MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - UFC Qatar Preview: Tsarukyan vs Hooker | Muhammad vs Garry | Dana White’s Ngannou Claims

Episode Date: November 22, 2025

LT and BC take you into the weekend of combat sports starting with UFC Qatar, where Arman Tsarukyan faces off with Dan Hooker. In the co-main event, former champion Belal Muhammad fights Ian Garry, likey for a likely no. 1 contender bout. In boxing, David Benavidez faces Anthony Yarde in Saudi Arabia in a main event airing on DAZN PPV. Also, UFC President Dana White went on the Flagrant podcast where he discussed many issues, namely his ongoing feud with Francis Ngannou.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Do you want a margarita? My God. It's us doing what we love. It's time to bang. Oh, yeah, that Friday feel better late, right? Let's do it. It's morning combat directly. In your face hole, November 21st, 2000, and 25.

We don't need no Amtrak delays. We got our own technical issues to deal with here. I'm Brian Campbell, live and direct from the Hartford, Connecticut, suburb. uh yeah the Bd B the guy you know the dude next to me though the lumberjack is back yes it's Luke Thomas of Washington DC fame who's down to one shirt but it's a great one yeah I wore this on my live chat yesterday but the truth is I've never had a carhart shirt before I just bought one because it was real thick and I was at dick sporting goods trying to get something and uh dude this thing is like a little jacket I mean I've got like a different shirt on I showered this morning but like

okay I kind of like this thing can I be honest it feels not Luke, it's the official uniform of Luke Thomas streaming. So there you go. I feel like it's the official uniform of guys who are screaming on the inside and having midlife crises. It's the official uniform of Tristan, the cameraman. You're about to get rabid animals. No, the official uniform of Tristan the cameraman was the skin of another dead human

being. That's actually. That man has put the lotion in the basket a few times. Hey, today's episode of this fantastic combat sports program is presented by Draft Kings. Hey, draft kings, the crown. is yours shout out to everybody watching on the draft kings network shout out to all you youtube watchers live and of course the divorced dads on the audio only vibe stay with it stay in shape get back in the game all righty then please like and subscribe to this show uh it's been here a long time and it's

going to keep jamming okay to we we are here to bang indeed you can follow our youtube channels including some that are rather inactive but we'll see what happens there and also You heard his voice earlier, a quick hello to the third member of the team, a bong enthusiast, producer, director, son of a horned Aussie. Yeah, it's Long Island, Luke, no Cedar. And Luke, great to see you. What about, what about this main card minute, prop quiz, season two championship? When do we get to see who's going to face off with the B.C.?

It's going down in roughly two hours, 15 minutes-ish, 1.30 p.m. Eastern time, Jose Youngs, Ben the Bain Davis, winner gets $100. Winner faces you next week, B.C. So we're hyped for it. Great matchup. Tune in. Does it Luke Thomas?

You know the pedigree of those two. They're new school prop quiz champions where I was old school. Doesn't this feel a little bit like Amhois Gracie and there Matt Hughes? And I'm coming back. Sounds to me like you feel that way. I mean, Luke, I've pulled an upset or two before.

I don't know if you remember when we won the World MMA Award. I watched a, I watched Jeopardy almost every day, or most days anyway. And yesterday was one of those rare events where all three contestants got the final Jeopardy wrong. So that was very rain man of you, Luke. I support that. Wapner on after or what?

Wapner. You know, it's kind of funny. I put on Jeopardy yesterday and my daughter goes, Dad, why are you watching Jeopardy? And I'm like, because I like it. And she goes, yeah, but it's boring. I was like, well, it's probably why I like it, actually. It was ground-based M.A.

Luke, but we're still here, okay? war islam let's go yes thank you very much yeah all right uh i'm sure that we've got a great show for you today as we set the stage for really a loaded combat saturday from the standpoint of ufc cutter with a main and comane that you just can't miss in the lightweight and welterweight divisions and how about turkey alishik saudi arabia we're back in riyadh with the ring four card which gives us david benavides uh devan hayne bam rodriguez and a few others and some really big Look, you got to say, you got to say about old Versace Reno and the team over there. They're not always there when you call, but they're on time with this card.

It's deep and we need it in boxing right now. Card is pretty great, actually. The only thing that's kind of interesting is, one, regrettably, I get it. They're paying the bill because they're paying the bill. He who pays the Piper calls the tune, as my dad like to say when I was growing up. So the fights are in Saudi Arabia, which we get. I don't know how great that is for the American market, but whatever. Putting that aside, the one thing that I do think is noticeable, BC, very

quickly on this. Wouldn't you agree? Based on what people are talking about related to this card, Haney and Norman is the real main event. It's not the actual main event, but it's the real main event. No? It's a, it's like a virtual pickum still. It's a, oh, God, it's such a great fight. It's such a great fight. Yes, unbeaten versus unbeaten because the Ryan Garcia fight doesn't count. Um, yes, main event I'm into it's going to be a banger. The undercard card fights are great, but you're right. I'm here Saturday. Of all the fight Saturday, of all of them, including a Bala Muhammad, Ian Machado Gary fight that I cannot wait for, I'm most excited about Norman Haney. No doubt about it. Can I say, we'll talk about this later. I'm also kind of low-key excited to see what BAM looks like. But other than that, yeah.

Your opponent and Puma Martinez. And don't forget about Benavitas and Yard. They're going to bang, Luke. They're going to bang. They're going to bang. We're going to bang. We're going to see what happens. I think Yard's going to have some trouble, but we'll see. All right. We'll get into all that. The latest. this news as well. No John Jones talk today, so that's good, right? I saw, dude, I just, I can't do it anymore. I can't, by the way, have you noticed how he goes on like these podcasts that you've never heard of in your life? Yeah. It's kind of interesting how he

ends up there and like not the other conventional places. And explains how he fumbled the bag, but it wasn't his fall. You know, it's interesting. He meant, dude, you understand it's, it's three dimensional chess, brother. Yes, it is. He's trying to walk away from 30 million, even though he said he wanted you money. Because he's going to add that legacy with, with Poeton, you know?

I don't know. I don't know. I'm just here. I just work here. And the famous words of Habib Numer Grimadov, who cares, brother? Who cares? Number one bullshit. Yeah, yeah, I love that shit.

All right. Shout out to everybody. Let's go. Let's get into the show. It's going to start right here with topic. Number one, we're back. UFC fight night, but it's a very, very good card in Qatar,

the former residents of a very young Luke Thomas, and this road to Qatar in a UFC Qatar, or however you pronounce it, preview, brought to you by Total Wireless, the official wireless provider of UFC, get unlimited data that won't slow you down. Yeah, I'm talking about total wireless. The UFC does make its debut in Qatar, and with it, it brings a lightweight main event

that promises action to the Arab nation as Armand Sarukian is finally back after pulling out of that title opportunity against Islamad, Jev, when he welcomes a lot of refurbished and well-tattooed Dan Hooker for what could be considered, especially if Sarukian wins, a number one contender fight for Ilya's 155 title. However, they're battling for other things as well. So Luke Thomas, we want to hear about those other things. What lingering doubts or questions about either fighter does this bout try to solve as we get fired up for Sarjukian versus Hooker?

Did you see the ceremonial weigh-in face off between these two? I did not yet, no. Sarukian head butted him, head butted him. And the reason why I bring this up is, I don't think anything in the end happened. He didn't cut him. He didn't break his face. It wasn't hard enough to do that, although with a guy like Hooker who has pretty considerable scar tissue, just an incredibly boneheaded move by Sariukia.

Again, I don't think anything bad necessarily happened to the point where the bout is in jeopardy. But of course, you risk the bout being in jeopardy by just. doing things like that. And the reason why I mentioned is because it feels to me like people kind of know that Saryukyan may be that guy, but he is also in a bit of a probationary period in his career. He was supposed to fight Islam Makachev, I mean, how long, the beginning of this year, correct me if I'm wrong, we see, January of 2025. That falls through because of a reported back injury. Some folks thought it was the weight cut. He comes back a few months ago, previous to this present date, and he was able to be the backup for a lightweight contest

and made, wait, I believe this was maybe the fight between Ilya and Charles Olivera. And he did that no, excuse me, he did that no problem. But nevertheless, there are lingering doubts about him, about, you know, is he really? It's a 19 month layoff, Luke. 19 months, dude. Yeah, 19 month. It's been, I mean, an extremely long time. And so the point I'm trying to make here is people kind of know that he look,

like a physical beast. He gave Islam a bit of a tough fight in his, basically his UFC debut and has looked very, very good. But at the same time, you know, the fight against Charles Levera, he won Farence Square, but it was a bit of a dull contest, although he proved something. But nevertheless, they're waiting for this guy to get over the hump. They're waiting for this guy to be like, consensus, here we go. And you could have maybe said he was that guy after the Darius fight, but I think that win, not that it's aged badly, but there's a question now about the significant of what that means. The huge layoff is here. You know, he, he completely fell apart at the finish line and maybe for good reasons, but he fell apart at the finish line against Islam. And there's

kind of the sense of like, is this guy really got, does he have things dialed in ready to make a move at the top of this division? I'm not saying that headbutting Dan Hooker doesn't tell us or tells us that we can't get to that place. What I'm saying is stupid in its own right to do something like that and seems like just not understanding the UFC was seemed very upset with him that he pulled out of that fight against Islam whether they should or they shouldn't they're they are key masters just understanding what the moment is and how you're being perceived kind of important the headbutting at the face off didn't feel me with great confidence on the hooker side bc this was a guy who if you had told me oh he's going to face a wrestler even up to a year ago i'd have been like

well, you know, foregone conclusion about what's going to happen here. And if you look at the odds, I don't know what Draft Kings has them as at the present moment, but I can tell you. Yeah, what are they? Sarukian is a minus 650 favorite against the plus 470 hooker. Fair enough. I'll wrap this up. The point is he's a substantial favorite, Sir Yucan.

But in the case of Hooker really performed in ways I didn't think possible against Mateus Gamrott, don't want to play MMMA math, but he's got to win over Armin Sorukian and certainly has a very similar fight style. And so there's this question of at 35, Ken Hooker, who appears to still be skill-building and some of the areas we see that have been deficient in his game, can he do that again when the stakes are even higher? Can he actually get to a point where he beats two of the very best wrestlers in this division en route to a title shot at 35?

In a sense, he's halfway there. Yeah, Hooker comes in as the number six ranked lightweight in the UFC. Sarukian ranked number one. I think you're right what you say. Sarukin's 29. it's time it's time right now with this long layoff to find out who he really is we never got to see that rematch against Islam but again the idea of him facing ilia tuporia which you could argue should be you could argue should be the kickoff fight for ufc on paramount because i think it's very attractive especially when those two men have their shirts off look i don't mean to be a hashtag body guy for days over here but if my dad was here he would see a shirtless sarukin and say he's built like a brick shit house do you not agree are you not entertained dude this guy looks like an armenian hulk yeah first team all body brother if i'm like john annick if i look like that i'd be

shirtless uh at all time all day so he's he's a specimen four fight win streak as we know for sariuki and hooker as you mentioned at 35 he's resurgent with a three fight win streak the stoppage over clausio poeish play josh play play play josh that's right anthony play josh and also look though the last two fights he's coming off of split to Decision wins. I'm not not saying he didn't earn them, but that's the road he took to get here. So let's start off first by looking at the tense face off between the two of them. Earlier this week, outdoors in Qatar, where I'm sure it's hot as balls year round, Luke. What are those cones behind them, those large, I don't know.

Like Madonna in the Vogue video kind of. Yeah, wow, that is, you can see the size right there between them. Let's start with the odds here, Luke. Nearly, nearly a seven to one betting favorite. Now, I'm going to be straight up. I'm going to jump to the prediction. I think Sarukian beats the crap out of Hooker. I really do.

But I respect Hooker's durability. I respect his overall game. How the heck is Sarukian a six and a half to one favorite here? Well, it's just that. Here's the issue. The problem with Gamrod is not that he can't wrestle. He can wrestle quite well. The problem is that he doesn't have all the time as much ground and pound as you would expect from someone who's got that kind of control.

And on the feet, he actually can't. hurt you, but never seems to be able to build a offensive sequence standing on the feet that ever proves to be really decisive. Interestingly, BC, if you go back and you watch the Hooker in Gamrot fight, Hooker gets dropped, I believe in the first or second round, kind of like by almost like a, like a bolow punch from Gamrot that lands, but it was just the jab side that lands. And he catches intercepting the pressure, and it drops him. And he had some other moments where he had uppercuts kind of coming underneath the guard.

and stuff like that. So he can be vulnerable there, too. The thing is on hooker, as I mentioned, you go back to the two losses he had previously against Islam Makachiev. Okay, you lose into Islam, not the, everyone loses to Islam, basically at this point. And then he also lost to Arnold Allen, but that was when he tried to make that very foolish move to 45. He's always been a guy who's real lanky. He's always been a guy who had problems with the wrestling, but his ability to get up is better, his ability to defend takedowns are better. And he's fighting a little bit longer now, a little bit more strategically, putting things long range to put guys at far distances. Clearly, the odds makers don't think that's going to be enough.

They think that Sorukin is going to be able to overcome any of those things. But it does, it should be noted that Hooker has made real visible improvements you can see on screen. Just may not be enough against the guy of the caliber of Armin. Yeah. The main theme, as we keep saying, is can Sarukin get in line and finally show us how good he can be? We do have sound from Armand this week talking about. how badly he does not want to miss another opportunity at the title.

When I beat the Dan Hooker and not get any injured, of course I'm going to take the fight because this is title fight. And as I know now, you cannot turn down the title fight. So you've got to get there and get your opportunity in a fight for the title because you can fight maybe once in your life for the title. look he does a lot of things well he looks well he's a powerful puncher he's a very good wrestler but do you think uh to to linger back to our original question about the answers they need to solve with the layoffs with people labeling him a rich kid who didn't come up the hard way

and maybe with the attention to detail he puts in his instagram eating videos there's of this belief that he isn't wired exactly like cooker and maybe that's part of why i'm so surprised even though I ultimately think he breaks through and wins this dominantly, I am surprised about the wide odds. Do you keep hearing what I keep hearing that people question whether he has the fire to ultimately fulfill his potential? I think that questioning or having some degree of skepticism about whether he's fully dialed in both in terms of not so much physical preparation,

B.C., but to the point you raise about to what kind of extent he's got competitive fire to make the sacrifices necessary in order to get the very best out of himself. He's clearly very talented and he clearly works pretty hard and that clearly is going to take him a pretty long way. But when you get to the top, it's those small differences and those small margins and to what extent he's got the same kind of hunger and the same kind of focus and the same kind of willingness to really pursue things. Again, I'm not saying that he pulled out of the Islam fight for some kind of insignificant back injury. Maybe it was quite severe and he really had to. That's very much on the table, but it just feeds this perception of being a little bit easily derailed and not beaten, but derailed, a little bit easy to look at the jangling keys and not stay dialed in on what you have to do.

I think it's important, B.C., not just that he beats Dan Hooker or even like, you know, beats him up real bad, but what I want to see, a focused plan brought to action. a lot of times he just kind of does what he does and then lets opportunities unfold with what seems like a strategy but not a very particular specific you know hardcore dialed in kind he doesn't exactly have a plan contrast that with Islam it's not granted Islam's the very best in the world but he's got an extremely methodical game plan and every little piece of it and every little assignment he knows exactly where he has to be that's a high standard but think about the mindset and think about the mindset you have to have

to even pull off something like that. I would like to see Sauriuki and Edge a little bit closer to that kind of a side to really believe he can take this all the way. Why do you think, you don't have to go long on this, but why do you think this fight is the main event when it seems to be with the hottest division

being Welter Wade and Ian Machado, Gary, being a big, you know, on the verge of breakout star, Blah Muhammad, a former champion who's literally coming off of a title loss, why do you think that they ended up going with this as the main event? Um, I think there's a bunch of ways you get title fights from this one. If Suryukin wins title shot, if Hooker wins, you could give him a title shot.

But if Hooker wins, you don't have to and you can give him the BMF fight. I think that is very much on the table. Well, we can go to that quote tweet right now of him just real quick, just to see that, uh, if you can throw that up here's a tweet for, or here's a quote from Hooker that says, I beat Armin, I can walk in, fight for the BMF title or the undisputed title considering his rank sixth i mean this would be a huge win right i would think bmf would be more in his faith in more it likely but yeah but either way look what you can at least potentially arrange whereas if ian gary wins he still could very much

get a title shot from it i think that is absolutely on the table for him for bala mohammed if he beats gary maybe he gets back to a title shot but if it's islam i don't know how that works i don't i don't know if they would even allow it. More to the point, do I really believe that the UFC is going to have promotionally favor Allah Muhammad over Kamar Usman? Candidly, I don't think that they will. So there's less gold, so to speak, to mine in the co-main event. Yeah. Well, look, let's give hooker credit for the three-fight win streak, altering his game a bit at 35. Between 2020 and 2022, he did lose four of five fights. Yes, against elite a competition. Yes, that first loss was a fight of the year contender and one of the best action fights of this decade against

Dustin Porreier, but three stoppages in his next four fights against the likes of Michael Chandler, Islamachev, and Arnold Allen sort of showed showed us where he was, but where he is right now is in a very big spot. Here's Dan Hooker talking about fighters waiting around for title shots. The manager of Justin Gage said that if Petty Pimbley would get title shot before Justin Gage, Justin Gage will out from the spot, out from the MMA.

What do you think about that situation? You can't give Paddy this hotel, can they? No, I mean, it looks like they're probably going to you. It looks like they're probably going to do Paddy for the belt. But that's just, that's a bit ridiculous. Or if he gets a title shot older than you. Yeah, but you can't do that either.

just be like, I'm not playing anymore if no one goes. Like, you can't, like, you know how you get a title shot is you beat Amman Suruki and that's how you get a title shot. You beat the number one contender, you beat the best guy in the division, and you get a title shot sitting around and fucking pointing fingers and arguing who deserves it more. Just go out there and win fights. Go out there and beat the best guy in the division and you get a title shot. So, Luke, there was a lot of talk at Media Day there about the fact that the UFC changed

lightweight rankings and has Patty Pimbled. at number five. I believe our friend Christina Dutty from She Loves the Gloves was the one who started that convo and got Hooker a little bit upset there. But let's not forget, Hooker also on a 15-month layoff himself coming in here. But do you believe what he's saying might be true that they are positioning Patty since Gaichi's hurt. Sarukia needs to win one more. It does kind of feel like it would be Patty next for Toporia, no? I mean, it's a fight we kind of all want to see. I don't know. I don't know how to answer that one.

It doesn't take a genius to look at this and say, we already know that Patty Pimblet is promotionally favored. We already know that Pimbled's done a pretty good job of making himself have to fulfill a guy's promise to become promotionally favored, and then for that to mean something. And we also know that there is obviously heat between he and Ilyat Teporia. I can't really add much to the conversation beyond that. But, you know, this idea that like, oh, they might.

favor patty they already they've been doing that a long time uh this would be the last extension of it you know what i mean well by the way if we don't get ilia versus islam and i am starting to feel that that what we talked about after last weekend's card that it feels further away now or not happening i would love if the first three title defenses if toporia makes it through them are patty arm on and bsd i mean that'd be that'd be a nice little why are people high on bsd because he's the god of war you should get high on him too look okay it's a fun challenge he's good he's good he's not beating i mean i mean i okay but let me tell like this you're of the belief and i'm not saying you're wrong and you said it on monday show that ilia should not ever go up to 170 and fight

it's two that gap is too much size wise wrestling wise and we can say the only light white fight we've seen on the title level from elia is the the title win over olivera but didn't it look early like olivera's size was a problem these are full-fledged action tough as shit lightweights I want to see the challenge that yeah fine that's a fair argument well not the Charles Olivera one he didn't appear

overly strong to me relative to Ilya but in the beginning he was kind of he was having a little bit but what I would say is to the point where you raise like fighting true big lightweights like guys like BSD should he able

should he sufficiently climb the ladder totally fine fair that's much more competitive and i think almost actually to a degree you know number one versus number two pound for pound m a may is always going to be the most important but relevant and interesting because it's actually competitive uh the former than the latter all right let's get the uh betting take here from one long island luke main card minute no ceda we mentioned those wide odds plus 470 on hooker are you taking them odds no i mentioned i took arman in a parley uh i think he wins this i think it goes the answer from you is i

got this guy in a parley tell the people how to bet this fight let's all right well so what i did throw down on this fight which is plus money right now is the dan hooker plus 13 and a half spread it's plus 140 so if it goes the distance one judge needs to give him one round i think that's totally yeah if it goes the distance i think that hits i just don't know if it's going to go the distance the over under is set at three and a half and the over three and a half is plus money so do with that what you will but that's the only hooker bet i got here All right. Look, you haven't bet on a hooker since that time you said no to the Osborne train. And I think that was a good bet, okay? You know, I think that's a very good bet.

LT, who wins this fight? It's striker versus wrestler, but Armand can throw around two. What does it look like? Who wins? Yeah, that's the thing that caught my eye when I was obviously prepping for today's show. I was like, you know, let's rewatch this Gamrod and Hooker fight. And Gamrot was landing on Hooker several times, hurting him several times, some more than others. You know, but clearly having an effect busted his face up a little bit. I would just be very surprised if Hooker loses this. Sorry, I'd be very surprised if Sorukian loses this.

Now, one thing that Hooker did to counter the wrestling pressure of Gamrot was to go for that guillotine over and over that helped them stuff take downs or sometimes it was able to get back to his feet or even to his base. Something to pay attention to. Suryukin can be reckless at times, but B.C., he really should not lose this fight. He should be able to finish it. I just would be surprised if he doesn't. So you think he ground and pounds him out?

or he, I think what he might do is hurt him on the feet and then finish him off on the ground. Yeah, I think it's time for Armand to make a statement. I wonder if that is what fueled that moment in the face off. Look, look, we're going to get into it in that Haney Norman face off that everybody thinks Haney showed too much nervous energy and you're never really sure. I wonder if this is just Armand showing I'm serious this time. I'm coming to kill you. I know what's at stake. I'm getting that title shot.

So maybe. We'll see. We'll see. All right. I'm going stoppage there on strikes as well before the, uh, I'm going to go. third round there take it run it to the bank the blood bank all right let's go to that coleman event heck yeah former champion 37 year old bala mohammed going directly back in the fire after losing his world title to jdm he's going to fight a still overall surging 28 year old

ian mashado gary who was eight and one overall in the ufc two fights removed of course from his one loss against shavkat rakmanov that you can argue he got almost the most critical respect for how he behaved. He's also directly coming off a victory over Carlos Proustache that looks great on paper, but did see him have to truly scramble and hold on for dear life late to avoid getting stopped. Either way, this is a very, very important fight for the sports deepest division. As we look at the rankings right now, Gary coming in at number six. Blah Mohammed still ranked number two as the UFC likes to do

with a former champion coming directly off, keeping that high ranking. Our odds from Draft Kings plus 220, Bala Muhammad, minus 270 Ian Gary. This could be a number one contenders bout. So, Luke, what are the keys to victory in this contest? You know what's so funny when there's been a lot of criticism about Jack Dela-Madalina. We'll talk about this a little bit later in the show and the game plan or the execution of the game plan and what exactly was the problem. But BC, you went back before UFC 322 and you watched J.D.M.

and Belaw, right? Or did you review it? Yeah. One thing that I really noticed in that fight reviewing it prior to 32 was the footwork of JDM and not just the footwork in a sense of setting up angles, but the lateral movement. You know, we talked a lot. There was a big storyline made about how Ballal didn't shoot enough. And again, we've been over this, but we're not going to relitigate it. But one thing that I think kind of gets lost in this conversation a little bit is part of the reason that maybe Bilal didn't shoot as much as he ordinarily would have was many reasons one of them was the lateral movement of JDM in that fight of course he partly that's keeping range partly if that's stuffing takedowns

partly that's clinch breaking there's a lot of other factors that go into that one but he was on the move well BC who has faster feet and better lateral movement at 170 pounds than Ian Gary and the answer is nobody nobody does he is very quick on his feet. He is very good about fighting at range. He's very good about touching and going. He's very good about circling, changing direction. He also, BC, can do this in part because I believe that against the fence, he has very, very good takedown defense. A little bit less so in open space, but certainly up against the fence, he's tough to take down. This seems to me like it could be a problem for Belaw Muhammad, B.C. It seems to me that a guy who can do that kind of thing, who can

touch at long range, who can touch and go, who has good offensive and defensive footwork, fast feet, can throw with hands and foot combination, and it's tough to take down along the fence, that is the battle that Bilal has to be able to overcome. He has to be able to win that battle, some kind of ability to get Ian Gary up against the fence, which I do think he might be able to do, I'm not going to say with ease, but it will happen. And then he's going to have to find a way to then make that work, because if he can't, it's going to be real tough for him. here's one of my concerns and i wonder if you share it that a guy like gary might be able for the most part to control the offense or to bear minimum have belal fighting on gary's terms

because of the nature of the movement and the range he's occupying however what it might mean is that the fight kind of stalls out it gets a little boring true you know what i mean because he's just going to have a hard time getting offense going and gary's whole style against these pressure wrestlers is to touch and go. It's not to like, you know, stand your ground and really put up your dukes. What kind of fight do you get for three rounds? And what does Bilal Muhammad have in mind to challenge that? These, to me, are the central questions that are going to answer this fight,

depending on what we get on Saturday. Is this officially a three round fight? That's confirmed? Let me double check. Three rounds, yes. Yes, it's three rounds. Okay. I wonder what that means for if Bilal has trouble on the fee because Gary doesn't,

doesn't let you hit him easy i wonder what that means for him just try looking to spam takedowns look and if he i mean look i get exactly what you're saying here's the biggest question i have for you ultimately as we break this down because i'm i don't think i am luke a uh a fair uh you know a watcher of this fight because i do believe that gary will fight for a title probably wear one one day and you know we do have similar tastes in life luke but what did you learn ultimately about i and gary off of his last two fights which are the two fights on his resume that he fought truly elite opponents in Shavkat and also Carlos Prattish. What did you ultimately learn about what he, what he's like under fire, what he can do

with the highest look? Gary? Yeah. Kind of what I mentioned, I think that he understands his body type, he has a, and his athletic type, and he's got a style that naturally, that is, I would say, built off of that, which I do think is going to carry him pretty far. if you're if are if you're fighting a style that really caters to your athletic skills and your gifts as well as um you know what just they work together he's building an offense based of what he should be building an offense of

um you might ask for it to be more potent you know not everyone can have the punching power of carlos proches but what i would say is bc this is the biggest problem i've had with him and i've mentioned this a number of times. I mean, for example, for example, even though he lost to Shafkat Rokmanov, you consider where that fight ended, where Gary's on his back, but he can't quite get the job done. And he was able to, by the way, to also get MVP's back early in that fight without much resistance. He is very, very skilled and technical, both on the defensive side and sometimes even on the offensive side, especially as it pertains to getting quick attacks from the back and dominant positioning. But his finishing mechanics are just not great. There's been

a number of times he's been in really great positions to put very, very skilled guys away. Like he had him dead to rights and he couldn't do it because the mechanics were poor. And so when you combine poor finishing mechanics as well as, you know, not necessarily having torrential ground and pound in part because he's more of the back than occupy the top side. And then at range, he's touching and going. It's piecemeal offense. There's never like a real running, a current of offense. I think that's the issue that's going to hold him up.

B.C., he's skilled. He's athletic. He's young and he wants to smoke. It's the refinement of that last 10% of his game. If he can unlock that, he can be champion. He reminds me of Omar in that regard, although Umar does have that on the ground, it seems, but not necessarily on the feet,

that next extra level or layer. Let's hear from Bilal because he's been staying consistent with the big headlines, although he did not comment this week at Media Day, whether he believes Khashoggi had it coming. He did weigh in on Epstein, Luke. My future is bright, right? I'm training with young monsters.

Ignacio Ball Mondes is probably 28, and I think he's one of the best strikers in UFC. Like I said, I got a 17-year-old now. Natto's younger brother, who's a monster, right? It feels like the Epstein files without the, you know, the sex, right? I'm getting their powers through sparring and training. So it feels good. And I love training every day with these guys.

I'm learning from these guys and I'm growing so much from these guys their energy they bring it it makes me feel younger and I'm still young in the sport my body feels good every single day I wake up I'm blessed to be where I am right now

does that make him Jislane Maxwell of UFC look I don't get it dude what the fuck was that it's the Epstein files without the sex it's like uh sir that is

not an acceptable statement in 2025. That's the worst thing I've ever heard. All right. Well, he did make a prediction about defeating Ian Gary. And here is the response from Mr. Machado G. Balal has had a lot of success at doing what Balal does best, which is mixing it up. He should continue to try to do that. However, there is not a chance in hell.

that if he stays on the feet with me that he survives past five minutes there's not a chance in hell if you want the genuine reaction of what I believe that video is that's a man lying to himself that's a man who is playing reverse psychology

and is going to tell the world that he's good enough to do whatever he wants when realistically he knows he has to grab a hold of me it sounds like he's already making excuses I'm going to grab a hold and we're going to let him up so he's going to grab a hold him he knows I'm going to defend and do you see what I mean

you see the way of the thought patterns I'm seeing the big M at the start you've spent eight weeks what do you mean you've been thinking about this every day of your life for the last eight weeks you have an idea in your mind of how it's going to go you don't need to study you don't need to pause you don't need to have a breath I just think he's

he hasn't learned from his last fight if he has this approach so I think he's lying to the world I can tell you right here right now I'm going to beat him out anywhere I want but I plan on knocking him out in the first round I can promise you this right now Mike if he shows up and tries to box me

he won't land a single punch that's my promise to you right now there's a reason I look this good After, well, after this fight would be my 17th professional win. It's because I don't get hit that much. But I'll, honestly, I don't want to get irritated. But there's just no world where he shows up and tries to outbox me. If he does, he's an idiot.

Luke, let the record show that my love for Ian Gary does not fully cover the fact that he's very annoying on the microphone. But he did make some strong points right there. I mean, look, you know, Surukian's in a similar spot where they need a breakthrough, powerful statement win here to get that title shot. It's a little harder in a more crowded welterweight division. The best thing Gary can do here is do exactly what he's saying. Look to get that stoppage, but let's not act like Bala Muhammad has a lot of losses in the UFC. He's got won this decade.

Let's not act like he's not durable. How likely is this, Luke, that he could do this? I mean, he's going to have to turn it up a whole other. gear and really take chances. Yeah, I mean, I guess if Ballal is compromised right now or like insanely reckless, yeah, maybe Gary knocks him on the first round. Dude, one of the takeaways from the Balal and JDM fight was JDM was piecing him up and Ballal just kind of kept moving through it. And JDM is not a soft puncher. I mean, obviously he didn't get going against Islam. All right, whatever. But like in general, I think the record kind of shows that. And Bilal took his best

punches and kept it moving. I'm like, Gary's not really known as a heavy hitter. That seems to me just a bunch of pre-fight bullshit. I don't would it, would it be great for him if he did? Yeah, obviously, but I don't know how good the chances of that.

Long Island Luke, would you bet on that in any capacity? Would you bet on a first round K.O. at the hands of Ian Gary? Even a second round. I think this fight's going the distance. I don't know who win. Like, I'm leaning Ian Gary. I could see a ball all upset. but I feel like regardless it goes all three.

Yeah, I mean, we're just talking bullshit here. Yeah, I mean, that's like getting a law degree and never using it, Luke, you know what I mean? Like, like stand in, show us that power, Mesh you, all right? Let's go. Yeah, come on. We're talking about better call y'all. Yeah, well, I love that guy. You know that.

I mean, look, look, I mean, do you, are you angry at my, you know, affiliation with Ian Gary? I just believe in him. We both love Layla, him, the woman, me, the song, Luke, you know what I mean? You pick weirdos, but, you know. Oh, yeah. Me, so that makes sense. Well, speaking of weird interactions, Luke, we had one this week between these two co-main

event fighters at the hotel in Qatar. Let's watch. What's up? Good. Good. Enjoy your fitness. Let me come say hello. Have you, so you good?

You know, there's no amount of attention. It's a playoff. Have a great reason. Okay. That was a little weird. Well, all didn't, Ballal didn't want to do it. He was like, uh, you know, um, Luke, what does Belal need to do in this fight? Because he's at an interesting cross, like his record's great.

The run he went on to win a title. I never believed him in him along the journey and look where he got. I give him so much credit, but he's 37 and if he gets a second straight loss against an elite foe, we're talking probably about the twilight of his run here. What does he need to do to get a very important victory to hold serve atop this division? I honestly feel like, again, you know, very easy for me to say, oh, add wrinkles to your game at age 37,

but I really do believe it's kind of necessary. I believe that if he could really meaningfully add what they call, you know, well, there's different names for it, but the ability to do effective clinch work up against the fence, not so much i mean you have to mix in takedown attempts that'd be part of it you know you could add some judo in there to what the what the daghastanis do where they switch between you know different kinds of universes of takedowns i mean that'd be one thing but the other part two is just kind of mauling a guy up against the fence if you're going to be able to get a guy there

and the takedown's not there then you have to have a second answer right so the second answer would be either change the way you do the takedowns by adding these other wrinkles to it like the so justin flores style of what he calls walwaza that would be one one route you could take, or the other one would be to really begin to rough people up along that space. Like, you just have to go, you have to have offense where the fight's going to go. And yes, you can try and make it go to a certain place where you know you have offense, but you have to have a secondary gear to hit in the event that that's not possible.

And I know he's trying to use his hands at distance, but the reality with Ian Garry is he's going to be on the move. So you have to have one where it's a little bit more of control of him, an underhook, head pressure, he's being held and then being able to so start working something a little bit more particular. I think these are the kinds of things that are going to really give him an extra edge. But that's, you know, 15 minutes is not a lot of time against an opponent of this quality who's got this kind of movement. It's a tough fight for ball. I think it can be done, certainly. If he gets the takedown, it can definitely be done. But if it can't, it's possible still,

but this is to me the point of friction. Yeah, look, I think that what you teased earlier, the idea that this could be a boring tactical fight, not even a technical thriller, Luke. More of just, well, Gary controls the striking action, mitigates the times. He's on his back. Look, he's a large welterweight. These certain, like, skills, you know,

like he's very good at preventing you from having great success against him, from taking over the terms of the fight against him. I think this is a win for Gary. I don't see the breakthrough finish. It's been a long time since he had kicked D-Rod, especially at this elite level. level is a decision win, even if it's wide, is a decision win enough to crack the code in this larger title picture?

Because I don't know, for some reason, after Saturday, when the name Kamaro Usman got thrown around, I was like, I don't love it, but I get it. The further we get away from that fight, I hate it now. I don't want, I don't want Kamaru in there against Islam. Now after coming off of this breakthrough win, best fighter in the sport, look, I'll always get it, Luke, but I don't think the Buckley win should be the free pass to get here. tomorrow is 38 can gary do this without a breakthrough early stoppage where he gets on the mic and does some quasi-Mcgregor shit i i don't know i don't have a strong beat on that do

you yeah i i i don't think i mean i there's a lot of options look you got morales you got protest there's a lot the ufc can do here i just with considering that i don't want usman anymore look don't do it to me well i mean i agree i agree i agree but i just i mean the ufc might want it in which case it doesn't really matter what we say you know yeah all right here's the final word from gary about what he's ultimately going to do to bolal bala mohammed is a perfect example for me to go out and show the world how talented i am i'm gonna break him my goal on saturday night is to make it undeniable that i'm the greatest world to i walk in the planet right now Balah Muhammad is a perfect example

for me to go out and show the world how talented I am I just don't see him lasting very long I just don't see it the way I'm hitting the way I'm moving the power the vision the speed I just I'm gonna break him he likes to talk about being Balal's biggest strength is he's tough and he's durable

and he likes to get in people's face he's not gonna get in my face he's gonna be kept in a range and I'm gonna ping them out of him and bust his face open and eventually he's going to look for an easy way out and I'm going to give it to him it's going to be my left on my right hand landing on his chin and put him to sleep I mean it's saying the right things Luke I mean it's deliver it now deliver it if he does that I mean he's off to the races I just need to see something like that first I'm going to go Gary by decision I feel like you're doing the same same same I'll do exactly the same yep all right this this is for a fight night card we got some things to talk about I like this card Luke what else you love it What are you loving on this card? Well, there's actually quite a bit on this card. I don't, I'm not super high on the Usdemir Minifield fight in part because

Usdemeer, I think, has been good, but I don't know if we're getting the best of him anymore. Menafield is an interesting athlete, but a little bit of a donk, donkerson. Let's start with the interesting fights. Jack Hermanson down at Welterweight against Mike Tebeck or Biktebech Oralbite, a former light weight.

So we have a former middleweight and a former lightweight meeting in the middle at 170. A super strange fight. Oralby, an absolute hammer, who came off that nice win over Tafik Musayev, where he got I think the Camorah, if I'm not mistaken, yes, that's right. So that was a nice win. Obviously,

he had the blood and guts fight with Rombetsky, which was just insane. I don't know what it means for him to go to 70. I think he needs to, obviously, because of some of the weight cutting issues, but nevertheless, a strange one, I don't know what you're going to get with Jack Hermanson drained down to 70. 37 years old.

37 years old, he's going to cut down. Do you know he's alternated wins and losses for 10 straight fights? It's insane. And his last two wins, if I'm not mistaken, were like Joe Piper and Chris Curtis. Some decent names he's got on the list there. But nevertheless, that's a strange one. And they're both kind of grapplers. So we'll see how that one plays out.

BC, we have to say, what was it, 48 hours notice or something? Waldo Cortez Acosta, fresh off of the main event or commate or whatever the fuck it was against Ante Delia flies to cutter, makes weight, and he's taking on Shemiel Gassiev. What the heck? I'm okay. Then we go down, Keoggi Horaguchi's on the prelim card. What are we talking about? Or maybe it's still.

No, they moved them to the main. They moved to the main. Okay, fair enough. But for a while, he was on the prelim card. Taking on Tagir Ulambakov, who to me has had a couple of tough breaks in the UFC, not a hammer, but very, very well, very well-rounded, especially good with some of the positioning things. So that's going to be, I think, a tough grappling battle,

unless Horaguchi can really stay on his feet there. Or Gucci, I'm beaten in six straight, Luke, going back to that patchy mix loss in Belator. And then from there, it's a, you can just pick a lot of different ones. A guy who's been kind of an internet hero, Shem Rock is making, I think his UFC debut here against Norillo Aliyev. That's a fun one. Bexat Almecon taken on Alexandria to Poria.

That's going to be Ilya's younger brother. Dude, up and down this card, there's a, this is not an ordinary. fight night, right? It's the first time in this country, so they're bringing a bit of a heavy dope. This is like not a pay-per-view, but it's not exactly just, oh, we're in Atlanta this weekend. No, it's something one of those in-between ones. It's very, very good card. Long Island, look, let's talk from either a betting or just from a this man lives for the prelands standpoint. Is there a storyline or matchup that you're more focused on than others? Well, I was telling Luke, I was bummed about Waldo Cortez-A Costa stepping in, only because I had a bet on

Sergei Spivak as an underdog. I thought that was a good fight for him against Gazev, Gazeev, however the fuck you say his name. Uh, the fight they bumped to the prelims to put Horiguchi on the main Alex Perez, Asu Olmabayev. If you guys remember, Asu Olmabayev was my dark horse of 2025, you know, not the greatest year, but I need a dub from him here to solidify his spot in the top 15. Uh, other than that, there's some great, like, uh, local, not local, but, you know, middle, whatever you want to call it, guys. Yak Yaya, this guy's like the biggest favorite on the card he's like minus 1300 uh there's this other guy fighting nicholas dalby is zakah miaya i don't know man there's a lot of i was too am obliya if you love that guy yeah i just said that guy i know

i'm saying like this is great for you that's my boy uh either way dude i know we're coming off 322 one of the best cards of the year but this is like one of the best fight nights of the year too this is pretty damn good totally all right it all goes down in the also i'll be doing i'll be doing a watch along and post fight show for this one tomorrow excellent long out luke can we see you tomorrow on this? Yeah, full car, baby. 10 a.m. Eastern. Oh, my God. Leave the women and children behind for this one. Wow. It'll

take place in the city of Al-Rezan, Qatar, inside the venue known as Ali bin Hamad Al-Atia Arena. This is a suburb or just outside, like the outskirts of Doha, so it's basically Doha. Did you live near that arena when you live in? I don't know. I'm not sure where we

lived when we lived in Doha, but yeah. Are there pictures of you in Qatar? yes oh wow a young l t you were probably like a 38 pound baby at that point right just like uh yeah i'm not sure how because we lived who was born in india then we spent some time in japan and then we went to doha so it was a little while i'm gonna guess 15 pounds when i was born yeah no 10 and some change but still pretty big all right still pretty big looks still pretty big uh that goes down this weekend ufc cutter watch those gentleman's uh youtube offerings there i'll be on cbs sports hq after the

as well. Are you going into studio? No, not for this. No. I'll be from home. This podcast sponsored by Total Wireless, the official wireless partner of UFC, and you already know when you're streaming the fights

and you're sharing those takedown highlights with your broskis, you're going to need a wireless provider that keeps you close to the action. But with Total Wireless, how close you want to be? You're covered with the Verizon 5G network. So you don't have to worry about your connection being caoed during those biggest moments. And while I don't normally go around saying, you know, my wireless provider, got my back. They're my coach in the corner. The thing is about total, they are in your corner every

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I'm going to tell you right now they are. In fact, 5G access requires a 5G capable device in a 5G service area. Monthly rate on the total base 5G on limited plan for new subscribers applies only to the monthly rate for your plan. Additional terms apply. hey see the website for more details topic number two time uh ufc cutter somewhere near there on that side of the world we're going to get a huge boxing event in riyadh as turk alishik ring and company present ring number for a loaded de zone paper view card uh offering in the main event

david benavita is defending his light heavyweight championship his title against battle tested anthony Yard. We're also going to see some big fights. We'll talk about like Haney Norman, the return of one Bam Rodriguez, along with the hot prospect Abdullah Mason in his first title fight. But let's start at the top right here. Anthony Yard has racked up four consecutive wins to get to this point. We've seen him give big time names like Sergei Kovalev and Arter better be of trouble in big title fights. He may look as like just a muscular slugging brawler, but there's something about his ability to hang in fights and make it difficult for his opposition. Could this be a fight for David Benavitas that catapults him into unification with

B-Vol, a showdown with Better BF? Well, he's got to get through Anthony Yard first. So, Luke, when you look at the road that Yard has taken to get here, what is still out to you as the most impressive to make you believe that he's actually got a shot on Saturday? I don't think he gets a shot on Saturday. Well, let me tell you the odds from Draft Kings. Minus 900 Benavitas plus $5.50 for yard. Yeah, I mean, here's the thing, right?

So he, the last win he had, or for someone with a Wikipedia entry, was Lyndon Arthur, who he originally lost to, then he was able to avenge it, and then there was a rubber match. And that was the last one. That was his fourth win in a row since losing to Better B.F. I thought he gave Better B.F. a tough fight for as long as it lasted B.C., not closer to the end, but maybe the first, I don't know what do you want to say, five, six rounds. he was kind of hanging in there and making him work for it a little bit

got marched down closer to the end there and that was that you know I just feel like Benavides is in a bit of a different category I think the thing that I'm looking at BC is less about you know who's going to have the better gas tank down the stretch I think it's going to be Benavides who's got the better I should say

who has fewer miles on them yard has kind of no pun intended BC has kind of been through the hard yards in his career a little bit more to this point I think you mentioned already but yard is what how old is he 34 right and i think he's not over the hill but you know he's been in some real tough uh outings during the course of his run in a way that benavides hasn't really he's benavides has done a lot more dealing and has had a lot i think fewer pressure situations that have been put on him i think that's part of it i think the hand speed

for benavides and the combination punching is simply going to be too much but the issue with yard is He is big. He's hugely muscular. He looks like a bodybuilder in, you know, in boxing and clothing, so to speak. And I do think can punch and it certainly has great experience, B.C. And I think these are the things they're going to have to make Benavides work for it, especially because there's been a little bit of a concern about whether or not Benavides has punching power that's really substantial in this weight class. He throws with enough volume and in enough combination where he gets guys to just kind of try to find an umbrella under the rain. but he looks like he might be lacking a little bit at 75 BC. At least there's been some suspicions that he doesn't have the same kind of punching powers he did, you know, back at 68.

And when you get a guy like Yard, who is especially big for this weight class, there might be some buffering in that particular space where, you know, we don't really know what the answer is, but could Yard hang on underneath and then, you know, find big opportunities? Certainly seems possible. not very likely in my estimation, but I think this might be some of the places where it's either one or loss.

I'll give you that. I really think the co-main event is the main event or the people's main event, as Ariel likes to say, I think this main event is going to be fun, the Benavita's yard. I think it's going to tell us things like you mentioned about Benavita's a light heavyweight, remember. He does have two impressive wins in this division,

but one came against a former champion. What was that guy's name, Luke? Just fell off the side of my head. Who? The guy he beat in the PBC card to win. Buzz, thank you. The former title holder who's more of a technician, but definitely world class.

And then he beat David, unbeat and David Morel in a light heavyweight in which they were both essentially blown up super middleweights. But you've got to give Benavita's credit at 28, 30 and O record, not being overly focused on waiting in line for Canelo, has moved up to handle his business here at 175. Like I said, this should be if he wins the catapulting fight into either a B-V-F fight

that I'm sure Turkey is going to really showcase. feature on a very high level. But we do need to see him against the legitimate physical light heavy weight, and that's what yard is. I think the problem with yard, despite his 27 and three record, and despite the fact that he did give, you know, like we mentioned, Kovlev and Better Be have trouble, is he doesn't have a signature win.

I mean, that Lyndon Arthur win was a rematch of a split decision loss. He doesn't have a breakthrough win around that. He's really built his reputation on a world level for what he's done in defeat by being durable and by staying dangerous. with the power, but that is a test we need to see Benavita's pass. So let's see the two of these guys show off at a workout so you can see what you're looking at there. There's Benavitas who look, don't forget, he said he's going to move it to cruiser weight

and then heavyweight before long. So we don't know how much longer we're going to see him at light heavyweight. And look at this fellow yard. No, no, that's Abdullah. That's Abdullah Mason. I'm not sure how that happened. Sorry about that. No problem here.

We can pull that. But speaking of Canello, who let's be fair about breaking news. here, Luke. It was reported today that Canello has said he wants a rematch with Terrence Crawford and that they were currently negotiating that for a 2026 super fight. You'd have to guess it would be on Netflix. He believes he could get, you know, he felt the same way when he lost the Beavall, by the way. Here is Jose Benavides, senior, the father, trainer, manager of Benavitas talking about Canelo's ducking. If he faces David Benavidas, guarantee he's going to go to the hospital. Conello was a body in day.

David for a long, long time, five, six years. What makes you think that he wants to fight David now when he got stronger and better than Canelo's declining? You know, the body's not the same. The reflex are not the same. I think my best advice to Canelo is, you know, retire, you know, because at the end of the day, he's done so much for boxing, you know, and the body doesn't want to go anymore. You know, I hear that they're going to have a second fight with Teres Crawford.

I think it's going to be the same thing. Terescroft is going to beat him again, you know. Like I said, you know, Terescroft, I don't think he can hurt Conello. It's a little guy. But I think the outcome is going to be the same. So if he faces David Benavides, guarantee he's going to go to the hospital. Damn, tough words right there, Luke. Do you agree with that?

Yeah, I think that's about right. I mean, it's tough love, but it's, I did, no lies detective for me. I don't think there's love there. Yeah, but, I mean, do you not give Canello a chance? to beat Crawford and the rematch? Fuck no. Fuck no. No. Why would you? I'm not saying I love that fight. I do think he can fight. Are you serious? You want to see that shit? I know, I'm not saying it's my first, no, I would rather see Crawford look to become the

undisputed middleweight champion, but I understand, I understand it. Um, no, I don't want that Luke. B.C., I overstand. You understand? I overstand. That fight was closer than people remember. That's what I'm saying. okay on the judge's scorecards not in actuality did crawford overwhelmingly show that he was the better fighter than that fight ultimately yes but it came through close rounds and in in some challenge caninello do better than that did he underestimate crawford i think i think if he comes back and looks to make it a real fight like fight him full on mexican style not try to box him not try to you know then it's a different fight then we it could be exciting i don't know

I'm trying to talk myself into it. Maybe not. Okay. Look, if Benavita stops yard, he makes a big statement. Either way, he needs a win here to step up to an even bigger fight to where we really find out where he's at in this division. Let's talk about this co-main event. Oh, my God, is it awesome.

Brian Norman Jr., the unbeaten American, the welterweight title holder, one of the more underrated fighters in this entire sport. He has the WBO strap. He's 24 years old out of Greater Atlanta, 28 and 0, 20. 22 KOs, but he's stepping up undoubtedly to the toughest challenge of his career to date in Devin Haney. It's why Norman opened as a betting favorite. It's why it has closed to the point where it's basically a pick-um right now on draft Kings, minus 110 for Haney, minus 110 for Norman.

I saw last night, Norman was a slight, slight, slight betting favorite, although they were both in the minus here. Luke, this is a great matchup of the power. of Norman and the slickness, the boxing skills of Devin Haney. But let's not act like two things that are going contrast to each other, but are both true. Number one, Devin Haney doesn't really have a huge track record in this division. He lost to a roided up and crazy Ryan Garcia in a fight that's now a no contest. He, yeah, outboxed Jose Ramirez in Times Square, but took the, you know, leased path of full the full path of caution is possible but simultaneously he's one of the best most

skilled palm four pound fighters on the planet even if people don't like the way he reacted to the ryan garcia fight with the lawsuit and all of that i can't figure out who's going to win this because there's times you feel like you know what norman's a guy you don't mess with if haine doesn't have the power in resistance at 147 against a true welterweight slugger he's going to have issues. Then the other side of me remembers just how skilled Haney is. Where are you leaning right now in terms of how you feel narrative-wise? Who has the edge coming into this matchup when you look at their two skills and the sort of narrative surrounding both? Do we have the video of the face-off? I don't think you grab that, Luke. Damn it. There's a face-off

between them at what was it uh media day or at the press card out yeah press conference whatever it was it was some kind of media event between them there was a bunch of stuff i wanted to pick bc of bc of brian norman senior and bill hainey arguing but there was constant rap music playing in the background of the video which would get it flagged and so i couldn't include it unfortunately uh i'll say this bc there are a lot of people who don't know who brian norman junior is and there are a lot of people who may have seen his high over Jin Sasaki where he the guy goes for a sort of a dipping jab and then comes back up and Norman just greets him with a gigantic like leap almost like a gazelle punch from Hagler

knocks him out cold in a single shot like it was absolutely brutal we had him on the show here Brian Norman not long after that fight he was great yeah fantastic guy born my born my sophomore year of college oh my god we're old all right but the point I want to make me is BC I I I don't know that he's got the track record in terms of elite opponents that Devin Haney does. And Devin Haney, you can say he shouldn't have deserved, he didn't deserve to beat Lomachenko. But, you know, he gave Lomachenko, I thought, a credible effort in that fight at a bare minimum. And certainly you can score for him too. The one I'm trying to make, though, is if it was just down to that, I would be like, well,

Haney's better. But there's two problems, as you indicated. One, the weight class, right? I just don't know exactly. Haney for his part, from what I've seen during fight week, looks to be in incredible shape. We'll see what that means. But there's still some mystery there. Two, and this is the big one to me, he might be damaged goods.

He might be damaged goods. That left hook assault in the Ryan Garcia fight just leaves questions about, one, his technical preparedness, and then two, what it actually did to him. because in his comeback fight in Times Square, let's just be honest, he didn't look great. He looked flat. He got the job done, but he looked. I don't think he looked flat.

I just thought he looked completely unwilling to engage with an aging former champion who was there to be hit by him. Fine, that's a better way to put it. Flat maybe isn't the right word. Yours is a better description. But he didn't look, how about this? He did not look especially potent offensively to me. And he didn't look like he was willing to be in that line of fire,

as you described, in ways that he previously had, which two degrees understandable. given what he was up against. But anyway, I'm just pointing it out. But Brian Norman looks like calm, composed, ready to go in the zone, in the moment, just sharp as attack BC. And there's this faceoff they have where Brian Norman doesn't move. And Devin Haney is doing, I don't know, Fortnite dances in his face.

How would you describe that, B.C? Well, I mean, like we used to say about Holly Holm having nervous energy where when you see her in faceoffs, you know, even the Ronda one, where now in hindsight, we look at Ronda being, you know, trying to make herself psych herself up that oh she looks nervous i can't figure out here if this is just nervous energy from hayne to fire himself up or if this constant weird movement in the face off is is telling because every time norman is in a room with haine he looks at him as if that's his next meal yeah he looks at him like he's got looking at lunch and the other part too is bc and i you know take this for what it is worth which maybe is nothing however just kind of scanning what what like

people I would consider to be boxing heads on social media or saying they're all kind of creeping on a come up here they all kind of feel like Brian Norman's about to surprise the world there there is clear chatter that they think this is his breakout party and again take that for what it is worth but insiders seem to think that Brian Norman might have a big day tomorrow it's tough to figure out man I mean Brian Norman has not fought somebody on this level can Haney prove at Welterweight against a guy who is going to be there, is going to be in his face that physically he can handle it. Let's hear from Devin Haney talking specifically about why he moved up to one four seven. Just more of my natural self, more of, you know, who I really

am. Um, and, in, in past fights, you guys see me, you know, as a, more of a shell of myself, uh, because, you know, I was killing myself to make the weight. Um, I feel a lot better. I feel a lot stronger and I'm excited for it. Luke, I'm, I'm, I actually believe him on those statements. Yes. I didn't, I didn't love his unwillingness to fight with Jose Ramirez, who is kind of past it. I thought that could have been a huge showcase for Haney.

Yet I saw that physically, speedwise, moving, all that was there. I mean, I know how good he is. I'm seeing this more often, you know, whether it's Islam moving up and then you see suddenly he's got this gas to wrestle for five rounds or roly talking about at you know one 30 one 30 or 135 and 140 those weight cuts left him without punch resistance and he didn't look the same then he moves up against welterweight in a weird fight against ryan garcia but he's a different fighter i wonder if that plays into this whether people are just really overlooking how skilled devon really is and now fully hydrated or or close enough will we see a

different type of fighter i don't know norman is scary here's brian norman with a cold assessment of the game. If my last opponent could do the same thing to me, I bet he would have. If he could not six weeks out of me out of my memory and things of that nature, I'm 10 times out of 10, I bet he will have. So really, there's no remorse in this game. It's a cold game. It's a cold world.

And that's the beauty of it all. Really, the power's in your hands. As in your, whatever you want to do tomorrow matters today. You take control. So I can't hold myself back because of somebody else. Because I know for a fact, if they had the opportunity, they don't care if I die. Of course, they'll come on these cameras and say, oh, man, I feel so sorry for him. I feel so bad for him.

But guess what? Day life goes on. I'm dead and gone. Just that easy, just that quick. So, hey, it is what it is. I got to go out here and get my. Dude, he's so easy to like. Seriously, he's cold, direct.

He's 24. He's referencing the fact that Jin Sasaki had weeks of his memory taken from him by virtue of the K.O. that Brian Norman laid on him. That's what they're reacting to. I mean, it's kind of perfect. Brian Norman looks like a potential great. We just haven't seen him prove it yet. So we really don't know exactly how great he is.

Whereas Devin Haney, I think people are labeling as damaged goods. Where I'm here to tell you, Luke, ultimately, I don't believe that Devin Haney is damaged goods. I think it's somewhat similar to that, you know, saying in baseball that great pitching will always be great hitting. I feel that about the highest levels in boxing where great defense and great technical skills and movement. can ultimately be exciting young power, but somebody who hasn't fought somebody this good yet. Even with the questions about Haney in this division, I can't not, from a betting standpoint,

I can not, not, not, not. I can't do anything but put money behind Haney. The more proven product, I want to see how he looks in a tough fight at this weight class without having to cut down. I actually think this has all the potential for Devin Haney. At times, he's going to have to, avoid yes he's fighting a killer in there he's going to have to do some avoidance movement all that

but i think he's going to showcase showcase his skills and talent against norman i like norman to win oh fuck it finally we finally we break apart i'm gonna i hated what i saw from hainey in his last fight to the point you wrecked you bring up there's a lot that's unknown about brian norman on this stage the bright lights the whole nine yards nine nine excuse me uh And I hate that both of them have very loud dads. Yes. But at the same time, Brian Norman is on one right now in a good way. And I'm going to take a flyer on him.

Look, it might be in the situation where he just hasn't gotten those names yet, but he gets in there. He shows he's a killer. Haney, though, in sick shape, Luke. Amazing, amazing. He's always been in good shape, but it's like even another degree or two from even some of his better. And he's a weird dude and all that. I'm not going to deny that.

he's not always overly likable but people i think have always slept on just how skilled he is i mean isn't it insane that ryan garcia was in having a manic episode saying the most insanely racist things you've ever seen in your life clearly cheated in numerous ways prior to that fight uh hainey did underperform obviously and then had to be the most hated man in boxing for a year i know i know i got caught up in that but you know what i'm starting to realize luke I don't think it was really as much of a, even though he was getting hit with the same punch against Garcia. At the time, I'm like, how is a fighter in Haney who's this defensively responsible, this technical, this much of a great athlete, how is he getting hit with the same

damn punch over and over again? I'm like, there must be a defensive hole. I'm not wondering if just the, you know, the PEDs and the craziness made Ryan, who's already one of the most athletic and as one of the quickest, most dangerous left hooks in the game was just that. much more insane with it considering the drugs and what was going on let me say this i don't want to speak for him so and i haven't heard his breakdown of this fight but you know one of my favorite you know you guys know i love viny paz from jedi mind tricks he has a boxing podcast called knock him out the box and again i i don't know what they said on this podcast but i know in previous fights bc and by the way he's a he is a believer if my memory is correct that lomachenko did not lose to haini

and that he thinks that Haney is a good fighter. He doesn't bag on Haney. He's not insulting to him, but he doesn't necessarily buy the idea that Haney is one of these guys that's destined for boxing greatness. And in fact, I think he's very skeptical of that claim. If his assessment, and he's got pretty good boxing knowledge,

I would say, if that assessment is correct and he's really not that guy, then I think what you're going to see is Brian Norman potentially go to work. Now, again, who knows? I'm not a boxing official auto will have to see. I'm just trying to point out, This is what I mean when I say, like, what do people who really pay attention to boxing think?

They think that Haney might be in for some trouble on Saturday. We'll see. I mean, like, Sean Porter has gone on record like crazy saying Haney's damage good. He's good. He's going to get blown out. I mean, it might not be. Look, the history of Haney in terms of facing a real puncher and being in tough moments is not always great. There was the Linaris at the end of the fight, Lenaris fight where he got hurt and was basically running the final rounds.

Of course, there was the Garcia fight. but he did keep getting up against Garcia. And, again, I'm wondering what those weight cuts did to his durability. Hey, we're going to find it out on Saturday. Look, quickly on those other two fights, they are top shelf. I really want people to realize this. Jesse Bam Rodriguez, the young pound-for-pound top tenor from San Antonio, will enter a unification fight at Super Flyweight against a very, very tough out in Argentina's

Fernando Puma Martinez. The odds won't tell you the real story on this fight as it's minus a little. 1100 for BAM plus 650 for Martinez. But you could argue from a hardcore standpoint that this fight is almost as good as Haney versus Norman. Both are unbeaten. It's a very, very, very real fight. Puma Martinez, 34 years old, 18 and O, does not have the power of BAM.

And that's probably the ultimately the difference here in the odds, but has faced very good competition, twice beat Jirwin Ankihas, twice beat Cizuto Ioka. this is a real showdown down there at Super Flyweight that can't be missed. And Luke, how excited are you to see your guy, Abdullah Mason, step up to the title level here for a vacant belt against Sam Noakes. Mason is 19 and O. This is for the WBO lightweight title, the one, of course, that Kishon Davis was forced to vacate here.

This is also a very interesting clash, but I do think more suited for Abdullah to show us exactly who he is and maybe even show off in this one. Yeah, this is one of the ones I want to see him take his time. That's what I kind of want to see because usually he just blows the doors off of people. I'd like to see him again. There's such a difference to be seen with people. Oh, so-and-so won fast.

That's great. Winning fast is important. Can you win fast and methodically? Not just like, I'm just going to do my thing and let it go and let it rip and then see what happens. Nah, no, methodically. That's what I want to see. So we'll see how it goes. The 24-year-old question for you.

Question for you. Yeah. Are these events overlapping? in time because they are taking place essentially in the same region. So I've seen that the Cutter main card for UFC will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern and I've seen that the

main card for boxing will begin I think at 4 p.m. Eastern and I saw Coppinger tweet that the main event walks are expected around 7 p.m. So maybe not. They might not overlap. There's going to be no overlap of these like main

four boxing fights. There might be overlap. Are there fights before these four? I mean, there's the prelim card. That's what I mean. So that might overlap because I saw coverage starts at 3.30 Eastern, but I saw the first, like, Abdullah Mason's ringwalk was like 630 Eastern or something. Okay, okay, okay. And by the way, the should be okay.

The Mason fight is, uh, the odds are closer than the others minus 350 Mason for the plus 260 noaks who is 17 and O fighting out of the UK, but not a killer. I think Mason gets this done, but we got to see that. And I do think by the way, Bam gets it done. I'm just telling you that's a real fight right there. All right. All you people that hate boxing, let's get into topic number three, back to the MMA side. We're talking about UFC President Dana White, who went on the flagrant podcast where he discussed many issues,

not the least of which is his ongoing feud with one Francis Inganu. Dana would claim that Inganu once put his hands on Dana in the UFC offices. And this sound, this accusation was so huge that it's so spicy. Yeah, you know what's coming. We had to call our friends over there at Cuervo for a little something that we like to call Shots Fire. Shots Fire, brought to you by Cuervo

now is a good time to enjoy the tequila that invented tequila. Let's hear from Dana White. I guess the one I will tell you is, you know, everybody has this thing about Francis and Gagnos. Francis and Ganyu is a bad guy. He's not a good guy. He plays the whole, I don't understand the language,

and he tries to come off like he's a fucking nice guy, you know what I mean? And people go, oh, the language barrier probably, no, there's no fucking language barrier with this guy. He's a bad guy. And I told my guys, you know, I wanted to cut him early. And two of my matchmaker guys are like, oh, no, you don't understand. I said, guys, let me tell you a story. When somebody shows you who they are, believe them. believe him and this guy has shown so he's going in to fight stepe meochich in boston and uh he knows

he's going to fucking kill stepe right so after the press conference uh we're walking down this hallway and he comes over me and he grabs me and he says uh let me tell you what's going to happen his english is fucking great okay no language barrier whatsoever when this fight's over you're going to book me a private plane to Paris and I said I laughed and so yeah he goes I'm not joking

you're going to book me a private plane Paris so okay so we go our own ways Steve Miochich beats the fucking shit out of them so that ended that whole conversation

and he had just fought and he comes up to my office and, you know, he's in the hallway or whatever, hang. And I said, come on, what's going on? And he was pissed off that he didn't get a $50,000 bonus in his last fight, that he didn't get the bonus of the night. And I said, well, Francis, you didn't get it because this, that. And he's in my office and he's arguing with me.

And I'm like, yeah, this guy got this, this guy got that, and this is why. The conversation's over. I'm starting to leave. and he grabs me by my shirt. Fuck. And, like, pushes me back in my office. And I said, dude, get your fucking hands off me. Those were the words that came out of you when Francis and God grabbed you by the shirt?

Yeah. So, Luke, let me frame it like this, to be fair. We did take Francis's side in the great Dana debate. And I think from the clues we had, rightfully so. And I do think Francis has an incredible story crawling through the Shawshank, you know, crap tunnel to get out of his contract. and to secure what he was looking for, freedom, big time money, he went over to boxing. But maybe we've been souring a bit of late from PFL accusing Francis of not doing what they

expected for everything that they gave him, the fact that he's only fought for PFL once in like the three years since he's been there. What do you make of Dana White's story? And do you believe it's time to consider that to some degree, not that we were wrong on Francis or just that we didn't have all the info or how about it? We were wrong and that Francis is maybe a less reputable character than his origin story seems to create this, you know, hero myth around him. We were wrong about Francis in what way?

We did frame him. I mean, I don't know the guy, right? We framed him as this great guy. To be clear, have you, have you interviewed him before? Yes. I think he's a very polite and. Yeah, I've interviewed him. I think one, maybe two times, something like that.

I've interviewed him a bunch, yeah. I mean, here's my point. Okay, I cannot imagine a character assessment less interesting or relevant than one given by a MMA or boxing promoter. I mean, I just can't, I mean, who on earth would treat that as like some kind of illuminating character assessment? I mean, you're talking about, I mean, he calls, he calls Francis a bad guy. it's like dude you got a lot of bad guys on that roster and you do business with them you've got guys on the roster who have to get ankle monitors removed by a judge so they can show up to fights you've got guys who in major headline news were adjudicated civilly to be liable for the sexual assault of various victims and when asked about it treated it as if you know couldn't couldn't imagine a more irrelevant question they continue to

to do business with them. I mean, I could go on. I mean, they're probably going to sign Gable Stevenson, who, you know, if you've never looked into the stories about how he avoided issues in Minnesota due to a loophole that has now since been closed related to sexual assault, or at least alleged, I should say, go take a look. I don't think he's got any kind of a problem doing business with bad guys. And more to the point, even if he says it's a bad guy, I mean, can you imagine, B.C.,

I made this point on my life shot. Can you imagine someone like Oscar De La Jolla trying to be like a character witness for or against somebody? Like, oh Oscar says that guy over there is a scumback. Who cares? Who cares? Like Oscar's assessment of this is

irrelevant. It doesn't mean anything. Now, that's not me saying that Dana White is lying. I don't know if Dana White is lying. And in fact, BC, what I can also say, and I think you'd probably agree, if someone came to you with like a blind test and they were like, Hey, an MMA fighter did this to Dana. Do you find that plausible?

Sure, sure, I find that plausible. This world is filled with people who will do things like that. Whether Francis did or didn't, I don't know. And I'm not in any way suggesting that Dana is lying to the world. I don't know that either. It could very well be true that he did it. We will have to see. That's the first point.

But the real point is it doesn't like taking what a combat sports promoter says at face value is in every case, Bob Aram, Dana White, Don King, Gary Shaw, whoever is a bad idea. Just don't do it. That's the second part. Three, he's not a bad guy for exercising the rights and maximizing his value. Like, if he's a bad guy because he put his hands on Dana, fine, fine. That's got nothing to do with him being that. And again, kept him under roster. long after that in order to continue to do business with him because, hello, they do business with people of ill repute in MMA, in this organization. And so what I would say is, let's see what Francis has to say, let's not take assessments

from fight promoters at face value. And even if it's true on that particular level, which again, it very well might be, that's a separate consideration about whether or not was it appropriate for him to seek out the maximization of his value in the way which he did, you can like or you can hate that fact, but does that make him a villain, that act, that those kinds of efforts? Of course it doesn't. It's a silly thing to suggest as much. So my view is it could very well be true, but we have to parse what parts of that could be true and what parts of that are even relevant to the questions of how he got sideways with Dana after that. It's fair. I always assume that Dana hated him

because out of the typical fighter response, he seemed to exercise his potential. leverage so aggressively. Remember that stretch that he's talking about where Francis lost his steep. Then he, you know, Dana would go publicly before the Derek Lewis fight for Francis and say Francis isn't the guy we thought he was. He's all into material things like cars. He's not, you know, whatever. Then he has that performance injured against Derek Lewis in one of the worst fights of all

time loses. Dana blames everything on him. Then it felt like they froze him out of the title picture for a while and he didn't get an interim title shot when he maybe should have. I mean, I thought all of that stuff in the end. Francis was right. Dana was just upset. Someone was trying to push it.

But if this story is true, Luke, it would change that. And maybe that explains why Dana's hatred seems to consistently be so aggressive toward him. I don't know. I just wonder if the recent stuff from PFL, I don't know. I mean, everybody's. Listen, maybe, listen, dude, again, it's like maybe he's selfish. Maybe he is. You know, maybe he's, maybe he's a bully.

But he's not wearing a low jack. the cage is your point i get that you know yeah you know there's there's nothing you could tell me about the malfeasance of a potential mma fighter doing something and i'd be like wow that makes no sense you know of course and we don't know francis like this could all be true i'm just trying to say take those issues for what they are if they are true then then then then that's one part but the exercising of value and get in trying to get the most amount of money that's his job to himself and again in the process of doing that did he do things that were potentially you know um uh not not illegal but uh you know done in bad faith or negligently yeah that could be true too i just want to make sure

make the argument about what it is if he's a bad person because he puts hands on people fine fine but that has nothing to do with maximizing value in contract disputes very different what do you think John Jones would say if Dana pulled the 180 and said we're signing Francis if that was even possible. I don't know contractually. And the White House car, sorry Tom, the White House fight that we really want is Francis Ngano versus John Jones. Does John go back into hiding? Look, because that's a legend, right? He said Tom's not a legend. That's why I'll give up the 30 million not to fight him, but Poetan is my resume needs that. He wouldn't. I think John will just say whatever he needs to say to get whatever he wants. And I don't know what he wants other than I think he wants to do

Mayweather did, which is fight like Andre Berto on his way out the door, get a big check. To close on Dana, Luke, he was wearing that black polo with the white writing that he wears like almost as much as you of that red and black right there. Do you think he has one of those or like

50 of those in his closet? That's a good question. I definitely think he's got more than one. How about that? I'll take the over. If that's the line, I'll take the over. I mean, Dana's been showing us who he is for years, Luke, I believe him. I really do, ultimately.

You know what I'm saying? Yeah. All right. Hey, speaking of Cuervo, now's a good time to remember. Where Tequila's story truly began. How about a history lesson in 1795? Cuervo invented tequila. And since then, you better believe that Cuervo has stayed true to its roots.

Same family, same land, same passion. 230 years later, Cuervo is still right here. And every pour and every margarita or three in every celebration. So enjoy the tequila that it started. it at all. Quervo, the tequila, that invented tequila, proximo quervo.com. Please drink responsibly. And LT, you and I always have fun drinking responsibly at Morning Combat, UFC pregame preview. And with 323 on the horizon, Saturday, December 6th in Las Vegas, we will be having our next pregame preview that week, Monday, January 21st, live in the metal. December.

December 1st. sorry i read it wrong monday december first 11 a m eastern live in the metal arc studios in manhattan it's l t it's bc and it's jed meshew number two breaking down 323 with some chasers maybe some devils reserve and a lot of quervo to go around for everybody let's bang let's eat chowder all right better call y'all we did we did okay we did for that one thank you very much Let's go to topic number four, Ben Vickers, the head coach. A former welterweight champion, Jack Della Madalena, spoke to our friend Dennis at submission radio. And while Vickers made no excuses for Della Madelan's title loss to Islamahachev at UFC 322 last Saturday,

he did say the issue was not the game plan and they'd use that game plan again. First, let's hear from Coach Ben Vickers. Then we'll get Luke Thomas to respond. The game plan was movement, but I feel like we never got. the movement going. We had sort of roots to the feet on the floor, but for whatever reason, we couldn't start executing and get into the first point of those routes. Just Islam did such a good job. And I don't want to go too much into the game plan because it is a game plan we'll use again. I mean, I don't think there was an issue with the game plan, just the execution.

But yeah, definitely more movement. We wanted to do more movement. Obviously, we didn't want to be on a ground for 19 minutes of a 25 minute fight. We wanted to do some damage. We wanted to do death by a thousand cuts you know like just pick away on the outside and blah blah blah but it just wasn't out of night luke does that makes does that add up to you it does actually yeah um i have a video i have to record it uh well the second half of it after the show and so to be up on my personal youtube channel i think at some point this afternoon um basically i did a not a breakdown bc i was trying to answer this question of like hey is is it fair to call islam bull boring. I didn't find him boring. You didn't find him boring. But I did kind of see a lot of

belly aching about it. And to what extent is that fair? And I was trying to also answer this question of to what extent was Islam JDM similar. We talked about it on Monday to DDP Hamza. And I went kind of through what the tape showed. And I was like trying to explain to people like, like look at how the basic point was look at how squirmy underneath JDM is this is good. It's this very different kind of threat than what you saw with DDP who had his guard passed immediately, where Hamza could get mount almost immediately, could park inside control for as long as he wanted, you know, it could get the back, and there was nothing that DDP was doing in terms of building height or, you know, just basic kinds of defense. He was just kind of surviving in the most, you know,

just truly, truly like there was not much technical about it. And my point was that was not the case with JDM. You saw a little bit more underneath. But there are moments in that fight, particularly in round three, at the end of the round, he passes JDM's guard. And there's moments where he looks like he is very much setting up to pass and you can see moments where jdm is trying to regard now why do i bring this up because i put the video out and then someone sent me a link to i guess uh craig jones has like a like a like a well-known uh you know troll account but he's not trolling he was actually just talking about the fight and in it he was saying what they wanted they did not want to spend time in half guard maybe a little bit of knee shield but there was a problem with that and it would the goal was to get

Islam to try to pass and I'm like well that doesn't make sense because the tape is I mean you can clearly see on tape he's trying to prevent it and then using an active half guard at time so like what's the contradiction here and you know I did a little research and I talked to a couple of other black belts that I know and they didn't exactly say this but I'm kind of piecing it together which was it just seems to me BC that Jack got lost in there a little bit where at times what they wanted was to bait the pass because what you really wanted from Jack was for Jack to go belly down, right?

He wanted to go belly down because if he can go belly down, he's got two on one, he can go belly down. That's how you start the true escape because you build to your knees and you can then get up and go and you've already, they've got no grip. So like what's holding you, right? There's no grip, you're on your knees, just go. And you saw him do this as a matter of fact against Balaamah.

He did it quite successfully. But he couldn't quite get it going against Islam. And part of what happened was Islam was turking the bottom leg. That means Islam was from half guard or even knee shield using his leg to scoop the bottom leg of a JDM. And he couldn't turn. He got kind of stuck in those spots. And I think because he was getting stuck, BC, he then kind of resorted to this confused game plan where some of the time he's doing what he's supposed to be doing. And then other times he's just resorting back to like what he knew.

And it was this total, like, there was no application of this game plan that I think that they had come up with. Now, again, I wasn't in their strategy meetings. I don't exactly know what they were talking about. But Craig Jones saying that they did not want to end up there and they wanted him to be able to belly out. That was prevented. And so when you hear Ben Vickers say the game plan wasn't the problem, I know folks are going to hear that and say, dude, how could you say that? You were like, you got dusted in this fight, 50, 45. but I understand what he's saying.

They had an, the problem was not what were the ideas that were powering this or that JDM hadn't pulled it off previously. The problem was Islam was a step ahead of them in the way in which he was prepared for it and how it deteriorated Jack's game. That game plan, maybe some things have to be tweaked, you know, B.C., not like there's nothing wrong with it. Yeah, I think a few things have to be tweaked. And I think the wrestling and the downblocking was really missing in this fight.

But once they were on the floor, some of the ideas that I think that they had about getting out of these spaces or reversing them, they were not bad ideas. Whether they should be changed a little bit, B.C., you can have that. The issue to me was JDM's application of the game plan. He got lost in there. So you can't even really say, oh, did the game plan fail? It wasn't really ever fully implemented to begin with. Dude, I think he just got outclassed in every category. He did nothing on the feet.

He was too slow for Islam. Islam was easily able to bait him into raising his guard and then shooting in for the takedown. I just think he got out class. And I think maybe some of that is the fact that we didn't see JDM climb the traditional path of going through multiple top elite contenders. The schedule sort of opened up. Shafcott was hurt. Look, he filled that gap.

He won the championship. He is an elite fighter, but he lost to a super elite fighter, the best fighter in the sport. And he lost very badly. So now it's about bouncing back. He will retain, of course, the number one ranking in the welterweight division as UFC likes to do. Here first is JDM's statement that he put out on Instagram in which he said, quote, Islam is one of the greats and deserve to win. I will learn and move forward.

Luke, sometimes guys win the title. They lose it. They never get back there. It doesn't mean they don't have wins in their career after that, but they never become that same elite guy again. I want to know if you believe JDM can become that. that guy again considering the depth in this division and what is the suitable opponent now for the number one ranked welterweight looking to bounce back and redeem his you know reputation

i don't think islam's going to be here for very long and jack's just 29 i absolutely think jack will fight for a title again okay but does it change your opinion that i asked Islam that directly on last week and he told me that because he doesn't have to cut as much weight he's going to fight more times per year and he has no plans of stepping away anytime soon we'll see about that we'll see about that what's you going to say i mean well i suppose you can say a lot of things i guess we'll see we'll see okay that'd be great i mean don't get me wrong i mean more of him sticking around i think is awesome but um in any case uh he has 34 bc and jdm is 29 so like jdm's got like what at least three years left or two and a half years whatever it is of of his physical prime

potentially more so that to me seems like the idea that he won't get back there that i don't believe that i think he absolutely will um you know uh the point i wanted to make though i just to drive home is like imagine if someone you know this is an exaggerated example but imagine if someone was like hey you have to go pass you know gordon ryan's guard and i trained for it and i had great training partners and i had some the very best people come up with a game plan but like that doesn't matter once you lock up with him you know he's going to the the skill differential so vast, even if I had the right ideas and I even tried to prep those, it's going to fall apart against a skilled operator like that. It just wouldn't make any sense.

And again, that's a very exaggerated example, but something kind of similar happened here along the way. About the next fight, I don't know, that's an interesting one, B.C. Sean Brady versus JDm is kind of interesting to me because obviously on the feet, you know, I think Brady's put a lot of good skills together, but it seems to be part of the thing that's been his undoing against Ballol and then here against Morales. But on the ground, what could he do against JDM? Probably a lot. So I kind of like that one.

Both guys coming off of losses. They were, I think we're supposed to fight originally. Make that one maybe. I wouldn't hate that. But he is the number one ranked fighter. So there's no chance they make him fight Shavcott, right? I wouldn't hate that one either. I mean, it's more likely Shavcott gets one of Prattester Morales.

Okay. So along on Luke, you think that they should get, I see that I want to see the protest moralist fight don't you? I know I know you're sold on that but like JDM protest does sound pretty fucking fun. How do you, how do you handicap that one? I'd probably favor

it'd be close. J.D.M. slight favorite minus 130 JDM plus 110, Carlos. That sounds about right. Yeah. No, you don't want to give him like Gabriel Bonefeme or anything? No. No, that's I mean, you can't do one versus 11. Yeah. All right. I don't know. I don't know if he would, Luke, but we'll have to see that. Okay. We'll have to see that.

He lost to Islam. Let's dial it back here a little bit. I get you. I get you. But also we have a short track record of him beating elite foes, Luke. We got to admit that. He's got a lot of split decisions in a row on the way to get to this point. All right, topic number five is we're running out of time here. The PFL has laid out its overall plan for 2026. At least 24 cards with 16 of them airing on ESPN and 10 of those being title fights. No more tournaments except for on their regional level and a trip to Spain before the UFC even makes it there in the first quarter of next year. Are these the kind of changes here as we can show the PFL announcements that the promotion needs to stay relevant? Could you show us that tweet there, L to the aisle? I think it's the, it's a video. Oh, it is a video. Well, let's watch that. And then we'll react.

Hey, everybody. John Martin, PFL CEO here. In 2026, we are leveling. up. We run in at least 24 events worldwide with 16 major cards on ESPN in the United States featuring our top fighters in the PFL going after world championships. And 10 of those are going to be right here in the United States. We're going to kick off things in a big way. Our first four stops, Dubai, Madrid, Spain, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Chicago, Illinois. And yes, we're continuing to make big changes to PFL. Many of you probably remember that we're stepping away from

the tournament format. So what does that mean? That means every card is going to be built around the best fights possible. The biggest fights, every card. The fights the fans are asking for and the fights that the fighters want. Our regional leagues in Mina and Africa are going to continue to maintain tournament formats, building the next wave of stars who will move up to the global stage. This is a new era at the PFL, the best, fighting the best, every time. Reminded, December 13th in Leone, championship belts on the line. After that, we look forward to going into 2026 with a lot of momentum. We'll see you there. Luke, this is our third straight year where you could say it's

make or break. These seem to be better moves. Will it be enough to sustain and even get re-signed with ESPN? I think my first thing I would say is I don't know how you can hear this and think these aren't important improvements. First of all, BC, fewer, I mean, how many annual events does PFL have typically in a normal calendar year? Do we know the answer to that? I don't know. I think it's more like how many eventually. No, overall, dude, with like PFL Europe and all right, all right.

Tournament, I think, is 10. Yeah. So, I mean, you know, the question is what that means for these kinds of cards. But first of all, they're going to go to Madrid, Spain before UFC. I mean, that's absolutely the right call. Like a million times that is so smart for them to be able to do that. I don't know what kind of Spanish talent that they have, but nevertheless, just putting a foothold in that market and having a big event, BC.

We've seen their shows in Ireland, and we've seen their shows in France. They look big. They look grand. Getting something like that is a no-brainer. That's the first thing. Second of all, they're still going to have the tournament format, as you heard, kind of these like sort of smaller regional sort of like offshoot brands. But for what we expect here in the United States or for the big shows,

they're not doing that shit anymore. They're going to have best fights available, but the fans want to see. They mean, they made this whole thing and this whole identity around, oh, we're taking the matchmaker out of it. Yeah, that's the problem, Felell. us. So this is, I think, a better choice as well. In addition, we mentioned on the one hand, they're going to Madrid. On the other side, they're going to, I think, some of these underserved markets. I don't know if Pittsburgh makes sense, but Chicago, not a small market, but has been,

I think, a little bit underserved until a little bit more recently. I know they went back for UFC 319, but it'd been a while up to that point. Belator were serving those interests, but I don't know if PFL was necessarily making as much of a home of there as they could have been that smart. And I think going to some of these, again, Pittsburgh might prove to be one of their better shows. These kind of like mid-major ones, right? Your Omaha, Nebraska's, your Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's. These kinds of places, at least in theory, make a little bit more sense. So I love that model of things as well, putting title fights on ESPN. B.C., the big question that you asked was, is this going to be enough to get them to a different place? Is this

going to be enough to get them to be resigned with ESPN? Because this will be their last year on ESPN, and it'll be no UFC. You could say competition, but honestly, that would also bring more visibility to MMA as well. What I'll say is they're doing the things that they have to do to give themselves the best chance to get those. I still believe that as long as the UFC doesn't co-promote, it's kind of like a done deal, but you can't say that PFL isn't making important changes at important times in the right direction to give themselves the best chance possible. I think what we need to ask ourselves is at the end of 2026, did it work? And if it does, kudos to them they they they they made the kind of adjustments that we have been asking them to make on the

flip side if they make all these adjustments and it's all for not these are kind of the questions you have to ask yourself about the state of the enemy industry and what it means beyond the confines of the ufc yeah they did announce that the first fight card of 26 will have usman namarge metoff in the main event defending his lightweight title against archie colgan i think as i've said from the beginning alfie no was it archie cogan or alfie davis alfie davis alfie davis my appellie davis my apologies there on that good catch uh as i've always said you've got you know three four fighters that the larger mhm a world does care about feature the shit out of those fighters okay like seriously they should be fighting as often as possible always in main events great move getting rid of the

tournament but if these are going to be on ESPN unlimited and there's a paywall behind a paywall to get to pfl it ain't going to work look that's that all right those are your five topics for the week thank you for playing we close with fan segments and we offer you an email address to reach out for the show. It's morning combat at gmail.com for your Friday fan subs, dead wrongs. You can complain, show Mikey or genitals, whatever is on your agenda for the week. Unfortunately, our fan subs blew this week. So since we blew off the DMs from donks Monday after our late start due to Amtrak fails,

we will bring back those questions here from the people that we care about the most, the listeners. This is DMs from the diggities. All right, let's hear from Josh, aka Cubby's fan 80 out of the Chicago area. He says if the first major event of CBS Paramount was an all welterweight card, wow. Imagine a main card all welterweight bangers with Islam defending the belt at the top. How would you match make it? Now, Luke, the latest rumors are, and I don't have it internally.

This is just what I'm hearing that possibly January 24th in Los Angeles. Vegas is the kickoff card. We'll find out once they announced that. But imagine if they said this is our division. It's deep. It delivers. Let's go. Five fights. Who do you match Islam with in the main event?

Okay, I get to pick whatever I want or I got to pick something that everybody loves. Well, you're, Mick Maynard calls you right now and says, Luke, remember that matchmaker for a day who now works at White Castle? You're that guy today. All right, all right. Prochus Morales. I just want to see that one. Okay.

I thought you were going to start at the top with Islam. Who's he fighting? No particular order, but so these are the ones at top of mine. Islam, I'd probably go Islam. Okay. Islam, I'm just going to do it, Islam Rachmanov, all right? God, that, dude, that is such a good fight. Oh, my God.

Brady, JDM. Wait, but yeah, okay, yeah, I'm with you. Right, you can do all those. Who's Gary getting if he beats below? Oh, no, that's too quick. Bondfim. No, that's too quick of a turnaround. Sorry, that's too quick a return-up.

Yeah. So you probably can't do that one. So I would do Buckley and who do I put Buckley in there with? You could do Buckley Chris Curtis again since they're both at Welterweight. That doesn't move me. How about the needle? What do we have for Buckley Leon? The problem with this question is everybody just fought.

That's the problem with this question, right? But if we were suspending that notion and didn't worry about that, are you bringing in Colby? That's what the people want to know. Why would the fuck would I bring in that guy? I would do Buckley Leon and then I would do I'm not sure what you do with Gary

that kind of messes it up a little bit How would you do it? All right, I like Islam versus See, I would go Islam versus Gary if he wins. Okay. All right, then I'm going to give you protest Morales, do it while it's there. I'm kind of with you.

But then it's like, what do you do? Then you're kind of screwing Chavcott though. So I don't even know if that works. Long Island, Luke, do you have a solution you're sending us some notes here. What do you have? Yeah, I wrote my five card out here. Ready?

Islam Shavkat, main event. Comaine, JDM, protest. Next fight, Brady Usman. Or you could change these two. Morales versus the winner this weekend. Balali and Gary. And then Leon Buckley opened up. All right.

How about I go Shavkat Usman so I can keep Gary against Islam? That's not bad. And then everyone's going protest Morales. And Bonefeme Covington, because he called him out, Luke. That's the worst fight in the world. I like the idea. I like the idea, Luke.

Now, I know you've been fighting for an all-female UFC pay-per-view. Maybe we'll get that one. I mean, I think that there are ways to do that, but I don't know if it's what I would recommend. All right, let's go to our second question from Sticks plays time. What chance do you give Al-Aanchardie Pantosia in Josh Van? It could be one of the best fights of the year. I have a feeling that fight will be an absolute banger. Luke, what chance do you give that this could end up being in the fight of the year discussion?

High. Very hard to say that in front of things. I mean, also, just in fairness, beating that contender series fight between those two donks, the Russian and the Ecuadorian guy, that's going to be a tough fight to beat. That's not going to be easy. But this one has such high potential. You've got two guys who are just action-oriented. Josh Van has only one gear, and it's the gas pedal to the floor. Pantoja, even when he is making it a ground fight, is always hunting the finish. I just just. you know, certainly has the capacity to be the most entertaining main event this year. It's going to be tough to top Poetan and Oncolaev in terms of the shock factor, but in terms of the back and forth, it honestly might be the most entertaining. Well, not because I guess, I guess Marab would be main event. I mean, Roy Vol van was crazy too. Which one? Roy Vol versus Van. That was pretty crazy.

But I'm saying title fight. Yeah, sure. Pantogio minus 218 favorite, according to Draft Kings, plus 180 is Van. much looking forward to that co-main on December 6th. Let's hear from Short underscore Fluke. I know it's blasphemy to even say it out loud, but I'm going to ask anyway, who wins?

Prime Islam? Prime Habib. I want to say, I mean, Islam's more skilled than the better striker, but you wonder if Habib has that older brother strength in wrestling. You know, I taught you everything except for this type of feeling, you know?

Yeah, I get that feeling a little bit too. I mean, Prime Habib figures out, no matter what, whether he enters with broken bones, he figures out a way to win the fight and finish you and finish you on top of that. Maybe. I mean, it's kind of interesting that we're talking like, you know, Prime Islam or Prime GSP at 170 or Prime Islam or Prime Habib. And I don't know if he's better than either of those guys, but the fact that he's in close competition with both of them in both weight classes is kind of insane.

I'm still going to lean Habib, but that would obviously be a banger. Yeah, definitely. This is from a man as cat. You know, we love that guy, Luke. Which current or former UFC champ would you pick to have as your partner for a table tennis ping pong? Don't you pick Chinese fighters, B.C., that's, that, I mean, I see you, I see the wheels turning over there. Ping pong. Who is, like, agile like that, ping pong.

That's who your tie roll. Oh, sorry, that goes against what you're saying. He's Japanese. Yeah, I know. I know. Okay. Yeah, you got to go flyweight here, right? Right? How about Royval? He's got long limbs. He won't fight on the White House. He doesn't use condoms. I'm going with the raw dog.

Yeah. Yeah. That's a good answer. That's a good answer. I would say, honestly, okay, so technically he's Asian, but Josh Van as well, because he's just kind of, he's, you know, he's pivoting and he's turning. He's got, he can, you know, he's fast. He's fast. I might go Josh Van. I might go Josh Van. Let's close with fly in Ryan. 860 I know that area code uh that's connecticut by the way look the upper half thank you very much uh although i grew up in the 203 nobody cares okay thank you uh what are your top three fruits you're standing in front of a treasury chest of perfectly ripe fruit and you need to pick what are your three favorite perfectly ripe fruits it's a great question number one got to be mango a perfectly delicious mango dude i hate all what all all melon i hate all melon it's because it's too close to cucumber and I was grown up forced to have raw cucumbers shoved down me Luke

I can't do it I was that kid at field day they're serving you can eat at Arby's and you can't eat mango not watermelon honey do none of that she at Luke no don't do that don't bring that shit to me pomegranate seeds bang they bang Luke they bang you are a billy goat

and you eat you eat beer cans I eat fruit. I just hate melon. Is that not allowed here, Luke? That is absolutely. Melon as like in general, like I don't like honeydew. What the you don't like cantaloupe? I'm guessing then, obviously. All melons. Dude, it has a cucumber consistency. I hate that shit. It does not have a cucumber consistency. You're completely out of your mind. What if the fuck kind of fruit are you eating that you think that? I'm going to say strawberries, bananas, I, grapes. The answer is mango, watermelon. And I'm going to say, banana's a close one, but I'm going to say just in terms of pure deliciousness when they're

fully ripe. I'm going to say pineapple. No pomegranate seeds. Those things will change your life, Luke. I like pomegranate. I'm okay with pomegranate. Long Island, Luke, is B.C. out of his fucking mind, or is it just me? It's not like I said I eat ass, Luke, you know? You might as well. Not like any melon is kind of wild. We were actually all talking about this pre-show, and there's difference between, like, your favorite flavors of fruit and your favorite,

like, ripe fruit. You know what I mean? Like, I love cherry. Watermelon flavor is my favorite, by the way. I was just going to say, like, I love cherry. say like i love cherry flavored anything but i would never pick cherry as like my favorite fruit you know i mean unless it's one of those do you guys hear yourselves yeah yeah we hear i yeah we're not allowed to have like like like like like things we like look i mean how can you say something like yes i like the synthetic robot version of watermelon but not delicious prime in its in its fucking i mean you know i i i don't understand who you are.

I don't know. Real watermelon is disgusting. By the way, I knew kids growing up and wait the whole thing. Seeds and the green part. I mean, come on. Okay, the green part I'm not eating. And the seeds you got to spit, but delicious. Green part?

Who eats the green part? I know, I knew people. Okay. I come from this. This is a true story. Speaking of fruit, one time, I was visiting my friend in New York. And so I was William and Mary and I took the, I took a car ride up to D.C., stayed with my friend at Georgetown for a day.

And then we took the Peter Pan bus. But it got into the Greyhound station at the same time. You know what I'm saying? And I saw a dude in the fucking Greyhound bus station waiting for the Peter Pan bus, taking orange and then just eat it, peel and all like it was an apple. You know what I'm talking about?

Like, just biting the motherfucking orange and then eating the peel and the pulp that way. My wife's grandfather used to take lemons and just chew them like they were in orange. Can you imagine eating the fucking peel? Just like, I was like, bro. you're a food disposal I hate melon honey do

I hate all name more melons I hate them all Luke I hate them all Luke I hate them I hate cucumbers and black licorice spiders chicks who smoke cigarettes I mean I can keep going all right you are a strange human being

I cannot believe what you're saying Look you're telling me if I laid out all the foods I love that and some of them being very basic you wouldn't go oh I don't eat that that's gross I hate how do you get the balls to say I like artificial watermelon and Arby's Beef and Cheddar, but don't you dare give me one of nature's most delicious candies in perfectly in season, ready to go mango.

Seriously, even weird ones at the Jamaican buffet on vacation, okay? I'll get after it. Do you dragon fruit? I have. Dragon fruit's okay. It's not great, but it's all right. Fine, fine. You know what you got to have?

There's this fruit that they have in Colombia, by the way, has fruits that I've, you literally cannot even buy here. I didn't, again, I didn't know much about Columbia. before i went there and married my wife but the level of biodiversity down there is kind of insane and so they've got fruits you never heard of they have a fruit there called granadija which is it's got a it's got like an orange shell you have to peel like they're like an orange fruit and inside it's these seeds and you don't actually eat the seeds you eat the coating around the seeds and it's insanely sweet okay like this maybe the sweetest fruit i've ever had with one big caveat

the consistency of the grenadija seed is like a booger like it's like you've ever seen a bag full of tadpoles at one of these like fish restaurants or not at restaurants but like like a pet store it's like eating a bag full of tadpoles it's the consistency is too hard for me they love it avoid all melons they're like cucumbers avoid pickles by the way cucumbers in disguise as if we don't we can't see that I mean let's be honest you have the palate of a toddler I mean I've got a very I did when I married my wife, but I have a very advanced pellet now, Luke. I live in a area of fine restaurant. I don't think the evidence bears that out.

I don't, that's not what I'm doing. Our final fan segment is where you put us on trial, folks. So that's what we're going to do. Were we right or were we dead wrong? You'll have to get it. Dead wrong. All right. Sorry for the late start today, folks.

We're wrapping up a little late, but thanks for staying with us. Here's Adam. He says on Monday's M.K. at 1.2552, B. BC states that Ethan Ewing won on eight days notice, and that is dead wrong. He went on two days notice, and he was the champ from A1 combat, which is your eye. Days prior, that's right. Not Anthony Pettis. Don't forget, weed is a memory lost drug.

Very true. Big fan of the show. All right, the eight days I was referencing was that he had fought eight days ago. I got it wrong. You're right. I did think it was Anthony Pettis's promotion. I guess I'm wrong on that one, too. Okay, thank you.

I'll take all the ails you got for me, except for the honeydew melon ones. Here's from John O. Mark at the 146 mark of Monday's episode B.C. referred to John Pork as being Italian brain rot, which is absolutely false. That's what my kids tell me. While John Pork is originally from Italy, he's based in London and started posting selfies on his Instagram account. In 2018, his online activity thus predates the emergence of Italian brain rot in 2025 and its subsequent spread from a Quebecois based in Montreal, who, remains unconvinced of BC's French Canadian heritage. That's funny because I was watching a Christmas movie based in France with my wife last night saying you also married a Frenchman. And she's like, no, I didn't. I'm, I was at Costco last night and they had toys that had, they were called skibbity

toilet. Have you heard of this? Yeah, yes, yes. And it looked like some kind of robot from the future. It's connected to all that brain rot stuff. I'm not going to act like I know. I don't know anything about this shit. I hear secondhand from my kids.

they get in trouble for dropping skibbity things all the time i don't know final one here from jeff i'll take that hell if you got it thank you while listening jeff says to mondays mk at 13422 i was caught off guard by luke's language about as much as i was caught off guard waking up at 3 a m in 2007 to a girl's gone wild commercial playing on my tv when luke referred to teddy atlas did i say now i know bc talks about nocena's horned up Aussie father, but we need to acknowledge there's even more horned up Indian on the program. I know this

may be nitpicking, but Luke is typically the go-to for name pronunciation unless they're not Hispanic, folks, or Spanish. And to end on a mythological note, maybe Teddy Atlas's name triggered Luke's desire to be Atlas, but instead of holding up the

world, he's holding up a couple of jugs. Hashtag Titties for days. Wow. Wow. Okay, that is a dead wrong. By the way, Teddy Atlas' 30-year run at ESPN just ended with that UFC card last weekend. 30 years. He was still on ESPN? Yeah, he was.

I thought he's been off for years. He's been off calling fights, but they've used him like in the studio and stuff. Ah, okay, okay. All right, that is our show, a reminder, first of all, the reminder that this episode of Morning Combat was brought to you by Draft Kings. Draft Kings, the crown is yours. I forgot to hit you up about the merch. Guys, it is morningcombat.combat.

dot shop and it's the holiday cisson november exclusives are available the dripping blood mk logo t-shirt and hoodie how about the average joe are produced combat buddies get it in t-shirt get it an autographed poster long island luke as the official handler of this here merch shop do we have any black friday sales coming up ahead of next week yeah well we'll tease it more next week but yes big black friday sale ahead so stay tuned especially for wednesday's episode next week. BBF, big black Friday sales coming up at you. All right. There you go. Morningcombat.combat. Shop, mix and match the colors. Get one for your abuela. Uh, to close here, a reminder. Next week is a holiday week in the States here Thanksgiving. Luke, Luke Thomas, I believe we're doing a mailbag episode that will air Friday. We'll record it on Wednesday. What if the people sent in video questions? Would we answer them? Video questions? Put the email if you can on the screen here along on Luke. Luke. Video questions, uh, emailed. audio questions. You can just pick up your phone, do a nice little recording into it like that. You can send it to us or written ones. Any of them will take. We'll take written. We'll take audio.

We'll take video multimedia preferred. All versions acceptable. All questions will be answered in some form. I got a dead wrong myself in real time. I thought we were airing the show on Wednesday. It's going to air on Friday. So we'll preview the Black Friday sale on Monday. Okay. It'll go live Wednesday. But get your question ideas in, have fun with it. Not longer than what a minute, did we say? yes 60 seconds or less okay hit us up there at morning combat at gmail dot com thank you guys enjoy the fights this weekend ufc cutter the big ring card on his own pay-per-view for long island luke for the great luke thomas i am b sizzle will be back next week it is turkey week and i'm

not talking about alishique hey enjoy yourselves take care have a great weekend it's ben mk we out in the heat of battle your squad relies on you don't let them down unlock it'll Lead gaming tech at Lenovo.com. Dominate every match with next level speed, seamless streaming, and performance that won't quit. Push your gameplay beyond performance with Intel Core Ultra processors. For the next era of gaming,

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