MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - UFC Fight Night: Xiaonan Beats Dern | Bellator 286: Pitbull, McKee Win | Ep 356

Episode Date: October 3, 2022

On Episode 356 of Morning Kombat, Luke and Brian recap a big weekend of MMA. First they break down UFC Fight Night Vegas. Yan Xiaonan gets past Mackenzie Dern. Is she a legit title contender with that performance? At Bellator 286, both Patricio Pitbull and AJ McKee pick up huge victories. Is a trilogy fight next for them? (10:25) - Dern vs. Yan (29:50) - UFC Vegas 61 (34:20) - Pitbull vs. Borics (54:15) - Bellator 286 (65:50) - One on Prime Video 2 (78:40) - Dm's from Donks 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

We got to get a new intro. That thing is not timeless, even though you just timeless. It's not timeless. Hi, everybody. It's morning combat time. It is the 3rd of October, I believe, 2022, and we are back in Da Bomb Shelter. This thing is enormous. How are you doing, folks? My name is Luke Thomas. Hey, look at this. BC, who is my co-host as well.

We have new microphones. We're definitely better together. We're going to try to see if this works because I move a lot, Luke, so a typical lapel lavalier microphone might not be the right choice for me. But this feels a little weird to start. You're very low energy this morning. Very low T. I don't know if I should bend each time I talk. Well, see, in radio

what they do is they give you the articulating arms so they can just follow you wherever you go. These we kind of have to be up on. So let us know if the sound is trash. Would that be awkward? That'd be super awkward, and you couldn't do it. The stand is kind of heavy, actually. It only took three years of audio fuck-ups for us to arrive in this position,

but here we are just the same. Big weekend. There was UFC, Bellator, BKFC, one. There was Invicta, of course, as well. That one main event was awesome. More to come on that, but what a fight, that one main event. The one on Prime Video 2, which is the worst naming convention in all of combat sports. We got a really good have you seen this shit today in studio.

You say that. You say that. Sometimes it's true, sometimes it's not. We have a special guest, too, to close the show in the damn studio. We do have a special guest. I don't know how special it will be to the viewers, but it's special to us. Yeah.

Special to us. How are you doing, BC? How was your weekend? You know, I'm doing great. Thank you, Luke. Because when we get back together and do this, it's like, oh yeah, this is why we started this, Luke. Did they fit?

Yes, they did. You know, it's just like taking the condom off. I do love raw dogging. I just want to be very clear. I'm glad the camera came on me as soon as I said that. I'm sorry. I can say that because no one in my family is aware of the show. Dude, I don't think anyone in my show except my wife knows what the show is called.

Well, shouldn't we transition from that awful, ill-timed, just not acceptable humor to something that you may be surprised about, Luke, that all we do is win, win, win, no matter what. And that's because of you, you, you, the incredible MK viewer. Luke Thomas, tell the people how they helped us get to the top. Well, we won, the naming of it is kind of weird,

but we basically won the best sports podcast for the People's Choice Awards, which is, as it was explained to us, 17 years running long, and it's something of an industry standard for performance. And we were surprised by it. One of our bosses at Showtime

texted us about it, and it got circulated with InsideCBS. So for everyone who voted, thank you. And I know that there are people, listen, if people don't want to advocate for awards because they feel like it's gauche or it's just not for them. I don't judge them.

But we're not above that. Yeah, people try to send us snarky follow-up tweets that are like, Yeah, well, you guys advocate for it. What's it feel like to be begging your— Yes, the fuck we did. You know what it feels like? It feels like we won, and I think that's the point of it. And we only win not because of stuff we did, although we try our best to put out the best possible show.

Seriously, it's because of you guys. I don't know what they do. I don't know if it's legal, but they attack the voting booths, Luke. I know, so you only banged the prom queen because you asked her out. Yes, that's exactly correct. That's how it works.

That's exactly what we did. That's how the transaction takes place. Seriously, thank you to the viewers. And Luke, if it was like Best Combat Sports or Best MMA Award, I would still be happy and proud. It is Best Sports Podcast, and we did beat big time,

including people in our own CBS sports landscape. All of the other CBS sports podcasts that we beat. But we did beat, you know, pro football, college football, fantasy sports. Maybe because we've built this aggressive, absurd family, Luke. And the same family could one day tear on us and tear down our flesh and turn on us.

But until they do, I love you. I got so much love for you. Now, I think you've had a few gummies before the show. No, no, no. Just when we get together, it's like I'm alive again. All right, very good. Well, it's nice to see you. We have a lot to get to.

The only other time I feel like this is in the restroom, Luke. You feel alive in the shitter? Depending on what I've eaten that day. The Taco Bell opened downstairs. Yeah, that was a great text from Luke on the way in. All right, we have a lot to get to. As I mentioned, we'll have Have You Seen This Shit? We'll have DMs from Donks.

We'll have a lot of stuff. But let's start with our main topics. Oh, well, I guess we can't remind anyone to do the voting because that's over. So real quickly, Showtime.com. Showtime.com is the label that pays. You can go to Showtime.com, get a 30-day free trial. If you like it, you can keep it. If not, you can bounce.

If you got it, you probably watched Bellator on Saturday night. We'll talk about that a little bit later. And then, of course, merch, morningcombat.store. Morningcombat.store is the place you want to go to to get merch that neither of us are wearing, right? Yeah, pretty much, pretty much. You got wearing the Roots of Fight stuff? Yeah, I am because it looks cool for a guy like me.

Because someone, as they meet me, goes, I wonder if he fights or even rolls. He doesn't do either of those, just so we're clear. But you're saying there's a chance, Luke. All right, let's get things going if we can. Topic number one, we will start with UFC. So there was UFC Vegas 61. And yes, we'll talk about the Zuckerberg thing later.

But for now, let's talk about the fights. That's the most important part. Yan Xiaonan does get past Mackenzie Dern. BC, we'll talk about Dern. We'll talk about everything that is important. Yeah, because the story is Dern. It is. Let's be fair. It is. I think the majority of the North American attention is about Dern. But

Yan is the victor. And I gotta say, she looked massively, massively improved. Especially as it was related to sub-defense. On Friday's show, I thought if it went to the ground, based on what she had showed previously with her sub-defense, she would not be able to survive. She did. She gets the win.

She's tough as shit, Luke. Here's my question for you. Is she a legit title contender? I think so. I think so because that's the level that we were ready to brand Mackenzie Dern had she had won. We were preparing the foundation, the steps to walk up to the first title opportunity here, but it wasn't. So why? Yannick, we knew was skilled. We knew was quick, technical. I mean, look, if you're going to stand with her for five rounds, you're probably going

to come up empty. Even the Marina Rodriguez loss was a kind of flip of the coin situation. But I don't think she gets enough credit for how sturdy, tough, physically strong, but also the backbone Luke to, to fight through the situations on the ground where Dern did have a huge advantage and really seemed like she was one turn, one move away from, from putting that fight in gear and to really get in the finish. So man, uh, when you survive that and you come out with your hand raised and, you know, scoring wise, even if you like what Dern did, you can't give her more than two rounds. That's just what it is, Luke. Did you give the fifth round to her 10-8? I did not.

Tell me why. I didn't think there was enough offensive damage. So in remarking that, of the four significant, excuse me, of the total amount of significant strikes that Dern landed in the fifth, just four were significant. Now she did attempt, I think a total of almost 97 in that round. She attempted 113, landed 97, but they were the pitter patter, you know, there's not a whole lot to it kind of shots, only four of genuine significance or distance.

I also don't think it's a 10-8. I can understand if someone scored it a 10-8. I don't think it's ludicrous to think that, but I didn't as well. But with Jan Schoenand, I would say two things stand out to me. Number one, the sub defense just dramatically improved, way, way better than I thought.

And for folks who may not understand, they've never rolled, they just don't get it. Going against someone that good, any mistake about your balance, arm placement, elbow placement, hand placement, reaching, pulling, weight distribution, anything like that, any small mistake can just avalanche into dangerous territory or an outright submission.

So you have to be very careful with how you do it. You can't spaz like CM Punk did against Mickey Gall. It just doesn't work that way. And the other part about it is I thought her footwork was pretty clean. I thought for the most part, for the most part, she was able to repel a lot of attacks. She was acting like a matador at times. She got herself into position to get her best strike. She got herself largely out of position when she needed to. I got to tell you, I don't know if she's the best strawweight in the world. That part to me seems very much... But she's got more work to do.

She's got more work to do. But this was a positive step in that board game. Hugely positive step. Nothing accidental about it. That was a clean win. And when a fighter can show real, demonstrable improvement, both defensively and offensively, foundationally or otherwise, you really got to note it. You really got to note it.

You really got to take it seriously. I was wrong about Yuan Shao Nan's sub defense and she more than proved it in getting the win. Can I tell you why Dern is actually the story here, even separate from her potential stardom? Okay. Because tell me if I'm wrong on how I evaluate her performance in this fight.

One, she didn't win because of her lack of evolution. But two, she's not that far away from adding enough onto that evolution that I'm still looking at a future title contender and maybe a future champion. If she can get all that together because the intangibles are there and they were on display again

and she had the gas tank, she's tough, she tough she's gonna go after she's always one big move away from from finishing that fight maybe the fact that she doesn't finish when she's in those dominant positions is still part of her lack of full you know evolution meaning she didn't win because she's not there yet but i'm not sure there's anything that's stopping her from eventually getting there. I am not so sure. I am not so sure. Bring that. If all we ever get is a slightly more polished version of what we had,

she's not going to win a title. Not going to happen. I don't believe that. I mean, of course, it always could happen in the sense that someone makes a mistake and she can find the back. But against a championship-level fighter, I just don't really buy that. And if she has to fight someone like Jessica Andrade, who's a powerhouse,

I mean, there's so many problems with what Dern was doing. Let's start with you. I'd love that fight. That would be a great fight to watch. Andrade versus Dern? Just style-wise, it would just be really— Yeah, that'd be great. I agree, that'd be a great fight.

But, dude, that's a— Here's the problem with what Dern doing is... Okay. So, for example, in the wrestling, what do you notice about it? Number one, have you noticed how often her posture gets broken? She was complaining to us in an interview, like, when she first started wrestling, her lower back was hurting. I mentioned this on Friday. So, I was looking to

see again, like, what kind of posture can she maintain when chaining takedowns from going to a double to a single or whatever else she was doing. And it gets broken immediately. It gets broken almost immediately. That's a huge problem. If you can't maintain posture through wrestling attacks, you can't wrestle is basically the general idea there.

Number two, do you see how often she walked into big punches? Oh, that part's still... Dude. The flaws are still there. It's like, I'm telling you, man, I'm telling you, against a bigger puncher like an Andrade or someone who's got really clever footwork and good defense and whatever, there's just not

enough there. There's just not enough there. What's more distressing in the sense that's keeping her from being there? Is it the lack of well-roundedness or the lack of execution on what she's supposed to do well? Like, is she a little bit too sloppy? Is that what you're kind of framing? So I said before, I thought her

balance got better and I still think it's pretty good, although there was times where she was running forward and almost tripping over herself a little bit, sloppy? Is that what you're kind of framing? So I said before, I thought her balance got better and I still think it's pretty good. Although there was times where she was running forward and almost tripping over herself a little bit. Although Jan Schaunan's clever footwork contributed to that. To me, the problem is I'm not even in the areas in which she has the most to work on. I mean, the jujitsu is, I mean, more than ready to go. It's like the best,

some of the best you've ever seen in the octagon. But in terms of the areas in which she's lacking, we're not even really seeing very much incremental progress. That's kind of what's getting to me a little bit. It just seems like we're still exactly where, like, can you really say in terms of the areas in which she was lacking, there's been a big progress made since the Rodriguez fight. You just cannot say that. You cannot say that. Not enough. Certainly not enough, and that's why she lost, right?

Because her intangibles and the danger she brings got herself pretty damn close to being in positions to win that fight. She got two takedowns. She got one in the third round, which was a decent one, and then she got one in the fifth, but the one in the fifth, I mean, she got almost by a stroke of luck. She had pulled Jan Schaunan's weight

all the way over her that she was able to get it almost with like a sacrifice throw kind of situation. But, you know, that barely worked. I mean, it barely worked.

And so if that didn't work, what did you have to show for anything? There's just... She's not there yet. So we're both establishing that. Here's the thing with Demi and Maya. Demi and Maya

had lopsided offense and he did have more traditional wrestling attacks. But the inside that Demi and Maya. Demi and Maya had lopsided offense, and he did have more traditional wrestling attacks. But the insight that Demi and Maya had was he tried initially to do all the jujitsu stuff, and it worked up to a point. And then he decided, I'm going to get more traditional wrestling attacks. I'm going to work on my jab. I'm going to work on my striking a little bit. And that worked to a point as well. And it almost kind of set him back in a certain way. In other words, it didn't bring some of his other ground skills to life. It was that third adaptation that he made where, for example, he would shoot someone's sprawls and

then he would like baseball slide underneath them and then use his legs to grab a hold of him. It was adapting his jujitsu, but partly for his age, partly for the stage of his career. If Mackenzie can do something like that where she's getting, because people are going to react very, very strongly to anything she does related to the ground. Taking advantage of some of those reactions, it seems to me, is that's a, to your point, that's a doable path for evolution. But the path she's on now, I don't, I don't, I candidly, and she, you know, she took the loss hard and she seems like a very sweet and genuine person. I don't say any of this because it makes me happy to say it, but I'm just not seeing a ton of progress, man. You're right.

And that's why me presenting that sort of, you know, yin and yang at the same time, this is an odd enough situation where I still think it can be true. She didn't win this fight because of that lack of evolution. We are getting to a point where we're like, okay, is it going to happen? That's fair to say, fair to say. But those intangibles stick out huge to me

luke i mean she is she can be absolutely dominant when things go her way and that's i mean that's that that can be rare on the elite level where somebody can take over a fight in certain situations and be in i mean and leave the opponent in that much of a perilous situation you know trying to trying to stay above Obviously, she needs to fully develop the delivery system to get there because as soon as she gets tired, whatever success she's had in evolution is striking goes away instantly. You know, like the firmness of the jab or any type of setup, it's very raw there. But man, those intangibles, Luke, I don't know if we always see it at that level in somebody who we're trying to gauge whether they're coming or going.

I guess I got to be honest. I'm or going. I guess I gotta be honest. I'm not sure. I know what the word intangibles mean, but I'm not sure what you mean. You mean like how fearful everyone is of her ground game? No, I think it's the combination. Well, it's a combination of that mixed with her chin, which is very good.

And her composure under fire. Her composure under fire. And that's the key. You can't fake that. And she seems to have that in the key. And you can't fake that. And she seems to have that in full power. So that's something where you're, it's like in basketball,

if somebody can do something so physically powerful, but they're raw, you're like, oh, don't worry. We'll take our time teaching them how to dribble. In some respects, she's running out of time in terms of staying on that path and going forward. But I still believe this could be a loss that really kicks her in the butt and makes her go, okay, whatever I'm not doing,

whatever I'm doing to hold myself back, you know, now I know I need to give even more if it's going to happen. Right? Yeah, I mean... And you only give these nine lives situations to special characters. I don't know.

This looked to me, I mean, obviously it was different, but like in the broad strokes, this was the Rodriguez fight over again. You can't win on the feet. You have a hard time finding the clinch. Once you get on the ground, she's a fucking Terminator.

Like that, it's the same lesson over and over again. Why would this one be different? I mean, obviously I think she thought maybe by 29 or on the age of 30, I'd be in a different place. I'd be, you know, contending for a title or something like that. I don't know in that sense, but in terms of like the technical development,

it's just not happening at all. And you know what lessens my fears is part of this intangible bubble is that she's a student of the game and she's a competitor. And you can see that. So that's why I guess I'm more apt to look at that and go, give her more time.

There's still another gear that she's going to activate. And maybe this is a loss that creates that. Maybe it's not. Just think about it. I mean, obviously, this is a very high standard to hold somebody to. But think about like Charles Oliveira and his guard and his jiu-jitsu. He only needs to use it when he wants to. He doesn't really need to go to it.

He can retreat to it. And people like Dern are terrified of going into his guard. And so it acts as this kind of deterrent, whereas she has to kind of force it on everyone. And they play this prevent defense the whole time. And so it's hard to get them to open up. That's the other part too. It's like, where was the ground and pound?

There's not a lot of ground and pound. Seriously, think about it. If she solved the ground and pound hole, we would remove a lot of these questions. Dude, all she needs... Because she would be finishing people straight up. All she needs is two or good three takedowns that she can just reliably go to,

find a way to close the distance, add some ground to pound, and she is going to be a fucking nightmare. She's going to be a nightmare. You're right. But isn't that the short term? That's the biggest thing she needs to address right now. Because if she does that, she's finishing people.

Yes. Because her ability to find position, achieve it. I did like one thing she was doing where the butt scooting was not that great, but she can get away with it because of how good her ability to find position achieve it i did like one thing she was doing where the butt scooting was not that great but she can get away with it because of how good her jiu-jitsu is but you notice she was harassing yon shanon's balance with her feet as she backed up things like that like demi and maya using little clever tricks like that more of that needs to be built but i just think if you're darn you have to take a long look in the mirror here like you've got so many things that the rest of the division

is utterly petrified to even, they don't even want to deal with it. They just want to shut down and stop as long as they can when they're in those bad spots. But if you don't have the other mechanisms to bring those talents to bear and you're not making the development fight over fight, then where are you headed?

That's sort of to me like the broader question here. And again, two of 11 takedowns, had two sub attempts, had nine minutes and 19 seconds of control. Now, I kind of blasted, not blasted, but I was critical of people being like Raul Rosas Jr., the 17-year-old. Like he had that much time and he couldn't get the sub. But that's over, you know, a guy trying to fight his way into the UFC. This is over somebody who could be a potential title contender,

potentially even a champion. It's very, very different. But the point being is if you're Mackenzie Dern, and if I told Mackenzie Dern you're going to get nine minutes and 19 seconds of control time to get the sub, she should have gotten the sub. She should have gotten the sub. I mean, that's why parts of the game.

Parts are true. Both sides of this debate are true, Luke. Okay? All right. But I'll take somebody with that five-round gas tank, with that killer instinct if I can just refine it a little bit more, Luke. Luke, she's going to get there.

She's going to fight for a world title. Listen, she's going to win again. She doesn't turn 30 until March, so she's got a little bit of time. And, you know, she went to the UFC, let's see, in March of 2018. So in next March, she'll be 30, and that'll have been basically five years of UFC time.

But that was against Ashley Yoder, Amanda Cooper, and then Amanda Hibas. Can you really say she's made significant progress since then? In the areas where she's weak. Obviously, her jiu-jitsu is legendary. But in the areas where she's weak. Can you say that after five years? That's five years worth of improvement you can visibly attest to? It doesn't look like that.

It hasn't been at the speed you would want it to be. It hasn't been at the consistency you would want it to be. But it has been an evolution, Luke, even if it's slow or sometimes in the direction you didn't think should have been the right move to sure up some holes or whatever. Again, if it was a different fighter, a regular fighter, I'd be like, okay, we're running out of time here. This is a special fighter in some regard. And I think you can put a little magic on it. But, Luke, I think it's going to come down to her looking in the mirror. And I don't know the camp or her enough to make a bold claim like that.

But in the end, it always comes down to, like, am I giving everything I possibly can? I don't think she's not training enough. I don't think that's the issue. I mean, I don't know. Certainly people around her could say better. To me, it doesn't seem like an effort issue. It just seems like maybe there's a different way they could be going about it. Yeah, execution, but that also comes from making sure your vision of it is right on point.

She's weird in a certain kind of way, which is to say a lot of times what you would get is the people adapting from jujitsu to over to MMA they did not have the composure under fire but they were easily not easily but they were more readily able to get the wrestling skills that they needed to where they could kind of dodge it Andre Galva was kind of like that Hadra Gracie was a little bit like that there's been plenty of other ones she's she's a little bit more like Noguera in that sense where obviously she had way better jujitsu than Noguera and much better accomplishments but she has that composure. Man, if you've got that composure as a jiu-jitsu specialist, can you imagine if she was able to march down and then force Yan Xiaonan to shoot just to get the fuck up off of her? What she could do?

And that way, she's a little bit different. Also, getting back to Yan, before we forget this, now we've got Zhongwei Li taking on Carla Esparza. We actually asked Mackenzie Dern about that for the title. Who do you think is going to win? She thinks that Zhongwei Li is going to win. Let's assume for the sake of argument that she's correct. Zhongwei Li is reformed. Fair enough.

The Cejudo effect. The question I would want to ask you is, now I do think that Marina Rodriguez is the deserving number one contender. So they could do Rodriguez versus Xiaonan or Andrade just kind of floating out there. I don't know if Yan's going to get it.

But here is my question. How big for the UFC's China efforts would a Zhong Weili versus Yan Shaonan fight be? For the title. Probably huge. I mean, think about it. When they had, you know, so Zhong Weili wasn't the first Chinese fighter to fight, but she

was the first to win a championship and did it on home soil with a great champion on drives kind of running right into it. I mean, it just was perfect for them. Could you, you know, I always thought, okay, that's perfect. It's just, you know, it's fate, Luke. It was just the best possible foot forward on trying to expand and grow in this area of the world. But putting these two against one another, Luke, is next level. That's the cherry on top, promotionally.

It could have a monster impact. It would also be a very good fight. But what is the path that we get there in terms of matchmaking, if that's in the cards in the end? I think, I don't know. I do think Jean-Willy's going to win, so there's a possibility there. And by the way, Jan could get the go-ahead just by virtue of the UFC trying to build that market, never lose sight of that.

And make Marina fight Andrade? They could do that. I mean, as great of a fight as that would be, it's like, what else does Marina have to do? I know. It'd be so unfair to Marina, who's been on a great win streak. So I think that Marina will get it. And then I think the winner of Jan Shonan vs. Andrade would be your number one contender. Which would also be a banger. Which would be a fucking banger

as well. So there's a lot of interesting possibilities there. This division remains undefeated, Luke. I mean, be honest. It's the best in class for women's MMA, certainly. Adam Waite is, you know, making some moves and Bantamweight's got the history, but Straw Waite is where most of the action is. Any final thoughts on Dern about

like changing up her training? To me, I just want to add one final note. I would like to see her approach grappling and the transition to get it to the ground a little bit. I kind of made this point earlier, but I want to make it explicit. Like, do what Maya did. Let's not try to traditionally

teach her doubles. I mean, there's probably a value to that, but that seems like a very long play. What can we do to, to like cheat the system a little bit where we just create entanglement and we create contact based off of the expectation that someone's going to have a standard kind of wrestling defensive response to a perceived wrestling attack? I think those are the avenues that they should be pursuing. That seems to me like she, how many fighters in the UFC, in the top five, can you say pulling guard for them works? Not many. Mackenzie Dern is one of them. So don't you get my point now that like, if there's the very rare fighter not to panic on,

she fits that bill of that rare, unique fighter with the intangibles who you shouldn't be too quick to say like, run out of chances. No. Panic, no. But I don't think you have a great answer for why the development is not happening. I think it's personal. I think there's some disconnect. Maybe it's a, you know, I only have to train the other disciplines at a certain level because I know my base, jiu-jitsu, is so strong. And I'm not saying it hasn't been a lot to evolve, Luke, but something in the wiring, you know, in terms of connecting that,

to have the motivation and the vision and the execution plan to do that. Something's missing, and she's close, Luke. I think she may be closer than you think is my whole point. It's a compliment in the end, but you get what I'm saying. Okay. Let's go to point number two. We stay with the UFC card before we get to Bellator. Very broad, open-ended question here, BC.

Very simple. In your mind, who else shined at UFC Vegas 61? Why don't you tell me first, Luke, here, as I try to remember what fights were on that card. You're just high as a kite, huh? No, that's not true. Well, listen, you could go to the people who won the performance bonuses. I'll tell you who's going in the wrong direction.

Slava Claus, unfortunately, Luke, who makes great TV. Yeah, he got handled. That's the guy I was going to go to, actually, just a second here. But your performance bonus winners were Joaquin Silva, Brendan Allen, by the way, had a nice win over Christoph Jocko, Chelsea Chandler, and then Guido Canetti having the win over Randy Costa, which was surprising to me. Did you see the Chelsea Chandler fight?

It was her UFC debut, and she's from Stockton, and she got a full-mile ground-and-pound vicious TKO at the end of the first. Does she have hype behind her, or is it just the Stockton connection got a full mount ground and pound vicious you know tko at the end of the first is she is she does she have hype behind her or is it just the stockton connection and the fact that she executed like an absolute badass didn't see enough from this to make a bigger call but you're right that one looked amazing there seemed to be some buzz bill yes yes i agree i was going to go with mike davis mike davis when his fight went to a decision sadiq yusuf by the way was also a local guy out of the area he looked pretty good as well getting a win over don chanis who was the cage titans 145 pound champion connecticut represent yeah and just got i mean he was coming in off last minute notice

that's a very tough assignment he got run over but uh for me mike davis this was also an opponent he had to take on kind of last minute so you know you have to give some some account for that but this is a guy who fought sadiq Yusuf on the Contender Series, and then he had a rough kind of matchmaking run through the UFC, and his record doesn't reflect, I think, how good he is. Dude, he's jacked as shit. He's jacked as shit. He's jacked as shit.

Dude, I've never been that jacked like an hour in my life. You haven't even been that jacked in your mind. In my mind. I don't even know how to look in the mirror and imagine how fucking Jack that is. But he, to me, this was a very complete performance. This was a guy, as he noted, who loves to strike. Okay, you say it very clearly.

I thought his wrestling looked good. I thought his ground and pound was pretty good. Can I ask you this? Because I was hugely impressed by all of those positive categories. I was like, oh man, he has the hunger. It looks like everything's starting to come together so he's figuring it out. But he almost kind of gas too. Luke,

it almost looked like the back door was kind of hanging open. And he just, the thing is with Mike, I I've been very impressed by him. It does seem like there's a few more T's in his development and eyes that need to be crossed. I mean, the first round he went after it and that's probably why he was in a position. And maybe he didn't know what to expect because this was all kind of last minute and early, you know, late notice anyway. And, uh, and so I don't know what to expect because this was all kind of last minute or late notice anyway. And so I don't know exactly. But I did think that I've seen Mike underperform a lot relative to, I think, his abilities. I did not think he underperformed here.

I thought there could have been a few things that were tightened up, to your point. But I like Mike Davis. I like the way he fights. I like his physical attributes as well in terms of how he can bring that to bear. He's going to run into a bigger name fighter who's not going to know what's coming. Doesn't he give you that air like he's going to get a big win coming up that you're like, oh, shit, you know? Yeah, well, the problem was he got one of those a little too early in his run. They gave him Sadiq Youssef and Gilbert Burns within three fights of each other.

That's just a rough, rough way to fight. That was a rough version of Gilbert Burns too too. A guy who was ready to sharpen that knife and start. Yeah, that was 2019. That was on the Jacare versus Hermansen card. To me, he hasn't had a chance to shine. He's been off for a while, I think. This was a chance to put things together. While not perfect, I thought he made a big

leap and then was asking for followers on social media. Now, having said that, you could go with Ilir Latifi, who had a very heavy breathing performance against... Luke, that was... Beefy Latifi is just more beefy than Latifi

Shout out to Brandon Wise of CBS for coming up with that nickname. But that fight I told you was going to be sloppy, it was way grosser than I even expected or wanted it to be.

I mean, first of all, Luke, they both kind of let it go around the belly a little, and that's fine, Luke. Yeah, well, Alenek is in his 40s. I mean, you got to come from slack.

You know, there was some just odd striking attempts and gassing and some good wrestling ability at times. But, dude, Latifi kind of went after it on the mic afterwards. Luke, we will see him on Have You Seen This Shit later. But I was like, is he going to retire? Is he asking for a new contract? I didn't really understand it fully, Luke. And then he was asking Zuckerberg for money.

Which I don't think that's going to help his cause of getting a new contract. Yeah, Zuckerberg is not interested in your poverty. Zuckerberg's like, cut him, Dana, cut him. Yeah, let me tell you, he's not interested in your poverty or money flows at all. And he's in your emails, Luke. He's definitely in your emails. Yeah, probably. Almost certainly in my emails.

He knows your search history. All right, let's go to point number three since you kind of punted on it. It's like a grenade. And it's like the pin on the grenade is like just hanging, right, Luke? Let's go to point number three. We go now to, and by the way, of course,

you're like, what about all the other fights? We'll get to them with extra credit, of course. Okay, point number three. Topic number three, anyway. Pitbull. He gets a unanimous decision win over Adam Boric in the main event of Bellator 286 in Long Beach, California, BC. Very simple question for you, or I guess a challenge, rather.

Give me a grade. Give me a grade. You can go to 10, letter A, BC, or whatever, for Pitbull's performance in this main event. A-. Ooh, that's high. Okay. Here's why.

Pitbull, who we... Okay, the only question we had if he still wanted to fight was really just AJ McKee talking, look, I think he's going to retire after he wins. You get AJ McKee sort of like angling for a fight. That's a different story. He came in here with big plans suddenly of like potential bantamweight move, potential pico.

I mean, he had all these plans laid out, and yet at 35, he went out there, and we're seeing that 2.0 older yet wiser and more efficient uh Pitbull because this was like five rounds of disarmament I mean Adam Boric is dangerous and I think that Pitbull by controlling that distance so perfectly which is so hard to do when you're that much shorter and your reach is uh at that much of a disadvantage yet he was able to discipline uh Boric because every time Boric kind of crossed that line, he'd eat a right hand cross right at him. Or any time Boric tried the theatrical flying knee, I mean, Pitbull was all over that shit.

So he doesn't look like he's slowing down. He doesn't look like he's lost a step. He's got big plans in multiple divisions. I mean, Pitbull is still that dude, then now and forever the best fighter Bellator has ever had and still is. I mean, what can you say negative? This was expert execution. I'd give it a B+. Is it because they booed his ass?

No, the crowd there was not great. The crowd was very antsy. Strong Beach. Yeah, Strong Beach was begging these guys to fight like morons so they could get, you know, some kind of crazy action. I'm like, you just, the problem was, and we'll talk about this, the AJ McKee and Spike Carlisle, like. That was like a car crash. Execution slash gangbang slash, you know, whatever that was, that's a hard act to follow.

And so when you get that followed by two very premier, and AJ McKee's a premier talent, but in this case, you know, that wasn't him acting in a premier talent way. And this fight was, it was two guys who had to be very careful. Like if you're Adam Boric, your margin for error is very thin. And conversely for Pitbull, I don't think it's great either. So you had guys, you had both of them acting a little bit reserved. I would give it a high grade for, I thought Pitbull was never really

in trouble. There's been times where he's had to rally in fights by being hurt by guys he's better than, but then had to kind of rally. You never really saw that. There's been times where he's had to rally in fights by being hurt by guys he's better than, but then had to kind of rally. He never really saw the fifth round. Fifth round when I think the fatigue of it all kind of set in. Then Pitbull had to, you know, take a step back. But it was only when he took a small step backwards, metaphorically speaking, that Boric was able to do anything at all. He's still a badass.

Yeah. But like an execution expert. Like he can still be that technician when he needs to. Yes. That was the part that to me was interesting. He was a badass. Yeah. But like an execution expert, like he can still be that technician when he needs to. Yes, that was the part that to me was interesting. He was a great technician. I thought the difference might be the power punching and it played a role in the sense that it disciplined Adam Boric,

but I thought it'd do more to damage and then ultimately stop him or hurt him or drop him. I did not see that because of the way in which Pitbull was approaching this contest. I will say the point that you raised, which was the one they built the highlights off of, all of those jumping switch knees, Pitbull read those a

mile away. They had clearly prepared for those in camp. And there's one highlight where you can see him. It was the very first time that Borch threw it, where he connects with a punch as he's throwing it. And you can watch as Borch's other knee literally touches his face. And the eyes of Pitbull never lose the target. I mean, that kind of presence in the pocket under that kind of duress is rare.

That is rare. So for that reason, he does deserve a very high grade. I just thought that, like, if you're talking about the full pit bull picture, you got the majority of it, you got, like, an 8 out of 10 in that regard, not a 9. I didn't see... So did you feel like he didn't have the intent to finish?

No, listen, I think he tried his absolute hardest, and, you know, you had a difficult opponent, and so in that sense... But when you get old... Look at what Tyron Woodley did so well. By the time he got to the UFC welc welterweight title he was already advanced age but was able to just fight such an efficient perfect fight every time out kind of fighting the other guy's style or taking away the other guy's strength uh in that regard the fact that pitbull can still be a badass

and can author this responsible it looks like jordan adding that mid-range fadeaway jump shot 1993 right just like oh now we see what he's going to be almost almost like saint pierre responsible, it's like Jordan adding that mid-range fadeaway jump shot in 1993, right? Just like, oh, now we see what he's going to be when he's older. Almost like St. Pierre transitioning over to a wrestle-heavy attack where everything, all the variables are carefully managed. He can do it on his feet, but it's the same kind of idea. Like, sometimes I'm like, oh, Pitbull

should go back up to lightweight, he should join this tournament, he should be seeking these huge fights. He's at such a disadvantage. He's even at a disadvantage in length and reach in this fight. So him going back, him attempting this idea of maybe going down to Bantamweight and trying to become really the sports first three-division champion on any kind of level like this is so badass and admirable in its own right and kind of a Jose Aldo model of what he recently did, although this would be a third division.

But, like, he's also still really great in terms of fight IQ, in terms of just, like, I mean, look, he has figured the entire game out. I don't think there's anyone. He can have tough fights at 145. And the odds, I thought, were a little bit making this closer than it needed to be. He has no peer at 145. Now, if A.J. McKee dropped down, that kind of changes the ballgame. But he even told, we'll talk about this in a minute,

he even told Big John McCarthy in the post-fight interview, he wanted to be in the 155-pound tourney. So when I say he has no peer at 145 in Bellator, what I mean is that McKee is off to the 155 races, leaving what's there. They're still very good fighters. I wouldn't pick any of them over Pitbull, not even close. Now, I do want to talk about Boric for a second. What kind of grade would you give him?

Because I thought he did his best. He falls to 18-2. He's only got two losses, one to Darian Caldwell and now Pitbull. Those are hardly that bad. He's just 29 years of age. There's still some upside for him, no? Yeah, I mean, he can still grow from this and all that, but how much do we hold against him, Luke, that

he fell into a bad pattern in this fight, and he could never really get out of that bad pattern? I just think, you know, you don't think the boxing, the power punching and the boxing of Patricio disciplined him? Every single time he got hit with the right hand, it was like, stop, stop that shit. It was like, whatever you're trying to build up as a rally ends right now. So I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm obviously seeing the

obstacles he was up against. So that, I guess what's his responsibility at that point to just go, okay, I lost, man. We went five rounds. I tried my best or, or for your, your, your own personal journey and your own legacy and all that. Are you supposed to go for it, Luke? I mean, he did step on the gas to close the fifth, but I never saw him in a spot where I am ruthlessly going to risk it all to try to win this championship. And is that a flaw? Can he only win these fights when the advantage is in his way? It's a legitimate question. It's a legitimate question. I just, you know, it's hard to be like, hey, go risk getting knocked the fuck out by Patricio.

Who, by the way, like, dude, that little guy is a tank. Would you say he's the hardest puncher at 145? Hell yeah. Yeah, that little dude has bombs. Dude, he knocked out Michael Chandler at lightweight with one punch. I mean, this is. He's got bombs. So it's like I understand.

You know, I get your point. It's hard for me to disagree with it in the way in which you're presenting it. At the same time, what a ruthless choice. Like, Jesus, you have to go out there and risk just getting completely sent to the land of wind and ghost. It doesn't seem like it's in him, right? He's more of a technician that's going to creatively walk you down and get in and find you. I didn't think he fought a bad fight. I just think on that night, he fought a better fighter.

Just the reality. He fought the best fighter in Bellator history. You did what you could. There's no shame in that. It just wasn't going to happen for him. It can't happen, but how much would a Pitbull-Jose Aldo fight right now at like

145? If it could happen, but it can't really. What would you think? Would you get fired up? Jose is a more dynamic athlete by a considerable margin. Wouldn't that be awesome, though? That would be awesome. I mean, that would be...

Well, this is my question. At 145, I got to tell you, this is where I'm at on 145 in Bellator. Obviously, UFC is a different story. And I saw that Pitbull was like, oh, Dana White's got no balls. Dude, it's not in Dana White's interest to co-promote with Bellator at all. But it is in Pitbull's interest to just be a badass and just shit on everybody at all times. Of course.

But like, what does Dana White get out of that? You've got almost all of the world's best featherweights. Like, there's no real big public demand to see them fight Pitbull. What would be the point? Okay. Neither here nor there. I'm a little bit, after this win, I'm not, I wasn't, despite the crowd booing, I was not bored.

But I'm a little bit bored with the idea of Pitbull waiting around to fight Aaron Pico, which we'll talk about in just a second, or some other 145 contender. You're like, go to Bantam now? Go to Bantam, wait now. He already told us he wants to do that. By the way, when Showtime made the announcement that Bellator was going to be on Showtime, and we did that whole thing of Mohegan Sun. Pitbull told us then and there, that was like 2020 or something,

he told us then and there he wanted to go to Bantamweight at some point. Now he got one of the goals down, you beat Borch, the second one was to do against Pico. Again, we don't know what the hell's going to happen there. And then it was to go to 135. BC, I think he should expedite his timeline.

Am I crazy? No, and I think his hand would get forced anyway because, Luke, let's be honest, the best fight for Bellator to make next at 145 is the McKee trilogy right now because what Pitbull wanted to do was add Pico's name potentially to his resume as his last stop and then cut down.

But you can't put Pico in the spot after that injury loss, which we can get to, but you get my point, Luke. You can't. So is it a loss? Yeah, but you get my point, Luke. You can't. So is it a loss? Yeah, but you get my point. It's not a real loss. There's no win there, despite the courage he showed.

But if you're Pitbull, you're right, Luke. What you just said is right. Go now, because am I wrong? Isn't that the move to make right now? Even before AJ going to that lightweight tournament, the move to make is to do that trilogy, because you're probably never going to have another chance to if Pitbull's really going that way and AJ's really going that way.

And I saw people bringing up this point that I just don't understand. They're like, well, the winner of the tournament, by the way, Stotts and Danny Sabatello, the winner, well, I guess Mega Man is in it too, but that side of the bracket and eventually the whole winner is supposed to get up there and fight Patrice, excuse me, is supposed to fight Sergio Pettis. But my thought is this, BC, who gives a shit?

The winner of the tournament is going to claim the interim strap. Pettis isn't in it by virtue of his injury. So that doesn't matter anymore. And so the point ends up being, why can't Patricio just fight Sergio Pettis, winner of the tournament, fights the winner of Pettis versus Pitbull. So you wouldn't have him fight, for example, Juan Archuleta for a number one contender position? No.

In a rematch, get a good fight out of it. They already fought. I mean, he ran a different weight class, but no, no. And by the way, Juan Archuleta did look really good. We'll talk about that. Real good, yeah. I was surprised how good he looked. And he came out to that Mary Jane weed music.

He did, he did. And he had someone in his crowd, in his entourage anyway, screaming bloody murder for him the whole time. But I think the move for Pitbull, go to 135, take on Sergio Pettis. If he wins, he becomes a three-division champion

in a very respectable organization in terms of what those weight class titles mean. That would be historic. And I think that's the move at 35 years of age. But you can't disagree. Don't wait any longer. Go now. But you can't disagree with the reason why I said it is because I don't think Pitbull

has anything to gain by fighting McKee a third time right now. Right. You know, you just beat him. You're probably going to be an underdog against him. Right? Am I right? I agree. You probably will be.

Underdog or not, it doesn't. I know that doesn't matter, but you get my point. Go do something new is my point. Go do something new. They're probably going to ask him or make him do that. So I guess you got to give up the belts and go down and go after. And again, I wouldn't pressure him to go to 35 if he wasn't saying it. It's not like a thing I would think of for him to do.

He is a little guy at 145. He's not a big person, even for that. Dude, like... I got the fight. I got the fight. I was like, you know, I was in Max Holloway's hotel room before his fight with Volkanovski. Holloway is almost six feet tall.

Pitbull is a short, small guy. I think he can easily make 135, and I bet his power there is ferocious. Serious question. Assuming that the weight cut didn't kill him, who would you favor? Sergio Pettis, Patricio Pitbull? I'm picking Pitbull. Yeah, you gotricio Pitbull? I'm picking Pitbull. Yeah, you got to pick Pitbull. I'm picking Pitbull, dude.

Okay, I got another idea on how to introduce Pitbull to this division. Okay, who? Kyoji Horiguchi in Japan in some type of Rise and Cross promotion New Year's Eve type blow up.

I know it's probably too soon to turn that thing around, but you get something like that. I'd be down. Yes, that's a great idea. And you know, that's like a Scott Coker special. Yes. You like that. I'd be down. Yes, that's a great idea. That's like a Scott Coker special. Yes. You know he would be down for that.

Yes, that's a great call. That fight would be dynamite. Yeah. Could that fight feel like an old Pride fight in a way? Yeah. I mean, yes. Yes. Yes is the answer.

Yeah, you run into the Pride machine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, as part of a larger circus, yes, it certainly could be. But anyway, that's where I think it should go. Now, before we move on to topic number four, let's quickly talk about A.J. McKee. He and Spike Carlisle had, like, what can only be described as, I don't know, two cats in a bag. The first 30 seconds of the first round, which we'll see, and have you seen this shit? I'm sure we'll see it over your shoulder. It was just must-see car crash reality TV.

We knew Spike Carlisle had it in him, but we also knew he was going to have to just fucking go for it. Dude, he went for it. You've got to give him that. Spike Carlisle goes for it. And he's tough as shit. You called him a perfect TV fighter. I think it's an apt, very smart description.

That is exactly what he is. He is must-see TV. He looked like Peter McNeely against Mike Tyson. He just came out like a maniac, right? The only thing that I would say, well, for a while there, when he was banging him to the face, AJ McKee, I was like,

this is more like Rocco Soffredi and Lisa Am. Oh. You could have just did like a soft Showtime Red Shoe Diaries comparison or something. I'm just saying, here's the thing about Spike Carlisle, and this is why his fights are exciting, because there's two things that happen.

One, he comes shot out of a cannon, and it's just all hell breaks loose from the word go. Then he gases, but he's so insanely tough that he just ends up being in these long, miserable situations where he's being walked down or mounted. Somebody's sitting on his face. Yeah, someone's fighting off a choke.

And so there's this constant drama. Either way, either way, you get drama. My question is not how Spike looked. I think Spike looked how we kind of hoped he would and did great. Long run, he looked pretty good, right? I know he got his ass kicked, but he showed out and didn't get finished

against one of the best fighters in the world. I thought he gave AJ McKee a much tougher fight than I was expecting. Absolutely. Certainly by the odds. He made... Any questions we had of if AJ could fight this weight class, Spike ended up giving him the hardest test physically in the three hard rounds to really try to prove that. Yeah, so that's my question.

How do you think AJ McKee looked at 155? I think it'll get lost in how wild this fight was and because he didn't finish Spike. And look, there were moments I'm going, come on, AJ, like, finish him already. You know what I mean? I guess, Luke, to some degree, we have to give Spike Carlisle a ton of credit for just being stubborn and tough as shit. Recklessly tough in some ways. But did AJ execute in just about every category?

Yes. And because Spike came out, shot out of a cannon, it really tested any potential lingering, you know, intangibles if they had been tarnished at all from the first fight. And we know, you know, AJ said, AJ was very open about the emotional breakdown he had after the loss to Pitbull in the rematch. So any of those questions, Luke, he was forced to answer them in the moment. And in that regard, he passed the test with flying colors. He got caught a couple times, but I don't think I ever saw him wobbly or hurt or looking like he's in any kind of real trouble. And he was always able to turn every advantage

back into his favor. And his ground and pound was pretty nasty. Would you agree? Yes. Pretty good. I mean, he showed out here. He came with... I mean, he's supposed to do that in the end.

And I know Spike made it more chaotic and fun than maybe it should have been. But he still dominated that fight. I would say that, you know, Spike has fought at 145, but he's fought, from what I could tell, as high as 165. I would say that AJ McKee definitely can have success in this weight class. And he had the speed advantage, by the way. I thought he looked much quicker than Spike Carlisle. But I will say, I don't think he's fully filled out.

I do think there are still a little bit more adjusting to the weight class realities that has to happen. So in the end, you got to give Beltor and Scott Coker a little bit of credit in this regard. People were like, oh, this is a mismatch. First of all, it turned out to be not as much of a mismatch as folks thought it was going to be. That's the first thing I'd say.

Second of all, it actually turned out to be, if you want to call it a tune-up fight, there's really no such thing as tune-up fights in MMA in the same way that they're used in boxing, but such as you want to call it that, an easy first entry, relatively speaking, for a new weight class, this was actually great for A.J. McKee. He finally got an exciting

fight in front of his hometown fans. That's great. And he got a good but very winnable test against someone who's kind of tough to put away. So he got a full three rounds of action, got to feel what it was like at 155. This was actually very helpful for A.J. McKee. I think Bellator handled this the right way. I think so, too. And he got a chance to be cheered by his hometown crowd. I didn't feel like the crowd was reaching through my screen in a Dublin type of sense, Luke, necessarily.

No, the crowd there was not nearly as good. But they certainly... Also, there wasn't nearly as many of them as there was. But look, I just like that he had to pass some gritty elements of this test. Skill for skill, no. You knew that coming in, the odds showed of what type of fight it could be.

But AJ passed any test that I needed to see. But in terms of the future, like you said, he still needs to fill out more, and he said that to us. I think part of the reason why he hasn't, because he's not really sure if he's coming or going for sure in regard to the trilogy, and whether he would have to cut down or would want to cut down to 145 one more time.

So Luke, if Pitbull is offered and says, no, I don't want the trilogy because I'm going down to Bantamweight, is there any reason to allow AJ to fight for the featherweight title again before he would then slide up to do the lightweight tournament? I don't think so. Like if it was vacant and you make a fun matchup? You could do it. It's certainly a thing that's on the table.

I think that's a card you can play. If I'm Bellator, I don't play that card. I go in the other direction completely. Now you've made the move. I think all roads lead, and I do mean this, I think all roads lead to Usman Nurmagomedov versus AJ McKee. I think that's where we're headed, and that is just fantastic. I don't care if that could take place in UFC, in LFA, in one, in any organization.

Bodog. That is Bodog fights. Union Barge Fighting Championship. Shout-outs to John Snowden. You could do that anywhere, and it's first-class MMA. So that's where I think they should put their energy. It's like caviar, Luke. It's like dressed-up snails.

Have you ever had caviar? Hell no. I'm not cultured. I bet you you have had it in multiple countries. I bet you. No, just one. Just one. I don't really like it that much. It's not cultured. I bet you you have had it in multiple countries. I bet you. No, just one. Just one. I don't really like it that much.

It's not that great. I do like roe, salmon roe. What is that? It's just some dead, gross fish? Yes, dead, gross fish. It's exactly correct. It's exactly what it is. Look, if you knew the amount of times

I have been presented with the chance to pick a meal in the first 41 years of my life and how many times I chose violence and went right after the hot dog. Look, I mean, just like, you know, do not pass go, go directly to the dog, you know? I mean... God bless you, BC.

Yeah, well, let's see if I can, it lasts on this earth because of that. All right, let's go to point number four. And the reason why I made this one separate than the AJ McKee one is just because it was, well, if I had to ask you what was the most insane mma thing that happened over the weekend there's only one choice aaron pico's shoulder dislocating off of a punch was not by itself the most shocking thing i've seen shoulders dislocate in combat sports a million different times for a million different reasons i've even seen him pop back in.

What I had not seen before was when he goes back to his corner after losing the first round against Jeremy Kennedy, and then his coaches frantically yanking on his arm. Surely this isn't Have You Seen This Shit, yes? Oh yeah, oh yeah,

it is, of course. Luke, that is... Now hold on, before we talk about that... It was bizarre. Do you have any takeaway about the fight? There's just really not a whole lot to say in either direction. Yes. Is it, should it be a loss? Yes. But is it a real loss? No, it's not. And I did, you know, put out a whatever tweet of sort of the idea of this

there is moral victories to be pulled from here from Pico for the toughness he showed and people tweeting back at me, you know, did you get paid for that moral W? You get the overall point here. People make a lot of stupid comments on Twitter. He showed absurd levels of commitment to wanting to stay in this fight. Almost unsafe, almost reckless levels.

So does he have to show that? No. But does that remind me who he is in that he's still, it's very much in play that he lives up to the hype in the long run to go, you know, a different journey to get there. But I mean,

Luke, he's still coming the hell on as long as he doesn't have any lingering injury from here. And I have to stand and salute. Would you disagree? You have to stand and salute at that. I mean, he was basically trying as he was pinned against the cage in the middle of

the round, he's trying to yank his shoulder back in. And he's standing there like this, Luke, like, no, ref, it's fine. Doc, it's cool. I can totally fight like this. Yes, no problem at all. I mean, it's just ridiculous. It's like losing an eye. It's like, I got another eye. Like, I don't need this first eye.

Have you ever dislocated your shoulder? No. Dude, I can't even, if you've never dislocated your shoulder, it's hard to explain. My brother, one time I had to take him to the ER because I visited him when he was at UVA living in the dorms. And he was wrestling with his college roommates or whatever. And his shoulder dislocated. I'd take him to the ER. So I was there when they had to roll it back in.

Screaming, bloody fucking murder. Yo, our camera guy, Drew, he knows that. You've dislocated? Okay, scale of 1 to ten, how painful? Worse than childbirth, I think. Worse than childbirth, he says. Dude, it's hard to explain. The pain is so...

Worse than the second needle of the three-needle vasectomy anesthesia? Probably, because here's the thing. I had it when I tore my labrum, and mine was falling out of my shoulder in my sleep. And I would wake up with the shoulder falling out. Dude, it's like the pain is, tell me if I'm wrong. It's so shocking, it's hard to process. And it feels like you're being electrocuted because you can't even deal with the shockwave of pain.

Oh, it's like when you get a feeling too close to the nerve and suddenly like you're just, you can't. Expand that to your shoulder, which is a giant joint. This guy was out there trying to be like, I can fucking fight like this. I'm like, dude. Dude giant joint. This guy was out there trying to be like, I can fucking fight like this. I'm like, dude. He's like a soldier out there. I can't even explain to you. That's like a guy

Have you ever seen those Buddhist monks to protest the Chinese government? They would set themselves on fire and then just not move. But wasn't his purpose because he figured one takedown could pop it back in? Wasn't that his goal? We've seen it before. There was one recently in UFC card where it kind of popped out, and then when they moved around, it kind of rolled back in.

It is possible to roll it back in under the right circumstances. How did you get yours back in? ER. ER. They rolled it back in? Yeah. So it can happen under the right circumstances. It can happen.

You think this guy was bawling? Because I would be instantly. I would just not. Were you crying? No, twice I didn't. Oh, that guy. Did Did you scream though? Yeah. Dude, it's the worst pain I've ever experienced

by a million miles. It's shocking pain. Yeah. Alright, so for him to do that, I cannot, that's one of the most man, toughest shit things in all my life I've ever seen. I've never, I was just shocking.

But I think it had to be, as crazy as it is, it had to be to the idea of, oh, I'll just take care of this the next round in the fight, right? But just seriously, his willingness, the second half of that first round was just ridiculous to stay in like that and figuring he could do it himself or try to do it himself. Luke, what do you do with that magic?

As long as he's not hurt from it, what do you do with that spirit? Because you've got to plug that in, because, I mean, this guy's going to win a world championship. Well, what, what, what does that, what do you do with that magic? As long as he's not hurt from it, what do you do with that spirit? Cause you got to plug that in. Cause I mean, this guy's going to win a world championship. Well, this is my point. It's like, I don't, okay. This was a, in one sense, it's no big deal because he got, he, he, first of all, he rocked Jeremy Kennedy with a punch. Now I did see Scott Coker being like, Pico was on his way to winning. I don't know by what basis he's making that judgment. I mean, yes, the odds were heavily in his favor, but there's not nearly enough information to conclude that.

And we do always overlook Jeremy Kennedy, according to Jeremy Kennedy, and he might be right. Well, Jeremy Kennedy did what he was supposed to. I mean, he did exactly what he was supposed to. But you can't make a determination one way or the other, is my point. So you could run it back. But this is the thing, dude. They were yanking on that arm so hard.

I hope there's no extra damage. We haven't heard anything, so I'm really hoping that's not the case. More to the point, it's like, dude, the MMA gods, you thought they were smiling on Aaron Pico when he was in Bellator NYC in that big debut. And since then, it's been a rough fucking run for him. It's chaotic.

How much does this set him back? Assuming there's no real long-term repercussions, is it that big a deal? As long as there's no injury repercussions because that's a different category. That becomes a problem. That becomes where you're constantly not getting him at 100% or at all.

Separate from that, as much as I am sitting here and praising the balls, the dogged, ridiculous toughness, you do have to wonder if he's unable to manage that superpower.

Does that lead him into dangerous situations in big fights and just reactivating that run he was on that, you know, if you could tag him, he's just going to, like, is he Cody Garbrandt? Are we heading into, like, a Cody Garbrandt type thing where he could still be the right guy on the right night anytime but you don't want to see him get to a point where he's he's his own problem in the biggest moments you know right i mean again this is a freak accident you don't want to read too

much into it one way or the other but i saw people a sleeping on jeremy kennedy a little bit yeah that's the first thing i saw the second thing i I saw was, like, dude, they were like, oh, he's just going to burn over this guy. This was his toughest fight by a million miles in three years, since his last loss in the cage. The six fights he had previous to this were against guys that he should never have lost to. Now, he should still probably be favored to beat Jeremy Kennedy.

I think I would still favor that, although I do think Jeremy Kennedy's a lot better than he was getting credit. But this idea that it was just automatically gonna be bestowed upon him by virtue of the odds being all crazy, I don't know. You need to pass that test.

The idea was he had a reformation project. He went back to Jackson Wink. He took six fights that were very manageable, which I have no issue with. I thought his team did everything the right way there. And he came out with a lot of verve was he had a reformation project. He went back to Jackson Wink. He took six fights that were very manageable, which I have no issue with. I thought his team did everything the right way there. And he came out with a lot of verve and that he had some good power. But until you pass that test

against a veteran guy like Jeremy Kennedy, we actually don't know if the reformation project worked. Now, the injury is not his fault. It's just, you know, it's kind of a freak thing or whatever. But I want to be clear, has the reformation project worked for Aaron Pico? We still don't know. We still don't know.

Am I panicking, though? No, because... No, I'm not panicking. He looked good for as long as it... I mean, it's just you feel bad for him because this is, like, disastrous timing. He would have been fighting Pitbull next for the title, correct? Correct.

I mean, if he had won. If he had won. Which, by the way, would have been a... That's a tough fight for Aaron Pico. Dude way, would have been a, that's a tough fight for Aaron Pico. Dude, that would have been a great fight to get excited about to start to look at,

like, what the hell is this going to look like? I mean, Pico would have been a, what do you think he would have been in underdog? Plus 250? Plus three? Yeah, around that.

Around that. Around that. It's a tough fight. It's a tough fight. But the thing is, he could have wrestled him. And Pitbull does have good defensive wrestling.

It's not the best part of his game. So that's why it makes it a little bit interesting. So I don't know. I don't know if they're going to... You think... Again, I think... I said this before. I think Pitbull should just go to 135 and then forget everything on 145.

We'll have to see if they're going to do that. Yeah. I mean, you can't get a title shot off of a TKO injury loss. You can't do that. Can you? I mean, you can do whatever you want. Like, technically, he's got a six-fight win streak. I mean, Aldo did get that title shot off that Marais loss. That was't do that. Can you? I mean, you can do whatever you want. Technically, he's got a six-fight win streak. I mean, Aldo did get that title shot off

that Marais loss. That was a little dicey. BC, last question on this. Anyone else at Bellator 286 stand out to you? Yeah, Juan Archuleta. Juan Archuleta looked great! Look, at 35, you weren't sure. Is this the beginning of the end for Archuleta after two elite losses? But both were title fights and both against very good competition.

What he did against a guy who's tough as nails in Enrique Barzola was, I thought, added more to his striking game. The footwork patterns, the elusiveness. Luke, he's an aggressive guy who is in your face, high motor, he'll take you down if that's the best option, but he's

really just swarming you and overwhelming you. I thought he was more calculated in terms of trying to make the most of his power shots, but also not being there to get hit on the other side as much as we're used to seeing him. I mean, he had two, I think, stoppage losses in a row. Correct me if I'm wrong. 35 years of age. I don't know.

One of them was the decision loss to Pettis. Okay, so then the other one was the stoppage loss. But here's my point. Like, two losses in a row, one of them via stoppage. 35 years of age at bantamweight. You know, that's not young. What stood out to me was not just that he executed. He took the fight to Barzola.

He was standing in the pocket. Usually what he does is he likes to hit and go. He doesn't stand around too long. Here he was not just standing flat-footed. I don't mean that, but creating a dynamic pocket presence in a way that he hadn't previously. He looked great. Dude, the way he would exit out of two times, he wasn't

standing straight. He was pivoting and jabbing at angles. Barzola was game, but he was overmatched. He was overmatched, and I wasn't sure what kind of version of Archuleta we were going to get. A great one is what we got. He might get a big fight in some regard. Your question about Pitbull, if he goes to 135,

is a good one, because this was a very redeeming performance for Archuleta. And that's the type of guy Pitbull would if he goes to 135, is a good one because this was a very redeeming performance for Archuleta. And that's the type of guy Pitbull would have to beat to be at the title level, so that would be the perfect entry. If not, he thinks he should get Pettis on the comeback in a rematch. That's what I think too. Also, got to give a shout-out, and we'll talk more about this on Extra Credit. No, you think Archuleta should get it?

No, no, no, no, sorry. I thought you meant Pitbull. No, I'm talking about Juan Archuleta. Do you think the Spaniard could get a title shot off of this? No, because the tournament. Because the tournament, yeah. He's too far behind it that way. How about J.J. Wilson?

New Zealand's own. By the way, King Mo trained. So he got taken down repeatedly by Vladimir Tokov. And Tokov kind of kept him down for the entire fight. But J.J. Wilson throwing up attacks from guard relentlessly. Ground and pound from his back relentlessly. He's wild. Yeah, but I wasn't sure how the judges were going to go for it.

Some of the subs were very close. Some of the reversals were great. But in general, Tokov was more or less able to control top position. But the dynamic offense was from J.J. Wilson. But, you know, when someone's attacking off their back, even if they're better, you just don't know if the judges are going to reward that. They did.

They did. Did they reward the flashy or did they reward the effective aggression? I thought he did the most effective work. I really, really did. I agree with you. I agree with you. And so, by the way, Shots to King Mo, I've seen him do this a few times. He did it with Johnny Ebelin, and now he did it with J.J. Wilson.

When one of his guys wins and they're too tired or just kind of accepting the moment, he forced them. He's like, get in that camera. Tell the world who you are. Let them know. He's a great hype man. King Mo for that. Yeah, King Mo's the best. So that's what I would say. But there's a lot of good performances on the card. Okay, last but not least, BC, this was the card on Friday for our top five points. Now, it was a lot of names that a lot of

even, I think, hardcore fans might not know, but I will say that they've had two events won on Amazon Prime Video. This was one on Amazon Prime 2. We'll talk about the larger card and the larger read in just a second. I thought it went extremely well for one. Let's talk about that main event, the trilogy. And if I mispronounce her name, please forgive me.

Shang Jingnan taking on Angela Lee for the third time. Shang wins. Shang wins. She wins. I thought it was close. So they judged the whole fight. She got a unanimous decision. They judged the fight as a whole versus round by round. And they also have, by the way, in one it's a little bit different.

Aggression doesn't count as much as it does in the 10-point must system. Also, you do get points, metaphorically speaking, for, like, defending a takedown in one, whereas in the 10-point must system, defense is its own reward. Okay, how did you score it? And here's my question. I think that Shang versus Lee, the three fights, deserves to be considered among one of MMA's better trilogies. True or false? Even though I'm new to this trilogy, I'd have to say this is true. This third fight,

was it the best of the trilogy? I mean, they're all kind of... The second one is probably the best because of the late finish, but this is a great one. I mean, they both had late fifth round finishes, and then this one, how'd I score it?

You could have scored it either way. Did I prefer Zhang in the end? A little bit more, but I think Angela Li in the post-fight interview kind of laid out because of her steady, constant aggression

and the fact that she was the one putting the threat to the takedown and really trying to force the clinch you i would have no problem with her winning just the same but they both showed out i mean this was a hard gritty fight the only thing that that really separated them in big moments because this is kind of how you're judging it and scoring it was that first round when uh lee got knocked down twice and kind of got handled a little bit but But she responded so great to that, and despite the damage on her face, they've been warriors throughout these 15,

not full rounds, but all three had at least gone into the fifth round, that I don't feel like they're done. And I don't feel like they should be done because they're perfect dance partners. And the cool part about it is each has won when defending their own division's title. Adam White for Lee and Strawweight for Zhang. But I wanted to ask you in regard to scoring it as a whole,

you just identified the different variants in the scoring criteria, but at the same time, it's a different mindset when you're judging it whole. How do you personally come, like, using this fight as an example, come to the conclusion that Zhang was the rightful winner? So, Li rallied big time in this fight. She got dropped hard in the first round. In fact, she almost got finished in the first. I was a little bit surprised she hung on, and we even called it on Friday. We even said, it's kind of striker versus grappler, although that's not quite true because of the rallying

and then the clinch work, I thought, that was really pretty good from Angela Lee. There wasn't nearly as much, you know, threatening groundwork in this one as there was in, say, the second one, for example. For me, the power punching and the demonstrative effect that it had on Lee just weighed more heavily in my mind.

And I think that's, again, hard to know because we didn't hear from the judges. I think that's what they went for. But I got to say, dude, Lee got dropped in that first round. That was, if that wasn't a, that was a, if that wasn't a 10 point must system, that could have been a potential 10-8 and it was bad. And then Lee kind of steadily, you know, rallying to the center parts of that pipe, pressing her up against the fence. Some of her known deficiencies played a role immediately.

We knew she was hittable. You saw that in the first round. But then she was kind of able to get the fight along the fence line and kind of keep it in close quarters. And it was a much more manageable battle there. But then I thought Chong had a bit of a, not a late fight rally.

That fifth round was a little bit up in the air too, but just kind of rescued any potential major rally from taking place by Lee. But either way, these two are well suited for each other. I don't know if you saw this. Later on, I don't know what his official title is, Emperor at One or Godlike Creature or whatever his name is. You're talking about Chachri? Chachri. I don't know what his official title is.

Executive producer of an award-winning TV show. The guy who runs it, essentially, is the head promoter there. He argued that he thought Lee had won. Now, Lee is kind of like a favored fighter within the promotion. At least that's the perception. There's a video later on of Shang Jingnan talking about it. 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. Are you crushing your bills? Defeating your monthly payments? Sounds like you're at the top

of your financial game rise to it with the bmo eclipse rise visa card the credit card that rewards your good financial habits earn points for paying your credit card bill in full and on time every month level up from bill payer to reward slayer terms and conditions apply. Getting fucking pissed. Yo, she's a bad... Dude, her face when Chachri put the belt on her and she gets right in the camera, you know what it reminded me of? I think it was, it was like the second,

maybe it was the second JDS fight with Kang, or Kang Velasquez, where JDS goes to the middle and then does that bit where he drops his hand like a sword and then Kang got right in his fucking face and went like this. Dude, I got the chills when that happened. Do you know the aura I get from Jeong?

It's almost like half John Lineker, half Jessica Andrade. A little bit. She's a tank. I mean, she is. And who's the— So I'm trying to figure out the weight. So she's the naturally bigger fighter, Jeong, right? In terms of the weight class separation between them.

This was Lee trying to capture a second weight class title. Yes, her power shots in the end, I guess, would be the reason why if I had to choose, I would have chosen her. But I guess I'm not critical, but I want to know more about what the differences are in trying to score as a whole, because is it always going to be where whoever has, if it's close enough, whoever had the bigger moment, because nobody ended up having a bigger moment than those two knockdowns from Zhang in the second half of that first round. So do the judges look at it maybe sometimes to a fault more like that, or are you still taking one's totality against the other

and weighing it out? Again, because there's a lack of transparency in terms of, and by the way, I don't mean like, you know, like there's something nefarious. I just mean we don't hear from the judges. So it's hard to say exactly what they see and under what circumstance they make their broader judgments. I tend to think that that is a risk of that system. I can't remember the name of the fighters. It was a while ago, but I did see one where a guy got dropped in the first and then ultimately won it. In fact, that one I was telling you about,

Pet Morikot taking on the Frenchman, and that's different because that's Muay Thai, but yeah, that's different because they do do judge it by a five round system there. And, and, uh, and they, they have,

they have scorecards. Um, nevertheless, I have seen it circumstances where it has happened. Yeah. I do think it's a risk where if someone just has a dynamic moment early, it's just cloud your judgment for the duration of the bout, unless they do something else equally or even more dynamic.

Hard to say. I do think in general, you get better decisions with their system than you do the 10-point must system. Although, funnily enough, Angela Lee after the fight being like, well, I like our system, but I think there should be some adjustments made closer to the 10-point must system. And I'm like, please, fuck no.

I liked, I thought the announced trio improved and their chemistry got a lot better this time around. Got a lot better this time. And I thought what they do, maybe I don't know if one's been doing this forever, but I just sort of finally noticed it, putting the championship belt right behind the cage. Like, I don't know how smart their cage is at the end of the day. Could it tell me my working heart rate just by me standing in it?

Does it call Uber Eats? I don't know. But I'll tell you what it does. You're having that championship belt right there. Not only does it double down on, down on the romanticism of the stakes, you have to believe for the fighters, especially if you're like, somebody's got you in a rear naked from behind,

but you can visibly see what you're fighting for right there. It's kind of cool. Isn't that far you up? And they've got it in that Tumi suitcase. Yeah, shouldn't there be dry ice behind there with some smoke coming out? Do you have any,

I've said this before, do you have any Tumi luggage? No. It's nice, but it's comically overpriced. I went to go get one, and it was like, Like an $80 haircut of luggage? No, worse, nice, but it's like comically overpriced. Like, I went to go get one, and it was like an $80 haircut of luggage. No, worse, worse. I went to one, and it was like

one of those standard roller bags, not big enough where you, sorry, not small enough where you could take on a plane, but not gigantic, right? Just big enough where you had to check it. And it was like $600. I'm like, I'm not fucking buying this. And then I got one at Target, which I'm sure is not nearly as nice, but it was $60. And I'm like,

I'm going to get the cheap one at Target. To me, it's nice. Overpriced. Overpriced as shit. Do you think that Target is demonstrably nicer than Kohl's, Luke? Or do you think they're just both Walmart pluses in the end? I think Target is a little bit nicer.

Yeah, but it's still a little bit dub-tee, just kind of crawling around the edges. You know what I mean? It's a little bit nicer yeah but it's still a little bit dub t just kind of crawling around the edges you know what i mean like right it's a little bit dub t at times but i do think i'll say this much like the target brand clothes are a little bit nicer than like the generic shit that walmart sells i feel like that's a little bit true i could be wrong but is there any other feeling in retail shopping like walking into, like, an Ocean State job lot and it's just like that grime comes over you? But, like, you're like, should I welcome this evil spirit

or should I push it away? I don't know. Bro, I used to shop at Burlington Coat Factory back in the day. Oh, that's... Yeah, that had a... I mean, you're lucky if you don't come home with, like, a bed bug infestation off that shit. Yeah, it's like Eblen's.

You ever actually go there? Not Johnny Eblen. Eblen's. I don't know if we had that. Ebenlen are at it again, saving your money at Eblen's? All right, I guess. Last thing on this.

So there was much more that happened on the card. We don't have a lot of time to get to it. But what would be the grade you would give one through two events on Prime Video? Now, here's what I'm saying. I don't have any clue what numbers they're pulling. And I'm guessing nothing significant. Although there was a one ad that I think Al Michaels stumbled through like a motherfucker trying to read on Thursday Night

Football nevertheless they did have a little bit of promotion there he called cage fighting he's like he's like super bond versus you know rod he can't do it but the point I'm trying to make is absent whatever they're pulling which really is the only determinant whether they will continue just in terms of quality, I have been extremely impressed. They have had really good events. B plus. I would say A minus.

I think you're being a hater. Okay. Well, I mean, could this be more obtrusive? I mean, I was going to bring it up. I don't know what you're doing right here. I mean, they didn't fucking plug it to my collar. They could run a busboy out here or something. A busboy?

Or one of these cameramen who are all on their phones. I mean, how's TikTok, Big Luke? How's TikTok? Hey, don't disparage Jake over there, though, because his latest stock is just the balls, right? Answer the question about one on Prime Video. B+. I thought that's kind.

I think you're hating. I thought that's kind. I think you're hating. I thought that's generous. Look, has the... Okay. It's been very good. Has it had you, like, jumping off of, you know, jumping over a fence to get to it yet in terms of, like, what the card on paper is screaming to you

collectively over two fight cards? No, Luke. Do I like a lot about the broadcast? Yes. Do I like the... Of all the promotions, does this promotion present the most

pure feeling of like Bushido classy martial arts? No, all that is just pomp and circumstance bullshit. But I think it's real

when you're watching. I think they do... If that means anything to you, if that means anything to you, they have that. They offer that. That to me is the least of it. I think that their commentators sounded better this time. Is that like getting to you, they have that. They offer that. That to me is the least of it. I think that their commentators

sounded better this time. Is that like getting Wally sauce on the steak? What is Wally sauce? There's all these sauces for steaks with Wally sauce. I didn't ask for blue cheese dressing, but thank you, sir. Wow. What I was going to say was, I think that the cards have looked excellent. I think the quality has been very

high. They've gotten a little, you know, listen, any kind of promotion with any kind of show, UFC, Bellator 1, doesn't matter. Part of it is engineering and part of it is luck. And they've had some good luck in the way in which things have played out. But are they putting their best foot forward

by and large with these one-on-prime video cards and then the luck is adding to it? I give them a high grade. Dude, B-plus is really high high grade. I think these have been A- Dude, B-plus is really high. You don't belong for it. I think these have been A- cards.

And you know me, like I don't buy- But I have a different grading expectation. I need more whites on my card. You were in the math club, Luke, okay?

You know what I mean? I need more whites. They're doing just fine, Luke. Hey, in the Singapore nightlife, does Brent Stover clean up after those cards? Because you know, he's a country singer.

Do you ever see him, Luke? I've never seen him. Oh, you don't follow him on Instagram? No, no, no. Oh, he's like a successful touring country singer. For real? Yeah, Hot Stove. That's what I call him, you know?

Do you think that Hot Stove is heating up Singapore? Just slinging that D. Okay, that went too far. Well, I said defense. He's learning defense out there. The D chord, yes. I'll just say this lastly. I think that it's been, you know, home run.

It's hard to know without the numbers. But in terms of like what they could reasonably do on their end to put out a dynamic product, it's been a home run for them. And I don't say that quite lightly. All right. That's it for our top five. We'll get to more of this stuff. By the way, there was another guy, several people on the card.

We'll talk about extra credit. But for today's— Oh, McLovin, that dude? McLovin. The dude on the card. We'll talk about extra credit. But for today's... Oh, McLovin, that dude? McLovin. The dude with the glasses. Oh, Mikey Musumechi? Yeah. Nah, his match kind of sucked.

Wasn't that great. I mean, he tried, but... We might be hearing from him soon. He called out very respectfully, Demetrius Johnson. He wants a match with him. And I'm like, Mikey. Mikey. What are you doing, buddy?

Hey, Mikey's back from Amsterdam. Our producer. Yeah, he... CBS Sports. I think he fried a few brain cells when he was over there, though. You can't say that kind of stuff publicly. I mean, just drooling.

You can't. I mean, we expect it. You know, we expect that to be true. All right. It's time for DMs from donks. Let's get to it. Hee-haw. All right.

Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw.

Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw.

Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. Hee-haw. All right.

So we put up a post on Instagram. You guys fill it up. The producers pick questions, and then we answer up a post on Instagram. You guys fill it up. The producers pick questions, and then we answer them on Monday's show. From Russ E.K. the Human. Should Dern seek out a new coach whose strength is wrestling? Seems like a missing part of her game. The problem is she has Jason Perrilla, who is a proven coach.

I'm not seeing a ton of improvement in her striking either. I don't know that that's the issue. So rather than try to make her completely well-rounded across the board, and it just may not be who she's going to be in the end, the spirit of this question was should the new focus, whether that would come through a new coach, the addition of a coach to the staff, or just a change in mindset to become an offensive wrestler,

could that mitigate what she's missing in her game for not having consistent offense? Sometimes that jab is there and the right hand follows it, but it's not consistent enough. It's sloppy. Would the offensive wrestling threat replace that effectively? Is that the lean that she should go to get to the title the quickest, Luke? I think you could go.

We said this on Friday. I think you could go either of those routes, but you need to go one of them. You need to go one of them. Because here's the other part, Luke. I think you could go, we said this on Friday, I think you could go either of those routes, but you need to go one of them. You need to go one of them. Because here's the other part too, if she could punch her way into the clinch, that would be huge. Right?

Demi and Maya, it wasn't like he had a batch in, he could take a beating too, but her composure under fire is remarkably good. But, you know, you shouldn't have to lean on it as much as she does.

And that's the other part too, it's not going to last forever. That's going to go away over time. You can still win a championship with that if the matchmaking is right. It's hard to win a championship with a skill set this limited. It just is, dude. You're right. You get Brock Lesnar feels in some small regard with that.

Brock Lesnar had submissions, which he got on Shane Carwin. He had very good ground and pound. And he had a physical hulking presence over the other heavyweights. When he fought Couture, God bless Couture for fighting that gorilla, but, dude, there was a massive, massive gap. That right hand, that right cross that finished him,

that was pretty legit, right? It was short. It sat him down, you mean. Yeah, it was short, but it was on the money, Luke. I don't think he has to move very much to land with authority, you know? But once you hit him, the fight changes. I think our next one is Grant's Pictures. That sounds like a

thrilling account. Who has a better chance against Volk, AJ McKee or Pitbull? Pitbull does. Right? What about McKee's ability to jump submission? Here's the thing. If Ortega can't do it.

Pitbull can match you in every category, but are there enough categories where he's as good or potentially better than Volk to be more of a threat that if the right fight happened at the right time and the stakes went his way, McKee can go to second levels that are just ridiculous in terms of snatching up a submission or creatively finding striking opportunities. I'm not trying to say he doesn't have blemishes

or vulnerabilities. He does, but I still think he's on the right trajectory coming off of that spike fight. Yeah, the smarter pick is Pitbull, but I don't think you're wrong in saying McKee if you're going to lean that way, Luke. You don't like to go that way, though. This is not a Luke-picking McKee type of thing. I'll just say this. I think Volk beats either of them.

Yeah, I don't think that's what we're trying to debate. Right, so who has a better chance? Who has the better shot? Okay, AJ McKee is a more dynamic athlete i think that's real probably more well-rounded in areas where he could pair that but the power punching of pitbull is to me a difference maker yeah and you know he'll sub you out dude he can sub you out he's got a good guillotine and um volk's been hit a lot he doesn't take a lot of damage, but he has been dropped several times.

And so, you know, again, to be clear, I'm picking Volk. I think he's the best 145er on Earth, irrespective of organization. Dude, Volk had big balls against Ortega. True or false? Yeah. I don't know if we give him enough man respect.

I was going to say he has big balls against all of his opponents, but then it just gets weird when you say that. I mean, like we will never, you know, he could be your pound for pound king. I mean, he's freaking great. He is the pound for pound king. He's freaking great. Yeah, he's the best fighter in the sport, period. But what I also said is true, Luke.

He had to use his balls against Ortega and his backbone, and we found out that it was, I mean, it was fairly large. Even the cameraman's like, I can't believe I'm here. 12 a.m. Fairly good sized in the end, we found out. From Telvin Kipapa. Oh, that guy's from Hawaii. Put some respect on that state. Hawaii.

5-0, bitch. If you guys had a chance to buy out a Hero A event, an event, bar, restaurant, restaurant etc to yourself what place would it be that's a great question so what do you mean to do a live show no no like let's say you had stupid money right just limitless money

and you wanted to rent something out for whatever occasion is there like a venue that you like man I'd fucking love to rent that place out Taco Bell downstairs if it had the cantina option on the back yeah that's probably it there's no Taco Bell downstairs. It just opened. If it had the cantina option on the back, yeah, that's probably it. There's no iconic Webster Hall in New York City or something like that.

To perform this show? Or is he talking about in some mental... He doesn't say, but for whatever reason, a birthday party. Again, we're living in a world where you have unlimited money. Yeah, but it's a different connotation if I'm the rock star and I'm playing like, you know. Okay, so let's say for an MK show, you could rent out any venue and assume you could unlimited money. Yeah, but it's a different connotation if I'm the rock star and I'm playing like, you know.

Okay, so let's say for an MK show, you could rent out any venue and assume you could fill it. For a live MK show, that's a brilliant idea. Should I go like old school New York City iconic places, Luke? I'll do, mine's very easy.

Ford Theater? Ford? That's not the, dude, you don't understand. I know you think you understand DC. The history happened there, dude. Big time history. No, no one gives a fuck about it.

930 Club. 930 Club. It's an iconic, it's one of the most iconic clubs in the entire city. And people have rented it out, by the way. I think we could actually do it. Dude, I got it. Apollo Theater. All right.

Dude, they would get the hook on your ass immediately. That clown would come out with the big ass hook. Yeah, you're right. And take you off. 930 Club is my answer. 930 Club. Shouts to everyone at 930 Club, who now put on music that I no longer recognize,

but I do love the club. What is it? Was it a little... So years and years ago, it was like when DC was a punk scene in the 80s, Dave Grohl's talked about the 930 Club extensively, and Henry Rollins has his too. Is that like your Studio 54, Luke?

It's not CD like that. It's a music venue. It's a music venue, and it'sins has his too. Is that like your Studio 54, Luke? It's not. Your CBGB? It's not CD like that. It's a music venue. It's a music venue, and it's an old school one. And like anyone who has ever been anyone in the Mid-Atlantic, and especially DC, has gone through there. But now when I look at their like who's on the bill to perform, it's always like, you know, Lauriette

and the Julies. And I'm like, who the fuck are these bands? Like I don't even know who the fuck these are. I mean, I'm not supposed to. I'm washed, but I'm just telling you I don't know. Anyway, from Fez Blackman. I don't know what kind of name that is either.

Thoughts on the, oh, this is a good question. Thoughts on the Tua concussion controversy. We MMA fans see guys get concussed and left stiff like that all the time.

And he put in parentheses and we cheer it. What's the difference? The difference is that he got concussed on Thursday and then played again on fucking... I'm sorry, he got concussed on Sunday. I know, like, it's a back injury.

Get the fuck out of here with that. Noah was not. And then he played again on Thursday. Dude, you can kill a person like that. You can kill a person. That's the difference. What do you do if you're him? Do you just...

Dude, take some time off. Flip everybody off and just walk away? You see, they fired their independent medical... Who was it? Their neurological staff related to whoever cleared him. They gave him a sketchy job title. They're like, unaffiliated, barely hired. We don't really know him that well.

But ultimately had decision-making power over this. Anyway, that's the difference. The difference is that... And I realize that you can get concussed on Saturday night in the apex if you're a fighter, and you can go back to training on Monday and they can't actually observe and stop you. But in terms of what the promoters can do

to put you in fights, there at least are some limits between what happens in professional action. And, you know, and in football, they just put them right. They could have killed them. They could have killed them. Last but not least, from Tylorianzzzz.

Now, he writes, thoughts regarding Zuck renting out the Apex and Dana blatantly lying about it. Let's be clear about this. We don't actually know if money changed hands. Well, did you see Zuck's Facebook and Twitter posts before the main card? Like I'm going to believe a word. Okay, so Zuck had Facebook and Twitter posts before the main card. Like I'm going to believe a word. Okay, so Zuck had a picture. There was a picture of him with Mackenzie Dern and their extended teams, I assume, posing.

And he was like, thank you, Dana White, for the invite. I'm sorry. I don't believe him at all. But this is what we pitched when that Dana White news happened and he had done that tweet. Is this just him being like, you know, technical and just saying, well, he didn't actually rent it out. But Luke, your best guess, and I know you don't necessarily know,

what are they hatching? What are they planning? Because look, it's a big move to be like, yep, for this one time, but it's nothing. Don't look too close here. Nothing to see here, but the media is not going to be allowed.

It's like almost unprecedented, right? Yeah, I don't get it. So it had to be for a big business venture. I don't think it had to be. It's like Bohemian Grove bullshit, I don't get it. So it had to be for a big business venture. I don't think it had to be. It's like Bohemian Grove bullshit. I think he wanted a private event, and Dana gave it to him. I don't think it's any more complicated than that. You don't think this is the future?

Well, certainly there could be. I think Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are full of shit, and I don't think, I mean, people being like, well, look what he said on his Instagram post. What, is he under fucking oath? And by the way, even that doesn't necessarily stop him from telling falsehoods. But the point I'm trying to make is, like, I don't give a shit what they say publicly.

None of that is even remotely trustworthy. These are not people that deserve your trust based on what they say. Trust me when I tell you that. So who knows what the real thing is, but my best guess is that he wanted a private event and his conditions of showing up were that it was a private event and Dana granted it. Now, why would he want a private event and why would Dana grant it? I don't know.

Is our issue that Dana just wasn't, like, up front about this? Like, shouldn't they have told the media it's a one-time special event or whatever? Or do they not even need to do that? Because, like, if the... They don't... Look, let's say the Patriots or whatever major sports franchise

is suddenly, like, under fire. Like, the Celtics with this coach situation. whatever major sports franchise is suddenly like under fire, like the Celtics with this coach situation. It's like under fire suddenly. Like, would you expect like more honest answers to questions? And if it was like Bill Belichick in a situation that involved like things like this, where Dana's just like, nah, F it. The media won't come this time. It's fine.

It's like a really large move. Very much. I mean, listen. Doesn't that make you feel like this is a potential sale or something that's coming up here? They're coming around? I don't get those...

I mean, who's to say? Who's to say? I don't know. I don't get that. I really believe it's one rich guy doing another rich guy a favor, and it's really not more complicated than that. And then if the media has to eat shit...

Okay, then why not be upfront? That's the question to you. Then why not just be upfront? Mark Zuckerberg had a big hand in destroying digital media. Like, you think he's shedding any tears over the fact? And by the way,

not just digital media, like the entire industry. Dude, he knows your search history. I'm sure he does. Shorthand. I don't give a shit. The point I'm trying to tell you is, you know, these are not people,

and Dana, you know, you've heard what he said about media. These are not people that think that they owe the media anything, which in many ways they don't but um I just to them I honestly I really think it comes down to he wanted a private event and his condition for showing up was that it had to be private okay don't they was that don't they owe to to you know media is probably reaching out to them the people that are the day-to-day news breakers in our game doesn't the UFC owe

like a public statement about it or no? Is it none of our business, even though there's this zillionaire standing back there with his wife and a couple friends from work? Like, it's just weird. I mean, it is weird. Yes, there should be more transparency. But the thing is, here's what it comes down to. Like, it's like some Jim Jones shit is going on.

Well, it's like... I mean, is that harsh? Yeah, Jim Jones, I mean, helped usher in mass suicide. Okay, let me soften... John DuPont at least. Who committed murder. Yeah, that's also. Okay, okay. Don't even say anyone else who I know you're going to.

I stopped, I stopped. Yeah, listen, people are really just kind of like dramatizing it in the wrong directions. Like there's something nefarious. I don't think it's nefarious. Not necessarily anyway. A rich guy wanted a favor. Why is that so hard to believe? They do it for each other

all the time, and they don't care that it necessarily impacts this group or that group negatively. These are flies, especially Mark Zuckerberg doesn't give a shit about the health of the media. Had Zuck done an obvious Illuminati signal into the camera as he went by him, would that have been okay with you at that point?

That would have been funny, actually. He should have done that. He should have had like a where we go one, we go all QAnon shirt on or something. He really should have just leaned into it. Tito Ortiz would have loved that. How long do you think it took him to pick out the outfit? I don't know how robots compute their choices. I was just waiting to see him just eating like live puppies.

Yeah, no disassemble. Yeah, yeah. I don't know to see him just eating like live puppies. Yeah. No disassemble. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Again, did he rent it? I don't know if money changed hands. That's what everyone was like. Well, I don't know.

We didn't lie. Well, we don't know if there's a financial transaction involved. What we know is that his presence related directly to everyone else's absence. So the question is, why was that? And you can make whatever inference you want. But my best guess is he wanted a private event and he got one. Okay. But final comparison to team and it's a team sports and mainstream sports. If this was the St. Louis Cardinals suddenly said media and fans, that one game on the schedule, it's just private for us. And there was

potential. I'm not saying Zuckerberg is notorious. We're making jokes. He's a whatever. Okay. He's a, he's a giant, Luke. But let's say it was anybody and they rented the whole stadium and it was just this private thing and the team gave no, like, explanation for it. Wouldn't that be a bigger story? It'd be a huge story. But here's the difference.

Like, they own Apex and it's their property. They can do what they want. You'd be like, well, don't they own the ball, the stadiums? Sometimes they do. A lot of times that's public money that goes into it. So it's a little bit different. Also like UFC is the, let's just be real about this for just a second.

You can call them a monopoly. You can say they're not, but whatever. They're the 800 pound gorilla in the industry. They're the only promotion that I'm aware of that could kick out media and not really worry about it. Because most of the traffic on MMA sites, on YouTube channels, on Instagram accounts, the vast majority of it comes from UFC content. It is very hard to build a career if you were just talking about one or PFL or Bellator,

to be quite candid. Or boxing, to be fair. Or boxing. It would not necessarily be that easy. But if you talk, by the way, that you did the opposite and you did just UFC, you can build an entire career around it. What percentage of our audience would prefer that this show was only UFC, all the damn thing? See, I don't think that.

They would definitely want, like, you know, the occasional ADCC, the occasional one, you know. Occasional BKFC bullshit? Something like that. But the point I'm trying to make is they know that. They have them by the balls. And the media just basically has no choice but to go along with it. So I think people are overthinking it.

It's just rich guys doing each other solids at, you know, do you want to stay at the media's expense? You know, you can make that claim if you want, but that's really what it comes down to. Just be honest about it. Like, this is the thing in the end. Yeah, but Dana doesn't feel like he owes you anything, right?

Or the public, I guess. I think he owes me a little bit, Luke. Well, he definitely used your image rights to slander the fuck out of you in that video. Okay, but that is it for our top five. That is it for our questions. Don't forget, we have a special guest coming. Special guest at the end.

And then we have BC's feces right now. All right, let's do it. Here's what I did this weekend for everybody. I scoured the globe for the highs and lows, the good, the bad, and the ugly, in combat sports and beyond. I called this work of art. Have you seen this shit?

Ow. Ow. Go ahead. All right. Luke, we're going to start UFC Fight Night in Vegas. Here's what the people want. They want the boss, and they want some Zuck. Luke, in the end, they kind of dress the same, right?

Look at this. Zero. So do you think this was Zuck? I enjoy destroying digital media. Like, Zuck has to have a team, right, that puts together his public. So do you think they looked at Dana for inspiration? And were like, oh, T-shirt and jeans is back. Let's do it.

I think everything he does is... In fairness to Zuckerberg, everything he does is overly scrutinized. I think that's probably true. So he probably just tried to keep it as, you know, basic as possible. Okay. That T-shirt probably cost $10,000.

Yeah. 50 Bangladeshi factories collapsed in order to make it. It's like called Soylent Green because it's made out of people, Luke. 50 Bangladeshi factories collapsed in order to make it. It's called Soylent Green because it's made out of people, Luke. All right. Luke, here's Zuckerberg's wife, Priscilla Chan, losing her shit over the action

that was breaking out in front of her. Oh, wow. Yeah. That's me every time I'm trying to potty train my daughter. I mean, Luke, should we be allowed to clown this billionaire just for having a human reaction to a fight? You should be able to clown every billionaire in existence. Okay.

They don't deserve your sympathy even a little bit. Alir Latifi had an interesting post-fight uh promo that he cut let's go to it that bonus tonight and mark i know mark from facebook is here you can throw in a bonus too you know help us out i want that bonus uh this this this reference from a came in the same sentence that he revealed he got staph infection two days ago. The joke's on you, Zuck, right? I mean, first of all, the moment Dana heard this was he like, we are not resigning that son of a bitch, right? No, I don't think so.

I mean, he put Mark from Facebook on the spot. They were trying to cover this up, Luke, and Aaliyah brought it back. Dern style. He should have been like meta, not Facebook. Yo, by the way, justice for Mackenzie, right? Hashtag? I saw you tweet that. Hashtag, right?

We don't know if money changed hands, so. They always say Dana's living rent-free in our heads. Well, Zuck's living rent-free in our fight arena, Luke, okay? Alright, thank you. Good stuff, yeah. Lightweight Joaquin Silva had a fantastic finish against one Jesse Ronson. They call this the jumping knee, Luke,

and it was brilliant. It set up the, uh, look at that. Ooh. Woo. Yeah, that's solid work. That was. That was. That's solid work.

There was a few bangers that broke out in terms of highlight reel finishes on this card, right? Yeah. Oof. That's just great. Got him looking down, too, right? Saw him at the. That's just great. Got him looking down too, right? Saw him at the end there where he was just kind of facing down like that. You're going to get hit with something coming from south to north when you do that.

So John Anik was electric on this night on the microphone as play-by-play announcer, including this... Hold on. Have you noticed how often there are ads for vaccines on these UFC cards? There's like ads for like Paxlovid, which is not a vaccine. Oh, yeah, like this may—

But then flu shot and stuff. I'm like, listen, pharmaceutical companies, this is not your audience. Just let me warn you. People in this audience don't like medicine. You can put the camera on Luke when he's giving humorous rants, please. I can direct the show, too. There it is. There we go.

Okay. Luke, John Anik went out of his way to challenge referee Keith No Nonsense Peterson. He was full of a little bit of nonsense this weekend. For not taking away a point. Let's listen to it. Or do you pull out your testicles and take a point, right? I was a little shocked when I heard that, right? I tell you what, Randy Brown, you know, he had a good win,

and I thought he deserved the win overall, but he had a fence grab in the first round against Masa Randuba that was terrible. And Keith Peterson just did the old smack your hand away. I was like, ah, Keith, that's a lot of nonsense you're tolerating. You think Dom Cruise was right? He smells like hooch and cigarette. I've always said this.

I certainly hope. If he does, hit me up. I want to party with you. All right. He smelled like aggressively horny middle-aged women. I don't understand it. Yeah, all right. Luke Tabitha Ricci unfortunately lost her second straight fight

when her opponent pulled out, but she apparently was still looking to take part. She didn't lose the fight. No, she didn't lose the fight, but she was mocking, having fun with the whole idea of the ring card girl. Could she be hired on the spot, Luke? I don't make those calls. I don't know.

Okay. You're asking me to comment on her appearance in a very- No, no, the technique and just the presence. I got to tell you, I have put less than zero thought into the technique of that. Good, because you would have been fired if you really tried, okay? Probably. Dissected, coming at you. All right, let's go to this MK viewer

who was Johnny on the spot cleaning out his own closet. This is Ted Hollister, and Luke, he shared a picture of himself sparring. Well, not sparring, he's hitting pads. I'm sorry, Luke, he's warming up, all right? Just realized I own the iconic BC Room Service Diary shorts. Now, Luke, just to remember, I bought those shorts for my son to play basketball in. He hated them.

I cannot believe you tried to outfit your kid in those clothing in, like, the age that they are. You're just sending them. Dude, you might as well just dip your kids in honey and then drop them into a tank full of piranhas. That's not acceptable. They're going to get eaten alive. It turned out perfect because it was like too large for him and he was like, and the style's weird, Dad. And then, you know, I took it

on and, wow. So thanks to Ted Hollister. Did he look like a real fighter there, Luke? Yeah, he does. Alright. Dude, I ran into an MK guy in the grocery store. I can't believe it. When I was wearing my baby Yoda, like, pajama pants, you know, buying pizza. I mean, you also wore just plain white sweatpants to an RSD.

Yeah. Unironically, so. Meet me on the low, on the D. All right, let's go to Bellator 286 from Long Beach, California. Look at Patricio Pippo in this highlight package. Watch his eyes. Watch his eyes. Defending that vicious flying knee attempt.

The timing, the accuracy, everything about that is remarkable. And then he catches him. Dude, that is extremely good. Dude, Pipple's awesome. Seriously. I just don't know if he gets the respect he deserves, but he

is an excellent fighter we mentioned Spike Carlisle as a must-see TV presenter, he certainly is but his entrance, wow when it comes crashing down and it hurts inside, Luke was Bubba the Love Sponge there? he was filming

Hulk's wife, I think yeah, wow, gawker, indeed, yeah. Did you pop for this? I did, I did, okay. No, I did not. I mean, you know, has Hulk fully recovered from that horribly racist moment, Luke?

I don't know if he should. I mean, I don't know. You'd have to ask people who know the situation better. You know, taking Peter Thiel's money to sue Gawker, to me, has always been a little bit worse, if not worse,

certainly pretty fucking bad. Yeah. Luke, let's go to what Spikeawker to me has always been a little, if not worse, certainly pretty fucking bad. Luke, let's go to what Spike co-authored here. 15 to 30 seconds of pure magic to open the opening round. Just watch and enjoy this TV-friendly fighting. But it's a new weight class, and

Spike Carlisle delivering the histrionics already. A fast start as expected. And they are swinging for the fences. Oh, Mike Carlisle has come out saying, I am not going to take anything. And by the way, A.J. McKee turned the table there. Yeah. Oh, you just saw Brandon.

Very well. All right, let's keep it going here. This was that aforementioned Aaron Pico left shoulder injury that Coach Brandon Gibson was desperately trying to put back in socket to allow him to continue. And, wow, I mean, you don't see stuff like this. You just don't. I can't.

I can't. I mean, listen, I know that they were desperate, and I know Brandon Gibson is trying to do the right thing in his mind. That can't be best practices medically. No. Can't be. No, that can't be. Hey, Luke, big week under the radar for one Paulo Costa of Secret Juice fame.

Yeah, yeah. First, he competed and lost to the liver king, Patrycki Pitbull, also on site, in a Bellator MMA and the Schmo represented liver eating contest. Your thoughts on this, Luke? I mean, can you imagine being a fan of the Liver King? Do you know how low your IQ has to be? Dude, did he betray the Smart Cage? Oh, you

mean the PFL Smart Cage? Yeah. Yeah, but the PFL Smart Cage is keeping tabs on you. It's monitoring his every move. Like that Pegasus software program. Yeah, thank you, Liver King. Luke, he also snuck up behind the Liver King. No, no, you know who the saddest person on Earth is? It's actually not Liver King

because he's just taking money from these rubes. Not these ones, but like the fans on Instagram. People who actually... If you identify as a primal, I guarantee your parents hate you. I guarantee they hate you. Is that more like regal than being an MK donk?

Well, both are equally sad, but one is a little bit more embarrassing. All right. Costa would sneak up behind the liver king and put on the rear naked attempt only because liver king is actually naked above the waist. Then denied him.

Oh, there we go. And Paulo Costa also appeared in a Las Vegas parking lot playing capoeira music with MK's own superfan extraordinaire, Chef Cass. Luke, check it out. What?

Did Chef Kaz murder him and get him alive and eat his flesh after this? I mean, they are like the Hall and Oates of the capoeira scene, Luke, right? I can't believe a car just didn't run a moment. If you were in a parking lot and you saw that, you'd be like, what the fuck? You know what? It needs more violins from the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Luke. That's what it, you know. You know what?

They need to jam like this for two hours straight nonstop and then put that CD out. You'd be the first one buying it. And then I'd get in your car and be like, what the fuck are you listening to? If it comes with a meal prep plan, I'll be down for it. It does come with a meal prep plan, but you also have to wear weird electronic objects on your person in a very obvious way you can't talk about them.

Yeah, like those ball bulbs. What the fuck are you doing, Chef Kaz? Thank you, Chef Kaz. Let's go to Mike Perry, who appeared on Russian TV. I think Chef Kaz gave me COVID. Was I there when it happened? At the meet and greet. Thank you. Let's go to Mike Perry. I don't know why he was on Russian TV. I think Chef Kaz gave me COVID. Was I there when it happened? At the meet and greet. Thank you.

Let's go to Mike Perry. I don't know why he was on Russian TV. I don't know the context. He flew to Russia. I mean, a lot of Americans fly into Russia these days. I don't know what y'all are doing. There was a face-off

and it got a little hairy. It started as a joke. Yeah, but these things always escalate. I started a joke. The thing about Mike Perry is he is ready to go. He's always ready to go, Luke. Even if you're an old motherfucker,

he will knock you out, Luke. Yeah, see what I mean? Like, these things... Dude, these Russian media events, they're just... These Russian media events are like the worst family reunion ever called on TikTok, you know what I mean?

Where the people are just, the family members are like fighting over old grievances. Yeah, yeah. I'm not surprised that it happened, but hopefully Mike got out okay. Ocean's daddy needs to be back on the mainland, all right?

Yeah. If I was him, I'd be like, get the fuck out of Russia, Mike. Let's go to BKFC 30 emanating from Monroe, Louisiana. Ben Rothwell in the Colman event making his debut needed 19 seconds to splatter. Bobo O'Bannon. Luke, were you impressed by this? I was, dude. I mean, you know, he was, listen, Ben Rothwell's had a very distinguished career,

and you just don't know what stage they're going to be in when they leave the UFC and whatever, so I was a little bit concerned on that, like, basic consideration. Boy, he went in there and let everybody know his way. I like to talk about it. Let him know what time it was. Watch an alternate angle of this knockout blow that, it's pretty vicious here, Ben Rothwell.

I mean, you can only gauge 19 seconds against a truck driver, but damn, right? Yeah, there's a big difference between local tough dude and actually internationally tough dude. Hey, this guy follows me on Instagram, though, the Bible Belt Brawler. Because you talked about him on Friday? I don't know.

Wait, did you do the, what's Jake Paul's girlfriend's name? Julia Rose. Julia Rose. Did you do the same bit where you followed him first, and then he just returned the favor? I think that's how it went. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that actually, I mean, that's, you know,

you're kind of cheating the system. I'm just trying to get some insight for MK, you know. Oh, okay, all right. There we go. All right. Luke, Ben Rothwell has been known to cut, remember that weird promo he cut in UFC where he's like, only politics can stop me,

and then USADA actually didn't stop him? That one? He had another weird one after this win. Let's go to the audio here. I said I was going to put the heavyweights on notice, but I believe there's actually more questions now that didn't show it.

And I need everyone, if you're a fan, to let Dave Feldman know and the BKFC know that you want to see what I can really do, and as soon as possible, to every heavyweight out there watching, you need to know, you want to see what I can really do and as soon as possible to every heavyweight out there watching, you need to know you have seen nothing yet. So he's

showing us nothing, Luke. That's what's happening. Okay, nothing yet at least. Are you in on this experience? He knows how to work a microphone. He does fit perfect. I mean, he does fit perfect. Him and John Dodson I have some high hopes for. And Mike Perry, obviously, has done pretty well too.

But Ben Rothwell might be a good fit. You've got a little pro wrestling in you. Not enough to actually do anything with it. He was like plus 290 at the weigh-ins. And you're big and strong. Yeah, you're going to be a handful. In the main event, Lorenzo Hunt won the vacant Cruiserweight title

via knockout. He cut an interesting promo of his own afterwards. Let's listen to it. Two things. Three things. The world is flat. God is black. And there will be no champ unless I say so.

Ladies and gentlemen. What was the last one? I don't know. I couldn't really decipher. I did hear God is black. It was the last one? I don't know. I couldn't really decipher. I did hear God is black. It was a wild... The world's not flat. I don't know what color God is, and I couldn't get the last part. All right. Thank you for that Luke Thomas-approved breakdown of his

words. The world is definitely not flat. Luke, I heard some disturbing audio this week. I wasn't going to show it to you, but it cut me. It cut me, right? It cut me in the feel spot. Did somebody who you stalk on Instagram get married? No, but it hit me in the feel spot. It's from your boy, Joe Rogan, okay?

Let's listen to this. Connecticut is always dumb. You always shit on Connecticut. It's the dumbest place in the country. It's not a real state. It's a highway between Boston and New York, and it's filled with people that have no hope. Holy shit! They have no hope. Holy shit.

They have no hope. I mean, that's, you know, that's, you know what it's also filled with? Oh, that's fucking awesome. An average height of five foot ten and a half. I did the math. I checked it. Okay, you know. Yeah.

I got to say, Connecticut does suck. It's a shitty state. It's a shitty state. If you only think it's a highway between Boston and New York, you've never had a flat tire, okay? What? You've never had a chance to really suck it in, you know? Suck it in, suck it in, suck it in. Listen, I'm not, you know, shouts to Apathy the rapper.

I love him. By the way, he has an album called King, or a song anyway, called King of Connecticut. I mean, he's going to have, Glover Teixeira's not going to take kindly to that. Glover Teixeira's not going to take kindly to that. I can form a mafia here, the CT mafia. But I got to tell you, Connecticut, you know,

where would you rank it in the 50 states? What's its power ranking? In terms of toughness? In terms of, like, great place to live. Well, okay, first of all, schools and... Oh, really? You're going to tout to me Connecticut schools? Besides Yale, get the fuck out of here. Yeah, and you just don't know.

Like, public schools? Are you kidding me? No, I'm not kidding you. I don't in any way think that Connecticut has excellent public schools. I'm sure that they're okay. I mean, I didn't come from an excellent public school. Okay, that's for sure. To be clear, I grew up in Georgia.

I went to a shitty high school as well. I'm not claiming where I was was great. But I was adjacent to these very, very good schools. All right, so schools and, you know, average income is high. Beauty in nature. That's not what I'm not claiming where I was was great. But I was adjacent to these very, very good schools. All right, so schools and, you know, average income is high. Beauty and nature. That's not what I'm asking. Beauty and nature is also underrated. It's a very nice place to live, but the taxes are up the wad.

Up the ass, yeah. The traffic can be bad, really bad if you're, you know, not in the 95 border. How about the fentanyl loneliness? That's a good problem, right? Outside of, like, Willimantic and the quiet east area that people consider Rhode Island. If Hartford is your capital, your state sucks. Okay, in terms of like, New Haven's a good city. New Haven's got some culture.

It's solid. It's got a music scene, a little bit of art scene. It's fine. Hey, could Jake bring more noise in the back? All the other places suck. I mean, we gotta be honest. I've never been to a, I'll say this. I've never been to a nice place in Connecticut.

Not once. My friend is from Trumbull. How's Trumbull? Trumbull's nice. It's in an aggressive area, because it's not far from Bridgeport, but it's a good school system, nice house, value, like, it's upper middle. He's very angry, my friend, from Trumbull.

Yeah. I mean, they also had some badasses. Like, they were really good at sports. What would you say is your favorite state in the union? State. That's tough, because every state's got shit parts. And I still haven't visited them all. Like, I think I would love Washington State or would I not because it rains every day

and then my mental health will go to shit. Yeah, your mental health will go to shit too. And California's obviously got some nice places but some terrible ones. Yeah, I would probably say California. Once I see all of California, my answer's probably going to be California even though you have to,

you know, there's different areas. Where's Colorado in that list? It's number two. Yeah, I think Colorado might be- My sister lives there. I visited a few times. I love Colorado. I could really make it. Georgia? Yeah, no. But there's not, I mean, I think Colorado might be... My sister lives there. I visited a few times. I love Colorado. I could really make it.

Georgia? Yeah, no. But there's not... I mean, I would live in Massachusetts, but I'd live on the west side. Martha's Vineyard? I'd live in the Berkshires. No, I'd be like, you know, it'd be cool, you know?

I don't really like the Boston scene. Boston's a clean, beautiful, amazing city, but growing up, I was closer to New York than Boston. So let me ask you this. Better state, Virginia or Maryland? Virginia. Well, that or Maryland? Virginia. Without question. That's the right answer.

That's the right answer. Very good. Yeah, thank you. But are you now realizing that people from Connecticut are tough as shit, Luke? No, most of them are toothless dirtbags. You just happen to have a full mouth of them. All right. Big week for...

How about this for a transition? Big week for ass-twerking, Luke. Well, that's my kind of week. All right. First, it happened in the middle of daylight traffic here on the ride home. Oh, my God. How doesn't this ever happen to me? How does this never happen to me in traffic?

I mean, that is aggressive. Then, Luke, have you ever heard of Luau Labonta? Plays for the NWSL. She had a viral celebration. I think this was about three weeks ago. I saw this a couple of weeks ago, yes. It happened on the soccer pitch. She's like, ah, I got injured.

Ah. I may or may not have checked out her Instagram following this. Is it worth it, Luke? Let me work it. Yeah. It is worth it. Yeah. I didn't necessarily mean that.

But then, Luke, A McQueen AJ McKee started uh Started get up on that ass and the spike Carlisle fight and showing us a little bit of that same energy Okay, that's what I was referencing earlier when I made thank you reference Luke then it found its way into the UFC apex No, not sucking the missus. This is Paul Felder and Brendan Fitzgerald. You know what? I like Brendan Fitzgerald. I mean, he's a corny white guy like you and me, so we're the same. He is. I like him, too.

But he does a good job. No, he is good. He does a good job. I like Brendan. And the twerking went global when went in Singapore this weekend, Luke. Won championship, stamped Fairtex putting it on the celebration dance. She had a nice win, too. She did.

Thank you. Sorry, I'm a little distracted. For that analysis. Staying with one here. Roug Roug on Thursday morning. He had a different victory dance in the post-fight. Let's check out this beautiful specimen. Umar Kane, is it?

Yes, that is my morning warm-up dance as well. He had a solid win this week. Hey, let's see highlights of it. Here is his ground-and-pound win. I don't know what he fought. I couldn't pronounce the guy's name. Gazayev? I have those same shorts, Luke. Get off of him. Jesus.

There we go. There it is. The sultry tone of Michael Chiavello. I gotta say, he looked pretty good in this fight. This was on the 161 card that was on Thursday. He looked pretty good. Also on this weekend's one, you mentioned Mikey Musa Meche became the

one light flyweight grappling champion, I think. I don't know what title he won, but... Well, here's his interview post-fight call-out that you mentioned. He loves pizza. He's like a ninja turtle. We can make history together, you know. I know me and him could bring the MMA and Jiu-Jitsu fans together, and it would be just a

historic, incredible event, and it would be an honor to step on the mat with him. It'sJitsu fans together and it would be just a historic, incredible event and it would be an honor to step on the mat with him. It's not a call-out, it's just a respectful request to roll. Okay. I mean, he would tear me limb from limb, but do you know what we call those... Do you know what we call those glasses in the Marine Corps?

No. BCGs. You know what that stands for? No. Birth control glasses. Because ain't no one fucking you with them things on. Wow. Wow. Luke, that was a heartfelt call out. You know? That was very respectful.

Yeah, it was very. Would you watch that fight? The Bushido honor. Yeah, sure, but I don't really. Is that a good lane for DJ? He did the Rod thing. Here's the thing. Here's the thing.

All of these like jujitsu versus MMA things, like they're good for getting attention, but they're kind of meaningless for the most part. I mean, Josh Barnett versus Dean Lister and Meta Morris was different because Josh Barnett was, I think, well-matched and he won that contest. That was actually one of my favorite Josh Barnett wins in all of combat sports. That was a really, really impressive

thing. But in general, A-list grappler versus A-list MMA fighter, it's A-list grappler's going to win. It's Mayweather-McGregor all over again? Yeah, it's kind of pointless. That's fair, Luke. And Demetrius is a good grappler, but Mikey is a world champion. Like, no, I mean, come on.

Yeah, I got you right there. Let's go to everyone's favorite game that we play here. It's called Rate That Tat. Curtis Blades Edition. The razor blade, Luke, added an actual razor blade to his left tricep, triceps area.tual area. I, I love Curtis. I don't love this.

Um, I don't love it. All right. All right. I love Curtis. I like Curtis a lot. Is it better or worse than Jose Aldo's? It's better. It's better.

It's better. Better or worse than Mr. Hibas? Show it again. It's better. It's better. Better or worse than Mr. Hibas? Show it again. Blow it up. I mean, the Hibas one just has a lot more going on, so it's not a one-to-one comparison. And it has Emily Whitmire on his forearm for the rest of his life, Luke.

Yeah, it's a little whatever, but it's better than that. I'm over here, Spitfire. If you look at the line work on the razor itself, it's not great. Is that a Cobra Kai symbol at the top? I don't know. All right.

Listen, here's the point. In defense of Curtis, I say this about everyone's tattoos. It's true about He-Boss's dad and everyone else. They didn't get the tattoo for you. They didn't get the tattoo for me. They got it for themselves.

And if they're happy with it, you gotta just let it be what it is for the most part. Are you speaking to me or Damien or Darren Elkins? Again, he didn't get it for you. Okay. He didn't get it for me.

And I like a man of He-Boss too, but, you know. Well, Luke, some super fans like to get things all over their body to show who they are. Check out this Vikings fan and tell me if this is commendable work or just another... It's a thin line between art and psychopathy, Luke. Psychopathy, they call it. Would this man eat your flesh? Does he work at the Renaissance Fair? Does he work at all? It's good color, right?

The coloring is okay. Everything else is kind of a mess. Here's what I would say, though, BC. I've said this to you before. The one on his stomach or chest is pretty good, actually. Anyone who's like

a hardcore NFL fan is absolutely a dirtbag. I mean, I feel like that rule stands. There's no other way around it. The dragon's nicely done. Okay, normally we have you rate the tat. Can you rate the man's tat reaction to almost getting a tat?

Here's a very drunk person attempting to... Never get a tattoo drunk. Let's go to the videotape here. I'm pretty sure he... Are you all right, dude? Is there a leak in the roof? You okay? Oh.

I don't feel comfortable tattooing you, man. What? He said, I don't feel comfortable tattooing you, man. And the guy's response was, what? Show that one more time. Show that one more time. Show that one more time. We are an award-winning show. We can do this.

Hey. Water break? No, he just lost control, Luke. It happens to the best of us. I gotta tell you, tattoos are painful, but they're not that painful. That's actually me. That's gonna be me, Luke. It happens to the best of us. I got to tell you, tattoos are painful, but they're not that painful. That's actually me. That's going to be me, Luke, in a few years.

If Sean Brady beats the UFC title, then yeah. That's going to be Brian Campbell pissing on himself. How about this, Luke? Legends of old meeting potential future legends when Sugar Ray Leonard and Ryan Garcia showed off their hand speed. Does this get you fired up or not at all? So the thing about TikTok is what I've realized is everyone uses the same clips or the same sounds and then makes the same video around it.

This is better when it's women twerking. Oh, so the same like... Yeah, yeah. Okay, thank you. We'll keep it moving. And best knockout of the week comes from this karate match. What, are we doing spinny shit now? Oh!

Good God. That was well-timed. So, a nice walk-off, yeah. Yep, got him, got him. We're going to skip the big melon bong. By the way, was Ace of Spades really playing in the background? Well, no, I think it was dubbed on that. Oh, the video.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you. We were going to show you a big giant watermelon bong, but the video fell apart. So let's go to Tai Tuivasa. He was on the field and in the locker room with the two-time NRL champions, the Penrith Panthers. Is that National Rugby League League? Yeah, I think that's the Aussie one there, obviously.

This is Bam Bam in the locker room doing the celebration shooey. I'm just so over this shit. Okay. I love Tai Tuivasa, but I'm so over this shit. Arlene Buenco had a party at her house for the same game to watch it. In Australia? I think so, yes.

I don't stalk her that closely. Close enough. Yeah, just... Close enough, dirtbag. Okay. Hey, Luke, how about some feet on a plane? We haven't done that in a while, right? Just, just, clear out the plane.

Are you fucking kidding me? are you fucking kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me? Give a fuck. Dude, I want to make a joke that involves something that happened on 9-11. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it.

I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. But I want you to know I'm thinking about it. The Pat Tillman was a leap that we tried. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to say it, But I want you to know I'm thinking about it. The Pat Tillman was a leap that we tried. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to say it.

But I'm thinking about it. That Pat Tillman idea that you cooked up that I executed. This person should be, the plane should land at the nearest airport and the federal marshal should collect this absolute vagrant piece of shit. All right. All right. All right. Hey, Luke. Fuck this.

When you become. How fucking dare you, you gross animal. Okay. We can go to the next video. Yeah, let's keep it moving. Luke, you know the worst part about getting old balls is, you know. They sag and you can sit on them? They get saggy and wrinkly.

If only we could iron them, right? I mean, it was a pure accident between a married couple, Luke. That was, wow. Slow reaction, delayed reaction, right? I mean, he's not using those genitals for anything. Useful anyway. Luke, normally we put on gender reveals here because we think they're lame and we hate them, but I found the best, most aggressive gender reveal of all time.

You ready? Uh-huh. And the best part is they're playing Boys Don't Cry by The Cure. All right. Hey, iron sharpening iron time. This is city kicking boners

colliding as UFC champions Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski. I did see this because, of course, I saw this. That's fight porn for you, Luke. Yeah. Okay. He's going to jump triangle here.

Yeah, probably. Is there a whizzer involved here? Probably. A whizzer is an overhook of an underhook. Yeah, I know exactly what it is, alright? Alright, we're done with that. Thank you, guys. We're going to close with this, Luke. You know what football season also means? Ass-eating season. Okay, Luke?

It's always ass-eating season in Washington, D.C. Yeah! Yeah, we start off with the Washington Commodores. Is that what they're called? Commanders? Yes, the Commodores. They're named after a bird, yeah. Thank you. All right.

Ass-eating season. This fucker, I guarantee you, this fucker is just a diehard Commander fan. I thought you were going to say diehard into that ass. You know what I mean? Just a season ticket holder in that boutique. What else are you going to do at fucking FedEx Field? You ain't going to watch any good football. Would you be surprised if I told you the Eagles fans also like this, Luke?

No, Eagles fans are reprobates. Or is that a Jets jersey? I haven't figured it out yet. What do we got here? Ass-eating Sisson. 69. Oh, did you hear Gaff on the stream? The dulcet tones of Gaff.

Just said his boy knows this guy. Gaff, is that a Jets jersey? Your boy knows this guy? Is he in jail? No, he's not. Gaff, whatever else he is, even Kiel does not one of them. Do you think he's a future Just Bleed guy in training right now? I mean, he either

has committed a felony or is going to commit a felony, probably at a ballgame. I want to close with this. Have you seen this viral high school football video of a man with a flag that read IES running across the field in the middle of a game, Luke? Now, BC, I'm going to guess he's white. No, he's not white. He beat the odds. He beat the odds.

God bless him. Well, he didn't actually beat the odds. He did get to the goal line him. Well, he didn't actually beat the odds. He did get to the goal line of this attempt, Luke, but you can't see it well. Let's go to the alternate angle. The person who chased him was the coach on the sidelines. If we can go to the – there's the banner for you. Let's go to the next video.

Watch the coach on the sidelines. This is the opposite field view of this. Oh, he's not having that. Not on his. We do not eat ass on this field. Son, you only eat ass when I tell you to eat ass, and it's my ass you're eating. Well, the first thing I do is make him toss my salad with jelly.

I got to tell you, that was great. I would invite that guy. If we rented out some venue, I would invite the ass-eating guy to my party. This could make for a tough transition here, Luke, but that's the shit of the week. Hope you saw it. Anyway, let's invite a female

staff member onto the set, shall we? So many of you guys... We know, Gaff. We can see her right here. Thank you, Gaff. So many of you guys have donated, you know, had some thoughts out. $31,000 worth. To Showtime's own Morning Combat's fabric, right? Assault of the Earth individual, Courtney.

Courtney, do you have a microphone? Who had a Haymakers for Hope three-round amateur bout to raise money for cancer victims. And it turned out to be the fight of the night. And it turned out to be a very contentious, disputed decision that I'd like to hear about at length. Why don't you come on set here, Courtney. Okay. There she is.

A round of applause for Courtney, everybody. Yeah. Hey. Courtney, we have a coffee sponsorship now? Oh, I'm sorry. I'll put this down. I should have taken that. I was actually hoping we did.

I was hoping that would be easier. Instead, we probably don't. Court, thank you for joining us. Happy to be here. I don't want to tell your story for you. Sure. Tell us what happened. I saw some highlights, and I don't want to say, like, I don't want to use terms like

Gotti Ward. Oh, wow. That's high praise. No, I appreciate that. No, I don't want to use those terms. Yeah. But this was. I wouldn't.

I wouldn't. I wouldn't. Yeah. You know. So, hold on. It was three rounds. Three two-minute rounds. Okay.

Head gear, all that stuff. Head gear, USA Amateur Boxing Rules, MGM Music Hall at Fenway. It was amazing. All my family and friends were there, and you guys were tuning in from home, so I very much appreciate that. And, yeah, it was tough. I thought I won rounds one and three. I thought, if I'm being honest with myself, I think that she took the second. Who is she?

Can we frame this properly? It's a woman, Julia Dreitch, I believe is her name. I fucking hate her. Yeah, well. Do you feel this was properly matched? I think it was. I think we were the most, I think we were the most, like, evenly matched of the night. There was a little bit of slop on the card, but I think that we were sort of on the... Not to throw shade or talk any shit, but hey, you asked me on here. I'm going to say what I think. Yeah, I think it was a good fight. I thought she won the second round. I thought I

took the first. Definitely thought I took the third. Unfortunately, I didn't go my way. How did the judges score? Is it by rounds or is it just one? Is it just one winner? I honestly don't know. I didn't get a copy of the cards, but they... I want receipts. That's what I want. You know what?

Yeah, we should do a little investigation after the fact. Of the three judges, we had one in favor of Courtney. One was, one saw it my way. The other two did not. So unfortunately. Now, where did you train for this? I trained at Citadel MMA, which is on Winter Street in Boston with Eric and Zavi. You can check them out if anyone's interested in the Boston area.

They're primarily like MMA, Muay Thai training. But obviously they're well-versed in boxing. And both of them have competed professionally in boxing. So got the full gamut of mixed martial arts and boxing training. So what did you learn from this experience? Besides judging as bullshit. Besides, yeah, never leave it in the hands of the judges, which like obviously from working at Showtime.

Cliffhanger. Always see it. But to have that happen in real life was definitely something special. But I mean, I just learned that I, not to get all sentimental and sappy, but I work with the best people in the business because you guys were amazing the entire time. It's like four and a half months almost of training. So if you guys- I don't think you did anything amazing.

I think it was you and Trish. No, no, no, no. But you guys were so supportive and it was amazing like from like Snyder, Daily, the Showtime crew. Julian Edelman sent you a video message. Yeah, like they were awesome and- Sack five, wasn't that?

Yeah. Yeah, you guys like all the shout outs on the show, the Malka team, everyone was watching. Everyone reached out before and after the fight. And so, not to get all lame, but still feel like I won just because I get to work with the best people. Well, I care a lot about the message and the meaning. What I took from what I saw in that fight was that there's a dog in there with respect. And that you're not good.

I'm going to guess you have not slept well since this, since this decision. So when I'm talking about cliffhangers, first thing I asked you when I walked in was we getting a rematch. Are we going to run this back? I mean, is this like, I don't want this woman. Right.

I don't want this woman to walk around telling people, you know, you know, MK wins a lot of awards. We want to win this rematch too. I'm not saying you have to pull, bring us into your corner, Coach. We don't get press releases, though.

Well, maybe we could get one if there is a rematch. Can this find a second chance, a sequel? You know what I mean? A sequel. You know, I would have to reach back out to the Haymakers for Hope team and Julia to see if anyone would be game or would want to see it. You'd also have to convince my mother, who you guys have met and has visited set before. Tracy was not doing well, supposedly. Ooh, do we have money, though?

During the fight, she was like a ball of nerves and tears. But, oh, yeah, that's Zavi. So Zavi was the one to my left. And then Lionel is actually one of the fighters at the gym. My coach Eric was actually, he coaches Don, who was on the UFC card. Unfortunately, he lost. Don Chains. Yes, yes.

Shameless Don Chains. Shameless, yes. So he unfortunately lost too. So it was a tough night at the office, or a tough weekend at the office for the Citadel crew, but Eric couldn't be there, so I had Zavi and Lionel, and they were awesome, and they were great. Okay, I saw, you know, highlights where she would land a combo, and you would get, like, Eric Morales-level pissed off,

and you'd come right back with a stiff writing. Yeah, I wasn't happy. I wasn't happy at all. It was, it's weird. Like, you try not to lose your composure and try to, like, you know, work behind the stick, but it's not fun getting punched in the face, and I was not pleased. All right. T tried to come back with a little bit more, but fortunately the judges didn't see it that way But you know there's any of the judges named Adelaide bird by any chance. I got I got to check the car

Okay, sure, okay. I have heard some things about like there's a couple figures in like the Massachusetts Community like oh you had that A lot of people talking about Whitey Bulger, maybe. Whitey didn't come up, but you know, I should have asked around, see if there's any connections. I'd like to see your fight in the sequel to The Departed. I think it's going to, it's just going to be, you know. That I'd be in on.

I'd get in on that. Oh, I guess he died in the last one, so he couldn't come back. Spoiler alert. The Departed? Yeah. Yeah, I love that movie. Yeah. I don't think it's a direct one. Marky Mark, though, we could get. He was the lone survivor, I think, at the end of that one.

What do you mean we could get? Maybe for the next one. Are you keeping Mark Stark off the couch? Are you just borrowing the other movie titles? Well, he's in everything. You can't keep track of the guys, so I don't know. Yeah. Well, we're all proud of you.

Thank you, guys. I know you didn't get your hand raised, but congratulations. Just the same 31 K plus for cancer research. Congratulations on that. Definitely. And thank you all the MK fans that donated. Some of you that reached out on social is very sweet. The fact that you guys removed that you guys were moved to donate. I really appreciate it, and it was amazing to have you guys support my 25K fundraising goal, which I surpassed by a long shot. So thank you all so much,

and so sorry for taking up precious air time. No, no, no, it's not precious at all. There's nothing precious about the second half. Was there any singular punch that landed that you felt like, oh, that was such a great shot? Like you could just, that you remembered landing clean. I remember in the first round, I thought I landed three really clean jabs

that like popped her head back that I was like, fuck yeah. And then in the last round, I landed some nice lead hooks that I was especially proud of because I had worked on those a little bit in training. There's a neighborhood in boxing that we don't always talk about. It's called Queer Street. When you get rocked

and you're on, you're... There's a reason we don't talk about it. Yeah, I don't know. No, it's called queer street. When you get rocked and you're on, you're the resident. We don't talk about it. Yeah. I don't know. No, it's an old term. And the whole point is, you know,

you get into fight or flight mode and you've got to navigate. Did you, did you get into trouble at all? No, I never felt like rocked or in trouble or out of it, or she wobbled me or anything like that. Um, definitely like at the end of the rounds,

like you feel, cause you're exert, like how many times in your life Are you exerting maximum Like physical effort In such a short period of time So But the full minute rest

Really like helped you reset So I At the end of it I thought I could have gone For a couple more rounds But Fortunately it was only a three round fight But next time

As soon as we can get the tape Luke's got to dissect it Yeah we're going to turn this Wait until Oh God I'm going to get ripped to shreds I don't know about that. Defense was a little... I don't know. I've seen Jack Paul

fight him. I'm teasing. I'm teasing. I'm teasing. I'm going to tell Julia Rose about this. I'm teasing. Oh, no. Oh, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Congratulations one more time. Thank you, guys. Super proud of you and pretty incredible job you did. You should be very proud of yourself. Factory tough. Factory tough, Courtney. Thank you. There she is. Thank you, guys. Thank you.

All right, BC. That is it for us today. Do you think any of our camera guys have been in a fight? I mean, do they look like it? Not Big Lou. Although he's from Jersey. I want to make a joke about him being a Serie A fan and how racist they are, but it would get me into trouble,

so I don't want to do that. All right. How do you think we did with these? I don't know. How'd they sound? Did it sound? Yeah, it sounded okay? All right. They're how do you think we did with these today? I don't know. How'd they sound? Did it sound? Yeah, it sounded okay? All right.

They're complaining? Oh, okay. Well, that's what they do. Yeah, yeah. All right. Well, we tried. I mean, this might be the last show we do. All right.

I want to remind everyone, Showtime.com is the label that pays. You can go to Showtime.com, get a 30-day free trial. You can, I think they put up the social graphic already, but you can check that out there. We're on TikTok.

Check us out on TikTok. Oh, we have an interview planned with Deontay Wilder. Yeah, we shouldn't say that because now it's not going to happen. Oh, he'll be there. All right, all right. Let's see. Wait, let me check my text. We're supposed to talk to Deontay today, so we'll see how that goes.

Morningcombat.store if you want to get merch that none of us are wearing. That's available there. And that's it. Oh, morningcombat at gmail.com. Morningcombat at gmail.com for Wednesdays, fan subs, Fridays, day to run. By the way, we should set this up. We're going to be back right here on Saturday because BC and I are at least scheduled as it stands

to call the prelim fights for the upcoming Showtime Championship boxing card. Correct? Scheduled? Oh, I'm doing a bit. We get tea and biscuits with that? Yeah, I'm just doing a bit. We're scheduled to do that. So we'll be here.

Yeah, we're going to be calling the prelims, Luke and I, right here. Saturday, of course, that triple header main evented by Sebastian Fundoro. That's right. Against Carlos Ac do that. So we'll be here. We're going to be calling the prelims, Luke and I, right here, Saturday. Of course, that triple header main evented by Sebastian Fundora against Carlos Acampo for the interim junior middleweight strap, Carson, California. So what do they call it now?

The home... Punchbowl? What's the official name of the venue now? Home Depot? No, that was the old one. I don't know. Dignity Health.

What's it called? Dignity Health? It was, of course, it was Courtney that pulled, you know, that's brought us back. Well, there's no dignity on this set, I can assure you. So go watch that one because that's where all the dignity will be. All right. So for the Connecticut King himself, Brian Campbell, I'm Luke Thomas. Thank you guys so much for watching.

And until next time, may all of your gains be loyal.