MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - UFC Shanghai: Zhang’s Breakout Moment? | RDR/Fluffy Announced | Jake Paul vs Tank Davis on Netflix

Episode Date: August 22, 2025

LT and BC are back on a Friday to preview UFC Shanghai: Walker vs. Zhang, Ortega vs. Sterling. Plus, RDR vs. Fluffy middleweight tilt headlines stacked UFC Vancouver card. And in boxing news, Jake Pau...l - Gervonta Davis exhibition bout announced for Nov. 14 on Netflix. Join Luke Thomas, Brian Campbell and the entire Morning Kombat crew to talk all things combat sports heading into the weekend!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an I-Heart podcast. Revely, Revely. Look at us now, tip to tip. Oh, Jesus. Oh, ha. Do you want a margarita? Oh, my God. It's us doing what we love.
Starting point is 00:00:33 It's time to bang. Oh, yeah. Better late than never. Technical issues behind us. Hey, it's your Friday morning combat here, August 22nd. Of the 25s, it's still the best damn combat sports show available to you at this exact moment. I'm Brian Campbell live and direct from the Connecticut suburbs. and next to me is a man with new frames.
Starting point is 00:01:02 His name is Luke Thomas. He's of D.C. fame. Luke, congratulations on the upgrade to your look. You know, upgrade being a favorable word. How are you? I'm okay. Nice to see you. Sorry, we got started late.
Starting point is 00:01:16 It is not my fault. You were not shitting red on the train. No, I was not shitting blood on the train. I was just waiting for the people around us to get the show started. They're doing their best, but sometimes things happen, you know. right. We still have a, I guess, action-pack show for you today, looking back on last night's PFL action, looking ahead to Saturday's UFC Shanghai card and reacting to some big-time fight announcements for better or for worse, that will be up to you. Also, you can like and
Starting point is 00:01:47 subscribe to this show on YouTube. Welcome to everybody on the Draft Kings Network, or if you are listening only, we still care about you. You can follow us here. Also follow our extended YouTube channels. Luke Thomas is getting political and it's heating up. So tune into that as well. And let's introduce the third member of our team. He's a producer, director, and bong enthusiasts. We don't always have to tell his origin story.
Starting point is 00:02:11 But just understand how much that horn dude loved American women. Hey, it's Long Island, Luke, no cita of the main card minute. Hey, buddy. What's up, guys? Good to be here. Sorry that we're late. New episode of Prop Quiz dropping after this episode at 1.30 p.m. So I hope everyone tunes.
Starting point is 00:02:27 in for that, uh, exciting. Wow. A little tease, little tease on who's going to be there or no? Uh, yeah. It's, I mean, they gave it away yesterday. It's going to be Jed Mishu versus Mike Heck. So a little M.MA fighting on MMA fighting action. So it's a cool. Wow. A lawyer against, uh, another guy. That's going to be wild stuff right there. Welcome. Uh, check it out for real, though. Also, you can, you know, as you see me wearing this, this hat and this old school shirt, why don't you go to morningcombat. Dot shop right now. And I think if you haven't been here yet, you're going to be surprised, okay?
Starting point is 00:02:57 uh, if Kane Valesquez would kick your out. No, what I'm trying to say ultimately here is we've got different color combinations. We've got evergreen items, but we of course have our August exclusives, the Super Wash Dad's poster signed by BC and LT. I believe there is one left.
Starting point is 00:03:13 You want to get it now. Also limited edition, uh, Morning Combat Beavis and Budhead brought to you by average Joe Art. Luke Thomas is vaping is for closers. Soon to come, Forma energy is for losers with Luke's face on it as well. Well, okay, so we'll see more about that.
Starting point is 00:03:31 Morningcombat.shop, where are your favorite show on your body so people know from a distance not to go near you. It's a great idea right there. Luke, what is new for this brief moment we have before we kick off this show? Anything you want to tell the people about your life, recent medical diagnoses, anything? No, I would like to get the show started because we got started so late. There we go. So just like that, we're going to turn the page. Bob Seeger style to topic number one.
Starting point is 00:04:00 First and foremost, though, this episode of morning combat is brought to you by Draft Kings, where, of course, draft kings, the crown is yours. Topic number one goes UFC Shanghai preview as Saturday gives us an early start time to a fight night card from the other side of the world. With light heavyweights in the main event, we'll get to Brian Ortega's weight miss in a second. But Luke Saturday's fight marks the promotion's first visit to China, mainland China, since before. the pandemic and the first visit to Shanghai since Kelvin Gastilum retired Michael Bisping by knockout in 2017. Much of the main card appears to be around, built around Chinese light heavyweight slugger, Zhang Mingyang, who is getting this major opportunity in the main event against veteran Johnny Walker on a three-fight win streak as Zhang since joining
Starting point is 00:04:51 the UFC just 18 months ago, all three by stoppage. Luke, what does this booking say about Zhang's potential future and the 205 division for UFC. Isn't it a four-fight win streak, Tokos, Hebero, Diaz, Smith? One was on road to the UFC. Is that official? I don't know how they count that. You're right. I don't know how they count that.
Starting point is 00:05:11 It's a fair point. Either way, he's doing quite well. You know, it's kind of funny. On the tape study, it's like he is obviously good BC. I mean, he's got some pretty savage ground and pound, which you saw with those elbows that he used to stop Anthony Smith. But his game is a little nondescript. it's not like it's got an incredibly unique style he's got a little bit of boxing a little bit of wrestling some decent ground and pound he's a come forward fighter for sure he puts a lot of pressure on you does have some jab to work with um you know he is decently sized for the most part for light heavyweight however in this matchup he's pretty undersized if you actually look at the reach disadvantage bc 75 inches to 82 that's a pretty significant difference is a question about whether johnny walker will actually jab or use range effect
Starting point is 00:05:57 but also 6-6 versus 6-2. So he's longer than you have to punch up. It's a little bit higher. So I wonder how the size differential is going to matter here. But, but, you know, what's his nickname? The Mountain Tiger? Yes. He is, he puts enough offensive pressure and has enough core competencies in this game
Starting point is 00:06:17 and has enough size and power to make, I think, any light heavyweight fighter, for the most part, have to earn it a little bit. And with Johnny Walker's defensive lapses, this could be the continuation of a win streak. In some ways, I agree with you right here. Jean getting a big opportunity to make a big name for himself as potentially the next big thing for Chinese MMA. We know UFC has the Performance Institute there.
Starting point is 00:06:41 An interesting stat, Luke, regarding Zhang Mingyong, 19 and 6 overall as a professional. But 18 of his last 19 fights dating back to 2017 have not made it out of of the first round three of those are stoppage losses but on the regional level in china but he has finished by tk o or sub every single opponent in like a 15 fight consecutive stretch uh there's something to be said there right about the opportunity of not only going five rounds in the main event but like seriously being pushed by a wild man like johnny walker yes and by the way i didn't realize this but all three of his ufc fights uh because it doesn't count obviously
Starting point is 00:07:25 for the road to UFC, but the Hibaro, Diaz, and now Smith wins. They all came with performance of the night bonuses. Now, what I would say, though, is in the case, certainly of Diaz and Smith, I think you're dealing with opponents who, in Smith's case, was very good at one point, but was, I mean, this was the end, essentially. And then in Diaz's case, you know, is barely hanging on to UFC level, and I'm not even sure if he still is. I mean, it's really not, you know, the point I'm trying to make is he's
Starting point is 00:07:55 definitely blown the doors off of some people who were either not that good or very vulnerable. And obviously, I'm not saying he doesn't have power otherwise, but this will be something of a more interesting test. Again, not because Johnny Walker doesn't have a questionable chin. He does, which is part of what makes it interesting, but the range. And to what extent he can navigate that over the course of, you know, a main event. We'll see. Yeah, no doubt about that. As we look at the odds brought to you by Draft Kings right now, Johnny Walker, your plus to 80 underdog against the minus 355's young men young. I can't stress enough that stretch that he's on of not getting out of the first round.
Starting point is 00:08:35 He's exciting. He brings it. But Luke, at 33 years old, we're seeing a Johnny Walker who, you know, it seems like it's been a long time since he was maybe one win away from fighting John Jones for the light heavyweight title when he first burst on the scene and was finishing everyone early. He is riding a two fight losing streak, both by early-ish. stoppage, but won against current champion Malgomet Ankaliev immediately after their no contest, and then the second one most recently against Vulcan Ozedemir.
Starting point is 00:09:03 I understand Walker being the betting underdog, considering the hot streak of Zhang. He'll be in his home country, of course, but what do you make about the current stock of this wild man, Johnny Walker, whose seed is deeply spread across the Scottish highlands, but this is new territory in China for him? is he like do you give him the veteran advantage or is he such a wild card that you never know what you're going to get with man he's way too much of a wild card for a couple of reasons i mean again the dimensions of the fight his height and his reach there are times i've seen him reasonably effectively used it at times i mean the problem is he's very inconsistent with it but
Starting point is 00:09:42 at times he can he could make that happen so like you have to at least take that seriously on the other hand you know look at his last four losses or right not even counting the Magamette-Anclyev illegal need, the losses themselves. K.O. to Usdemir. K.O. to Ancoliaf. K.O. to to Jamal Hill. And Tiago Santos, this was 2021. He went the distance in October. You know, we're almost four years past that point with all that additional damage. Like, he's Cheney. He's Cheney. There's just no two ways about it. He's Cheney. And so for those reasons, it makes him, you know, there's a degree of unreliability.
Starting point is 00:10:15 More to the point, remember, he went and spent some time many years, as a matter of fact, over at SBG in Ireland. and now he has moved to the United States to work with Eric Nixick over at the Extreme Couture Gym. But this is a tough thing. It's like he didn't really complain, obviously, about being at SPG, but he kind of indicated there weren't a lot of sparring partners his size,
Starting point is 00:10:35 which is part of the reason why he came to the States. You know, there's a question about, like, what they did to his game by making him play like a touch and go game, you know, when he went to SBG and, like, how that changed who he was. So, like, there's existential questions here as well. Can you make a big switch? this late in your career and have, you know, a meaningful improvement.
Starting point is 00:10:54 What about all the changes you made to the kind of game you were playing? What about all the damage that you've taken? Like, how can anyone look at any of these factors and not at least have some kind of question about it? No, very well said. Let's look at the face off between the two of them. Earlier this week in Shanghai, you can see the beautiful skyline behind them. You can see Johnny Walker's traditional local dress.
Starting point is 00:11:16 Well, I got to say he doesn't look six, six, versus six, too. No, a little bit. Brian Bosworth style lines in the side of Zhang's hair. Look, that looked a little like... Why was he dressed like Bruce Lee? He's just, you know, culturally appropriating himself into the culture. I was about to say, I was like, okay, all right. Let's bring it our betting expert Long Island Luke here of the main card minute.
Starting point is 00:11:38 You saw the wide odds in favor of Jean Mignon. He hadn't beaten anybody with a Wikipedia page of late until Anthony Smith, though, last time. How much do you fear from a betting standpoint the fact that, that this guy has become a one round wonder i mean i'm i'm taking him in a parley so i'm riding with um you uh you guys didn't mention he only has three you three ufc fights officially so he hasn't reached the minimum five but he lands 10 strikes per minute which is crazy yeah i did see that yeah but i mean he also remember like part of that is he was just bombing on anthony smith and some of the grounded pound finishes remember they go largely uncontested true so it's not like he's
Starting point is 00:12:15 just raining fire at all times he's active to your point he is active and he lands but I think that's that's a touch misleading yeah I mean there's value on johnny walker here I'm not riding with him but if anyone wants to take him he did lose to the champion twice one was a no contest the other one came to vulcan o's demere former title challenger he's aren't bad losses ming yang jang maybe anthony smith was ranked when they fought either way anthony smith isn't ranked now so technically hasn't fought anyone in the top 15 i could see an argument for johnny walker winning this especially a plus money but i'm riding with mingyang yeah it seems like a long ass time ago that Johnny Walker was out here sending
Starting point is 00:12:51 Khalil Roundtree to hell and was on that win streak pre-pandemic where he had made that run. I haven't seen enough growth. Obviously in the in the SPG era for him, we had the nice submission win where it looked like his ground game was coming together as Zoe the cat, the OG has arrived here. But Luke, I really
Starting point is 00:13:08 Let's see your cat's butthole. I really question Johnny Walker's chin on the road against a first round slugger. I think you've got to go full chalk here. give Zhang Minyang an opportunity continue to extend himself. Already this week in interviews, Zhang ultimately said,
Starting point is 00:13:26 if he gets a victory here, the escalation he wants is Yeri Prohatska next. What do you think about that for him? I know I can't ask you if he's ready for that until he gets through Johnny Walker, but really what I'm trying to ask you is, do you think UFC could rocket ship this, you know, rocket pack this guy to the top,
Starting point is 00:13:44 given that this division is fairly shallow? I can I leave your cat sitting there on screen how mad would you be if I drove up to your house and just like euthanized all your pets My God, I can't believe you said that out loud, but keep going, please. You're asking about the upside of a guy whose best win is an Anthony Smith who's on his way out the door. It's impossible to say. By the way, kind of funny how, like, who did the, Long Island, Luke, who from the media at a post-fight presser recently asked, it was either Dana or, like, you know, the Canadian version of Dana, like, are you going to matchmake in such a way to appeal to the home market and they said no do you remember that i don't remember that to be i you remember that right that
Starting point is 00:14:29 happened right and here they are with a chinese guy in the main event in china which by the way like is great no problem with it zero it's totally cool i i like the fight it's fine there's absolutely nothing wrong with it and of course the co-main event is essentially two americans i'm just pointing out like they will sometimes absolutely do something like this where they match make for the home crowd it's weird to be in a little bit of denial about it i mean ufc noche is kind of that like as a whole brand all right but you're asking about the upside of of of mountain tiger here um dude we have no way of knowing blowing people out of the door in the first round in consecutive fights is just not something even the highest level of fighter can sustain once the competition improves
Starting point is 00:15:12 you see what i mean so johnny walker is flawed the odds makers think that um he's going to lose and i totally understand that and i think i largely agree but dude he's unproven against someone this good. We have to see it first. I mean, this isn't me predicting Gingana will wrestle gone, but Walker could be advised to try to extend this way, to try to find out what we have in this guy, to maybe shoot a little bit. I'm not sure he even has that in his mindset as it seems like he wants to hang and bang, particularly at the same time. But if you look at the rankings coming in, Johnny Walker, currently number 13 at 205 pounds in the UFC, Zhang Mingyong number 14. And we mentioned Zhang is ready to call out number two,
Starting point is 00:15:56 Yeri Prohatska. So look, he's looking to make a massive leap. Should he get the win? The big question is here for you. Will he get the win? I'm going first round knockout for Zhang, not Wei Lee, brother. I'm talking about Minyong. Where are you at? Yeah, give me the same thing. Give me Mountain Tiger. I'm going to call him that because I can say that. Um, you know what? I'm going to, I'm going to shake it up. Give me second round TKO. All right. There you go. There you go with that. Let's get into the co-main event, which could very well be the main event, at least on paper. And we certainly have, you know, videos to show for that and a lot to talk about as Zoe breaks everything. But the point I'm trying to make here is shit heated up earlier this morning as Brian Ortega badly missed weight. There seemed to be a report initially, now that I think has been ruled false that Brian, that Brian, that Brian, shout out to Brian Daily, by the way, that Brian Ortega collapsed backstage and that the five.
Starting point is 00:16:52 was called off. That no longer seems to be true. But while we don't have the video at the moment, a lot of people did see the face off between them where Brian Ortega looks shaky walking up there. And Luke, now for this featherweight matchup, we're going to get a 153 pound catch weight just to keep the train on the tracks. What the heck do you make of this for a guy like Ortega who's so inconsistent in the cage and really on the scale, to be fair? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, this was a tough fight for him anyway. Dude, Al Jemaine Sterling proved against Mofsar. Yeah, he lost, but he was still a very worthy adversary.
Starting point is 00:17:28 And I think all of us recognize that. And then to see the, dude, I mean, even like, I don't know what the truth is about Ortega, but anybody who, do we have pictures of this Long Island, Luke? Do we have the photo of him? No. Oh, man, we should have put that on the show because he, Jesus, he looks terrible. He looks terrible. We were talking about this before the show.
Starting point is 00:17:46 At 153, dude, Aljo's got to be close to his walking around weight. You know, that's kind of nuts. he's going to compete that high, you know, as a gift to Ortega, who at this point, you know, has some real questions to ask about his future. I mean, if you, I think some of us thought like, you know, Sterling can pull this off. Definitely. Now I'm like confident he will pull this off. Ortega look to be in terrible shape. And if he gets pushed in this one, I just don't, you know, Al Joe's going to have the gas tank. You know it. And if I were saying, I would go after Ortega and make him work, you know? Well, it seems since the weight mishap, the odds have shifted a
Starting point is 00:18:22 little bit with Brian Ortega now more than a three to one underdog to the minus long island do you have updated odds here's like minus 400 now for sterling so Jesus it's certainly moved in that direction uh long out look am I wrong here on draft yeah minus 380 for al jo plus 300 for ortega okay so that has that has shifted from where it was let's say yesterday which was plus 295 for take a minus 375 so now we're a five round catch weight out of 150,000. pounds. Can we first jump to the sound of Aljo talking with MMA fighting's Mike Heck, this was earlier this week where he just doesn't understand why this co-main event is a five-round fight?
Starting point is 00:19:03 I want to ask you because there seems to be some confusion in the Twitter verse in regards to this fight. This is this is a five-round co-main event, correct? Yeah, I don't know why it's five rounds. I don't know if Brian Ortega is the one who asked for five rounds. but like five round main events if you're not the champion you get an extra pay incentive
Starting point is 00:19:25 so I'm kind of annoyed because we're not getting extra pay for five rounds I'm like did he want to fight five rounds for no extra money like this I think it's kind of fucking stupid like what are we getting out of this
Starting point is 00:19:40 we're not getting a trophy at the end of this so why are we fighting five rounds this is 10 extra minutes of training 10 extra minutes of fighting I don't know I legitimately do not know we got the same manager so I don't want five rounds five rounds like who wants to do five who wants to fight more for the same pay rate that they're going to get it doesn't make any sense why did you find out
Starting point is 00:20:05 it was five in the beginning of the contract and I was just like for what I thought I thought potentially we might be moved to the main event and then that hasn't happened so here we are i'm like well hey mr manager can we get a little extra money for this i'm like i've been asking for weeks i'm like because this is i mean the fight's going to happen regardless right but it just would be nice to be compensated to do the extra this is outside of the ordinary scope so it's like well no co-main of venice five rounds unless they're getting paid you know so i don't know it's a little weird i am a little annoyed by that I know some people are going to take that headline and clip it
Starting point is 00:20:52 And I was just frustrated with the UFC It's not even that Make it make sense I train hard You know I got a big wedding coming up Hunter knows about it So
Starting point is 00:21:04 Dude A little extra bonus would be nice It would be nice for both of us Both of our families Luke even as a quasi TKO employee myself Now I can say That don't seem right But if you apply
Starting point is 00:21:19 the bad weight miss for Ortega and how bad he looked even in that face off this morning for this fight, is five rounds even a good idea right now? I mean, I didn't hear anything in there that didn't make sense. You know, everything there made a lot of sense.
Starting point is 00:21:36 That was a very rational level-headed take. I'm just not sure what to tell these guys anymore, you know? I'm not sure what could be told to them anymore is actually the other part. I don't even know what is really reasonably possible. Who's the manager in question there?
Starting point is 00:21:51 I'm not, I don't, dude, I don't even keep up with that anymore. Tiki? Yeah. I mean, you know, I, I don't know to what extent Tiki is currently a friend of Dana White, but I know that historically they were. And obviously he used to work for him as a fighter himself. Like you'd have to question the level of not, you know, professional commitment per se, but, you know, what kind of approach to managing someone in that kind of position is going to take?
Starting point is 00:22:19 you know anyway different we've been over this shit a million times like it this is this is what the industry is this is who the fighters pick this is what happens right yeah but to your point about to your point about you know should this even happen i mean if i was i i don't you would want to make it five rounds why because you would imagine that the winner is potentially auditioning for a title shot potentially because they're not neither is really in that space you wouldn't do it but if someone looked good in a five-round scenario with the way that things are a little bit in flux at uh at 145 i mean i know lorone murphy just bumped to the front of the line bc but you know they were talking about giving yair one off of one win i think they're looking
Starting point is 00:23:03 to kind of reshuffle things a little bit they want to see these guys audition for some bigger opportunities to see what they can do at five rounds so i kind of get the logic but uh at this point i don't know what the goal would be i mean dude but do you i mean seriously realistically how is Ortega going to look past the third round? Even if the fight goes that long, he's going to fall off a cliff after there anyway. I just feel like we're not even going to see five rounds in all likelihood anyway.
Starting point is 00:23:34 So I mean, it's a weird situation here. Also, Aljo accepting the fight with that huge weight miss. I get it, same manager. I know he just wants to get a win and move on. Brian Ortega has lost specifically three of four, actually five of seven overall. all. He's 34 years old right now, yet for some reason, despite that, that stretch, even though the losses have come against very elite competition, including the near title submission
Starting point is 00:23:59 win against Alexander Volcanovsky. When you look at the featherweight rankings right now, or take us still number five with Aljo at number seven. So Luke, do you feel like really it's Aljo who has stakes in an opportunity here? I wonder if that little soundbite keeps him away from getting it. But let's say Aljo as the favorite now with this weight miss situation and the daunting five rounds, if he gets a win, do you see him making the leap? I mean, he does have close losses recently, including against Molsar Ivoev. Is this a big opportunity for him or not in your eyes? Well, see, this is the weird part because here's the thing.
Starting point is 00:24:37 If Ortega looks good for a bit and then fades in the end, the win for Aljo might carry some real value, but if Ortega looks terrible from the beginning, people are going to deny the legitimacy of the win and not without good reason, right? They might say, listen, okay, Ortega is a name and we know he has some skills, but look at the state this guy was in. What is that win supposed to signify? Right. In a scenario like that, I don't know how much there is to gain. So it actually is to Al Joe's benefit if Ortega shows some signs of life in this and some competitive pushback and then, you know, somehow Al Jemaine is able to, like, you know, look better in the end. That would be useful to him.
Starting point is 00:25:17 But, dude, there's a real world where he traveled all the way to Shanghai, China to beat up an underprepared, let's just say, you know, is an incapable opponent who fell apart on the scales and then ultimately on fight night. Like, what does that really earn you? I don't know. But to Aljo's point, remember, he's also flying to China to go to being a co-main event. He's not fighting on a big pay-per-view. Like, I don't know to what extent the UFC will.
Starting point is 00:25:42 value that long term. But I understand from Aljo's point, I'm fighting in a five-round co-main event for no extra money on the other side of the world. You know, I think he's hoping that with a big win, that might come full circle and be rewarded. There's a question about to what extent that's how the business works. But I at least can understand the thinking on all of this. It just in the end, he might not get, it's possible. Even with a win, he might not get much out of it. So Aljo's 36 years old, but he does seem a lot fresher than Ortega at the moment. Technically, he's lost two of three, but one was the K.O. loss for the bandweight title against O'Malley, in which he rushed back from injury to take that fight.
Starting point is 00:26:19 He's one and one technically at 1.45 with the decision win over Calvin Cater, and then the very close decision lost to Yvloyev. Luke, is there still an argument to be made that Aljo very much could have got his hand raised in that fight? No, I didn't think that he won it, but I thought he was very, very competitive and good and did not look in any way bad in that fight. It just looked like Evloy's top control and top presence was very good. I mean, we're talking about a former bantamweight champion going up to 45. That's a tough, that's a tough thing.
Starting point is 00:26:56 I mean, dude, Evloyv might be a future champ, too. I mean, think about that. That's not a thing that we can write off. So, no, he didn't win it, but he, we won, you know, key parts of it and certainly performed quite ably. interesting stuff look up the best we can do to sort of try to guess what this fight looks like the the advantages are are seemingly shifting toward algo although you do never know i guess on a bad weight miss for the fight allowed to be fought at the higher weight in theory is this
Starting point is 00:27:27 gonna you know give any help to or take i don't know or take us so wild he'll either fight with no defense in his hands down or he'll be getting beat up and then be on the verge of saving the fight with a dramatic submission attempt how do you see this front fight ultimately playing out and do you think Aljo is looking at it as let me just keep this safe survive in advance get a big win over the number five guy and keep moving well I don't know that's a good question like to what extent what are his offensive priorities in this fight that's actually interesting question I don't know we're going to have to see especially if you get I mean I think he's going to wait and see what kind of Ortega he gets on fight night so that there's
Starting point is 00:28:01 a big part of that but I mean I honestly feel like this is Taylor made strong is overstating it To me, this is Aljo's fight to lose. I think early on, he can stick and move. Ortega's defense has never been great. His slipping has never been great. His slipping and countering usually takes a little while to get going. He's usually hitable early. And you got Aljo who's got pretty good footwork, good jab, good movement.
Starting point is 00:28:24 Like, he's going to be tough to deal with early. And then the interesting thing about Aljo is he does have wrestling, but he's a very good back attacker. Now, I don't think he's going to try and play the grappling game too early with Ortega. but if Ortega begins to visibly slow, you've got a guy at Aljo, very good at creating back exposure, very good at holding and maintaining position. Obviously, always a submission threat if he needs to be. You got that Sulawev stretch when they try to shake him off.
Starting point is 00:28:48 Like, he's skilled. So I think I'm looking at some combination of jabbing and circling on the feet and then creating back exposure. And then we'll see what happens from there. Yeah, it's tough. I mean, Aljo never submitted it in his career, which is the strength of Ortega's game. I'm not sure Ortega's caveman boxing at this point.
Starting point is 00:29:05 this career is going to have a lot of success against Aljo, who's very long, very awkward, still very quick and athletic. It really leads me to believe we're heading towards an Aljo sub, a wide decision winner, what have you? Well, now, Luke, can you add anything from a betting angle? Is there any value here on Ortega? I mean, I would have thought maybe before the weight miss, there would have been value on him.
Starting point is 00:29:26 I feel like the weight miss just makes this like, oh, God, he didn't look great. Aljo lands more strikes per minute. Ortega gets hit three times as often as Aljo. Ortega only one win in the last five years, Aljo only lost to the number one contender at Featherweight. I mean, it feels like this should be an Aljo win. All right, let's say we get the Aljo win. There has been sound this week of Aljo saying,
Starting point is 00:29:48 I would love to get that second chance at Sean O'Malley, who had back-to-back losses to the new champion in Marab de Valsh Vili. Luke, is that the right matchmaking to make if Aljo gets his hand raising your eyes? Against who? Sean O'Malley in our room. Oh, are we out of ideas? Is that what the problem is?
Starting point is 00:30:12 No, no. I got plenty of ideas. I mean, you can look at that top five right now. You got obviously the champion is Volk. You've got Movesar at number one. Diego Lopez at two. Yai'er Rodriguez at three. Lorone Murphy at number four,
Starting point is 00:30:24 probably getting the next title shot. And then you have Ortega, Arnold Allen, and Sterling. I mean, let's let's create. I mean, the whole point of going to four. is to create some fresh matchups. Let's do that. Let's go Yair, maybe, maybe. Well, he's got Diego, right? Or does he not? No, Diego, Diego is J.on Silva.
Starting point is 00:30:43 That's right. And that could be a big, that's a big stake fight for both guys. All right. So we'll see. Fatherweight is trying to regrow itself. We'll see what happens with this fight. Let's move on to the heavyweight division. Sergei Pavlovich will come in here as a favorite, despite the fact that he has recently turned away a two-fight losing skid, got a win over Jaya Rosenstrike, who's now out of the organization. But he kind of welcomes someone you can say is under the radar at heavyweight on a five-fight win streak. Waldo Cortez-Acost. And as we look at the odds for this three-round fight, brought to you
Starting point is 00:31:19 by Draft Kings, Pavlovich at minus 265, Cortez Acosta, with that strong ground game, plus 215 as the underdog. Luke Cortez-A-Costo is ranked number six. I mentioned that. five-fight win streak. Not all of those fights have been, you know, domination. There's been some close calls in there. How live of a dog is he, though, against somebody like Pavlovich who's looking to regain his spot in the rankings? This is an interesting one because Pavlovich has fallen apart, I think. You mean, you mentioned the Rosenstrike win. He didn't win that fight. At least he shouldn't have won that fight. That was a bit of a, I mean, robbery is a strong word, but let's just say the judging in that
Starting point is 00:31:57 one was suspect and certainly up for debate. He had just didn't look good. And of course, the two fights before that, he loses to Aspinol in the first round and loses to Volkov in a fight where he kind of got beaten up in that one. The Aspinall one wasn't very long, but the Volkaw won, he kind of got beaten up over the duration of that bout. And then Rosenstrike, he just barely eeked it out. He's not looked great at all. He's got some physical advantages here. I think he's got a longer reach by, I think, about six inches. Let me see. What is it? It is closer to, yeah, exactly, 78 to 84. So he's got some advantages here. But Waldo Cortez, Acosta quicker. He doesn't look like he's particularly athletic, but I think he's got
Starting point is 00:32:34 faster feet. Pavlovich has pretty terrible defense. He does have a sturdy chin by and large, by and large. And so he could take some abuse and he will pump forward. He'll pressure. And Acosta or Cortez Acosta at times will kind of relent to that. So there are ways in which this can be interesting and competitive. But honestly, I think, you know, if you just look at what they performed at more recently, Cortez Acosta has. one against better guys in more complete ways looked good down the stretch when he needed to in that in that spivak fight um he's a little bit outsized not in total weight but again i think in like useful bulk he's a little bit outsized but he might like this might be just the right
Starting point is 00:33:19 time bc for him to fight sergey pavlovich on this kind of situation there's there's good reasons to like what he can do here yeah and i just want to circle back to that win that snap the losing streak for Sergei Arzir, Jayorzino, excuse me. Luke, I don't remember it being a decision that was disputed. I just remember it being a shitty sleep-inducing fight in which Pavlovich won the first
Starting point is 00:33:43 two rounds, scored a knockdown. Am I wrong here? Are you thinking of the... Yeah, no, he, I believe he, correct me if I'm wrong on, Luke, he laid on top of him in the third round. Yeah, he laid on top of him in the third round. And he didn't do shit on the ground and pound. Now, again, Biggie Boy looked terrible underneath
Starting point is 00:33:58 as well. And I think this was shortly after this, he gets released. But he just, he did, he just completely laid on him and did nothing for basically an entire round. And don't forget that him and Volkov used to train together. And at the end of that fight, I remember Pavlovich pushed Volkov and was like, F you. I don't know what the deal was between them. But Pavlovich holds that number three ranking. Why? Because this is as shallow as this division gets. I don't know. Like should we, I mean, if with a win here, if Waldo went six in a row and beats a name like this, you're going to start taking it more seriously. But when you're looking at the title picture, I don't know, Luke, have you?
Starting point is 00:34:34 I mean, I think Waldo's underrated for this division, but I can't see him being a title threat until he chaos Pavlovich, right? If he smokes Pavlovich, then you're kind of like, well, I mean, how far away are we at that point, you know? Aspinol wants to stay busy, apparently. Aspinall needs contenders, definitely. I mean, if Cortez Ocosta goes in there and smokes him, dude, like, I'm not saying he gets the next title shot,
Starting point is 00:35:02 but he can't be that far at that point, can he? What am I missing? No, he's number six. You're not going to be that far. Yeah, exactly. You're right there at that point. I mean, that's really the problem that we have right now with the champion Aspinall, Cyril Gahn, ranked number one, Volkov 2,
Starting point is 00:35:15 then Pavlovich, Blades, Almeda, and then Waldo. And if you want me to keep going, you're going to get a lot of Tiberas and Spivax and toi vases and derrick lewis is i mean damn what a time for the ufc heavyweight division to lose uh john jones and everyone else uh long island what do we got here i mean i i could see waldo pulling this off for everything luke said that that's a nice little plus money opportunity are you willing to go after it i'm not willing to go after it i am willing to go after the over one and a half i did take it in a parley pablo viz hit it in two straight waldo cortez acosta like Always hits it. Seven of his eight UFC fights. So I do think he'll push the pace, make it go a little longer. I do like Pavlovich in this fight. So I won't be taking Cortez Acosta plus money, but Cortez Acosta plus three and a half spread on draft kings is plus money right now. He just has to win one round on one judge's scorecard. The worry there would be Pavlovich could knock him out. Pavlovich 15 of his 19 wins have come by knockout. Cortez Acosta though, never been knocked out before. So that's caveat there. I will say though, they're
Starting point is 00:36:20 giving you Pavlovich by K.O. at plus money, which is crazy. I never thought I'd see the day that you get him at plus money. But over one and a half is my official pick. All right. Well, officially, Waldo is 14 and one as a professional. The only loss a decision against Marcos Rosario de Lima back in 2003 in a battle of overweight heavyweights. Not as overweight, by the way, is that PFL Romanov fight that will get too shortly. Luke, I don't have the same confidence in Pavlovich. I don't feel like you do either. Not right now. Not right now. I need to see some signs of life from him, man. He has been hanging on by a thread here. Yeah, let's see what he can do first. All right. Tell me what else you care about for the Shanghai undercard. And do we have a start time? I'm sure long. Oh, 3 a.m. with Long Island Look, right?
Starting point is 00:37:06 Yeah, 6 a.m. Maine, I believe. Damn, that's your. Kind of interesting on short notice. Kyle Dawkes is back in the promotion after doing pretty well on the regional scene. He's going to face Michelle Padeta, who's UFC career is hanging on by a thread. is an absolute no doubt about it. People are a little bit upset about Charles Johnson and then loner or Kavanaugh not being on the main card. Your mileage may vary. And then, yeah, it's about it. That was like an eight or nine fight win streak
Starting point is 00:37:35 that Michelle Padea had until those back-to-back losses, the stoppage against Fluffy Hernandez in round five, and then that decision loss to not a plane or a train, Luke. We're talking about a boost Mago Medoff right there. That's an interesting fight of sorts. Yes. A boss. I mean, we're going to get Michelle Podeda and Johnny Walker on the same card. Maybe they'll both backflip their way into the cage. I don't know, dude, a lot of locals. I'm looking up and down this undercard, maybe outside of the pretty good faceoff we saw at a flyway between Charles Johnson and Kavanaugh. I don't know if I'm seeing a ton of appointment viewing here. Long Island, Luke can you change my opinion at all? I don't know if I could change it. Luke kind of mentioned the only really good prelims. Wrong Jues taken on Austin Hubbard. That's another like somewhat. fun matchup that should be fun uh i feel like though this is going to be one of those cards where
Starting point is 00:38:24 you don't think it's going to be anything on paper and it's just a bunch of bangers that's at least what i'm hoping for waking up at 3 a m so join me guys main card minute let's okay well let's let's stay there for a second what's that conversation like between you and your significant other uh that i'm off on saturday night we got all day saturday she goes i'm leaving no i got all day saturday we could hang out tonight you know i might go to bed a little early get an hour or two asleep and then be right right save tonight fight the break of dawn Eagle-eyed cherry style. Look, if you have anything else to say about Shanghai, say it now. Seems like it's a wonderful city. All right, there we go. That's topic number one.
Starting point is 00:38:59 Let's go to topic number two. UFC Vancouver is on the horizon and a big announcement this week from Dana White, not just to round out the full card of what appears to be a sexy fight night coming up on October 18th. But the bigger story is we're furthering the middleweight title discussion. Of course, less than a week after Hamzat Jemai have captured the title. at UFC 319 by blanking Drickus Duplice, we are going to get two of the most eligible contenders for that title to have to go through each other. RDR, Renair de Ritter, will take a five-round main event against Anthony Fluffy Hernandez.
Starting point is 00:39:37 Of course, we also have the September Paris main event between equally high contenders of Nasredin Imov against Kyle Boraljo, excuse me. Luke, this is pretty exciting, considering the logjam of contenders and the idea here that we have a final four, and with Sean Strickland also just getting a six-month suspension for that run-in he had in the cage, we're going to give these four contenders an opportunity to outshine each other to get the next chance at, or the first chance at Shemayev.
Starting point is 00:40:09 In your eyes, is that the most fair way to decide this, considering how many viable names we have at the moment? I don't hate it at all. I mean, you know, you could just do whatever you want if you're the UFC, basically, but they're trying to figure out like which way to go because they've got a lot of good options. I mean, some options are better than others and some you might like more than others. My hope is that, I mean, well, my hope is that basically either Fluffy or Derritter get the shot ahead of Bahalio or Imov. But, you know, everyone's mileage is going to be, is going to vary on this one.
Starting point is 00:40:40 You're going to have a different taste. But this is a great problem to have. You've got four brand new kind of quickly, in some ways, quickly, in the case of RDR, for example, quickly ascendant. contenders um you know some are not exactly an overnight success but sometimes it feels that way and it's it's a little bit unclear about which direction to go so screw it let's have them fight each other and then figure out now of course the winners of these two you know semis are not going to face off each other the winner gets you know selected for the ultimate prize so it's not really a full tournament in that sense but um in any case i love it bc and i think you know i think a lot
Starting point is 00:41:17 of people feel the same it feels like it's a real clever way to set up a number one contenders fight i mean even then there's still going to be a degree of interpretation on this but how can you not love either fight again i love the rdr versus fluffy one more to me that's more interesting i think the winner of that fight presents potentially more challenges for hamzot but truly a setup where if you're the ufc how can you go wrong you have so many good uh choices about which way this could go yeah and i do ultimately like that they're giving everyone the equal chance go out there get a dominant performance get a finish yell into the microphone, do what we love, and we will ultimately reward you.
Starting point is 00:41:53 And if you look at the odds for this October 18th main event, I'm sure Shaquille Majori will be there. Now, Judy will be in attendance and texting you for weeks ago. Texting me. I'm going to just be blocking him and telling him he has full-blown AIDS or something. Oh, my God. Wow. He has free health care, though, to combat that.
Starting point is 00:42:09 RDR is your underdog at plus 180, according to Draft Kings. Fluffy Hernandez minus 218. from what we've seen out of both recently are those fair odds in your eyes, LT? Plus 180, that's a better question for Long Island, Luke. That's a better question for Long Island, Luke. What do you think about the odds?
Starting point is 00:42:29 I think they're fair. I think RDR could win this fight, but I would definitely favor Fluffy to win this fight. So, like, yeah, I'll take Fluffy at minus 218, and I could be tempted to take RDR. Yeah, I think they're about right. Yeah. You're just edging all over the place.
Starting point is 00:42:43 RDR is capable, RDR just seems like he's very capable of surprises. Fluffy seems, listen to the words I'm saying, seems like more of a sure thing. But that's why they got to fight it out, because you never know. Well, we got some fun sound from a few of the fighters involved in this sort of virtual final
Starting point is 00:43:00 four. And the first piece of sound coming from the red hot Anthony Fluffy Hernandez, who is riding an eight-fight win streak, kind of sounded and tasted a little bit like shots fire. of course this shot's fired segment brought to you by quervo now is a good time to enjoy the tequila that invented tequila and you better believe the quervo tequila will be in a plenty if that makes any sense when we do ufc 320 pregame preview on mk coming up uh when is that luke did you say that's october yeah that's not till the first week of october well i mean i guess it is it technically going to be in september but the first ufc event is in october yeah all right so we'll check
Starting point is 00:43:46 out. So here is Fluffy Hernandez with MMA junkie reacting to the RDR fight and explaining why he is the man to beat Jemaya. I thought I thought DDP would actually have like answers and stuff but uh turns out he just got away with being a fucking big strong guy for a long time and against a high level wrestler trying to be strong just sets of traps. So um he found that out that night and I mean so but um there's like there's levels of this shit man there's levels of of this shit and I think that I'm on that level. Um, so eventually when the fight comes, I'll be ready for it.
Starting point is 00:44:22 But it's one fight at a time for me. Next in line is the Ritter. So it's strategize against him and just fucking keep climbing the rankings. Luke Do you believe that this man, we know he has the confidence, but would you say of the four contenders
Starting point is 00:44:40 he has the best skill set to eventually attack Jamea? Or we got to wait and see? We have to wait and see a little bit. I think he would have a little bit more ability to stuff takedowns, a little bit more ability, less so on that, but more to scramble, for scrambles, and then the ability to reverse position, and then more importantly, over the course of the bout, you know, make Hamzot work for it.
Starting point is 00:45:07 And that's where it becomes intriguing is when, you know, the interesting part about the DDP fight BC for Hamzot was that he, essentially got to set the pace what happens in a five round fight when he cannot and I think Fluffy is one of the only guys who can at least in theory present that as a challenge
Starting point is 00:45:28 yeah and look he's obviously has to get through RDR first but I want to see RDR who just went five rounds with Robert Whitaker getting the edge in a close fight will that will that pace that Fluffy puts out be too much for him Luke you know what I mean it was way too much for Roman DeLide day yeah I mean
Starting point is 00:45:44 we don't know we don't know but I mean I mean, there's good reason to at least want to see that tested. If you can pass the Fluffy test, you know, you can pass just about anything that the division can throw at you. But that's me, that to me is why it's kind of the most interesting one. But again, we'll have to see. Well, this RDR Fluffy matchup is so good. We got sound from Kyle Boholio, who of course will be fighting Imavav in Paris in September, talking to our friend Dennis at Submission Radio and making his pick for who wins RDR Fluffy.
Starting point is 00:46:12 I've been able to have five fights, basically, man. It's insane. He's doing a good run. I respect the guy for that. He's doing a good run. He's getting there. But I don't think he wins from Hernandez. Because if you see that fight, RDR has a grappling as good as Roman Dolizzi. And RDR is worse, a little bit, a little bit worse than Roman Dolizzi on the feet. Erndanj is going to go there is going to be the same exactly fight as the
Starting point is 00:46:52 Lezzi fight and I think he will win this fight against RDR for sure. I disagree on the same exact. I mean RDR couldn't be more different than Roman and how he attacks things and... Yes, I would agree with that, that characterization is misleading. However, the
Starting point is 00:47:08 general scope of it is more or less correct, I think. All right, let's go back to Derritter here who talked with MMA junkie. Responding. to tweets from Hamzat Shamaev and really detailing how he believes a fight between the two of them would go if he gets past Hernandez.
Starting point is 00:47:24 Had some developments here in the past couple like 12 hours or so. He first sent you like the skull emoji and then I think your wonderful fake Twitter account. Something's a great promotion for you here. And then Hansa responds saying to show you're a white belt. This seems like good. You're kind of
Starting point is 00:47:40 you're getting some momentum here. Yeah. I think I think I can do well in all the positions. If I end up on bottom, if I end up on top, I believe I have a lot to show in that fight. And I think it could be like a grappling fight for the ages. Our styles match up very cool. And I believe it could be like a very awesome fight.
Starting point is 00:48:05 The main thing is, the main thought in my mind is if he takes me down, great. If I take him down great. If it's in a clinch, great. If it's in the stand-up, it's great. So I'm not worried about where it goes at all. I think I can hit him with some good knees. I believe I can take him down.
Starting point is 00:48:23 I have some cool shit off my back as well. So, yeah, we'll see. Luke, I have to say, no disrespect to Kayao or Imovav. And I'm about probably from a resume standpoint. And the names he's recently beat has the best shot on paper. I think Fluffy or RDR is the fight. And if I had a pick, man, I'd like to hear an RDR. are talk about what that back and forth ground battle could look like i'm into it dude all right so
Starting point is 00:48:50 this one is also intriguing i generally feel though that like guys who are top smother top pin guys like hamzot it's general general well genuinely and generally going to be a bad matchup for you know guard players and i i realize that r d r can do more than that for sure he's got good grappling everywhere but if he's going to be spending a lot of time in bottom pins you know you would want someone who could kind of fight fire with fire not someone who could fight fire with something different um so i i won't i won't sit here and lie and say i'm fully not intrigued that's not true i just don't feel like to me that's the best kind of matchup but again let's see we every time rdr goes out there he shows you a little something different a little something fun he's full of
Starting point is 00:49:40 surprises. If he's the right guy to do it, then let's see what that looks like. Man, I hope they put Chimae of Cage side for both matchups just to, like, intimidate and, you know, stir that shit up. You know I get down like that, Luke. I know you don't want to hear about that. You don't want to hear about MMA power couples. I mean, I get it. Yeah, who does? Who could, I mean, could you imagine a topic more boring than that? I mean, I think ABC Nation and Cody Brundage are pregnant as well again, Luke. So, congratulations. I'm mad at them. I hope it all goes quite well, but I'm just saying in terms of like the bandwidth of my day to
Starting point is 00:50:11 like a lot a portion of your day for that seems like a profound waste of a day you know yeah yeah we all have you know we all listen to different things Luke some of us abortion rock hey let's talk about this you have seen Vancouver main card for October 18th I'd love to know what the local authorities are paying in terms of a site fee because Vancouver is getting
Starting point is 00:50:31 almost Baku Azerbaijan or Abu Dhabi level bookings here your main event is that five round RDR fluffy matchup with So much at stake. You've got Marlon Vera against Aman Hawanee Zahabi. You've got Kevin Holland against Canadian Mike Malah. Manon Farrell coming off of the title loss will take on a streaking Jasmine, Jazz DeViscius in her home country looking to crack the title picture.
Starting point is 00:50:56 And Bruno Silva at Flyway against Hung Young, Hung's Young, High Onsung Park, excuse me, are the highlights from this. Luke Thomas, you can give me a letter grave if you want, but would you agree with me that this feels really good for a fight night dude it feels very good for a fight night i would absolutely agree with that i don't know and also canada having a little bit of a moment you know there's been a couple of canadian standouts uh on both the men's and women's side or at least some making some noise enough to put a little bit of a some local flare on this to get it done yes and then overall the card has meaningful matchups the main event is killer i mean perfect
Starting point is 00:51:38 fight night main event There is quite a bit to like here in this Vancouver card. And, you know, I'm glad to see the UFC expending the effort to make it happen. And Long Island, Luke, just updating us on the odds for that Paris main event. Kyo is minus 118, imov minus 102. So we're looking at virtual pickum in that matchup. To close the door, though, on Vancouver, there was one matchup that could have even potentially up the ante on this card or maybe replaced the main event.
Starting point is 00:52:07 And if you listen to Sean Brady, that was Brady. versus Ian Machado, Gary. It won't happen. Here's Sean Brady explaining why. So I got a call from my manager right around international fight week. So at the end of June timeframe about me and Ian fighting in Chicago, I said yes. Didn't hear anything for weeks. I'm assuming the UFC moved on.
Starting point is 00:52:34 Recently, they hit us up. They said me and Ian main event in Vancouver. I said yes, immediately, immediately, yes, let's go. I've been wanting to fight since May, and these were the only ones I've been offered. I said yes twice. Now, I don't know why Ian's fucking was dragging his feet or whatever he was doing, and now they put in RDR and Fluffy. So now, once again, we're sitting and waiting.
Starting point is 00:53:06 So, thanks, Ian. I just lost another main event because you, my man. You can hear that Philly angst right there. The anger, Luke, we got to get this matchup, and we got to get it soon. I mean, Ian Gary has historically not ducked the smoke. You had to kind of give him credit for that, but if he's ducking it now, that's a problem.
Starting point is 00:53:29 But, you know, if I was him, I wouldn't want to fight Sean Brady either. That's a bad matchup, I think. So we'll see. That is going to be a heck of a fight. The division needs it. Let's sort things out at Welterway. Let's figure that out, UFC.
Starting point is 00:53:41 All right, let's go to topic number three. Big fight announcement this week that, boy, did it receive a polarizing reaction? Maybe rightfully so. November 14th, live on Netflix, State Farm Arena in Atlanta. You're going to get the return of Gervante Tank Davis. It's going to come against Jake Paul, though, in an exhibition fight. And Luke, most of the boxing world has been at full outrage in the aftermath of this announcement, even going as far as saying this fight is only contributing to the continued slow death and erosion of American boxing in particular.
Starting point is 00:54:17 I saw you tweet that unlike me, this fight doesn't personally offend you. So the best you can, tell me the reasons why this matchup, pairing a fighter like Paul who's 66 pounds heavier, 8 inches taller, and with an 8.5 inch reach advantage, is anything but the extreme waste of time and money that means, as a boxing purist is about to tell you. It's all the things you think it is. It's just, I don't know how to explain this to you. Boxing purists don't, there's not enough of you anymore. There's not enough of you to keep the sport from doing this anymore.
Starting point is 00:54:57 Not here. I mean, maybe overseas it's a little bit different. I think obviously in fact it probably is, right? I think it's different in England, maybe different in Japan and some other plate, Germany, perhaps. But not here. Not here. There's not enough demand. from folks like you for the promoter to care about this or frankly the fighters themselves
Starting point is 00:55:15 to care about this you know we we are not we know we are guilty in the have you played the game of benefiting from jake paul and logan paul coverage we covered floyd and logan paul's dumbass whatever was that exhibition i guess it was i can't remember yeah yeah and then we did three of the jake paul fights we did the anderson sylva fight and the both woodley fights and you know to me it felt a little, this feels a little bit different, BC, because Jake Paul wasn't taking Silva away from, you know, what boxing was asking of him. He wasn't taking Woodley away from anything, MMA career or otherwise. And, you know, Logan Paul and, I mean, Floyd had been done for years by the time that they
Starting point is 00:55:55 had, you know, did what they did. So it was just a complete side show. But now the side show is the show. It's the main show. And you could say, well, didn't, didn't Tyson Fury fight Francis in Ghanu in the middle of his boxing career and it didn't upend things necessarily. That's true. It delayed them to a degree, yes. But, you know, he still went and fought Usik
Starting point is 00:56:17 no matter what, right? They were also in the same weight class, Luke. They're also in the same weight class and there's that. And I understand. But the point I'm trying to make is, like, you're taking these, like, fights that have nothing to do with your actual boxing career. There are just these fights that you take, these exhibitions that you do for a massive payday. He did it too. But like with
Starting point is 00:56:34 Dervante, who already tried to cherry pick Lamont. I don't think Lamont was the guy to do that with because I think it backfired on him. And then, you know, then he gets arrested and I realized that the charges were dropped, but there's lots of questions about what the hell that's supposed to mean. And then comes back and then like basically just flat out ducks Lamont Roach in order to take this Jake Paul fight, which makes no sense in any way whatsoever. But BC, number one, I'm going to make the claim that I think Gervante versus Jake Paul does bigger numbers than Canelo Crawford. I don't think that's in any way questionable. I think that's exactly what's going to happen. And more to the point,
Starting point is 00:57:12 Gervante could lose this fight. Like, that's actually a real thing because, yes, Gervantes a enormous puncher, but that, I mean, that's not going to go much above 55 or at most 70, 170. We're talking about a guy who's in the 200s. Like, he could be made to, he's ducking to take a fight that he'll lose against a guy who's not supposed to be good. We understand the value of weight classes. I don't know if the average person, does and I'm trying to explain to people like the reason they're able to go through with all of this is yes there's a enormous financial incentive but the reality is there's nothing else to the reality of American boxing that is in any way for the people who are putting boxing on a serviceable
Starting point is 00:57:53 alternative like this is boxing in the states or at least part of the story of boxing in the states I mean look there's not enough of you to change the incentives I know that it's also part of boxing, shooting itself in the foot, being broken. It's also that boxing is in mid-transition. What's going to happen with Zufa boxing, Turkey? Like, there's a lot that we don't know. Top Rank still hasn't announced their new TV deal. PBC seems like it's date-to-date.
Starting point is 00:58:18 But damn, this sucks. And I don't want to hear anyone say, like, well, Muhammad Ali did it while he was undisputed champion. Well, yeah, that was when he came off of the Thrilla in Manila, the trilogy with Frazier. He was in his mid to late 30s. And he took a bunch of those type of fights, Lyle Al-Zato, Antonio, and O'Noki.
Starting point is 00:58:35 But in those same calendar years, he also fought four times against actual opponents. And also by that point, he had like accomplished everything. This is a Tank Davis who's under so much scrutiny because he's clearly one of the pound for pound best in the sport, clearly one of the biggest stars. But, you know, his critics have been saying for years, they want him to take chances and fight the champions in his division. I think there were opportunities to do that. Then when you're coming off a draw against Roach, where Roach got the short end of a
Starting point is 00:59:05 Dick should have won that fight. We know about the controversy with the knee and the scoring and all that to, you know, to have a situation where he was arrested and almost potentially went back to jail and now we're doing this. And I heard what you said about Tank could lose this. My biggest problem is it's an exhibition. So there is no winner and loser. That doesn't really matter.
Starting point is 00:59:27 It should be an exhibition because how could you commission this? I mean, it is different when it's a novice Logan Paul against a retired Floyd. Mayweather and that you know that got us excited coming in it was new it was fresh but it turned out to be a virtual sparring match versus jake paul was a virtual sparring match even if you tell me you can see the future and this is oddly competitive and maybe tank drops him or maybe tank gets hurt and has to come back i'm like for what luke for what i know it's prize fighting but i i know i'm speaking heavily with the boxing purest heart But can we show Long Island, look, that graphic that boxing scene put out,
Starting point is 01:00:09 it is a fertile time in Tank Davis' career, should he still want to fight to, you know, and he has been talking about retirement earlier this year, to seek really big matchups. You look at the champions in his division, Shakurr Stevenson, Kishon Davis was, but he missed weight and lost the title. Lamont Roach deserves a rematch. Teo Fimo's lingering, a Mani Pachio tank fight at Welterweight, whether you love it or not, could have been big business for PBC. Luke, does this tell you that Tank could be cashing himself out
Starting point is 01:00:38 and either retiring or walking away from the sport? Like, this doesn't tell me that he still has the eye of the tiger. Yeah, no, I think that's a pretty safe read. I mean, you know, life is funny. Who knows if he needs money later? He tries to keep fighting. And the Lamont Roach rematch BC would do good numbers. It wouldn't do Jake Paul numbers, but it would do good numbers.
Starting point is 01:00:59 But, you know, yeah, I mean, I don't know how you can look at this and think that this guy is locked on, you know, outside of the cage, he, or excuse me, outside of the ring, he's not locked on and inside he's barely locked on at all, you know, and I mean, everything, every, it just gets coming apart. And there's really no other stars. Like, dude, when, when, I mean, the argument was always, oh, like, Jake's gimmick works because he's getting desperate MMA fighters. who need a payday, you know, to fight in boxing. Like he, like, that's who he can feast off of because that's who needs his services, so to speak, the halo that he brings. And now it's the biggest stars in boxing. Like, that is different, dude. That is different.
Starting point is 01:01:48 That is not what was happening before. It was figures who were essentially not irrelevant, but irrelevant to the core game from which they came. And now it's boxing going hat in hand. And by the way, I think the fact that BBC doesn't have, money, at least not much, it's probably playing a role here as well. They need a financial windfall and this will provide it. Like, this is just, I tell you, this is boxing in the States at the moment.
Starting point is 01:02:09 That's just what it is. It's tough. Let's go to that Jake Paul tweet announcing it where it seems like he's trying to force up a beef. Devante, who has been disrespecting my name for too long. His nickname might be Tank, but I'm a drone. I, I mean, enough of this. Bullshit.
Starting point is 01:02:24 Look, there is no beef between them. It's not lost on me that this was going to be the plan. Hold on. motto is anyone, anytime, any place against all odds. I think he's been the favorite in essentially how many times has, okay, look this up. How many times has Jake Paul been the favorite? The only fight where you potentially wouldn't have been is Tommy Fury. But I think coming in, we all thought Tommy Fury was trashed and then he put on actually a decent performance. And then he would say there, I'm going to kill David, then I'm going to go after Goliath. Look, I get that
Starting point is 01:02:55 Jake Paul tried to rematch with Fury. It just came out that Tommy Fury turned down big money. for that. Jake tried to get Canello. He got double crossed by Turkey. He tried to get Anthony Joshua. It didn't happen for whatever reason recently. But look, to come off of that Tyson fight where, yeah, Jake made huge money, made a huge splash, but it really killed his credibility of like, are you really climbing the ladder to fight a cruiserweight title? And then he fights dead Chavez, but he did have a cruiserweight champion in the Comain. Like, what does this say that he's going back to the well here against a lightweight? I mean, I, just, you know, it's like, what are we doing? It's pro wrestling to me. Even if it's a real
Starting point is 01:03:33 fight and I'm not saying it's unscripted, don't screw, don't sue me, Jake, but when you're doing an exhibition where there's crazy size mismatches, you may not get an actual fight in the end. Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah, dude, Jake Paul's fights suck the backside of my balls. I mean, the knockout against Fury and the, excuse me, the knockout against Woodley and the second fight was nice, but folks forget the fight itself leading up to the K.O. was, I mean, absolutely dreadful beyond description. And then most of the time Jake Paul fight is over and you're like, what the
Starting point is 01:04:05 fuck was that nonsense? Like, whoever leaves being like, wow, I really enjoyed that fight, you know, it was really fun. Almost, I mean, I guess the Mike Perry fight because it was so one-sided, but even then it was like so one-sided. You're like, what is this? This is what he does, dude. This is what he does. This is the Jake Paul
Starting point is 01:04:21 experience. Let's see this tweet from Derek Brunson summing up the situation. He says, Jake will go where no man has gone before. heavy weights fly weights females LGBT disabled doesn't matter everyone can get it hilarious brunson also tweeted the other day why the hell did i shine with pfl i should have went back to ufc what was i thinking and then you've got here lamont roach uh rightfully has a bone to pick here he put out the tweet saying told joe with the ducks and then this came from la roach's instagram story he went to a club and pay you know when they come out with the bottle service and they put the sign up uh tank duck
Starting point is 01:04:57 Luke, to close this topic, what should Lamont Roach do now? I mean, we could say he got screwed, but it's business, it's boxing. It happens, but I feel bad for him after that performance. I'd love Shakur Stevenson. What do you think he does next? I don't think it makes any sense to wait for Tank. I don't think he's coming through that door ever again. I think you just move on.
Starting point is 01:05:18 Try to leverage that to, if you can get Shakur, great. If you can get somebody else, great. Just go fight again because you're wasting time. Yeah, you've got to build off. that momentum because that was a breakout performance took tanks best shots outworked him big performance there all right let's keep the show moving hey look you already know that when it comes to travel like we do often for work or for the summertime getting away with the family sometimes it can be difficult to pack you know do i overpack do i under pack am i worried about
Starting point is 01:05:47 forgetting the essentials uh how much how big are those bottles of liquid i could bring on the plane you got a lot of issues right do i need three mini bottles to make sure i have have a good deodorant? Do I need a backup deodorant? Luckily, our friends at Mando have fixed this problem. And that's why I started packing a little bit smarter with Mando. Whether we're talking about the deodorant stick,
Starting point is 01:06:10 whether we're talking about the deodorant lotion, the spray, so many great things, including the Mando, four in one, acidified cleansing bar for the shower. Mando will keep you covered during the summertime blues when the terms like Swampass start to enter the lexicon. We're talking about deodorant, shampoo, face wash, body wash, all, all in one bar with that four and one acidified cleansing bar. It simplifies your whole hygiene routine. It really could work as shaving lather if you wanted it to.
Starting point is 01:06:44 I know, Luke, that when I'm around my wife who can smell out anything ahead of time, when I'm wearing that Mando, it's like, okay, good. You're showered, you're clean, you're ready to go. And I know on the run, Mando's going to fight that battle right here for me. Luke. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, that's right. It's going to stop odor before it starts. Of course, being talking about your underarms here, all day odor blocking, not just masking with fragrance. Some of you absolute clowns out there who think that's what you, you know, his proper hygiene. It's not. And also, by the way, it fights sweats. So you get double protection. It's simple one or two swipes, obviously under each arm and you're fresh and dry all day,
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Starting point is 01:07:55 combat that's combat with the k for 20% off sitewide plus free shipping for new customers only bc other any other things they need to know about in the mando's starter pack for example yeah it's got you completely covered it comes with the solid stick deodorant the cream tube deodorant two free products of your choice like the mini body wash the deodorant wipes and free shipping i use that spray for my regular day but when i'm going to be somewhere hot golfing out there at the beach I'm going to put that cream on, that lotion as well, to smell even better. How about what these products are made of baking soda-free, paraben-free? As a special offer for our listeners, our new customers can get 20% off site-wide using our exclusive code.
Starting point is 01:08:41 That's Combat with a K at shopmando.com for 20% off site-wide plus free shipping. And that Mando starter pack couldn't be any more perfect for new customers. So head on over to S-H-O-P-M-A-N-N-E-N-E. Do.com, please support our show. Tell them, we sent you. Yeah, B.C. and LT. Because Mando's got you covered. Protect your pits and smell great doing it. That's what I'm talking about for the end of this summer. All right. Let's go. There it is. There it is. Use our code combat with a K. Let's go to topic number four. Last night, Thursday night, Hollywood, Florida, the PFL had their final tournament championships for the 2025 season.
Starting point is 01:09:25 in three different events, or weight classes, excuse me, on this three-fight main card of light, heavyweight, and middleweight. So, Luke, let's start with that main event, which was a fun affair between Fabian Edwards, the brother of former UFC champion Leon and a Belator veteran himself against Dakota Ditchfah's new significant other, the rising Dalton Rasta. And you want to talk about a wild finish here for Fabian Edwards,
Starting point is 01:09:53 not only a head kick dead at 128 of round three, but you and Long Island, Luke, pointed out to me, three years and one day removed from when Leon Edwards did the same thing to Camaro Usman in their rematch to claim the UFC title. Luke, what the heck could you say about the cosmic synergy in that moment? I was watching last night. It was incredible, and it was the same leg, too. It was the left leg, you know, that went upside, in this case,
Starting point is 01:10:22 Ross's head and then previously Usman. Dude, MMA, I'm telling you, dude, one of the things that makes MMA so special, and I mean, I realize that, you know, all sports have some degree of this quality, but sometimes it just feels like MMA really has it. It's just its capacity, not just to amaze you, but to amaze you with weird things that you just couldn't think ever would happen or, you know, would never line up. And it doesn't line up perfectly. It wasn't to the day that the head kick happened, but to be like one day removed from it,
Starting point is 01:10:47 essentially is so absurd for the head kick to, you know, and by the way, if you didn't notice, like Leon jumps over the cage and celebrates with Fabian the same way that Fabian and his team celebrated with Leon like they both ran over and embraced in the same kind of like forceful way like there was just so many echoes of it MMA has the capacity
Starting point is 01:11:06 to just blow you away with stuff like this and yeah now the co-main event on this night the heavyweight fight it sucked the backside of a dead man's balls but the opener was great with Collie and who's it a oh and shoe face and then in the main event
Starting point is 01:11:22 obviously with Edwards and Roste, which was a fine fight up until the end. You know, PFL dude, at least in terms of what's happening in the cage, and then there's some smattering of an audience out there at these last couple of shows, they're having a little bit of a nice run here. I got some momentum. I mean, that October 3rd card is going to be great.
Starting point is 01:11:40 I just sat down with Paul Hughes yesterday. You can check out that interview later today on the BCX where he says Ali Abdel Aziz looks like a dolphin look, which is very interesting. That rematch with Usman is a big, deal but hey you got to give love here to fabian edwards 32 years old he has he's won three straight since joining the pfl his last bellator fight was in october of 24 uh or sorry that was his debut fight with pfl in where he lost the bellator middleweight championship to johnny eblin uh challenging
Starting point is 01:12:09 for evelyn's title but since going pfl proper here and entering the tournament this year he stopped imba kisangana took a decision from josh sylviaa and now gets the highlight real finish and they did show, you know, faces in the crowd of, you know, Dakota being like, damn. Nice breakout moment for him, continuing that momentum, as you mentioned, in the semi-fine, in the co-main event, excuse me, the heavyweight final Oleg Popoff getting a split decision over five rounds against UFC vet Alexander Romanoff. Luke, this looked like two bears hugging for most of the fight. What is Romanoff's deal? I know that when he kind of felt. This is more of the pop-off special.
Starting point is 01:12:49 He tends to produce a lot of these bullshit-ass fights. Yeah, but I know Romanov like kind of lost his way in UFC had personal problems, gassed out when he was on that hot streak and then kind of went downhill with his weight. So I don't want to like bag on him, but he made the tournament final here, dude, and he looked like he was 300 pounds in there. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Did you remember, did you see the Romanov celebration party from the previous fight?
Starting point is 01:13:13 No, I didn't. A bunch of shirtless dudes from Aldova sitting around eating Papa Johns and drinking Stella. I mean, these guys are, you know, they're not living life, like, you know, they're not living a monastic life. I can tell you that. I mean, it's sort of monastic in a way, but not in terms of, you know, dietary restriction. Yeah, I mean, dude, it's what I mean. Like, people want to bag on the UFC's heavyweight division and with good reason,
Starting point is 01:13:36 but, like, show me whose heavyweight division is on fire. I mean, put Francis in the damn tournament then. Let's go. He's an asset. Use him, PFL. Francis has issues. I know. I know.
Starting point is 01:13:48 I know. It's not fully their fall outside of the game. signing that crazy deal and look at what's what happened. You mentioned the light heavyweight final. Shout out to UFC vet shoe face, Antonio Carlos Jr. It was a back and forth fight with Sully Colley. There, Velator fame, Jr., or Carlos Jr. got knocked down, got back up, knocked down again, ends up getting a second round submission after beating the breaks off
Starting point is 01:14:09 Collie with those strikes, with the blood and everything. Luke, that was an emotional win and it's a good story in that regard that, you know, even if you do get cut by UFC to come over to, second biggest organization and win a tournament like this big deal for this man at age 35 yeah i i dude shoe face has made a million five or more in the pfl winning two tournaments like yep where was he going to get that money ever where in in two years essentially i mean he's been the pfl longer but like those are two year campaigns where are you where when was he ever going to make money like that in the ufc like it's just not it's just not possible so you know this is why i'm like i'm like i'm
Starting point is 01:14:48 worried about the future of MMA because if PFL doesn't survive, where can guys outside of UFC go to get money like that? It's going to be very, very, very difficult to do, if not impossible. So good for Shoeface. He's still a quality fighter. You know, is he the best in the world? No. But is he a quality, well-rounded, experienced, gritty veteran at this point, absolutely. And he's got some real jiu-jitsu skills as well. Yeah. Yeah, he's good. He's 10 and 1 since leaving the UFC and coming to PFL in 2021 with one no contest. The only lost a decision last year to Alex EZ Poezy, but he's the 2021 and 2025 champion at light heavyweight. Long Island Luke, did you do a live-ass show for this too?
Starting point is 01:15:31 I did not. I was being a good boyfriend last night. Gaff did a full card watch along though. I'm pretty sure you had a goal. Gaff Gaff's like, yo, I don't care about my significant. All right. In Long Island, Luke did update us on Jake Paul's odds history, Luke. here we go. Jake Paul was an underdog in his debut against that pre-diabetic gas station attendant
Starting point is 01:15:50 Andy St. Gibb, which is wild to me. And he was a pick-um at minus 115 against Tommy Fury. So there you go. So he's like, I'm going to fight anyone that's old enough and small enough. Dude, he is, he is, um, the man on the moon movie. Who's it about? It's about, um, Andy Kaufman. Andy Kaufman. Sorry, my brain couldn't pull that name. Dude, he's basically doing the Andy Kaufman bit, just not ironically. Yeah, yeah, in a lot of ways right there. He's like, his next fight is going to be against Holly Holm, you know what I mean? Topic number five comes just as I need to piss my pants, Luke.
Starting point is 01:16:25 I'm going to try my best here, all right, this unprofessional show. Hey, BKFC had a wild press conference yesterday in Newark, New Jersey. They should have held it right in Newark Penn Station. But to give them credit, they do have a big card coming up, October 4th, main event, Mike Perry, against Jeremy Stevens in a grudge match for the King of Violence title. We're going to get Frankie Edgar against Jimmy Rivera. We'll talk about that in a second in this wild, wild women's matchup between Christine Ferreya and what's that chick's name?
Starting point is 01:16:57 Jessica Borga is bordering on the obscene. But Luke, right off the top, we know BKFC is a way of disrupting the combat sports scene with weird fights and insane trash talk. What would be the letter grade in your eyes for this UFC, not UFC, October 4th, main event, Mike Perry versus Jeremy Stevens, from the standpoint of like, fuck it, I'll tune in to watch this wild ass fight and see if somebody gets maimed. This is a question for you. I'm not as into BKFC as you are. This is a thing that you put on the rundown because you like talking about it.
Starting point is 01:17:29 But like, I don't, I'm not, I'll check out the highlights, but I'm like, am I going to spend my evening like, like watching the Jerry Springer of combat sports? I have to say, probably not. They're 10 poll events, which definitely are the Jerry Springer of Combat Sports or maybe the Steve Wilcoe show, they do deliver on that cringe entertainment. Let's, for me, Luke, this is like a B plus. It's a great matchup.
Starting point is 01:17:51 I mean, I'll say this. Once again, when they put on big shows, the shows are, they're definitely big. They're definitely real. And they've got good names on this that I can imagine MMA fans caring about a lot. I understand that. It's just like the, yeah, okay, I'll say that. Let's go to the face off here, BKFC on this press conference yesterday. Here's Perry and Stevens facing all.
Starting point is 01:18:12 Mike Perry. Who's going to be the baddest motherfucker in the world? Who's going to be the baddest on fight night? October 4th Prudential Center, live on his own. Jeremy, Steve, and Mike Perry, the winner is the king of violence. You don't want to miss it. The biggest, the baddest, combat sport event. Look, this is the monster truck rally racing of combat sports.
Starting point is 01:19:03 Okay, so get, talk to me about this. Both guys have talked about during this press conference that a win gets them the fight against the boss. meaning Connor McGregor. And remember, they did a face-off with Mike Perry and Connor before. Also, Jeremy Stevens says the backstory there with the hardest hitting 145er. But interesting enough, BKFC leader, David Feldman, opened this press conference by saying Connor couldn't make it because he's training so hard for his comeback. And then he's straight up said with no disclaimer, he expects Connor to fight the winner of Perry
Starting point is 01:19:35 versus Stevens. Isn't Connor training for like a White House UFC comeback, if that even happened? happens like are they telling the truth here look or do we not know the reality of the contracts right now uh i mean they'll say i mean promoters say lots of things i mean it seems intuitive that there would be a chance that he would eventually fight in bkFC but he's got two fights left as we understand it on his ufc deal wasn't there a tweet like the ufc roster tracker that that thing tweeted like yes but then his manager came out and said that that was not real so i mean you know, I don't know what to say about that.
Starting point is 01:20:10 I mean, again, like, do promoters say lots of things? True. And why wouldn't you say that if you could make people interested in your product? But I'll believe it. I mean, again, I'm not saying it won't happen, but I'll believe it when I see it. All right. Here's Jeremy Stevens talking about what he's going to do to Mike Perry. I snap Eddie's fucking jaw.
Starting point is 01:20:29 Mike's breaking orbitals. Like, it's too hot for TV shit. VKFC is the baddest, bloodiest. Combat Sports. It's number one. You got two of the best fucking five. riders. One might be lighter. One might be bigger, but I'm fucking better. And I'm going to go there and prove it. I'm not here for the check. I'm here to break this motherfucker's neck and the
Starting point is 01:20:46 opportunity of whooping your fucking boss that comes with it. Everybody's all against me. I don't get this fuck, dude. I'm going to come in here. I'm a fucking murder of this cat. He's going to wake up and his eyes are going to be like, oh, the hardest hitting 45 or had to step up and fucking prove to what I already know in certain of. I'm going to fucking smash you. All right. I'm in. Dude, I don't care. I came from trash town. I'm in. I'm in. I'm in. I'm not in on Frankie Edgar Luke. The 43-year-old will be in the co-main against Jimmy Rivera. He's lost six of his last seven UFC fights to end his career, five by K.O. Here's Frankie talking about why. You know, we're in Jersey. You guys came here.
Starting point is 01:21:29 It's hard to pass up. As soon as I saw this sport, I was very intrigued. I'm a fighter. You know, this is definitely a pilot, the funniest of all combatants. sports, you know what I mean? And I had to try it out and why not do it here? It's just, it's intriguing. You know, I used to fight for free in seaside with no gloves. So why not get paid to do it here in North? And the training's been all, I mean, training just for boxing is, I mean, my neck feels great. No one's hanging on my neck and my shoulders feel great. It's amazing. I mean, I said I never tried again. Here I am. So who's going to take me for my word really? You know what I mean? uh let's see how his first one goes
Starting point is 01:22:11 i don't want this look i mean dude they weren't just knockouts they were like vicious you know completely unconscious horrible knockouts uh this is a terrible idea this is an insane risky
Starting point is 01:22:31 i'm surprised new jersey is allowing this they typically have a little bit more the exercise more restraint um if you he's viciously caoed here, then I don't know how they could possibly license him ever again. Rivera has been up and down and BKFC, but has been going to decision. He did he get stopped once via cuts, but he's been pretty sturdy, I think, for the most part. He's not a dynamic puncher, but do you have to be in bare knuckle?
Starting point is 01:22:54 Like, it's a huge risk. Yeah, I hate it. Let's close with this, Luke. I can't wait to see a reaction. Christine Ferreya and Jessica Borga, who we've already shown on, have you seen the shit, saying ridiculous things to each other, continued that yesterday. day. See the girls go at it with this much emotion and passion.
Starting point is 01:23:12 Would either one of you be willing to stand up and say that you're willing to be friends after this fight out? No, fuck that bitch. She's a come drunk copaholic, I'm good. She keeps bringing that out, but I'd be her with cum in my mouth. I'm out full of it. I'm sure you could. Yeah, I would. You wouldn't appreciate it.
Starting point is 01:23:29 Easy work, and that is the pun intended, she heard. Oh, we'll find out. We'll find out, Coke. Dude, why do you bring this trash on the show? All right, let's see their face off. I'd rather see 20 minutes of your cat's butthole than that. Let's close with the face off here. Then we'll get into dead wrongs.
Starting point is 01:23:50 Please. The tweet of Look, I'm in I'm sorry I'm in this I'm in this I'm in this I'm just say
Starting point is 01:24:13 this straight up your dub t your dub ass tea is what you are I do know what it looks like and sounds like I grew up around it
Starting point is 01:24:22 Luke maybe I was too you never know all right let's that or is over our five topics we're going to close with two fan segments and remember
Starting point is 01:24:28 morningcombat at gmail.com is your pathway to reach us tell Mikey you you said hi don't show pictures of your dong we start off with
Starting point is 01:24:37 dead wrong your opportunity to call us out for some shit we said wrong we got six of them today this one's called dead wrong then wrong all right let's hear from nick he says hey fellas nick from virginia back on the attack i hope bc brought his appetite to work because he will be getting a full belly of his own but today right around the two minute mark on the pregame preview episode on thursday and immediately after Luke praised Matt Fervola's nips and his Ray Longo shirt, B.C. stated that
Starting point is 01:25:12 DDP will be making his fourth title defense. B.C., you donkey-brained bitch, this is DDP's fourth consecutive title fight. It was only his third defense. I assume that you pre-gamed your own pregame with the devil's reserve, and that is the reason for your slip-up. Just breaking your balls, B.C., I love you. Once you watch the Jeff Buckley documentary that's coming out, I can't wait to hear your uh what you think of it it's never over piece out honkies i'll take the l on there i can't wait to watch that jeff buckley doc believe me let's go to connor number two here i have a dead rung for luke at 1236 of the august 11th episode uh where we go and here we go when discussing the paramount deal luke states that new streaming rights deal is worth more than paramount is worth by citing
Starting point is 01:25:57 the market capitalization figure of six enterprise value yeah the market cap value is correct but market cap is only the value of the outstanding equity in the company. It's disingenuous to assign value of a business on market cap and not on enterprise value, which includes assets and debts on the balance sheet. Mergers and acquisitions are based off of enterprise value and not market cap. The enterprise value of Paramount is $19 billion plus as of writing this email. Yeah, I know. But I even tweeted about that later, but it's like, okay, then it's still worth not quite,
Starting point is 01:26:30 but almost half. Like that's an insane amount of money for the UFC. Also, no talk about EBITDA, EBITDA? Evita, yeah. Ebida, yeah, John Nash loves that shit. Luke, you're taking that L, but whatever. I'll take the L. And he's right. I have to take the L.
Starting point is 01:26:45 Let's hear from Daz, Hill Mahalo your ass, and give those mother effers. He says on Monday's show, August 11th at 45 minutes, LT mentions GSP and Habib as examples of champs that exited at the right time. and BC referencing Habib's reason for retiring responds with, but that was father's wish. BC, I believe you are confusing two things associated with Habib's parents. Father's plan was Abdulmanap's guide for Habib's MMA success, whereas it was Habib's mother who expressed a wish that Habib would never fight without his late father as coach.
Starting point is 01:27:22 As we all know, Habib beat Gaichi and then honored his promise to his mother. Yes, you're right. I will take that L-Daz. Very well done. Can't wait for you to bare-knuckle fight Telvin Big Papa Kipapa there in the Lava shack. Let's hear from Marcus. He says on Monday's MK Show at one hour in 29, LT said Moses Atama at 20 could not vote in the U.S. Yes, of course he could.
Starting point is 01:27:47 Yes, so right. Whether he's in his adopted nation of the U.S. or his birth nation of India, the voting age for Luke is 18. It doesn't take a mathlet to know 20. is greater than 18. Keep up the... All right. That's an L I have to take, yes, indeed. Jacob is here at 1.1510 during
Starting point is 01:28:05 fan subs of August 8th. Luke refers to the fan Rundem Cheeks as a former Marine. As Luke himself has pointed out countless times, there's no such thing as a former Marine. Oh, you're so fucking wrong. Who wrote this? Somebody who doesn't know what they're talking about? Jacob. Who wrote this? Jacob.
Starting point is 01:28:23 Okay. Guys, there's no such thing as an X. Marine. And in fact, the proper terminology is former Marine. I know this because I served. I'm fucking telling you that's what they teach. You cannot say X Marine. Dick bags. No, I will not take that L. Lick my ass. Wow. Palo Tupai coming to you, Jacob. Take that L. Batch. All right, we close with O-W-A-I-N. It might be O-W-A-I-N or it could be like, you know, a Gaelic for like Sharon or something. You never know, Luke. Hello, donks. It's that time of the week again to take your dead wrongs like a man. This week, Luke audaciously pro-crime at 45 minutes of last Friday show that DDP could never have made 170.
Starting point is 01:29:11 Not only is that dead wrong with DDP having several fights there. He had back-to-back title fights at KSW with Robert. He couldn't make it now. I mean, I realize that it's unclear, but the point is not that he was never 170 pounds. The point is that now it's not realistic. well the pedantic police have been heard he says you need to take this big l served hot luke so thank you i'll take it in a spirit of you know congeniality but it's not quite that is dead wrong i know not everybody loves that segment but it is important to stand your guard i think it's an important
Starting point is 01:29:43 segment and we're and we only lose we never win you know what i mean like it's important for that to happen all right we close with an opportunity for you to send us pictures of your artwork your lovely wife dressed in our t-shirts and maybe maybe even um something that'll end up on a t-shirt this one's called fans of missions you've got mail viewers are you surprised that saul from louisville will kick us off he says the month of august never looks so good luke was talking a mediterranean food on his live chat last week and it really got me craving some too so i took the wife out to get some high quality food and later on in the week it was time for some very low quality food both were a 10 out of 10 when he had that corn dog mk all day look he's wearing both of our august exclusive shirts he is
Starting point is 01:30:37 our number one fan i mean come on right now yo show me the picture this first of all that's very cool he's eating some uh delicious food looks like some labnay and some hummus and baba ganus turn the photo dog what are we wearing here now i thought he was naked from the waist down at first but those look what are those pants dog did you rob a peter pan play at the local community theater and just take their clothes wow wow wow he's stuck in on to the dogs yeah yeah yeah yeah that's great outside the taste to freeze oh sowell's the best louisville doesn't deserve him
Starting point is 01:31:13 i can't wait to one day broadcast from his house luke it's going to be great all right i'll be He's like, it's going to be great. I'm going to bang his wife. I mean, I would be the meat in a Saululay marriage sandwich, but I don't know about it. If I euthanized your pets, which ones? What's the power ranking of which ones you'd miss the most? Good Lord. All right.
Starting point is 01:31:32 Let's go over to Nick. He says, what's up, boys? Nick from Ohio. Day one donk here, but this is my first time submitting. I recently acquired the three margaritas L.T shirt and I had to go to my favorite local canteeno, canina, Las Margarita. and represent they may or may not be scamming us honkies but the margs make my vision blurry and the food makes my butthole burn all the same much love keep up the good work we watch the show
Starting point is 01:32:00 religiously we can't live without it mk all day two times a week that's what they call one of those Cadillac margaritas you know what i mean yes when you get the big joints he got the frozen one too like an absolute push that's the correct choice because i make that i make that same one well done nick thank you for buying our merch remember i told us that my dad is like a massive kid rock fan musically and i just can't handle it like 2003-ish i had i i flew to florida after my parents moved there with my girlfriend at the time my two best friends we walk in my parents like hey we got dinner ready for you let's go my dad which is custom always goes to put music on he put on the song Cadillac Pussy by Kid Rock
Starting point is 01:32:43 and blasted it. And I'm just like, I'm like, oh my God, we're in full Florida mode already. Wow, wow. All right. That's great. Let's go to number three. This is RJ with no comment.
Starting point is 01:32:58 When Luke finally gets on the toilet and stops crop dusting. This is true. I do feel like Thanos having just taken all the infinity stones. Well done there. RJ, Dunkle, Gangbang, or Are you? Let's go to Average Joe Art. We love this guy, a reigning and defending donk of the year.
Starting point is 01:33:15 He says, a few weeks ago, I introduced you all to the next big summer blockbuster, Breach. Today, I'd like to introduce you to the newest toy craze. Brought to you by Average Joe Toys, meet Skeledonk and Brian, the most washed figures in the universe. This is obviously He-Man-themed.
Starting point is 01:33:35 He says, The ghoulish grammar master, Skeledonk, is outfitted with his evil, weightlifting gloves, belt and knee supports and toe shoes, as well as his post-surgery shoulder brace. Naturally, he's adorned by the evil barbis, RIP, and both his armor and Barbus barbell accessory. And the heroically washed, not He-Man, but Brie Man, calls on the power of gas station hot dogs and the questionable signs of AG1. Breanne features his heroic hair dye, soft ankle cast, and one-love gym sock. he also comes with his non- sci-fi laser sword because despite claiming star wars and dune are his favorite movies both sci-fi and fantasy genres quote aren't his thing that's a true fact the second entry uh so first of all that that is fantastic but look at this luke the second entry i have for you kind of explains itself i've been thinking about this one for months black liver society oh my god like you know from the band black label society yeah from zach wild
Starting point is 01:34:40 That is so, so good. It says BC on the flag. It says MK on the other. And Joe closes by saying, I never get tired of making these ever. Luke, you could say this man knows. The Skelladog one is outrageous.
Starting point is 01:34:53 He knows us very, very well. That is freaking outrageous. Wow, that's good stuff. Those are your fan subs for the week. Dude, we got to sell that black liver society shirt, like right.
Starting point is 01:35:05 Yeah, sure. Reminder for merch out. Thank you. Morningcombat at gmail.com. can reach the show. Thank you so much for playing to get your shit in there. Also, our August merch as pre-mentioned, morningcombat.combat. Shop, get the exclusives for one more week here before they're gone. You want to look like Saul with vaping is for closers. Do it. And a reminder, you can mix and match the colors on almost everything on that website. So you can get
Starting point is 01:35:32 pink for the ladies. You can get whatever you think you look best in. Have some fun at morningcombat. dot shop today's episode of morning combat of course was presented by draft kings and with draft kings the crown is yours l t i hope you enjoy the fights tomorrow morning you're going to watch live no fuck no all right all right no that's interesting um i hope you have a great weekend what do we got next week is it another dead week of combat um yeah there's no card there's that misfits boxing card with Darren Till. I'll watch that shit. There's no UFC or
Starting point is 01:36:08 any other media. I know, but like Tony Ferguson versus Salt Bay, that might be the saddest. Maybe it won't be. Maybe it won't be, but it has the capacity. Did you just call him Salt Bay? What's his name? Salt Poppy. Salt Poppy. Salt Poppy is this guy, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, Salt Poppy.
Starting point is 01:36:25 That has the capacity to be profoundly and intensely depressing. I'm curious to see what happens there. all right we're two weeks out from uh imov versus bohah lio i gotta go pee my pants look take us out of here all right thank you all right uh let's see we got that you know follow us on our various social channels you can put that up on the screen i think yeah there we go you got morning combat you got my stuff you got bc stuff uh one more time long on luke you're
Starting point is 01:36:49 doing the full effing card for uffing card watch like an absolute degenerate 3 a m start also in about 40 minutes time prop quiz episode two drop in so tune into that that's right so you got to check that out as well. All right. We appreciate everyone tuning in today. Thank you so much. Again, morningcombat.com.com for any of your needs. We have them for the releases this month. They're just another week and then they're gone. So please take a look at them there. We appreciate you tuning in. Thank you so much for watching today. Morningcombat at gmail.com to reach the show. And for our friend, Brian Campbell and his very tiny bladder, Long Island, Luke and everyone else on the rest of the show, I'm Luke Thomas. Thank you guys so much for watching. Until next time,
Starting point is 01:37:28 may all of your gains. Be loyal. Podcasts.

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