MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - UFC Fight Night: Volkov-Aspinall | Dustin Poirier | Kevin Holland | Ep. 277

Episode Date: March 16, 2022

On episode 277 of Morning Kombat Luke and Brian discuss the biggest storylines heading into UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall. What other fights should we be looking out for on this card? Mike Brown said that Dustin Poirier has the size and power to move to 170. Do the guys agree? Kevin Holland stopped a shooting at a sushi restaurant. Alexander Volkanovski wants to fight Conor McGregor? The guys break it all down. The boys close out the show with the return of the Wheel of Death and Fan submission. 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

Introducing the new McSpicy from McDonald's. It looks like a regular chicken sandwich, but it's actually a spicy chicken sandwich. McSpicy. Consider yourself warned. Limited time only at participating McDonald's in Canada. Reveille, reveille, donks. 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. Well, today should be fun, ladies and gentlemen, because not only is it a Wednesday MK, it's a Wednesday MK in studio, and it's a Wednesday MK in studio with the wheel of death.

Oh, this should be terrible. Hi, everyone. My name is Luke Thomas. I am one half of your hosting duo, do-do, do-do, do-do, feces. I get paid for this job inexplicably. I am joined by my compatriot, my fat-faced friend, who is also a Showtime Foxy commentator. I'm working on it, okay? I'm working on it.

It's Brian Campbell. What up, BC? Yeah, wow. You know, we're back in the, I don't even, again, I don't know what we call it. It's not the bomb shelter. It's not Orchids of Combat. Some people have said,

what did that one fan say we should call it? I forgot what he said. That's a great story you just told. Instead of the man cave, the M cave. The M cave. All right, that's a little terrible, but it's not so terrible. Yeah, it's pretty bad. It's a great story. Instead of the man cave, the M cave. The M cave. All right, that's a little terrible, but it's not so terrible. Yeah, it's pretty bad. But it was a good effort. We're back and you know what? We're just better together

forever. Forever. So why don't we do the show? Why don't we spin the wheel, maybe do some fan subs? We might get a late minute parachute interview dropped in on this live show. Anything can happen in Jersey City when you get BC and LTA together.

So let's... Did you see any of the new ads for the Disney Plus show Ms. Marvel? The new Marvel show? No. This is relevant, actually. But season four of Marvel is Mrs. Maisel. It just blows. What happened to it? I don't even know what that is.

Ms. Marvel, the new show that is going to be at Disney+, it takes place in Jersey City. Oh, wow. How about that? Yeah. Real fucking dump. You know the only people to come out of Jersey City on top, I think, were Bobby Hurley and Terry DeHair. What about Joe Budden? Yeah, yeah.

All right. He's got a podcast. He ran for a little while. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was in the front house. He's okay. Yeah, yeah, all right. He's got a podcast. He ran for a little while. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's okay. Wow, Corey. Wow, Corey just slandering Joe Budden in the back. Wow.

Corey's like, actually, I'm not sure he's ever actually. Corey's like, let me interject here. Joe Budden is species. You know, where are we on getting that live mic and camera? Like, the thing about these producers in our ear, if you're going to say something, if you're coming on, like, come right on camera. Our producers have lots of opinions, lots of them. Sometimes they're pretty funny. You should hear them.

We'll work on that. Anyway. We once had the Jay Aaron experiment. We tried that. Well, thank God he's fired. Yeah, you should put the mic in the show, Corey. Corey, don't threaten me with a good time, Corey. You should back up your words, Coradog.

Also, on today's show, we'll talk about, of course, there is a UFC this weekend. The UFC is back in the U.K. after, what, several years at this point. There's some Dustin Poirier news. There's, of course, big Showtime boxing news. As BC indicated, the – I'm not going to show it in totality. The damn wheel. But the wheel is here. We're going to get to the wheel and your fan sub.

So thumbs up on the video if you like it. Sub it if you haven't already on YouTube. If you're listening on the podcast, give us a nice review. BC, Morning Combat listeners, we want you to compete with us in a bracket challenge game. Join us at cbssports.com slash morningcombatbrackets and the winner gets a $100 gift card

to Paramount+. Click the link in our description to join. By the way, RJ, our dunkle maker, our intrepid merch guy, has sweetened the deal. He is going to add a $50 gift card to the MK store to the winner of our bracket So just so you know You don't have to know anything about college basketball

Every person who enters will be messaged A discount code to use at the MK store So the best one gets $50 The other ones are going to get some discounts Everybody wins is the whole point here Luke, who is your favorite college basketball player of all time? Seriously? Yeah

Who was the kid who played for Yeah, Luke, who was your favorite college basketball player of all time? Seriously? Yeah. Who was the kid who played for, he had the big dispute with Aaron Andrews, and he played for Auburn. This was the guy that went up in, maybe it wasn't Auburn, but it was a blue and orange team, and he was the one that used to troll all the crowds. What the fuck was his name? I don't know that shit.

If you're talking about memorable ones. That's your favorite player of all time? Not Allen Iverson? Not fucking Stefan Marbury? Iverson played, what, one year at Georgetown? He played two years and they were epic, okay? I'll go, I gotta say my favorite college basketball team was the 2002 Duke Blue Devils because that was your boy, Jay. Jay Williams.

Mike Dunleavy. Shane Battier, Mike that was your boy, Jay. Jay Williams. Jay Williams. Mike Dunleavy. Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy, Boozer. Who was it again from Ole Miss? Marshall Henderson from Ole Miss. That's your favorite player of all time, really. Because the guy just gave out the middle finger to everybody. What about you? Some white guy, right?

No, Alonzo Mourning at Georgetown was my favorite college basketball player. You Big East loser. You're the worst. No, stop. You're the worst. Anyway, stop. You're the worst. Anyway, so there's that. By the way, if you want to get into our merch store, do you see anything going on at the merch store for right now?

Yeah, it's morningcombat.store. And there's St. Patrick's Day merch, which is still live for this week. So celebrate with us. Aaron, go bra or lose the bra. It's your choice, right? That's the second time you've missed that joke. It depends how long she'll be there at the bar on Thursday. Yeah, I think I nailed it this time, though. The first time I was workshopping it, like a lot of your choice, right? That's the second time you've made that joke. It depends how long she'll be there at the bar on Thursday. I think I nailed it this time, though.

First time was like I was workshopping it, like a lot of your tweets, right? You know what I'm saying? All right. Let's get into it. All right. In any event, so there's that. And, yeah, email the show, morningcombat at gmail.com. That's for today's fan subs for Friday's Dead Wrong.

Anything else you need to do to reach the show? And I think that is it. Are you ready to get going? Yeah. Also, we talked to the boss, Steven Espinoza. Yes, we did. And that chat, which, of course, co-aligns with the launch of Showtime's Boxing Spring and Summer schedule. You can catch that on YouTube.com slash Morning Combat.

It's going up shortly. Yes. And, of course, if you want to try Showtime, you get a 30-day free trial if you go to Showtime.com. Keep it if you like it. Don't if you don't. We talked to the weasel about the weasel. Could our cameraman eat more loudly? I love that guy, Big Lou.

Dude, I'm teasing. I'm teasing. If you're hungry, eat. It's just funny. You picked the loudest food imaginable. You could play an instrument with those things. I'm teasing. Go ahead and eat your food later.

Okay. Topic number one. Because you've been let go. Thank you. Yes. Please see yourself out. All right. Topic number one.

We go to UFC London. Now, they tried to go in March of 2020 when the world fell apart, but they are finally back and they have a card full of British talent. In the main event, Tom Aspinall, probably one of your better prospects in all of MMA, certainly in the heavyweight division. He, I would say, and Tai Tuivasa are probably in the lead contendership role for the young guys in their 20s who can still do good things. Taking on a bit of a grizzled veteran, but still very good, Alexander Volkov.

BC, are you buying the Tom Aspinall hype? Yes, I'm just not buying it for right now, meaning we're not making predictions or picks here, but Luke, when we did our sort of year-end look ahead, what are your thoughts and hopes that could happen this year? I think Alexander Volkov is putting it together, and I think this is the year he's going to move directly into legit title, you know, situation, either getting a shot at the title or being right on the outside looking in. He's going to need big, strong step-up wins, and this is one of them. But if you look at his losses in recent years,

it's only been to the elites, and I think he figured out things in those losses that he needed to do differently. I mean, I think, Luke, you can argue that Volkov really bounced back well from that Curtis Blades loss in particular. Big time. And in which he was in it late, for sure. But it was almost as if that felt like a turning point. And look, he's relatively young for heavyweight. What is he, like 32? Volkov?

Yeah. He is 33. 33. He's obviously powerful, but when he's able to control distance and work in more strategy and variety of kicks and punches, you're not going to dominate him on the ground. So do I believe in the Tom Aspinall buzz and hope? Long term, I'm not convinced, Luke, but I'll still buy in on that.

I'm not sure, though, I believe that he's not going to run into the buzzsaw named Alexander Volkov here, okay? So put that one in your vape hole. Okay. Here are the wins that he has in the UFC. Jake Collier, Alan Baudot, I don't know anything about that, but then he fought Andrei Orlovsky. He beat him inside the first round, and then he beat Sergei Spivak,

who just ran through Greg Hardy in two minutes and 30 seconds. He only has, he has two losses on his record, one via heel hook, but that was, you know, back in 2015, and then one with just a 12 to 6 elbow he lost because of that. Other than that, he has been on a bust saw. In fact, through all of his UFC fights, 45 seconds into round one, 135 into round one, 109 into round two, 230 into round one. On the one hand, BC, this is clearly very impressive. And if you watch it, those wins are in no way accidental. But if you're Volkov here, you've got tons of experience against heavy hitters. And at the UFC level, Aspinall has not even tasted the second round,

for crying out loud. This is your main event. This is for five rounds. I wonder, it's not that I don't think Aspinall is necessarily up to the challenge in terms of ability, but at this stage, nothing has fully prepared him for Volkov. So if he's going to fight Volkov and win, he has to show us something that none of these other guys could ever pull out of him. Fair? Yeah. I mean, absolutely.

Would you say a victory here for Aspinall, which is certainly not out of the question by any means, especially heavyweight MMA at this level. And if you're going to say he's the favorite, then I get it. I get because there's nuances to Tom Aspinall's game that you don't see in the typical young, good-looking heavyweight that's coming up. There's some next level stuff. You can see in the way he looks at how he operates and lays it out. But would a victory over Volkov here be, or how close would it be to as big as the Tai Tuivasa one?

Because you name those two as sort of in the same position as guys who may have next. And, look, say what you want about Derek Lewis, but Tai Tuivasa, like, kickedasa kicked that freaking door in, dude. He did. I mean, whether Lewis imploded again in a bad spot, he seemed like he was giving and trading pretty good, Derek Lewis, in there for a while.

But he tore that door off the hinge, rampage, and tough style. By the way, that shit was made out of flypaper, probably. Probably. Luke, do you think, I know you don't want to go in this direction, and that's what we say, wheel of death floor, but if I could lose 18 pounds and get in better shape,

then I could roll with Volkoff. We look like brothers. We look like we're from the same. Isn't he like 6'9"? Yeah, I mean, he's got a little bit of height on me, but I think he's. I don't think you guys, do you have a manta ray tattoo on your back that turned into a Hanya mask? Yeah, so that thing's a little bit... It's aggressive.

It's aggressive. It's a lot of ink. It's a lot of ink. I like it, but... Do you think it looks a little GoBot transformer to you? I don't know what the GoBots are. They were the bootleg transformers. Not like the ones your grandpa would buy you at the grocery store, like those ridiculous bootleg, like throw those in the trash, but they were like the in-between big market bootleg

of... Only you are familiar with more of the bootleg items of throw those in the trash, but they were like the in-between big market bootleg. Only you are familiar with more of the bootleg items of childhood fantasy toys than I am. I was going to say this, though. It's pretty clear that the UFC is desperately looking for, I won't call it the Michael Bisping replacement, that's probably not quite right, but somebody to fill the role that he also filled.

Now, his role is somewhat unique, first British champion in the UFC and all that kind of stuff. Obviously, anybody who comes afterwards can't be that. What I mean to say is he was the leading light for the UFC's promotional efforts in that country. Darren Till was supposed to be that guy and has had to sort of reassert himself, and we'll see how that goes. Now, Arnold Allen is on this card as well. We'll talk about him in a second.

But fair to say, I would say that a lot of the UFC's hopes in the hopes in the UK rest on the shoulders of Tom Aspinall. That's interesting. They want a big star that they can promote, and he looks like he could be the goods. This is a very tough test. Because this is perfect timing, if he's going to be for real, to get this opportunity in front of the home crowd here and the long-awaited return to the UK amid all the crazy COVID stuff, which you say isn't done yet, Luke. Don't do that shit to me. I don't say it delightfully. I just, it's not done yet.

I don't know what to tell you. I wish it was, but it's not. You should pivot. Like, Colby had to pivot off of his Trump character after the election. I should pivot off COVID. You should pivot from COVID and just become Latin Fauci. And you'd be like, I've seen the weather. I've seen the statistics and they're round.

You know what I mean? It's just totally like. Yeah. And heavy. Now, the two wins that he had since, excuse me, the two losses that Volkov has had in the UFC, obviously he lost to Derek Lewis with that sort of like crazy situation. But since then, he beat Greg Hardy, he lost to Curtis Blades, and then he lost to Cyril Ghosn.

Here's his wins, though. Walt Harris, Alistair Overeem, and then Marcin Tybura. Overeem doesn't have the sturdiness that he once did, but that is a quality win that he's got. Would you agree with me, maybe not going as far and being so high on Volkov in general and Volkov in this fight, but would you agree in general that although he may be the worst of the group, Volkov looks like an elite heavyweight? Yeah, I think that's pretty fair. He didn't used to be when he was in Bellator. He had really poor takedown defense. and so for as good as his striking was, his game was kind of one-sided.

He really ironed that out. Now, it's still not his strong suit, but it's not nearly the liability that it once was. Well, and he still has to show, of course, that he can make the leap to the real elite level that he's sort of on the steps of getting into and win those fights. That's how you get into title positioning. I just think I've seen him start to turn a corner that he's going to have to prove. If Aspinall's, though, got the crowd,

and he's the betting favorite, I saw Tyson Fury put out a video supporting him, so it seems like, as you said, that everything's crossing paths at the right time, that Aspinall's on the run, and his star value seems ready, that giving him this opportunity could be massive. One last point on Tom Aspinall.

The UFC, Dana White once admitted a mistake that they had made in the early plans that they had with UFC, which was they looked at where was boxing big. Let's just map our future onto that. So that was Mexico and the UK. And the Mexico effort took a long time. They did push into the UK. Matt Hall fought Carlos Newton.

I believe that was in the UK as well. I might dead wrong me if I'm wrong, but they had Ian the Machine Freeman, I think, fought Frank Mir over there. So they had modest success, but it wasn't until Michael Bisping really broke through

and some other fighters, Dan Hardy and some other ones, where they began to build a market. But you know this from the boxing side, BC. We watch what happens with the UK

on the boxing side. Even a smaller fight like Conlon versus Wood, it is huge. Dude, the UFC must... Life or death out there, dude. Dude, the UFC must look at the rabid nature of UK fans. Look at Bellator at the Irish card.

Exactly. Dude, UK and Ireland, they want a piece of that so bad. And you can understand it. Dude, the UK boxing fans, they might be the best combat sports fans on earth. They're insane. They're insane. And the UFC just hasn't been able to be in that market. They haven't had a start. They can really groom that

market, so to speak. Tom Aspinall, I would say, represents their best hope at turning that around. Is it possible, though, that they're hedging this perfectly with the, this is where they're bringing Paddy Pimlet, second UFC fight, where this may not be about Aspinall in the end. Meaning Aspinall might have room here to potentially win and win

boring and not make the big leap, but Pimlet's coming right behind him. Pimblitt's the only one too, but the thing is I would say this for Pimblitt. As much promise as he's shown, to me he's still good, but you just look at the matchmaking. And of course the matchmaking early in the career of Aspinall, they didn't give him hammers necessarily either, but I would say that the UFC is probably going to slow row him. Everyone wants to race him to the front because he's popular. I would really caution against that. He is good. He is still a little bit green in some areas of the game.

Aspinall might be because we only see him for a round. That's the difference. So we'll have to see who ends up being the better one. But you're right. They're planting several seeds here. Well, it's interesting with Paddy Pimble, if you allow me to transition. I'm sorry. Please do it.

That, you know, we have obvious concerns. And even in his UFC debut win, for as hyped as it was and for as exciting as it was, God, I mean, he, he show he was in trouble there too and had, had a lot of moments of just, you know, is he really that? Yes, he's doing a poor man's McGregor sort of angle, not, you know, even with whether it's intended or not, it sort of looks like that, but dude, he's now starting to get himself into skirmishes with the intensity of a young McGregor where, don't forget, we doubted a young McGregor at every single frickin' turn on that initial rise. And he had to prove us wrong. Patty Plimblett now getting into a dust-up here with Ilya Tuporia, which we're going to show in a second, Luke.

Was he as red-faced as you? Wow. All right. Let's go to the videotape. I'll try to recover. Let's roll this tape. First row management. Who is the first row management guy?

This is at the hotel yesterday. So, Ilya Teporia, who obviously is Georgian but speaks Spanish. He's a Spanish national, I think, at this point, did an interview with Danny Segura, and in Spanish, Teporia said lots of really mean things about Paddy Pimblitt, so clearly there's something.

I don't know the full story behind that, but, yeah, like, if both of these guys win, they might make that. Dude, does Paddy Pimblble, that's the thing, man. He's setting, he's putting targets on his back. Yeah, that's a tough guy to pick a fight with. For Conor, Luke, admit it. Conor proved that he could back it up, first of all. He did.

First of all. We all know that. But even before he had proved that, dude, he acted like he fucking belonged. Yeah, he did. And Patty's doing that. And, dude, I have less confidence that Patty can also back it up. But he's not. Like maybe some guys, Luke, perform so much better when they purposely double

and triple down and put all the freaking pressure. That is true. Put as much pressure on themselves as possible because they're going to guarantee win or lose to wring out everything that's in there because that rush, that fear, it's got to make you a little bit nervous when Ilya Teporya is about to jump the barricade, Luke, and put it on you because where he comes from, they don't fuck around, Luke. They don't fuck around at all

over there in that part of the world. We'll see how it has to go. Folks might be saying, Teporya's 145. I believe this is a 155 fight that he is in. Who's Pimblant facing? Tell me about this guy. He's facing Cazuela, or what's his name? Vargas? I can't even remember his full name at this point. Yeah.

Yes, Rodrigo Vargas, or Cazuela. I forget his... Are they soft-pedaling Patty right now? Yes, but dude, people are acting like this is some crime. They should be. You can see Patty Pimblitt has clear ability, and he's a marketer's dream. For those reasons, he should

not be rushed. That's why you want to take your time, because you want to give him the most amount of time to develop. What is he, 26 years old or whatever the fuck he is? He's super, super young. People want to just push this guy to the front of the line, a la John Jones style. Well, they're not all John Jones.

Some of them need a little bit more time to get together. I think his grappling is obviously quite good. I think his striking defense probably needs a little bit of work. And I bet his striking coach would say the exact same thing. So for those reasons, give him some time to work on his game at this level while he gets more popular. His fans are not complaining about this matchup, so why are the rest of the observers?

He's a young guy. Don't rush him. What for? Can I ask you a tough question? All right. Because that's what we do here, right? When we get together? Like men do.

That's what I'm hinting at. If Patty Pimblitt, just by nature, is not a knockoff McGregor, but following that game plan. If you don't like him, he's a knockoff McGregor. But so was the Strab animal, Luke James Gallagher, as he's still continuing to try to prove

how legit he is. Which one of the sort of second generation McGregors here has the brighter critical feature? Not marketing wise, because Patty seems to be way ahead of Strab Animal at this point in that regard, Luke, in terms of getting attention globally and all that. But how about just in terms of their long-term title contending ability? Who do you like better? At this point, Patty. I think, you know, obviously Gallagher has a lot of work to do. He's in the damn Grand Prix.

We're going to find out. Yeah. But I think also, you know, I think he's really feeling the weight of some of his losses. So in that sense, Patty. But in either case, by the way, you talk about like Darren Till. Darren Till used to come out and say all the crazy shit, and then the losses kind of took a lot of that away. We'll have to see if Patty does. If he wins, then this will only build.

If he loses, then he might have to rejigger things. But you go back to his last loss. I go back to this all the time, 2018. Now, that was four years ago, so understand the difference there. Is the pro wrestling fan in you hoping one day that Till and Chimaev break apart and get mad at each other and then end up fighting in the cage and some type of reverse inward street justice? So the point is Paddy lost to Soren Bach.

I've talked about this before. Soren Bach went on to Bellator, and no one really knows this. Soren Bach outgrappled him towards the end of that fight. That's how he won, as a matter of fact. Granted, that was four years ago, but since then, he's only beaten Deki Dalton, Davide Martinez,

Davide, I'm not sure how you say it, and then Luigi Vendramini. None of those names challenged him in a way that Soren Bach did, or we'll see about Rodrigo Vargas, this guy he's fighting tomorrow. So again, it's a slow roll for Paddy Pimblitt, exactly the way it should be. UFC matchmakers are doing this correctly. There aren't any sleepers on that undercard storyline-wise that we need to be looking at.

So Ilya Teporya is obviously on this card, taking on Jai Herbert. That's a tough fight. Jai Herbert can strike his ass off. So we're going to see Teporya tested here. Dude, Teporya, does he have the ilk of Shavkat Rachmaninoff, of all these other new generation killers that are ready? I think he's further along in his development than a lot of guys, yeah. I'll put it that way. I don't think he's title ready, not even that. But he's very good.

I'd love to see how he does against Jai Herbert. Jai might knock him out. But to this point, what we have seen from him is extremely impressive. He's a hammer. He is a Georgian Spanish hammer. Also on this card, the co-main BC, Arnold Allen taking on Dan Hooker. Yeah, don't sleep on that at all. Dan Hooker back at 145.

Arnold Allen has maybe one of the most underrated win streaks, and I'm going to say this, in all of the UFC. It is crazy. Now, he doesn't compete enough to, I think, get the accolades he deserves, but he beats Sadiq Youssef, who we just saw recently, who has obviously done some great work. So in this fight, Arnold Allen comes in. I think he last fought. A lot of these British guys have been under the thumb of the pandemic rules and haven't

been able to be as active as they want. He beats Sadiq Youssef in 2021. He beat Nick Lance before that, Gilbert Melendez, Jordan Rinaldi, Mads Bernal, who we just saw, who's very good. Dude, he's solid. Makwan Amir Khani, and it goes on and on and on from there. Dude, Arnold Allen is solid. Super solid. We don't know, though, like if it stops there or how much further it goes.

But right now, he's, I'm not saying he's like a guaranteed bet, but he's a pretty safe bet that he's moving in the right direction, Luke. But that's why you like the matchmaking here for this fight, in terms of what it could mean on the flip side for Hooker. Are you a believer in 145 Hooker? We're going to have to see. He seems to think that he can make this weight a lot easier. These guys who have done it under this new protocol, usually somewhat UFC PI-assisted

or whatever, they're able to make it more. I mean, here are his last three wins for Dan Hooker. Al Iaquinta, Paul Felder, and Nasrak Hakperast. his last three wins for Dan Hooker. Al Iaquinta, Paul Felder, and Nasrak Hakperast. The last three losses. Poirier, Chandler, and Makachev. Two guys who, all guys who are probably going to hold titles in major weight classes in organizations at some point.

So this is what you have to ask yourself. Where does Arnold Allen fit into that equation? Which one of those is he or the other? In terms of 145 BC, going back to that, I guess like the Jason, I'm not even sure, I guess he lost to Jair Rodriguez, Maximo Blanco, he beat Hioki, and some other ones. I don't know what to make of him at 145, to be honest with you. He's got a

huge frame. I still can't figure out, and obviously this is all or nothing, and that's how both my therapist and wife tell me I unfortunately address life, Luke, in that regards. But are you convinced yet that Hooker isn't necessarily on his way down like a Michael Johnson type path where, yeah, dude, he's going to show you fight to fight that he's kind of of that group, but he's not going to beat that group that often?

Are you fearing that? Because I still can't figure out, because we've seen signs of life in terms of- You knocked out Gilbert Burns. Right. We've seen signs of life, and they've been huge, and they've made me want to believe too. But my whole point is saying, I'm still not sure which way he's going on an all or nothing scale.

Do you have confidence level on that? I have a similar concern. And the other one I would say is, you know, when you're changing weight classes a lot like this, especially going back to one you abandoned because you were so drained. Granted, this time he may not be so drained. Still, you're always like, yeah, okay, but how's that going to go? Now, in fairness, we were skeptical, and Aldo has seemed to have made it work, so we should acknowledge that.

I was wrong about Aldo. He certainly has had, you know, he didn't change his fortunes in terms of beating guys at 135 that he couldn't beat at 145 at the end, but he has remained exceedingly relevant down there, and I think that's pretty important to note. So we'll see. The thing is, you have to ask yourself also about Dan Hooker is the damage Dude has taken a fair amount of damage now. I've asked him about it. He seems to be utterly unconcerned

His argument has also been it's been spread out like it's not just it's not just head trauma But between the weight cuts and the damage and the travel and then the years of training on top of it It begins to have an effect. Will it have one here? I guess we'll see. He's just giving me vibes of a guy who, like, you know has the goods in him, but it's just the wrong time, wrong era, wrong something that you just can't completely put that together.

But he's still got time to show us and prove us. He's just about that life. Like, he wants to be freaking great, and you respect that. Totally. But if you find out that your body won't let you or just the life at that moment won't let you, that's a tough pill to swallow. But he's not stopping to try to figure out. They're exhausting. I love guys like RDAs like that, man. They'll exhaust every potential option, weight class,

cut, anything, change of strategy to try to remain relevant. I just can't tell if he's at the blackjack table. Keep saying, hit me, hit me, hit me, hit me. I can't tell if it's that or if it's a strategic alteration that actually will work out. I don't know. He's a candidate to end up a Bisping. He is. Champion late in his career? Yeah, where he finally did put it together, and maybe it took some timing and luck in opponents, but like, holy shit, he finally showed us that he is. He could be. A couple of the fun fights on this card, Gunnar Nelson is back against Takashi

Sato. Molly McCann is going to take on Luana Carolina. Yes, that's Meatball, correct. I love that nickname. Can she fight, Luke? I've seen her a few times. Yeah, she's pretty good. To high and low degrees. Yeah, she's pretty good.

Another one's interesting. Nikita Krylov is on this card against Paul Craig. Paul Craig, one of the only guys that won over Mugamit Ankhalaev. That's a great fight. That's a great fight. No one's talking about that shit at all. Not at all. And also, one of the top prospects out of the UK, Nathaniel Wood, taking on Vince Morales. Love that fight as

well. Dude, Paul Craig, Luke, I know he's coming on. I just don't know how hard he's coming on. Paul Craig, I think he knows deep down inside, obviously he wants to get as far as he can. His style is not suited for winning championships, I don't think. Could be wrong, certainly we'll have to see, but I don't think it is. However, it's damn exciting, and he's going to get wins that if he had a more conventional style would not come his way. It's because he has a little. The trickery might limit his total, total, total ceiling. Upper bound limits. His upper bound limits, but it elevates a lot of current matchups.

We'll see if this one against Krylov is one such matchup. BC, we move on to topic number two. Dustin Poirier is a little bit in the news. So Mike Brown, the head coach at American Top Team, spoke to MMA Fighting, and he says, quote, well, actually, he says that basically Dustin Poirier can make 170. He's, what's the size? I'm sure he can make it, Luke. He's at 155. I mean. No, no, no, not make it, but I mean fully fill out at 170. He's plenty big for welterweight, plenty big. 155 is getting real difficult to make. I'm not certain he could be a better welterweight than a lightweight. Time will tell, but he's definitely not small for a welterweight. BC, is Dustin Poirier going to move to 170 and take a fight with Colby Covington?

Because honestly, it kind of sounds that way. You know, I thought he would if that was his best option in the moment. I've said that before. But this story, this quote from MTB who would know him best, and by the way, was a hammer back in his day. Mike Brown? Go back, you've never watched it. Watch, I think it's either a left or a right hook. He lands it so hard

on Leonard Garcia, he lifts him off of his feet. He, well, I mean, dude, back when, like, casual fans only knew Uriah Faber for that weight class area, he lifts him off of his feet. He, well, I mean, dude, back when, like, casual fans only knew Uriah Faber for that weight class area, he went in there. Dude, I remember, I was like, dude, Mike Brown's gonna wipe the floor with him. And everyone's like, you're out of your fucking mind. I'm like, do you have any idea how good Mike Brown is? He did. So Mike Brown's saying,

uh, Poirier, hey guys, it's time to vape! Because we doubt guys when they get a chance to move up late in their career, uh, unless there's just such a certain element to their game size, sometimes being the first and foremost, that you're like, no, they can compete there. And it's not that I doubt that Dustin can compete here. It's can he consistently compete there on an elite level and be a title challenger

to use up what's left of his pound-for-pound prime? And it's still very strong, despite that loss, in my opinion, to Charles Oliveira. Again, you've got to prove it fight by fight, but I believe in what's left of Poirier right now as he's looking at his pay-per-view options and trying to maximize that. But the idea of him going up to 170 full-time and maybe being a player, Luke. Now, he has enough of a name to not...

He's not going to need too many wins to get a title shot, right? I mean, if you can make Usman versus Poirier in the UFC, you'd do that at the end of the day, right? If that's the two-fight arc to that rainbow to provide Usman with another legendary name to fight. Seems so strange to say. Okay, so that's the truth because of Poirier's name and his pedigree. But, Luke, do you think if he ends up having to really earn it with three wins that he could do it? That he does have the body mixed with all the other factors in his game.

Because I fear he's, because he's not, wrestling isn't his strongest, most natural fallback pursuit. I feel like this is a wrestle-heavy division. They will own your ass. Michael Chiesa's at the end of that video game, okay? You hear me? Yes, I do. I think that he could get wins at 170s, probably some good ones,

probably some ones maybe even inside the top 10. But to the point that you raise, it is not that I think the evidence shows that Dustin Poirier has bad wrestling, but it does show up against the very, very best ones, which I think is a pretty fair way to put it. There's just,

it's just not, it's not a reliable way for him to win. Against the very best, it's not a reliable way for him to win. Against the very best, it's not a reliable way for him to win. And so for those reasons, against Colby and especially against Kamaru, I don't like those fights. Now, again, I've not seen him at 170. I don't know how he fills out. I don't know how he moves.

I don't know how much. He could be way stronger. Hard to say. But Poirier has to, even at the very best, has to observe a lot of punishment to get these wins. He does. He does. He has to go through.

He takes a lot of damage. Although, if he had another 15 pounds, that would also help his chin a little bit. Right, but some guys are just naturally, with the change after the cutting weight for so many years, suddenly find a groove or new life. Some as dramatic as a Michael Chiesa who you're like, damn, he should have been there all the time. And some maybe just improves them or gives them another season. Could Dustin be that physically? Yeah, he could be that guy physically who really kind of has

fought in the youth for a year to 18 months because of that. But I'm not sure, Luke, because the fears of the damage. Because if he has to accrue so many strikes at featherweight, is it because of the hand speed difference? Will that hand speed difference go away for him at lightweight? Where it may be more wrestling heavy? There's factors

plus also... How will his power carry? Also, Poirier's just fucking great, so that is also like an intangible that you're like, even with those odds against him, can he get one or two big wins there? I don't know, but it will be fun finding out. What I don't want to happen, obviously, whether you're a Dustin fan or hater or anything, just because of, you

know, this guy who came so close to winning that championship a couple times and hasn't gotten over that hill, I don't want him to go in there too early and then just get steamrolled by the first elite welterweight he faces, and then you're like, oh, where does he go now? I think for me, for Dustin Poirier, I have such high respect for him and his career.

The only thing I would say is this. If he wants to go to – first of all, he can do whatever he wants, obviously. It doesn't matter what we think. But in terms of what I would just like to see as an observer, as someone who does think highly of him, if he wants to go to 170 because he feels like that's best for him, then go to 170. And the argument could be maybe he's like,

I've got a limited amount of time left. How many fights am I going to get that are bigger than the Colby fight for money? Maybe not that many. So he just wants to go and get as much money as possible before it all goes out. And if that's what you want to do, go do it. But do you think he thinks he can beat Usman?

Do you think he thinks that, Luke? I don't know. do, go do it. But do you think he thinks he can beat Usman? Do you think he thinks that, Luke? I don't know. Outside of regular competitive machismo, do you think he thinks that? I think he thinks he can beat Colby. I bet he does think that. But here's the thing. What I don't want to see is just going to 170 because you have a high confidence you can beat a guy you really dislike, which is just motivated reasoning in a lot of cases. Then you go up there and it doesn't work out for you. And now you've just handed your opponent, you know, yourself on a silver platter. I just don't want to see that. But so if he wants that fight for individual reasons and 170 is healthier, like by all

means do it. But like to spite Colby is a bad way to get into a tough problem is the only thing I would say. That's fair. That's fair. All right. Topic number three, BC. This is Kevin Holland.

He has terrible luck, but because Kevin Holland exists, a lot of other people have great luck. Wow. Right? I think that's a good way to put it. This is an insane story, man. Insane. Kevin Holland was at a sushi place in Houston, Texas, estimated 40 to 50 people inside, which is not insignificant, and a shootout began, as I understand it, inside the facility. Now, Kevin Holland, along with one of his friends, were able, and other people, I guess,

in the restaurant, were able to subdue the assailant, one of the people shooting, and stop this whole thing and bring it to a peaceful-ish conclusion. I bring this up to say, one, by itself, BC, that is remarkable. How about last October, he also helped apprehend an alleged carjacker in a vehicle and then following subsequently on a foot chase. BC, is Kevin Holland Batman? He's pretty close. Who was that guy, was it in the World Series of Fighting who was like a superhero?

Phoenix Jones. I remember that. That was a little interesting. Yeah. He also fought his brother, Carlos Fodor, and then they both regretted it on my show, and it was sad. Also interesting. Look, Kevin Holland, shout out to him.

I mean, this doesn't seem like a Jon Jones and Newark type situation, Luke, where they staged that shit. Well, you know what was very believable is that someone got mugged in Newark and that people chased out. I believe that. Havingged in Newark and that people chased out. I believe that. Having been to Newark, that sounds quite realistic. Seriously, this goes without saying, and fighters might be more predetermined to be heroes in these cases, but anybody that does this in these moments of distress where everyone's

life is at stake but crosses that line and just goes for it for the sake of humanity, Luke, that's the highest level of sacrifice for the sake of humanity, Luke, that's the highest level of sacrifice. Maybe outside of giving you a kidney that I may have to one day as your insides fall out. There are two reactions when the bullets start flying. Most people run for the exit and some people run to the bullets. Kevin Holland runs to the bullets.

And he does it seemingly instinctually. Now, that may not be all that great in terms of risk management for his long-term health. And by the way, it goes to show what kind of mentality you might have to be as a fighter, like that he would do that. But also, wrapped on top of that is a concern for other people in trying to do the right thing. I would say, though, that if I lived in a place where I was trying to help people and I was witnessing carjackings and I went to go get sushi and then people started shooting each other like Yosemite Sam, I might move.

Houston seems like a nice place, but that's a lot of violence to be around. You hate Texas. I mean, what is a good place to be around here? No, Houston's actually a cool city. I like Houston. But nevertheless, dude, like finding himself in these crazy situations

and then being the voice and then force of reason is insane. Did you know who was about it too? Pavel, the coach of Valentina Shevchenko. Oh, Federtov or whatever his name is? Yeah, because that same thing happened in that small restaurant. And Pavel got shot in the stomach,

but he took out the assailants and the counterfire while Valentina obviously took shelter. What a man. Yeah, some people run from the bullets. Some run to them. It's hard to know who's going to do what. Kevin Holland runs towards him. I would just say, Kevin, be careful, bro.

You've got a full career ahead. You just moved to welterweight, man. Take it easy. Also, how good is the sushi that people are just chitting each other after? All right, topic number four, just sort of a small one. Topic number four, we talk about Alexander Volkov. Now, here is what Volk said to James Lynch. What am I saying, Volkov?

Volkanovsky. What the hell are you talking about? The featherweight champion, Volkanovsky. I apologize. Quote, obviously, Conor is always going to get his name out there. You've got to remember that. He was a featherweight. He was a champion on my division.

So I've taken out the featherweight champs. That's the only one left, isn't it? Me, Aldo, Max, and Conor. So it makes a lot of sense. Obviously, it would be a dream. And then I've taken out all the other champions in my division. So that would be incredible. Obviously, you talk about the payday and all that.

The circus around it would be great. But at the same time, talking about legacy, he's undefeated at featherweight too. That would mean something. I don't think he's making featherweight too soon. If we fight, you do it at any weight. I'd do it. Excuse me. I would do that fight at welterweight if I had to.

But at the same time, we'll see. I just worry about zombie because zombie's in front of me, and we'll see. Do you want to see a Volkanovski versus Conor McGregor fight, A? And B, if the answer is yes, is it because he would then have wins over all the previous featherweight UFC champions? That's not the answer, although I like that as a marketing hook or from Volkanovski as a reason why UFC might grab the bait. I want to have a conversation about Conor McGregor at this point

because if this was boxing, these are the only type of fights Conor McGregor would take on the pay-per-view level. It's like creative matchmaking. It's like old De La Hoya and rising Pacquiao. I wonder if we could put them together. There's potential for that. Right now, I'd love to see Gervonta Davis against Manny Pacquiao right now in a reversal of that role.

If UFC decided to go in that direction, and Luke, just, Conor's star is so strong and unique onto its own that the same reason why Dana White's willing to say, yeah, of course this guy would get a title shot right now if he wanted one in another division at Welterweight is the same reason why you could justify if this became the future for him matchmaking-wise. To me, that's smart as shit. Whether it's Conor versus Volkanovski or Conor versus Henry Cejudo at some type of catchweight or just at welterweight because it levels the playing field to a degree of Conor's natural decline

with still giving him advantages on the chances to win to retain that pay-per-view brand long enough by, you know, cycling in enough victories and not just lending out his name to lose. But it's not a loss to the legacies of these other guys because they dared to be great in some super pay-per-view fight and moved up and lost to a bigger guy. No shame in that, Luke. There really isn't. No shame in that. All they get from that is financial gain, to be really fair. So as long as they don't get hurt, it's actually pretty smart matchmaking. But I think if you're UFC and you're going to do that, then do that.

You know what I mean? There's a couple lanes with Conor. One is a rebuilt title champion. At 155. At 155 and get into a war with Nurmagomedov extended family and Islam Mahachev and all that. One lane is BMF action fights with Diaz trilogy with Masvidal. I think

the third lane is preserve it's a little more respect I think to show the that's what I wish they would have done with Anderson Silva rather than keep feeding him to like Derek Brunson we've went through that story a million times but there's you do you do you find any sort of romance in that or is that just me bringing a boxing

you know failed creation template and inserting it into MMA. It seems a little bit uninspired. It's like, all right, who can we match up Conor with now? And you're just trying to find every permutation. Let me, one question, I want to make a point. Volkanovski, Conor, 155, who wins?

It should not take much deliberation. Really? You think it's that competitive? Obviously, knee-jerk is Volkanovski without question, but the size difference matters. It's going to matter to a certain point. It matters at first. It won't matter after a point.

Does it matter for 60 seconds or does it matter for eight minutes? You know what I'm saying? And if it matters, then, I mean, Conor, it's not as if there's nothing left in Conor. No, I don't think that's right. And that's why then, I mean, Conor, like, it's not as if there's nothing left in Conor. No, I don't think that's right. And that's why this, I think, this is such a brilliant potential lane to promote him as because you're leveling what's the differences. Dude, he couldn't beat a guy as skilled as Volkanovski in his own division right now. No chance, right?

Not no chance, but not likely. Dude, I don't hate this. Seriously. Really? So tell me. I don't hate it, but I just find it uninspiring. Part of why is, you remember, UFC gets the rare chance to be creative when a big fight falls apart. So 196 was Conor against RDA.

RDA pulls out the last minute. We know it ends up being Nate Diaz. But, you know, Uriah Faber told me and told a million people that he was the other finalist. And it's like, at that point, that's kind of interesting, right? An old Uriah Faber moving up in Wade and on last minute trying to do this against, and they're feeding him to the buzzsaw of this fresh young kid. I liked that idea. I'm going to guess you hated that idea.

Of the Nate replacement? If it wasn't Nate going the Faber route. It does nothing for me. It does nothing for me. Maybe I'm just the kind of person that just likes to see fireworks go off. I like fireworks. And I like different varieties of it, too. I like the Roman candles.

I used to make fun of people that love fireworks. I know my best friend in the world, Bogo, is watching. Jeff's watching right now, and he's like, dude, you white trash piece of crap. You hate it. You hated on me for years because I like fireworks. But as you grow older, fireworks aren't that bad. They're kind of cool. Let's back up a step.

You buried the lead. Your friends watch this show? Because my friends aren't that bad. They're kind of cool. So I'm clean. You buried the lead. Your friends watch this show? Because my friends don't. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My friends don't even know what this show is called. I'll just say this. For me, at 145, with things unresolved, I'm going to call it that with Max, Korean zombie is certainly a threat you could not dismiss.

Yeah, but because Max is now announcing, hey, everybody, I'm healthy, it kind of lowers the value on the TKZ fight. Be honest. It does. A little bit. A little bit. A little bit. But I'm just sort of pointing out, like, there's still unfinished business.

And certainly, certainly, a Volkanovski fight against McGregor would be great. It'd be cool. But I just feel like there's so many questions about McGregor. And the way in which Volkanovsky wins is so meticulous and disciplined and ahead of the game. That's a great add to his legacy, though, if he gets that win. Oh, that's huge. Before Conor loses too many times.

He would have beaten Max twice, Aldo, Mendez, and Conor. And moving up that much. Dude, you know what I call it? The same thing 311 did in 1997. It's a beautiful disaster, Luke, that fight idea. Beautiful disaster. Riding down. Flying in the street again.

Yo, that Transistor record, when it first came out, I was like, man, this record sucks. And there's only three songs. And they're all on MTV. But those three songs do roll. Do you remember when people thought they were a racist band because the 11th letter of the alphabet is K? But then years later, Luke, your transistor is pretty awesome. It's spacey. Especially if you're white.

Especially. All right, topic number five. Last but certainly not least, what we put this show together with. Fucking bubble gum and toothpaste. Okay, here we go. Showtime, we were here yesterday for. Showtime announced their schedule from basically now until July or so. It's a five-month, nine events, two pay-per-views, 21 undefeated fighters.

There's a full-on unification. There's a whole lot going on. There's a little more than that. March 26th, Tim Zhu, Tyrell Gaucher. April 9th, Erickson Lubin, Sebastian Fundora. AT&T Stadium, April 16th is the big one. Errol Spence Jr. versus Jordanus Ugas. I mean, I can't wait to see that. May 14th, Charlo versus Castaño, two.

By the way, Boots Ennis on that one. Oh, yeah. Pustio Clayton. May 21st, David Benavidez versus David Lemieux. Lemieux, excuse me, March, excuse me, May 28th, Tank Davis versus Rolando Romero, who, by the way, bragged he had no game plan. Get the stretcher ready. Romero and his trainer

train to fight in the street. They don't train boxing. And they're open about it. Like, yo, we train to punch people in the face. And I love that. June 4th, Stephen Fulton Jr.

taking on Danny Roman. June 18th, Jermall Charlo taking on Zaleski. And then San Antonio July 9th. Just say it. Machi Zaleski.

Just say that shit. And then Mark Magsaya who just won the belt obviously from Gary Russell Jr. defended against Ray Vargas. BC, what stands out? This is a really solid announcement and I'm going to say it's unfortunate. Two things went against this announcement to a certain degree that were inevitable. One

was that because a lot of these fights were still in motion up until when this announcement came and it pushed the announcement back a couple times a lot of these fights had already been leaked. You know what I mean? So it didn't hit you in the face like it could have if this was done in some theater with all the fighters there in suits, which we've seen done in the past, right?

Like up front or whatever. And then two was that it was supposed to be Canelo Charlo as the centerpiece to this. You remove something like that, you remove something like Charlo Munguia, which also almost happened. And by the way, our chat with Steven Espinosa really goes in-depth on all that stuff and more,

so check that out on YouTube. But Luke, all in all, dude, when you look at the matchups, I mean, you look at the investment in the 154-pound division, getting Tim Zhu's U.S. debut, getting Charlo Castaño, too, which was such a war for all four belts, on regular showtime, getting tank back. Dude, that Danny Roman, such a war for all four belts on regular showtime.

Getting tank back. Okay, it's, dude, that Danny Roman, Stephen Fulton Jr. fight on June 4th, the real ones, the real fans know that 122 fight is going to be legit. I'm not here to overly show, but I'm also here to tell you, I mean, this is pretty damn good. All right, so let me tell you my favorite ones. I like the Zu Gose fight. I like Jerron Ennis versus Gustio Clayton because obviously you have Jaron Ennis.

Brandon Lee taking on Zachary Ochoa. Obviously for me, the crown jewel is going to be Spence versus Ugas. Three of the four belts in that weight class. You couldn't miss it. Stephen Fulton, Danny Roman, as you mentioned before. Here's a question that I got from fans that I would like to hear you answer. Okay, you got Benavidez versus Lemieux, and you've got Charlo, Jamal Charlo taking on Selesky. Why isn't Charlo go ahead and got Benavidez versus Lemieux, and you've got Charlo, Jamal Charlo, taking on Selesky.

Why isn't Charlo go ahead and fighting Benavidez? Yeah, there was sort of, you know, we did an interview with David Benavidez, by the way. We did. That's going to be up soon as well. He talked mad shit about Caleb Plant. Really about anybody we asked him to or just said, hey, what do you think about this? Which is why I love the guy. He absolutely brings it.

But look, you know, there was some quick talk about Benavidez fighting Plant. And then suddenly there was this idea of maybe Plant would fight Durrell. And then the winner of that would face the winner of Benavidez versus Lemieux later in the year. And then that sort of fell apart. I'm happy.

I know people didn't like the Maciej Silecki name as well as, you know, compared to who it could have been. And I agree, as a last minute fix, that's an interesting fight, and I think it's going to be fun to watch. But it's... Are these set-up fights for Benavidez versus Plant or Charlo versus whoever?

In a perfect world, Luke, it would already be booked, or it would have already happened. But do you know what the problem is? What? Canelo came in the area. Right. And that problem... That changed everything.

It creates so much great, but it also makes more people, just like when Floyd was on top, say, I don't know if I need this career-defining fight right here if I can keep my record unblemished enough first to get Canelo and get that payday and that life-changing opportunity. Now, someone like David Benavidez isn't in that lane. He's like, dude, I'll fight you in the backyard if you want to. And that's what he's all about. But that's what he's all about. But that's what happened, and I just hope now that, okay, let's do these last steps, and then whoever was supposed to fight Canelo this year at 68 or wanted to but can't because he's going up to 75,

fight each other. We all need you to fight each other. So Anthony Durrell's coming in after that big uppercut win to kind of revive maybe one last big fight for him. And we've obviously got Caleb Plant looking to rebound from the Canelo loss. We've got David Benavidez. Demetrius Andrade isn't with this network or promoter, but dude, if he doesn't get a fight eventually...

Benavidez mentioned him by name as well. If they don't eventually just say, hey, look, whatever we have to do to help you go somewhere else to fight a defining fight, let's do that. These are going to be fun fights. And if Canelo's going to potentially come back in 23 and be a free agent again, broadcasting-wise, and of course Showtime's not burning that bridge. They're keeping it, you know, business as usual. He could

then come back against sort of the winner of this 168 unofficial Ron Robin to find out who really deserves Canelo next. That's just me matchmaking and thinking out loud. So I mentioned with my favorite fight is just the, I don't know how you could pick anything other than Spence Jr. versus Yordenis Ugas. On that card, Radzab Utaev. We saw him recently. Dude, he's coming on at Welterweight. Who is this? Emanitas Stenos.

Yeah, so he's from Lithuania, so let's respect him without knowing him, right? Look, he's been that Swiss Army knife guy who's been a mandatory for everybody and takes step-aside money, but the times he's stepped up and shown, he could be something. Look, he could be.

At the very least, he's a tough-ass out, and with all those belts at the WBA... Buttaev's a beast. Buttaev's got one of the bootleg WBA belts. There's too many, but now at least they're making them all fight each other, and this is that step toward that. So, dude, if Buttaev's for real, then he's going to beat Staniosis, but

that's no easy task, and then hopefully the winner finally gets their chance at the winner of Uga-Spence, maybe not right away, but after. Do you think it's more likely that Keith Thurman or Terrence Crawford is watching Ugas Spence and thinking they have next? What's more likely? Thurman. I don't know what Crawford's doing, other than pricing himself out maybe.

Maybe, maybe, yeah. But Thurman, I think, is looking to – he lost so much time. I think he's definitely looking for, like, what's a big matchup I can get on board with, stay active. He looked pretty good for the most part, certainly, in his last fight. So there's that. Also, as I mentioned, only two pay-per-views. The pay-per-views are Tank Davis. We asked Steven Espinosa about how pay-per-view gets decided versus regular showtime

because, for example, both Charlo's will be fighting on regular showtime. The only pay-per-view ones are Tank Davis, Errol Spence Jr., right, which makes sense. Those are huge fights you want to have. Certainly Tank Davis is a pay-per-view star. Also, the original Tank Davis versus Rolando Romero fight was going to be in L.A. They have moved it. That will be May 28th, as I mentioned.

That will be at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. So a bit of a home game for you and I in that sense. And the final bit of news that came out of that was we also saw a boxing scene put out the story, which Stephen S. Mills has confirmed that they have signed Jaron Boots

as that rising potential superstar. He's my most favored prospect in all of boxing. He's got next at Welterweight. Even though Boots

has not signed with PBC and at this point doesn't plan to, he's got his own promoter, Cameron Duncan, and that at times could look like dicey, like maybe, you know,

Al Hayman and company aren't going to go out of their way to put their guys against him. But Showtime then jumps in and signs him to a multi-fight deal. So he's not with PBC. Not with PBC. But he's with Showtime. But look, he's fighting Custio Clayton coming up May 14th. Which is a mandatory, right?

Yeah. I think it's like one of those final title eliminator type fights. And Clayton's with the PBC. And, you know, he's fought other guys with the PBC, and he's on PBC cards. And from masking Steven Espinosa this, it seems to be everybody's willing to do a working agreement. The good news is even if they weren't, Boots is so close to being a mandatory for whoever comes out of this Spence-Ugas fight

that he's going to get that opportunity to fight no matter what anyway. I like that everybody's getting along and that our bosses were like, oh, that guy boots on this. Yeah, let's commit to him. Let me ask you a question. So we go back to one more thing. Spence and Ugas. For folks who don't know,

there are four titles in that weight class. Ugas has one of them. Spence has two of them. The last belongs to Terrence Crawford. So the winner of Spence versus Ugas is going to have three of the four. Which person winning, realistically, not in your mind about what you would like to see,

does Spence grabbing all three or does Ugas grabbing all three pull Crawford to PBC? Which one is a greater fishing expedition? Spence. Spence is. Because that's the one that has more money? Because they're going to be asking Terrence Crawford, obviously, to take a pay cut from what he was used to getting at top rank to fight whomever. Because top rank, again, on multiple contracts, had to give him enough money to keep him there and not have him leave. Dude, if Crawford goes to PBC, I can't even remember. So if you're going to give him, you know, look, obviously there's going to be a negotiation. If Crawford is committed in doing this, obviously he's got to get his number to a different area.

If they can find a, you know, if they can meet in that area, look, Spence is the fight that we all want. And they are at this point right now with Spence having his own questions entering this Ugas fight about the retina surgery, about the accident from a couple of years ago, everything. Where if they don't do it soon, they ain't doing it. We were missing it. It'll be the Riddick Bowe versus Lennox Lewis and the pros that never happened and should have, you know?

And so I think, yes, Luke, you know, I don't even, if Ugas wins, I don't even know how Crawford, where he goes, which direction he goes, you know? Okay, where would he go if, okay, so let's say Ugas wins and Crawford's like, fuck that, I don't, that doesn't do anything for me. Where, who would he fight? I can't, I still can't figure that part out. Right, because even if he was going to move up to 154, which he teased about, all the 154s, including Tim Zunow,

are in the Showtime, PBC, you know, greater Fox universe, okay? So that's what's up in that regard, Luke. Spence, 32 years old, Crawford, 34. The clock is ticking. So what would Crawford do? I mean, could he sign with the Zone and fight Virgil Ortiz Jr.? Yes. Just a lot of a fight. Could he fight other smaller guys that are, like Ryan Garcia is eventually going to move up, but he's probably going to have to wait until he's even older to get these opportunities if he's just kind of wait around for them. So

if you're Crawford, now would be the time to get in with Al Heyman and figure out what's the middle number we can do. And if it works for both sides, hey, Crawford, that's how you cement that legacy. And I know what Luke Hill said a million times in the camera, maybe to screw Bob Arum or whatever, just be like, I don't care. I don't care, man. I made my money. I don't care if I never fight again.

I do not think he believes that at night because he is a competitor. Bud Crawford's a gangster in that ring. He's a dog. He is a competitor. I mean, so you can't be a dog and then be like, yeah, Spence, I don't need you, bro. Just walk away.

You can't. You can't. You can't do that. That's not what the greats did. I'm sorry. They set the template. You know, the four kings, they set the template in the modern era on how to be. Obviously, you can't be like that all the time.

In every generation and era, people are going to get steamrolled and never walk or talk again, Luke. But sometimes you're blessed with that spirit. That spirit's coming back. There's a guy on the Phoenix card whose name is Yo Elvis Gomez. I like that name. Yo Elvis. Yo Elvis. All right, let's keep the show rolling here.

So look, we once created this segment and we didn't invent shows with wheels and now everybody's got a wheel. I don't even care. It's just for the viewers because they think it's funny. Luke can be pedantic. Be nice. You don't have to be mean here. Okay.

Luke sometimes doesn't want to talk about certain things. So we created a segment called Wheel of Death where I stuff all of these into different categories. And he randomly spins them. And if he gets the question, he must provide a good faith response to a decently faith question. It's called the Wheel of Death. Oh. Grab that thing there. Fuck my life.

We have 14 category, 14 spin options, 12 of them are categories, but there's also add a spin, which means you have to spin six times instead of five, Luke.

There's also Luke's choice, which means you choose the category of your choice. Why can't Luke's choice be like, yo, I don't want to do nothing for this one? Oh, you want like a,

like a pass, like a immunity idol or something on there. Let's go to the categories. We have War Games, Inside the MK Studio, Molka Power Rankings. Oh, fuck. Nostalgic Pie. That sounds vaguely pornographic. Get Behind Me, Satan. Add a Spin.

Okay, that's the one you mentioned. Encanto Karaoke. Shoot Your Shot. Luke's Choice, Dial M for Milligrams, Middle Nog, okay, that's interesting, yay, Pwawee Way, Anglo-Saxon Booty, Sextet Daily, and then we're back. All right. All Sextet Daily? No, this is a practice spin because I can never remember which way is the best way.

Is this the best way? So Luke gets five spins unless he lands on add a spin. And you get what you get. We'll see what happens. What happens if I get add a spin on my fifth one? I have to do it again? They would raise your total up to six that you needed to spin. So you'd have to spin two more times. I'm not doing that.

I'm just going to add one. I'm telling you I'm not doing that. But okay. It doesn't replace the spin. It adds another spin on top. That's what I'm saying. But one I'm telling you I'm not doing that but okay. It doesn't replace the spin adds another spin on top That's what I'm saying, but there's the one more if your fifth spin adds a numerical extra spin Yes, a numerical extra category. Yeah Okay, I Have to be technical with you and pedantic

This is going to fucking blow. All right, Luke's choice. Yes. You've never gotten Luke's choice before. No, I've not. Jesus. How about Anglo-Saxon booty? Okay, here we go. Luke, we all know your love affair for women, whether celebrity or civilian,

and your preference that they be of the Latin persuasion. It's because they're apex predators. Well, go ahead. I mean, it's well-documented, but Wheel of Death ain't Burger King, Luke. Bro, you can't have it your way. This is a BBC with that BDE production. So name for me your current top three non-BBL celebrity crushes that better illustrate your complete and well-rounded palette for booty of all nations.

Ooh, I don't know if I have any. Now, when you say, okay, celebrity crushes. So it could be an actress or something like that. Anyone famous that you want to bang if you weren't married. I'm so glad my family doesn't watch a thing I do. How about Scarlett Johansson? That's a classic pick right there. Yeah, that's a good one.

That's a good one. How about Scar Jo? How about... Would you take the modern version, or if you can go back in a time machine and get the pre-first Woody Allen movie version? We leave Woody Allen out of the sex discussion, please. Dude, I don't know her...

I think I know her name, because my boy... Shout-outs to my boy Rafael Garcia. He posts about her all the time. That's how I found it. She wrestles for AEW. Her name is Jade, I think, Cargill? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

She is so fine, it's impossible to describe. Wow. So that's two. Okay. Okay. Now, they could be from, like, any parts of the rest of the world, right? Just not Hispanic. That's tough. That's tough for me, bro.

So they're not watching Encanto right now. So they're not. None of the music that I follow. Dude, it's like you don't, okay, I struggle to name who would be like a third? Paulo Cruz? Costa? Paulo Costa? Sorry. I went to high school with Paulo Cruz. Isn't that a dude? Paulo Cruz? Costa? Paulo Costa?

Sorry, I went to high school with Paulo Cruz. Isn't that a dude? Yeah, I was giving you the full palette. Also from South America? Sorry, also, yes. Who's another? Dude, I'm really struggling here. I'm trying to think of another.

Wow, dude. Are you that deep? Are you that much Latin poetry that you can't even complete the assignment? How about like as a high school crush? Sure. As a celebrity. You can bring in a classic. Go ahead. It was not Cindy Crawford. It was

Kathy Ireland. Yeah, she was on the cover of the 92. Kathy Ireland when I was a 12-year-old was the BZ. You don't understand if you think that's gross. They would push that shit on late night TV over and over and over again. Kathy Ireland, that would go. HBO was playing that on a loop.

Yeah, they were. Kathy Ireland. So Kathy Ireland, Jade Cargill, and Scarger. Okay. That's pretty good. Spin number two. Good angle of sex and booty, Luke. So ominous, that clicking. Yeah, because it could really go south for you right here, Luke. Shoot your shot.

Oh, boy. Do you want me to jizz in your face? Wow. This one is easy and straightforward. Our Malka staff will provide shots of unidentified alcohol. As long as BC and one staff member of Luke's Choice are willing to drink one, you will have this double shot already poured, mostly because you weigh more and because you once lied to us on the air

and said that you dunked in high school and you would take 40 to 50 beers right now to get you drunk, which is just such macho bullshit. It's not macho bullshit. All right, here we go. Here we go. Luke, who is your staff member of choice? Ashley.

No. This is easy. Ashley. That's your double shot right there, Luke. Wow. Fucking steady hands with me over here. Jesus. Come on, Ash.

You don't have to. You don't have to. You don't have to. I'm going to throw up. Well, then don't have to do it. Are you going to throw up for real? Dude, I'm not taking a fucking double shot on a fucking what are you doing to me dude this the wheel the wheel sets the rules bro not me okay you know what i mean like the hold on hold on what is in your glass your single shots single no of what motherfucker we

can't tell you because then you'll disperse you Bitch, you urinated in this. I'm not drinking this. No, I poured it. It's mystery. You think I trust you anymore? Oh, God. I can't say what it is. Here's to swimming with bow-legged women. Fuck your life. Can we do a Colombian? Okay, so you have to go pa' arriba, pa' abajo,

el centro, pa' dentro. Yeah, man. Oh, shit. Ah! Yeah. Ah! Wow. Wow. I hope we don't get that one again, Luke. Oh, God. It tastes like vanilla and ass. You know the reason why we can't tell you what it is. You know that.

Because it's covered in semen, probably. Probably. That was so bad. Dude, fuck you. That was manly of you to attack that shit and not... Because you're like, could I get away with... Can I get a water, please? You're like, could I get away with bitching out on this? You know, technically it's 1208, so it's after me.

You looked into that camera and you were like, no, I must perform for the people. Spin number three coming up next. Oh, God. Do I have to drink anymore today? Who else wants something of BC? Yeah. Do I have to drink anymore today? Who else wants something of BC? Yeah. Do I have to drink anymore today? No.

Okay. One and done with that. Oh. I never thought we'd actually get that. It happened. We should actually drink every show now. I mean, this is great. The aftermath will be a debacle, but.

Luke's choice again. Oh, boy. Okay. How about Get Behind Me, Satan? Okay. This is quick and easy. You'll love this. All right.

Very good. I'm doing five of these. This is three, correct? This is number three. Luke, I get a lot of grief on this show from fans of music. Just chuck it, bro. What are you doing? Yo, Tristan, get on camera, bro.

Tristan, you in no way were not on camera, just so you know. Like, everyone saw that. Luke, I get ripped by our fans who like the same music as you because they think I'm a snob and that I have no clue about art or the human experience. But not only are they right, Luke, I was also right.

Because of the spirit of this segment built on the premise of making you do things you don't want to, humor me for a bit. I know you love death metal. And I know you love contemporary Latin music. But I don't want to talk about that shit. I know you love death metal, and I know you love contemporary Latin music, but I don't want to talk about that shit. I love classic rock and nearly every genre related to that that comes out of that, okay, Luke? In the larger heading of rock and roll, because I'm an American man, that's why, okay? So for this question, name three classic rock albums released between 1965 and

1980 that you either currently own or at one time did, have a working knowledge of, and also believe belong in the canon of rock and roll history. I can't name one. I don't have a single one. I don't have a single one. You didn't have Led Zeppelin II on CD in high school. No.

I cannot. You didn't have ACDC Back in Black. My brother did. My brother had Back in Black, which is a phenomenal album, yes, after Bon Scott died in his own vomit from drinking, by the way. That's a fun little story.

So my brother had Back in Black, so yes, he did have that. My brother had Cat Stevens. Okay, that's not bad. And he had, oh, you know who my brother was big into? John Denver. Okay, but what were you into?

Not that shit. What was the spirit of this question in that category. Dude, I... There was never a point in your life... You're asking me to have things happen in my life that did not happen. I don't know what to give to you. Like, BC, I need you to go back and have a lot of sex, right? I need you to fuck your way

through high school. Yeah, okay. Alright, Luke, let's keep it going here. Let's not fight this any longer. You talked a big game about the wheel. I'm a little... Like Stephen Espinosa yesterday. I'm a little underwhelmed Oh Beetlejuice, please look in the mirror and say that in front of the wheel three times, please. I Know I just dug my own grave. Yes, you did. Yes you did There are this is for this there are you know pipe bombs under there Luke get behind Get behind me, say what you already did. You gotta spin again. Get behind me, death music.

This is you motorboating chicks with tattoos on their boobs. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Already did this one. Okay. Remember when we used to have that predetermined wheel?

That was better, right? That digital predetermined wheel where there was no luck at all? Okay. I'm going to go this way. I'm going to go this way. How about Luke's choice? Third spin, you go to jail, Luke.

Inside the MK studio. Oh, hell yeah. Okay, Luke, here we go. Don't make me name people on the staff. Luke, do you remember that weird yet interesting show called Inside the Actor's Studio where James Lipton picks the artistic brain of Hollywood's most storied and talented performers to find out what inspires them? Let's do that same shit,

but let's do it MK style. Invite less than Jake, the cameraman and eclectic MK documentarian, to sit in my seat and you conduct a serious interview with him asking a minimum of four questions about his MK documentary processes, inspiration, and execution of these critically- Bring it on. Let's do it.

That only a fraction of our MK audience have ever admitted to watching. All right, BC, can you go op James? You got to go run the camera, fuckface. On my own doc? What kind of bullshit is this? I was kind of hoping for an incanto karaoke. Hey, Luke, you get what you get. You got to keep that one on there. I feel like I could do well at that.

Can they hear Jake, just to make sure? Can you hear me in the back? You got to tell me that, Corey. Okay, all right. Hi, Jake. Why don't you introduce yourself to the camera? Hello. Which camera, the wide or the tight?

First of all, talk like a normal person. I don't know what he's talking about. But my name is Jake. I'm Documentarian Jake is what I'm normally called and referred to on the floor. I could be less than Jake, too, depending on who talks about me. Dude, you're fooling nobody. I understand that, right? I'm originally from a small island off Canada, which is why they have the Blue Jays hat,

and then I moved to England, and that's how I studied film and got involved with you guys. First question, what was the last time you showered? The last time I showered, oh, it's a great one, actually. Probably would have to be this morning, actually. I did shower this morning, contrary to beliefs of how I look. BC, you're a dumb motherfucker. I just got to point that out.

I mean, you have done the absolute worst job. All right, so there's one. Jake, when you film us in Las Vegas or any other place, how do you think about what to shoot? What is important? What is not important? Well, I think it's important we take a step back to realize... Why are you talking like this? I don't know what he's talking about, honestly.

I was on holiday one day in Lithuania and I saw a billboard and on the billboard was a picture of Brian Campbell and after doing some research I found the show Morning Combat and let's just say the character dynamic is absolutely riveting, and there's so much story and just dense work there. And I reached out to Luke and Brian, and I was brought along, and so the inspiration came along. How long did you practice this accent in the mirror, over or under five minutes? I do not know what you're talking about, sir. Frankly, it's a little embarrassing. Okay.

What's your favorite part of all six docs that you've shot? Just as clarification, you've shot all six? All six of them. What's your favorite? Well, she prepared me for this a little more. I would have to say my favorite part of the documentaries would be... I don't know what this is, by the way. I'm in the fucking Twilight Zone. I just had two shots of liquor, and he's talking like an Australian that's been hit in the head with a tire iron.

Maybe that wasn't liquor then in your glass. Okay, answer the question. My favorite part of the documentaries is probably just the dynamic storytelling of you guys and the depth of your friendship. And Jason Aaron, specifically. Oh, death of your friendship and Jason Aaron specifically well oh what's so great about Jason Aaron this is the guy we fired by the way how his character dynamic is extends beyond imagination and he's just a fascinating person to mix with you and Brian say Shelley sells seashells by the sea I believe that full questions, and my time is done here.

Well, cheerio, fuckface. Round of applause for Jake, everybody. Round of applause. Come on. Let's have him out here. There we go. All right, we got one more, right? That was incredible.

Why are you sweating like a whore in church? Okay. All right, here we go. Thank you, Jake. I don't know what the fuck. What was he doing with the bit there? I was in tears. Dude, he stuck to the bit, too. I think't know what the fuck. What was he doing with the bit there? I was in tears. Dude, he stuck to the bit, too.

I think I wet my pants. The commitment was he's an artist at the end of the day. You know what? He does love your bullshit. Yeah. All right, here we go. Last one. I really am hoping for Encanto karaoke.

There's a way this ends normal, and there's a way this ends absurd, Luke. Let's see which one you get. Yes! Okay. Enc! Okay. Encanto karaoke. Well, Luke, the staff's fear of copyright infringement could mean that the people won't be able to hear the music, which could get away from this. Can I see the lyrics?

How am I going to hear? You're going to see the lyrics, okay? Okay. I've watched this song and video so many times. Which one is this? There's several songs. We don't talk about Bruno. Here we go. We? There's several songs. We don't talk about Bruno. Here we go.

We don't talk about Bruno? We don't talk about Bruno time. Okay, hold on. Can I? Corey, talk in my ear. Do I need just my regular microphone or do I need the handheld? I think you should use the karaoke microphone. That's what I think you should use.

He's saying do regular. Turn it off and use it as a prop. Okay, I'm going to turn it off. It's locked. How do I turn it off? Hey, sound people. Okay. All right, here we gonna turn it off. It's locked. How do I turn it off? Come some- hey, sound, sound people. Okay. All right, here we go. All right, so how's this gonna go? You're just gonna play it in my ear?

Oh, wait, wait, time out, time out, time out, time out, hold on, before you go, BC! How long do I have to do this? As long as you want. You get a minute. Okay, minute. You get a minute. All right, Luke, I'm gonna play the lyrics, but we can't play the music, because it- Can you play it in my ear?

No, there's no way? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can. Play it in my ear. Give me a sec. Are you ready? As ready as I'm going to be, bitch. Do you hear this? We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no, no.

We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no. We don't talk about Bruno. But it was my wedding day. We were getting ready and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. No clouds allowed in the sky. Bruno walks in with a mischievous grin. Are you telling this story or am I? I'm sorry, me need to go on. Bruno says it looks like rain.

Why did he tell us? In doing so, he floods my brain. How will I get the umbrellas? Married in a hurricane. What a joyous day. But anyway, we don't talk about Bruno No, no, no No se habla de Bruno

Here we go Hey, grew to live in fear of Bruno stuttering and stumbling I can always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling I associate him with the sound of falling sand Cha-cha-cha-cha It's a heavy lift with a gift so humbling Always left abuela in the family fumbling Grappling with prophecies they couldn't understand

Do you understand? Seven foot frame Rats along his back When he calls your name You can lick my nut sack Hey, yeah, he sees your dreams And feasts on your screams We don't talk about Bruno.

No, no, no, no. We don't talk about Bruno. Come on, BC, do it with me, you fucking loser. Here we go. He told me my fish would die the next day. Dead. And then Pepe slept with all the women. He told me I'd grow a gut, and just like he said,

I love Columbia. He said that all my hair would disappear. Now look at my head. Your fate is sealed when your breath is red. Hold on, here we go. He told me that the life of my dreams would be promised and someday be mine. He told me that my power would grow like the grapes that thrive on the vine. Or Jay Mariano's on his way.

I'm a little fast. Hang on. He told me that the man of my dreams would be just out of reach. Betrothed to another. It's like I hear him now. Hey, sis, I want not a sound out of you. I can hear him now. Hey, sis, I want not a sound out of you. I can hear him now. I'm Bruno.

Yeah, about that Bruno. I really need to know about Bruno. Give me the truth and the whole truth, Bruno. Isabella, your boyfriend is here. Time for dinner. He a seven-foot-free. Shut it dinner. He a seven foot free razzle on. Let me finish, fucker! When he calls your name

it all fades to black. Yeah, he sees your dreams and feasts on your screams. You telling this story or am I? I'm sorry, me need to go. Sir, you've had too much to drink. Sir, we're cutting you off. We're cutting you off. Hey!

That was terrible. Whew! Okay, you can kill it in my ear, Corey. I'm still hearing him here. That was the wheel of death. That was the end of Luke's career. And tune in Friday for BC and Helwani. I just want to say, I drank booze.

I told you who I wanted to bang. I did lyrics. I did karaoke. What else did I do? And I had to interview this fucker with this weird accent? Yo, I don't know if, like not only was that

the highlight of this show, it might be the all-time highlight of this show, okay? Hey, do I have a future in singing? Wow. Do you know that as great as Wheel of Death Was today Even though you tried to curse it

The whole way Before taking part finally Is that there were like Three other questions That would have been Even more out there Even way out there Dude that's our best

Wheel of Death yet Save them for later Thank you to the staff For helping out And putting this thing down Wow How do you think Ashley's Doing from that shot

She probably wants more Knowing her Did you Was that because Brian walked by Okay How do you think Ashley's doing from that shot? She probably wants more, knowing her. Did you? Was that because Brian walked by? Okay. All right. What are we going to do, fan subs?

Yeah, let's close with this. Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. What's the word on the interview, Corey? We are getting that interview in nine minutes. Are we? Yeah. Okay. So stay tuned.

Why don't we tell them who it is? Yeah, so unbeaten, rising junior middleweight, Australia's own, the son of a legend, Tim Zoo going to stop by the live MK Wednesday show today, 1230, just a few minutes, ET. Okay, Luke, we close with fan subs here. Got sweaty in here. Got weird, right? Yeah, had a little fun today.

Okay. I might need like a napkin or something for all this man water that's coming down. You mean piss? Morningcombat.gmail.com is the home to send in your fan subs. I heard these are awesome. Let's go. We start with Mikey, our producer.

My best friends just had a set of twins and we wanted to introduce the youngest members of the MK family, Summer and Remy, repping the MK gear, Luke, at five days old. Congrats to Molly and Julian. Julian's a big fan of the eighth row seat on all Delta flights. I don't, I don't, okay, the twins are, absolutely. I mean, that's the next generation of MK fans right there.

Yeah, first of all, adorable. The dog is adorable. Everything about it is adorable, other than we've got to retire the dog shit. I mean, it's just the worst at this point. This is a tribute to, what's the guy's name? Bruno. Bruno.

We don't talk about Bruno on this show. All right, let's keep it going here. This is from Pedro. Hey there, Luke in BC. My name is Pedro. Oh, hell yeah. On the soccer pitch. Big fan of the award-winning show

from the very start. Been listening to Luke since the promotional malpractice days. It was my birthday recently and then my lovely wife surprised me with a sweet MK shirt. We made the trip from my factory hometown of Lafayette, Indiana,

a famous manufacturing... Not famous. ...suburb of the Wabash Subarus. I'm just waking up words. We're as factory as it gets. Are you waking up words? Wake up words. Wake up.

FC Cincinnati versus your team, Luke, DC United. It's FC Cincinnati. I don't know if that's MLS or USAPL. This is me at 31 years of age starting to feel washy like BC, and I've had a few to drink in this photo, but I thought I'd send it in anyways. You guys have the best combat sports show out there. P.S. My wife sometimes thinks I love you guys more than I love her.

Well, you're fucking better. Yeah, I mean, I don't see you wearing shirts with her face on it. Yeah, exactly. By the way, shouts to this dude. Shouts to all the MK soccer fans. Y'all are appreciated. Thank you for this friend of the show, Pedro. Thank you.

Tyler says, my boy BC with the BDE is always just enjoying life and putting on a good show when he catches some shrapnel from the fans. I'm sick of BC getting shit in the middle of a Luke dead wrong. Viva BC. And we all know how BC hurt his back. It was carrying around those big old balls. All of that Musassi pick. Yeah, man.

That's what I'm talking about. Did it take balls to pick the favorite? Was that what it did? Is it sweaty in here or is it me? Okay. You are having menopause. Can I get my own fan

over here, please? Thank you very much. I'm having hot flashes. Yeah. Sergio says, hi, Lukito and Brianito. Greetings from Mieres del Camino,

Asturias, Spain. Oh, yeah. I'm sending you a photo along with part of my library so that Lukito can see that you can be from an industrial town and not be illiterate. Yeah. You can even watch a show without the need of subtitles. A hug from another 40-something male.

All right. Thank you, Sergio. Abrazo, Sergio. Look, we have fans everywhere. We have fans in Spain now. Abrazo. Like Kathy Ireland, we reign in Spain. The reign in Spain reigns only on the Spaniards.

Okay, Adam says, as a fellow large cranium donk, Luke's story about needing a hat on his trip to Colombia really hit home. Dude, they literally made fun of my head. They were like, we don't even know if we have sizes for melons that look like that. And I was like, yeah, that's fair. Abdi says, hello, fellas. I'm from Toronto. And my friend Dan Nell is from South Dakota.

Mentioned, I just wanted to tell Luke all the homies in my hood love Encanto. I like it too. Okay. I've seen it. He does. Dom says, sup, you filthy old dogs. Just got back from a week-long vacation in the DR.

Had to rep my MK hoodie on the flight to and from Minneapolis. That's what I'm talking about. Blow up that photo? Starting the trip off by shoving my face hole with margaritas and cheese curds to get my stomach ready for the toilet bowl filled week ahead. Then on our way home, we had a six-hour layover in Charlotte. Did this motherfucker go to a Chili's in the DR? Is that what he did?

Keep the BDE flowing. No, that's at the Minneapolis airport. And the Encanto-filled household's going. Best show out there. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Appreciate your patronage. He looks good in that powder blue, right? Actually, that does look pretty good, I have to say. It's like a North Carolina Jordan blue or whatever. Yeah, I like that. Yeah, it's nice. It's sharp.

Yeah, yeah. Okay. It's sharp. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Cheesing. Okay. I was just kind of waiting for my fallopian tubes to catch up. Okay, yeah, thank you. All right. Me too, actually.

Adam says, fresh off Monday's show, and I had to throw together a couple of fan subs because of BC's tomfoolery. I don't know if BC is taking his nickname, The Sauce, too seriously, but Monday shows aren't the episodes where you come in on The Sauce. I've never understood why Luke decided to destroy his lungs after the age of 40,

until now. What is a reverse 69? Sounds sexual, Luke, okay? Is it just normal standing up? Wow. Cesar, Cesar, Cesar says, if this doesn't make Wednesday's fansub, you can all go to hell.

Just kidding. Love you, donks. Yeah, that's funny. All right, what else we got? Yeah, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. Okay, vape tartare is fucking hilarious. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. Okay. Vape Tartare is fucking hilarious.

That is really funny. All right. Adam says, so the subreddit got a few chuckles last week at the expense of Luke. So we thought we would spread the love out to BC as well. From his black liver to his Wheel of Death ramblings, no one brings the sauce to a show like BC. Side note, why does Luke have such a problem with BC being the sauce? He is something that brings a dash of flavor and excitement to the sustenance that is

Luke's analysis. You're meat and potatoes, bitch. Yes. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Thank you. Thank you. That wasn't true today. That wasn't true today. You actually shortened up the questions big time. Here we go, Luke. It's so true.

I have no defense at all. Okay. This is the final one. It's from Danger Mouse. Hi, Donks. Danger Mouse back with some memes to amuse you and abuse the pair of you. I want Luke to appreciate the effort of we fans put into RR. So I made this. On Mondays, the regulars in the chat

wanted to know the answer to an important question. So here it is in meme form. See attached. What does it say? I had to watch 49 times. Go back, go back, go back, go back, go back. I had to watch 49 times to catch this perfect moment. That's pretty, that's fair.

Ryan Hall, Bruce, Bryce Mitchell. I'd pick Ryan Hall, but Bryce is obviously a beast. Whenever BC does a live interview with an attractive female fighter. You old horn dog. So here's Danger Mouse's final work. Resume review, Chris is dead, donks. Masvidal's curse was just older and stronger. But Luke, you did reviews on both UFC 272 fighters.

Oh, so they cancel out? Is that the idea? Like the curse is still on because of that? Well, Luke, the MK merch team and fan submission team loved Danger Mouse's idea for Pornhub MK. They are launching a shirt on our website, morningcombat.store, right now. You can go to that website and order this filthy piece of fabric right here.

And I'm told to tell Danger Mouse that he is getting a care package with both of the shirts and thank him for the inspiration. Shouts to him. Are you going to wear that around? I mean, I can't wear that shit. I don't know that anyone in my orbit knows the joke there, so I might be able to get away with it. All right.

I hate feeling busy. We're waiting on Tim Zoo. We're going to get him. Our Down Under fans are going to be fired up because they've been. Can we say something? I love our Down Under fans. Yeah, yeah. They're passionate and very friendly.

The Aussies are. The Canadians get a rep for being friendly, which is deserved. The Canadians are friendly as shit. Super friendly. That's a real thing. Yo, Aaron Bronsted is like, he bleeds Canada. Yeah, he's awesome about it. But I've got to say, the Australians, they're pretty cool too, man.

Yeah. The English fans, they're great. They're amazing. But they like to poke and needle a little bit. You know what I'm saying? You're saying they'll fight you at the end of the day. Where the Aussie fans will welcome you in. No, the Aussies will fight your bitch ass too.

That's true, yeah. They seem a little bit less, what do the English say? Banter? A little bit less on the banter? Yes, banter-ish. We're going to... Hey, hold on. This was a good show.

We strung this together with no news. As with most of the things we produce for Morning Combat, Luke, I never know leaving it if it was our best work of all time or our last work. Or our last one. Or the worst thing ever done. There's a fine line, Luke, between comedians and real comedy. Right? There's a fine line.

I'm not saying we always get there. Maybe once in a while we'll throw a nickel in the water. Are we presenting ourselves as real comedians? We should not be. That's what I'm saying. That's not what it's all about. This is a podcast that only talks about the podcast, okay? We're going to welcome him in a second's away.

So Tim Zoo is the unbeaten 154-pound contender because he's coming on, and he's set to make his U.S. debut March 26th. It is the kickoff event in Showtime's new spring and summer schedule, nine events over five months. And look, March 26th, Tim Zhu stepping up against U.S. Olympian, former world title challenger Terrell Gauchet. Luke, this is a hell yeah fight, but given the history of Tim Zhu, Hall of Fame dad cost you, this is going to be a big deal that I said to my people, get me Tim Zou.

I want to go down under right now. All right, Luke? Yeah, they're setting up his. I want to go down under. All right. They're setting up his interview back there. So this should be fun. Because this guy looks like he could be the real deal, Luke.

All right, they're going to throw him on the TV. So I think we're going to get him right away. BC, you want to take this one? fun. Because this guy looks like he could be the real deal, Luke. All right, they're going to throw him on the TV, so I think we're going to get him right away. BC, you want to take this one? Absolutely. Absolutely. There he is. Hey. Look at that guy right there.

That guy looks ready. One quick note. Corey, can you turn your microphone up? Because I have trouble hearing. Yeah, I looked at it. A little more. As we mentioned, the man you are looking at right there is Tim Zhu, son of the Hall of Famer Kostya, but blazing his own trail at 154 pounds.

Tim, we are fired up that you are at this point in your career and you're taking the step to do it, to make that U.S. debut, but to make it big, to do it main event on Showtime against a very, very tough opponent in Terrell Gauthier. How much from your position have you heard the drumbeat in the States that Tim Zhu, you know, it's time and he's coming. He's coming on. Tim Zhu, you're coming on, brother.

You know, how long in the making has this been for you? Because we've been wanting to know if you're for real or not, and it's time to find out. Yeah, well, look, it's been a few years in the making. I've been waiting for this moment for quite a long time. We had plenty of COVID situations that we couldn't get through, but you know why? We're finally here, and I'm glad all this COVID stuff's slowly ending,

and we're here to make noise, that's for sure. It's going to be Terrell Gaucher, as we mentioned. Just first off, look, you know his resume. You saw the knockout win against Jermonte Clark. He's out there. He's ready. This is a great test of where you're at. Where do you think Tyrell Gaucher is at entering this fight? Yeah, look, he's a tough challenger,

but I intend to just take it away from him, man. That's it. Tim, Australia is in an interesting position right now in combat sports. There's you, obviously. Kambosis did incredible work against Teofimo Lopez on the UFC side. You've got Volkanovski, Robert Whitaker across the water there. In New Zealand, you've got some great fighters as well. Just say it, Adesanya, just say it.

Adesanya, yeah, but the point I'm trying to make is, I'm not going to say all of a sudden because obviously this has been in the works for some time but why are we seeing now this like burgeoning movement of really high level elite combat sports athletes both in boxing and in MMA from Australia yeah yeah look we've got plenty of talent here uh we're a small little island and we're away from everything, but we've got plenty of talent here and it's all about opportunities and we're just taking each opportunity step by step and I think

we're going to make a lot of noise in the world scene soon. He mentioned you're taking on Terrell Gaucher, but do me a little bit more than that. Size him up for me. When you evaluate him as a competitor, what do you consider to be the main obstacles you have to solve? Oh, look, he's got quick hands.

He's got a good work rate, good jab, his experience. But I have to be better in every single aspect to beat him. So I believe I've got all the tools that's needed there. Tim, in terms of this debut and what it means for you and your career, look, as fans that, you know, we work for Showtime, we're all connected in the same company. We're fired up that you're coming to this network that your dad had big success on. But this seems like you are going after, obviously, the biggest names possible who all seem to be under the PBC flag, whether it's Fox or Showtime on American television.

How long does this put you in the mix here? I mean, are you going to be a consistent U.S.-based fighter fighting on these networks moving forward, or is this sort of a one-off to test it no look I think we've got a good relationship working with BBC Showtime so you know I think there's plenty of there's a there's definitely a future ahead and at the moment I'm buzzing from all of this stuff man being in America and having my first spot here in America the other day was just incredible. You know, it's pretty cool. And, you know, for me, it's like a new chapter and a new beginning. And yeah, I'm sure there's going to be plenty more years ahead.

Tim, you're in America right now, right? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Favorite thing about America? Least favorite thing about America? It's hard to find good food here, yeah. Okay, favorite thing about America? Least favorite thing about America? It's hard to find good food here, man. Everything's so fattening. And that could be a good thing as well.

That's a fair point. We are very fat. He's definitely seen this show before, Luke. I can tell now for sure. That's very fair. That's very fair. And the coffee, man. You guys haven't got the best coffee.

Yeah, you know what? I have heard. No, this is true. I have heard that Australian coffee. I've heard two things about Australian coffee. Yeah, you know what? I have heard. No, this is true. I have heard that Australian coffee. I've heard two things about Australian coffee. One, it's very good. Two, I've heard you guys have a culture of sitting down for coffee. Like you don't just get coffee and go.

You sit down together. Is that right? Yeah. Everyone always sits down for a coffee. Yeah, I hear they got strong shit down there in Melbourne. That's what I hear. Okay. Tim, look,

your dad's not your trainer. You're your own fighter, but, you know, you and your brother grew up watching your dad be the man, be that, you know, be that bad guy

at the end of the movie or video game and taking people out. What I respect about you the most in carving out your own path skills-wise is you seem to have that glowing intangible early

that this isn't like, you know, overly scary to you. Like you've lived this life already in a different form. You now stepping up on the brightest stage, coming to the U S all this pressure. You're like, dude, I, you know, as Pauly Malinagy once famously said, I make love to pressure. You look like you're, you're about it. Like there's not a doubt in your mind. Is that just the advantage you get of growing up as the son of a Hall of Famer? Yeah, I'd say there'd be a bit of experience there, of course, growing up watching that.

But at the end of the day, I've had nine pay-per-view fights in Australia, and pay-per-view means it's quite a big show, fighting on stadiums. Nothing fazes me, man. I'm just chill. All I like to do is punch on. So, simple. Tim, you obviously had 20 fights deep in your career. You watched your father's career.

I guess what I would ask is, having been this far along and watched what your father did, what would you say was the biggest lesson you took from his career? Not that you want to do the same thing, but it informed your judgment about how to pursue things. What lesson did you learn? That's easy, man. Simple. Discipline.

Discipline. It taught me discipline and, you know, to always be at training session. No matter if you're sore or tired, you gotta work hard for all your goals, you know? And that's what I do. We're talking about your father's great career in moments that you either watch live or years, you know, watch the tape of. You know, the Zab Judah win obviously is gonna be first

in so many people's mind, but you know, for fans of Showtime history, your dad's final fight against Ricky Hatton was such a big deal and a great fight. It obviously didn't go the way of your family. Is that fight ever talked about around the old man, or has he still got, like, PTSD with it?

Nah, I think that fight doesn't get mentioned at all. What fight does get mentioned? What one does he talk about? Which fight does he talk about? Which fight does he talk about? I guess there's a few. There's the Zap Jeter, of course. Julio Cesar Chavez, you know, growing up,

my dad said watching him fighting an idol was incredible. And he said his best performance was against Gonzalez. Now, we just had George Kambosis over here, and he did the amazing work, obviously. And, of course, that was a big debut for him in this market. This is going to be your big debut against Terrell Gauthier. Now, obviously, the best-case scenario is a win, a knockout, something like that.

But I guess my question is, when you're done with that fight, what do you want American fans and media to say about you? What is a scenario that you want to look at when your hand gets raised? The bad guy. The bad guy, why? I just want to be the bad man that takes everyone out. That could happen. Luckily for you,

us, you know, like I mentioned, all the big names at 154 seem to be under that PBC banner, and with the launch of this schedule, your fight against Gauthier, of course, March 26th, but Erickson Lubin against Fundora, and then we get Charlo Castaño, too, for all four title belts. That first

fight was amazing, but I feel like, you know, if anyone deserved a decision, it was probably Castaño. Here we are back a second time. How do you handicap this? How are these two the two best in the division besides yourself and your opinion? Yeah, I think Castaño wins in my eyes. I think they work right. Charlo likes to wait around and he's got power in both hands and that's what he relies, and he's got power in both hands, and that's what he relies on, and he's got good boxing skills. But Castano's work rate, I think, wins the fight. Tim, what is your number one goal for 2022?

To win this fight, first thing first, March 26th, we get it. But again, by New Year's Eve, New Year's Day 2023, what should have happened by that point? Just keep punching heads in and that's it. Couldn't care less who it is. Just keep punching heads in. I mean, do you have a working plan that if the opportunity for the winner of Castaño-Charlo 2 falls in your lap, you'd take it? 100%. I'll take anyone on, man. I was ready to fight Charlo in three weeks' notice, and now when Castaño pulled out, I couldn't care less.

I'll fight whoever, man, honestly. Let's close with this. Anytime you're hailed as one of the next big things you're going to get, people just as quickly say, no, man, I see it. That guy ain't for real. He ain't the real. Why are you for real? What makes you different from this division, which is loaded of young guys, veteran guys?

What is going to end up being the difference in you cutting through it and making 154 your mountaintop? Oh, I just have to, I know, I know for a fact how I am as a fighter and I just want to prove it to for a fact how I am as a fighter. I'm not trying to prove it to everyone. Everyone's got a bit of skill. Everyone's got a bit of heart. But you've got to be the ultimate package.

I believe I've got that ultimate package against everyone because, you know, you've got to be able to adapt in any situation. Ultimate package, Luke. I wish I, you know, wish I was on that level. You're not. I'm not. But this guy's never better. He is.

He is. I bet they're lining up for this guy. Tim Zhu, thank you for the time. I know our fans are going to be fired up March 26th on Showtime. One thing, Tim. Tim, if we ever get you to New York City, we'll get you some good coffee here. I promise. Yeah, right.

Yeah, right. That's Tim Zhu. Thank you so much. Best of luck to you. Thanks, Tim. There he is. Tim Zoo. One of the potential future grids. Now,

this has been a phenomenal show. To get an impromptu... Now, Corey said something to me which I could not understand because he talked to me while Tim Zoo was talking. I think he was speaking Jawa to you. What were you saying, Corey? No, we're good. We can take a break.

All right. We're going to get another fighter interview pretty soon. We're going to have all that shit on youtube.com slash morning combat or chat with Steven Espinosa,

David Benavidez, Steven Fulton Jr. You'll be seeing these sprinkle in and more names to come. Thank you to this Malka team, to Tim Zhu for dropping by last minute, to the documentarian Jake for showing that unique blend of flavor and spicing.

I mean, that guy is something. I call that ball grease and life. I mean, like, by not trying to develop an iconic look, that weird genius has created an iconic look, that weird genius has created an iconic look. That's true. You know what I'm saying? Showtime.com is the label

that pays. Go to Showtime.com, get a 30-day free trial. If you like it, you can keep it. If not, pound sand. If you like adult film themed MK shirts,

go to morningcombat.store because they're there right now. That is their morningcombat.store for your adult themed MK shirts. Morningcombat at gmail.com will be the email for reaching the show for Friday's Dead Wrongs,

which I'm sure they are copious. And we'll get you ready on Friday for all the big fights over the weekend. And of course, as we mentioned, Steven Espinosa interview, Steven Fulton, David Benavidez, Tim Zhu will pull this one out. We also have one,

I don't know if I mentioned it already, Steven Espinosa, I guess I said it twice. Tim Zhu's about that life. Tim Zhu is all business. All business. All business. You know, there's some guys that aren't about talking about it. Errol Spence is about that life. Tim Zoot is all business. All business. All business. You know, there's some guys that aren't about talking about it. Errol Spence is like that, right?

I mean, he's talking about it to a degree, but he's not going to sit here and just, like, get braggadocious unless you're Sean Porter and you're pressing that button over and over again, right? Yeah. What was your favorite moment of today's show? It's a hard question. Jake. Jake.

Jake! Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake.

Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake.

Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake.

Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake! Jake Roseman, the hero. I had to humiliate myself for you, and then you picked Jake? You know, I thought you were going to choose Phil to do the shots. You know, the guy that loves women of all ages?

I mean, all ages, bro. Okay, you know what I mean? Wow. Wow. All right, on that note. That guy went to Vanderbilt. Yeah, he did. On that note, for everyone at Showtime, Malka, CBS Sports,

this is Brian Campbell. I'm Luke Thomas. Back on Friday. And until then, may all of your gains be loyal.