MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - UFC Fight Night: Makhachev-Green | Bellator 275 | Taylor-Catterall | Ep. 269

Episode Date: February 25, 2022

On episode 269 of Morning Kombat Luke and Brian start off the weekend preview by talking UFC Fight Night: Makhachev vs. Green. What are Bobby Green's keys to victory? Can Islam Makhachev secure a title shot with a win? Next up the guys talk Bellator 275. What does Austin Vanderford need to do to dethrone Gegard Mousasi? The boys preview Chris Colbert vs. Hector Luis Garcia and Josh Taylor vs. Jack Catterall. They close out the show with some quick hitters and dead wrong. (8:00) - UFC Fight Night: Makhachev vs. Green (33:00) - Bellator 275 (50:00) - Chris Colbert vs. Hector Luis Garcia (58:00) - Josh Taylor vs. Jack Catterall (62:30) - Quick Hitters (78:00) - Dead Wrong Morning Kombat’ is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Bullhorn and wherever else you listen to podcasts.    For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit:morning kombat.store   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Reveley, reveley, dogs. Look at us now, tip to tip. This is our life. This is our passion. That's the spirit we bring to this show. I'm Luke Thomas. I'm Brian Campbell. This is Morning Combat. Oh, yeah.

We've changed a lot and then some, some. But know that we have always been down, down. This is the best combat sports show of all time. We're from Omaha. Period. It is Morning Combat and it is Friday, February 25th, 2022. My name is Brian Campbell, that American alpha, that BBC with the BDE.

How's your back, BDE? American alpha. Bracingly daring to be unemployed soon. That's Luke Thomas, my co-host and partner. I'm hearing an echo of myself in my ear, Maniche. BC, if I ever didn't thank you, you, then just let me do it now. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, S.A. Martinez over there. All the ones and twos, bro.

It's just so much better together what we do here, Luke, okay? You know what I'm saying? I love being here. I really do. I love being here. I wish they had cameras. I mean, I know that we're not filming the doc this week, but we film a doc a lot. We've got cameras following us. Jake's right there. Jake's on that camera right there. But I wish that they had it this week when you're like, you know, BC, I didn't think it would go over me vaping on camera, but would you like to freebase in the studio today?

You just want to take it to the next level. Actually, I think the quote from BC was, I'll freebase if I have to. I think that was the quote. MK, always pushing boundaries. We do obviously have a fantastic show for you today. Set the weekend straight for the combat that is to come. We hit you up with storylines earlier,

but we are now going to make picks, make them previews for all things. Bellator's return Saturday night on Showtime. UFC fight night card with a very interesting, lightweight main event. A lot of boxing to talk about. Showtime Championship Boxing returns with Chris Primetime Colbert on this Saturday night. And I think if you haven't taken that plunge to do the old 30 days free of showtime to see what everybody's talking about, now would be that time.

You want Championship Boxing? You want Bellator this afternoon? Yeah, afternoon card out of Dublin, Ireland. 1 p.m. Eastern is the start on the Showtime and Bellator social channels, YouTube. But 4 p.m. Eastern, only on Showtime, is the start of all things Musassi-Vanderford. We're going to get into our final breakdown of that fight shortly, but the whole point is 30 days free. Showtime.com. You get all that. You get BC and Deadwood, South Dakota for Showbox march 11th be there or be square uh take that plunge luke people

don't like that it takes us 10 11 minutes of of of touching ourselves reading our promos talking about all the things we win and then get into the show but i kind of like to do a whole show like that if you wouldn't mind wait not like that or like that exactly like that that's the show but I kind of like to do a whole show like that if you wouldn't mind wait not like that or like that exactly like that that's the show I specialize in I like to call my style shit show chic you have a situation that actually that was you five minutes ago when you're like hold on sound guy can we take this off I it's going to be disgusting I need to just get this over with this is a fact that I can no longer deny. Yes, yes.

I will say those oddly timed stains on your face. It's semen, okay? All right, all right. We've established that. We have established that. Luke, I will say also, we did a three-day sojourn here to the new studio, which doesn't have a nickname, right? It's not the bomb shelter.

It's not the Orchids of Combat. But it is fantastic from the web screen poster additions to the new vinyl behind me. Where's Jake? Jake, can we zoom in on the origin, the heartbeat of how I got here, this Naugatuck, Connecticut tribute wall we have going on? Is that a picture from Chernobyl? No, that's the old Naugatuck chemical where my Uncle Walt worked. Ah, okay. They've since torn it down.

More or less like Chernobyl, just shittier. But Luke, our new studio rules, and we shot a lot of shit in this three-day period. So coming soon is our producers talking in our ear, and also Luke. They just don't talk enough. That's really the problem. Resume review, they'll be seeing

in the next few days. Pregame preview, like men do. You know what I'm saying? Yep. How about another high court that we put in the old can? We did. Would you like it here or in the can?

That's where we put it, Luke, okay? A little high court action. I'm going to plead the fifth on that. All right. These jokes are stupid. This is really a bad, bad bit. Bad open. Is this you trying to, like, swim your way through this sea of terrible junk? Are you surprised, though, at my hard five just not, you know, not really being all that money in the end?

All right. We can do the show now. All right. We'll talk later when you walk me to my truck, Luke, okay? All right. I like how you style the show open. I can't. Let's just say you're a big fan of subreddits. Let's just say that, right?

The Morning Combat Reddit. Yes, yes, of course. When they post every four months, it's on fire. That's it though, you don't want me to sell anything else? Just as a reminder, morningcombat at gmail.com to email the show for Friday's Dead Wrongs, Wednesday's Fan Subs, and like and subscribe and all that good stuff.

And we gotta keep saying it, BC's on Showtime for Showbox, which is not this weekend, but Showtime Championship Boxing is back. Folks, Showtime.com, 30-day free trial. You do not have to take our word for it. You can try it. If you like it, keep going. Oh, shit, dude.

Can we shout out MK subscriber W. Kamau Bell? Yeah. Dude, you told me to watch his Bill. I did. His We Need to Have a Conversation About Bill Cosby series. It's unbelievable. It's on Showtime, the app right now. Dude, that shit's real good. So W. Kamau Bell is a comedian. You may have seen him. He had a show on, I think he still

has a show on CNN for some time. He's on comedy. He had a show on FX years ago. He now has this multi-part documentary series on Bill Cosby and like, yeah, he was a really great comedian. Yeah, he was a monster. How do we reconcile this?

He's an MK fan. And I've seen him out like just on regular Twitter videos, got nothing to do with the show or anything about MMA, wearing MK gear. So shouts to W. Kamau Bell for being a real one. You think Bill Cosby's an MK fan? I certainly hope not. And we already have the French Bill Cosby anyway.

We don't need the American one. That is David A. from France. All right, sportspodcastawards.com also would be a site you should hit if you want this duo, this tandem right here, to win another piece of hardware. Our actual World MMA Award is over there right now. But we're up against Ariel. We're up against Chris Jericho. There's some legitimate competition.

But you can go there, vote for us for best combat sports podcast of the past year. And your reward will probably be a live show in Vegas this July. So it's up to you, all right? That's where my Campbell's Rambles comes to an end. Campbell's Rambles. That's a good one. And, yeah, look at that. Look at that little.

Could you be pinker? You look like one of the. You know how you can get, like, really nice hot dogs at a grocery store, but then you got them shitty ones at the bottom? Yo, you're like the back of the pack, shitty ass hot dogs. I got a lot of work to do on myself, would be the best way to say it, okay? Oh, I mean, could I look, I mean, Jesus Christ. You look extra Armenian today, which, no, I mean that as a compliment.

You look like tanned and strong. I was going over this. I don't look as bald with this. I am balding, but I don't look as bald with the lighting on this studio here. So I like that. Keep that so I don't look fucking horrible. You guys, when we go to like Tampa, they're like, hey, can we put a light right where Luke is balding and show that shit to everybody? Yeah, I remember Doc number three where Jake's like, how do I make their skin look as jaundiced and just, you know, yeah. Hey, were we fat in doc three? I know I was. Yeah, I'm pretty

fat right now, but I've turned it around, Luke. That's right. It's up to us as a people to start making some change. Let's go to PICS previews, the final speak ahead of this weekend's fight. Dude, was that English? It really was. To the people that understand, the people that get it, those that know that they know. The English speakers did not get that. I am one of them. All right, all right. We'll start out our preview with a look at UFC Fight Night,

which goes down this weekend, Las Vegas from the old Apex. And it's a replacement main event in the lightweight division, but one we've been talking about all week. Benil Darius, he's out. In an opportunistic 10-day, two-week notice, whatever it was, his name is Bobby Green at 35 years old, and he's threatening to climb this lightweight contention ladder and really potentially leap the pack as he's going all in against nine-fight winning streak, unbeaten for a while, looking to be all the goods at 155,

and that is Islam Mahachev. Trained, mentored by Habib, by his late father, Abdulmanap, and really, Luke, I've been going on YouTube, UFC Fight Pass last night, excuse me, and rewatching the Saryukian win, and you're just like, you know, man. He's good.

I mean, all things Bobby Green, late career turnaround storyline aside, it might not matter who's walking through that door. Dariush, Tony Ferguson, by the way, who put out a video sometime earlier in the week talking about how Makachev striking has evolved and how it aids his wrestling and sort of walking through how he approaches fights. It's a really good video. I strongly recommend it. So go check that out. Shouts to Jack Slack. But dude, he's so solid. He's so solid. I realize that the one loss that he has in the UFC is a function of making mistakes, but those kinds of situations, he just doesn't really put himself in anymore. He's not reaching for punches in the UFC is a function of making mistakes, but those kinds of situations, he just doesn't really put himself in anymore. He's not reaching for punches in the same way that he used to. And more to the point, you know, Habib, it worked for him.

There's always, like, there's no right way or wrong way. Obviously, there are best practices, but, you know, there can be such variety in how guys fight. Habib has a certain, like, get-after-it intensity all the time, where you just know, like, an attack is imminent. You just are not quite sure exactly when. Makachev has some of that. He just slows it down, so he takes his time, he's patient. It makes him less of a dynamic fighting presence in the way that Habib was, relative to that. But dude,

you just watch the guy work. All the decisions he makes, they all are in line with everything else he's trying to do. The pieces of his game fit into the other parts. And he's got such a lead on his competitors in the grappling and sort of submission department. Obviously, getting the fight to the floor with the throws and the trips. That trip he hit on Saryukin was unbelievable, the foot sweep. And just how he dealt with a physical force who was... Always on him. Saryukin doesn't stop.

And for a guy like Makachev to slow him down and defeat him is big, dude. He is so talented. I love Bobby Green. You love Bobby Green. Dude, who doesn't like Bobby Green? He is maybe one of the more likable fighters in the UFC. It's an uphill climb for him. And this two-fight win streak for Bobby Green seems to have him in a different mental, physical, game-planning IQ. I mean, it seems to be coming together for Green.

Did you see Ali Abdelaziz's imitation of Bobby Green? No. Listen, Ali got killed for it on social media because you're mocking a fighter you're not supposed to. First of all, I would say everyone lighten up, number one. Well, you know, to be fair, Ali was a fighter. Yeah, was, and certainly still trains and stuff,

but that's not the point. The point was, it was actually, I'm not going to say it was good, but it wasn't bad. It was actually halfway decent. He kind of got killed for it, but I just want to say I didn't think it was all that bad. So you could argue, Luke, that Mahachev and the original plan, of course, was the Darius fight, really is sort of already locked up number one contendership. Could he lose it here with a loss? Of course.

But he is next, we think, in the way history seems to be setting us up here, for the winner of Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje to see Islam going there. Luke, changing from Darius to Green, from a betting odds standpoint, from a style matchup, it seems to aid the idea that, you know, there's nowhere else to go for Islam but to the title after this.

Minus 900 favorite in this fight. You rarely see that in UFC. That's pretty rare. Yeah, and you know, we didn't do a resume review on him per se, but it'd be interesting to go back fight by fight over this nine fight win streak and talk about the evolution. He's not Habib, but he's got a lot of those qualities and the spirit of him and Habib in the corner. If he's not fully Habib, what elements of him are so fricking Habib like that this is why he is where he is? Understanding the progression on the ground about positioning,

how to make it move a certain direction when it doesn't, how to stay on top, his dominant forms of control where he's wrestling with his legs in addition to doing, obviously, forward progression with his upper body and whatnot. He just has a lot of clear... He doesn't just have a lot of skills. That's one thing that he has. He understands what is the order in which I would like to apply these how do

I progress an attack if the attack goes sideways how do I readapt to it and maintain control again in the stand-up how do I create punches and striking scenarios that aid my wrestling or by itself I can keep myself safe I can land I cannot be overwhelmed I can take my time that's the that's a big key with Islam locket ship taking his time. He doesn't rush into stuff. But he's got a sick motor on top of that. That's the other part.

Like, he's never really getting taxed, is he? People can't out-wrestle him. And they can make him circle a little bit, but then he can stop that whenever he wants to. So ultimately what ends up happening is he just puts the fight, he makes his opponents fight on his terms, which they've got some skills in, but they're playing catch-up. But if you're fighting on your terms, dude, you're going to have cardio for days. Ben Aspinall talks about it. He could wrestle as long as he needed to, but when his striking went up there, it was just taxing in a way he just wasn't used to. You fight at Islam's pace

when Islam is in charge. It's not like you're going to get run over in 60 seconds, but it's a tough way to fight. On Habib's initial rise, even in becoming champion, he still was weaponizing his wrestling and the cardio to set up his offense, which on the ground would be smashing. But the fully matured Habib, especially against Conor McGregor, really started to step into his striking and use it to sort of, I mean, he was trying to knock Conor the hell out. There's no question there. I feel like at the basis, Islam is more confident in his striking base and his total set. Do you see him getting to a point yet where he

can lead with that if he needs to? Lead with it? That's interesting. I always feel like, okay, always, I feel like for now and for the foreseeable future, if you're Islam and you haven't really introduced a substantial takedown threat, it's not really going to aid your striking. Your striking by itself at that point becomes significantly different. We made this point when talking about Tyron Woodley trying to fight Jake Paul in boxing. It was obviously a different scenario. But you have these football teams where they're great at running the ball, and then the running the ball sets up the pass downfield.

What happens if you can't run the ball? The pass isn't really there anymore. So in that sense, no, but just pay attention to these numbers. This tells the story, right? So strikes landed per minute, 2.2, which is not high. It's pretty low, actually. Strikes absorbed per minute, BC, 0.79. That might be the lowest I've ever seen for a main event level fighter. Striking defense, 70%. 70% takedown defense, 88%. Takedown accuracy, 66%. Dude, this guy's defense and offense is extremely efficient what does that tell you he makes good decisions yes about his setups when to go when to exit how to execute so this fight is really for maha chev just surviving

advance against green you're going to get that title shot anyway but it's a close-up for his brand though just the same where if you hadn't been following his rise, now he's in the main event, fight night in Las Vegas, take a notice of it. The Bobby Green story has largely overtaken any of that this week, and maybe rightfully so. He's going to be a plus 600 underdog, Green. And we've talked this week about how he's going to be a massive underdog any day of the week, any situation against Mahachev. It's really a bad style matchup for Green. It's a bad style matchup for most people. Most people. Most people, to be very fair. I've argued that if you're at least

Bobby Green, the 10-day short notice turnaround mixed with your spirit of like, I'm going for it. I mean, the quotes this week, have you seen the Bobby Green quotes? He is. It's been like, I'm that G. I'm that motherfucker. And I do believe in that to a degree, meaning he's going to put his best foot forward. This is probably the best case scenario if you're Bobby Green, to do it on short notice, to try to come in and surprise. But he doesn't seem scared in the buildup about spending most of this fight on the back. He's used words like, well, I've got a wrestling game too.

He does. Is there a scenario, Luke? Bobby Green does not have bad wrestling. He does not have bad wrestling. Okay, so is there a scenario in which Bobby Green can attempt to bring this fight to closer terms by keeping it on the feet longer than we expect it to be? The one issue with Bobby is that as good as he is, and he's quite good, he has a good ground game, he has good submissions when he wants to, he can play the levels. This is not a thing in that sense

that's beyond his capabilities, but he does like the razzle dazzle, does he not? He likes the move and evade style of striking. He likes to talk that shit while he's landing the strikes. Yeah, but what I mean to say is when you're that movement guy like this, I just feel like you're going to leave a lot of openings against a guy like Makachev. He is going to look at that and find all kinds of scenarios when you're off balance. We talked about Adesanya. One of the ways you're able to get under him and get the takedowns is don't get him against the fence. Wait till he's out in the open and wait

until he has moved in some kind of way to off balance himself and then go. And you're seeing a lot more success because guys are doing that. Now, obviously, his takedown defense has gotten even better, so it's not the easiest way in anymore. But that would be the recommendation. Wait till their weight is in front of them or behind them or to the side, and then go. Bobby Green does a lot of that. So what I would say is, what I want to see from Bobby Green is, if he wants to open up later, good. In part because we know Makhachev doesn't rush things. So you need to be really alert and focused, but you don't have to rush it. What I want to see is, you know what Bobby Green has a very good weapon of that I think is going to be hugely valuable here?

If he goes to it. The jab. Bobby Green's got a great jab. Oh, he can box. Is he from Philly? He's got a Philly air to him. I don't think so. He does have a Philly. It's funny you mentioned that. He does have a Philly air to him. The dude can box. I think if you start putting, and I don't mean just a touch jab. You've got to touch up Islam Makhachev. You've got to get him out of his comfort zone. You've got to make him rethink things. A good, stiff jab that he can pump, I think can really at least set up some good

opportunities for him. Well, if you're Bobby Green, people got on me this week and said, you know, I said, look, it's a risk. It's a risk meaning you can lose handily to Islam and look really bad. And I know there's an intent, there's a built-in sort of reward of doing something that the company would want, which is save this main event by being opportunistic. But I still think it's a risk to go in there because even if the company for Bobby, even if the company is going to give you on the back end, a makeup reward, you know, somewhat biggish fight. And I know the narrative

after his last win against Hawk Pross was just 35. He may have earned his first main event. Well, he got it. But I think there's still a risk on your standing. Bobby Green's stock right now is hot. It's only two wins in a row, but it's teasing that Masvidal-like turnaround. If you lose and you lose badly, it does take a lot of air out of that balloon. So on the flip side, certainly it's the right advantageous move at the right time because Bobby Green has a chance to really cut that line. But I don't think you look past it. It's a risk too, Luke. I mean, he could just get handled in there in a way that, okay, you come back and you give him another fight, but he has a chance to cut the line completely or I think kind of get kicked back pretty far with a lot of the bad luck.

I hadn't thought too much about this. Now that you bring it up, it's an interesting point. I hadn't thought of him as having that Jorge Masvidal potential, but you're right, maybe he actually does. And I am being unfair or at least not opening up myself. I mean, do I think he's going to go out there and headline pay-per-views and win fighter of the year? No. But it's the whole idea of figuring it all out later in your career. Derek Brunson of late, correct? Right. Exactly right. There's limits to it, but there's actually a real improvement that can be had as well. I would say this. Clearly, a win would be astronomically important for his career.

I mean, it would be a huge... He has nothing in his win column like a win that over Makhachev would represent. There's nothing there. Would it be title shot automatically? Because I see some people going, what if Bobby Green upsets Makhachev and then they give him Conor? That'd be awesome. That'd be great.

I'll just say this, though. And by the way, and then the idea was that they give him Connor. Mahachev comes back and wins the title anyway. And then it's Connor versus Mahachev with, you know, good old Habib in the corner and the whole storyline all over again. Kill me. We got dollies. We got it all. I would just say that.

We got dollies, we got it all. I think a win is hugely transformative for Bobby. It's big for either guy because obviously Islam is pretty close to the title, so it's big for either guy. I would say a loss, while probably bad for Bobby, I would minimize it a little bit and say, dude, people really like him. They're not going to stop liking him because he got beat by a Russian terminator. Right, but his window of not just being pretty damn good, of maybe being great, is small.

And I would advise him to cash all those chips in and go all in on this fight, and he did it. But the risk is... I just can't agree with you that a fight here, if he loses, is ruinous. I don't think it's ruinous. Stop sitting on your Aeroplan points and get big savings so you can be somewhere you actually want to be, like on a beach. Right now, you can save up to 25% in Aeroplan points when you book a trip to one of 180-plus Air Canada destinations worldwide.

So stop sitting on your next trip and start saving on one. Don't miss out. Your chance to save in points ends February 23rd. Book at aircanada.com. Conditions apply. It's short notice. I think it closes the door on him being a title contender, like going that route, okay? It might.

Maybe he gets a main event, maybe he's still a fun fight guy, and him getting the head tattoo at some point in his life and making that decision, it tells you what he's about. He's about that life. So the whole idea here is you laid out some wrinkles in Bobby Green's game that maybe could help him either stay around or find a way. But at the basis, he's a guy who lets his hands go and we're thinking he's going to have to hurt Mahachev. He's going to have to do something. Have you seen Mahachev compromised, hurt, damaged by strikers up to this point? You're talking about his defensive

statistics are so incredible and he's got that ability to shut down your offense just by taking you down have we see him though because remember with habib it was like nobody touched him except for maybe michael johnson in that first round once or twice but you know what he responded well yeah he did uh he obviously has the adriano martinez loss where he got knocked out overreaching for something and then martinez cracked him but he he is he a different fighter now he is a completely so have we I don't think we've seen him in any any any real trouble so the fights since then were Chris Wade who's a good wrestler Nick Lentz same kind of thing Gleason Tebow we know the story Cajun Johnson who he got fit Cajun Johnson got fed to this guy uh then you then where you picked up Armin Saryukian Davi

Hamos Drew Dover Tiago Moises, and Dan Hooker. Has he been in any real trouble? You can't criticize that run because when you add Hooker on top of that, it's just like… And he knocked down Davi Hamos striking. You know what I mean? Like, this guy can kind of get it done. Dude, like, some of his strengths are greater than others, obviously. But now when you assess Makachev, you're like, okay, is he fully well-rounded?

No. But what is he bad at? Nothing. Nothing, dude. Like, he is a fucking hammer. He is who we think he is. Yeah, he is. I think so.

So if that's the case, Luke, you've got to like him. But do you like him really big? Last three wins, all by finish, all by sub. I think Bobby Green's in trouble. I love Bobby Green. How's Bobby Green's defensive grappling in Jiu-Jitsu? It is stern, but he scrambles. That's one thing people don't know.

He can scramble. This is another thing about Bobby that I do think might help him against an opponent who's patient. Assuming he doesn't get completely overwhelmed. Bobby is resilient. He is mentally resilient. It's the fourth round. I mean, I'm not sure how many five-round fights he has, but you've seen him in fights late. He doesn't quit, dude. He has even more intensity late than he does early. So I will say if you're Makachev, you know, an opponent's will is something that's hard to quantify.

But his will to win is, I think, a big reason, A, why people like him, because they can see that manifest itself win or lose. And B, I think it's something here that Makachev should not lose sight of. You've got an opponent who will not be mentally deterred by what you do. Like, for example, Joe Rogan one time made a really great point. This was when Drew Fickett fought, who was the original dentist? Josh Neer. And Joe Rogan made a point. He's like, dude, Josh Neer is not going

to quit. You can break his arm. You can knock out all his teeth. It doesn't matter. What you have to do is you have to shut the lights off. You have to literally choke him unconscious or punch him unconscious. He will not stop otherwise. Bobby Green has that kind of will. I like that. I like that a lot. So that's Mahachev by decision. I think he's going to solve them out, actually, yeah. Probably like a Kimura. I have to say, even with the odds where they are, it's a very compelling storyline with the whole situation. Because, like, if you're a UFC right now, Luke,

like, Khabib became a pay-per-view star. I mean, did it help having a rivalry with the most famous guy in the history of the sport and then beating him down and having a post-fight riot? Yes, all of the above. Yes, it did. But Habib obviously hits different parts of the global sort of expansion UFC's trying to do. I mean, for Muslims, he's a hero, Luke. This is the next Habib, whether he's good enough or not, or whether he just carves out his own career. Habib's in his corner. We know that story. Is thefc thinking we can sell this hammer

so it's funny did you see habib get on islam's ass about not doing media no he was mad at him for it he gave him some tough love he basically told him because makachev was complaining of all the media he had to do and habib goes then just lose just lose you won't have to worry about this anymore just lose dude who beats him Habib's a beast, dude. He's a beast. I love that, man. It's tough love, but you know what I love about it? It's like his broken English. You understand everything he's saying, and you get the exact, like, his tonality tells you everything you need to know,

even though he's not Shakespeare in English language. Just lose. Just lose. Your problems will be solved. Just lose. Yo, bitch. Yo, he was basically telling him, like, just be tough about it, dude. Just be tougher than you are being about it.

And you got, dude, I'll say this. Makachev will never be the kind of dynamic personality in his own way that Habib is. But with Habib in your corner, like, bigging you up and helping you and guiding you. Dude, I wonder if Conor can stay relevant enough to become, like, you know that's what Does he want to get beat down by two Dagestanis? That's not the actual question. stay relevant enough to become, like, you know that's what. Does he want to get beat down by two Dagestanis? That's not the actual question. It's does he want to keep making massive pay-per-views and continue this Habib versus Conor war?

Would the UFC want to keep, you know, printing that money, Luke? Speaking of hanging through, no matter what, as we talk about Bobby Green, Luke, your earpiece has been trying to run away since this show started. You've been persevering. Sounds good to me usually they wrap that behind the ear like you you caught a hanger i think luke okay from rounders remember caught a hanger you caught a hangover oh yeah yeah all right uh luke we don't love a lot of this card to be fair misha serkanov in this co-main event though is a minus 120 favorite against Wellington Turman plus 100. Round two for Surkinov in this middleweight move. Not a desperate move, but a recreative effect. Luke, who comes out on top in this one? I don't really know, dude. I just,

I don't know what's up with Misha Surkinov. I don't necessarily have like a belief that Wellington Turman is a future title contender, which I did at one point for Misha Surkinov. I don't necessarily have, like, a belief that Wellington Turman is a future title contender, which I did at one point for Misha Surkinov. But Misha Surkinov has fallen so far. And honestly, Wellington Turman might win, dude. I hate to say this because I do think that certain aspects of the game, he is quite good. But he seems to just walk into a lot of trouble. Wellington Turman might pull the upset here.

He might pull the okie-doke. All right. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not moved coming in. Maybe I'm back in. I would have liked to have seen the real juicy fight on this main card bumped up to the co-main. Yeah.

Saryukian, Joel Alvarez fight. So Saryukian will be a minus 220 favorite, and we talked a lot about him on Wednesday, and boy has he just been a hammer since that competitive loss to Islam Ah Islam Makhachev competitive yes that was his UFC debut bro and but like debut was Islam Makhachev but even though he loses the decision they're like he showed that he's a future force and he's lived up to that and you've talked up Joel Alvarez at plus 180 as a certainly live dog this is a very important fight for this division and for the future maybe more important with Saryukian's chops and growing reputation that god darn if we add him into the mix moving soon how tough of a test is Alvarez

going to be Armenians built different number one uh dude I've been telling saying that about Edmund for I mean he wasn't wrong you gotta move your head bro right but no in all seriousness Saryukian I do think will contend for a title. This is what makes this fight interesting. Alvarez cannot wrestle like Saryukian, not even close. Saryukian is, by a mile, a much better wrestler. However, here's what gets interesting. Is he an Armenian from Russia?

I know he lives in Russia now. I don't exactly know. Okay, what is interesting, though? What is interesting is how he has to approach the fight. So he goes like this. Joel Alvarez can't wrestle like Saryukin, but he's tall and lanky. He's got a height differential as well. In fact, I can pull it up here and I can tell you exactly how much taller he is. And certainly rangier. 6'3 versus 5'7. Whenever you see height differentials like that, always pay attention to the fighter who's taller and what kind of knees they have. For example, Dan Hooker is the king of this. Firing knees up the middle where you can't

see it. You're expecting a jab or a cross or whatever. And then it comes right underneath and you get drilled. Joel Alvarez has that capability generally. And the reason why it's relevant is one, Saryukian has been told he needs to finish to really, like UFC matchmakers told him, like you need to finish for you to really raise your stock. Yes're obviously quite good but you got up you got to put these guys away and he did in his last one they don't f around the matchmaker they don't tell you the truth well the thing is when you have a guy that good you've got to be like dude you got around this corner you have so much potential the point I'm trying to make here is if he shoots from too far out one the takedown will get stuffed or he could get kneed right in the grill two he is shorter he is going

to be threatening the level change to get inside. He has to strike his way to get inside. I do wonder what that knees and height differential, that semi-clinch position, might mean for Saryukin. So this is a test Saryukin can and probably will pass. But some of the unique dangers that a guy like Joel Alvarez provides, he is a very gifted striker, a strong finisher, great strikes, great subs when he wants them. It's an interesting test for Saryukin. Should pass it, but it's real, real clever matchmaking. I like that these two, meaning main event, Mahachev, feature about on this main card, Saryukin. I like that they're on the same card

because... Alvarez, five-inch reach advantage. That which will be interesting because we do imagine a scenario where that rematch happens again maybe at the title level i wonder do you think uh you know because bobby green says all these motherfuckers in the top 10 turned it down i just had the balls to take it was there a ufc thought at all you think to sub saryukian in a rematch there against uh not yet not yet they know they have the goods with him yeah but he needs some time okay you need some time makachev needed time, too. I mean, his second fight, he got roasted by Adriano Martinez. He needed time, too.

Luke, early on, you said you worked for Glory. You were the sideline guy, right? I sucked at that job. Jesus Christ. That was terrible. I'd love to see if tapes could resurface. No, the tapes don't look that bad. But I know.

Okay. I know in my heart, like, I was not good at that. Okay. Maybe the tapes will make you look like Tommy Lee. Where I'm driving a boat with my hog. Luke, how much taurine would you say is in that can? Not enough. Yeah, yeah, right.

Luke, Ignacio Baja Mondes, let the rhythm take you over, Baja Mons. He's Chilean. Yeah, but I, that was like. Enrique Iglesias is, is he Spanish? You always identify people by where they're from. I'm not. Right, because here's what you do. Here's what you do. You assume that people who have a sort of a vaguely Hispanic last name are from Mexico and or South America, right? That's just what your general assumption is. I don't think like that. You do you do? Enrique Iglesias by Lamos meaning we dance is from Spain That's why he has that lisp when he goes, you know this year or whatever the fuck they say

But do you care about any other fight on this card or are you gonna be teaching Spanish history moving forward Luke? Canto hit that's an incontro hit. Yes. Si quieres chuparme mis pelotas, están aquí. It's a famous song. Right next to No Se Habla de Bruno. I wonder if Daddy Yankee covered that one. Dude, my wife loves Daddy Yankee. Did he play for the Yankees? I ever tell you this joke that one time?

What did she say? My wife couldn't say, there was this woman she worked with. Some bitch. No, no, no. Her name was Jackie, and my wife couldn't say her name correctly with this word. She couldn't say Jackie's yogurt. She would always say Yaki's yogurt.

She would always be like, I don't know where Jackie's yogurt is, or Yaki's yogurt. On this card. No, Faraz Ziyam has done some good work. I don't know where Jackie's yogurt is. Or Jackie's yogurt. On this card. No. Faraz Ziam has done some good work. He's worth paying attention to.

Armin Petrosian, another Armenian, opening the main card is worth paying attention to. The other fights themselves don't, like, super wow me. Why doesn't Sarrikan nickname himself Hammer? So it's Armin Hammer Sarukyan. He gave himself some nickname. Or the fans gave him. No, he did a contest in Russia. His manager told me this. He did a contest in Russia, and I think the fans voted on his nickname.

And it ended up like the number one winner was like, The Armenian was the nickname. I'm like, dude, that's not a good nickname. No, that's not. And I told his manager, we're going to ignore that. We're not going to do that. I wouldn't be the American, but I am the American Alpha, Luke.

Are you, though? Are you? I got this far, right? How's your back, Alpha? All right. Luke, do you care about Terrence McKinney as a minus 110 favorite against Fares Ziam? Yeah, that's the one I mentioned earlier. Now who's not listening?

Yes, that is a good fight. Terrence McKinney is a good striker who I think that's the guy that had the quick knockout in his debut. He did. He did. And Firas Zayam has done some good work, but this is a bit of a different test for him, so I like it, yeah. Okay. Hey, the second topic, Luke, is a fight card that will be starting

not too long from now, and it goes Bellator 275 from Dublin, Ireland. So you got to expect that this arena is going to be a rocket. And it's a title fight atop it. Undercard, by the way, begins 1 p.m. Eastern time on the Bellator and Showtime Sports YouTube channels. Main card today, 4 p.m. Eastern, only on Showtime. But Luke, middleweight title atop.

The legend, Gegard Mousasi. The legend. The damn legend at 36. Will defend his middleweight title against unbeaten 11-0 Austin Vanderford. 31 years old. Mr. Van Zandt, all that stuff. But the more he has climbed this ladder to contention at the Bellator 185-pound division, the more he's shown that, God, respect the name.

I mean, give him his own identity. It's more than just really the most absurd Adam's apple tat that a grown man could have come up with. Oh, I've seen worse than that. You really? Oh yeah. What circles of life? Dude, I've seen people that put mouths on their Adam's apple, like demonic mouths. I've seen people put murder scenes on their, I mean, the eye is certainly unusual and it stands out, but it gets much, much worse. The whole point of this is the guy can fight Luke, but can he fight on this level against such a battle-tested veteran? Four-fight winning streak, won eight of his last nine. Sure, Gegard Mousasi, the former Strikeforce champion, never really had the massive giant moment,

but he's been a champion and elite fighter at almost every stop. And Luke, Luke, minus 235. Gegard Mousasi is your favorite. Austin Vanderford, plus 190. Is it as simple as saying this? If Vanderford cannot control the terms of this fight by being a monster takedown threat, you're not outstriking Mousasi for five rounds. You're just not doing it. No, he can't win without the takedown threat, you're not out striking Musashi for five rounds. You're just not doing it.

No, he can't win without the takedown. Like, I believe that, I'll just put it out there, I believe Vanderford's probably going to win. Whoa, I believe Vanderford's probably going to win. Yeah. So you're telling me that he's going to take that guy down. He is. Isn't Musashi, and I know John Salter's a different opponent,

but he dominated him in top position. He sure did. Dude, Musashi is, you know he is isn't Musashi and I know John Salter's a different opponent but he dominated him in top position sure did dude Musashi is you know what's funny about Musashi we should mention this in all seriousness here is one problem with the UFC Hall of Fame being kind of like the like the de facto Hall of Fame it's the Zufa Hall of Fame get it right is that what it is more or less right well in a sense I mean they've thrown us they've they've thrown some bones at our Davey and the other guy you know here's what I mean he obviously Musashi's record is completely distinguished and his UFC run was quite good but it wasn't by itself Hall of Fame worthy in fact if you combined his UFC and pride run it's extremely good but it by itself is not Hall of Fame worthy yet dude if you

had a MMA Hall of Fame this guy's a first ballot on it like I don't know how you can even have a debate about that so I do think that gets lost a first ballot on it. Like, I don't know how you can even have a debate about that. So I do think that gets lost a little bit. He won't be remembered, I think, the way he probably should be. That being said, Vanderford, to me, is a significantly better wrestler and a more physical presence in that sense than Gegard Mousasi. But Mousasi's level of experience is something Vanderford could not possibly imitate if his life depended on it.

Let's look at how Vanderford got here. Okay. Has he beaten the names that could prepare him? Because the video looks great. And Vanderford, when he's going downhill and he's got you in complete control, he will pull on your gas tank, but he will grind you out. He's got good ground to pound. He's aggressive. Do we ever see Mousasi get handled like that, though?

He's had all kinds of wrestling problems, sure, over the course of the years, yeah. He's had all kinds. Wrestling problems to get taken down or wrestling problems to be physically handled by somebody else? I don't know that Austin Vandivert is going to physically handle him, but Lovato Jr. certainly thoroughly out-wrestled him. It was not in that sense. Majority decision lost, though, because you could have made a case for Musassi in that one, right? I don't think you could have. I thought that was a pretty clean sweep to me on Lovato's case. But yes, here's the point. Musassi has so many skills and understands when to go in around, when to press the gas, when to press the brake, when to pursue opportunities. Because of all his experience, he doesn't get intimidated. He's fought guys in defense of Mousasi, like Vanderford, before. Guys who were much better than Vanderford,

quite frankly, before. Here's the thing that I just don't think we're talking about enough. I don't think this is the same Mousasi from four years ago. He is close to 40. I'm not sure exactly. 36. 36. But he's been in the game all along. He's been fighting since he was 17. I just don't think he's looked bad in that four-fight win streak. I think there's been troubling things. The Shulmenko fight in his Bellator debut was troubling. He got away with one there. He should have lost that fight. That was troubling. And I know that he lost the title

to Rafael Lovato, as you mentioned, but a close decision. I don't know. He gave it to Rory. He gave it to Lima, Luke. He gave it to a 170-pounder who was kind of past it by the time they got there, yeah. But the point of the argument, we had a little bit of this on Wednesday,

was that I didn't see him compromised, even though he had advantages in fights maybe that he should have won. So Austin Vandivert, 11-0, and we remember that he did get a win in the Dana White Contender Series early in his career, didn't get the contract. But, Luke, he's got six fights under the Bellator banner, 6-0. But the names, Fabian Edwards, Vinicius De Jesus, Grachik Bazinian, those are the last three, Luke. It's not, you know, in respect to anybody, none of those guys are going to have a resume like Agard has. But none of those guys are as physically tough. Hang on.

Sorry. I was just trying to show something. Aggressive danger porn. I just came out. I mean, just, you know, like where somebody's committing a crime. Sorry about that. Sorry about that. I mean, I know there might be consent involved in setting up the premise of it, but there's a crime.

I mean, it's a crime scene, Luke. You know what I'm saying? Listen, there's nothing wrong with Brazzers, okay? But that wasn't Brazzers. Luke, you know, Musashi, these guys ain't Musashi. No. And I can't see him just being content on the bottom taking some ground and pound. He'll move, but dude, Vandiver's ground and pound accounts for that.

He does a lot of work on top control where he's in someone's guard. But if they turtle, he's got the risk rides and everything else. He can lay a hammer. So let me tell you this. This is going to go into some championship rounds. I think that's right, yes. And I think Musashi's going to stop him late. I think he's going to show him what's up.

Okay. And it's... Is the crowd going to cheer for him? Who are the Irish going to side with here? Actually, it's kind of an interesting question. Are they... Would you... Now, look, they love their own.

There's no question. Oh yeah, but there's no Irish guy. Would you think that they are seasoned enough historian type fans that when they see freaking Gegard Bousassi, you know what I'm saying? I think so. Here's the only X factor is. What PVZ wears in the corner? I hadn't thought of it quite so explicitly.

What I meant to say was she will be in his corner, and she is well-liked, I think, by the Irish fans. I don't know that, but I'm assuming she's well-liked by the Irish fans. It will be interesting to see. They might go for Mousasi a little bit more. Mousasi is pretty damn well-rounded. Is there a submission threat for him? If Vanderford is able to consistently take him down?

Can Musashi set those traps? If you're consistently getting taken down, then I don't know about that. But what I would say is if he can get one or two, but you can't hold him down, and they count, but the Whitaker takedowns, maybe a little bit more than that, but not a whole lot more. What I would say is then you're really open for submission because then the guys get much more desperate about really pursuing it, over-pursuing a takedown, really kind of taking a little bit of risk to muscle their way through it. If I'm Musashi, it's not stop, I mean, yes, if he stops the takedown, then obviously Vandervoort has, I don't think, any realistic path to victory.

But even if he can't fully stop it, if he can get him to make some mistakes in pursuit of it, that would be very, that would be very advantageous. So Mousasi does have a good guard. He's got good submissions. He's got good ground and pound, too, if he can reverse and get on top, which is possible as well. Look, you've gone wire to wire backing the belief that this is a fight Austin Vandervoort

could win. We're going to find out in a couple hours, but you think it's a decision? Vandervoort's motor kind of surprises us in a way that Yaroslav Vamasov did, Vadim Nemkov, where you're like, okay, I've seen a little bit from them. They look pretty good. Oh, shit, they just made that leap. I think Vandervoort is going to beat him early and survive a late onslaught. That's what I think. I think Mousasi's going to not only stop him, I think he's going to whip his ass. I think he's going to have his

way with him. This should be very interesting. That's why they fight, BC, because we don't know. Should be very interesting. Real quickly, Luke, Mousasi in the interviews this week was asked, you know, look, you're 36, you're having this, I don't want to call it a renaissance or resurgence because he hasn't gone anywhere, but we are giving him, rightfully so, sort of some victory lap love and just sort of say, man, this guy's been there all along. They said, how would you compete today with the best in the world in your division? That's Adesanya, that's Robert Whitaker. Luke, he said, which I expect him to say 100%, I like my chances against both. How would you realistically like the 36-year-old Mousasi's chances if tomorrow he was fighting Israel Adesanya? I think both those guys handle him.

Handle him? Yeah, they handle him. Robert Whitaker handles him and Izzy does too. Izzy would not get taken down. He would get back up. Why are we so far apart on our belief of Mousasi's current stock? Because it's, oh, and his current stock. We both agree about the ultimate resume and what it shows.

He is a, I mean. And by the way, if Vandiver just turns out to be very good and he beats him, it just might happen that way. Yeah. But right now, before we know what happens in that fight, dude, Musashi has won 9 of 10, Luke. He hasn't really faltered. 9 of 10 against 2.

He barely scraped by against Machida. I mean, he got maybe even a little bit lucky barely scraped by he deserved to lose the Shlomenko fight so we're talking about nine and one it was the Machida problem lack of lack of that was not a very both guys didn't have a ton of offense was really the issue because he got kind of slowed down by it and the Salter win is nice but Lima kind of came on late Lima sort of shat the bed in that one we don't know where he is and the Machida he barely got by McDonald he barely well he beat the crap out of McDonald, but that was a welterweight coming up. And then Rafael Corvalho, that was a really good win. I'll give

him that was a really good win. He finished them all. He polished them off inside of one. That's a super solid win. It's not that there's not some good wins and some good names, but there's just enough troubling things for me in accumulation that I think this young guy who, yes, is kind of in over his head in terms of, you know, the scale of this and the kind of opponent. He can't match anything Musashi has done, not anytime soon. But I just feel like he's got a lot of just, you know, young youth invincibility. His particular style, I think, is going to be trouble for Musashi, at least in parts of this fight.

And for that reason, I kind of think he might get it done. And it's not that I'm sitting here, you know, saying Musashi would beat either one. I predicted, by the way, Lovato was going to beat Musashi and I got mocked by all my callers on my radio show. Boy, there was a lot of apologies that Monday. Let me tell you. You have spent a great deal of your life standing firm on unpopular opinions and being proven right

in the end. That's the story of my motherfucking life, dude. That's the story of my motherfucking life. If only people didn't have to hate you first to then respect you. Did I tell you about the one time I got clowned in seventh grade? This is a true story. You want to tell you?

Do you know what all the colors are, the actual colors? Roy G. Biv, red, orange, yellow? Of course. I am decently educated. So what happens when you combine all of the colors? What does it turn to? A rainbow. No, it turns to white, basically, when you've combined all of the colors.

Black is technically not a color in that sense. It's the absence of light, right? We call this black and it's something sort of approximating it but it's not true black which would be no color. This is a philosophy? No. I made that point to my seventh grade teacher and she was like, no, you're wrong. So I brought in my brother's physics textbook where it literally said that in it, okay?

That's where I got it from. I was reading his textbook. And she goes. You must have been insufferable at that age. So I remember the teacher being like, how do you reconcile this? And I remember she was saying, she was like, it's true that black is the absence of light, but I'm going to call it a color. And the class was like, oh, suck a dick, Luke. You don't know shit.

Yeah. Dude, they John Jones the shit out of you. They're super John Jones. Yeah. It only so happens that I remember my first year in college, I had dick, Luke. You don't know shit. Yeah. Dude, they John Jones the shit out of you. They're super John Jones. It only so happens that I remember my first year in college, I had a physics class. And I went and I was like, just to make sure. Am I right about this? He's like, your teacher didn't know anything. So did you consider the RIP Kobe tell me how my ass tastes type receipt to put back on it?

So no. That teacher ended up getting fired later. And this is a true story for fucking a student. So she, I feel like I kind of won out in that life you know the student probably well I don't know I'm here banging banging that banging that skank I don't know but I mean come on I mean come on you know you know so so this has been this said this is like I'm not trying to introduce unpopular ideas for the fun of it it's like dude this is just what naturally occurs to me like it's my I'm being

sure to you as like your professional partner I'm telling you I don't do it for effect it just seems like I keep wandering into territory revelation everyone's like dude the fucking sky is fucking green I'm not no I'm to be an asshole or be received as one it's just natural motherfucking natural BC you're naughty by nature not like this Tori it's natural yeah dude you did true or false we had a health intervention earlier today we're like Luke you lost a ton of weight you're doing great but your add-ons I know they're not great I what what the hell are you I'm getting a little lazy I'm getting a little like yo let me get that

vape let me get that let me get that vape. Let me get that. Let me get that ping energy drink. And then I am a sophisticated gentleman. And then you're like, yo, BC, real talk between two friends. If you don't start building your core, you're going to have back issues. But you're like, hold on. Let me get this vape pen out. I'm a complete hypocrite. Yeah.

Yes. Look at me. I'm a complete hypocrite. Yeah. Yes. Look at me. I'm 14. I'm a model of hell. I can't wait to play that at his funeral. That would be great. Yeah. Wow.

Famous last words. Luke, you care at all about this co-main event that you would have to assume. No, I don't care. He's going to be the ticket seller in that area. Yes. Well, North Ireland, it's all Irish affair, but a Northern Ireland versus a Republic of Ireland fighter. And that's probably a little bit of rivalry, but they're all kind of Irish.

It's going to be are you having you? Are you trying to, you know? Yeah, they want you to remove the vape because it's low class, bro. That's such a low team move right there. Yeah. Right. Shout out to Matt Ryle. Where is we should we should do some T testing. See where we're actually at. Yo, I would...

I'm probably pathetically low. Yo, I would love to do that. We should do it. I have to do it anyway. So, coming up soon. Do you think we can get the audience to predict our tea levels? No. What would you do when you found out I was more man than you? You will never be more man than me. So that's not possible.

How's your back? You know, not possible. How's your back? You know, some people... How's your back? The people that know, they know I hide a lot of my man inside of me. Okay. Okay, all right. I probably hide a lot of men inside of me, yeah.

That's okay. That's okay. So, Luke, Sinead Cavanaugh is going to take on Leah McCourt in this all-Ireland duel. Yes. Remember when all those people were DMing me? They're like, yo, you've got to tell Morning Combat fans the truth. That Sinead Kavanaugh is going to knock Cyborg out.

I know. They were completely convinced she was going to handle Cyborg. I'm like, fellas, no. All right. A lot of Irish people on this card, Luke, including a guy you talked up big on CBS Sports HQ. Big Irish guy. Zabit's brother. Kassan Magomed Sharapov will be a minus 1,250 favorite

against poor Jose Sanchez, plus 750. This is the Bellator debut for Zabit's brother, correct? No, he already fought one time. One time in Bellator. How good does he look? He looks fucking awesome. He looks like the real deal Holyfield. Obviously, it's very early, and we can't say with any degree of certainty where it's all going to go.

But the early scouting report on this Bubba is that he can, like, all these hammers out of Dagestan. What can they do? Everything. They can throw. They can strike. They can do ground and pound. They can submit from the back. They have good guards when they need it.

Like, he can do it all. So, at what level can he do it all? That remains to be seen. But I think poor Jose Sanchez is in for a rough one. Yeah, yeah. Do you think the Scorpions rocked? They kind of built their second half. Yeah, but I'm thinking more like that resurgence after the Berlin Wall came down. They were like winds of change. It was like.

Wasn't that Guns N' Roses? A little patience. Of change. And then it's like take me. It's the 30th anniversary of Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power. The Scorpions are some hoes. Sorry. Hate to tell you that.

In their day. Actually, I don't hate to tell you that. In their day, the Scorpions, they could rock, though, in their day. I know they got very, like, political. Dude, I to tell you that. In their day though. Actually, I don't hate to tell you that. In their day, the Scorpion, they could rock though in their day. I know they got very like, I was never into that. I was never into shit like that. I just never thought it was cool. It just never moved me ever. The more I get to know you, the more I understand why you are the way you are.

Child abuse? All right, Luke. Anything else on this Bellator card you are. Child abuse? All right, Luke. Anything else on this Bellator card you want to talk about? The Kassan Mega Man Sharapov one is obviously the biggest one. That's the one I want you to pay attention to. There are some other good fights on this card, but that dude looks like he's got title future written all over him. All right, showtime, busy weekend,

not just Bellator main card today, 4 p.m. Eastern. How about Saturday night, 10 p.m. Eastern? From Vegas. From the Cosmopolitan in Vegas. We got a triple header, a very good triple header for Showtime Championship Boxing. Of course, it's a new main event, but you're still going to get some prime time on Showtime. When Chris Colbert originally scheduled to face Roger Gutierrez for a 130-pound title, Gutierrez got COVID and pulled out.

We've got basically kind of a number one contender fight here as Hector Luis Garcia slides in last minute. Garcia, unbeaten 30-year-old from the Dominican Republic, a southpaw, former Olympian, can do some things. This is a very interesting test. But Luke, we played some Chris Colbert sound earlier this week for my interview that people can catch on youtube.com slash morningcombat. We know, Luke, that he'll catch on youtube.com slash morning combat.

We know Luke that he'll dye the hair. He'll even do it for charity causes. The celebrities are coming out. You saw the video with Deion Sanders, with Tracy Morgan. I mean, people are getting woke to the idea that this kid from Brooklyn can fight. From what you've seen on tape, what jumps out to you for the Chris Colbert experience?

It's so interesting when you see young fighters who again can he no fighter is perfect so he's not that but when you watch him on tape i want you to pay attention to something he does things that senior fighters do one he's got all the flash and all that stuff what i mean to say is in late fights you'll see adjustments really start appearing around the fourth to sixth round so now he begins to take away things that the other guy did and introduce new elements that the other guy typically has no answer for he's got some pop I wouldn't call him a one-punch knockout threat but he's got some pop he's athletic he knows how to get in how to get out he can switch stance when he needs to at times dude the guy looks like he's the goods man now

he's only 16 I think 16 fights into his career and he's getting a late notice opponent which could be tricky depending on how things go but I'm just telling you there are guys there are a couple of young 20 year old something's in boxing I'm not gonna put him on the level of boots in us I'm not gonna say that but what I am gonna say is when you see a guy in their 20s and they're slicksters but they're thinkers at the same time and they're good athletes and they're good self promoters dude you got a very, very special fighter you've got to take care of. And he's this flashy, and he can talk. Yeah, he seems to be able to do it all.

So you obviously want to see him when he's climbing up the ladder against different styles and combinations and different types of fighters. He seems pretty damn well-rounded and dynamic in everything you just said, Luke. Beating King Tug in his last fight, silver medalist in the absolutely and and you know and against King Tug as you're seeing some highlights here I mean he took some shots showing us even though King Tug was coming up in weight showing us that he's a warrior and if you hear him talk for five seconds you'll believe that the Brooklyn born Colbert uh has been through some stuff and and is here to deliver Luke he's a monster betting favorite minus 3,000 because of the late notice situation. But Garcia's tricky. He's got that amateur pedigree coming from the Dominican. He's

trained by, and by the way, when I say coming from the Dominican, he represented the DR in the 2016 Olympics at Bantamweight. And now he's trained by Ismael Salas as a pro, who is just a Cuban, you know, master in terms of- Can I ask you real quickly about him? Is he somewhat, insiders know him. Yes. Is he somewhat unheralded in terms of... Can I ask you real quickly about him? Is he somewhat... Insiders know him. Yes. Is he somewhat unheralded in terms of the better coaches in boxing? Great way to say it. He's finally starting to get that respect because he's grabbing... He's becoming the trainer to go to,

especially for, you know, the Hispanic-based fighters in and around Cuba who know of his reputation. And he's a little guy. He wears those platform shoes when he holds the other. But, dude, he's a smart guy. He's been with so many big names. He can't be in person with Garcia due to the last-minute notice of this fight, but it shows you that if Garcia's going to work with a trainer like that, he's to be taken seriously. Big underdog, obviously, given what Colbert can bring.

I wonder, though, if Garcia can make this a pure boxing match, a chess match, that will force Colbert to really show us everything he's got. Yeah, it could be an interesting one. We'll see how Colbert does. Just one more time to pay attention to. If you watch this fight, watch how he fights the first six rounds. This is only going to be a ten fight, so how about this? Ten round fight, excuse me.

Watch how he fights the first four to five rounds. Compare that to the last five. You will see a very different fight, assuming that he does what we think he can. Colbert says he still wants Gutierrez next for the title if he beats Garcia on Saturday night. But look, he really wants Gary Russell Jr., the former longtime featherweight champion who has been tempting to move up in weight and try to take on big fights to close out his career. That'd be a heck of a 130-pound showdown. We also know, obviously, that if Colbert keeps winning, you can enter him into the lightweight sweepstakes, which has a lot more names, big stars, big young guys that he could face. Should Colbert win this fight? Yes, but I want to see him challenged. I want to

see him be spectacular. He's becoming a must-watch guy. This is his Showtime main event debut. Check that out. But Luke, of this triple header, Jerwin Encahas is going to fight Fernando Martinez for his world title in the first one that's just going to be exciting in the way it is but this co-main event has had us opening our eyes and paying attention Gary Russell Jr.'s brother Gary Antoine Russell stepping up like he's ready to get into that title picture consider this a step up when he takes on former world champion Victor Postol, who three losses have come against the three best fighters this division has had in the past decade, Terrence Crawford, Josh Taylor, Jose Ramirez. He was very competitive with Ramirez and Taylor,

which shows that even in his late 30s, the Ukrainian technically sound, but he'll stand in there and fight, and he's a great counterpuncher. We're finally going to find out exactly who Gary Antoine Russell is. And I think that's the prevailing storyline. But you saw interviews with Prince Dahl considering the Ukraine-Russian conflict going on right now. We're seeing, you know, which fighters. Some fighters are getting in the front lines like the Klitschko brothers. Other fighters like Lomachenko are, you know, ducking out to try to stay in camp and stay where they're going.

How do you put into words what that must be? I can't even imagine. I believe. I could be wrong about this. I know he's got family there, and I believe he did an interview with Fight Hub TV's Marcos Villegas, and I believe in that interview he said his wife and child are still back in the Ukraine. I mean, if that is the case, dude, I don't know how you can sleep at night, much less

you've got to fight this fucking hammer, Gary Antoine Russell. Dude, I have so much admiration for him. Maybe he needs the money, or he wants the money, or this have so much admiration for him. Maybe he needs the money or he wants the money. This is a good opportunity for him. It's in Vegas, co-main event. A guy against Insiders know in Gary Antoine Russell. But what a weight on his shoulders. I don't envy him.

I have genuine heartfelt sorrow for him in this country, of course. I don't know what else to say. Yeah. We are getting... Oh, he apparently is gonna leave how is he gonna get to you he's a headache of boxing scene comm reporting that yeah he's gonna fly directly home right after the fight there's no there's no flights over his twin sons God his twins were back indeed I mean how do you sleep I

can't I wouldn't know you know I would I would be beside myself I can't live without my wife and daughter, man. Wow. Producer Corey Benich relaying more info. It's obviously a very serious world situation that we're all tied into. Postal, that's got to be on his mind. If he gets a victory here against an unbeaten guy who's rising... Under these circumstances? Well, look, if you take away the circumstances, he's right back in the title mix. This guy has only lost to the best. He's a former world champion. He's still got it. Freddie Roach is his trainer.

But, man, I can't even imagine focusing during that. He's got a mind that is, you know, that kind of focus is extraordinarily rare. Gary Antoine Russell is different from his brother, not as much a slickster and speedster darting in and out, a little bit more well-rounded, solid. This is a big test. If Gary Antoine Russell can pass it under any circumstances we're gonna have a different conversation come sunday to talk about where he's going and where he's headed that 140

to the top because this is a big fight and a big deal luke staying on boxing and staying uh in that 140 pound division we know that the undisputed champion the second in this division's history to hold all four belts it's unbeatenen Josh Taylor, the tartan tornado from Scotland, who's fresh off, stopping late, unbeaten Jose Ramirez to put together those four 140-pound belts. Yes, there's talk for Taylor's future of, you know, could he move up to Walter Wade and fight Terrence Crawford? Could he wait for Teofimo Lopez to move up? He's got big things ahead of him.

He's in my top 10 pound for pound. Luke, on paper, this Saturday it's gonna be a stay busy, a homecoming in Glasgow, Scotland, against mandatory yet unbeaten opponent Jack Catterall. Betting odds are telling you Taylor minus 1400 as your favorite. The hometown element should really spur him on, but are you anticipating any sort of hiccups here favorite. The home the home really sperm on. But are y

sort of hiccups here for really proven dude from t the Ramirez when he's the Yeah, I know the thing wi he had the excuse me with he had the Richard Comey one and then he and especi it and then he had the lo he kind of it, and then he had the Lomachenko win,

and then he kind of fell off, and I was like, well, I didn't think Kambosis was going to do it. So in the same vein, who was mandatory, that was why that fight happened, this was, I think, a WBO mandatory, although obviously all the belts are on the line. I just didn't think he could get it done. I don't think he can get it done here. Speaking of Victor Postol, obviously

Josh Taylor has a win over him, and many more after that. The Regis Prograde one, I thought Progre was going to win that one. That was the one where Taylor, I was like, dude, I just can't deny this guy. What was that? A split decision? Fight of the year contender? I mean, just a war, yet a technical war. And that's what Josh Taylor can do. Progre is a beast. So for Josh Taylor to beat him is extremely impressive. Dude, the only answer here is either Catterall is not who we think he is or Taylor has to be unprepared for this. Yeah. Am I getting Camboso's vibes from Catterall? No. Did I miss the boat on Camboso's

coming in? We did. We did. A lot of people did. And I think all of those circumstances of that fight being delayed and changing networks, you know, all that stuff with the purse bid played into it. Credit to Camboso's. He got his win. He's got a monster fight coming up. I feel like this is Josh Taylor's canvas, though, to paint something special in front of the hometown fans. Get a stoppage. And then we're talking about who's next. And, Luke, you know. Oh, we have some breaking news on the boxing side.

Let's do it. Fury versus Dillian White confirmed. WBC crown heavyweight April 23rd, Wembley, London. April 23rd. That is going to be a monster. That's going to be a monster. That's going to be a monster. It'll be an absolute monster. We'll see what happens with Taylor Catterall.

You know, we still don't know where Terrence Crawford's going. Right. So is there a scenario where top rank says, okay, Josh Taylor, you're the undisputed junior welterweight champion. Why don't you fight Terrence Crawford? And although we don't promote him anymore, Terrence Crawford, we'll pay you what you need to come back into this fight. How much of that, hey, Bob Arum, I sued you for being a racist could prevent that?

Well, or the other way. I want to go back to top rank. I'm going to sue you. And so as a matter of resolving the lawsuit, I'm going to demand concessions as a way to drop it. That's another way he could do it, too. I don't see Crawford going back. I don't see it either.

But there are fights suddenly. If you're Crawford at 147 and you could potentially fight Josh Taylor, Teofimo, who's moving up, I mean, it's interesting. But I would say that, like, I think eventually, I don't know when the hell it's going to happen, but how does he not sign with PBC? I don't care. I think Terrence Crawford's going to have to take a pay cut

because top rank overpaid him in succession on those big contracts to keep him from going to the PBC, right? They basically said, we know that all the fighters you want to fight are across the street, but we'll give you – they did the same thing to Tim Bradley after he fought Pacquiao, right? It's sort of like – and I think that raised Crawford's self-value. And it's hard because if you're Crawford, you should believe you're the pound-for-pound best in the game, right?

100%. But the numbers haven't backed it up. I know he argued that top rank never really promoted him, and you hear so many people say Terrence Crawford just doesn't care about promoting himself. So that is what that is. When he figures out what he's willing to accept, though, Luke, let's get him back in a big fight. Come on.

Come on, Al Heyman. Let's make Spence's Crawford before we're doing this as 40-year-olds. Please, let's do that. We close with topic five, which is some quick hitters, Luke. But there's some potentially, interestingly, surprisingly big nuggets in here. The first one that came down Wednesday right after we finished filming Morning Combat in the studio. How about this, Luke? In the field of carnival celebrity MMA boxing crossover fights,

Triller, host of the Triller Triad and the Trillerverse and... And many ledgers in the red. According to Dave Meltzer, having lost $811 million last year, has purchased a majority stake in BKFC. What makes this super interesting is these are the two leading players in whatever this bubble is right now, which is celebrity, it's bare knuckle, it's the oddball bubble of the moment. It's kind of proven right now that you can sell. They're combining their forces. What the hell does this mean? What could this do? Are they cornering the

market on aging fighters or these crossovers now? So I was thinking about it. Like, what do the two things do? Like, if you're Dave Feldman and you run BKFC, you already know that Triller overpays for everything. Remember, the purse bid fell apart in the end. Well, the fight fell apart in the end. But remember, the purse bid for Teofimo was like $6 million. The next highest was like $2 and some change.

So my hunch is, dude, and they blew through $800 million in a year. Well, dude, they're bringing out Justin Bieber, Ice Cube. Bieber and Black Keys and Metallica and everything else. They just completely burned through. Chromed faces. They're going to overpay for things. I bet Dave Feldman made a pretty fucking penny on that deal for the majority. Not the whole thing, but the majority controlling share, first of all.

So one, it makes sense. Who is going to pay you more money than Triller is going to pay you for BKFC? Probably no one. Take the money, number one. Number two, I don't know exactly how they're going to combine forces because BKFC does have a series of rules about guys starting closer. The ring is round as opposed to like the actual four corners where it requires a little bit more nimble footwork. And then Triad has a different shape altogether. But here's the thing they have in common. They share basically, basically the same class of fighter, more or less. So it does make sense that they would align. And in fact, what I would say is BKFC is better about reaching out to like the grassroots level of the fight community,

whereas Triller tries to parachute in. They do. That's a decent combo you could put together there, actually. Separate lanes that are close enough that kind of make this make sense. And it's like... One of the first halfway smart things that Triller's done, I'm like, it's actually not a bad idea. The KFC match makes very well and creates sort of a pro-wrestling, viral, shitstorm feel. What does Triller do good so far?

Make big productions. They do have a very professional look and feel when they do come on the broadcast. That professionalism can go out the window if they're blowing weed in al bernstein's face or whatever i mean like there's been some wild triller shit where you're like do i really need all these washed rappers as my fight analysts can i get one guy in there that maybe knows something what's going on but the point is look they've got what the ex-american idol producer they're always director they're always flaunting they've got some talented people, and they've figured out, whether you care or not, how to bring in Metallica,

how to bring in these massive giant acts. I really felt like the Triller triad, which was supposed to merge MMA and boxing together with the smaller gloves, I felt that was the first time outside of Mike Tyson and Roy Jones that Triller did something right, where you're like, there maybe there are 15 minutes isn't it this was an investment that made rational sense even though we don't fully know how they

want to use it I would say one more thing and you brought this up yesterday let's circle back to it Dave Feldman saying he's going to make a bid for Nganu services that money from Triller is going to help BKFC put out larger purse bids that's where I was going to say that Triller created something with the with the triad thing where you're like, you know, I actually could see this work only if they had BKFC's roster and ability to, well, now you're bringing it together. And we don't know how much money is behind Triller. We know they used a lot of it last year.

But, Luke, if they can use that money to at least be at the conversation, at least be at the table with a Francis Ngannou, with a Nate Diaz when he's up, with a whomever you want, really. I don't know. Here's who this affects. It probably affects the UFC a little bit, but not really, not in any kind of meaningful way. This is actually much more of a problem, I would argue, for your Bellators and your PFLs.

Both of them have their own ways to recruit and pay, right? Bellator is introducing these weight class tourneys. They pay out a million. Obviously, PFL does the same thing or approximately the same thing anyway. But mostly they subscribe to only that seasonal model. The point I'm trying to make here is they're going to be competing much more for a similar class of fighter than the UFC is going to be competing with them. And so if I was UFC, or excuse me, if I was Bellator or PFL, I'd be paying close attention to this to see if nothing else, to what extent does the additional

money for purses cause them, maybe they overpay for talent, but that still is talent you got out bid for. Could be interesting. It could be interesting. You have to wonder, you know, if they could get, I mean, they were the ones that had, you know, they did the Jake Paul, Ben Askren fight, right? Which was a big deal. Jake Paul's had the fights on Showtime. We don't know what Jake Paul's next move is. If they could get a Jake Paul type as sort of,

okay, this is our sort of pay-per-view darling. And then you add to that the fun fights that they seem to be making with these guys that are just washed to be leaving pro boxing or UFC, but not in a scary moment. The Vitor Belforts, right? Or even, yeah, we don't want that. But like Mike Perry was like a real smart signing for them.

No, I want that with Vitor Belforts. I'm saying that's the level. Oh, I see. Where they still got a little bit left in. It's not dangerous territory yet, right? And they're probably, you know, smearing that cream and clear on their toast in the morning. Like I care.

One part of the exact quote from Dave Feldman talking to Ariel Hawane was, like I said, this deal allows more opportunities for BKFC, more resources, more funding, just everything that we really need to vie for that number one or number two spot in all of combat sports. I know that's aggressive from Dave Feldman, but now do you think it's going to be like instant where we're just merging into one or is it going to be, because let's not forget Triller also wants Fight TV where they've been putting the Triller fights on and you can get a lot of, a lot of different pay-per-view type things on Fight TV. Is this just going to be now BKFC, you know, is under the Triller flag and we can flow them a few dollars here? Or are they going to merge the circular BKFC bare-knuckle concept

with the Triller triad concept and just find a way to make a... I don't know exactly how that's going to go, but I would also say, speaking of distribution, you would imagine Triller, because they just spend stupid amounts of money, is going to have a higher level of production value than what BKFC can ordinarily afford in-house. No question about it. So there's going to be an elevation of the brand through production upgrades, I would

imagine. It's a smart... I don't know what it means for Triller, and I don't know what it means exactly for their combination, but it's definitely a good deal for BKFC, for sure. If they were like, we got to make a run at more legitimacy crime faces had a good run on there to Pete Davidson was decent who's what is this we need Luke Thomas we need Luke Thomas's full-time services we need to get him away from CBS and show to you know we need him to be the face no trail

of the triad no no only if I can vape. Just so happens, Luke, you can. Quickly, how about this for one matchmaking at the 1X anniversary card? You know, I like old guy fights, but I get scared these days because Triller ruined old guy fights. Don't put Van Holyfield out there. Shinya Aoki versus Sekisayama? I'm here for this shit. I'm here for this absolute bullshit. I don't care about that at all. I have one more after you're done. How about you say that first?

UFC's Dana White is in talks for the Food Network to have a show. He has something he does every Friday, which I wouldn't know because we have mutually blocked one another. He calls it Fuck It Friday video series. White every Friday posts a video to his social media channels where he eats a strange concoction of food. So he has the kitchen in the UFC office and they'll make him like a donut burger. Yeah, so some recent examples include pickles that

were stored in Kool-Aid for a week and deep fried In-N-Out burger. UFC has since trademarked the phrase Fuck It Friday last year, says Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein. And White, quote, This thing has completely blown up. This thing is doing 3 to 4 million views every episode. It's one of the most fun things I do. I love fighting, drinking, and food. And not paying fighters what they deserve.

And not books. And with this, I get to do all three of them. Yeah, pay rich people to eat weird shit is apparently a thing. Finally, on Quick Hitter, somebody's in my ear. If you're coming on, who wants some of this? Thank you, Maniche. Is he just loudly talking?

I haven't seen him. Yo, new rule, Maniche, unless the people can hear you too. You know what? New rule. We've got to find a way foraneech to get on the broadcast. I'm ready. I'm ready. Dude, I've been trying to push Maneech off the plank for a while. I think he's a little protective,

because he's a legitimate musician, unlike Jay Aaron. Yeah, Jay's a fraud. He wants to protect the Maneech brand, yo. Yo, Jay is just a tone-deaf poser. Yo, but I Googled Lonely Angelus before by Maneech, and I was like, okay, player, okay, right? Lonely Angelus? Okay, respect the game, yeah.

You can't shit on Maniche's art. No, I thought Lonely Angelus was Pennington James. No, that's Maniche, bitch. Oh, sorry, bro. Okay. Now he's mad at me. This guy's hard for a white guy, okay? Here's the deal, finally, Luke.

A lot of people want us to give a take, even though it happened a few days ago. The Jon Jones video from that arrest that happened, Hall of Fame night in Las Vegas, it's finally made the rounds. It's pretty disturbing, Luke. We've got tweets from Jon that I want to get to in a second, but short of that, Luke, just first response. You watched it. I turned it off before the

head but dude it as it should be in a way it was disturbing as all i couldn't finish it luke it it's like when somebody's like you want to watch this mma guy get his arm broken in half and the other guy takes it home i don't need to see that i mean i watched the whole thing and probably shouldn't have to be honest with you i would just say the following Everyone always wants me to be mad at him and get back at him and, like, have a little fun with the beef, but I don't know how you can just survey what happens in the video and then, obviously, more recently in his life and say anything other than,

listen, I'm sure he's made his fair share of mistakes, some of them quite publicly, and maybe at some point he should be held to account for them. But at the same time, you can hold opposing ideas in your head at once if you're a reasonable adult. It can be true that he has engaged in self-destructive behavior for which some kind of comeuppance or reckoning is due. On the other hand, you can also recognize the reason why he has so many problems,

it seems, and of course only a mental health professional and then other medical professionals could tell us for sure, but it just feels like he's got a lot of, he is in pain. He is in mental pain. He is in anguish and he doesn't know what to do with it. And it's causing him to do and make all kinds of bad decisions about his life.

And dude, I'll just say it one more time. I don't like him, but I don't wish anything on him like this, He needs help. He really, really, really needs help. A lot of addiction, unfortunately, is just the constant masking of pain. Do you understand my point? You can hold it once that he's done wrong and kind of skated through life in a lot of ways, and I understand that, but, dude, you cannot ignore this other reality. The guy is suffering, and he needs help.

He needs help. I mean, he showed the full thing in that video from, you know, trying to attack the officers verbally to putting it all on himself in a scary way. And his response is on Twitter since then. And, like, it's like, you know, after Conor got hurt against Poirier, I'm like, just take the Twitter away from him. Go rehab and quiet. John just coming right out.

And it's been the full thing. One of the one was, LOL, I was hoping that video got lost in the file somewhere with a laughing emoji. Yeah, but then he comes out with this, Luke, which is pretty serious saying, my fiance left me about two months ago today. She finalized that she won't be coming back. If you are a John Jones hater, have a toast. I feel like shit. Right. John Jones cannot fail. He can only be failed. That's his modus operandi. He cannot fail. He can only be failed. And as long as that's the way he looks at the world, his problems will only continue. He would go on to pump himself up and say the story's far from over. I'm wise enough to know that we all go through seasons in life. I've had many great ones and several bad ones. I'm excited for the next one. I'm about to be heavyweight champion of the world and capable of so many things. I don't wish him bad, Luke. I know I've called for his job in the past when the transgressions just got so ridiculous because look, if someone's going to make a change before

they blow it all and he's come very close to blowing it all multiple times, you got to take away the last thing that they're just leaning towards sometimes to do that. Maybe for him, hopefully for him, it is the loss for now of his family for however long this goes, that that does kind of be a- I don't even want to talk about this, dude. This is fucking gross. It's gross, dude. For him to put his business out in the public like that

and bring his family back into it, I feel bad even talking about it. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Yeah. It's awful, dude. It's really, really awful. He needs help, and anyone around him needs to give him help.

And if you're not, I'm going to say, the last thing I'll say on this, BC, dude, these problems do not go away on their own. It is not a skin rash. It is not a way you feel. It is alive inside of you. And unless you do something about it, it will consume you over time.

It's just the way the world works. All right. Well, we'll see where that goes, Luke. We close every Friday show. Dude, we're efficient today. Is that a good or bad thing? We're efficient with art. I don't waste time money. I was leaving Jordan three footprints in the park.

Motherfucker. You talk a lot, Aki, but you ain't got the nerve. Yeah, we do talk a lot in the microphone. The four pound mill is silly, but the Glock absurd. And some of it is bullshit and we get called out for it, but we stand the test of time and we'll take that stand and stand up to it. You better have receipts if you want me to sit on this L. But if you find out that I deserve it, I'll squat on that shit. It's called dead wrong. I've been rocking D.C. all the way to Gothenburg, cop the bird and distribute it until I got the word. Big Meat, they call me Larry Hoover.

Big Meat. Not Big Meat, fuckface. No one calls you that. Maneech produces our show over there. Luke, Morning Combat. No one calls you Big Meat. Morning, well, off camera, Luke. MorningCombat at gmail.com is the official address

if you think you've been wronged and you want to talk about it. Or we have wronged you in some way. Yeah, that's it. Number one's from Andy. Hey, Donks, at 19 minutes, 5 seconds of episode 254, after making his crude Sandusky reference... I'm guessing this is a you problem. BC brings up Star Wars episode one, Attack of the Clones,

saying the Gungans were coming on. Well, the Gungans would have made Harold Howard proud. Episode one is The Phantom Menace. Episode two is Attack of the Clones. Get off the Delta 8s and get your Star Wars

straight, you old biatch. Huge fan of the show. Keep up and keep radiating that BDE. One love. You don't have BDE. It's Andy from COVID Lakes, Florida.

How do you like that little one love? Okay, that's really funny. That's well done there, Andy. Yeah, I was wrong. I'll take that off. And if I ever made it seem like the Gungans were coming on, they weren't coming on at all. They helped, but they know how to party. That Gungan party to close episode one, you know, I could have been down on that.

I was hopeful they were all going to somehow forget they couldn't breathe underwater and drown. I mean, they were integral, but they weren't coming up. Were they integral or integral? Which one were they? I think that's the same thing. That's tomato, tomato. That's rousey or rousey. Yes, I'll admit that she says it rousey, but...

No, she says it rousey. She says rousey? Okay. Well, she doesn't say that. She's not like, my name is Rhonda Rousey. Okay, well, it ain't integral. Yo, I don't want to talk about Ronda Rousey. Okay, it's gross.

I don't want to talk about that. Okay, don't. I mean, are we really? We're devolving to this level? It's almost over. What are we doing? I mean, seriously, dude. Do you want me to like, should I just, can I dip on this show?

Imagine a podcast host dipping. Are you under the impression this would bother me? Because it would not bother me. Our second one's from Gary from Glasgow. Glasgow. Glasgow? Glasgow? Yes, Glasgow, yes.

Hey, Luke Thomas, great second name, by the way. I get killed for this constantly. Morning Combat, episode 268. When talking about Josh Taylor's upcoming fight with Jack Catterall, you mispronounced Glass-Glass-Cow. I thought it was Glass- I could have sworn it was Glass-Go. Normally, I don't give a shit, but I like you guys,

so I thought I would help you out. You pronounced it Glass-Gow. Yeah. The correct way to pronounce it is Glass-Go. Glass-Glass-Glass-Go or Glass-Go? Glass-Go. Or if you're from Glasgow, it's pronounced Jaleska. I mean, these fucking Scots. Listen, I love Scotland, but I'm not going to go that far with it. Dude, I have a Scottish last name, but I'm not Scottish at all.

Campbell is Scottish? Damn right. Campbell? Yeah, right? I'm Lithuanian on that shit and French Canadian, right? Campbell is Scottish? Damn right. Biatch? Campbell? Yeah, right? I'm Lithuanian on that shit and French Canadian, right? And an eighth Irish, all right? You're nothing. You're nothing.

All right. Are you going to take... Yeah, I guess we'll take that out. Yeah, I'll take that out. Look, I'll pronounce shit because I'm ignorant. Also because, you know, I can't get it all right, Luke. Yeah, I know. We have one more for you. From Vince, on episode 256, at the one hour and four minute mark,

BC was dead wrong for not only wearing the one love hat. That hat is atrocious. Do you know our producer, Matt Snyder, every single day is like, just so we know, that's a low T move. Do not wear that hat anymore. He does say that. BC was wrong about everything regarding the Chocolatito-Martinez fight. BC said Chocolatito was moving up in weight, and the fight would be at 118.

It's actually Martinez moving up, and the fight will be at 115 super flyweight. Excuse me. Good work all around by BC. Boxing hardcores didn't have to die for this. Where's Rafe when you need him? Wow. Old school. I like that.

They wanted their boxing content and fuck MMA. Yeah, fuck. Sorry, I did that. Look, I'll butcher. I'll butcher anything you give me, right? Yes. Yeah. Yes.

Like OJ. No, not like, you know, not like. You, you know, I, would you say that I. Wow, bro. Would you. Wow. Would you say that I have more Kato Kaelin vibes? Like I've got, I kind of got that, like, like he probably could have been something. Like if you were the guest living in OJ's guest house, would you also be the weirdo on the stand?

Yeah, I can only imagine how that would go. I cannot believe you made that joke. That's a really... But is it that it's dated, or is it that it's so insensitive? Or was it just not a good joke? Because I think the timing and the delivery were like 8 out of 10. Here's how you should parse this. It is an old joke.

It's timeless, though. Your joke was so gruesome, it still felt fresh. Then that means it worked. That means it succeeded. Oh, it had an impact. Mostly me being like, well, there's the HR phone call when the show is over. The thing about that Pat Tillman situation, that interview was really good that we did, too. But they chopped that shit up, y'all.

Yeah, imagine that. Greg Kelly from... Imagine that. Hey, first things first. Let's talk about Jerry Sandusky in the showers. This is not what this is about. We're actually here to talk about the life of bees. No, I want to talk about Jerry Sandusky!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, where's Phil? You think Phil's here anymore? Phil, can you come on? Can we bring Phil on to close the show? Or just maybe a closing segment? Yeah, that's Phil? You think Phil's here anymore? Phil, can you come on? Can we bring Phil on to close the show? Or just maybe a closing segment? Yeah, that's a great question. I have an apology to make, Ash.

I fear the Greeks even when they bear gifts. Can we bring Phil on here? Sure. Phil, right between us. Right between us here. Phil's a hand. What would you decide Phil's time? Can they hear him?

They say that the mic can pick him up. Okay. Phil's a hand. What would you decide Phil's to have? Can they hear him? They say that the mic can pick him up. Okay. I want to apologize. Not only, Luke, did we misrepresent possibly, potentially, Phil's taste in women

and really set him off. He looks like a grimy POS, Luke, but he went to Vanderbilt, dude. That's like the Ivy League of the South, right? That's what every good school in the South calls themselves, by the way.

UVA calls themselves the same. There's only one Harvard, right? Listen's what every good school in the South calls themselves, by the way. UVA calls themselves the same. There's only one Harvard, right? Listen, I want to take this time to apologize to absolutely no one, including you. Phil, you had a great week. Thank you so much for your service. Do you want to plug anything or anyone? No. Oh, motherfucker.

Chatham, New Jersey, I guess. Shout out to Phil. Thank you. Do you think Luke knows his name right now? Yeah. So, Luke, just... Listen, Jerry. Get off stage.

Luke, we have so many nice people that work on this show. I know. I know. We really do. And I can't name any of them. Will they testify against us? That's the question. Luke, will they?

Will they? Probably. Probably. You want to get out of here? Man, we just did a lot of good shit. I don't think people have any ideas. We've been marathoning it for three days now, and I'm glad to be going home. Yo, but when that stuff hits, it's going to hit.

It's going to hit hard. Yeah, I'm happy about it. I saw Chuck Mendenhall this week. We did. We did see old Chucky. It was good to see old Iceman. We were like, keep that hat on, though, bro. Okay, it's just, you know.

Listen, Darth Vader, episode six. Hey, you took a picture of me in the hotel lobby last night, and you from showing it i you did i so desperate i had the drug rug on he had on pajama pants that i think had cows on it and then he had the drug rug on slippers a cloth mask uh and then a jacket on top of the drug rug although the drug rug was peering out like chest hair on uh you know a nightclub owner or something like that. Some of us do our dirt behind the scenes. They don't bring the vape pen to the table.

No, I do not have a... There was one time, BC, we were, we swear to God, we split apart in Vegas and we were like, okay, dude, we're going to eat good today. We're going to team health. And then like two hours later, we see BC sneaking through Gonzalez E. Gonzalez with a fucking full pizza? Not even a slice, bro. This motherfucker was like the Hamburglar, like...

Well, the worst part was when each was like, yo, where are we hanging out? I'm like, bro, I'm too old. I gotta go to bed. And I woke up from sleeping and I was like, yo, I wonder if that pizza place

is still open. And it was. And I got caught, yeah. It was. All right. All right, well, we love you guys. Thank you so much for watching. Tons of stuff coming your way. I might do a post-fight show tomorrow. We'll caught. Yeah. It was. All right. All right. Well, we love you guys. Thank you so much for watching. Tons of stuff coming your way.

I might do a post-fight show tomorrow. We'll see. It just depends on whether I have a babysitter or not. But you need to rectify your child care situation as it pertains to morning combat. Unless you want to make the Alexa a permanent part of it. I'm going to have her start pulling social assets. You know, Dan Lebitard's dad, Poppy. Yes.

Remember the role he played on that ESPN show? Yes. How close are we to have. Violetta. To have Tukey play. She'll get on the screen and tell you she loves dinosaurs and she loves the slides and the swings. And she loves Encanto. She does.

Does she know how to edit? It can be learned. It can be learned. It can be learned. We're like, Phil, you had a good run, but we got your replacement right here. Yeah.

All right. We can definitely end this. All right. For our great staff here at Malka and the future's bright for Morning Combat. It really is, Luke.

Thanks to all the staff this week. Thanks to our boss from Showtime who came down yesterday and had lunch with us. Shouts to BD. Happy birthday, BD.

He's about as old as me. He looks a little more spry than me, a little more active than me. He does. Makes a little more money than us, too. Showtime is the home of combat sports, and they got you covered. Bellator is today. 1 p.m. starts the preliminary card on YouTube on the Bellator and Showtime sports channels. But at 4 p.m. Eastern today, Bellator back. It's Musashi. It's Vanderford. It's the

middleweight title. Do not miss that. 4 p.m. Eastern today on Showtime. And check out Showtime Championship Boxing, the triple header Saturday night, 10 p.m. Eastern from Las Vegas. Chris Showtime. Colbert, in that mean event. If you don't have this channel that we're talking about, Showtime.com, 30 days free. Roll that dice. See what happens. You're going to like the way it looks on you. I guarantee it.

For Luke Thomas, my name is, can you at least zoom in on these stains? Please, cameraman. Why don't you zoom in on your skin stains? Your little honey, I mean look I mean Luke listen, I left this here in studio. I don't give a shit but but my first thought is is semen Like that's my yeah, because you're five years old and mentally I mean if they can get it from this angle that is That's wild, right?

Dude, you're five years old. You're five years old. You have the mental capacity of a five-year-old. Yo, can I borrow that vape after the show? Hell yeah! For Luke Thomas, my name is Brian Campbell. This show actually wins awards. It's called Morning Combat.

Morning Campbell, thank you to all you fans out there. Stay well, folks. And in the words of Luke Thomas, may all your ex-lovers stay satisfied. Vape!