MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - UFC Final Card of 2025: Royval vs Kape | Dana-Francis Feud Escalates | Teo vs Shakur Lookahead

Episode Date: December 12, 2025

Brian Campbell, Luke Thomas and the Morning Kombat crew get you ready for the weekend with the latest in the fight game, of course with some laughs along the way. It's the last UFC card of 2026, Fight Night: Royval vs. Kape. The guys breakdown the ramifications of the bout for each fighter. The beef between Dana White and Francis Ngannou continues to grow. Plus White's statements on Arman Tsarukyan and more. LT and BC also lookahead at Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. Revely, revelry. Look at us now, tip to tip. Oh, Jesus. Oh, ha. Do you want a margarita? Oh, my God.

To us, doing what we love. Two, three, two, three. It's time to bang. Oh, yeah, back with a bang back. Deep in your absolute face hole, it's morning combat. Friday, December 12th of the 25s, and baby, it's cold outside, but it's going to get a little heated up in here as we set the stage for this weekend to come. in Fisticofts inside of a cage. So that's what we do.

Hey, Brian Campbell from Connecticut right here. Your co-hostess with the mostest, next to me from Washington, D.C. By way of New Delhi, India, it is. Luke Franklin Thomas and L.T. We are going today to preview the final fight card in the UFC ESPN marriage. Also look ahead to PFL. Update that Francis versus Dana Beef. Teo versus Shakur.

What a time to be able. live how the hell are you uh i went to a terrible comedy show last night oh oh was it someone from the rogan sphere in the austin verse no no so a buddy of mine who's like a big comedy guy and well beyond the rogan sphere like he'll see people in the rogan sphere but he'll go to like you know people i've never even heard of he's like a big comedy guy and he hit me up last night he's like yo i got this extra ticket i got he goes i bought a box at the lincoln theater do you want to go and i didn't know anything about this guy and I was like fucking why not right like

and you're like give me the full Abe Lincoln shoot me in the face during the during the no that's at Ford's theater Lincoln Lincoln Theater's a different one but um the box seats were nice the theater was nice the staff was great the motherfucking act

I literally want to throw my phone at this motherfucker bro he was terrible terrible he's like it's keto bitch right yeah all right we do it's kids and bits Have you ever heard of, I think his name is J.R. de Guzman? You ever heard of him? No, no, no, no.

Don't go. Don't go. It sucked. Yeah, it was real bad. The last comedy show I saw was at the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, no, Mohegan Sun in Connecticut last year, and a week later, the guy got arrested for, like, child pornography, like the main event guy. Like, I'm not even kidding. Okay, my guy was just not that great. You're giving money to Predators.

yeah he was uh first name was Jeffrey I think it was like Epstein or something I don't know it was well but um there we go yeah all right all the all the jokes all the skits oh what was the basis of his bit was it like old COVID jokes what was it no it was uh all dick and ball jokes and hey okay fine not not a disqualifier yeah but have you ever seen this show look yeah yeah not no yeah not a disqualifier uh but he had a guitar and he made the audience first of all it was like it didn't sell well and then he was trying to make the audience sing songs about coming early and i was like how about you just leave early how about that i'll just go wait how did he spell coming in this case luke c um oh god his his whole bit is

pre jack great okay yeah that's the bit seemed like a nice fellow i'm not trying to say he's a bad person but uh that was not good that was not you should have went up there honky talk man style and took the guitar and just broke it over his back. I was asking my friends, if we could just chip in to get the Apollo hook, get this motherfucker off stage, bro. Yeah. That was, that was, I regret going, you know. All right.

Here we go. That's a great update on life. And by the way, today's episode of morning combat is presented to you by Draft Kings. Draft Kings, the crown is yours. B.C., I wanted to say something. Also, yesterday I got there because my friends were coming from Virginia, and I, I was in the city, so it's obviously a much shorter commute for me. So I got there.

I had like 10 minutes to kill. outside but they had the ticket so i had to just wait and of course like two homeless guys came up to me i'm not trying to like i'm not trying to make a point about him but they were a little bit belligerent nothing happened but i wanted to tell them tell the audience what happened with that homeless dude who tried to fight me in new york city you would tell them what happened all right so luke and are walking through a busy pen station the busiest train station in the what the world luke is that and certainly in the united states but no there's probably the shirnese ones are or more, our Indian ones are,

I think I read something like 600,000 people come through there per day or something ridiculous. We are walking up to the escalators to go up to the first class business train lounge. You know what I'm saying? And some dude just comes running and is like, your white boy, your mother, beep, your white boy,

and just, and it got more aggressive. And then he started kind of picking up the pace. And I really thought he was going to come at you. It reminded me at that time on the subway, that guy had that open head wound. and he was, like, growling at us and, like, running after us. Yeah, just not fun, just not.

Yeah, he was calling me a lot of slurs. I did not appreciate that. Yeah, I was like, I was like, dad, is that you? The difference is that homeless guy does watch our show. So that it turns out of, you know, pretty good. All right. Yeah, yeah, great stuff. Hey, why don't you like and subscribe this video if you're watching on YouTube?

Shout to everybody watching on the Draft Kings Network, Divorcedads Everywhere. Audio only. We with you as well. subscribe to what we're doing follow our extensive YouTube channels and platforms and substacks. Did you do that

promised live this week? No, no, I didn't. I'm going through some things, but we're almost over. All right, we're almost over. I know, I know. I know. So, you know, we'll catch back up with the people soon. A third member of our team, though, is a fantastic gentleman. He is, of course, a bong enthusiast, the producer, a director, a podcaster in his

free time and the proprietor of this prop quiz on the main card minute that is sweeping the MMA journalism Manosphere by storm hey let's welcome the son of an australian luke no ceda to the program what's up boys i'm pretty hype for this ufc card this weekend it's not a bad apex card whatsoever it's another seven hours you don't have to pay attention to your girl it's great i mean she works on saturdays we've been through this but either way uh guys new prop quiz dropping at 1 30 after this we got oscar back taking on brett okamoto bc for that one right that's my guy right that's my guy all right you should put out long island you know not in a friendly way in a friendly way like like not like an adversarial

way you should put out like you know hey aerial you should come on the show you should you should make that like the goal to get him to do prop glas i have asked him before and he kind of just he was interested he never said yes or no he kind of just i got a great match of aerial versus the coming guitar comedian. How about that? How about you just shoot him into outer space and forget about him? All right. All right. Long Island, what was that? Willis versus Oco. What is that? Is that part of a new bracket? Because, you know, I, dude, I crashed out worse than Isaiah Thomas leaving early in game four of the 91 Eastern Conference Finals. Is there a new, like, tournament going on? There is a new tournament. So the first one was Jed versus Gaff. I won't spoil who

won that then we got brett versus oscar and i actually recorded another episode yesterday that'll come out next week and that'll be the third and then we got one more final bracket and then you know we'll do the whole thing all over all right is it would you consider a uh a woman in your life in i was gonna say it's a lot of dudes of course i mean who do we want we want people have said phoenix carnivali people have said sanco i got it i got it i got it me gonna leavey do it megan olivies it's a good call she knows her shit Yeah. All right. All right. Let's do it. Okay. I'll put in the word. I'll call up Joe Alivo and be like, let's get it done. Okay, let's do it. There we go. All right. That's enough BS and we got a show. Oh, no, one more thing. Let's BS one more time.

Merch. Hey, how about it? It's the holiday season. Morningcombat. Dot shop. Go there right now. December exclusives brought to you by the illustrious average Joe Art Romero. It is masters of our domain universe, M.K. style mix and match colors on the t-shirts. an autograph poster. There are ever green items available that you probably don't even know we're there. Check morning combat. Dot shop right now and remember one thing. All proceeds go to LTLL and the B-Sizzle. This is the best way to support the show.

Thank you very much. Let's get into it, folks, here. It is time. I can update my browser. You know what I'm saying? Your browsers. Whoops, wrong update. Okay, here we go.

Let's do it. It is topic number. one. The final UFC fight card of 2025 is also the end of an era, the UFC and ESPN slash ESPN plus marriage is coming to a dissolution as Paramount CBS begins next year, January 24th to be exact. But it is a good flight card this weekend and considering, considering folks, that the flyway division was turned upside down by Joshua Vann's injury induced upset win over Alexandria Pantosia last week. We got an interesting main

event that could have some title implications as former title challenger Brandon Royval finally steps into the cage with Manel cop after many cancellations to get here. So Luke Thomas, let's just ask this outright. In the main

event, is the winner going to leapfrog everyone and get a title shot? Is that true for both fighters? What do you identify as being truly at stake in a that I don't think entertainment-wise can miss here. This is going to be a good one. What's on the line for these two? I got to tell you, I think, and I would love to know if you disagree for sure. I mean, I always do, but especially on this one, I actually don't know what

Brandon Royville can get for a couple of reasons. One, as we already know, he's kind of been, I realize that with Van at the topic, kinds of changes things, but maybe not, right, because they're going to have to redo that. And who knows, but it might open up some things, but it's hard to say exactly what it will do right away. And plus, they also fought Royval. I mean, you could run that one back. It was certainly a spirited and very, very fun fight, but there's not a need to run that back. So between that and BC, we never really talked about this. And it kind of caught me off guard. Brandon Royville made comments about like the hunger game, comparing the UFC White House thing to the hunger games in terms of who would be there.

And this took on a major media life of its own and a bunch of like adversarial media in the political space picked up on. on it. I don't know if that did him any favors with UFC brass, to be honest with you. I'm not qualifying. Say again. I said that's a great point. Yeah. I don't know if it's disqualifying, but, you know, I don't think it's helping. I'll put it that way. So he's in a bit of a spot. But Manil Cop, to me, is in a bit of a different one. 32 years of age. Just, we'll talk about this, but there's nothing but weirdness surrounding this guy, either when he talks or his fights get canceled or there's fouls in both directions.

It's just weirdness with him, but he is 32 years old, and he's the best day he's ever looked, we think. A fresh challenge, certainly you could argue that Van versus Cop would be a hell of a contest, but it's just hard to know where two guys fighting on the apex fit in relative BC to Kioji Horaguchi, who fought on an international card, and then Tetsuro Taira, who fought against a celebrated known Mexican fighter on a paper. review. And one of the biggest paper review, well, that's not quite true, but certainly an important slot in terms of the place that they gave him. So I think that Manel Cop has some real

opportunity. But buddy, he's got to shine because there's just a lot of other things that it appears that the UFC is focused on other than the winner of this fight. Yeah, cop rated six currently in the UFC flyweight standings. He's won six of his last seven. The only lost to Mohamed Mukayev by decision who's no longer with the promotion, whether that's fair. or not. But Luke, after that Mokai of loss, I look at his two wins over the last 12 months. The third round TKO of Bruno Silva and the third round TKO that followed it against Asu, Al-Mabayev. There were stretches over that where Cop looked almost virtuoso at times, just flowing, just a lot of movement, a lot of set up, a lot of power, as we always know.

Manel Cop will be a minus 278 betting favorite, according to our friends at Draft Kings against the plus 225 Royval, who has not. not fought since that June fight of the year contender, three-round war that sent Joshua Van to the title level. I agree with you that cop has a greater chance to advance forward. I mean, a Joshua Vanel Cop title fight would be fire. I do wonder, though, let's say Roy Vall wins a war here. I mean, could those comments hold him back, possibly?

Could the fact that, you know, he's got history with an opponent hold him back? Well, look, if Pantosia's still the champion? and he's got two losses against him, he's not getting a third crack. I do wonder with that fight being, meaning Van versus Roy Vaughal and June, being a fight of the year contender, if that would give it instant push to get, you know, redone. Now, the problem is you have those two fighters that are very deserving, it seems, in Horaguchi and Tatsuwitaira, who just stopped Brandon Moreno a week before. Luke, I mean, could you see a scenario where the winner Saturday fights Van and then

maybe Horaguchi and Tyra fight together, maybe in a fight night main event on the other side of the world? Am I trying to get two Q here? There's a lot about timeline here that matters because there were some reports yesterday that the UFC is looking to go to Japan, maybe late first quarter of 2026, but it looked like more like second quarter, potentially around April. That's not exactly clear yet. So the question you have to ask yourself is, are they doing that because they want to fit in a Tyra van fight or even a Horaguchi van fight before Pantoja has to come back, who's obviously going to get a title fight right away, depending who the winner is, he'll still be the guy.

That could be an argument, or the other argument could be a C, that to what you're saying, which is, do they want to just put Tyra and Horaguchi potentially against each other, but certainly in a, but the same card at a bare minimum in Japan, these are just things that are hard to know. One thing that we should really pay attention to here, BC, is getting rid of pay-per-view, I think, and it's something we've argued on the show long before the announcement came down that Paramount Plus was essentially going to be, you know, pay-per-view free, is that when you take away pay-per-view, you're not just removing a paywall, you're changing a broad set of rules and incentives that free you up to remix how you do it. BC, to me, it is not in any way

a coincidence, for example, that they got rid of pay-per-view. And then the other other announcement that came with it was, hey, we're just going to have 9 p.m. pay-per-view or, you know, numbered events from now on. And if you actually look at the entire fourth quarter, B.C., they have nine events in the first quarter. Seven of them start at 9 p.m. And then the other two start at 5 and then, I think, 4 p.m. Like, incredible times. What I'm trying to say is they couldn't really bring, you know, they could put title

fights a little bit in Europe. Obviously, Abu Dhabi got some of them, but it was mostly a North American phenomenon. But if you don't have that going on, you're free to just do whatever. you can just have those events and title fights on those cards at whatever times and whatever locations you want because you don't have to meet the same business needs. I think people should get ready for, let's say, some of the rules around how this stuff works to be remixed a little. Yeah, a little quickly, we'll get into the matchup in a second, but to close on the terms, I did want to mention Reval, 33 years old, seven and four this decade.

By the way, those four losses, one to Van and a great fight, two to Pantosia, one to Brandon Moreno, of which he did avenge in their subsequent rematch right there. So he only loses to the very highest end. He's got stoppage wins over big names as well. Do you feel like as much as we're saying, you know, the stakes here for the winner, could they cut the line for a title shot? Is this the last chance for either guy to have the type of performance in a spotlighted main event that could take them to the title?

I don't know if it's the last chance. but I think if you shit the bed here it might be right so win lose is that the last chance if they have a good fight bc why would it be you know what i mean they both show up um obviously the way ins haven't started yet long run look will keep us appraised of that they both show up they both make wait there's no issue no one gets called a homosexual slur on national television you know what i mean and then the fight never a given never a given never in any way a given in this sport but you know what i mean in all seriousness like why would they be disqualifying however however if they go in there on the last card on ufc ispn which you know it's apex card we all have managed expectations and you know you

stink up the joint where you foul it you're not ready you gas you look like shit that you know that might actually do it they don't necessarily expect a lot from people bc who headline apex cards but they expect a few things and you do need to meet those demands to have any future opportunity yeah yeah indeed All right, let's look at this matchup. As I mentioned, copy minus 278 betting favorite. We know the action potential. From Brandon Royval, though, look, I've said it because I'm a big fan of the guy, you know, a friend of this program and certainly a fun, great fighter.

I didn't love the balls to the wall style he brought against Joshua Van thinking he was going to break the young fighter. If he brings back head movement, set up, game plan here, this could be a five-round track me of of high strike potential it can also be some strategy mixed in when you look at these two luke what is the biggest uh strategic part of this matchup that jumps out to you to me it's actually a little bit less the strategy and to me this is one of maybe the you know me i love to talk about exes and o's i

love to like inquire about these kinds of things and of course these are relevant in particular is relevant bc because you have two southpaws now uh cop will they'll both switch but cop will switch a lot so i don't think they're going to just stay south ball versus south ball i mean this to say a lot of times uh with cop he'll be you get the both guys if you're south pa it's rare that you fight on the south ball you get very good at open stance fighting that won't necessarily play a big big role here potentially anyway but there is one big difference and it shows up on tape immediately bc and it's speed the speed difference is pretty dramatic the timing the movement the athleticism i don't think that brandon royville is

is in any way a bad athlete, but he does not have the kind of speed and mobility and the ability to cover distance very quickly in the way that cop does. As I mentioned, cop very good at South Paul fighting, so against Al-Mabayev and even against, I think it was Bruno Silva. He fought before that,

very good about getting lead-foot dominance when he needed it, and then when they were the same stance, very good about attacking that lead leg with leg kicks. I think that's what you're going to see. And he likes to do at BC to get big reactions. He'll slam a leg-kick home when they're in the same. same stance to the lead leg, which usually baits a response and he backs up and he cocks that hand and he's ready to go by virtue, by contrast, I should say, when it's open stance, he's really,

really good about that lead hand fighting and then covering all the way with that long two, all the way to the end there. He's very, very good about this, but the timing and the speed, BC, I think that's going to be a big deal. And then when you marry that with some of the numbers that we have from our friends at Fight Metric BC, Brandon Royville, striking defense, 43%, percent that's a little on the low side and then strikes of sore per minute four point two three that's definitely on the high side now he still has a positive differential he still lands 5.5 so that's very high and and the tape tells us that right there's a lot of traffic coming and going i think if he can make this a rougher fight bc in terms of strategy against a guy like cop that's actually his best chance he's gonna

have to bite down on the mouthpiece here because if he tries to duel with cop at distance given that Cop is obviously very good technically, but that speed and timing advantage, that's a really tough way to go. Instead, if you just get in his face and make him fight in this kind of trench warfare style of it that we know Royville can do, I think that boosts his chance. And also putting the pressure on him from a cardio perspective, again, if you're a cop and you're at range and you're, you know, leg kicking and circling out or you're sitting things up and then coming with the long two, you know, you're acting on your natural rhythm and schedule. You've got to take that away. So these are really about using strategy to overcome athletic gifts. Yeah, cops counterpunching with that quick twitch fiber, Luke, of his reaction time is a big part of this matchup. Four of cops' last five wins have been knockouts, including two in the first round, or, you know, knockout slash TKO, I think against Long Island's boy.

What's his name? Asu, Omabaya. Alma Baiv. Thank you. I believe that was who by the way, he was getting pressured in the cop fight, but he got eye poked a bunch and lost the fight from it. So it's a weird win, you know. Royval on the flip side, three of his last five wins have been by split decision against higher level competition. But you see what's going on there. Look, when you look at the ground games that both bring into here, we may not see that become a factor here because both are, you know, high-paced strikers in a lot of ways or cop as the perfect counterpuncher to that style of Royval. But do you think we'll see Royval do what he didn't do a lot against Van, which is try to take this fight to the ground? So I thought about that. The problem is cop has very good take down defense.

He's got like, I think, 80% or more take down defensive rate. And even then, he's like, what was the last time you recall him being held down for long stretches of a round or having his back taken for long stretches of a round? It can happen. There are obviously, some guys have had some success in that regard, but nothing relatively recent. And certainly nothing, you know, in the current tape that would lead you to believe this would be a particular vulnerability. Now, that being said, Royville's better than a lot of these guys. You know, Mokaiev's got good grappling and good top control, good back control too. But, you know, Brandon Wayville is certainly a different level than a lot of these guys.

But his wrestling, again, some of the athleticism difference I think here is going to show up. I really believe some of these questions, BC about this is not me saying it can't be a sub. Again, I go back and I always say this example, Mark Bow. Coachak, one of these Canadian grappling champions, he fought MacDanzig. He was much better than MacDansig on the ground, but he got tired and beat up. And so McDansig was able to, like, you know, knuckle him to the ground and then eventually submit him. I can see a scenario like that where Royville can make an ugly fight, eventually cop breaks, and then he jumps guillotine or gets to the back or, you know, something could triangle, who knows, something like that could happen.

But just, you know, early rounds, the hips getting low, the sprawl, the immediate physical reactions that cop has that's going to be i think not a wise strategy for roeval to pursue early indeed indeed uh let's talk to our betting expert long island luke you've got cop here as nearly a three to one favorite i think rightfully so roovo certainly in this fight how do you look at it from a betting standpoint i mean there's definitely value on roi vall i'll probably end up throwing something on him honestly i took the over two and a half in a parley i think this one goes long my like official prediction would be copped by decision i think you can get that at plus money on draft kings right now so like that's not a bad bet the royval

spread bet they got it at plus nine and a half right now at plus 105 meaning two judges have to give him one round which really is totally doable if this goes five rounds gets to be a little worried it ends before that but uh either way i like this one to go along can you bet can you bet on there being a foul no at least not on draft king some sports books might do that yeah if i could i would make that one. Yeah. Calp to the balls, you think? I don't know, but fouls seem to follow him. I don't quite get it, but, you know. All right, Roy Vall has only been stopped one time in his career that was in his first meeting with Brandon Moreno. Luke, as you look at this matchup here, I think the better, maybe the better title matchup if this does produce that is, I want to see

cop on the title level. I still feel like he's that mystery wild card who can raise his game to another level it's that plus athleticism that mean streak that he carries with him uh despite some unsavory comments i sort of like his villainous aura right there and as much as i like roeval there is this consistency that he can get very close to that elite level and come up just short i think cop's a better fighter i think cop by decision is where it's ultimately angling here how do you see this main event playing out yeah i would love for royal to win we're big brin royville fans on the show he seems like a great guy i love his moxie i love his fighting spirit and i think he's definitely got a shot here gun to my head i'm going to go cop i just seem to think that like his

ability as we talked about to cover distance the takedown defense it's going to prove a little bit too much but i do think if brandon roeville can really put the pressure on him make him trade with him this is a winnable fight for brandon royville for sure i hope that if cop wins and if he does it by stoppage or something dramatic that he has a very abrasive call out of van ready because that's how you get people's attention, Luke. What you've got to do, apparently in MMA is to call your opponent the six-letter Fsler.

And they just start handing you out title shots, you know? What if he brings a guitar into the post-fight interview with him and just, you know? And makes us sing a song about ejaculating early? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think that might get over right there. All right, let's continue on down this card there in the co-main event.

Giga Chikaze, the well-travel veteran here is a plus 245 underdog in this featherweight matchup against Luke's boy, Kevin Vajos, who enters, according to draft Kings, at minus 305. Luke, when you look at this matchup, we've seen Giga tried across that threshold into the higher level, the true title contention. Do you feel like this is a last stand for him if he doesn't get it done here in this featured co-man? Hold on. I want you to say Giga, Chikaze's opponent's name one more time. Kevin Vajos.

no that's what mrs thomas said it definitely it's definitely not it's definitely not so there were three interpretations that would be okay the way the argentines would say it is vashejos because it's a j j it'd be by yejos or by jahos as my wife okay let me add this by the way chakazi won his first seven ufc fights through 2021 just three and sorry just three and one just one and three since then yeah but uh he's also 37 right 37. I mean, this is a brutal sport to age in. There's simply no question about it. What was the original question? Because I just trampled all over it with my. I mean, look at 37 is this is Gigo looking at winner go home basically right here?

I think so. I mean, look at his last five. A loss to David Onama, a loss to Alan, a win over Kassaris, a loss to Calvin Cater, and then a winner for Barbosa. But now we're way far back. And by the way, what does the winner for Barbosa? I mean, that wasn't nothing at the time, but it's not like that's one that's going to age incredibly well. I don't really know what's left. He certainly had a very dynamic game. When we talk about the Georgian takeover of MMA, sometimes I feel like Gig is a little bit forgotten, which I think is very unfair because he has played a part in that larger process,

and there's a bunch of Bellator guys, you know, like Chocolie, who's also been, I think, not given some credit for it. Obviously, Marab and Ilya would be leading that charge. But I just think at 37 BC, this is a really, really, really tough fight for him. And he's going up against a guy who is technical, that is true, but is a pressure guy when he needs to be and a fucking gunslinger. And I don't know, man. I think Giga, he's got some real abilities, B.C.,

but I think one of the things that really worries me is his ability to absorb damage. I don't think he's, like, super chinny, but I don't think he's as resilient as he needs to be particularly under pressure. You know, we've seen what this, I feel like we've seen this fight before. It's like Fador backing down Crow Cop. Obviously, they're much more decorated. but, you know, the part I'm trying to make it.

Well, because the strategy in that was Fador constantly pressured into him and KroKopp could really never get his feet settled and he didn't get super beat up, but Fadour's ability to encroach on his territory and then check the kicks really just took away all of that game and then Fador could do what he does best.

I think you might see something a little similar in that way, which where Vallejos, or however you want to say it, is backing down Chikaze. And Chikazzi's throw. on stuff. Some of it's landing. A lot of it's not, but you're really going to be under the gun of a guy who will really bite down on the mouthpiece. And again, has great pocket boxing as well. I think you're going to see something like that. Well, Luke, Vajos is just 24 years old. 16 and one overall. 11 knockouts. He, of course, has that. 23, the lone pro defeat to Lord G.N. Silva in the Dana White Contender series. He came back a second chance of the following year. Won that by first round TKO. Two and O in the UFC. How high is the ceiling here for this guy? So I think it's pretty high. I think we're also pretty early in this contest.

I think that, or this race, I should say, I think that, you know, people seem to forget he's only 24 years old. We are, you know, I know Josh Van is champion at 24, but Josh Van is competing in a very different division, still a very good one, but not quite like this one. And I know everyone's high on him. and he certainly wants the smoke, too. Plenty of reason to be excited,

and I do think VC, even considering more than that, that he can do something potentially quite special. But he has to prove it against an increasingly difficult or at a bare minimum, increasingly important kind of win as he marches through, you know, contenders. This is an important one, both from a stylistic standpoint, as well as, you know, getting some name value from a, known opponent, at least to hardcore. And then as well, as I mentioned, like sort of solving a bit

of a technical problem. You got a guy who you can do it against who is aging. But these are like these important juncture. So I'm pretty high on him. Champion level, I don't know, wouldn't rule it out. But I just feel like, you know, having a strong feeling that a guy's going to be champion with what we've seen with him on tape, I don't think is crazy, but to me feels a little premature. I just want to see a more evidence of what he can do. Yeah, indeed. Interesting matchup, though, given the veteran striking skills of Chikaze against the high riser here in Vajos, thank you very much for that. Valley Jokes, Valley Jost.

In this featherweight division, talk about a banger here, and it's a virtual pickum on the betting lines as Melke Costa welcomes Morgan Charié. Yeah, that's right. That's a good pronunciation. according to draft kings minus 112 for Costa minus 108 for sharia what do you love about this matchup um okay so a few different things uh morgan again chagier i don't know how you say that one you ever hear you ever hear shak majori pronounce uh cyril ghan's first name it makes me just feel all weird inside what does he say he's like Seidelgan.

Sao-Gahn. As I'm just like, just call him cereal. Does Shaq speak French? He is. He was born in Montreal, all right? I don't know. I don't know if he does. Does Abron speak French?

Maybe a little, but I don't think like fluently. Okay. Well, I mean, look, Shaq Majorie is a weird human being. Let's be honest about that. Like, you know, he just, you know, he's like a human skin tag. He just, you know, you just go wherever you go.

He follows. No, I'm teasing. I'm teasing. I like this fight a lot. I particularly like the run that Costa has been on. You know, you kind of mentioned it, but the last three, Andre Feeley, Christian Seurat, Christian Rodriguez, and then Juliana Rosa, dude, these are pretty fucking good names. Morgan Charrier, again, please forgive my pronunciation, has been kind of

like a staple on these French cards and putting together some pretty decent performances, but I feel like Milky Costa, who was kind of up and down for a little bit, has really started to put it together. I know Long Island Luke has been excited about him for some time, and I have as well. I actually kind of like this matchup a lot. I feel like coming or going a bit of a strong word but for costa to build on something like this i think it would say a lot about his potential renewed upside this is one of the sleeper fights on the card long out look you got to be fired up for this for the main card man this is a good fight i truly do not know who wins deep dive on their stats favor costa actually but i weirdly am getting a morgan charier like late knockout

here that's that's the vibe i'm getting here so all right he is a good athlete and costa does take some risks so that is definitely on the table we do have a heavyweight matchup because under UFC this is the one I've got my eye on right here all apex cards need a heavyweight main card matchup here Brazilian jjjuts specialist marcus buccecha takes on kennedy and jekku that was a brutal pronunciation but look the focus here is on the 35 year old almeda buchetia however you want to say that bouchetia boucher five and two overall in his mama career coming off his UFC debut, which was a three-round loss to Martin Boudet, who then, I believe, got

cut after that despite a long win streak. He also has a pro loss two years ago under the one championship banner to future heavyweight champion, Umar Kane, Khan, excuse me. So, Luke, this is a cool matchup here, but the Bouchetia experience on the MMA side has been a tease, no flash. How long do you think the UFC will give him if he's going to be? going to package defeats here um to if you had told me i don't know circa 2011 or whatever it was exactly that boucher and hodolfo viera who had legendary battles in jujitsu at that time

and i remember electric both were like insanely athletic both were you know just doing stuff these other guys simply could not do that they would turn out to be like in not just disappointments but like incredible disappointments during the course of their enemy career i i just wouldn't have believed it i wouldn't have believed it and yet here we are bro bouchetia is in fucking trouble he looked bad against boudai and it's like how like mackenzie durn can take a punch well which we've not seen from buchesha and mackenzie durn while her wrestling has improved let's talk about like a few years ago bcc where all all she could really do was kind of drag you to the ground.

But, but once she got you to the ground, it was, it was game on, right? Like, that's when you're like, okay, now, now you're into the, you know, the, the, the lion's den here. Like, but then Bouchetia gets guys on the ground and can't do shit to him. And it's like, how, how are we here? How are we here? He's taking on it, but Mushaisha is a big heavyweight. And he's taking on Kennedy and Zetschkuyu, who is a former light heavyweight. He's done some decent work at heavyweight. Fair enough.

I don't think he's like crazy undersized. But like he's just, I'm not trying to be insulting. He is putting together a respectable career. But to date, BC, there's been nothing particularly exemplary about his run. In fact, he's changed weight classes, I think, to rejuvenate some fortunes. If Bouchesha, with his level of jiu-jitsu, can't make short fucking work of a guy like this, it is over. It is over. This is one of those tests where it's like,

I'm not saying it's the easiest test. What I'm saying is we don't even have to worry about what comes after that. If you can't pass something like this, if you can't pass something like this, absolutely fucking disqualifying for him. Cut him for the organization. It doesn't matter anymore. Wow. Just cut, as I always say, whenever someone on the Celtics pisses me off,

just cut their jersey up the back as they walk off the floor. You're fire. That's right. As the Arsenal fans would sing at you, you're not fit to wear the shirt. That's a little strong. I don't want to do that. But, you know, Luke, despite losing three of his last four, 39-year-old, King Green is back in a 160-pound catchweight bow against Lance Gibson, Jr. to kick off the six-fight main card on Saturday night. I can tell you're not moved.

Lance Gibson, longtime UFC vet, longtime MMA trainer, also had trade and Julia Budd. I think they might be married. But, you know, certainly had been in her corner for a long time. And this is his son, Lance Gibson, Jr. I think this is only the third father-son combo in all of you. I think UFC history, I believe that's right. Anyway, don't you go dying on me. I like it okay.

I don't really know what's left of King Green. I do think there are actually more interesting fights on this card than that one, but it's got a little bit of name value in history in there. All right. Let's talk about the fight that where I'm circling on the prelims. I'm sure a lot of people are. as former bellator welterweight champion yarasov amosov aka luke you're a slob i'm a slob the 32 year old who ran off a 27 in o start to his mma career winning that belator welterweight title defeating names like logan storily twice douglas lima ed ruth uh caveman rickles etc before ultimately getting stopped by jason jackson the ass kicking machine two years ago uh is finally back here. He took a two-year break between 23 and 25, returned in March of this year

at Cage Fury and submitted Curtis Millinder. Now finally we get him. Remember, he was on social media, almost pleading for Dana White to give him an opportunity. They did. He is buried on the prelim card, but he has a very respectable opponent in the longtime gatekeeper at Walterway in Neil Magny. Draft King's odds at the moment do not favor the aging Magnus chances as he's plus 340 against the minus 440 amosov but when yarslav was at his best luke he's got a motor he can wrestle for days it has not been a good look lately for big bellatory names or pfl names making the leap here to espn to ufc excuse me what are your thoughts about amosov finally getting this opportunity long overdue i understand i mean the ufc is this is to me this could be

the main event. I'm not even joking. I mean, maybe not over, okay, maybe not over two top rank flyworts, no. But it could easily be the co-made event. This could easily be the co-made event. And they buried this fucking thing on the prelims. I will tell you, I don't know how much trust the UFC matchmakers have in Bellator PFL guys. And I don't think that's necessarily unfair. It's not the same as what happened when WEC came over. And it's not the same as what happened when strike force came over. Dude, it's not even the same as what happened when the IFL, the International Fight League folded and came over.

It's not even that. So I understand some of the trepidation that the matchmakers have and is obviously indicated that Jason Jackson lost didn't help. That being said, I think highly of his game. I think he can do a lot. I think that experience has proven to me he's battle tested. Is he the best Walter weight in the world? Probably not BC.

But I think he can give good Walter weight. to wait to run for his money. And at a bare minimum, BC, you've got to love the matchmaking because Neil Magny is going to tell us what we got. Neil Magny is going to be that, you know, that, you know, the guy who's trying to find fools gold in the river, right? The prospector, the guy out there looking for it, he's going to let us know, do we have something or do we not? Just because he wins, doesn't mean he's going to be champion, but it lets us know that, okay, we don't have some kind of pretender here. Are you calling him a 49er? Is that what you're calling?

Kind of. What I'm saying is, this. This is maybe my favorite fight on the card, to be honest. I am right. Yeah, yeah, straight up, the 38-year-old Magnet, excuse me, as my voice dies, is riding a two-fight win streak, both by stoppages, a bunch of defeats before that. But he will be that test. I want to see. I hope for Emisov's safe, he can come in here and make some noise.

We've seen Ante DeLeo come in from PFL make some noise and then have that unfortunate loss for him against Waldo. But before that, Luke, it's been Pico. it's been who else of late just shitting unfortunately patchy mix just shitting the bed in their attempts to cross over here so we'll see this fight also in the featured prelim shout out to jillian robertson i never thought we'd be here for the 30 year old where she's riding a four-fight win streak two by stoppage including a t ko over marina hodriguez in may of this year she'll be taking on the battle tested amanda lemos at age 38 look i can't believe it. Jillian Robertson could get a push here. This could be five in a row if she can get this done. Number nine versus number seven in the rankings, I believe. Gillian Robertson, PC, just 30. Just 30. So when she was up and down, she was still putting pieces of her game together. She's locked in, brother, locked in. And honestly, what are the odds on this one? You may have said about, I mean, I can tell you. It is Robertson minus 198 plus 164 for Lemo. Fair enough. I think that's about right, but she does deserve to be the favorite of my judgment. I think she has shown a lot.

of growth and big shots to Dean Thomas who has done a great job with her. Yeah, absolutely. Limosha's three and three in her last six. She lost a decision to Tatiana Suarez in September of this year. Anything else on this undercard tickling you in the fancy spot look?

The Joe Anderson-Brito Isaac Thompson fight is not super terrible. Not a lot of Wikipedia pages on the bottom of this card, look, all right? Yeah. And then the Olick-Shachic fight against Almeida on the main card. is, I believe, Mikhail's brother or relative or something.

But, you know, that's kind of interesting, but not really. What do you mean, Mejol? Luke? Mejol, can we pronounce it, right? All right, fair enough. Mihal, you're right. Anyway, yeah, not really. I mean, we kind of covered the ones I like the most. We got to mention Stephen Asplen, the guy who told Dana he'd suck his toes for 10-10

contract. Yeah, we didn't. I purposely did not mention. His debut. He, uh, I saw a picture of him today. He lost something like 300 pounds or some shit. He went from 500-something pounds to now make the heavyweight limit. That's why he's got all that loose skin.

But I'll suck you did it. Yeah. You ever sit a dick for some marijuana? He's doing the Dave Chappelle, you know, you got to come down on these penises with me, Joe Rogan, you know, bit, you know what I mean? Yeah, that's what it is, Luke. That is what it is. I don't know how to transition out of that.

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that started at all. Quervo, the tequila, that invented tequila, Proximo. Quervo. Quervo, co.com. Please drink responsibly. And Luke, there will not be another pay-per-view. Well, as of right now, there'll be no more pay-per-views, but there won't be another PLE until the January 24th Paramount CBS kickoff coming up, Patty versus Gaichi. So I don't think you'll be drinking a ton of Cuervo until then, but shout out to a fantastic sponsor. Because when we get you, me together, Jed, Chuck, whoever's fill in that third chairhole, it gets wild up in this. Yeah, we got to Angela White in studio. I don't think she's eligible, look, okay?

Why? Because she's a woman. That's exactly it. Look, that is exactly it. All right, let's go into topic number two. One of the biggest blood feuds in MMA right now does not involve people that are going to square off in a cage. Did they square off once, though, in the UFC headquarters?

That's what we're trying to debate as the beef between UFC CEO Dana White and And former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngano has only grown over this past week. First, Francis sat down with the Ariel Hawani show and then Dana made a swift response in an interview with Oscar Willis of the Mack life. And it started with Francis and Gano giving a very modest denial of Dana White's account of a supposed physical altercation between them that surrounded the UFC card in Boston where Francis and Gano knocked out. one over over even maybe the most brutal knockout of all time but did not receive the 50k bonus came to UFC headquarters reportedly pushed forward to get an answer and then maybe then maybe put his hands on Dana White and Hunter Campbell by the collar and jacked him up oh no no says Dana it didn't happen exactly like that so Luke this has gotten a little bit weird not just

from the standpoint of Francis, like, being kind of weird when Ariel put him on the spot repeatedly and just not really giving a straight answer of, did you do this? Not to mention the fact that then Dana came out and kind of changed the story. So before I ask you who you believe, let's see a little bit of this evidence. We've got some sound to play on what broke down here. Let's hear from Dana. So safe to say, no interest in bringing him back. I don't know how I can make it any more fucking clear

I do wonder how PFL feel about him going out and saying that his contract's nearly done There was nothing that made me happier than throwing that guy over to the fucking PFL Let me tell you what If we let guys go Feel bad for the fucking company that gets them We let them go for a fucking reason

Yeah I get it I don't have to let anybody go Yeah I don't want to be in business with guys that I don't like and that I don't think are good guys. Look, if somebody shows you who they really are, believe them. Believe them.

Dana White, 2005. So that was the follow-up to Francis. There's a little bit more. I don't know if I, maybe I missed it in the rundown. There should be one where he kind of does a little bit extra explaining. Yeah, yeah, we'll get, I think they were just in, in a weird order. Ultimately, Francis, you know, told Ariel that his PFL contract is coming to a close soon. He'd like to fight John Jones.

on the White House, so that's what spurred that Dana White comment. Let's hear Francis first, though, here giving his side of the story to Ariel of what went down in that weird altercation that this all, you know, created this beef. Okay, so then we go from that. In the midst of all of this, Francis, Dana White does an interview on a podcast called the Flagrin podcast with Andrew Schultz, and he speaks a lot about you in a very, you know, unsatisfactory way, in a very not nice way. You've seen these comments, I would imagine.

Why am I not surprised? So this time around it wasn't just, oh, he's a bad guy, he spoke about specific details, specific stories, instances where he claims you grabbed him or you grabbed Hunter Campbell, all this stuff. Can I get your response to this? Did any of this happen that he talked about on this podcast? Well, I think the best person to answer that question is there in a way. You have to ask him whenever you have this chance. you ask him. Well, I won't have that chance anytime soon, but he has said it, right?

So if I would ask him, he would say, yeah, I said it. That's my POV. The one that we haven't heard about this is you, right? So I would love your side of the story. You know, I kind of like, at some point you're very ignoring to just have to be responsible of what people say. Basically, like, if the Anna said this, then I'm out here going to basically defend myself of what Dana said or whomever. I think whatever he said, if he's in peace with, it's okay. But one might say that he's trying to, like, hurt your character, right?

These aren't nice things to say about someone, if not true. If not true. Again, why am I not surprised? Right. no Luke Ariel to his credit would come right back and put him on the spot and just say look did you put your hands on Dana although Francis did not give an answer he basically said don't they have cameras in the UFC office and left it at that look the court of public opinion is tough things go like this you know there was a time when we all felt like Francis you know was the guy from Shawshank crawling through the shit tunnel to get out of his draconian contract and get what he wanted and we were all happy for him then. PFL started to say he's not carrying his end of the bargain and we were down on him. Then this interview happens and we're like, maybe Francis really isn't a good guy. Maybe Ann Evans on Twitter is right here.

So, but then within hours, this interview comes out with Oscar Willis putting Dane on the spot. There was nothing that made me happier than throwing that guy over to the fucking PFL. Let me tell you what, if we let guys go, feel bad for the. the fucking company that gets them. We let them go for a fucking reason. Yeah, I get it. I don't have to let anybody go. Yeah. Yeah. I don't want to be in business with guys that I don't like and that I don't think are good guys. We offered Francis a deal that would have made him the highest paid heavyweight in the history of the company, more than Lesnar, more than anybody, and he turned a deal down. So, you know, I don't know, you know, we get to this point where I

sorry we had a technical issue we'd have the right video so basically long story short uh oscar willis at dana set the record straight and said well can i read it yeah go ahead so this is again it's from the same oscar willis interview and again i apologize for having the wrong asset there but here is what he wrote quote let me be clear this is dana talking let me be clear on something when i say the physicality it's not like francis came in and threatened us or anything like that we're in there and he's telling me that he deserves the 50K. I said, you're not getting it. We had determined who was going to get the 50K.

And I'm in there with him for however long, and I'm like, I'm done, I have another meeting. And this guy used to walk around the UFC headquarters, like it was his fucking house. He literally spent the whole day in here, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So I started to walk out, and he put his hand on my chest, and he said, we're not done talking.

And I said, oh, we're done talking. It's not like Francis came in here and was like physical, but that's what went down. which to me BC is not necessarily a completely different story than what he told before, but it is meaningfully different. There's not like grabbing him by the chest or the collar or anything like that, which is what he sort of seemed to insinuate the first time around. Yeah, indeed.

That's what I'm saying. I felt like for like, you know, half a day we were like maybe Francis is this POS and then Dana sort of softened the original blow. I can understand from a business standpoint why he would be upset to some degree. also this feels like a larger much ado about maybe nothing except for the fact that it is something we're going to get more into the pfl in the in topics to come in this show and talk about what francis said about his deal but dana unequivocally said no this guy will never fight here again he's maintaining that that stance but luke you could argue that john jones versus ingano

you know sorry tom aspinall for sort of this like lineal heavyweight championship is you know the fade or versus crow cop of our generation, the Randy versus Fador that never happened. It feels like it could be in play to happen. Shouldn't Dana kind of just get over this for the sake of the business

or is this a justifiable excuse here to never do business with this guy again because he was pushy over a bonus? I mean, on the one hand, you know, Maybe they, listen, the UFC doesn't have to sign anybody and everybody. They can pick and choose who they want and they can pick and choose for the reasons that they want.

I think on some level, everybody understands that, including me and including you. On the other hand, you know, not to belabor the point, but obviously they have such an entrenched market position that they don't necessarily because of that market position have to give into it. That's a separate consideration of, hey, is this someone we want to do business with because, you know, there are a threat to our safety or there's a room in the office. or you know or otherwise just an unpleasant character to deal with that's a separate one from no they're not unpleasant they don't do that kind of a thing but we don't you know we can pick and choose because of our entrenched market position like that is that is obviously playing a role but i always go back to it do they have to make every fight that we want to see no but the job of the promoter is to put on fights that people want to pay money to see weirdly bc they're not even going to sell tickets for this ufc white house card but to the point that you raise it's a big card with pretty big visibility it holds, whatever your feelings about it, certainly some great importance for the sport and certainly high relevance. And I cannot think of a single UFC fan who would outright reject that fight. I mean, that just seems so crazy to say what fight fan, what group of fight fans is like, oh, no, we don't want to see that. I saw Nate Diaz yesterday get on social media and

say he wants to fight Patty Pimblit. There was a lot of people saying they didn't want to see that. I didn't see. I've never seen anyone be like, oh, yeah, we don't need that fight. Like, yeah, no, no, don't make don't make that way i mean some people kind of taking sides but it actually came down to it bc this would do gangbusters this would be huge this would be big i think if you're going to be the leader of mama and you're going to have all the resources you should act like it and you should make the fights that the fans want to see especially bc we don't know when tom aspinall's coming back so a lot of opportunity here but you know i think we both know it's probably unrealistic yeah just feel like you know it looked for a second like Francis may have crossed the line.

Then Dana kind of made it seem like he didn't cross the line from a physical standpoint. So if this is just a you ask for too much money, I don't think you're a good guy. I mean, they brought Randy back, Randy Couture to serve him up to Brock. And he still fought after that when, you know, he had a similar thing where he stood up for his own naming rights. And, you know, from a business standpoint, pissed off UFC. This just feels like it's like just bury it. like do what's right for the fans this could be one of the biggest fights in the company's history but not worth talking about any more there uh i mean what does francis do luke just go back to boxing

though i would have said fight wilder but i guess usick's got i mean that's wow wow you just died on the air i thought ariel did a good job of basically being like hey francis like you may have dropped the bag here jake paul offered you you're now telling us it wasn't a low ball offer it was a very good offer and you really don't have reasoning as to why you said no well let's see he's not going to fight wilder he's not going to fight paul he's not going to fight john jones he's not going to fight tom aspinall he's not going to fight poeton who the fuck are you don't fight there fella like you got to say yes to one of these and or you know what are we not thinking of i'm sure there's something we're not thinking of but uh you have said no to many uh

of one way or the other you've said no to many of if not nearly all of the biggest remaining opportunities that kind of narrows what's available no it does uh to close on this luke and it's not really a fair question but where are we at on the is francis and god of a good guy thing luke there's been some points i can solve this problem for everybody dude i can solve this problem for everybody um as i've said before i think think guys like Max Holloway, Dustin Porre is retired, but, you know, guys like that, right, when U.S.C. 318 was circling around, the two gentlemen of the fight game, these are guys that, you know, even as I'm older than them, I still look up to them as like exemplars or how

to be, you know, how to carry yourself in public and how to how to be a family man and, you know, all the things that we, we know and appreciate about them. But there are just a lot of bad actors in this sport. There are bad actors on the fight roster. There's bad actors in the rank and file of who staffs these organizations. This is, how to describe it? This is not polite society. And I think a lot of people want to go in there and start from the premise that because they do these heroic things in the cage, that we should just default to a place that we automatically assume, you know, that they're you know these are great guys on quests of nobility and that certainly can't happen and it may be true of francis too we know his story about coming from like the most insane

difficult background and getting to where he got like there is nobility in that story no matter what else you may want to say about someone like that but i just think you it's an unfortunate reality bc and people can say i'm like gloomy about it but i don't think that's right i think it's a little bit easier to kind of take a little bit more of a neutral position and then over you can then say, hey, this person has been vetted enough in the public space that I know that I can trust as a general rule, you know, their character. But I think just we default to it and then we have to claw it back over time pretty often in the sport. I would argue flip it and then you'll have a little bit of an easier time with all the negotiating all this stuff.

Yeah. Yeah, you also have to take into consideration the source of the person calling him a awful human being. I know there's difficulties in everyone's life. Francis, I mean, you know, had that motorcycle accident where someone died. I mean, there's been things going on. Whatever. Whatever. Ultimately, I still feel like they could and should make this fight. Let's carry on to topic number three, which is what else Dana White opened up about and his sit down with Oscar Willis of the Mac life.

One of that was regarding the UFC White House card and which is coming in June. I believe, Luke, is the updated date what, June what? It's not Trump's birthday anymore. What is it going to be? No, it is, June 14th is still where we're targeting that. We've had Donald Trump, the U.S. President, say that there's going to be eight to nine title fights. Dana didn't seem to support that or confirm that. But here's a quote pick of what he did say about the White House card.

Dana White says the UFC White House main event will not air for free on CBS and will be available only on Paramount Plus. The quote is, maybe we do some prelims on CBS. but that fight will be on Paramount. Oscar Willis went on to kind of push him of like, will this be a pay-per-view? Will you bring it back? Dana did not take the bait on here. So, Luke, are you surprised that ultimately the White House card,

which could be the biggest fight card in the company history from the standpoint of uniqueness? And they're certainly going to load it up. I mean, there's potential for everyone from Connor McGregor, John Jones, Ronda Rouse. I mean, I don't know how it's going to play out, but there's potential for major stuff on this. card. Are you surprised at all that it won't air on CBS live? Yeah. Yeah, I am. Very surprised,

to be honest with you. Now, BC, you're closer to the Paramount experience than I am. The two big, not counting UFC, which you would now count as well, but prior to UFC signing with them, the two big things, there's more than this, but the two big things in the sports portfolio that CBS has the rights to would be the NFL and March madness. But, Neither of them are around in June. So I guess there's no obstruction, but there's also, like, no way to promote them. So it's like you're missing, it's weird. Like there's nothing blocking them in the calendar, but there's nothing really promoting them either.

So what would take precedence over that on that night, especially when you're willing to air other events that won't be as regal? Mark Shapiro saying this week on the earnings call for TKO, about half he expects six or seven of the numbered events to air. And so not either in in the main card or maybe just made events, but some portion of at least six or seven of those cards to air on CBS. Why would you not put that one? I honestly don't even know what the logic would be. Well, I'll tell you. Okay.

Look, I think ultimately the idea is that what's one of the major reasons that, you know, Paramount SkyDak, CBS, you know, would purchase this brand, this, this fight league at such a high price. and it's certainly to make Paramount Plus the premier streaming, you know, app in the world. So if it's all about driving subscriptions there, you're not charging a pay-per-view price anymore, I certainly understand that. You know, like Dana likes to say, you're going from 2025 having to pay over $1,000 to be a high-end UFC fan to having to pay something around $100 a year.

So at least you're going to cash in on that opportunity. I certainly understand your stance on the idea that if you just put it on Big C-Ban, and shoot it out there, you can cast the widest net possible. I think even Oscar asked that. Like, imagine Connor McGregor fighting on CBS. But to clarify what Shapiro said, just from what we know, Dana White was asked about that. And he interrupted and told Oscar Willis that Shapiro was sort of just guesstimating

or speculating and that ultimately it has not been decided. And I can confirm that from what I've heard internally that it has not been decided. How many cards will air on ESPN? Will it just be prelims? Will it be main cards, what have you? I think that's still in the planning stages right now. But given that, look, could they put this on pay-per-view and jack up the price to make a ton of money? They could.

But if you just leave it on Paramount Plus, and this is the ultimate push to get as many subscriptions as possible, it does seem like a smart idea. It's not that expensive. You know, what is it, around 10, 12 bucks for Paramount Plus, right? Yeah, I mean, even then, though, like doing that and I don't know, just not. dovetailing with that kind of an audience on linear television seems like a missed opportunity now to his point if they do the prelims that's that's something right I just feel like there should be some kind of carrot dangled on linear television even if you still want to drive subs in June but either way you know I think it'll be

great for Paramount Plus in terms of you know a business opportunity and by the way some breaking news here it's not confirmed but I'm looking at an interview he did in Spanish Michael Morales and he's saying the UFC's targeting him versus Jack Dila Matalena on that card. Wow. So you know, sick ass fights

they're putting on this card you know. As things stand now Luke what do you think will be the main event? Because Oscar pushed Dana on Trump's comment and he kind of downplayed and you know he said well there'd be a ton of title fights on there and Dana's like no I wouldn't say a ton. I would guess there's going to be a mixture of, you know, nostalgic names to bring in the audience and

big fights. But could you see the main event as we stand now being something like, you know, as big as Elia versus Islam or something more in the Connor Chandler realm or if they open the door, Jones Poetan? Like, what do you feel like right now, December 12th? Rousie Corrano? I don't know. what i feel like it'll be a uh a title fight with islam or ilia or someone in the top pound

for pound i think that'll be the actual main event but to your point they're going to fill the card with nostalgia they're going to fill the card with whatever bigger names they can put together but i just kind of think at the end of the day the crown jewel of that will not be a manufactured oh let's put a light heavyweight up at heavyweight and have him fight jonja i just don't think it'll be that i think it'll be hey here's islam defending his title or here years Ilya defending it's something like yeah it's an interesting debate on how you want to use that card because you're going to cast that net as wide as possible bring in as many casual fans just to see the spectacle of literally an octagon on the south lawn and as dana said luke to oscar in that

interview the south lawn is slope so they're going to have to bring in a ton of earth to level it out i mean you know kate bring in some cage fighters onto the white house they're going to tear up that gold lemae everywhere you know what i'm going to be like it's going to be like jan six up in this piece. Yeah, yeah, it will be. Pat Militich is going to love this shit. All right, there we go. Also, wow, Luke, is this the end? Because we had a great one. Is this the end? This is the end, my friends. Great song. Yeah, great song. Seriously. Also, Oscar asked about the situation surrounding Armand Sarukian. He's in Dana's doghouse. Can he get out of it? What the hell's going on? Here's a quote from Dana. in which he said uh patty pimblit laid it out pretty well dana referencing patty's recent

comments arman's here we haven't cut him we don't dislike him it is what it is armin knows how this played out behind the scenes he knows we all fucking know end quote l t your thoughts on the armenian hulk here i hate this i hate this i just want to be clear about something. They won't tell you what he did. They won't tell you how long his punishment's going to last. And in fact, they won't even acknowledge that there is a punishment. They're asking you to believe he did something wrong or failed them in some kind of way, but they won't say what it is. And they're asking you to believe he did something wrong, but then they'll deny that there's punishment, but then they're asking you to believe he did something wrong and understand that

there is a punishment. It's this weird, gaslit, nebulous world where they expect you to believe the worst of everything, but just to be not certain necessarily about anything, not really ask any questions about it, certainly not making any declarations about anything to begin with. And I want to be clear about something. Remember, he made those initial comments, I mean, this is Oscar following up a little bit, but the initial comments, came after UFC 323. That came on the same week where Nick Kahn told, in Ring Magazine, Stoge, Max Kellerman,

and then ESPN Stoge, Pat McAfee, their plans for Zouffer Boxing were to have no more sanctioning body nonsense, to have the champion fight, the number one contender. If the number one contender is not available, of the number two contender, just like in the UFC, Lawrence Epstein, repeating a very similar message to that hill. So on the same week where they are telling you, you know, we don't play sanctioning body favoritism games. We don't play promoter whim games. We have the best, fight the best. This is what we follow. And that's what we're going to do in boxing. They told Congress that. And they

told major media outlets or figures that and then on the same week dana says i don't care about the number it cannot be both it cannot be both they are in absolute contradiction unequivocal contradiction to one another it has to be one or the other bc we have gotten so used to people are conflating two different things here right because imagine if this was boxing for a second where armin would be rated, I'll make something up by the WBC as the mandatory, but also like the guy that everybody wants, right? The promoter could say at that point that they didn't want to sign Armin because for whatever reason, but then WBC would essentially take control of the title

process and adjudicate it in some other way to solve that problem independent of the promoter's whim. But here we have a space where the promoter controls all of it. And so we're conflating the ability of a sanctioning body to order a fight with the discipline that might are the, you know, the lack of a business relationship that a promoter might want to solve. Mind you, by the way, they're independent contractors. There's a, there's a code of conduct on the books, but they won't enforce that because they're scared of them becoming ultimately employees by qualifying for a different set of criteria. I'm just pointing out there's this, there's this mixed messaging, there's this vast array of control, and it's

this guy's fucking life. BC, if he did something. wrong, which he very well may have done. Hello, BC. He's headbutting opponents on fucking stage and punching fans in the audience. Would it be crazy to you to suggest that he has done something, you know, worthy of condemnation? No. It would be the easiest thing in the world to imagine, but they won't tell you what it is. They won't even tell you what the punishment is, but they expect you to just live in a world where he has to endure it and there's no end in sight.

When is this over? When is this probationary period over? It doesn't make any sense. It's the only thing that can happen when there's just that much control over all the different parts of how fights are made and all the different parts of how these contracts work.

It's silly to me. He's the number one contender and he's fucking great. Either tell us what the problem is or put them in fights you can't do both yeah i guess if dana clarified and said look it's three strikes at once it's the combination of not showing up for the main event when you were scheduled you know a day or two before it's the altercation with the fan it's headbutting hooker we don't feel like we can trust you and just leave it at that you can argue against it but i guess to some

degree it will be justifiable but i agree with you the way it's presented it makes you start to wonder since we just had to talk about Dana versus Francis is this more about money because we're under the idea that Armand isn't motivated specifically by money because he comes from it just like we're under the idea that the biggest thing Francis probably did wrong to Dana was constantly be a difficult negotiator.

So I wonder if that's all aligned right there. Let me just ask you, imagine the case was who's the champion of 55, Ilya, right? But he's out. So let's just say he had to fight. patty or something and armin's the number one contender imagine imagine bob aram has patty and maybe even maybe even has armin too but let's say armans with a different promoter edie herne but this is the number one guy this is the number one contender and they have to make

this fight what would happen if bob aram said i don't want to make a business with this guy because he headbts people and punches fans what would the wbc do in that case uh that wouldn't happen i'll just say that that wouldn't happen so this is what i've more dependent upon paydays, UFC's in a more fixed spot where they can do stuff like that. But this is what I mean. You're mixing two different worlds. There's one question about the UFC's relationship to Armand. I don't, folk, we've just gotten out of the habit of thinking it this way.

That's a completely separate question on not only where someone is ranked, but what someone ranked in the top spot is owed. These are two different things that we're just conflating together and we just take it because, well, that's just the way that it just works in MMA. but it's on i'm not saying don't punish the guy i'm saying if that's what we're going to do set the fucking terms let us know what it is put it all out there so we can just have a clear a uh a situation about it a clear a clear sense but just like putting a guy on probationary stuff without ever really declaring what the problem is or when the end goal is there or any any part of the process

on the same fucking week that you're telling congress that you don't do this this brother. I mean, I, yeah, I don't know what to say. By the way, Brandon Royval making way, according to Long Island, Luke, 126 for the main event against Cobb. Luke, one final quote I want to share. I don't really know how to explain this, but Usman Nirmagamette off the PFL champion was interviewed by our friend Mike Bonn, Mike Bone, of MMA junkie.

And here was his quote. In UFC, Armin is the number one contender, but he can't fight. because the champion has beef with his wife, end quote. I listened to the video. That was actually what he said. I don't understand it, though. And I know that you don't like that kind of stuff. You don't want to get into the saucy details of the personal lives.

Is it something weird like that, or let's just move on? Wait, Armin's wife? I can't even figure it out. The quote, again, was in UFC, Armand is the number one contender, but he can't fight because the champion has beef with his wife. I don't know. We've got to ask Usman, I guess. I don't understand.

Usen says things. He does say things. All right. There you go. That is topic number three. And this podcast is sponsored by the way, by Total Wireless, the official wireless partner of UFC. And you feel like I don't need to tell you this, but I do. When you're streaming the fight and you're sending those takedown highlights to your broskis,

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Applies only to the monthly rate for your plan. Additional terms apply. See the website for more details. Topic number four takes us to the PFL. Not only does the PFL have a card in Leon France on Saturday in which a, in all, a vacant heavyweight championship. The first in PFL history will be awarded.

The legend Chris Cyborg is back. But we've got a little bit of fallout from the Francis Ngano interview with Ariel Hawani in which I teased it earlier, but Francis ultimately surprised us all by saying his time, his contract with the PFL is coming to a close and it will end regardless of what if he fights or not before the UFC White House card in June.

So it's almost done. And remember, he signed with the PFL back in like early 2023, appearing just one time a stoppage win over Henan Faheda, no showing events he was apparently supposed to be there under his ambassadorship, his corporate role with PFL Africa. And now after two big time boxing events, which were not PFL affiliated in which Francis really cashed in, it kind of feels like it's coming to an end here. Why? Well, there's a heavyweight championship fight involving Vadim Nemcoff and the aforementioned Henan Faheda, and Francis said he was never even offered the opportunity to be in that fight. So, Luke, wow, ultimately when we look back, this is separate from the idea of is Francis or good guy or not.

This was a monumental sort of historic contract that he signed with the PFL, not just for the money and the flexibility. It was to be the face of PFL Africa. It was to serve as a fighter representative on a board to represent fighters. Was it a mistake ultimately for PFL to sign him? And I want to ask you this specific question along with that. Do you feel like the only reason why he hasn't fought again is because they just want to get rid of the money he demands and everything he brings to the table as they try to survive and move forward?

I mean, I think for Francis, it's been a phenomenal deal. He has had to give and do very little and has been afforded quite a bit. He got paid probably, my understanding is not what he made in the boxing fights, but something pretty decent for beating head in Faheda, which was also, I think, you know, you know, I'll leave it there. But then obviously he got the opportunity to box and made. you know upwards of 30 million dollars to do that like life-changing amounts of money and um you know got to do it outside like prove that there is life outside of the UFC but now that road appears to

have come to a close or coming to a close maybe not fully closed yet because you know one thing that we didn't really talk about bc is what if they get rico verhoeven rico versus francis is an interesting fight I think um maybe um in any case but it you know there's not many left fights for him that are going to be available and it just doesn't really it's not really clear what he can do but he got a lot of value out of the deal but what did what did pfl get they got their name associated with him and that gave them some extra media but he fought once for them it was kind of excuse me it was kind of a blowout when he i mentioned it bc and this is i also blame pfl for this they brought fucking francis to dc and they didn't even hit up the

and post to do interviews like what did he really get them extra in terms of you know media space that they ordinarily wouldn't have gotten i blame pfl also for that for just being lazy and not thinking about their own brand needs but at the same time you know did this partnership produce new heights that they had never reached before not exactly and i don't even know what to say if pfl africa it looks like some of the stuff that they've tried bc has been interesting and maybe encouraging but i don't know what kind of life it's got. I don't know what kind of money it makes or not. It just is very unclear to that. And he was not a great brand ambassador. I mean, part of that deal, BC was not just that he was going to get the opportunity to box and stuff like that. And that all worked out really

well. But part of it was that he was going to be a brand ambassador for them. He was going to be a brand ambassador quite literally for different sub-brands, the regional ones, in there. But more than that, he was going to kind of lift the PFL's visibility. He was going to lift their attempts and he was going to be something of a you know a jerry mcguire who's coming with me moment and in the end you know you saw what jerry mcguer got in that office scene it felt a lot like that like no one really followed and in fact in the lower weight classes a lot of guys left pit bull left erpico left patchy left like just a lot of do that just split um although ellen um not ellenberg i'm sorry uh j uh ebblin resigned uh so that's good for them anyway was it right

for them to sign it. I think that they made the right attempt. You see, I think that if you're PFL in 2023, do you turn down that opportunity to sign Francis? I don't think that you do. But they did not structure a deal that really got Francis, forced him to buy in and give back to the brand. They were too willing to give him too many things to get him to sign. And I think so much of that was optional that it just became an option he didn't pick what did they really get from it i don't know yeah i think it's a bad deal ultimately i mean they also signed jake paul under the the idea that he would fight for them and he was just the same thing just did a couple promo videos and showed up at fight cards to promote it i don't know if that's necessarily francis's fall if it was a bad deal

from pfl all along but the fact that they never got him even to one pay-per-view fight a year or put him in one of their seasonal tournaments, it's a massive fail. And I have to say, while we obviously don't know the real back and forth of whether he really should have been at those PFL Africa cards and it's his fault or it's the company's fall or what have you, PFL's made a ton of mistakes here, it's a bad look for him to show up on Ariel Hawani's show and basically announce that the deal's coming to an end and he'd be more than happy to go back and fight John Jones on the White House. Like that's a really bad look as well. It's a really bad look.

It feels like this was ultimately a major miss and much ado about nothing. He had too much freedom in the deal, which allowed him to his credit. He earned it to go make that big money in boxing. And oh, by the way, even though he got devastatingly destroyed by Anthony Joshua, him fighting Tyson Fury and having that moment with the knockdown and the split decision loss, like, you know, it's an incredible moment in his history, but that had nothing to do with PFL at all. So it hasn't worked out.

I don't feel like they want to be in business with him anymore, Luke. I mean, you remember when John Martin took over for the sort of the face, you know, of this operation for PFL. He told me when I interviewed him that time of like, we want to be respectful to Francis. We don't know if he wants to fight. Let's meet with him. Francis told Ariel, they met three times. Everything's fine. But I do not get the feeling like, like they believe that his price tag will help them moving forward.

Yeah, I mean, the new guy seems to be like, what's, what's working about this business? Let's lean into that. What's not working about this business? Let's move on from that. Maybe they can sign a new deal with Francis B.C. That is a little bit better for them, you know, that requires him to do certain things or, you know, just makes him promote the brand in the way that they would prefer. But if they can't get a deal like that, there's no need to sign another one. What would be the, what would be the fucking point of signing another deal like the one that they got?

it doesn't make a lot of sense. So I, again, I want to be clear, do I think it made sense for the UFC, for the PFL to pursue Francis? How do, in 2023 BC, how do you not make that call? But you have to look at the life of this deal and the terms that were there and did PFL put enough in there to promote their own interest? I don't know how you can conclude that they did. Yeah, we do have sound of Francis talking to Ariel and sort of explaining the contract situation.

Let's listen. Where I'm getting very close on the PFR contract, so they have to give me a fight. Okay, when you say close, what do you mean by that? Close to the end? Yeah. Okay. When is that? Soon.

You talked about wanting to fight John Jones at the White House. Yeah. I mean, yes, if that could have happened. Right. Would your PFL contract end before that event happened so that it would work out to where you could explore that? Yes. Oh my dear This is

This is interesting stuff Francis But he might not get that fight It seems like they're mad at him Because now he wants to fight On the White House card But Dana White said he doesn't trust them To be on the White House card

So he's not going to put him on there I don't know I think the white house card Is to fly away A lot of things can happen I think what's interesting is You could be a free man again Yeah

Okay Is How will be Soon If it was up to you the opponent, the sport, the month, the location, can you tell us what you want? Two things. I would say two things. I would say John Jones and the Auntie Walder. Do you feel confident that that can happen next year?

Confident, no, but there's a chance that everything can happen. So true or false in the year 2026, Francis Ngano versus John Jones happens. True or false. Yeah, yeah, that's, no, that's the question for you. You tell me true or false. I don't have hands on it. You know, okay. So I'm not a decision maker. Would you be open to going back to the UFC?

If they're interested, would you be able to talking to them? I don't know. Wait until it's over. Okay, okay. Okay, okay. Because I think you had a good relationship with Hunter and some of the other people there, right? Pretty much with everybody. Right. Yes, okay.

So, Luke, unless Ari and Shapiro can overrule Dana, let's throw that. out there. We mentioned some of the options. Riko Verhoeven could be something interesting. I wonder if he didn't resign with PFL, could he go fight rug, rug in one championship or Malik. I don't know if anyone would actually care. I have to say it again. I think he dropped, yeah, I think he dropped the ball with this Jake Paul thing, because if Jake Paul loses by vicious knockout, which everybody with the exception of Tyson Fury and Demetrius Johnson are predicting, they're predicting the opposite, that it would seem like that would potentially kill a lot of the value in seeing Jake maybe finally get his,

which would be a lot of the value of that fight. When I've said from the beginning, the boss at the end of the video game for Jake Paul, short of fighting a real fighter is Francis Ngano. Like if he went in there and beat outboxed Francis Ngano and didn't get K-O'd and won, like that's the biggest street cred Jake Paul can get, like again,

short of like winning an actual cruiserweight championship. And Francis missed. that because it's probably not going to be the same value if Jake gets killed next week, right? It will not be the same value if Jake gets killed next week. And if Jake somehow overperforms, I'm not saying wins, but, you know, lasts longer than people imagine or something, you know, does he even care about Francis at that point either? I don't know, you know. Yeah, interesting stuff there.

Let's talk about this Leon card Saturday, PFL. I'm sure you're going to have to go through multiple paywalls on ESPN Plus to acquire it. But we have the inaugural PFL heavyweight championship at stake in the main event. And I think, again, this is the right move for the PFL if they're going to survive and carve out space to get away from the tournament format to have actual defending champions. I don't hate this matchup. But Dean Nemcoff, the former Bellator Light Heavyweight champion, is unbeaten in 14 consecutive fights. He's moved up to heavyweight a few fights ago. wins over names that we know very well.

He's a minus 580 betting favorite against the big Brazilian Faheda, who was stopped by Angano at plus 380. When we're talking about Nemcoff, he recently beat Yola Romero, Corey Anderson, Timothy Johnson, Bruno Capulosa, Phil Davis, Ryan Bader back in the Bellator days, Davis twice. Luke, do you have much interest in this? I mean, I'll give it a whirl if I can access it.

what do you think them finally crowning a real heavyweight champion and having someone like Nemcoff, who's a good-ass fighter at age 33 means? Nemcov has figured it out. He's like, why am I going to fight Cory Anderson, who's real tough. I mean, obviously he did and he won,

but I'm saying, you know, it's a tough fight when I could just go up to heavyweight and fight the diggerty dogs of MMA. You know what I mean? Like, why even bother with that bullshit? And I think he's going to have great success here. And also to the point you raised BC,

PFL kind of ironing out their division. visions, putting some champions there, letting people know who the contenders are, who matters, and then, you know, creating cards in ways that are in keeping with those visions. It's just so important. So I love this opportunity for Nemcoff. You know, Fahara's dangerous. A big puncher, obviously. If Nemcov's not careful, you know, MMA and so anything can happen. But I think the guy has set himself up to have a nice little run here in PFL. And I don't know about the Francis and Ghanu fight because I don't, it's a tough fight for Francis, to be honest with you.

I mean, you could pick Francis over Nemcove if you want, and I wouldn't quarrel with it, but that's not a sharp fighter. Like, he's a good fighter he'd have to beat there, and he's got really not much of a name, but, you know, a different problem for a different time. This is a totally reasonable and frankly worthwhile fight for a PFL to make. If Nemcoff beats Faheda in PFL waits for the current deal to expire

and then offers Francis decent money, I'm down for Francis Nemcloth. Like, let's go. Oh, I would take it. I just don't know if Francis would take it. But I don't know what he wants, you know. All right. In that co-main event, the inaugural PFL women's featherweight championship will be on the line as 40-year-old legend Chris Cyborg enters as a monster favorite minus 920.

According to Draft Kings against Sarah Collins, who is plus 550. Sarah Collins is a Australia, 35. year old Australian who in MMA is 6 and 0 as a pro this has been through Bellator and now PFL she's beaten names like Leah McCourt, Sheneid Kavanaugh Pam Sorensen, we have

sound here of Cyborg talking about her incredible legacy. I'm just happy she got a fight here, let's go. How much longer do you want to do this and is there things that you still have left to achieve? Because as I said, you've pretty much almost done it all like all. So this is my legacy

to start when I fought Pacheco last year. I'm going to fight now, start a calling. I have my last fight, my contract, my contract for PFL next year. This is going to be my final fight in the MMA. I'm going to complete it to one in one year in the sport. And probably I'm going to do some boxing fight next year. And I will train hard for, can have the opportunity to fight for one title in boxing. But last year, it's going to be last year, the Chris Cyborg.

And so because this is the next one, it's a special. fight because I know having too many moments step in the cage. So for me, every moment to the scamp, every moment in my next fight, I'm going to put more for the training hard because I know it's going to, it's getting short. Are you almost excited for to kind of wrap things up or do you get a little bit nostalgic and sad that it's coming to an end? I think I'm a wedding for another chapter in my life, but I have a fire in my heart. I can go forever, but I think you have to be smart. I think I work really hard for the whole way, and I have some fire to burn for sure.

You know, I love what I do, but I have some different goals too, and I have to see the time frame and like family, like I wanted back to the school and be a vet. So I have a lot of things. I want folks, and I think for you do something great, you have to be able to give your 100%. So if I can not give my 100%, better, let others to do. A legend right there. And I'm not talking about Danny Segerha, friend of the program, a true legend in Cyborg, veterinarian, Luke.

I hope she doesn't be putting down these animals left and right, like she does her opponents right there. Just uppercutting your Labrador. Yeah, Luke, this is a 100. I'm going to send her to your house. house, then just have her wrecked shop on those animals. Reggie, stay away from cyborg. This is a 145 bout, Luke.

She mentioned she has one more fight in MMA. Could that come against? Hey, let's see your cat's butthole. Could that come against the 125, Queen Dakota, Dichiva? If BFL really wants to make Dichiva a star? Or is that too much weight? That's too much.

That might be too much. Cyborg is certainly long in the tooth. I'm not saying you couldn't do it. It's a little on the risky side. but I don't think that's the right one. Just give her other people she can just crush, you know. I mean, she's wanted big boxing matches. She couldn't get it that likes of Katie Taylor.

She's wanted to fight for PFL and she's had just one fight. So good for her to get this opportunity and come back on Saturday. Long Island, Luke, you fired up for Australia, Sarah Collins, or you have no idea who that is. Be honest. I have no idea who that is. Also, Isaac Thompson, who's fighting Joe Anderson Brito, also Australian. So just for this. All right.

Let's go to topic number five. I have got to tell you. I am so damn fired up for this January 31st. I believe it's a DeZone paper view. It's a Turkey Al-Sheek ring card. And it is a fantastic matchup as Teo Fimo Lopez Jr. will defend his 140-pound title against three division champion, Shakur Stevenson, who's moving up to 140.

They hold a press conference inside New York's Madison Square Garden, where the fight will take place at the end of January to promote this showdown. Luke let's talk about this for fans who go enough boxing on this show already this is a great ass fight in your opinion what's on the line between these two and what realistically can the winner say about what it would mean to beat the other one here

in this matchup between two young American stars you see I don't rare I don't often do this but I'm going to take my uno reverse card imaginary uno reverse card I'm going to show it to you And I'm going to ask you to tell us because I think you're much better situated to explain. I mean, I'll weigh in it after you do, obviously. But please answer that question for us and give us that patented B.C. Nogatuck enthusiasm. Wow.

Thank you for that setup right here. Look, this is one of the best fights you can make in the entire sport. These two are part of the extended four princes, five fighters, young American names that we've, you know, had nauseam talked about, the Haney's tanks, Ryan Garcia's, and these two, who all unfortunately have not truly panned out and have not fought each other in the type of round robin style that we were hoping to recreate the four kings of the 1980s. But what you have right here is arguably two top 10 pound for pound fighters at the peak of their physical primes. Look, Shakur Stevenson has had a rough stretch, some of itself induced in recent fights from his

fallout to top rank to the multiple boring of fights. where he fought with an injured hand, people walking out of his own hometown arena in Newark. But when he stepped in there against Williams, a paid a last fight in a fight that really could have been for the ring championship at lightweight, only it wasn't officially one versus two because Kishon Davis at that time held a higher ranking.

I think he proved to everyone what I've been trying to say forever, that could he shit the bed and have a boring fight randomly? Yes, but we're looking at a future pound-for-pound king right here. And even though he originally won his titles in smaller weight classes, he's much bigger and taller than people realize insanely skilled and I love that he's moving up to a fourth division and he wants the ring champion right there and Teo Fimo Lopez who won that distinction when he defeated Josh Taylor a few years back and if you recall it was at a time when we wondered if Teo Fimo had lost his mind and his ability. Remember those kind of sketchy decision wins he had where he even said to himself in the ring do I still got it? He still had it against Josh Taylor. He still had. added against Lomachenko. He can dial it up when he needs to. And this matchup skill for skill is one of the best things you can do in all of American boxing. And for some of the criticism we've given at times to getting a lot of Versace Reno on the air or what Turkey's doing,

the fact that he's making this fight and putting it in Madison Square Garden in the big room, that's everything I want as a boxing fan right there. I need to be at this fight as a journalist and fan to see it. And I think everyone needs to realize that this is as good as it's going to get skill-wise. The ability of the South Paul Stevenson as a counterpuncher, as a slick boxer who proved against Williams-Zepeda that he can stand in there and fight and almost brawl if he really needs to against a pressure fighter now having an entirely new matchup

against the athletic, unorthodox style of Tamo Fimo Lopez. The early odds on this fight, by the way, are minus 350 in favor of Stephen. plus 250 for Teo Fimo, even though Stevenson is moving up in wait. Can we show the face off here from what we saw at MSG? Luke Thomas, I got to say as we load this up, hello? It has audio so I can play it, but you're not going to be able to. Oh, please. Let's just see it real quick, I guess.

Let's see it. Luke, I would say my biggest takeaway there is that even though Teo Fimo is obviously the naturally bigger fighter, they, Shakur don't look small there. Shakur looks like the bigger fighter in this matchup. He's the more skilled fighter. I want to get your reaction to those odds I mentioned, minus 350 in favor of Shikour. core and what do you love about this fight um first of all the four princes or whatever you want to call them i feel like teo you know chris algeri has kind of nailed it he's up he's down and when he's up

he's electric and when he's down it's baffling you know um but he's the one that's tried to get the most smoke i feel like yeah you know like going after lomachenko and now this one and certainly that's not the complete list but it just seems to me like he's a little bit more ready for Plus, he didn't shit the bed at that Times Square event either. He actually looked pretty good, all things being what they are. To me, Shakur is the best technician, certainly in the lower weight classes, in the sport. Teo, I think is a better athlete, BC, and a little bit more of a risk taker and a little bit more of, maybe this is not the right way to describe it, but to me, it seems like a little bit more of a creative athletic type.

Bigger puncher, too. Bigger puncher, yeah, good puncher, exactly. him, which Shakur is not. And I feel like Shakur knows how to box better than him, but I just don't know what he's going to do with the unpredictability and the physicality that a guy like that can present. And again, he'll take risks to BC. It's a hell of a style clash.

It is, it is one of the most, as you indicated, important fights and big fights you can make in boxing, but I would honestly say, when I say fun, I don't mean it's going to be Rockham-Sacham, but fun in terms of like the public. and how they solve that for each other is going to be remarkable to watch. And it's going to be in New York City. It was from there, as you indicated, Shakur's across the river in Newark.

Like, dude, there's not much to dislike about that fight. Not much to dislike about it. And guys in their primes fighting each other. I mean, the winner is going to get catapulted toward that top five of the pound for pound. And this has been a stretch in which guys like Usik Inouye and Crawford and Canelo before his falling off. have dominated the pound for pound for the last few years. So this is about the new blood getting their opportunities.

Finally, Shakur could not get the opportunities he wanted. That's why I kept moving up in Wade. You never got Loma. He never got these type of huge fights. He's got it here. This is daring to be great. And it was a little bit weird, by the way, the back and forth at this press conference. A lot of that is because Teo was playing mind games.

But at some point, it got a little salty and spicy. Spicy enough. We had a call in Cuervo for a little bit. shots fire. Let's take a little listen in to what we saw there yesterday. You had opportunities to be the best. Why are we talking about anybody else? You had the opportunity to be the best at 135.

Okay. You ain't tend to do that. How? Because you got brothers. My brothers. Hold on. Let's understand what you're saying. Kishon had one fight where he got the belt, right?

Right? at 35 yes okay after that fight he had but you get what I'm saying how long do he had a belt for no you're saying that I'm not fighting the best I will fight anybody but I'm just saying but not your brothers no I'm not fighting somebody I came up with and this is somebody I've really been with like on some real trenches me and this person I'm not they know money in the world is going to make me do that all right so like let's say that was I will fight you let's say that was the case and you the guy you I ain't going to see no unifications at 40 if he tries to take mine because he buddy

with... Ain't you going to beat me? What I'm saying? Ain't you going to beat me? That's what we're saying. If you're going to beat me, what do? I know what I'm going to do.

I know what I'm going to do. So you're going to erase my name. I know what I'm going to do. Basically what I'm trying to let you know is that boxing ain't going to allow it. But how boxing not going to allow it? It won't. How?

Because now you're facing me. Oh, shit. I'm so scared. T.O. I'm frightened. I'm scared for my life. I'm facing you. That shit don't move me, bro.

I can't wait to see you. I've been waiting on this. I don't know how you don't understand. I've been waiting on this moment forever. Like, it's been years and years for this moment right here. You gave me the opportunity. I appreciate you for that. But shit comes with it.

Facts. Yeah, I expected Shakur to be the favorite. Not by maybe this widely against someone like Teo, but what did you make of the Mr. Versace podcast? has set right there look liberace's gained weight uh just an absolutely fantastic matchup obviously tayo was trying to clown uh shikor for not fighting kishan davis because of their friendly background there so that's what they were building off of they had some weird back and forth i'm sure we'll show up on have you seen this shit on monday but an absolutely uh fantastic fight

And by the way, this shots fired was brought to you by Cuervo. Now is a good time to enjoy the tequila that invented tequila. I do have one more quick clip I want to show. Here's Shakur talking about the weaknesses he sees in Teo in this match. I've seen a lot of weaknesses in his game too. And something that he said earlier, he said, Tio never lost to South Pole. Well, I never lost so orthodox. So it ain't no different, but I can't wait.

The difference is you never fought no elite fighter. Okay, I don't think y'all did Oh, so you got to show it, baby I don't think y'all did either It's not on my son I ain't see Limachango throw no punches You've never been on a big stage like this I didn't see Limachango throw punches

You never been on a big stage like this I didn't see limachango throw punches Because we froze on Okay, you're gonna see We're gonna freeze you too You better not You better not throw the towel in Come on man

You're out of your mind Okay My son, my son for without no air. My son fought without no air against comboses. You can't fight for your son. You can't fight for your son. You can't fight for your son. I bet you you're going to quit. Yeah, okay. You're going to see. All right. Yeah, wow. Back and forth stuff. Good shit right there. Can't wait for that. January 31st at MSG. Kind of reminds me almost of Oscar Dela Hoy against Pernel Whitaker. It's got some of

those vibes, Luke, it's going to be a high skill event, good shit all the way. Luke, those are our five topics. What didn't make the cut, though, was that apparently Jamal Hill tried to once smash Yawanna and then we had some weirdness. Do you have any thoughts on that or we're going to just going to move on? Yeah, I mean, Hill did threaten to KO Yowana if she messes with his girl. Yeah, but did you see the dude who recorded the video? The more I looked into this, the more I just kind of wanted to not care about this at all, but no, what was the...

The guy who was there, the one who recorded the video, was like a UFC superfan, he was like, you know, I didn't see everything. He was very clear. He was like, I did not see everything. He goes, but to the extent I saw anything, it looked like, and he was, you know, he was very careful with his language. He goes, it looked like Yawanna might have been the instigator. And then, because if you watched Jamal's video, I didn't watch the whole thing, I got through like 18 minutes of it. It's like 45 minutes. DMs, Luke. He was showing a little about what it's like when champions try to He was in it to win it. I mean, there's no denying. He was in it to win it. I actually got respect for that part of it. Yeah. But what I'm saying is like he the whole video is him being like I genuinely have no fucking idea what was wrong. Like I don't like cannot put it together. So I don't know like I know people are down on Jamal but the evidence does not show me that he's the problem here necessarily. Although don't with the exception of don't threaten to. male women that tends to be a good idea was absolutely gross and disgusting and i am glad though

that hill was able to i guess at least soften the blow of what we initially thought when that video came out you know now we're under the instead of being like oh my god this guy's a monster now we're just like yeah they're both crazy assholes let's yeah bc listen when when yawanna and j check tried to fight me on the new york city subways you were there you watched it and was calling me slurs i just kept it moving you know what i'm saying and there was no there was no problem Luke, tough question to ask, but... Here we go. Do you think any former champions in UFC have smashed that we just don't know about?

Okay, I don't care. Like beyond Mandy and Nina. Like, I'm not being like... Mathematically, the answer has to be yes, but I want to be as clear as possible. I'd rather eat a bullet than talk another five seconds about this. Okay, wow. Can we erase this from the history of our show, please? Everything that just happened.

And let's go to our final segments when the email address is offered to you each week, The Fan, Morning Kombat at gmail.com, to send in your fan subs of which we have none this week, or at least none that have been deemed either funny or all you 9-11 fans. Sorry, we cannot serve you this week. But it's like, yeah, we have, we have 50 entrants this week. Here's the problem. 47 of them are about 9-11. You know, it's like, I don't think we can do that.

There actually are a disgusting amount of 9-11 content sent into us at that email address, along with people's packages. Mikey's on the other end of it. But we do offer you an opportunity with Dead Wrong to air out your grievances of what we didn't get right. So let's hear it. This one's called Dead Wrong. All right. We have male viewers, and William is one of them. He says, howdy, guys?

it's Will from Sydney here again. One for the dead wrong at one hour and four minutes. BC mentions that Suhudo out slugged Benavides early in his career. Well, he's dead wrong because Suhudo was actually on the losing end. You're right of a decision that night that was 2016. I don't blame Brian since consensus is that it's not the greatest decision. Always love the show, gentlemen. I don't even remember saying that Suhudo won it.

But if I did, I was obviously wrong. I know Benavita's won that. fight. Very good fight, Luke. Very good fight. You remember that? Very good fight. Yes, indeed. Indeed. All right. Let's go to our second and final one. Well, it's a quick stop this week. Nate says, sup, my donk brothers. At 44 minutes and 11 seconds of Monday show, the obviously top shelf Luke Thomas said Jed Mishu smells like, quote, Mad Dog 50-50 and butt sweat. The correct name of the liquid hangover juice, Jed, smells like it's Mad Dog 2020, probably because you always regret drinking it in hindsight.

As punishment for this grievous error, Luke should have to drink MD 2020 on the next pregame preview so he can reconnect with his own dirtbag teenage years. Here's to poor life choices. It's Nate. Thank you, Nate. Generally, I'm unsure that if I drank that, would I automatically get diabetes? Probably, right? Wow.

Wow. We have a fantastic sponsorship with Cuervo. So that's all we will be drinking during pregame preview. That's right. You know, I'd always be down for like an old school room service diaries. Remember that time we got 40s, Luke? Those were great times, right? In Newark, we got 40s.

That was a good day. No, not Newark. Sorry. Not Newark. Jersey City. We got 40s. Oh, right. What am I saying?

Yes. You're so right. Yeah. Yeah. Wild times in the life of MK. Morningcombat at gmail.com to let your voice be heard. A reminder that this episode of Morning. has been brought to you by draft kings draft kings the crown is yours you can buy our merch folks morning

combat dot shop the december exclusives will not be here forever so why don't you pick up a masters of the universe inspired look from average joe art get it in t-shirts mix and match the colors get a signed poster for your wall hey frame that shit go to morning combat dot shop plenty of evergreen items available. You may have missed the expedited shipping to guarantee it for the holidays, but if you've got Kwanza celebrators in your life, buy it for the new year, just buy it. Morning Combat. Dot shop.

Long Island Luke, one more time, please, sir, along with the final fight night card in ESP and UFC history that you will be live streaming on the main card minute, tell the people about this prop quiz that's about to hit, right? So in roughly 32 minutes, we got Oscar Willis taken on Brett Okamoto, great matchup. Also, just want to mention Menel Cop, the only fighter yet to weigh in. And I believe he only has a few minutes. I think in Vegas, they only do an hour for the way ends, if I'm not mistaken. So he's getting down to the skin of his teeth here.

If this fight gets canceled for like a fifth time, it's going to be wild. But yes, I'll be doing a full card watch along for tomorrow 7 p.m. Eastern. Tune in for that. Thank you. Long Island, would you say Brett Okamoto is the classiest individual that has centered your program? Yeah, I'm running my brain right now of all the other gerbils on it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, respect to A.

No, I'll put, I'll put out AB number one. What are the current pound for pound rankings right now? Respect to Jose Young's the champion, but what does it look like at the moment? You're the number one contender, B.C. That's UFC style, right? No matter how badly you lose the title, you get to stay number one. I will say a repeating person, not in this episode, but the other episode we recorded moved up in the ranking.

So there's a lot of changing. Well, I'll release a new ranking at the end of the year. Luke, I'm sad that LTE, I'm sad that I've become the hoist Gracie of, you know, many of a prop quiz history. You know, there was a time that I was oddly dominant. And then that time came to a close, you know. That's what it is.

You know, all right, great. What are you doing this weekend? I will be on CBS Sports HQ after the fights tomorrow night. I got to finish my Christmas shopping for my lovely wife. That's about it, Luke, you know, yourself? Kids parties. Yeah. Kids parties all the time?

Just kids parties. All, look at me, all the fucking time. Do you have officially COVID or AIDS? No, I took a test this morning. These new tests, by the way, I was telling our producer this. Oh, cop made weight, 126. Jesus Christ. I was telling our producers this, because I've been sick all weekend.

I was like, what the fuck is wrong with me? And you can get these, I didn't know this. You can get these tests now. They tell, it's like COVID and then flu type A and flu type B all in one. And it all came up negative. I took two of them. They all came up negative. So I guess I just have AIDS.

I don't know. I don't really understand other than full blown AIDS. I don't know what it is. All right. Well, if you die over the weekend, Luke will have a big announcement on Monday morning. Great. Great. Yeah, indeed.

Indeed. Brian Combat, the new show. Get ready. Big announcement Monday morning, folks, to kick off the show. Hey, we're back in the studio Monday, right? We're back. We are back in studio Monday morning. That's right. I believe Pablo Torre and the Dan Lebitard show had the studio this week, so we were unable to. Did you see he had Method Man in there, too? Method Man was sitting in LTC. Yeah. Also, did you guys see Pablo and Nick Wright go after each other? Yes, yes.

Let me ask a question about that. Maybe you don't understand it. Are they beefing for real? I can't tell, but it's heat and all. almost as much as Erica versus Candice right now, Luke. Less crazy than that. Less crazy than that. Yeah, yeah, that's wild. L.T., anything else you want to tell the people

about where they can stick it? You know what I mean? Don't pursue a comedy career with a guitar where you ask people to ejaculate early. Yes, and whatever dreams you have, don't chase them. Yeah, don't do that. I didn't say be average. I just said be smart about your decisions.

That's different. For Long Island Luke and Luke Thomas, this has been Brian Campbell. This is morning combat. Thank you. Enjoy the fights this weekend, whether it's PFL, UFC, whatever you got going on. Take care of yourself as well. It's the cold as balls outside, but we can get through this, okay? You know, I really can't stay, but, you know, baby, it's all right, enough for that shit.

The show's over. That's it. We're out. This is an I-heart podcast, guaranteed human.