pro Hotsco where he did show humility. They hung out afterwards and had a drink. Like it was this side of Hill who's been labeled by his critics as a sore loser, as being delusional, you know, a lot of different things. I thought we've seen kind of a tattoo on the shoulders turnaround here for him Luke in that regard not that you know

being a baby face is necessary. I mean he was fine as a heel but he did have a little dust up with the media through the translation at Baku. Let's go to Hill for Media Day Luke and then I want to get your response from this Alex and Prohaska's losses. Will it affect this fight? Will my loss to Alex and Yuri affect this fight? How would it do that? Every fight is different. It's a new fight. That's a weird question. That's kind of like a dorky online fan question. I don't really get how that would affect how I'm fighting a completely different fighter. You know what I mean?

So I'm focused on what's how well on Saturday and on the task I hand for that. I Mean is that fair look dude does Azerbaijan need to wake up and get their knowledge in order. I Mean, I would I would imagine most of the media there is Russian. I'm not so sure about that, but. Maybe they're just in a hurry, you know? Ha ha ha. Where is a drive, where is a drive-by shooter when you need one? Yeah. Truly. But BC, I'm gonna say this.

I actually didn't mind that reaction from Hill, not too much. I mean, on the one hand, I think what the guy was asking was like, are there ghosts from that loss or those losses haunting you or could they be relevant in terms of like your mental preparation and readiness, which is not an unfair question. On the other hand, while he didn't handle it like super awesome, he didn't lash out at the guy either. You know what I mean? He was kind of like, it's a bit of a dorky question and he was kind of confused by it.

And Jamal Hill's always on edge, you know? And I think it's part of the thing that makes people angry at him. But it's also kind of the thing that he needs to get, it seems like, in the right space to do damage. I'm looking at the face-off. This came out 20 minutes ago, BC, with Jamal Hill and Khalil Rountree faced off,

Jamal Hill says to him, I promise you, you're going to bleed tomorrow. And I know some people are like, oh, here goes Jamal Hill talking again, but what space does he need to be in? But that's a response though. That's a response to Rowntree saying something to the degree of the fight will be, he won't be, it won't be a blood and guts war. He doesn't expect to be bleeding, which is him saying he expects to control Hill and Rowntree. Either way, either way, Like what do people want? Like some people need to be calm and not do this kind of stuff.

Some guys need to engage in this to get them in there. And I know he did it against Poetton and it blew up in his face, but you know, that's Poetton, that's a different guy. It's a different fights a different time. And again, he came back from that fight way too early. I think to me, this is a little bit different. We talked about the fitness readiness. We talked about this mental state.

I don't want to read too much into one question, but I did not see to me like it was kind of silly questions, a strong word, but not a helpful question. But I didn't see like, you know, frothing at the mouth, lashing out, going crazy on them. I just saw them kind of like, you know, door sort of dismiss a nat on a camping trip. And I think that's probably the better place to be. I think I'm still seeing an evolved maturity to some degree and I do think it'll help him. I think he needs to get in that top level shape and keep that focus.

And I think this is him trying to do that. But there has been some posturing and a little back and forth between these two, which I think has only added some spice to what we expect to be a shootout. Here's Khalil Roundtree talking about that back and forth beef. Like those things are accurate. I did, you know, they're obviously, um,

just reading articles, things like that. Um, I did ask if I did approach him and ask him if he had a problem with me. Um, and we cleared that off, but, and then as far as like, you know, I just I don't necessarily like to be around any of my opponents in you know, in in in certain settings. So, you know, I don't think that there's any problem or any beef. It's just you know, if I do like to ask like, Hey, is my opponent in the building? Okay, cool. You know, is it okay if I, you know, take this background and, you know, things like that. But it's, it's nothing, it's, it's nothing extreme. It's nothing extreme at all.

It's, it's literally all just to, you know, to just to make sure that, uh, yeah, things just move smoothly, but that's, that's really it. All right. Maybe that's much to do about nothing in terms of the back and forth between them. Either way, Luke, they're going to bang on Saturday before we get into the why and how of who wins. Who do you believe can take a victory and let's throw it in. Let's throw a knockout victory in there because we do expect this to have that thread, have that potential given their backstories, their histories, who can use this win more to get closer to that title with a victory in your opinion. If they came out and made a statement and got to finish.

Wait, can you say that again? Like, I'm not sure I understand the question. Okay. Let's, let's posit a scenario not sure I understand the question. Okay, let's positive scenario where either one wins by KO. Okay, who can get into a title shot quicker with that type of momentum after that type of statement? I don't think there's a difference. I'm sorry. I misunderstood the question. I don't think I'm looking at some of their stats here. I don't think there's much of a difference. I think either of them wins by KO. They're

there, right? Jamal Hill, former champ, he's got beef with Poetan. You could run that one back. Obviously Poetan is going to probably have to go against Ankhaliev, so I guess we'll see how that goes. But you know he could be right back there and I think that would work at the same time if Khalil Rountree bounces back from the Poetan loss by knocking out Jamal Hill. Unless it's some kind of fluky like really quick one where you know it feels a little weird. I don't know but let's just say it's like you know they slug it out. And then one guy eventually just emerges as the Victor with a KO win. I think he's right there too.

Again, he could put, go right back against uncle live, you know, he's got a fan friendly style, you know. There was a weird discussion online because he got Kahlil round tree, got custom Venom shorts, which were actually the best ones I've seen Venom make. And people were like, why does this guy get it? You know, just because people can't understand why interesting things are interesting. But, you know, I think that he would be a very suitable contender to light heavyweight is thin. It's thin. It's not clear beyond on Kaliyev and poets on what you're going to do. It seems to me these guys are in a main event for a reason. Either of them gets a KO. Either of them has a like I know in Jamal's case because it's the two losses that it might make it a little bit harder. But I honestly believe if he goes in there and just thumps Khalil Roundtree Jr.

I doubt he's that far from a title shot. What 205 is wide freaking open other than with the business that on Kali of and poets on have to attend. Yeah, very fair enough and uh you the other big players obviously at the moment are Prohotska and a streaking Carlos Alberg but yeah, I could see a statement maker in this main event. Here's the thing all all bring us out there. Sorry. Sorry about this BC Alberg is out there but like no one's like pining for him to get a title shot.

That's the first thing I'd say. Well, probably women. I mean, to be fair. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But like are the fan. Do you see fans online be like, did you gotta give all burger title shot? I just don't see it. Not in the States. No. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just there's just nothing to it. Yeah, I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it, but there's not like a big push. And Prochaska has this last win over Jamal Hill, but the problem is he's been giving get, got a bunch of title shots and you know, a bunch of them didn't go

right. And again, that was against Poetan in many cases, but like, you know, I don't know. I mean, yes, I could see him getting in front too, but my point is, it's like, it's really just not that clear that anyone's got a mandate for it. You could make a case for Ulberg, but whatever. Prochachka, but it's not exactly clear where he is in this division. I think a big win here could be a game changer for the winner. I truly believe that. Let's bring in our bong enthusiast and betting expert, Long Island Luke Nocita. Luke,

and betting expert Long Island Luke Noceda. Luke, what do you make of these odds? Because when I see these two fighters, I respect them both, but I think Hill is the better fighter. Luke said earlier he's got potentially more ways to win this. What do you think betting wise when you look at these odds? So the odds have come down a lot because earlier in the week, I considered strongly taking Jamal Hill He was like plus 140 and Khalil was like minus 150 and I was like that seems a little off I feel like Jamal maybe should be the favorite here

So I was strongly considering taking him as a dog now that it's a pick them It's way more like hmm. This feels right. I did take the over one and a half and a parlay I do think this one goes long my official prediction would be Jamal by decision. Wow. I do want to point out though Luke that Carlos Olberg, win by finish, win by decision for Jamal here. Carlos Olberg still deserves a shot over him I feel. Khalil you can make the argument. If Khalil stops Jamal Hill then like okay maybe Khalil can yeah It's harder for it's harder for Hill, but I just I mean here's the thing right

Here's the thing about Ulberg. It's like dude. I get that he beat Jan Blachowicz and like you know is on a win streak and I don't want to disrespect that But like who is clamoring for him versus on Koli of or even poet on other than you know? hammering for him versus on Koli of or even poet on other than, you know, boosters in his inner circle. Like I'm not I'm not denying like if you have to give it to him, I'm not going to complain, but it's not like it's some kind of like you look at him and you think oh, here's a forceful challenge. It's just that's just not the reality.

So there's that then in the case of Hill, I fully recognize coming off the two losses to stop stoppage losses at that. His case is a little bit harder, but you know, Khalil Rowntree is coming in with, again, despite the loss, he's kind of coming in with some, a different swag, a different energy, a different level of respect that he commands. Do you mean to tell me if Hill goes in there and bludgeon him and looks awesome, that they're just going to be like, yeah, Olberg's the guy. They might, and I'm not going to complain, but I just think it's

a little silly Hill Hill has in a weird position where despite the fact that he is polarizing to the fan base and you're not exactly sure what quality he offers because he had those highs and now he has these lows, he still is in a bit of a different space to me in terms of like what the promotion will reward him with depending on the outcome. So I think Alberg being like, oh, I'm the number one contender. I'll just I can sit on this position and there's no real threat to it. I don't I'm not sure how true that is. Well, I don't think that he's look, we're going to have to have that rematch with Poetan and Akaliyev and it feels like that thing's going to be announced anytime now. So wouldn't you believe that if you're all about, you're probably going to have to earn it one more time. I think if you're Albert, you have to be prepared for that possibility. Yes. Yes. Again, he should tell people that black jag is what he names his piece,

Luke, because that'd be bad ass, right? Are you seriously worried about the color of his Johnson? I mean, that's no, I just think that nickname has, has some cool, you know, buzz to it. And if he told people that was what he, you know, then it'd be like, okay, all right. This is, I don't think about his hog. I, it appears you do. Wow. You guys, you're not, you're, I guess, you know, look, did you turn 46 yet? You, your old ass, look, I'm going to be 47 soon.

All right. But I, I feel like I have a younger, more alive spirit than you. Yes. You are more like a golden retriever than I am. That's true. You'd be drinking that C four getting all mad. All right, Luke, uh, let's talk. Let's talk about the chances here of roundtree getting the win.

What could this boost of experience and confidence from the loss to poet on at the highest level? How can we see that manifest in your opinion in this fight? He was on a great win streak. So he came into that poet on fight beating Roberson, who, you know, was one of the most violent finishes you'll ever see. Dustin Jacoby, Dawkus, and then of course, he had that incredible win over Anthony Smith. And I think people again, when he got the Poetton fight, people were saying what BC they were like, he's ranked eight. This is a stupid thing.

And at the time and I was like, well, is this the fight that I need to see? No, but the reality is, if you're the champion, you need to stay busy, you need to defend. And again, it wasn't like he was the deserving number one contender, but you could see why he got picked, right? Because he's going to deliver all action. But something funny happened along the way. He became more than just a suitable dance partner for the I think the fight

was in Utah, memory serves or wherever it was. He did something more. He like I think he hurt Poetan. He had him stumbled. He won several rounds. And you were like, whoa, this is way more. He like, I think he hurt Poetan. He had him stumbled. He won several rounds. And you're like, Whoa, this is way more. And this is what I kind of referenced earlier, you were like, this guy was dealing and he's dealt I think, throughout the course of his life to varying degrees about self

doubt. He's really wrestled with self doubt. He was remember he's a former fat kid who lost a bunch of weight and got really good. I think there's always been this lingering kind of question inside of him, like, okay, I can do certain things, but can I do the big ones? How much can I perform? And I saw people being like, oh, well, he lost. How much can you really learn from that? Dude, the loss could be, I guess we'll see here, the loss could be some kind of catalyst, an awakening to become something different. I'll say this too, like Matt, Sarah, after the GSP win was people disputed this when they tried to dead wrong meter so wrong about

this. It's not like he became like a striker all of a sudden. But there's a big and he lost the rematch to St. Pierre. However, you can clearly detect it did something to him in terms of his confidence to at least use his striking more forcefully than he did before that fight. Uh, and I understand that, you know, Sarah won that fight. So of course that was by itself going to play a huge role, but sometimes even in losses, fighters can see certain things in themselves that they weren't

sure was there and then all of a sudden they're like, whoa, okay. There's way more here than even I thought. They'll let their doubts limit them. This is why fighters brainwash themselves, BC. I can do it, I can do it. You have to do it. And I think that performance, you're asking like, what can that do for him? This is the proving ground.

We will see here. But I think that if some of these people, oh, he just lost via KO or TKO, wherever they called it as you're missing potentially quite a bit. I do want to say something though about the stats BC and this hurts him a little bit. Khalil Rountree 3.73 strikes landed per minute. That's slightly above average. Strikes absorb per minute 4.5. Now a lot of that is going to be driven by the fight against Poetton and how it drove it up, but at a bare minimum striking accuracy 38%. You know, if

you look at Jamal Hill stats, 7.05 landed per minute 4.02. So typically he he land, he eats more than roundtree, but he also lands significantly more. He has a much higher positive differential. He has a positive differential together. He's got a negative one for roundtree roundtree. I think it's not just about like learning something from the poet on fight. I think he's got to like step up as a fighter more broadly in this one. Even in the striking department, he fights with a certain degree

of ferocity, which I can really respect, but he's got a guy who you know is pretty accurate and pretty active. You know, he if he got a boost in that poet on respect, but he's got a guy who, you know, is pretty accurate and pretty active. You know, he, if he got a boost from that poet on fight, he has to show it here. It's just, just to win. He has to show it here. I think he's got to come out and be menacing. He's got to come out and, and like the volume can't be low. And at the same time, he's got to be able to land big shots to establish that the KO

threat is even more than you expected. I want to see that flash and confidence. But Luke, I do want to be honest, even though I don't think 35 is a death sentence in this weight class, like for all we know, Rountree could really just be coming, entering seriously like the absolute peak of his career. If you can add that experience and that confidence from the Pereira fight. It was a rough beating. I do think Hill's a better fighter. I think if Hill was coming into this fight with more either drama or

negativity, I might consider this as close as the odds tell you, but I believe in Jamal Hill here. I do. I believe he gets back to that title. I love round tree story for sure, but give me Hill by stoppage, especially if the cuts add up. But I even like, uh, Long Island Luke's decision win bet for as hipster and even borderline zesty as it is. Give me Hill here, Luke. I'm fired up. Okay. I don't,

I'm not normally a big Hill fan, but I think this is his opportunity to take a step back up and, and let them know I'm normally a big Hill fan, but I think this is his opportunity to take a step back up and let them know I'm here. I'll say this. He's beaten better guys than roundtree has just that's just a fact. I mean, you can like it or you can hate it, but it's a fact. I'll take Hill here as well. And I really hope that we're not disrespecting roundtree.

We're probably are in some kind of way. I'm sure we're missing something about this. I think Hill's precision and his boxing, and I think the two losses, it's not even like, oh, did it light a fire under him? I'm not worried about Hill's fire. I'm worried about his composure and skill development. I think in certain ways, Roundtree's a little more polished

in the striking department, but just the nature of how he competes, I feel like if Hill is smart, this is his fight to lose. If he's smart, we shall see. I do think he might have to land first blood. I do think he may have to take not just the posture in the first round Hill of showing that he's going to be the out worker that he's going to lead behind that jab and really use his boxing.

I think he also needs to put a round tree in a deficit and that if he has him in that meaning he hurts him or he cuts him. I think he'll work so much better downhill when he's in firm control and that swagger comes out. So I like the first round to not be tense where nothing happens and you're waiting for the boom. I think they're both gonna bring it but

I think Hill's jab will be that difference. Nocita, speak this with your betting eyes or just your fan eyes, who gets their hand raised? I hate to us all be going unanimous on Jamal Hill here but I do lean Jamal Hill again I said by decision it's plus 500 right now on DraftKings. I like the value on that. But for the sake sake of the show I mean Khalil all day here Khalil's winning this let's go clear I don't know but uh what is the what is the one thing that makes you want to pick Hill I just feel like he's more well

rounded and I feel like Khalil like you mentioned his four fight win streak before the Poetong fight it really wasn't over anyone that great, let's be real. Jamal Hill beating better people, he beat OSP, he beat fucking, who'd he beat? Glover, he beat, I gotta look back at his record. Tiago Santos, I mean, I know that probably hasn't aged that well. Johnny Walker, Jimmy Crewt, these aren't bad wins.

No, when you dare disparage Maheta at any point on this. Show up today, please. Khalil on the other hand, if this ever loads, you know, we got Anthony Smith, who like at this point in time, probably a shell of himself, Chris Dawkus, no longer in the UFC. Dustin Jacoby's been up and down. Carl Roberson, no longer in the UFC. Modesta Spoukouskas was cut after that loss came back. Either way, not the best streak. That's how I feel. Yeah, that matters. That matters there. That's the main event. Hey, let's go to that co-main event. Talk about a crossroads fight for, find out who's coming or going as the more decorated Raphael Fazeeb brings a three fight losing skid, including twice against Justin Gaethje into this matchup against Ignacio Bahamondis, who has let the

rhythm take him over Luke to a three fight winning streak, including that war stoppage at the sphere. So you look at the momentum of both there, your current DraftKings odds from Long Island Luke here, he has more updated ones than I do, is Faziv plus 110, Bahamondis minus 130. Luke, is Ignacio on this level because this is his opportunity to make a leap here? I don't know if Nacho is on the level or not. I think this is the fight that's gonna tell us that. I mean, you mentioned the three fight losing streak

for Fazeev, two of those, as you indicated, are to the same guy. So it's really only two guys that have beaten him. One is Gamrath, who, that was an injury in that fight. And, you know, it's hard to say much much and then the other one is Justin Gaethje which is you know a tough fucking fight like it's that's just never gonna be easy. So you know I I don't want to dismiss that you have to take that into account but I feel like it's just we got to be a little bit careful about saying

too much about it. In the case of Bob Mondes, I mean, here's the thing BC. He's definitely gotten better. I watched tape on him before today's show some little bit yesterday and I started like when his UFC run started and to see his progression, his movement has gotten better. He's added some tattoos. But more to the point, he's really aggressive. He's really on the front foot. He one thing I love about him is he loves to strike in hand and foot combinations for

three, four or five strikes in a row, which is something by the way that Fazeev does too. The issue that I run into is like he just hasn't beaten anyone on the level. Yeah. Now you could say, oh, he beat Jalen Turner, but Turner retired after that fight. Bob Mondes pulled guard and then Turner just didn't do enough to really like battle him from top position. It's a nice win in the sense that like Bob Mondes had offense everywhere, but you just, that's not anything he can do against anybody elite. Before that Manuel Torres, that's a nice win, but that guy's also not on the level of Christos Gallagos. I watched that one as well. Again, a guy who's just not on the same level. And then he lost a little bit client now by that point where two years removed and he looks

very different than he did in that fight. Yeah. But I guess I'm just trying to say BC. He hasn't, he doesn't have that signature win yet. That tells me put some respect on that. Hmm. I don't stop them. Stop that man guard and Turner retired after that fight. I'm sorry. You have to have questions about that. Do you not long on Luke settle this year?

How valuable is that win over Jalen Turner for Bahamundes? I mean I picked Fiziev in this fight and like pretty much for that reason I don't think Bahamundes had he doesn't have a top 15 win Jalen Turner was that top 15 win it got him into the rankings but once he retired he's out of the top 15 so he hasn't beaten anyone in there also Jalen Turner had lost four or three of four going into that Bahamundes fight so that was four or five. This is my area of concern. Now BC, I'm gonna say it again. Dude has electric offense.

I mean, he's out there constantly trying. Let me look up some of his numbers here if I can. Here, sorry. Yeah, boogie, woogie, woogie. Yeah, let's go. Yeah, I mean, dude, listen to these numbers. This is insane, right? So same with Jamal Hill, seven strikes landed per minute.

Dude, that's like double the average for a good UFC fighter. It's an insane level of output. Striking accuracy is a little, it's okay, it's fine. 47%, strikes of sword, 4.3. See, that's where it starts to become a problem for me. I mean, you let a guy like Faziv tee off on you that much, I just don't know how you're going to win that one. His defense is listed at 57%, but I got to tell you, I just, I don't think that accurately measures anything. Take down defense is pretty good, 85%. I don't know how much that's even going to be really relevant against a guy like Fazeev.

Fazeev to me, BC, the issue that he's up against is not that I think necessarily Ignacio is better, but I think he's more active and I think his work rate is going to be higher. And so because of that, does that open him up to a guy like Fazeve? Does it end up overwhelming a guy like Fazeve? It's hard to tell. I think early it's going to make it such that Fazeve is going to find openings. The question is over the long term of this bout what does that do and that's where I can't quite figure out because remember like you know even in the Gachey fights now the rematch was a

little bit less so but certainly in the first one he was hauling off on Gachey it was that Gachey mounted a comeback late as the fight wore on. Can Fazeev keep up that kind of a thing against a guy who is pretty durable, pretty tough young wanted this fight. This is to me much more interesting than the main event. I main event has bigger consequences in certain ways, but in terms of like an action fight that could go a lot of different directions. I love this dude. I wish it was five rounds. I don't believe it is correct. Let me double check. I don't

think that it is. I fully agree with you that you can't really lean on the Fazeve losing streak because it's not what it appears. He's still 32 years old. He's still trying to figure out the very best of himself. And oh, by the way, he's pretty close. The gamma out loss was an injury TKO. And he was really that close twice against Gaiji who is at the level where he

said I'll either get a title fight or I'm going to retire. So you certainly know that that's the top of the division here. But you mentioned that Bahamondes really wanted this fight. We have a piece of sound to prove that. Did you think about it twice about this, this fighter, as soon as you heard it, you're like, all right, let's go. We're packing our bags and we're going to Azerbaijan. You know, honestly, my manager got close to me and told me, you know, they offer you Rafael Fisir, June 21st.

I said, yes, take it. And I said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. She told me, you don't want to know where, where is it? I said, Oh yeah, tell me where it's going to be in Baku, Azerbaijan. And I said, yes, sign it. Where is Baku? Where is it? I say, Oh, yeah, tell me where it's gonna be in Baku, Azerbaijan. And I say, Yes, sign it. Where is Baku? Where is Azerbaijan? She told me, she told me, it's on the other side of the world. It's okay. If God this is the opportunity is giving me, I'm gonna take it. You know, I think he's talking to me and telling me, you know, you always look happy whenever I Thank you to fight

Vegas everything comfortable, but let me see I'm gonna take you out of your comfort zone And let's see if you're still happy and you still loving this and you know, let me tell you something I've been loving every little step of this journey. I love being here. I love, I had to come 11 days before. Everything is awesome. Like I think I'm very grateful and I feel really blessed for leaving this. Yeah, he's fired the hell up, Luke. What a big career opportunity.

This is hella great matchmaking. And do Colombians have respect for the Chileans? Are they close? Do they, are they buddies, Luke? Yeah, the peopleians have respect for the Chileans? Are they close? Are they buddies, Luke? Yeah, the people who have issues with the Chileans are the Peruvians and the Argentinians. I don't think the Colombians have an issue with them. All right, because that looks like the type of guy that if you invite him to your college party, he's taking your girlfriend home, Luke. Okay, but can he take home the biggest victory of his career? Where are you leaning on this one? Fazeva plus money? I don't hate that.

Let me close this door. I will tell you this four inch reach disadvantage for Fazeve, which to me is not disqualifying, but five eight versus six three. That is that's a lot. I don't know what that's going to mean. On the one hand, I feel like there are ways for Fazeve who's quicker to get inside. And I think that could be a real problem for for Bahamondes. On the other side, man, wouldn't you want to have what is this like a seven inch height advantage and a four inch reach? Wouldn't you want that? You know, like I can't quite figure it out, but I'm going to go with Fazeve, man. I've always felt he had a good, he had great ability. I thought he was going to break through in this weight class.

Maybe he won't. I don't know, but he's talked about going, you know, um, to featherweight. I guess we'll see how that goes, but for the time being BC, I still believe highly in his combination work. I believe in his speed. I believe in his power. This was five rounds. I might feel a little bit differently, but he's to me beaten better guys as well. I'm gonna lean for this even this one.

Yeah, I think he got a lot of experience in those Gachey fights, a lot of top end experience. And I know he's this pussy on screen besides you. That's Zoe. Okay. She just broke the door down. I tried to put up some things to keep it intact. It didn't work. She's loving on you. She's gonna scratch your fucking yeah, but she'll bite instantly for no reason just to keep me on my toes It's really it's it's I I have like a inner fear

Like if I die, you know, they say like if you died It would only take your cat something like a week to begin eating you I think she'd be there like pretty quickly, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, I just saw her butthole, so. Okay, well that's the only- You should set up an OnlyFans. Only on Morning Combat. I'm going there, Fazeve, really quickly, Nocito,

where you leaning in this one? Same thing, Fazeve at plus money. Worth noting, the line did come down. Fazeve was like minus 120, Ignacio was plus 100. Now it's kind of flip flops. Dude, I gotta say, if we're all unanimous, we're probably about to have a serious come up with these picks.

Now I am not confident in anything I've said. Wow, wow, that's interesting stuff. I kind of agree. All right, let's continue on down this card. And I'm very interested in this fight. Curtis Blades is back and he's trying to make his way to that elusive title opportunity. He welcomes Rizvan Kuniev of PFL fame,

but the 34 year old Blades who enters this, having lost two of his last three most recently, a KO in round one within the first minute against Tom Aspinall, he had some things to say about the big elephant in the heavyweight room, John Jones. I mean, we got a lot to say about John Jones in this show. He's got his own segment, but this was close enough to maybe even a Shots Fired brought to you by Cuervo. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about right there.

This Shots Fired segment is brought to you by Cuervo. Now is a good time to enjoy the tequila that invented tequila. Luke, obviously a lot of the heavyweight division is unsettled for having to wait around. Here's Curtis Blades. I know with a message here of what John Jones should be doing. Him having a belt and him refusing to fight Aspen Hall, it just halts the division. It makes it impossible for any of us to have any future

projections. How can I project when who knows who's got the real belt, who's got the undisputed belt? We need to get to the bottom of that. And I got to say, my answer is you strip them. It's not that hard. It's been a bunch of answer is you strip him. It's not that hard. It's been a bunch of times before you strip him.

And if that pisses him off, maybe I don't get him to fight. If not, he just retires, which is all right also. He's, I got to say, he's a goat. He doesn't have to fight. But if he wants to hold onto that belt, he needs to fight. Luke, we'll get into the long-term litigation here of Jones in a future segment on this show.

But as it pertains to the division and what they're meant to do, do you feel with blades here after hearing that? It's not, I mean, we'll talk about Jones in a minute, which I'm, unfortunately we have to, I can't stand it. But just in terms of like what it's causing, it's just causing, it's causing, it's just causing, it's causing all these problems downstream BC, right? We heard Holkoff complaining about it and Blades is complaining about it and Aspinall is complaining about it. I don't know if Gantz complained about it, but I'm sure he's not thrilled with the situation

either. Like it's causing all of these bottlenecks where nothing happens, nothing moves. And there's a question already about like, what does Blades get by beating Kuniev? And we'll talk about that, I'm sure. But like, it just puts everyone in this position, like, what exactly am I fighting for? Yes, you gotta win this fight, there's really no question about it. But like, where is all of this headed?

Particularly with a guy like Blades BC, who, you know, he's tasted the top, fought Inganu twice, fought Aspen all twice, and one of those was an injury or whatever. But, you know, like like where does it leave someone who needs to get wins who needs to like move the chains. You can see that all these guys are just like waiting for something to open this up so we can figure out and sort this mess. And you know,

again, I'm not saying blades is the most deserving guy in the sense that he's had multiple operative cracks at the title or cracks at top guys. That is true. But at the same time, that doesn't mean he deserves or anyone in this division deserves to just sit here in limbo. So it's worth discussing like what he gets from the Cunha fight, but it's like, it's hard to know in a world where, like, what does it do for him if there's no movement at the top? All of it is by definition. You know it's, I'm not saying it's nothing, but it's hard to call it something either, you know, it's weird.

Yeah. And then to put some respect on blades, a perennial contender, even though he's entering, having lost two of three, that one win was a knockout of Jalton Almeida in the second round. So that's, that's not nothing, Luca. He still holds a very firm and high position in this contention. So when you look at this fight against Kuniev, is it a stay busy that you teased or could could blades be in trouble here if something goes wrong? I don't, I mean, listen, blades has lost fights that I didn't think he should

have. He was, he's lost fights where he was winning, But in general, this to me looks like blades is fight to lose. Kuniev to me looks like a much worse version of blades. Like if you go watch his fight with Hennafahedin and PFL, which by the way, he washed out of PFL after popping positive for like a bunch of different performance enhancing drugs. You know, here he is in UFC, which is kind of funny. You know, he did have a nice showing on the contender series, but he's, he's he's a kind of a you know he's a sort of a standard Russian heavyweight and standard heavyweight to a degree really

Blades to me is faster has better striking has better takedowns has fought better guys has beaten better guys there's I've not seen anything on tape BC from Cuny that lets me think this is anything other than blades his fight to lose but you know again there's been times where I thought blades should have just cakewalk through a guy and he got viciously KO'd. So you have to be on you have to be on alert here. But this to me definitely seems like blades is fight to lose. I will say Cuneyev 13 two and one overall has not lost since 2015. So, uh, we're not looking at a cast off a

bum here, Luke, despite that PED history, we're looking at somebody coming up, trying to make their name in the biggest fight of their career. So I am interested to see which direction this one goes. And I'm also interested to partner back up with Cuervo for next week's UFC three 17 pregame preview. That will be on what? Thursday of fight week, Thursday of fight week, live 11 AM Eastern on YouTube from the metal arc studio, BC LT and Luke Thomas, the ice man, Chuck Mendenhall.

Yeah. The classic lineup is back with a bang and maybe even some tequila. Luke, will you take your ball hairs? Why? Yep. Wow. I mean, even I have limits of conversation on this show. Wow.

Does it matter? They, does it match these curtains over? No, this is weird. Luke. I will not, I will not entertain this, but uh, uh, what was I going to say about Chuck and to kill? Oh yeah. Will you like nurse the tequila and take two half sips? Are you going to bring it this time?

Do you think Chuck's bag is as bald as his head? Okay. That got weird again. I mean, we're going to sit sliding down the hill here. Luke. Okay. It's a, this is negative heat right now. All right So yeah, give me blades there, but I'm watching closely. You better believe that what else we got on this card Your fancy Luke a few of them, but do you know a lot of the names on here? I feel like yes for sure First of all, like, you know, obviously as I mentioned dude UFC is a global brand They can go just about anywhere and it makes sense. There are several UFC is a global brand. They can go just about anywhere and it makes sense.

There are several Azeri or Azerbaijani fighters on this card. So that should be, and by the way, Fazeev, one of them. So they're, you know, should be noted. But if you're asking me which ones I'm actually excited about just on pure fight terms, dude, it has to be Taufik Musayev versus, and I'm sure I'm saying his name wrong, Mikhtabeck Oralbae.

Long Island Luke, back me up on this one. Are you not super excited for this contest? Oralba an absolute dog in that Rebecca fighter, however you say the Polish guy's name, but more broadly to fake Messiah of, you know, a guy who I think fought well in Bellator fought well and rise in this dude is a hammer. What am I missing here? Nothing. I'm hype for this fight. I do think Oral by is the more well-rounded fighter I am riding with oral by here, but to feet Moussaif is no fucking joke, dude I think like 18 of his 22 wins by knockout This should be fun. He's from Azerbaijan as well. I don't know if you mentioned that but yeah Nazim Nazim sadikov to Long Island's or trains on Long Island, but he's also from Azerbaijan How about this one to gear ulambeanbaatar versus Azat Maxim Maxim. I think a Kazakh fighter.

We've talked about him in the past. A really good one to gear. Ulaanbaatar. You know, I don't think it's quite made it like some of the other guys he was training with at the same level. I mean, I know he's trained with Habib's team and whatnot, but he's not quite there, but he's still, uh, you know, he's no slouch, like just one. Like just one of these Russian dudes who maybe doesn't make it to the championship level but is a tough out every single time.

That fight should be a ton of fun. Ismael Nardieff taking on Junyun Park should be a banger as well. How about Oban Elliott taking on Seok-hyun Ko? Another one that should be a really fun contest. Like there's good fights up and down this card It's it's on ABC for a reason there's quality So when you know what time that main card begins Saturday afternoon, East three p.m. 3 p.m. All right All right, we live started noon noon. I'm interested. Let's go. Let's get fired up. Bring it Baku

I hope no one gets killed. All right, Luke Baku. I hope no one gets killed. All right, Luke. Topic number two is something we thought we were done talking about, but then this man keeps talking about it. So less than a week removed from Dana White on the Jim Rowe radio show saying that he was going to give John Jones two weeks, I guess, to make a decision about fighting Tom Aspinall. And then if not, the UFC would move swiftly in the to one of them to start. Is John Jones retired? Is he fighting again? I don't want to say that I that I'm retired because fighting is in my blood. Right now, I could I could really care less about fighting. I've been doing it my whole life at a very high level. And when the age comes back and if it comes back.

Then I'll do it with my whole heart. I'll do it to the best of my abilities. But right now, I look around and I realize what's true, what's real. See the way people look at me and the way I make people feel. And it's an extraordinary thing. So it's a true blessing. Now, my job is to serve that, give that to my fans. Be reachable, touchable.

Let them know what I have inside. That's who I am right now. I punched and kicked enough people. As he was like, and what I have inside is blackjack. Yeah, right. It's not a great bit. Over should pick up. No. No. All right. Hey, Luke, God, does this lead you to talk about the color of his No, would this lead you to believe that this fight's never happening?

That we should stop this bullshit. Okay. I mean, what do you know? I can't we have to talk about it because this is like You know, it's the heavyweight champion of the world saying he doesn't first of all he can't even say it correctly It's could not care less not i could if you could care less you actually have more care to give so you're actually using it incorrectly it's maybe he's maybe maybe he's tricking us all maybe that's true that's right maybe maybe maybe maybe he's actually he's pulling the uh the okey-doke i it's just we what is there left to say about any of this? I got something to say about it.

I hear Kaposa, Rebecca hitman on Twitter. I thought made a really funny, but kind of an interesting point. And he had said, it really should not be possible that moving up and wait and winning a title would in any way harm your career or the way in which you're viewed and somehow John Jones has arrived at a position where that is exactly what is either happened or happening. His stock, I mean I guess on some level he's big enough or he's always going to have a fan base BC and if he fought again I'm not sitting there saying that no one would care, that's not my point, but in terms of what he achieved at light

heavyweight versus what he did at heavyweight and the way in which he did it at heavyweight BC I don't know how you can't look at him and say like clearly from the Reyes fight on down it's been a it's been a managed decline and it's been nothing short of the highest level of unprofessionalism and frankly deeply unfair to the division unfair to this to tom aspen all unfair to the fans frankly unfair to the sport and to have this kind of attitude where he seems like you know either oblivious to it above it almost spiteful of it in a kind of like in your face way. He has somehow managed to move up in weight, win a title and has come

out looking worse as a result. That is a very, very rare thing to do. I don't think I've seen it. I got to jump in. I got to jump in and say, I would have been right there with you and I kind of was right there two days ago and there's more clips to show and there's more things he said. I unfortunately have fallen into this cynical spot where I just don't believe it. I don't believe he'd be willing the belt on him if there wasn't a deeper plan. And unfortunately in the same interview here, or he not only basically said he's going to retire and he not only walked off the interview, we can get to that clip in a second in that same interview, by the way, he gave completely contradictory comp statements about that. He's a UFC company man and they know my plan and they're going to announce

what's going to happen next and all this stuff that leads you 100% to unfortunately believe if you're as cynical on this as we are, I guess, because we talk about this every couple days on air, is I think they're holding it as the sweetener in the negotiations for the new TV deal. And it's not an original thought. We've talked about it before, but right now all the neon lights in my brain are pointing to that. We're being played. It's not even John trying to leverage for more money. All that's been decided. I don't think until they sign for that new deal or multiple deals will we see legitimate movement on when this is going to be, but I feel like they could make it right now and everybody would make it.

But what about what Dana White said this week on Jim Rome? I think he's playing into the storyline, Luke. I think it's playing into the pro wrestling of John's the one effing it up. Dude, he's like 50 days away from breaking Cain Velasquez's record for the longest heavyweight title reign, which is obviously the most absurd cherry on top of the Sunday. The UFC has gone to such lengths to enable him under the guys and hope that they can make this fight, probably to try to wipe out the stain of not having made Jones and Ghanu that the way he's acting right now is so bizarre that I can't even

like I'm not falling for it. Even if they make the fight again. It would be big It's not like oh, they're gonna make the fight. No one's gonna care. No, no, no, no, of course people would care But you don't think like even if they make it people be like well Why did we have to wait through all of that shit? Oh was for a new? Oh, they will but it's more important to them to get the right TV deal They want to triple their their you know their value they want it there They're this is a bold, ambitious move they're making during a year where there's been mostly

negative, you know, headlines about them, even though the only headline they obviously care about is the there's the financial one, and they're continuing to dominate in that. So I get I get the playing field, I get what's going on here. But I don't know how it couldn't be this. The fact that I believe that they're holding it back, waiting on the ultimate. That's the leverage. That's the leverage they have to try to ask for so much.

You will get this fight. Look at everyone's talking about it. It's the headline of every website. Every podcast is going nuts about it. They're playing us Luke and it's all for the cash and the business deal. Congratulations. One day you'll realize you played yourself. Let me ask you a question.

So what if it comes out that like none of that is true? Now where are you? I'm crazy. Obviously. No, seriously. Seriously, what if it comes out that they were not holding this for a TV deal, that they wanted to make it for November when they returned to? It wouldn't make sense.

It wouldn't make sense that they would enable him this much. But I'm asking you a question. What happens if we get to a point where they, do you see, because what Dana White said to Jim Rome was we're gonna figure out the next couple of weeks and then we'll move on quickly if we have to, which is crazy. They could have moved on quickly a long time ago,

but whatever. Let's say that that's what happens. Now what do you do? It's not a question of like, oh, the theory I had was wrong. We're all right, we're all wrong. I don't mean that. Okay.

What does it say? If what you're saying is true and it's the spot I was in two days ago, and yes, I'm going crazy over this. I'll tell you this. If they don't try to reward the fans by dropping Dana's grudge with Inganu and aggressively trying to get him back to fill in that gap because gone is not I think Aspen all gone is an interesting fight but that's not going to fill the gap here if if all the things I'm concocting in my head are false and this really is a bunch of absurd and ridiculous people I guess both scenarios they're still absurd

and ridiculous but either way Luke they're going to owe it for the goodwill for the fans no you need to get in gone who back in here and let's make Aspen all and gone to the biggest fight anyone's ever seen okay let's effing go. Can we stop with this bullshit? You won, you beat the game financially, now you're ruining our viewing experience on the regular. You're taking us on these conspiratorial rides. Just make the fucking fighter take the belt off him, all right? Tell them about it, please right yeah pussies Luke what else we got oh I had more Luke sorry I was I was ready to

keep it going right there oh here's John talking about not fighting Aspinall what do you make of like Tom Aspinall and all the things that he's been saying about I think he's awesome man. Hello John, I have nothing against you personally but I just think I'm better than you. I just know that I can beat you. I think he should go on and have a wonderful career. He's not in the position to like excite me because if I whoop his ass, I'm gonna be the next guy. There's gonna be a whole new fan base of somebody who everybody believes in. I've done this my whole adult life. I remember rampage fans years ago, we shot fans and Leo fans.

Like I literally have replayed this story so many times in my life. I can't, I cannot believe he's making this argument. It's just so fucking insane. He's playing for wrestling heel. They said, he said, you got to have that here. That part where he talks about being a company man, Luke, I guarantee they told him John Gohan and John's like, I got this. I'll handle this publicly. I'll create the smoke screen because the belt has not come off of him.

Luke, that's telling you that they're playing you. We got to wake up. Okay. I know you're not ready for my building seven theories, but this is something you need to come on. Now, listen, it's so bizarre to me, BC. I'm not, I'm not saying you're wrong. I mean, I'm skeptical that there that that's really what's happening. But like, to your point, it's so strange and so unlike everything that they've done previously that I think it would be foolish of me to be like, Oh, there's no way that they're holding it for the thing for the next TV deal or some other, some other ulterior motive, whatever it might be. That could very well be true. It's just.

I just can't. I can't. Everything he's saying is so insane to me. It's like, dude, part of the reason that the fights against Rampage or Liotto or Rashad were big and the Rashad one obviously had more to it than just that but like part of the reason those were big was because yes people didn't believe in him that is what made it interesting when he went in there and smoked him like the the fact that he resolved a dispute about who was actually the best and by the way I'll be clear like I didn't think a lot of people thought Rampage was gonna win there were some but the Rashad one was kind of interesting and certainly some other ones along the way. It's like, that's what made it interesting. That's actually

what built his legacy. And by the way, he fought all those guys that he named. And also, if he beats Tom Aspinall, who is it that a heavyweight that people will just rally around there's it's like literally like the final boss of his career. If he beat Tom Aspinall, I would truly say at that point, I mean, unless they could bring Francis back, but let's assume that Francis can't come back. If he beats Tom, BC, wouldn't you agree? It's like, okay, truly there's nothing left for him to do. Oh my God. You'd never give a vote to, in my opinion, to anybody else for the GOAT comment.

Yeah. Like, you do that and it's literally not a single fight left for him other than Ingana. And that's what the real ones do. They walk off with their hand in the air like Jordan in Utah in the 98 finals game six. I actually believe John's playing us because I believe deep inside he can't be the bad ass he was for his entire career. He's my go, right? He can't be that without actually being that in my opinion. We got one piece of video to further convince you that this is all pro wrestling theater. Let's hear it. But I guess people are waiting for

like I mean you might have to make like an official retirement thing or like I'm a company guy you know and there's a lot of things that's happening behind the scenes where my job is just sit and be still and take the take the punishment like don't you think maybe the fans are waiting for John Jones after all these years after all these goaded fucking years to be like I'm done my job with the UFC is to do what's right for the company I could easily just say I'm not fighting my job is to chill that's what I'm doing I know you're a smart guy. Do you think after the UFC, let's say you do fight again, would you ever do a fight in like dirty boxing or something? Yeah, I think I will fight again in the future. I think I will fight again. And where the future of combat sports is going,

it's just it's going to be amazing when I show up, when I pop back up. We did have that video after all, thought that was going to be the one where he walked off when he was asked about not fighting him. Luke. I will admit that those comments are interesting. He just gave you the clues right there. It's like, dude, I'm tell, I mean, can we all wake up now?

Please. He's playing his role with the company. He's gonna get paid a lot for it and then they're gonna make this fight on Netflix. It's coming, Luke. You know it Hope you're right Okay, there we go. Right now that we're all up to speed on that. Yeah What would I mean you saw the video where he walked off, right? It was like halfway into the show You also sounds like he'd been I mean, I realize he was drinking there, but it sounds like it he had had a few

Right. Yeah, it has. It has. There we go. Luke, you know that this podcast, by the way, sponsored by Total Wireless, the official wireless partner of UFC, whether you, especially when you're streaming the fight, sharing those takedown highlights, you need a wireless provider that'll keep you close to the action. Well, with Total Wireless, you're

covered by the Verizon 5G network. Yeah, how about that? So you don't have to worry about your connection being KO'd at the biggest moments. Well, with Total Wireless, you're covered by the Verizon 5G network. Yeah, how about that? So you don't have to worry about your connection being KO'd at the biggest moments. It's not something you can usually say about a wireless provider. Like Coach Latorre, they got your back, okay? They're in your corner every second of the day so you never miss a thing. They keep you covered for just 25 bucks a month.

With four lines, 25 bucks a month with four lines, 25 bucks a month with four lines without sacrificing essentials like speed with total. You get unlimited 5G data so you can stay ahead of the action and keep up with every KO. Tell him about it, Luke. Yeah, total wireless also understands you can't afford surprise blows any more than your favorite fighter can. That's why the price is guaranteed for five years, taxes and fees included. The best fighters don't make it

to the octagon alone, they have all-in support along the way and it shouldn't be any different for you. So here's what you're gonna do. Visit TotalWireless.com or visit your local Total Wireless store to learn more about how Total Wireless can be in your corner. 5G access requires a 5G capable device 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 to your website for details. Thank you very much. Let's go to topic number three. Hey, BKFC co-owner, Conor McGregor is in the news once again. Is he also agreeing to sit out until that Netflix deal becomes a reality?

I don't know, but this time Connor made infamous news, punching a clubber while in Ibiza, Spain. What if anything is there to say about the state of Connor right now? Let's first watch this footage and then we'll get LT's reaction here. You know, we're dancing, we're having a good time, we're drinking, we're throwing punches right now. I mean, Luke, it's not like you expect more from him right now. Does this even mean anything? Were there charges even filed? So I don't know what the current state of it is, but I can say this is not even his first alleged run in in Ibiza. Not even, I think in 2023 a woman claims that he got physical on a boat, again this is her

claim and that she ultimately had to jump off the boat and breaking her arm in the process. She eventually made a claim to law enforcement and later her car was firebombed in Ireland. And I believe there may have been more than just that in terms of again. Now, to be clear, no one has established any kind of connection to what happened to her car with McGregor. That's not that's not a thing that they have been able to prove in some kind of evidentiary way, but it certainly is a strange circumstance resulting after another strange circumstance. I'm just pointing out, does this look out of character for anybody at this point? I seriously have a question

for the fans, and I mean this genuinely. Why would you even want him back at this point? He'll be 37 in less than a month. He fucked the entire back half of his prime. First half he nailed, first half he nailed, but the entire back half he completely fucked up. Whatever state he's going to be in, it's going to be disappointing. He appears to be a terrible person who cannot control his own emotions. It leads to violence. God only knows what happens behind closed doors. He's been held civilly liable for sexual assault. What is it that people are hanging on to at this point?

He seems to be a bad guy in in real life and he can't even fight anymore anyway, even if he were to come back, which, by the way, he might not even do that. What is even the point of like people keep talking about like, Oh, what if he comes back? Will he come back? I'm asking now what is the point of even asking for that? I don't quite like, what's this life for? And I don't and I don't disagree with you, Luke, necessarily. I mean, you do agree that even though there's legitimate concerns about him not fighting through the broken toe when he was supposed to headline IFW last year and the fact that it appears we see him as we make the joke with the Cal Ripken streak intoxicated on camera every single time, whatever that means to whatever level.

I mean, I hear things and they ain't good, Luke. But do you believe that once the new TV deal comes around, we finally will see that cash out with the Diaz trilogy and then maybe somebody like a toporia against him? How are you gonna get two more fights out of him? Like, how was that even a thing? You're just like, I'm done completely. Yeah, I'm done.

I'm super done. I'm super done. Like here's what I'm trying to ask people. If you saw what we saw, were you there for two Oh five? Were you there that night? I was backstage interviewing, but yes, I was there. Yeah. So I was there as well.

I mean, I remember leaving that night and then seeing all the Irish out on seventh Avenue, closing down traffic. If you seen this and just now where we are, like, even if he comes back, it's going to be a cheap facsimile of whatever the highlight was. And by the way, he hasn't had a win in five years, but like that was against Donald Cerrone and I was like a weird ass one in terms of like peak Connor, like the very best version of him. It's been almost nine years.

It'll be nine years in November. You know, it's over. It's been almost nine years. It'll be nine years in November. You know, it's over. It's over. He's in the he's in the Britney Spears headlining in Las Vegas portion of his career. It's over. It's over. Even if he comes back, whatever you're going to get is going to be nothing like and he again, I don't need MMA fighters to be Boy Scouts, but it seems to me he he has difficulty even just like doing the bare minimum of obeying the law. Right? Like even the bare minimum of that he can't do. I mean, you think he could still win the presidency despite that look? There is other, you know, precedents.

I mean, it's hard to say exactly. But I just would ask MMA fans at this point, like seriously, what are you hanging on to at this point? Because there's just not much left. Even if you want to look the other way on what kind of a person he is between that and the, you know, and by the way, the two are related, but you know, if they make the Diaz fight in a stadium on live on Netflix, it'll be fricking huge. You know, you know that. But like, I'd rather focus. I get it. I get it.

It's the same thing with John. Like if they made the big fight, would people pay attention? Yes, of course they would. You know, of course. I hope he gets a stadium show when he comes back. I know he's coming back. He's coming back. Connor. Yeah, he's coming back.

I would not say he's not coming back, but I really, really question what the value is at this point. And anyone that wants to say, oh, you guys change your opinion on this all the time. Yeah, because the story gets weirder and weirder as the thing goes on. Every week there's some new detail. We were like, okay, I guess we're here now. You know what I mean? Yeah, here we go.

Hey, let's get here to topic number four. Damn, I love this fight, but there's good questions to ask about a UFC book. Aaron Pico versus Movsaar Evloyev as the co-main event for the upcoming card in Abu Dhabi. And get this, it is for five rounds. It will be the UFC debut for Pico, the former Bellator monster prospect who really didn't do much in the PFL era there, but I'm happy to see him here. So Luke, after the poor showings though of other former Bellator stars who have made the leap, i.e. Patchy Mix and Patricio Pitbull of late, do you think this is the right matchmaking in hindsight?

Should the UFC have shown more caution in who they paired Pico with for his company debut, considering the flame outs of late from the Bellator Stars, or do you think that's unrelated? This is what we do here. Let's see if he can swim in the deep end. I love this fight, five round co-main event, by the way. They're about to find out. They're about to find out who would he, dude.

So here's what I'm gonna say. I've seen a lot of people be like, oh, Pico's got his number because the presupposition is not crazy, right? Evloyv, not really a significant threat on the feet and you would just say striker versus striker in that case. Like, I should say the striking of Evloyv versus the striking of Pico, you're gonna favor Pico. I, you know, dominant puncher, heavy ground, a pound, good body shot. Like, of course you're not. But that lawyer is a physical freak, dude.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And then I think what some people are saying to themselves is, well, look at how good Pico is as a wrestler. Also true. Also true. However. Who has Pico fought and or beat that's even remotely as good as a Vloiv? Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. His last two wins were against Henry Corrales, which is a rematch, and he blew

him out of the water. And then before that Pedro Carvalho, and he blew him out of the water. In fact, both of those fights ended in the first round BC. So my point is they've rebuilt Pico. He clearly has a lot of ability and based on how frankly easy the last two wins were he is clearly due for a step up. It's not that I think the matchmaking is crazy, but what I'm asking people to do is I love Aaron Pico's game. I'm very excited. He's in the UFC, but people need to pump the brakes a little bit.

There is a lot of disrespect headed towards Mozart's way. And to me, his scrambling ability is excellent. As you mentioned, he's a physical fucking tank. And more to the point, BC, five rounds, you've just never seen Pico tested this way. How could you possibly have a significant amount of feeling about how good he can do when the fence changes the wrestling dynamics? The scrambling changes the wrestling dynamics. You just saw him go head to head with former champ, grand, down to weight class, but against Al Jemaine Sterling and he came out ahead. You know, to me, this is far and away the toughest fight of Pico's career. And if he got lost and frankly handled, that should not be surprising. At the same time, BC, maybe that would that step up that he's looking

to take. This is his breakout moment. This is why this fight is so interesting. The counter-argument to that would be the fact that where he has been the end of Bellator leading through the PFL takeover, it was disarray. He didn't have a story in an arc when if you recall, in the final days of Bellator leading through the PFL takeover, it was disarray. He didn't have a story in an arc when if you recall in the final days of Bellator, we were talking about him fighting for the title. We were talking about him fighting Pitbull. We were talking about him, you know, really having potential still, even though he was broken earlier the comeback he was on. I don't think he'll ever avoid our fear that he can be broken. We've seen it before.

He can be broken. I do think he has a renewed spirit, but this is such a leap. But at the same time, he was ready for a leap like this a couple of years ago. So let's see what that extra time did in terms of him jacking up his game and rounding it all out and building the resolve necessary if he wins this against a fighter on a hell of a streak that you know the UFC is going to really make him earn it. John Fitch style where they've already proven that against the name like that in a five

round co-main event in your debut. And remember Asakura just debuted in a title fight. Like you can take this opportunity and become everything Everyone every thought you were Heading into that Bellator debut and the ups and downs that happened after that and riding that horse with you know the ending on there Luke It's yeah. Damn. Damn, dude. What an opportunity Luke. It's now or never it is now or never Right, so let's go, let's go. Let's find the hell out, okay?

But how much do you fear that it can be broken again? No, not by this guy. Not by this guy. He can be, Pico can be beaten and even beaten thoroughly, submitted, right? Finished off like, but I just don't think right? Finished off. But I just don't think Movesar can like, you know, damage him in a way psychologically. I don't buy that. I don't think he's that kind of an opponent. Like, Toporia could do that, you know? Volk could potentially

do that. You know, some guys who could really put out a sustained beating on him could maybe do it or, you know know just jack his jaw and then change things that that's a that's a like part of the reason the most our fight is actually kind of interesting to me is all for all the reasons aforementioned but also a loss to me here for Pico it might hurt his stock obviously but psychologically it's not catastrophic it's not you know what I mean like you're not worried about okay even if he loses we're gonna lose him for good. No, not necessarily. I think he could lose this fight and then bounce back against somebody else and have a great showing.

So I'm not saying it's a no lose situation, but I'm saying they've mitigated some of the other risks that other fights could potentially get us to. And again, this is a monster step up. He has never fought anyone this good or even anyone this good in these dimensions. It's a huge test for him. Very excited for all of it. Well, maybe me saying broken was the wrong word because I wasn't saying it in a sense of trying to highlight his lack of punch resistance or lack of inner fight or will inside of him. I really just mean that his love with throwing hands is ultimately what got him in all those trouble. Outside of his debut, which was in the wrong weight class against a guy too experienced

and he got subbed, really him getting knocked out consecutively on that run in Bellator was about he would just put his hands down his chin out and get into wars Usually after he landed something big he would get too excited Since he has gone to Jackson since he has leaned as a into the wrestling as the lead the lead item everything He does with the striking is to put on the threat of that wrestling. He has been different So really the challenge I think here for him is just mentally on the composure Holding that together carrying out the game plan. You gotta believe if he's taking this fight, he has the confidence and the balls to know that he can do it. This is this kid still has an insane

amount of untapped potential. Insane. The question is, is it going to come out in this matchup loop? Get your get your popcorn, right? Let's go. Let's go. This card is better than some of the pay-per-views ahead in our way. It's essentially a free card. I honestly think for a, BC, what non-title fight that's on the calendar are you most excited for? You could very easily make the argument. By the way, the main event is Renear de Ritter, Robert Whitaker. So you could throw that one in there too. But I'm

saying between this main and co-main, these might be the best non-title fights that are currently on the calendar anywhere in the sports. Bangers. Bangers, baby. That's what I'm talking about. We do have the comparison of Pico then to now. Let's watch this. What do you got on this thing? Talking about where he started. That's the lifecycle as a team. I mean dude he really is one of the best untold stories, I think, if you really realize how highly rated he was on like, national and international levels and multiple disciplines as a team. And the fact that Bellator was paying him when he was in like, junior high or early high school to almost like a like a recruiting move and it worked. early high school to almost like a recruiting move and it worked.

Do you remember, did you go to Bellator NYC? Yes. Yes. And I remember that Okamoto called him and a big feature. He wrote that week. The biggest, the biggest hype, most hype. Biggest prospect in MMA history. Yeah. And then he lost to Zach, I forget his last name, Freeman. Very quickly. Zach, forget his last name Freeman. Yeah, very quickly. Dude, he got left for dead after that loss to who was it? Corrales or for Adam Borich of the borich loss where he was basically almost 500 at that point. And the fact that he was in belt or actually served him really usefully because that's

a good place to rebuild because they can just do very favorable matchmaking there. And then he got to the point he's at today but BC I'm gonna say this to go from like the most hype prospect to basically almost left for dead on the side of the road for him to come back and beat a guy like Movsar just beating Movsar in general would be a very high achievement right the guy is good but to do it after all he's been through and can you imagine capturing a UFC title going from this to this to now all the way to the top again would be one of the more remarkable combat sports stories you will ever see if he can do that. Now that's a huge if. He has to win this one and then the next one God only knows but I'm just saying

He gave himself an opportunity to turn in this Chapter to turn in this potential evolution and I'm so excited to see if he can do it. It would be Truly and I mean this historic it'd be a story if you can do something like this I like the way he carries himself to you know He's been through Helen back mentally and now we do have as Reg. I like the way he carries himself too. He's been through hell and back mentally and we do have as Reggie Jackson arrives the real star of the show. We do have footage of him talking about this dream. Be champion within a year.

I know that's a bold prediction but I truly feel it. Ask Freddie Roach, ask Miguel Cotto, ask Jose Ramirez, Ryan Garcia. They all know that I can box and Seporia has really, really good hands, but I don't think it's at my level if I'm just being completely honest. Oh, look, he wants, he wants smoke. He wants it.

He says he wants to be champion within a year. Well, let me tell you, you beat Mobsar and I'm not gonna, you're on your way. This can become a big story. Like if this story really becomes what it could be, UFC needs to do everything in their power to make him a star, because he has that backstory. He does.

Also, we should also say this, if Movstar goes in there and handles him, which I'm telling you would not be surprising, then you've got Patchy, Patricio, and Aaron, all the three guys who were banging the pots and pans at PFL, why they wanted to release PFL sent them on the way. I got to say PFL was going to come out looking pretty good in the end, not, not, not in the sense that like their guys go on to win,

but like did they cut bait with the right guys? Yes. That would be the case if that's where we get to. Yeah, hell yeah. And don't forget, Luke, when we did see each other at UFC two Oh five that time, uh, we saw each other backstage because you agreed to be in the Brett Okamoto voiced ESPN Sports Center feature about PVZ, the next big rising star. Oh, I do remember that. Yes.

Yep. And you and your, your, uh, your suit coat had so much dog hair on it. I was aggressively removing it out of, uh, you know, respect Luke, but that was really it. Fear. S was really it, fear. Suck my balls. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There we go with that. I miss the days I've had dog hair, BC.

I can't tell you, dude, like just the other day I was eating, I had a steak salad, and part of the steak had a little bit of gristle on it, and I was like, oh, in my mind, I was like, oh, I'll give this to Barbis. I still have those moments where I'm like, Oh, in my mind, I was like, Oh, I'll give this to Barbas. I still, I still have those, you know, moments where I'm like, Oh, Barbas would love this, you know? Yeah. All right. Peter, that King right there. He lived a good one though. Luke. Okay. He really did. He really did. Well, the end there kind of sucked,

but yeah. Yeah, that happens a lot. Hey, let's close the show with topic number five before we get into the fan segments. And that's a preview for what's going down tonight. It's PFL Wichita, Kansas. And when we're talking about the main event, we're talking about lightweight future champion, Kevin Lee. He's back here. He's gonna make the PFL debut, I believe, Luke, unless I'm missing something in the history of him. But he's a big underdog against an absolute red hot

Godzi Rabotnov who we knew him in Bellator but since coming to PFL dude he's just handling folks. Luke the question we always ask is you know what does this mean for Kevin Lee? What does Kevin Lee have to do with this? I've been listening to the Kevin Lee interviews we know he's just still just 32 years old. It sounds like if we're talking about Pico's resurrection and I know we're I've been listening to the Kevin Lee interviews. We know he's just still just 32 years old. It sounds like if we're talking about Pico's resurrection, and I know we're always gonna find nine lives for Kevin Lee, but maybe he's just one of those fighters

because hearing him talk, yeah, the GFL debacle kept him out longer than he wanted. It's almost nowhere never for him in a lot of ways, but I like the way he sounds. Does this give you reason to believe he stands a chance against Godsy who's been bringing it? No, no, I think there is no good reason why Kevin Lee should win. Now standard disclaimers, MMA is crazy. Did you see the way in BC Kevin Lee looked to be in tremendous physical condition, but you gotta

recall he's coming off of. Yes, he had a win on the regional scene over a guy who's not very good, and you know that's nice, but he's had problems with both of his knees. He nearly quit this. Well, he did quit the sport for a time and then came back and he's

filling in as you indicated basically off an injury for somebody else against a guy who's probably going to win the whole thing there is no good reason why Kevin Lee should win this there's none that isn't to say he won't but I I mean Long Island Luke could you even come up with a plausible scenario where Kevin Lee can win this one? And you know, we've been high on Kevin Lee for big parts of his career, but this is a tough assignment for us. I'll defer to BC because we've been way too much in agreeance with this and I don't think

he stands a chance. BC, please enlighten us. I mean, the reality is it's tough. Let me give you a few realities here. One, our friends at DraftKings have this bout. Kevin Lee, despite that experience, despite fighting Tony Ferguson for an interim title that one time, he is a plus 1000 underdog

to the minus 1800 favorite, Rabotnov. But at the same time, that Dagestani, 31 years old, has won 11 straight fights, dating back to an Eagle FC loss in 2020 and men particular of late first round KO of March of Casey earlier this year and late last year, he had a third round KO of Brent Primus, the belt tour veteran. And that won him the PFL lightweight tournament that year.

I mean, it's going to be hard, but at 32, he's still a physical threat Kevin Lee. He is the thing that most needs to be fixed, if you will, or rewired. Is it fixable? And to me, it's that there's just always a moment when the fight's competitive that he provides an opening and he's at a level where especially in this fight where you don't get you don't get second chances. He's sort of this You know once he gets hurt it's over Luke. What if what if he's what if he's Come back like we've never believed before is it is it still just not gonna be enough. That's where you're going I think we're just jibber jabbering to jibber jabber. I'll be amazed if he wins. There's no good reason why he should. All right.

All right. That's the semi-final matchup there, as you mentioned with Lee coming in to replace. What do you make here, Luke, about our co-main event as we go in the women's flyweight division? Liz Carmouche, who had been unbeaten in her Bellator run, where we really kind of, I think we kind of all overlooked that she could stay alive at this level.

She's 41 years old, and now she's going to take on Elora Dana in this semifinal at 125. Luke Carmouche is a gorilla. She's a legend. But should she be expected to get the win here and win this tournament championship? When you add that to her bellator Title reign and the history she made in the first UFC female title fight What are we talking about for her legacy dude her longevity is one of the most surprising things

I think I've seen it's one of the quietest stories in MMA now She did lose to Tyler Santos at last year's championship 2024, but she's already won this one. She this is the semis as you indicated. She's on the cusp of like potentially collecting yet another belt after doing, you know, she didn't get one in UFC, but to get one in belt or, you know, to be obviously doing a lot of Alaska's and then to potentially get one here. Well, what is she? Forty what? Well, how old is Liz Carmen? 41 and she's 41 and she's a minus 425 favorite.

It's insane. It's insane to me, her longevity. Dude, she fought Ronda Rousey in the first women's fight in UFC history. Now here she is. She made history to a degree in Bellator. Certainly did it made a strong account of herself. And now here she is in PFL at 41

and she's a minus 400 favorite. Yes, I understand there's an argument that cannot be denied, which is that, you know, what is the level of talent she's up against? Okay, fair enough. But dude, even with all of that, Liz Carmouche has quietly had one of the more remarkable careers in women's MMA,

particularly for someone who never won a UFC title BC. And she did it like Cyborg with just a level of consistency over the course of time. And I'm not putting her on the same level as Cyborg. What I'm saying for her to even be in these places is, I mean, it's not the biggest story in MMA. We put it as our fifth story of the day, but I don't know. I actually kind of find it very admirable.

I find that people who focus on stories of, I'm only going to pay attention to UFC champions, dude, you miss so much. You miss less than you used to, certainly with the way the industry has become concentrated. But there are still really interesting stories, really interesting fighters doing kind of interesting things. And I would, on the women's side, I would absolutely put Liz Carmouche in that conversation. Yeah, totally. And I wish that interview we did with her that time was seen by more because it was such a good one.

Unfortunately, we were in the basement of like a Motel 6 in like New London, Connecticut. But when we were at that Bellator Media Day thing, and that's the famous episode, Luke, when I spit out the water, when you made some joke, you know what I'm talking about. Yeah, were you talking about someone's ball back again? No, we had that casting couch in that basement bedroom, or hotel room, or motel room. Did you make some joke about banging her or something?

No, I'm telling you, we had a fantastic interview about her pioneering ways. Oh, I remember the GIF where you spit up the water when I said something. I don't remember. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what happened, Luke. But, uh, that w uh, I don't think that'll ever see the light of day again. Anyway.

Yeah. She's a, she's an inspiration in a lot of ways and she's still at a very high level. I think it would say something huge about her. If she wins this, you also have Brent Primus at 40, the, the finalist last year. He's been written off a few times. Look, he's still in the semifinals. He's going to take on in tonight's card in Wichita, Alfie Davis. You following his story or yeah, whatever? No, I don't care about that one. The one that's more interesting to me is Mansour Barnowie taking on Archie Colgan. Jack Slack has sort of talked about Mansour Barnowie, one of the first guys who really introduced Giggler Sweep knee lever into getting off of bottom half guard, but he's got some

allegations around him. I believe that there are sexual assault allegations. I'm not sure about that, but he's got some kind of allegations against him. So hilarious that PFL is putting him into this tournament, but that's not the interesting part. The interesting part is Archie Colgan. Do you know a lot about Archie Colgan? I do not 29 years of age. I think he wrestled at University of Wyoming. He's undefeated now. He hasn't fought since the Bellator Champion

Series car with PFL in September of 2024. He's been off for awhile, but he beat Timo Guti, who was a UFC veteran. He beat him. Emmanuel Sanchez, another good fighter. He beat him undefeatedchez, another good fighter. He beat him undefeated.

He can do a lot. It's an interesting matchup between kind of wrestler versus grappler sort of thing. But nevertheless, a very interesting prospect and one worth paying attention to. He might be able to start making a name for himself with this. Yeah. All winners of the tournament tonight, the semi-final matchups will fight in the August 15th PFL finals in Charlotte, North Carolina. So we'll see how this plays out. Uh, I don't know. I don't know what to say

about where the PFL is. We've been over a million times that just, they had a couple good things happen lately. Don will then hang out with Russell brand in the center of the cage, whatever. Can you believe it? It's wild, but hey, if Kevin Lee pulls this upset, that's a fun story to watch. I'm gonna, I'm tuning in. Kevin Lee pulling the upset would do nothing but delight me. And by the way, for all the times that I wanna give PFL,

it's not, people are like, why is PFL starting at 11 PM on a Thursday? Wait, are they again? No, no. I was going to say it's 8 PM main card, 5 30 PM prelim card. So much freaking better. So much better. Hey, by the way, for folks understanding why they do that, it's a ESPN call.

ESPN does that to them. So that's the issue. Yeah. There we go. Do you think they have a future on ESPN? You don't know, right? They don't have a future at all. All right, there we go.

Those are our five topics for this Friday afternoon. A reminder that to reach this show, morningcombatatgmail.com to populate our Friday Dead Wrong and Fan Subsegments. You can also complain or just say, hi hi Mikey will be on the other end of it deal with your own as you will unfortunately you know that's true he did get a bunch of pipes like two years ago please send all of your dick pics okay uh that's what you uh yeah there you go we're gonna start off with dead wrong we only have one of them this week wow no dead wrongs last week just one this week take that daz mahalo up week. Just one this week. Take that, Daz. Mahalo

up that as, all right? You know what I'm saying? Give them mother. Here we go. This one's called Dead Wrong. Dead Wrong. This one's from Davis. He says on the Buckley Usman MK preview at the one hour, 10 minute Mark. Brian referred to dirty boxing too, as Mozzie dolls promotion when it is in fact Mike Perry's promotion. John Jones is as well. Uh, the Cowell brothers play a big role. So it's the same family ultimately.

And Mozzie dolls there, but yes, I take the L I got that one dead wrong. Luke can dirty boxing make a boxing make a dent in this world that like BKFC thrives in? Maybe. I'm not gonna dismiss it. I don't, you know, any kind of promotional growth is hard in 2025. It's possible.

I like their rule set. I think a lot of people also like their rule set. Let's see. And bony's there. Bony's at every one, Luke. There he is. Yeah, great. Yeah, there you go. Hey, our other segment is when you send us in pictures of Saul's wife in our shirts, right? And other weird stuff like artwork and really weird videos. It gets weird, but we love it. This one's called fans submissions. You've got mail viewers. Yeah. Fans submissions really Luke. Some people, it's a polarizing

segment, but I would say it's given us some of our greatest moments of joy in the history. I like it. Yeah. There you go. Oh, this one's from Steve. He says my fiance and I went to the Wu Tang concert in Fort Worth on Friday the 13th and Luke, they be repping MK. I'm fired up for this. Yes. White guys in their 30s and 40s is the core Wu Tang fan base at this point. Heck yeah. I'm pretty sure Jed Mishu saw Wu Tang like last week. See what I mean? That adds up. Do what I mean. There we go, there we go.

Shout out to Steve and his significant other. Thank you, we love this. That was our first one. The second one, look, do you remember Antoine from Alaska who sends, you remember this guy, right? They say for six, eight, he stood, you know that tall, drink water who would just rail chicks. That guy goes for different jobs all over the country

and lives adventures. Right now he's in Key West and he says, hey, donks haven't turned a submission in a while. Did my first Muay Thai tournament outside of Miami and took home gold. I got one KO, one decision, and the last guy quit. Need to get some of the new merch for the next one. So he's training out of Apex MMA in Key Largo. He started training again, the day they opened November 1 2024. Shout out you guys can totally do a podcast out here in the keys. I'll scrounge some funds for sure. Love you guys. It's Antoine. That's our guy right there. Look.

Hell yeah, that's kind of this freak can drink out of the shower. That's amazing. There we go. There we go. All six, eight of them there from France with love and also from Alaska. It's Antoine. Uh, let's go to brand Tendo 64. Look, you love this guy. He's great. Indeed. Yeah. He says, Hey, donks, I hope you enjoy this cheeky nineties reference. The new merch is cool. I bought the shirt one size down in true MK donk tradition. Thank you for all you do.

MK has been what I listen to at the gym for the past, like, six years. Every Monday and Friday, I just pound sand in silence on Wednesdays now. Fuck me, I guess. Just kidding. I feel I've almost died a few times cracking up of the jokes you two tell while I'm doing squats.

Cheers. It's Brentendo64. And he says, PS, thanks for introducing me to the movie Beautiful Girls. Hell yeah, it's awesome and really makes me so creepy uncle under a slightly, oh, he sees his creepy uncle under a slightly different lens now. What does he have for us here? It's like people only do things that their favorite donks will get paid. And that's just really sad. Dude, fantastic stuff right there.

Shout out to that guy. All right. Play that dream. That was great. Yeah. Yeah. I enjoy that. Shout out to brand Tendo.

Uh, let's hear from me. I'll mix Marlo who says it would be fun to watch BC get Luke's reaction to the following images. Here we go. First, Luke, this is how it started. Everyone's dream is that we bang. And here's how it's going, Luke. How rude as you continue to mouth breathe on me.

And then they call this one the yeah and here is the duality of man. Oh, that's scary. That is very scary. That's pretty. These are great by the way wishful thinking. And UFC 420 Luke, the commode

killer Thomas versus Brian the Whippet Warrior Campbell and here is the good old days of MK. Damn great stuff. Oh, Barbita's. Those are, dude, normally AI art, I want to just burn to the ground, but that was actually pretty cool. Yeah, shout out to that fella known as Meow Mix Mario.

We appreciate that. Alan W. Will not be outdone, supporter of many a podcast. We love this guy. He stays a mystery though, Luke, like Sarah McLaughlin in the 90s. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Like Lilith torn in orange.

Yeah. You come out and I, yeah. All right. Hey, Luke. He's, he's got a couple of things. First, a donk fighter. Oh wow. Donk fighter too.

Okay. I mean, this is incredible. I mean, can I get this on a t-shirt? Please? Holy crap. Why am I? My Street Fighter knowledge is waned over the years. I'm Ryu and you're Ken It appears to be yes Very good, you're probably racist in this video game. Oh my god. That's so good. That's really good He also has one called the adventures of Donkman and cretinan. Same Donk time, same Donk channel on Mondays and Wednesdays. Wow. They couldn't have given you pants. That

wow. Two bell ends pounding combat sports journalism into submission. Luke, this is next level. Good. Wow. I gotta say the fan subs today are coming in hot. Oh my goodness. Morning combat at gmail.com and you can contact the show right there at that email address. More this episode of morning combat has been brought to you by Draft Kings. You know about DraftKings, the crown is yours. And Luke, we saw some AIR. I have been working on something in my art journey.

I don't know if I'm done yet, but I wanna get your thoughts, all right? You ready for this? Here we go. the at the moment really. I've never seen anything clearer than you were not sober when this was made. Okay, all right, there we go. Is that a compliment or not, Luke? I don't know.

I think in this case, it's a compliment, yes. Okay, okay, there we go. There's some real art. People think, I mean, and of course, it is in certain cases quite true, but if you haven't done enough drugs, you don't realize that there are certain drugs in certain contexts that expand your consciousness, not limited. And that seems to be like maybe what

has happened here. All right. Yeah. Maybe I'm just brilliant, Luke. You know, it's possible. It's no, I know you, you're not, but that was maybe somewhat inspired. I'll give you that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, was it it art are we art is art art art Yeah, that's that's all that's all you can do a thank you for tuning into this episode of morning combat We'll be back Monday from home, but don't forget the reason why is because we're going to the studio Thursday of next week It's international fight week. It's UFC 317. Hey, it's Ilya to poria We will be that Thursday live 11 a.m. Eastern brought to you by Cuervo at UFC 317 pregame preview from morning combat.

So get fired up BCLT, the Iceman Chuck Mindenhall. Who is that that BKFC Ice Wars thing? That's right on brand for him. You know, now he just needs to go on like an ice raid, you know, and really just continue the maybe smoke some ice to where, you know, at that point that was big. You ever watched dog the bounty hunter back in the day, everybody was on the ice on the island. Isn't ice just meth? Yeah. Yeah. I think it's like supercharged meth or at least that's the way I, you know, when I watch him, how good do you think smoking methods? Um, like how awesome is the meth high? I won't, you know, I wouldn't say everyone's the any of that at home. Luke, do you have any weekend plans that you're willing to share publicly? Working like a bitch. Yeah, you are. Yeah, you are. Although I think the the National Barbecue Festival

is in downtown DC. I might check that out. Would you say that fans can expect UFC Baku content on your YouTube channel? Yes, there'll be some. I'm not sure if I'm gonna do a live watch along or not. Depends on what my wife is up to, but otherwise, yes. Long Island Luke, no seat of the main card minute. Can fans be expecting you? Oh yeah, you're live tonight. You think this motherfucker is taking any time out of his schedule to hang out with this girl?

I'm live in like four hours. You could just hang out in here until then, you know? I'll be helping you. Oh yeah, let's go. Wow, Long Island Luke, the man. That's the guy right there Okay, I hope you guys are gonna have a great time as well You can grab MK emerge to look good in the summertime here at morning combat dot shop

It's the tail end of this month's design. It's your last chance. Okay by the end July We got a new one coming your way. skits and bits still available let's go get it going right there morning combat dot shop LT it's time to say goodbye suck my balls yeah oh yeah for LT this is BC and the LIL take care of yourselves we love you. Peace. And yeah, that's it. We're gone.

Thank you. Thank you very much. This is an iHeart podcast.