MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - UFC Oklahoma City Results: DDP Beats Usman | Conor McGregor ACL Injury Confirmed | RAF 11

Episode Date: July 20, 2026

LT and Chuck are in the house to recap all things combat sports this past weekend. The guys talk about Dricus Du Plessis' dominate win over Kamaru Usman and what's next for both guys before recapping the rest of the card. Next, they'll touch on Johnny Eblen's victory in the rematch over Impa Kasanganay as well as the rest of the PFL Austin card. Conor McGregor & Dana White both confirmed that Conor injured his ACL and the guys will predict what this means for his future and the division moving forward. Lastly, they'll touch on the emotional return of Ben Askren and everything else that went down at RAF 11 in Milwaukee.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Revely Rep. Look at us now. Oh, ha. That's what 11 a. I'm back. Oh, there is. You fit in seamlessly in this weird MK environment. Do you want a margarita?

We're going to do it. Two, three, two weeks. It's it. You know, I wonder how many fighters and or luminaries in the fight game, Chuck, are spending today and morning as a consequence of Andrew Tate and his brother being arrested. Probably probably a significant amount.

You know what I mean? It's one of those things where, wow. Welcome to everyone. The over under is 0.5. And I'm going under. Yeah, take that under. Hello, everyone. Welcome to Morning Combat. It is the 20th.

My God, the year is flying by the 20th of July, 26. My name is Luke Thomas. I am merely one half of your hosting duo. I joined you in the capital of us. That was with me of this right here in Washington, D.C., joined by the ice man himself did did the ice man go to see the odyssey over the weekend no man i haven't seen me i heard it's a three hour film though right so like three hours it's a little bit of a commitment

and uh i didn't have the time this week and i do intend to see it how about you you want to see that you you like that kind of film right uh i do but i don't like for three hours brother you got you got to be doing something special for that you know he had an intermission in there for that you know what is this lawrence of arabia every two weeks a movie comes out what are we doing here. This is insane. I do want to see it, but I, Jesus Christ, three hours in the movie theater and a lot, you know? Yeah, and I mean, and these days you can wait and like two weeks later, you can watch it at home anyway. So I may take that route. We'll see, but I would like to see it, yes. People are like, oh, you got to see it in IMAX. I'm like, it turns out I don't actually.

Yeah. All right. Welcome to the show today. We have a lot to get to. So we're just coming off the heels of UFC, Oklahoma City. A lot to unpack there. Don't forget about PFC. Johnny Eblen getting a big win to set up one of the bigger grudge matches, frankly in PFL history. We'll talk about that. Connor McGregor gave us a bit of a health update. We have some other kind of updates related to folks in the fight game and a whole lot more. So thumbs up on the video if you haven't already. Hit subscribe if you haven't already.

And of course, you can follow us on all the various socials, which you can see below on the screen. Don't forget you can become a member of the channel with emojis and badges and more to come. It's a great way to support the channel. And let's see. We also have merch, Morning Combat. dot shop. So for the month of July, we're releasing all T-shirt designs. Pardon me. 20% off for those up until the midnight stroke of midnight, July 31st, or you can get 50% off of all posters. All these ones are available to you. And it should also be noted, of course, that when we do fan subs or dead wrong,

you can email the show Morning Combat. Excuse me. Morningcombat at gmail.com. Best fan sub gets a free signed poster at the end of every month. Let's bring in the third member here of the show. He's present. Is he mentally present? That's a very different question. It's Long Island Luke. What's up, buddy?

I'm always mentally present. What's that supposed to mean? Guys, UFC OKC, it came and went. UF cock, excuse me, came and went. You know, it was a good card. You know, I got to eat some crow on Tommy McMillan. You know, I'm not going to say he looked good, but damn, that guy's got an output. And he put it on an album.

Wait, did you pick against him? yeah okay i can see why you would do that i mean come on yeah i mean he looks like a donk and i just thought he was going to fight like a don't and you know he did eat that big knee at one point i was like oh shit he's rock but you know alberto montez just you know a little too uh i don't want to say short but he was a little Tommy was just way too long he couldn't get in range you know there was a lot going on there but i enjoyed the card number the world's toughest juggalo one over the weekend that's a perfect way to describe it yeah he he did you know what we'll talk about this later he actually

I thought showed a couple of measures of genuine improvement so you know in fairness to him yeah it was actually there was something to be said for that however just based on his aesthetic in the way he talks I'm like yeah yeah and not everybody's going to make that handshake deal before the fight and say like hey no shooting no no take towns let's just stand and bang right so that's not going to work with everyone uh I'm trying to remember if there's anything else I should have gotten to I think that is just about it so without further ado Chuck let's get this party started. Topic number one here, where else would we start the main event of Oklahoma City?

Drickus Duplice, basically not quite, but basically runs the table on Kamaru Usman. I mean, not only did he win 50-45 and then 49-46 on two of the judge's scorecards. Could have been 50-45 the whole way. Here you can see them. Very funny to me that round five was the one that folks went with. I actually thought, yes, you know what? That one is reasonable. If you're going to give Camaro a round, that one's probably got the strongest claim to it. Camaro didn't seem to understand how the scores could be so lopsided, which only tells you how badly he got his shit rocked in that fight. But let's sort of talk about what the actual result means, Chuck. So DDP definitely just beat up Camaro, and he did it for the vast majority of that fight,

although I give Camarro credit for two things, one, hanging on, and two, a bit of a fifth round surge that he was able to initiate. Nevertheless, it was too little too late. So in being overmatched, Chuck, is the story that DDP looks much improved and frankly ready for another title run, or that Ustman has just washed and this doesn't tell us much? Yeah, I've seen people kind of split on this one, but I would say that I thought it was like a DDP. I wouldn't say a masterclass, but it was certainly an evolution to something. And because it was a rebound to, you know, his worst fight. One of his worst beatings we've seen, and obviously he loses his title, you never know in what form you're going to see a guy return after something like that. It can be a mental factor

going into it. I thought he looked very sharp. And we've always known him to be a cerebral fighter, but to kind of rein it in the way he did, you know, we've seen him in fights like against Tavares and who was the other than Derek Brunson. Remember those earlier fights? Like he would kind of just lose the shit at some point and start running downhill like a toddler or like a drunk toddler and just wing punches very awkward momentum swing um looks like he's off balance through these steps we saw we didn't see any of that this was a guy who was very measured and controlled and he was able to kind of control the distance i thought his uh you know that that left high kick was landing he was mixing that up he was keeping the range um i just thought like if anything

it was like the power of restraint that we saw from this ddp and i was like you know what this was the smartest fight he could do now he didn't put ozman away he might have done that had he fought the other way if he just kind of like once he got him rocked he just kind of went in there um and he rocked ozman i think like six times i don't know how many like officially but it felt like six times that ozman's knees buckled and it looked like he might be done you know if he rushes in there and he gets crazy something crazy might have happened to him and i felt like maybe there was an air of caution there but at the same time he didn't need to do that i i think he was going for the night like he had him rocked all those times he was trying to end that

fight, but he was trying to do it in a way that was calculated. And to me, that's kind of what's been missing from his game. So I thought that this was probably the best version I've seen of DDP so far. I would say that in evaluating this win, well, well, then let's hold on a little. Before I go back to it, I agree with the broad strokes of what you're saying for sure. However, what about the idea of how Kumaru looked? I mean, he survived. he you know he hung on again that fifth round surge is very commendable it looked to me like he was

obviously also you know just how much bigger ddp looked was like big time quite eye-opening you know so what do you make of the state of kamaru like how how much of that argument is not again we know he's not at his best how much of that should we factor into this though well let's put it this way he took up his gloves right like he looked like he took off his gloves so i just assumed he was retiring after that because you're sort of like well you're 39 you've been a champion you're now you went up weight class you're trying these things it didn't work and it made complete sense to me for this to be the case so when he was you know defined of the scorecards and then said that you know wherever the best opportunities are

for me that's where i'm going to go whether it's 170 185 i was a little confused and that's when you know when you're got you're like you know what man i just didn't really feel like he was you know he's just not the same guy in there and obviously he's fighting a much bigger fighter um who's no slouch right like he's going against a guy who was just champion recently so it's it's tough you're going to be negated in certain ways but to get rocked that many times man it's just not a good sign and i i never really felt like until that late in that fifth round when it was kind of desperation time you're throwing caution to the win i didn't really feel like he had any big momentum surges i mean i know people were pointing out the third round being his best but that was only because he was getting

it was so one-sided through one and two to see any competitiveness at him at all in that third round seemed like a visual that we were waiting on, but really it wasn't that close. And so his biggest moment came in the fifth round. I give him those kudos for having that kind of heart and, you know, competitiveness. But this did not look like the Usman. Man, there was a time, Luke, when I was like, I was the one who was kind of trumpeting him in a GSP space where you're like, he defended like five times. And I'm like, when do we start talking about Usman as a guy who could potentially be that,

you know, welterweight, you know, kingpin at some point? and obviously the Leon Edwards thing sent him in a different trajectory, and it's not going to get better at this point, man. So I wouldn't mind seeing him hang up. I feel like we have this conversation a lot, but that did not look like an Usman that's going to do anything in the belt run, right? Like, I'm not sure what's left for him in the sport. Yeah, I was kind of hoping he would retire after this one,

especially because, like, that fight could have, I mean, could that fight have been stopped early? I suppose it could have, although that's a little bit much. But the point I guess I'm trying to make is if you're going to let a fight go that long where a guy's getting beat up that badly, at that stage of their career, you're doing it when you're like, hey, this is a, you know, arguable number one contenders fight. I mean, that's somewhat debatable, obviously, but, you know, it's something approximating that. And if Uzman wins, you're like, hey, this, you know, yes, this was a bad loss.

Or sorry, this is a bad beating, but all's well, that ends well, because we're doing, it in search of a very particular kind of hard to reach opportunity. But now that that's lost, you know, he's just going to go back to welterweight and then lose there again. Like I don't understand what the plan is beyond this one. I also understand guys not wanting to retire necessarily on the night that they lose too, you know, but I think for me, it's time for him to go. Yeah. Which I say not as a, you know, get the hell out of here, but more of a save what's left of your brain health for a different stage of your life is the kind of the way that I would with this. Does it make it like real quick? Does it make you a little bit like, okay,

kind of underline the absurdity, right, of saying like, Luzman should cut the line and get that 170 pound title check. Because remember, this was a point of contention before he decided to leap up and just make the middleweight fight, right? He thought he was going to be fighting for the welterweight title again. And I mean, to me, this underscores why that shouldn't have happened. I mean, to me, this was like what the fear was was he's just not in the same form. And he hadn't deserved, hadn't really fought a lot. And it almost seems like that walking Buckley victory he had last summer was the outlier in his trajectory here.

That and, you know, like the way in which he was pitching the idea that he should get a title shot against Islam. He was like, oh, he's pound for pound number one. And I used to be pound for pound number one. It's like, what is that argument? Like, oh, here's our valedictorian of the PhD program in astrophysics at M.I. IT. I was I was, I was, uh, I was valedictorian of my fifth grade class. Like, these are not equivalent things at all. I still hold that in my regard though for you, man. Yes, yes, indeed. But anyway, for Usman, um, I just feel like, you know, when looking at the

rest of what is available to you, you need to, like, this is the problem ultimately where we always go. And I really want to turn this conversation back to DDP, but one final point on Usman, if I may, which is that like, Chuck, you know this. What these guys will do at this stage of their career, like late 30s where the end is pretty near, but is not necessarily imminent. What they'll do is they'll look around and say,

hey, are there some big wins I could potentially get? And then with that, some big purses, right? How much, how much left could I wring the sponge out and get water? And it's a very hard argument to dissuade them from, because in general, like unless you're like completely mega washed, they usually are able to get at least one, sometimes two more wins in scenarios like that. And the whatever money comes with it as a consequence,

I'll say they have a pretty good deal, relatively speaking. So how do you talk someone out of that? Whereas what I would argue is, yes, you could do this, but A, you're probably going to lose a bunch on the way too. And your brain is already very, very vulnerable from, you know, decades of doing this, now is a good time to preserve what is left. But they don't, they cannot think of themselves as 55. They can only think of themselves as 35 or 39 in this particular case. They can't. So how do you, how do you dissuade someone who sees themselves as still viable or at a

bare minimum opportunity is still viable? And they're not counting what the next stage of their life is going to require of them. I don't know how you do that. It's very, very, very, They have to do that on their own. Yeah, in fact, I think like in Usman's case, and we've seen this a lot of times, when you're 39, you're actually looking yourself at like you're 34. You know, he's still seeing himself with the guy who's knocking out Mosvadole, you know, like, and he, and to be fair, like, you can say like, oh, he's a tremendous shape, you know, for 39 years old. And, you know, he gives the appearance, right? And, you know, the faculties are very much still there. And this is a guy who, you know, has a podcast and could have a, you know, a career in talking.

talking about the game, analyzing the game. Like, he's got those capabilities. I think at some point that should, it should register. And he's got, you know, he has good people around him too. You know, like I just, you know, his team in Colorado and, you know, other coaches that he's had. I think that that's a conversation they should be having at some point because this is a guy who has, he can remain in the fight game in some way. But again, like he was a collegiate wrestler, right?

Like when you've competed your whole life, I think the hardest thing. it's got to be when you're saying like this is the end it's got to be the hardest thing to admit and dude i feel like we're on a loop when we talk about this because we have we have seen so many guys at this juncture of their career hit it and i i can guarantee usman we'll fight again it's just um i'm not sure like in terms of the way that we view him like in terms of this kind of relevant player to the division i think those days are over i just and if he's kind of harboring that that's the letdown that he's going to have pounded into him and do we need to see that you know what I mean? I definitely don't. Now, returning to the DDP side, I will tell you what I found

impressive about this particular performance from him was that he did something that was a very tightrope-esque kind of act, namely, or thread the needle, whatever the appropriate metaphor is. He had to constrain the wildness that doesn't necessarily cost him in fights. You know, the wildness didn't cost him, for example, against Chimae. That wasn't really the truth. I mean, there was individual instances where it didn't help, but that's not really the story. But it does have to, what it ends up doing, Chuck is when he's wild like that, he expends a lot of unnecessary energy.

He can throw himself off balance. You know, he has to work out of bad positions sometimes, you know, that kind of a thing. He, to me, dialed all of that back, but a huge amount of it anyway. But the thing that really lifted this performance for me is not just that he did that where he made himself, you know, oh, he offensively muted himself. No, like he did big damage in this fight. He hurt Usman quite a bit. And more to the point, while being restrained, it looked to me like he still fought with the same kind of, you know, let's hustle through this attitude. He still competed with like visible fire in his belly. It was still him. Right. Like he, he, he, he, like DDP always has this like SWAT team energy. You know what I mean? Yep. And he still had that while committing to less useful offensive scenarios.

That's a very difficult thing to do. And you can make the criticism, Chuck, okay, well, by doing that, DDP didn't get the finish. All right, fair enough. Maybe if he was a little bit more on the gas, he could have gotten that. But for starters, as we indicated, Kumaru's like very, very tough. and more to that point, this kind of like careful,

intelligent restraint as targeted for usefulness versus not usefulness, I only think can serve his interest. Like, did we get an answer about whether he could defend the takedown against Chamey. I don't think we really did.

You know, I mean, he looked better with the takedown defense. Camaro went 0 for 7. But Camaro can't move like Chimaios. I don't know how much of an answer we really got. But I will say, Chuck, his ability to be like, let's just do less useful things.

and then really focus on that while still being a go-getter and like try to lead the charge I thought was very, very impressive. Yeah, and a dude with a lesser chin might go down. I mean, I felt like that's where the one impressive thing with Usman, like there's a few times he buckles and you just see him

respond, kind of gather, regather himself and go back at him. So in a strange way he had him finished a couple of times he just didn't get the finish, you know, it was just one of those things. I agree with you wholeheartedly. If he had fought like, and again, like he's conserving kind of energy and he's

kind of being more methodical. If he fights if he tires himself out right, let's say like he just kind of fights the way he normally does third round. He starts to wear down as he did in this fifth. Maybe you see that fifth round when Usman starts having his offense earlier in that fight and maybe these things change in a meaningful way

where Usman finally kind of turns the tables because that's one thing he did have in this fight. Usman was like his cardio was there. It seemed like he still had it in him to kind of to come at him fifth round. Like that's just imagine. that you know duplice is fighting his his normal way that was the thing he used to do it was almost like an activation you'd take a big punch and like he would just start coming forward right into

directly into traffic a lot of times get hit um or he like you said he put himself in a bad position he didn't do that so he really conserved himself through the first four rounds and i only felt like he was tiring in the fifth and if he doesn't fight that way who knows like i i just but that's why you have to factor this in that it was a very smart approach game plan and he executed brilliantly i think that if you're going to give usmong you know his flowers and this it's just that he was able to survive the scorecards you know long island how impressive was the win by ddp not merely visually but contextually i mean i think it was an impressive win i'm not going to like say wasn't a good win but i think like we have to look at it like usman did not look that great out there he looked a

little older i mean he is a welterweight coming up to middleweight like there's a few factors here where I'm like, was it even a good win? It's solid because it keeps DDP's name in the mix and he's still top five. And now we're talking, oh, should he get the next title shot? Should he get the remit, whatever? But I don't, I can't take too much away from it other than I think Camaro's, you know, whatever he wants to do if he wants to make money still great. I'm sure they'll put him against a bunch of young, hungry guys that can build a name off of him. But if he is like genuinely trying to get a title back, I don't think it's in the cards at this point. And I think I would hang it up if I'm you.

If I'm not trying to make money, I'm hanging it up. Yeah. I mean, there's always podcasting with Henry Sehudo, such that you would want to do such a thing. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, what about the division now?

So you've got Strickland champion. Imovov probably needs a title shot with Strickland. DDP is back. Chima have lost, but, you know, he's going to need some kind of a rebound. What do you do, Chuck? how do you put this the puzzle pieces together here and they've all kind of like been fighting each other you know so it's a little bit like the welterweight ranks was a few years ago in mazvado and all those guys were kind of at the top um if imovov is getting the title shot and i guess this is where we're we keep getting hung up i'm guessing he's getting the title shot next but if he gets that i can't imagine ddp versus shemaiah too can you like to me that mean i don't feel like there's an appetite for that not after the way he lost but maybe maybe i'm wrong I don't think that's what they want to see next okay minimum right well that's I just can't imagine they'd put that together

especially in a non-title type of situation I just saw long island Luke Pfeiffer he's probably like he's probably fifth on that list right so basically maybe he maybe that's who like a DDP goes against but I don't think the DDP is going to fight for a title I don't I don't know what if let's put it this way Luke if he goes in there and he smokes Usman in the first couple you know 90 seconds he just puts them away would that have been a different story would he have punched his ticket to like it you know because i don't feel like the appetite's there for the trilogy with strickland anyway so i don't know he was kind of in a no man's land i wrote about this

a little bit in the preview like it was a no man's land to go in here because i wasn't sure what his path to like a title was unless circumstantially things fell out from the original plans you know or what i presume to be the original plans yeah i don't know how that works either uh I it sounds like from a lot of different people's perspectives that they don't want to award DDP much usefulness from this win. And I recognize that the matchmaking does create for some difficulty because, yes, if you have Stricklandi Mavov, because that's the number one contender, and by the way, this would be a rematch between them as well, what do you do with DDP and Shemaya?

Do you just put them back together? But to your point, there's not much appetite for that. and, you know, like, what would that even really mean? Like, if DDP is just back to where he was before, like, oh, it's modestly improved tick down defense, but not really. Why do we waste our time with this one? So I don't really know what they're supposed to do with him. Long Island, how would you match make the top four here?

What, what, how are you going to position the puzzle pieces? All right. Well, we have to go off of a few rumors first. Rumor number one is that supposedly possibly Naserdini Mavov and Joe Pfeiffer could be headlining that Paris. card in September. So let's just say that's for the sake of the argument. Let's say that's happening. Then I think you do Strickland Chamaev too because I think there's still an appetite for that. Then that kind of leaves DDP in no man's land where you're taking like a Kyle Boe-Holio or

Brendan Allen at that point. And I don't think DDP necessarily wants to fight down. Maybe he'd just wait for the winner of Hamzat and Sean and hope that they give him the winner. But that's all in like a magical world. If Imavov gets the next fight, I'm with Chuck. I have zero interest in DDP Chimaev too. Get that away from me. So then you're still fighting down regardless. And that's why I said Joe Piper, because if Imavov's locked up now Joe Piper or DDP, that feels like a fun fight. So there's a lot you could do. It just depends on how the rest of the pieces move. I'mab may never get a shot. Like it's what we're saying here. I think the idea that he would have to fight Pfeiffer at UFC Paris is insulting as hell. That's crazy.

I could see this I could see this Didn't that sound right That almost sounded like Was something the UFC would pull in the In 20206 It's like we're just You know what here's listen

Instead of just giving this guy Tyler shot who should have got it like two fights ago Yeah Fuck it Let's just keep him on the treadmill And we'll let other You know players come into this orbit And then we'll matchmake around that

You know Kind of hope Kind of just hope that Piper does the job Of eliminating him of off I hate I mean I hate I think Long Island Luke brings up somewhat of probably great points to the thing you're addressing, Chuck.

But I hate it. I hate that idea. I really do. I still grant that it makes matchmaking difficult. But the idea that anything would happen next for Emov, of the other than a title shot seems horrible. That's true. I mean, especially,

I know that we've let the meritocracy kind of, it's just abstract at this point. But at the same time, I'm like, this dude has already done all the hurdles that you put in front of them. And like it's been kind of sort of, you know, it's been alluded to that you're next. So like for them to skip over him would would be very strange. And it's not like, you know, um, Shemayev had tenure in the division like where he was a guy who held the title for a long time. He never defended it, right?

Like so it's like for him to get the automatic bid. And I get it. I get it that he's a guy who is marketable and all that stuff. But dude, you got, it's got to be an astrodite. If they're not going to do that now, I mean, like I would, in the UFC, the history has shown the guys like, The guys like that eventually do fall before they get their title shot. So if I'm Nasda, and I'm not even taking that fight. But I mean, of course, I know there are other factors.

But that would just, like you said, it's an insult if he has to do that. With that in mind, we have a quote here from Kumaru about why he lost this fight. He writes talking about DDP. He was big. He was strong. He was rangy. So it was a little tough to get going. I took kind of a thumb punch in the eye.

early on. And that kind of blurred the vision a bit, but no excuses. I will tell you, it was funny watching people like, oh, Kamaru is just, you know, he's milking it to get some kind of reprieve in the fight. And I'm like, yeah, dude, that's what vets do. Like, here's the thing. The vet playing the refs, like, oh, ref my eye is poked and it's full of shit. Like, I'm not saying that's a, if you're not actually injured, like that's not disreputable. But at the same time, like, crafty guys are going to do that. It's the. job of the referee to stop that shit before it gets started. And on some level, they do that with, uh, I don't, not, not, maybe not the eye poker.

The ball kick. One of the two, there was like a couple of files in there. And they, in general did it. But like, you know, this is what I mean about Uspen. Uspen finding ways to hang on any port in the storm in these rounds. Yeah. All these little steps he takes, Chuck, it's the reason why it went the full distance. So that's not one or the other, but like in aggregate, it ends up being quite a bit.

Yeah. It seemed like a little bit of veteran savvy, didn't it? I mean, you could see, though, like, how are we supposed to do that? Because honestly, it's a close fist. It's a close fist. Now, you can say that he does keep his thumb out or whatever. You could see that the thumb does kind of swipe as his piss goes by, but it's a close fist.

I don't, I mean, it looked completely like incidental. It wasn't like it was something that was done deliberately. No, not at all. It just so just. But yeah, it's just if your hand is closed and I throw it to hit you and, you know, I don't hit the two knuckles, the front part that I want. want to hit, but I hit the side. Yeah.

The thong. I mean, that's just I don't know what to tell you. That's just part of the fight game. It sucks. I certainly recognize, but, you know, it is what it is. Nevertheless, um, credited, credited to, to Usman for hanging on. Yeah. But in the end, very, very, very heavily outgunned. Yeah.

The, the commentary was a little weird in this because I felt like, and I maybe it's just because they're close to Camaro, you know, like, you know what I'm saying? But like, they made him sound like, he, He really was a warrior in there. And I mean, he was, but I'm saying like, you know what I mean? They made it sound a little more like it was a very competitive fight, you know what I'm saying, than it was. Because that was a confusing part to me. It was just the commentary versus the visual.

Yeah. But they also called Tommy McBillan a superstar. Yeah, they're desperate to push the world's toughest juggalo. They really are. But I'll say this, the thing that got me with DC's commentary during the main event. And I'm not, I know some fans don't like his commentary. I'm not really that guy. Yeah.

The thing that I don't like that they do now, Chuck, have you noticed this? Is one of them will be like, wow, so-and-so's jab is really cooking tonight. And then the next one will be like, yeah, it is. Have you heard that? How often they go, yeah, he is or yeah, it is. Yeah. It is driving me fucking. Please stop doing that.

You don't need to just high-five verbally affirm everything. There's a lot of that. There's a lot of that. They get fixated. Like, last week, I mean, I forget which fight it was. They were going on about the one guy. I mean, just kind of they're fixated on the one guy and then boom, he gets knocked out.

And this always cracks me up when they, they're like, all right, we're going to, this guy looks good. We're going to fixated on him and then boom, he gets flatlined, you know? And that's happened quite a bit because they do. They tend to fixate on whatever they originally point out. The other one, too, is DC was like, if you notice, like, for example, when they were in open stands, not closed, right? But they're in open.

Yeah. South Paul Orthodox. This is a common thing you would see, which is, that Camaro will just reach for that front leg. He'll just reach out for the front leg. And then they were like, you know, DC was like, this is the difference between Chamaio. Chimai will shoot, you know, so he'll have this explosive level change and like shot into

people, you know. And then they're like, you know, Kamaru needs to shoot. I'm like, brother, I don't, I don't know if that's happening too much. And he can shoot a little bit if you'll notice. Like there's a time where he can finish off a takedown. He can run it down a little bit. But in general, he has to grab a hold of you first and then finish it. doesn't have the explosivity in his knees anymore to be able to allow that.

I'm like, I mean, I agree if Camaro could shoot that would radically up his chances of completing takedowns, but I think that ship sailed a long time ago. Yeah. That's exactly. And that's why the drama of the fight was kind of stunted at a very early juncture, because you're sort of like, what you just mentioned about his knees, it was pretty evident. And then you're like, okay, once you take that out of the equation that that's not a real threat, doesn't that like tilt it so far one way? You're like, okay, the drama just kind of blood out of this. That was a part for me anyway, because I felt like it was pretty evident that Usman, what was going to be was path to victory after that first round. It was hard to

figure out from that point. Yeah, no, absolutely. All right, but there was other fights that happened on this card. So let's talk about them. Topic number two, let's talk about the rest of this OKC card in, in Oklahoma City, excuse me, I almost it's still water. All right, co-main event. What do you want to say? Is it enough to say that Christian Leroy Duncan had just too much firepower? for an aging Jared Canineer. He had him on you know, getting blasted through all three rounds. There were times when Canineer Chuck

could grab a hold of them, slow it down at times. But overall, it just looked like CLD, first of all, was massive for this weight class. And the Canineer was just trying to play catch up basically the whole time. Yeah, I mean, I think you're 100% right. And I mean, there were those displays of athletic, and a couple of times where you just picked up

cannoneer and dumped them was just, that was pretty impressive from just like a stand a standing you know position um if anything he was trying you know he was trying to showcase a little bit on a guy that it's very difficult to showcase on because canoneer like you know if he's having his way it's probably a fight that people are booing like a lot of times this happened like where he's kind of posting you on that um you know on the fence and he's he's toiling and he's maybe trying for a take down but he's just kind of toiling with you and the times that reached that obviously like Like you could hear the crowd start to get, you know, restless.

But I felt like, Duncan, like he, he was trying some spinning stuff. He was, he was trying some, you know, some fun stuff that would might actually have a highlight finish. And I could appreciate that. But, dude, when he stayed long, like you were mentioning, he was a sniper. Like, when he was just, when he was at range, he was lighting up a cannon near every shot he wanted. So I felt like it was a good showing. You're right. He just looked massive, though, compared to Cannonoo's who has been around a long time.

was he, 42 years old, and he stood in there against anybody to see that kind of size discrepancy, it was very strange. But I thought it was a good showing in the sense, like, he wanted to put together something that would be a highlight finish. It's just, he's facing a guy who's very tough and very savvy. I, looking at these stat lines, I mean, just to understand something, Ken and Eard did get a total of five takedowns across eight attempts, which is pretty good, control time, six minutes, and 12.

I mean, how much of that was actually like in a really, dominant position where you could do much, not much. The third round, but he got to take down in every round, and he got three of them in the third round. But here's the problem, Chuck. He landed two significant strikes in round one, 10 in round two, which is better, but also not a lot. And then just three. So between two rounds, he had a total of as many significant strikes as he did take downs in the fight. You know, that's just not going to cut it. Like, we were just talking about Usman. It's like, oh, I can't can't shoot and also I'm down a weight class and also I'm old. It's like, well, how much do you

really want to handicap yourself before you go fight world class guys? Like, you know, you're, you're just making this insanely difficult. And Canineers not doing that. Middleweight is his most appropriate weight class. But I guess the thing I'm trying to say is as he gets older and then like all these other guys come up with all these youthful advantages. And again, CLD is enormous. He's a huge middleweight. Like there's just a lot of portions of your game. that don't work how much of this are you willing to give away and then say oh i can still win i don't really know the thing for me chuck is i hear can and ear talk about fighter pay all the time yeah and he tries to say he's not complaining when he obviously is and i don't blame him for it

like i'm not saying like oh he's actually complaining and fuck him like no like i think his complaints are pretty valid but i guess the point i'm trying to make is i think this is what's keeping him in the game yeah is just trying to get some more checks out of this yeah well i don't know if he ever because he was never a champion i'm not no like i mean he's one of those guys I can remember talking to old veterans who you know in this situation younger than him but like in the situation where they're in the twilight and they were having these concerns they're just like you know I had for as many fights as I've had I haven't amassed a fortune here you know um yeah it's it's if that's if that's the case that's that's a sad statement because this dude has fought

everybody hasn't he yeah i feel like he's fought everybody in that division um and he's fought a lot so yeah and he was kind of like a to see him at 42 levels whatever he's calling it like but at 42 years old, still doing it. And it was kind of an outlier on this card. Did you notice that on this particular card, like he's 42? And I'd like the, so the main event and the co-main were what they were. Like you had guys who were known, but like on the nine fights preceding it, everything beyond the opener, all the winners were 20-somethings.

This was like one of those rare showcase moments for the young talent in the UFC. So it maybe it stood out a little more like some of these old performances were talking because we saw a lot of youthful energy and like promise and stuff in those. earlier fights. It's amazing if you look at Cannonier's UFC run, which obviously went through three different weight classes, but he's got wins

over Iwan Kute Lava, David Branch, Jack Hermanson, Anderson Silva, Kelvin Gastilum, Derek Brunson, Sean Strickland, Marvin Vittori, and Gregory Houdriguez, which by the way happened last year, you know? Yep. It's like,

those are some sick-ass wins, man. I know. But it never culminates into like that really upper end where all the big money is, where all the real acclaim is. It just kind of hovered at a really respectable spot. He's a very down-to-earth guy. It was going to be hard for him.

Even if he made it to a title, like, and he did it. He was like, I'm not sure he would have had that charisma. Like, he's a guy who likes crystals and, you know, talking Jim worse as up.

I'm not into rocks as being powerful. You know what I mean? This weekend, I'll be doing the crack. Yeah, except that kind of rock. Yeah, yeah, that kind of rock's good. All right. Speaking of other things to get to here,

let's talk about Tommy McMillan, world's toughest juggalo. he gets the job done and basically just overwhelming Alberto Montez so what would you say here Chuck if we're trying to be fair because I know we're having a bit of a laugh

but if we're being fair to what he did right and did well in this fight what stood out to you well he said he was the third Diaz like and I felt like did you see those flashes I mean there were moments where he's putting to get what do you have like 250 strikes

right like significant strikes he landed 252 and most all time in a three round fight yes the way he was putting his combos together, which don't have a lot behind them. It's more of a, you know, a three, little three pieces and like coming in with the, you know, with follow-ups and stuff like that. Like, the way he was doing that was, was impressive. I guess the most impressive thing to me was they had this handshake agreement, I guess,

like, hey, we're not going to shoot on each other, which is just absurd, honestly, because you're playing into this guy's hands in this particular situation. But he did get hurt. And was it the first round? he got hurt with something and you know i always feel like you see a little bit of the i don't know if it's the don't know if it's the don't know if it's the don't know if it's in them on that side when they they actually react and they they become more aggressive and he like they mentioned like a flow state that he'd entered in soon after that he did he looked like he found his rhythm after he got

hurt that's a weird thing isn't it and there are certain fighters who do this i thought that the way he fought with how much volume that like he would do what all donks do who have that style, which is it just falls off a cliff. And if they even make it to the third round, it falls off cliff thereafter. But actually, he maintained it. I will say that was impressive. Like, if you're going to have a come forward style where you throw a lot of punches, that really only works if you can maintain that for long stretches of about.

And at least against Alberto Montez, he did that. He had Alberto Montez just trying to find any place to get out of the rain. You know what I mean? He was just trying to find any, under any branch, under any umbrella, just someplace to do it. And to your point, landed a couple of good shots along the way to that effect,

but I thought that was actually very impressive. I thought for sure he was going to, like the volume was going to taper off and, oh, here comes Montez. And that's just not at all how that went. I thought that was impressive. Yeah. I also thought some of the body punching was really good.

Like if you're going to be a volume puncher, you know, mixing and how you target is going to be critical. He did a lot of that as well. I really appreciated it. I mean, he's still very very very hitable and i feel like if you're going to have an on-the-gas style like the way he does like when you run up against someone good they're gonna they're gonna crack your shit yeah you know because you're just moving into action without requisite setup

i keep mentioned this point like we talked about gable steveson chuck yeah at ufc uh i was at ufc 300 but at ufc what was it 329 yeah where he's just like he's come forward and he's moving And the point I made on this show, I think last week, was that that is how you see people fight on the regional scene. And for a very good reason. It's because it works. It works. I've been to, I mean, Chuck, you've been to regional MMA, right? Yeah, sure.

You go to enough regional MMA, you're going to see that, like, pressure works in fights generally. But, like, when you get to the higher levels of UFC, you have to have intelligent pressure. Otherwise, it can be used against you. But most people at the regional level do not have any sense about how to combat. that kind of pressure. And so they just wilt. They don't really know how to get people off of them. If they can wrestle, they can change the game a little bit, you know. By the way, Tommy can wrestle a little bit too. So we should say that out loud. But like that whole mentality of I'm just going to barrel into you until you fall. This is a mentality that comes from a different level of the game.

So I can respect that he was able to match his intensity throughout the course of the bout. And I think that that's no small feat. I actually think that's a pretty big. deal and one of the things that I was most surprised and frankly pleasantly surprised I would say by and I respect that if you can if you want to be a volume puncher you got to be a volume puncher till the end and that's what he was respect for that but that mentality of I'm just going to do this and you will eventually fall that will be his ruin unless he changes it you cannot fight that way against the better guys in this in this organization you think every every gym wishes they had this guy though like a guy like him right because you've seen these two guys we've seen these guys come and go

They're always the guys who are going to come in there. They're going to win their fair share, especially early because they're not being paired with, like you said, the upper echelon yet. And they're going to collect bonuses. And if you're tied to the gym, you're collecting, what, 20% on these things. And, like, you know, I think he walked away with the $100,000 bonus. But that's just by, you know, it's almost part of the game plan is to go in there and get a bonus at the end of the night as kind of, you know, that becomes the reason they're in there in a weird situation like that. it is fun like we've talked about these kind of guys who they're on swing bouts and they make they kind of fill a function which is just to go in there and put on a show and that I don't I don't know like we'll see if he adds wrinkles to his game and like you mentioned maybe the wrestling does start to show it maybe you see at least some depth of what what's going on there but he strikes me as a guy who um is going to be in this role for a long while until you know until he's not but like he'll be at that third fight right to set up the other fights for a long time. And people respond to this kind of thing.

They were trying to be like, this guy is the next big thing. And I'm like, it's a superstar loop. Yeah, let's, let's pump the brakes on that alone just a little bit. But, but,

you know, certainly what I would say this, what he already is, is a proven TV fighter. That's a term that BC likes to use. Like guys who are, you know, they got some ability,

they can get some good wins, but they're just all action all the time. He's perfect for that. and I just think that you know you have to kind of take the guy where he wants to like where they are so to speak I'm just going to say for anyone like

around him if you want to maximize his potential he's got to be more clever with his pressure yeah but doesn't he look you know who Richard Ramirez is the serial killer? Yeah of course doesn't he look like that dude like it always throws me off when I see this guy looks oh a little bit I mean his lip is messed up obviously I'm going to

get some fighting or something yeah it's more like the hair with the eyes I don't know man. Every time I see him, this is what it calls to mine. I'm like, Jesus, dude. That is kind of funny. I hadn't thought, wow, that's a deep cut. You know what serial killer you look like? He'd probably embrace that. Juggalo's

like that kind of thing. They do. That and Fago. Yeah, the soda. Fago. I haven't seen that movie in a long time. All right, so let's talk about this one. Okay, so I'm going to give you three names, Chuck. All three are young, and all three had very good wins. Different kinds

of wins, to be clear, against different levels of opponents, so I'm not saying they're all the same. Yeah. You got Fatima Klein. You have Jose Delgado and you got Chase Hooper. Which young fighter of the three was the most impressive to you and why? Fatima Klein. That's the only answer, motherfucker. I mean, dude, what she was doing here.

And I mean, okay, so in this type of situation, I'm forgetting, who does she, who's the opponent? Oh, God damn. Tabitha Ritchie. Yes, Tabitha Ritchie, who's like, to me, that great parody fighter, like, she's going to be somebody who's very evenly matched with everybody she faces. Just about every single time there's offense both ways. This, she started to showcase on her, like those suplexes and stuff like this.

This was almost her John Jones, Stefan Bonner moment in my mind where you're like, you know, she performs the suplex, looks over at the commentators, DC or whatever and like, you know, makes a face like check it out, you know, that's when you're having that kind of fun, dude, that tells me that you're now levels above where you're projected. I think it has helped her tremendously. She trains at the Institute, right? But I know one of her main training partners is Aaron Blanchfield. And that's that iron sharpens iron.

They're both very young in the game, different weight classes. And I think that getting those reps, you know, has really helped her. But every time we see her, dude, like she looks that much better. And I thought this was sort of kind of like, you know, her magnum opus, I guess, at this point in her career. She's only, what, 26? So, like, this is for her to bit. And again, this is somebody who was in the top 10, like somebody like who was up there that top 10 to showcase that easily

and to kind of make it look that good. That was impressive to me. Bro, Fatima Klein looked fucking awesome in this fight. I was so happy to see this. Stat line, by the way, I mean, if you see the fight, then this will just be, you know, for fun. But stat line,

Fatima Klein, again, these are quantitative totals. Yeah. 66 significant strikes. The top of the reach is 24, right? So basically, not quite, but something approximating triple the output. but take downs, Fatima Klein got seven of them. She's credited with a sub-attempt as well as a reversal,

and then five minutes of control time over the course of a 15-minute bout. Dude, that's just comprehensive. You had nowhere to go. And she wasn't budging the other way either. Like, sure, her takedown defense was very good. I think the only takedown reach you got was late, right? It was kind of like a garbage time takedown. So, I mean, that's just thorough dominance.

I was so impressed. The women's game needs fighters like, this so bad. And I want to say something too. It's not what I mean by that is are they talented? Yes. Like, and in this case, comprehensively talented, right? And great setups, you know, just understands how to get in, get out, what her game is, what works, what you need to do, just really advanced level of fighting. And then also, Chuck, you know, after one of the, they called it a suplex. It's really not exactly a suplex. She would use the suplex lift to create elevation, but then just kind of rotate them back down like a mat return. But it doesn't matter. It was dominant and it was cool to look at.

And then you don't see it that often, especially at those weights. I mean, totally. No, fair enough. I just mean, it's not like, this is it. Like her here's on, she goes, she more rotates her in a circle. It's not really a suplex, you know. But again, it's so dominant. And what ends up happening afterwards, that that's pretty great too. Where that, we see where she's nodding? Yes. She's like, oh, yeah. In the zone. That's what I'm saying. That is the part where you're like, okay, let's bring this home. This is something we can work with here. But the other names I mentioned on this, they also deserve some praise.

First of all, I spoke to Brian Campbell. I want to say something about Brian Campbell. I don't know if you all noticed out there. But Brian Campbell had like a ton of work thrown his way at UFC, Oklahoma City. I'm not sure what's happening over at Paramount. It seems like someone there is finally getting their fucking act together and giving Brian the assignments that he deserves. I'm not sure what the holdup was, but whoever is figuring this out, it took you long enough. But good job, I suppose.

putting that aside, putting that aside, he told me, I spoke to BC Friday night, and he told me, Jose Delgado came up to him, and it turns out, ready for this one, Long Island? Huge MK donk, Jose Delgado. What about that? Let's fucking go. Love Jose.

Dude, he had a great performance. He was also an underdog by the time the lines closed on this, and I was like, Jose Delgado by decision, the man pulled it off, dropped Bash. He almost finished him in the first, too. He looked at him. Bashy, to that point, Chuck, he looks, he's a super strong kid.

He fights with a ton of fire, but he is clearly not as well-rounded as he needs to be. He had a big moment early. Remember that bad? Like he knocked down Nogato early. I mean, that's what made it impressive both ways there. For sure.

And what I mean to say is, I think that Delgado isn't quite the athlete that Bashi is. Look at the technical acumen. Oh, yeah. And what he's able to do, very impressive showing by Jose Delgado in the end. Yeah. Yeah, take another one.

And again, this is like this card showcased some young talents. and I felt like most of the attention was on bashy in this fight. So like this was a big moment for Doug. Like it was a big shining moment to kind of show people who haven't been paying attention, right? Like kind of what's in his tool bag because I thought he displayed, you know, quite a bit in there. And that in the amount of time that he was in there. Like he was able to kind of show you that he's going, he can be technical, but that he's carrying some power too. But yeah, that was fun.

I mean, and like again, and what is he like 26 or 28? Like he's again another young guy in the game. know. Yeah. And then it takes us to Chase Hooper. So look, what do you want to say about this one? Phenomenal Jiu-Jitsu, which we always knew he had. A nice win, I suppose. Mitch Ramirez, just not really up at this level. Chase Hooper, apparently telling the media afterwards, and had he lost this, he would have gone back to a regular job. Chuck, I'm glad he got the win, and he certainly got it dominantly. There's really no question. But this felt like the UFC giving a bit of a tune-up to

to lift his spirits a bit. Yes. And, you know, when you mention, like, which young fighter are your most, you know, has the most promise in this? You want to say a guy like Chase Super because he's been in this role for a while. The dudes that had 14 UFC fights. He's 26 years old. That's crazy. Isn't that? It's nuts.

Like, he's in a weird way, it's kind of like in the Max Holloway or, you know, one of those guys who, they were fighting so young, they put together so many fights or Charles Olivera. You don't want to see him walk away if he's just putting it together like you always talk about to get experience through UFC fights is not the way to go about it but some of these guys that's kind of what they were thrust into and he's had his moments you remember when he kind of beat the oldies circuit which was like Jim Miller and what was it Clay Guida he beat a couple of big names and at that point in time you're sort of like okay

he's this is kind of the baton pass from the old to the new and we're going to say and then he loses some fights and you know you just kind of put Chase super back into a you know on the shelf and be like, I don't know if he really has it. This, when you see him do this, and again, you know, I know that this isn't like the top competitor he's going against in there, but like how easy he made that look and just how deliberate. Like, you realize

it's a very Joe Loseon type thing. Remember, Joe would sometimes shoot guys like this up too. It was very, very much like that where you're like, you're like, dude, you belong in the UFC. It just sucks that you've had to take your bumps in the UFC to get to where you are, right? Fair enough. Long Island,

who else on this card stood out to you as being noteworthy. I mean, Fatima Klein, definitely the MVP of the card, in my opinion, but we already didn't even get a bonus. I mean, she didn't get a finish. True. I kind of got that, but someone who did get a finish, Felipe Franco finished off Levi-R-R-R-R-R-Mogg who was undefeated coming into this, pretty much dominated him here.

You can see it with the ground and pound finish. RJ Harris did not get a bonus despite lifting Goosey Hines off of his feet here with this upper cut coming right there, boom, knocks him down there. He also had a very emotional post-fight speech that I missed in real time about how he just had a kid. And, you know, it was obviously his UFC debut and Cormier kind of let him absorb the moment. It was cool. And then curtain jerker, man, this girl, Anna Milisano or whatever, coming off tough. A lot of people were hyping her up, but Deani Barbosa was like, I'm a minus 650 favorite for a reason.

I'm going to sub this chick in round one. That's about it, man. The card as a whole, I felt like main card was fun. don't get me wrong, but we were about six fights in. And I was like, Scard ain't that great so far, you know? So it got better as it went, but, you know, overall, not the best. I'll say this, Damien Anderson, who is one of these like very, very high level, legit black belts, he dropped the decision to Ezra Elliott, who, by the way, is also very good

at jujitsu and wrestling. But the real takeaway from me from that one, they didn't watch it live, and then I went back and I had to go see it was Anderson just doesn't belong in, in, at 145. They both took this fight on short notice, but Anderson's a 35. or not a 45er. So wasn't my favorite showing to begin with, but certainly not the end of the world. And I hope to see him

back at a more appropriate matchmaking in that regard. Chuck, did you watch any of the World Cup final? Very little of it. But I had a lot of buddies there. You know, like I had buddies who actually sprung for whatever amount of money they were charging to do it. Let me ask you this, because the third place game, which I kind of

poo-poed on the crack ended up being a wild day. What's the equivalent fight? wanted to ask you like what would be a fight equivalent to that third place game because you were the one point out like dude i i guess uh um you know england didn't show up right or what's which which which way was it who had the big lead it was uh england had a four o lead going england so france didn't show up right like france didn't show up and then all of a sudden you look again and this is like a game and then it's six four like i didn't get a chance to watch i get like catching it and little snatches here but what would be the fight equivalent to that game since

It's with third place and it's non-title. Yeah. Something approximating Mark Hunt, Bigfoot Silver 1. Okay. Where they just kind of, I mean, that's even, even that, no, no, no, no, you know what? Dan Henderson versus Shogun. Okay. Where Dan comes out to a huge lead and then Shogun battles back, but Dan Henderson hangs on to win, you know?

Something like that. Like that. All right. 10 fucking goals in that third place. Crazy, dude. Although I will say like the true beauty of football is people don't like the fact that it's low scoring. And, you know, I suppose that I don't either. But the fact that Spain held every, Spain surrendered one fucking goal the entire tournament.

That's insane, man. This is why people are like, dude, the USA is going to go far this year. Oh, are they? Are they? Is that what's going to happen? Like, they're not going to beat teams like this back to back. Oh, you got to, you're going to beat England and Spain and back to back. No, no, the fuck you're not.

Like, no, the fuck you're not. You've got a bunch of rich kids from Bethesda, Maryland, who think they're good, and they're not. And, you know, look at the guys who are actually good. Look at the systems that produce them. It's just a completely different ballgame. Who's the team that beat them, though, in the 2024 friendlies? Wasn't there a team that beat Spain?

What was that? Yes. Colombia. That's right. Colombia. Yeah, it was a friendly. It was a friendly. I point this out. It's a totally friendly, so, you know, what's the value of it?

you know, as a moderate at best. However, I'll say this, just to think about it, like, that's the last time Spain lost. Spain hasn't lost in over two fucking years, dude. Damn. That was March of 2024. So it's been over to, that is like, oh, you're going to go far this year. No, or not. No, or not.

All right. But I'm just trying to point out, it's been a really exciting summer. The World Cup was here. We still have plenty more to go. We have UFC 330 next month. And here's the deal of folks. This summer, whatever you're watching, whether it's the World Cup, whether it's baseball, golf, soccer, racing,

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The Draft King Sports app. That's the one we're looking for. All right, very good. Let's go to topic number three, if we can here, Chuck. Let's talk about PFL, because they had a card this weekend. PFL's return to Texas, former middleweight champion Johnny Eblen defeated Impakasangani. This was a rematch for their 2024 PFL versus Bellator card. This time, however, the bout wasn't nearly as close.

Eblen stops him in the third, beat him up bad in this one. What if anything does this say about his development heading into the Castillo-Vansdenis rematch, Chuck? Well, it tells me, Luke, that he doesn't not like losing because he's been like a, you know, pulled back on a bowstring and let go. since that loss to Van Stenis. You know, we were like, okay, Brian Battle, they're throwing a guy, you know, he's a veteran, but this is probably a bad matchup for him. And the way he went

through Brian Battle, we were like, okay, like, you almost point to Brian Battle being like overwhelmed. I know we talked a lot about this, but like being the donk and all that stuff. This was the one that you then circle and say like, okay, well, how is he going to look in a situation where it's more makeshift, it's for

an interim title, like he was supposed to be facing Van Stenis. And to see him kind of handle a guy like that he had trouble with the first time, he didn't, you know, wasn't nearly as easy as this to see that, you know, to see him go in there and that left hook and just kind of, you know, being able to strike with him the way that he was and take that fight just about everywhere it went. He did absorb a couple of punches and that, like a couple of good shots. But like for the most part, he dictated terms for as long as that fight lasted. To me, it just says that he, that loss probably awakened something in him, and that you often see, like at the George St. here thing, right? Like, where it just is like, you're, you, you beat all complacency out of you, and now you're showing up to every fight, which then sets up that Van Steenis rematch to be a big

deal for PFL. I, I think you're, you're nailed exactly what the real takeaway here is. After that loss, you know, again, some of it is matchmaking dependent, and this fight should have been Costello Van Steenus. It should have been the rematch, right, is the issue. But part of the issue with Eblen before was not that he wasn't a good athlete or he couldn't wrestle or get good wins. He could do all of them. But you weren't sure about, you know, the other parts of his game or was it all coming together? And to be clear, he's still wrestling dominant in every way. But dude, like, I feel like he's turned a bit of a corner.

Like, he's, he looks, he's got a bit of a count of Monte Cristo vibe. Like, he's in there, like, on a revenge tour. And it's added a level of brutality to his game that I feel like was maybe missing before. whereas before, again, is he going to use control and control positions? Yes, that that part didn't change. But he seems a little less reliant on them than he did previously. And now it seems like he's much more ready to throw hands or find parts of ground and pound or use better ground and pound weapons like elbows or even standing elbows too for that matter

to just kind of light people up. Like he's just hammering them more. He's more of a, if you're going to be in here with me, and you're going to last a round, you're going to get lumped up in the process versus I'm going to do what it takes to win on control positions. I feel like there's been a total switch in that regard. And I'll say this,

like this is the best grudge match I think I've ever seen PFL put together. Yeah. You know, I don't know how big it's going to be. I'm going to flip it to you here in just a second. I don't know how big it's going to be. And I don't know why we're looking at the wrong side of this faceoff because it should be the other side or this guy should get the fuck out of the way.

Either way. But the PFS is, FFEL needs anything that resembles a hook, anything that's got, you know, for what are the kids saying these days, motion. It just has a little bit of energy and drive to it. And this heated rematch between them, it feels like the best thing could go. But like, I guess my question for you is, Chuck, how big could it be? I think it's the, let me ask you this too.

Like, is this the biggest fight in PFL? because they had obviously in Ghanu versus Ferreira and they had but to me it would almost be like the more specialized fight between like Paul Hughes right like the Paul Hughes Usman Namanga Medov

that sort of thing right like the fight that has a broader anticipation but really really hooks a fight fan to pay attention to me that's what it's got has theatrical elements you can't like and Johnny Eble like we're saying he maybe

had some hunger or some kind of spite or resentment or something kind of brought into him that he needed in this process because not only did Van Sieness, you know, like, beat him in this cinematic way that I hope they do a good job of kind of marketing just how cinematic that whole thing was in South Africa when they, when they first fought. But Van Sienis then gets a homecoming in Spain where they have a whole event, he's able to win that fight. And I get the vibes of the GSP. I, this with the Matt Sarah kind of masquerading with the title while GSP stewing and waiting to get it back.

That's kind of where we're at. I just feel like it has all those elements to be like a fun buildup to a fight, which obviously we know that most big fights play out and prospect. People want to, they want to feel the bad blood between them. It's set up to do that. These guys now both have titles, right? Like they've had the rematch. It has all of the elements that you need. And it honestly, I think Van Steens is probably at the best of his career.

So, like, to me, it, like, it sets up a really interesting fight. And so you agree? I feel like it's, like, one of the biggest that they've had. I don't know if any, if I'd place any in those bigger in the PFL's history than this one. I'm trying to think this through. Yeah. I don't, all time of history, I'm not so sure. Present moment.

I'm not, like, would, do it, would a, if they match made it right, is there a fight available for Dakota Dichiva that could be. bigger. True. Maybe. She's definitely the star that they have on roster right now. Yes. I'll say this.

As for me, as much as I want to see Eblen versus Van Steenus too, and I do. Yeah. I would say Ditchiva versus Liz Karmouche is actually a little more interesting to me. Okay. Because Liz just out here just still doing great, you know, and Dichiva should be able to say again. I said she's cannoneers age.

Like she's still out of Liz Karmouche. Like she's old, right? like 40 or something like 42 or I don't know. Yeah, 41 or she's still doing it. Yeah. So in that sense, like if it's not the biggest Chuck, at least a present roster, it's certainly up there.

Now, I will say if you heard the Post-Fite comments, Johnny Eblen drops the N-Bomb, you know, neither of them are African-American, so they're just doing it in this like teenage boy. I listen to rap music kind of way. Oh, my God. But I'm just going to say, guys, like, can we not, can we just not do that?

It's not cool. It's not funny. It's not interesting. And I'm going to say this one more time. It's not about policing speech per se. It's that speech is downstream from culture. So it's got a question of like what we're trying to tamp down on our words. It's like what kind of ideas that make this whole thing work are we trying to power?

The speech will happen as a result of that. Can we just not? We're 13 and, you know, mom's not looking. Yeah, you know, it's to be expected on some level. But we're all grown men here. Let's avoid that if we can. Why do these guys do this? They have like a big moment and then they got like,

obscure it with something like that. It's like, guys, it's like, we started out the show. It's like every time the Tate brothers get arrested, I'm always like, what's up with those fighters who told us he was top G? Like, what went through your mind when you went to a guy who's accused of absolutely heinous crimes

across a multitude of jurisdictions, down to the point he's being extradited internationally for accusations of rape and even child sexual abuse material? like who thought that was a good idea you know and you can see them you can find all the old photos oh just guys top g i don't think you're very bright remember who the first got to like welcome into miami when they arrived it was uh big dana was over there white you know why by the way everyone gets that wrong too everyone gets that wrong what they say is they say uh oh he welcomed him to a ufc event no now of course the tape brothers have been to seen at ufc events that that is

true. But that warm greeting that Dana White gave him was at a power slap event. Right. That's actually the, it was a, it would have been the same weekend, which is why people got it confused. But he was like, yeah, welcome to the stage, boys. And I'm like, okay. All right. I mean, that's

very poor judgment on your part. But, okay, getting back to the PFL, I don't know when they're going to make this Van Steenus rematch. Yeah. But this one is a pointment viewing for me. Johnny Eblen, I think, Rebole, I think, reborn is not the right word chuck this looks like pro wrestling

doesn't it it's like crazy yeah it does it's not as bad as when they had tito and rampage in bjorn revney era bellator giving each other hammers so they could promote each other during a TNA broadcast on that same

you remember this right yes oh my god they'd have them go on TNA so now they're doing pro wrestling on TNA and they would give them hammers to hit each other and I'm like I don't think that's going to work. No. In any event, a nice win by him. Let's talk about the rest of this card, or at least, you know, just small pieces of it,

because it's worth mentioning here. This was a bit of an ugly fight ahead of time. Lewis McGillan, who's one of the most exciting PFL fights of all time. He was having a lot of words with old Raphael do Nassiomento, and the Brazilian ends up putting his ass to sleep in the second round. Long Island, how much of an upset was this? McGillen was like minus 350. I think Nassimento was like high high 200s plus 280, something like that.

So you can see here that went fucking poorly for him. A fun little one. Julio Arce, Columbia stand up, you know, Tiger Schulman stand up. He defeats, I can never pronounce the Irish names. Cowlin Loughran. Loflin, yeah. And then the one that's always kind of fun, Peru's star son, Jesus Panato, absolutely fucking bulldozing.

Joey Rouquet, that one, I mean, from the word go was just on his ass, like white on rice. I thought that was fun. Also, there was the modified twister on Biagio Ali Walsh from Gamid Kizriev. They call on the Scottish twister. It's the one that Stevie Ray kind of invented. Or if you've got a body triangle and then they turn halfway into the body triangle and then you kind of almost guillotine them from the side of the neck, you can get a modified twister out of it. Dude, they're happening like every week now. Isn't that insane? It's a copycat league, Luke. It really is.

It's wild, man. Anything else I'm missing here, Long Island, from this PFL card? Not from this card per se, but we did get that PFL announcement. Oh, yes. So why don't you show the announcement here and then we'll react to it. Jonathan Martin, PFL CEO announced today that you can see on the right, AJ McKee, I guess this is going to be on September 10th, is going to take on I always get this guy's name pronounced wrong.

Razabli or Razabali, Shaddulyev. Again, I'm all, I'm sure I'm, Shaduloyev, Shadelev. I don't know how to say this fucking guy's name. But suffice to say, understand something. He might be the best fighter, one of the best fighters outside of the UFC in any weight class. He is an absolute hammer. And the reason why this is important is because both the PFL featherweight and Risen featherweight belts, are going to be on the line.

I apologize for getting the name wrong. People hit me to him, I don't know, about six months ago, because I had heard about him and I didn't see much. And then I went and did some tape study, and I was like, dude, holy shit, this guy. This is, this is, we were talking about A.J. McKee, after his last win, he beat the, the Kazakh kid.

I forget his name. Salamat Isbolaev, something like that. Yeah. Right? And we were saying, like, what could you do next one? with him. There's not a whole lot that makes sense. Dude, this is easily his toughest fight in years. I don't know. A long time. And they've got both belts up for grabs. Chuck, we were talking last week. Yeah. You know, you've got one grappling hooking up with ADCC,

hooking up with Polaris, hooking up with who's number one, hooking up with, you know, CGII, all these kind of organizations working together to co-promote. And here you have both Ryzen and PFL putting both belts on the line against a very, very, very tough challenge for A.J. McKee. I got to say, I don't know if it's going to work for PFL, Chuck, like this whole new rebrand and everything, but they keep doing things I like. And if they do, I'm going to keep saying it. Well, it's kind of like a throwback a little bit in time, you know, but we used to see this in like the aughts, you know, where like, you know, Chuck Lidl going over to pride or something, you know, But I mean like where you'd see the partition come down,

I've always liked this kind of thing. And it's if you're a UFC centric person, and you don't pay attention outside of it, this is kind of what you get sometimes. And I'm still, like, it's weird. I don't know if it's just because, like, I still, I'm still pretty high on AJ, aren't you? Like, I still feel like he, like, so maybe this is the moment

where you're like, okay, he realizes something of like the, like massive potential. Because I think for the longest time, we, we would have called him. you know, the best fighter outside the UFC. There was a moment in time where I felt like if he was a free agent, he would have been the biggest free agent out there for the UFC. So, and obviously his father and, you know,

is kind of, you know, all of that stuff that, where he came from. To me, this is like, dude, this might be your, like your defining moment. And I love when we arrive at places like this. So that should be a fun. You said at September. Is this in Japan or where is this at? Did they announce that part of it? I don't know.

I'm going to guess he's in Japan, but where in Japan or not. Okay. I'm not so sure. Shadjulayev, by the way, I want to point out something here. He's 19 and O. He has defended, so not counting just winning, but defended the Risen Featherway belt three times. Chuck, 19 and O and all of his wins are by finish. He's a little Shavkat Rock Monoff. That's kind of what he is.

Yeah. In that sense. This is a tough fucking guy. I got to go look at the tape. I'm going to have to go look at the tape. Yeah. This guy's worth it. He's one of the guys outside of UFC.

A lot times is like, oh, this guy, you got to see him. No, no, this one is legit worth it in the end. So a bit of a fun card for the most part for the PFL, but we'll see how things go for them as we go on further. All right. Let's go to topic number four. Dana White has said, I believe at the post-fight presser for the UFC Oklahoma City card, he revealed that Connor McGregor, or maybe it was like the,

maybe it was one of the boxing things this weekend. I forget exactly, but neither here nor there. The point is this follows. he revealed recently to the media when he was asked about connor mcgregor what's the problem and he had said it was in fact his acl then mcgregor himself takes to social media and long island can you help me read this please it's a little too small for my screen yeah you got to just give me like two seconds for it to pop up on my screen all right here we go uh mcgregor writes update it was an acel and meniscus it is the same injury as the first holloway fight only this time the opposite leg quite shocking i returned

to competition within nine months to fight Diego Brando back then. With today's regenerative medicine, advancements, and improved training methods, it is well within my realm to return by next summer. I'm walking without a crutch, I've done leg extension machine work the other day to no issue so I can walk around without aid and activate my quad under resistance. All very positive. I am maximum discipline and I've maintained it fully since the bout. I wonder, was I saved from something worse here? I believe so. So I would, I have attended the after party as the man who knows then.

I believe I was saved. Thank you, God. On we go. No sad stories. Thank you for the support. And well wishes, everyone. Your health is your wealth. I like how the only reason he didn't end up in a drunken stupor chucked by his own

admission as he got injured, you know? Yeah. It's like, that means you haven't really conquered any of this. Okay. But my question to you is as follows. Does this make you more or less pessimistic about him returning within a one year period. Well, he made, the Dustin Porre thing where he's out for five years, where he buses his leg, he'd made some kind of similar thing then. He was like, I'll be back in a year. Like,

I remember distinctly him saying something along those lines, and you're like, I don't think you're going to be back in a year. And obviously, it was five years. He has the one fight on his contract. So there's a, there's a bit of a finality of the things here. And he's obviously like he turns 39 next summer. You're getting in. into some, if he's not fighting, you know, by then, it starts to get into very strange terrain for him in terms of just being older, if we're not already there. So there's a part of me that's like, he's not wrong about the advancements in medicine. But he, I think that, you know, do you trust his body? I mean, like, the thing about it, like, he has been abusive to his body

for a long time. And there are just so many factors of it with the age. And also now you're talking about both knees have done this. He's had his leg broken. I just don't know, man. I don't think that like, I don't think you can, I don't think you can bank on that. That's all I'm saying, because that's the ACL thing, especially as you're older. It's just, I don't think it's as easy to recuperate from. So I don't know.

Is that answer your question? I just, I'm not sure that he'll be back by then. I would, I'm going to take the over. Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to take the over. I mean, it's all. listen he did bounce back from the initial remember the ACL surgery he had against yeah of course he bounced back from that wildly fast but you know that's a very

different Connor McGregor do you remember what he did with that nine months he just set the division on fire on social media this was in the fun times like he just went after everybody he went after everybody so that everything felt like a big fight no matter what they were going to do even Diego Brando you know yes and you know at the time everyone hated that he was getting what appeared to be preferential treatment or just fan excitement generally and so he used that as fuel to to stand out. God bless him, but I just don't think you can hear something like this, ACL and meniscus and you're going to come back

within a year. No, you're not. Like, no, you're not. You'll be 39, maybe even 40, depending on how things go. Like, like, this is the point we made last week and I don't really need to like belabor it too much, Chuck. But like, just to reiterate here about what the reality is, it's done. It's done. It's finished. Now, that's not to say when we're time he won't do a big number on whatever platform he fights on or get a big check or beat a name that people care about that's not thing but like as a prize fighter of high acclaim and high ability like that is done that is so fucking done his body is beat to shit dude he's had let's see he's like dude he's he'll have had double ACL surgery not including a catastrophic injury to one of the legs where the shin bone was broken in half. Like on what fucking planet

are you going to come back from that in fucking pickleball, much less M&A? No shit, you're right. You're right. I mean, like Kevin Lee had double ACL surgery. And I'm not saying Kevin Lee was ever as good as Conner McGregor, obviously not. But, you know, he was a good athlete.

And he was a shell of himself after that. That's true, man. Like, what are we even talking about here? What sport would you say, unless you count like darts as a sport or something. And, you know, I'm not trying to mean darts. I'm just trying to say like which one puts like a sporting load on your joints. You know, unless it's like bowling or some shit.

I don't know how you can ever recover in any kind of measurable or identifiable way from something like this. Like you go through enough injuries, Chuck, and shit just doesn't work well anymore. No, and especially with age. And also, like, he likes to use his legs. Like part of what made him who he is. because he could kick. He had this arsenal of kicks and like, what is that going to look like? I just, I can't imagine.

And do you remember his like movement era where he hired Ido Portaul who did the touch button mark thing? But, and a lot of stuff he did look goofy but he was trying to just move his body in different ways to feel its own strength

to work on balance, to just understand him like the space around him. And it was seen as something a little bit goofy at a time, but also kind of novel as well and how well he could move his body through that. We are now at a place where he can't do hardly any of that and may never be able to do hardly any of that ever again. Like I just don't think people have, I mean, I realize some have obviously, but I don't know if enough people have really wrapped their head around the idea that

like the human body has a finite capacity for regeneration and improvement. And we have exhausted a great degree of it by virtue of everything he's done and the injuries that he has suffered. like like oh if anyone can come back as Connor no not this version well I'm I'm past like when you say done I'm done thinking that way and I'd never I don't think I but the thing is we talked about like for five years you stay in this kind of like holding mode of like okay well maybe if anybody could come back from something it might be right this was kind of this is just kind of the narrative because of the way his career had unfolded but then you get to

you know fight night at UFC 329 and the very first kick you throw is compromised. And so part of this is going to be like how many people, like will the exhaustion, I guess, of Connor's like recovery mode take over? And also just the idea that you said, will it set in like that ship has sailed? Like the Mystic Max stuff is gone.

There's no such thing as that, you know, it's just this is a mortal person who's breaking down, you know, and the end of his career. And will that set in for people? Because I feel like the, you know, in the lead up to 329, people were a little drunk with the original idea that he could just kind of come back and do some magic in there. I just don't believe any of that exists anymore.

No, I don't believe so either. But I mean, this is why, like folks have said, wouldn't it make sense to have Connor fight in Zufa boxing on his last one? And I know Oscar Willis and Brett were doing whatever that bit was they were doing. I don't I don't fully get that. But like as an idea, though, independent of all that, as an idea, like having Connor fight in Zuba boxing, this to me, makes infinitely more sense than fighting in MMA anymore. Like, he can wear shoes. You know, obviously, you don't have to like level change.

You don't have to worry about, can you imagine if someone tries to knee bar this fucking guy or he'll hook him? Like, yeah, you know what I mean? Like, what are we even talking about? It's a great point. And in the sense, too, like, I feel it's inevitable. Maybe it's not inevitable. But because he has equity and bare knuckle in that in that league, like, obviously, like, for him to go over there, it only makes sense for him to do one of those at some point. But that would be a better lead into something. Like, if that was his last fight, you know, a Zupa boxing thing would probably

be the way to set something like that up, wouldn't it? Yes. Which I don't think UFC wants to do for him, per se. Definitely not. Yeah. But as just as just a rational way to pursue this, it seems to me like by far the best option. I'm actually a little surprised

that it's, there's not a little more fan momentum for it. But dude, this whole thing like, oh, I'm going to get right back out there, motherfucker. No, no, no, no. This is so, this door is so. I can't sell that to us again, can he? Like, we're the most goalable fans then. Like, the people in the sport, it's got to be the most goalful.

If they, if they would go down this road again and buy all this and, you know, whip ourselves into excitement, I'm not going to do it either, but I'm just saying, like, if that, if people buy that again, I'm just like, shame. I'll cover his, shame on us. I'll cover his subsequent fights because they will be of note, right? Of course. But, like, buying into, like, and I'm not even, again, depending on the matchup is and when we are, like, could he win, could he lose?

Well, we'll assess that at the time. But like treating him like we're going to get back to UFC 205 or anything even we're bordering on that. Dude, the show is over. The show is fucking over. And now it's on home video. Speaking of Chuck of the Odyssey. There was Odyssey. There was Oppenheimer.

You know, when I pick your fit dark night in the theaters. And that was the time to see it. And now it's on streaming. That's a good way to say it. That's a good way to say it. And I'm not, listen, I'm not above watching movies on streaming. I'm just saying it's a different fucking experience. Yeah.

You'll go into it skeptical like I will the next time. You won't have an ounce of that like, oh, maybe, though, because that did exist this time through, I will admit. All right. Topic number five, we don't really cover RAF as a event in the more traditional sense. But a couple of things happened at the most recent one, which was RAF 11 in Milwaukee. By the way, how are there only 11 of these and they do one every other day? I don't know how that works.

I know. But Chuck, I know you know Ben Ascran well. Ben Ascran did drop him. I mean, he wrestled after a double lung transplant, which is just beyond insanity. He loses on points, I think, six to three to former UFC World War Champion, Boulah Muhammad. But, you know, the fact that he's even on the mat is kind of incredible.

Like, what do you have to say about Ben Askeran's return here, how the crowd reacted, and how you understand what the importance of this moment was for him? So he's interesting, man, because, you know, he had that kind of big moment with Mosvidal, which became Mosvidal's moment. like when he needs him in the five seconds and boom, it's like everything changes.

Miles Vodal becomes a star, Ben Asgram becomes an afterthought in MMA, loses against Maya. Like this was kind of the end of his UFC and MMA career. And this is when I talked to him to like help him put together his book. There was this, he was having a, he was having hip replacement.

And so like he had some time he was going to be laid up. He was, he wanted to do this. And you could tell that even though he's having hip replacement, he wished he could still do something more. right? These guys always have this, like, I wish I could still do one more competition. This ends up being Jake Paul in a boxing ring. The guy just had hip replacement surgery, and he gets in there, and obviously he gets knocked out. So you watch this guy's career go from one,

one weird thing to the next, and he loses this boxing match. And he was, he handled it so well in the end, like in terms of just accepting, you know, his defeat and all that stuff. But then he, you know, he goes through this ordeal where he dies, essentially four times. I think that that's what he was saying. Like that's what he told me anyway, like four times where he was dead. And he brings back the fact that he even made the walk to do this, dude, it's like it blows my mind that he was able to do this. But I understand it from his mentality because I think he sees himself now as like, you know,

an inspiration or some kind of proof of the human spirit, like that you can do things that because he preaches this stuff to the healthy, right? Like if you're very healthier, if you lack drive, this is what he's trying to tap into anyway, is just to show you that things are possible because he was just a kid from Wisconsin who went on to be a 2008 Olympian and, you know, a MMA champion and all this stuff.

And for him to do this, I think it was more like symbolic for him, like to just say, like, look, you guys saw me at my worst and I'm going to come back one more time and do this. And there is a film, you know Roy Karp, the filmmaker for like 30, yeah, he's, he's been putting together the story, which should be phenomenal because when he started this, you know, Ben hadn't gone through a lot of, you know, what's been going on here. So it should be a story is just, it's crazy.

So when I was watching this, you know, I was just thinking about these different phases and I'm like, isn't it nuts? I mean, this is like, I don't think we've ever seen a guy kind of go through anything near what Ben Ascran has. And then to show up in that his birthday at an RIF thing where she, obviously he has, you know, he's vested in wrestling, which is the love. of his life and probably why he loses an MMA in the end because he was just going to go and wrestle. That's what he's going to do. I just, I mean, this is the fitting in for him. And I think

that for his competitive life, I think he needed it. And it works as like a symbol of that kind of competitive that he's always been. Yeah, I don't have much to add to that except just so, I mean, I mean, that's just amazing. Man, I, I didn't think he'd be ever on a wrestling mat again. or, you know, even having a similar kind of life at all to the one he had before. And I'm sure that there are meaningful, like, gigantic, you know, differences in very challenging ways. But, you know, setting an example for his children, setting an example for anybody who was watching, frankly. And the other part, too, Chuck, he said something that I thought was kind of moving, which was, I forget where I read it. It was either pre or post-match, you know, media he was doing for this.

particular event and in it he says you know i made a deal with god that if you you know i was not going to waste what extra years he gave me i was going to be nice to people i was going to bury the hatchet with people i was going to try to do whatever i could i was going to try and help others as we're going to try and take care of myself like just try and live life you know all of us are trying to live purposefully but if you nearly die and you get granted extra years they must be in certain ways Chuck some of the most difficult ones of your life and in many other ways the sweetest. Yeah. No, 100%.

Because you've even seen the, you know, him and Mosvod all hanging out and having dinner together and stuff. I mean, this should, this would have never happened. He went to his baptism. I know. It's a nuts, man. It's a crazy, it's a crazy thing, man. But knowing, like having met his family and all that stuff.

And for him to even have like faith because he, when I was talking about the book, he was basically an atheist who played along with his wife, Amy, who was more of like a, more of a devout religious person. And now you can tell that he is completely of that life. You know what I mean? And I think you nailed it. Like you get the extra years and it just feels like bonus. And I feel like he's going through it just like that. It's pretty incredible, man. It's like it's cinematic. I mean, it's like, I know they're putting together this documentary, but it is it's almost like you couldn't write it. He could barely catch his breath when he was coming out of that whole thing. And he was putting out initial videos last year, he could barely catch his breath to see him compete.

And I mean, he looked like he was struggling in there, which you can understand. But to see him do that was pretty wild, man. It was truly wild. Now, the other interesting part that was happening at this event was that Colby Covington actually defeated Armin Soruky and via points at this event. And this ends up being the Armenians first competition loss, if you want to look at it that way. Yeah.

Since 2022, Colby looked incredible here. Let's play Balal trying to attack him, and then I want to ask a question about this. But yeah, I want the trilogy, bro. I have said that I don't necessarily love the fact that RAF doesn't have this under control. But here's what I'm going to say. He clearly is doing the thing that he did in UFC when it was working for him. Remember he was giving out Star Wars and like Spider-Man? man's, spoilers and shit. People hated that. Oh, I thought that was kind of funny. You did like that

part. Yeah, I did like that part. But I'm trying to point out, he's now winning. And you could say, oh, our armands a natural lightweight. So what? Like, Colby is getting his hand raised. He beat Chris Wydenman recently. I think it's what we beat. And here he is now. Here's my question for you. Could R.A.F. do for Colby what Bear Knuckle did for Mike Perry? Oh, man. It's possible because, because I think that Colby is, he lends himself to that kind of role, doesn't he? Like, and I know, like, he's a part owner of this. And he's already talking like, well, I'm an executive. I saw that he was talking to a, who's your guy, the Australian kid, a submission radio.

Dennis. Dennis, yeah, he was talking to him and he was basically like, you know, I made that executive decision that Balal's not next. Did you see any of this? And I'm like, this kind of thing is always fun because it almost crosses over, which he did, to some effect in the UFC into pro wrestling antics. you know, abusing your power, but happily abusing your power, that sort of thing. So I think it could have that effect. The only thing is like when he left, like, so when Mike Perry kind of left, I still felt like

he had a little bit of a cult of Mike Perry, a little bit. Like there was, there was something there that was like, you know, maybe bare knuckle that, that's more of a primal thing. It's kind of matches his, like, that's his, you know, that's his thing as bare knuckle. That would make more sense. This makes more sense because he fits naturally into that singlet. Doesn't he like it? It feels like he's like, this is, like he loves it.

He loves wrestling. And the only thing I question is, will people care enough about Colby Covington? I couldn't believe how quiet when he was basically cut from the roster, when he was let go finally, how quiet it was. Like almost nobody, you know, nobody was talking about it. And I was like, man, for a guy who created as many waves as he did and fought for the title and just, you know, constantly made himself visible in the sport, it was pretty weird how people didn't care about. him in the end. I wait to see that. But ultimately, I feel like he's kind of playing the hits a little bit and will people pay attention to the sport? That's, that remains to be seen. But I do think that he's got a chance is what I guess I'm trying to get around to. I think he's got a chance because

he's a natural for that kind of role, you know, to kind of stir the shit up and kind of, you know, to bring eyes to it. I think he's a natural that way. I don't know if it can be as big as what barrennuckle was for Mike because in part, like, you know, that's a more violence, It's a striking sport. And, you know, there were some big name opponents that he got. But I think he can do a lot for Colby, actually. I mean, the reactions he's getting at RAF are the kinds he used to get in UFC. I mean, I totally agree in the sense that when he split Chuck, it was like, you know,

I mean, if a tree falls in the forest and no one's around to see it, you know what I mean? Like what kind of, it was like one of those kind of things were like it was just procedural almost. Yeah. And now he's got Balal trying to attack a. at a press conference and it's like I haven't seen that in a while. I just haven't seen people try to care about him that way in quite a long while and then

he's out there also winning. Now when it's something like this and you see like two guys that they want to get at each other but it's going to result like usually when we see this in boxing or if it's in MMA they're going to punch each other. They're going to go in there and try to do harm to each other. In wrestling, can you like those hostilities? What do they add up to in the end?

Is it just that you would like in the chaos of like what we saw with what was the one where they like they just had the big disruption was that the arm on one where they like everybody jumped in then there was a brawl he was wrestling that influencer yeah so like is it like is this kind of like the appeal is like well we don't know there it's kind of wild west in there who knows what might happen or does that enough to say like let's see if they can inflict harm on each other through wrestling you know what I mean like you you're a guy watch it do you does it rev you up the same way it could get close it's not the same

I one time had a guy who covered wrestling for a long time who was, you know, MMA curious because, you know, obviously so many wrestlers had matriculated. He one time made a point to me, which was I thought one of the most astute points I've ever seen, which is that when a wrestling matches over, though, you know, these two guys can barely shake hands. They still hate each other so much. And yet at the end of like a, especially if it's like a tough wrestling match, you know, they just, there's barely any acknowledgement. I mean, they'll shake hands or whatever. but it's like they can barely be asked to do it and then in MMA when two guys have a tough fight at the end they're like hug in and high five in

there's like a spiritual cleanse you just don't get none of that shit in wrestling they hold grudges in that fucking sport yeah so on the one hand you don't get the full experience that you would in MMA on the other hand you get this like lingering burning embers of a of a of a rivalry in certain cases that also never go way. I guess my answer would be I don't think it's quite

aggressiveness. Yes, it's not quite the same payoff as MMA in the sense of you're asking. Okay. And I do think that could limit ultimately what this could all be. But I also feel like you got to just each each sport based on how you can do things to the other opponent

creates a certain kind of culture around it. Right. That makes full sense to me, yes. More muted. Yeah. I will say this about their broadcasts. Like I told you before, we talked about RIF and I'm like I don't know like I haven't watched enough wrestling to just kind of

know natively like exactly what scores points and all that stuff but the way that they have been doing it with Chale and I think it's a Juliana right like she's they're doing a very good job of almost like immersion where they're going to talk about like they kind of they break things down for you a little bit but they

mostly like they let you you know they kind of just let you understand what you're watching by talking about it and it's like if you're trying to learn a language you just hear people talking pretty soon. Like, I know what these, okay, I know what you just said there. Isn't that? I mean, I feel like they've done a good job of translating for me. Like, there's, there are things I start to watch within these, these RIFs is like the third or fourth time I've sat and really watched one. And it's funny how

quickly that works. You know what I mean? Where you're like, okay, I'm starting to see what's happening here. It's a fair point. It's a fair point. I just do a good job. They do a good job. And I just think they need to get the security under control. But other than that, they've got, they've got some stuff cooking. All right, that is it for our top fives. It is now a time where you get to ask us questions. It's time for DMs from dogs. All right, from Vaughn Beck Cowell. What is Tommy Guns's a ceiling? Chuck Gans, I don't know. What's Tommy Guns? The superstar Tommy McMillan, duh, Chuck. Oh, that's, okay, I didn't know we're calling him Tommy Guns. All right, all right. Yeah, Tommy Guns. I mean, I feel like we were talking about this a little bit.

I feel like he's the guy who is going to put on that kind of fight. And the UFC will always love to have him, right? As long as he's viable in that position, he's going to be that swing-bout guy who's going to kind of bring the crowd to life and he's going to give you that kind of fight. I believe that's it. I don't know if he's a championship caliber guy or if he even aims to be. There are certain guys who just kind of know what they want to do in the sport. And once you take a couple of ls, which I feel like he's going to do, you know, this is kind of what you get typed as at. that point yeah i'm not sure i got just engagey vibes with him yet right so geachie was

reckless and wild but that's a good point guys you know it's a good point though yeah up to see i mean for now i think that like he can win a lot of bonuses um he could become a popular attraction but you're really not going to know what his full ceiling is until after he gets viciously caoed and then yeah what do you see is left there that's the real question you know yeah like vandrely Silva would get viciously chaot and then come right back out. That is true. The Gachi one that was great though because

like there was no way. First of all, there's no way I thought he'd have any self-preservation in the game. Like I didn't think he could do that. And then secondly, to become a champion in the UFC, I mean, these were just not realistic markers for him.

And here we are. That's a crazy-ass thing to think about. Totally true. All right, from Tech 1 dude memes. When was the last time UFC caliber truly meant something? It seems more and more that being on the prelims or even a main card of a UFC event

doesn't mean what it used to. This is a question we've been tackling for a long time, Chuck. And it gets harder to the point now or usually I would have an answer. I don't know if I have an answer anymore. Yeah, I don't think it has. I mean, there's still a,

there's always going to be, like, if you look at UFC as the league, it's always going to have that prestige. Like I made it to the UFC, that becomes the big deal. But what is the caliber of it? Because we've seen, you know, you're not going to see,

like if you say NBA caliber, it holds a line man it is so difficult to get into the NBA and actually be a meaningful player in the NBA it is so difficult like you see guys that just dominate in college and they can't even play in the NBA they don't never even get the chance you know what I mean so but does it does it carry that no it's like it doesn't carry anything like that the the years have just shown that like some people are going to get looks in the UFC they're going to get their first real competition in UFC I mean that's going to be the way it is. And the reason being, like we talk about, what is there, 44 cards a year? There's so much content they have to put out. There's no way that you can hold that bar,

at least not yet. Maybe in the, maybe in the future, you know, it gets that competitive. But right now, there's just not enough good, like caliber fighters out there to fill the, to fill the schedule that way. Yeah, I can only begin to judge you if you move through the ranks a little bit. And then we're like, okay, now I have a clear sense. Right. Or clearer sense. from uh fran underscore 607 do you think the ufc believes listen to the question do you think the ufc believes that bisman and dc are good at calling fights together if so why would they think that oh man i believe they must believe it right like because they they they put those guys are on a lot of the broadcast so ufc production is very very good but you got to remember like part

of what they're doing here is just giving opportunities to fighters you know, who, who knows what they would be doing absent these opportunities, you know? And I think it's not the case with everyone in the same kind of way. You know, in other words, like some people are on the analyst desk. Some people call fights. Some guys call big fights, you know, so like, for example, D.C. is obviously coveted within the existing UFC brass to get a lot of the bigger assignments. He calls fights with Joe Rogan, right, for example. But, like, no, they're not good together.

like again like with this whole bit like hey this guy is really tall yeah he is like just these these weird relationships they have in that regard but more to the point like bisman talks too much i you know i don't have to say it like he just talks way too much and i know i talk too much so that's the problem i have as well but it really messes up the flow of everything and i you know it doesn't make it easier for the other people to do the job that it requires in my opinion you. Yeah, I think you're right. You know, there was like, and I, I know that like, if you've paid attention to commentary in other sports, and I mean, like, you, you, you've developed kind of a, a person's sense of moment, like how they, how they handle it. And you,

the great ones, they kind of get behind it, and then they say just, just enough. They say just enough to, you know what I mean? Like, and those things become, like, they become part of a classic call. And I don't feel like the UFC, John Anang's had a couple of good moments. They've, they've had good moments, but I'm saying we haven't had many of them. You know what I mean? Like there's been some epic things and I feel like they're usually in the middle of a sentence

or like they're just going on and, you know, it's too much. I would like it to be a little less over the gross. I agree. All right. From Matt Shredden. If you could have one fighter as a goalie on your team for the World Cup, who would it be? Oh, God.

I actually have a great answer for this. Okay. It might be like too good of an answer, but Roman Deleese played professional soccer for a few years, and he was a goalie. So that's like a clear answer, but a little long. I'd say John Jones. I'd say something like that, maybe. Yeah. Lengthy, athletic, you know, we're talking like his prime, not like the current state of things, but, you know, could cover distance, good eyesight, good defense.

Christian Leroy Duncan, he'd be like, I mean, a big long, lanky dude who can leap and. I mean, I don't know. That's a great question, though, because there are different kinds of goalies. You know, you watch that and there are different kinds of guys playing it. Like, the lead that looks like the kind of guy you might see in the World Cup, doesn't he? A little bit. Some of the better goalies are a little bit taller than him. Yeah, that's true.

That's true. But, yeah, like, he could do their job. But for me, it's like someone who's lengthy, good vision, good anticipation, you know, that kind of a thing. Eustry. what about that guy big tall are we yeah maybe maybe he just kicked the ball like a motherfucker all right from sticks plays time how big of an upset would it be if gary finishes finishes machochev at uf at ufc 330 it would feel par for the course for this year yeah no shit i mean the way it's gone like it would be like you know anytime and i mean nobody really sees especially within

the fight game sees anybody is invincible but the guys that are the closest that we have to that are just falling like fly. So it would almost feel like we're just following the, you know, the path here if, if that happened. I still think that would be a major, a major major, even with all the examples we've had with Ilya and some of the others, like, I just, I feel like that would be a major, major upset.

Current DK odds have Islam minus 345, Gary at plus 275. In that sense, Chuck, it's not like the biggest upset. Right. But, you know, for a guy like Gary, who's got minimal offensive. of firepower against the number one pound for pound guy in the sport. That would be pretty fucking huge, in my opinion. Yeah, yeah. Especially like just how Islam looked in his debut, you know, to win that title.

It's just like it's hard to imagine, but we've been through this a few times recently. I mean, we shouldn't be shocked, but that would still be very, I don't imagine that happening, you know? Yeah, agreed. All right. And that is it for our fan subs. You can get those to us on Sundays on Instagram. you can follow us there. Now it's the time for us to look at your artwork.

It's time for fan subs. All right. You've got mail. Viewers. All right, there's like a ship ton of these, so we've got to get through them. All I have is one that just says Chuck video. Oh, well, that's a video from our own Chuck Mindenhall. Let's play it for a second.

Check this out, Luke. Check this out. I just had to show you this was on Saturday in my yard. Bro, you got bears up in the... And watch this. Watch what he does here. He stops. You got to take a dump? Yeah, he takes a little dump here in the yard. I was waiting for my dogs to find this.

Dude, we had these like, you know, weird, weird skies from like, from the fires, the Canadian fires. And so it was like a weird, you know, yellowy cast, cloudy day in, like, all of a sudden I look out the window and this guy's going across the yard. I was like, damn, man. You got a big ass yard, Chuck. well you know you work in MMA writing about it and stuff like

of course you know who mows your yard my neighbor we got a man we got a man and he's very good he doesn't do it while I'm well I'm taping so I'm lucky yeah he's got sense all right from Jesse says apparently you weren't latchkey children who go up watching the limited cartoons available on free

to air TV I have included a helpful legend with character bios to help get this fan submission meme across the goal line Can you someone can you read this to me? Okay. So it says Luke Thomas as rabbit. Obsessive planner and resident expert.

Rabbit likes order, facts, and doing things the right way. He's brilliant, practical, and often finds himself trying to keep everyone else on track while wondering why no one else is taking things as seriously as he is. And then it says Brian Campbell as Tigger. A walking ball of energy. Tigger is loud, enthusiastic, unpredictable, and somehow turns every conversation into an adventure. Whether he's making jokes or taking the video. discussion completely off the rails everyone has more fun because he's around long island luke as

winnie the poo easygoing optimistic and impossible not to like thank you uh poo doesn't overcomplicate things he just enjoys the ride and somehow ends up at the center of every adventure anyway the heart of the group also clearly stoned and has the munchy chuck mindenhall as the owl thoughtful experienced and full of stories owl has seen it all and always has uh historical context or a thoughtful perspective to add who can turn any topic into an interesting conversation. And then it says Jed Mishu as Eeyore, the patron saint of dry sarcasm. Eeyore expects the world, delivers every line

with perfect deadpan timing, and somehow becomes even funnier because of it. Equal parts cynicism and comedy, he's the master of making pessimism entertaining. There you go. Pessimism. Whatever, bro. You know, a lot of big words in there.

It gets hard. That's pretty good for a high. high person though Luke yeah that's not bad yeah it's not bad he reads about as well as my seven year old daughter all right from Fernando he's got a tattoo and six figurine photos

it says saw Luke showing off some of his predator fandom so I'm here with my order of magnitude greater collection please rate my tattoo I don't love the tattoo if I can be honest with you it's not a bad tattoo but it's a lot

and yeah i i just don't love tattoos like this personally but you know teach his own doesn't matter what i like what else we got so you got the funco pops right yeah he's got those oh shit bro he's got the predator heat vision holy fuck genuinely getting excited about this is the best i love it yeah oh look at this oh my god man this guy's got some legit stuff That's very cool. Fuck you. I'm going to feed you to this guy. That's the predator from, I'm not sure, from like, Predator 2.

I'm not sure what that one's from, but that one's also sick. I cannot see that one very well. I don't know which one that is. That's the last one. Okay. That's still pretty cool, though. He had some good shit. You like the original Predator.

That's your jam, though, right? That's one of the best movies. So good. I love that. made. I don't get the fuck with anybody. That movie's amazing. All right. We got a meme from Declan. Watching

Main Card Minute, full card, watch along. All right. Reading a piece written by Chuck, a little fancier. Watching Luke show off the toys he bought. Look at that picture. That's hilarious. You know what? I'm just going to say something. I've been hosting this show under many different circumstances, including difficult ones. I've earned the right to show my fucking toys on this

show. That's right. My shit. How about that? I love these little coins. I worked the entire time on vacation. I didn't miss one. I haven't missed one fucking show this year. I mean, I would watch an episode of Luke Thomas Cribs, you know, like just you take us around and show us all that stuff. That'd be cool. Fuck that. Chuck, that's in one of the documentaries. Luke literally goes around

his office and he looks like a serial killer the way. Oh my God, I got to check it out. Yeah, I got to check it out. That's why I knew the Richard Ramirez was. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. From Ben G, we have a meme. What a midlife crisis looks like, what midlife acceptance looks like,

we're two washed old pieces of shit, I'll be doing the crack. This weekend, I'll be doing the crack. That's pretty accurate. I don't want, when I say this, I don't want people to like get what I say the wrong way. Like I, you should always work for self-improvement. You should always work for your health. You should always work for, you know, things that matter to you. Like, and that can keep you young and keep you interesting or just happy for long periods

of time. But I also think you need to just understand where you are in life. And I'm old enough where like, I don't care if people like the shit that I like. You know what I mean? Like I just, I'm washed and I know it. And I'm okay with it. Like it doesn't bother me at all. Like I had a chance to be young and it was great. And now it's someone else's turn. And I'm like, I get it, you know. They can watch those fools trip over their feet. It's better from elevation, you know. Yes. That's right. I agree. All right, we got a meme from Alex. Is that gone?

Oh. It's like hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. That's good. Not bad, not bad. Good Dana up there. All right, we got a meme from Jordan. I collect predator toys. I recently found a thermal vision Dutch.

It's so cool. It's not a predator, though. My former co-host is. I'm glad it says former there, not current. Got her look of discontent is like, put that back out. Look at her face. Just like, we'll get me the fuck out of here.

All right. Is that Jordan? We do the Jordan meme or any? Yeah, okay. From Jason, I thought the show needed a mascot, he writes. Eight-dicked walrus. Hell yeah. Dicks. Dicks everywhere.

Dicks. Dude, look at the top. Eight dicks, one legend. I'd root for the eight-dict walruses. Like, this looks like a good sports team or something. Yeah, that looks good. Look at his face. He's coming to commit.

crimes you know what i'm saying i love that one that's actually a pretty funny one yeah all right from bruce we got a meme he says given the current state of affairs i'm glad to see his years of training and tolerance building has finally paid off get this man some whippets and it says people who eat gas station hot dogs watching all the salad eaters ship themselves yeah brother this is bc's time to motherfucking shine up in this hoe the amount of people that sent this to me including you luke thomas to me and BC is ridiculous. I literally got said this by like five different people. It's so

funny. It's so good. All right. This guy usually puts up some winners. We got two from John McLean. Let's see what we got. All right. Shrek is good in Spanish. I still have to do that. Danny told me that shit. That's a thing. The next one.

Nobody. Danny Segarro on a Friday night. Oh, watching Shrek in Espaniol. Shrek is good in Spanish. Is that what he said? Yeah, he said it. That's hilarious. People from other countries, like, I don't know about like Germany or whatever, but from Spanish speaking ones,

there's a couple of them that they claim is better in the Spanish version than the original. That's hilarious, man. I've said this before. The big one that they claim that I just cannot believe, they claim that Homer is better in Spanish from The Simpsons. That's what I said. I'm like, dude, his voice is so iconic. How is that possible?

But they claim that. Wow. All right. There was two of them, right? or is that both from John McLean? We see both. Yeah, we had both. It was two damn.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, we have a NYCT has a four-part comic strip. Joseph A. Bank. Fush. What am I saying in the top right-hand corner? Give it a sec to pop up on my screen. Sorry, it says, and that's the third one. And then on the bottom is Bert Kreischer telling you want to hear a joke.

Okay. I'm running away from Bert. What do I say at the bottom? you say sorry everyone give it a sec you say what the hell squish squish it's cake lady definitely cake lady you wrote no no no no no she said want some cake

cake you said what is this I have to get home she said I made the the pants too oh my god you're skirting away it's pretty good it's very elaborate it's the lawnmower

of my neighbor yeah and he said I can I can mow my lawn whenever I want and you said oh for fuck's sake it's a bad day right there Luke that's an average day in my life you understand

dude I said this I said it to the boys on I don't know if I said it to you Chuck I should have I said it to BC uh some more because of you know the like the virus is going around there or like the parasites going around someone made a post on like you know there's like local dc media it's i think it's called city cast they just like a local outlet

that covers like local news yeah and they had like places like best places to have diarrhea in dc like if you're if you have diarrhea what are the best places to go and i literally and i set proof of this in the comments you can go check it out in the comments i wrote guys you're not going to believe this but the answer is Joseph A. Bain. And I went back to the post like two days later and I looked up and there were people in the comments being like, tell me your secret. Which one? We got to know. And I was like, this is going to be a thing. We need a morning combat. Do we have one like that? I have the proof of Luke's post on this. Hold on. There's the comment right there.

Dude, that's great. Hell yeah. That's that's, that's, that's, Still up, too. I didn't delete it. All right. Last but not least, from Spencer. Bong Island, here's one for you guys with a 500-point prop quiz question attached. I was watching a knockout reel and found the ice man in the cut. For the guys,

what fight is this from? And for super bonus points, what event is it? I'll put the answer below the photo. There's Chuck and you're next to the late Thomas Gurbese. Is that Thomas? I can't even tell. Is the guy who's got the tattoo on his back the same

one that has the Superman logo on his chest. Geez, possibly. I forget his name. I got to look at a photo of him now. This looks like Mexico City. Chuck, that is correct. It is Mexico City. Yeah. And yes, Luke, it is correct. The fighter does have a Superman tattoo on his chest. He fought with Safe Saute. I forget his name.

Yeah, I know this too. Jeez, I can't think of it. Can you think of who headline the card, Chuck? Yeah, it was Yair Rodriguez and Stevens. Yes, the eye poke. Yeah, because the place blew up when that fight was called. I mean, it was like pandemonium in there. Geez, I don't remember.

So it's Stephen Peterson with a spinning back fist. That's the one with the Superman tattoo over, was it, Martin Bravo, I think. Yeah, I would have not gotten that one. Yeah. Yeah, that's a deep cut. But that is Stephen Peterson's like only finish in the UFC, I think. So it is pretty memorable.

Martin, Bravo. Yeah. It is weird to see yourself a cage side of some of these events from the past. You could see BC all weekend. I know. He was right up there. And both of them, both of them, UFC 329 as well. I mean, I don't know if you could see him, but like he was up on the front. Like they give him the prime seat up there from being with Paramount. Yeah. Yeah. So there you have it. All right. You can always, good job with those. You can always send us those morning combat at gmail.com. And again, the best one all month gets a free signed poster. Chuck, what is the coverage plan for the week? I'll have some stuff up on Yahoo Uncrowned this week.

I'm not sure exactly what's all going to be happening, but I'll definitely be on the crack come Friday. You know, that's happening. This weekend, I'll be doing the crack. Yeah, rock. Yeah. Looking at Rock. So there'll be some good stuff up at Uncrown. What you got, Long Island?

You know, it's a typical fight week, guys. UFC Abu Dhabi this weekend, so I'll have a bed breakdown out. Hopefully getting the much anticipated rematch between Aaron Bronsetter and Jose Youngs on Prop Quiz this weekend. Otherwise might just be another random matchup. But, you know, Prop Quiz, full card watch along 9 a.m. start on Saturday. Going to be done by like 3 p.m. looking forward to it. Also, is that Gene this weekend, too? I think so. It's in your area, Luke. It's in D.C. It's in D.C. Yeah. I think that's this weekend prime time. So PFL and UFC don't overlap for once. And they're actually... I'm actually sitting down with

Dan Hardy for one of his PFL shows. Hell yeah. Let's go. How cool, man. Yeah, I'm pretty excited about that. So that should be a lot of fun. And then, yeah, you can catch my stuff on my YouTube channel, substack, or all the places therein. You can see all the socials below. You can follow us there.

I already mentioned morningcombat at gmail.com. Let's go now to remember our merch, morningcombat. Shop, all of the designs available, all until the, basically midnight of the 31st. You get them all re-released, 20% off, plus 50% off of all posters. And don't forget, a member with custom badges, emojis, and more. That is it. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. We really appreciate it for Long Island, for Chuck, for everyone on the show. We appreciate you so much watching. We'll talk to you guys on Friday. And until then, may all of your gains be loyal.