MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Usman vs. Buckley Preview, PFL Nashville Recap, Royval vs. Van set for UFC 317

Episode Date: June 13, 2025

Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell break down this weekend's main event between Kamaru Usman and Joaquin Buckley. What's at stake and what's the most interesting angle of this welterweight bout? Joshua Van accepts Brandon Royval fight on short notice for UFC 317. Riding a four-fight win streak, Van will have just three weeks to get ready after replacing an injured Manel Kape. Is Van ready to step up to the challenge against Royval? Plus the fellas recap PFL Nashville, Dana White will promote the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford superfight on Netflix and much more! Happy MK Friday donks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. I'm going to do it. Combat. Do you want a margarita? It's us doing what we love. Oh yeah. It's Friday the thirteenth the the the the that any late teenage males looking to have sex at a summer camp are probably gonna get murdered right? My understanding is young men don't have sex with women anymore so I don't think that's as much of a concern as it once

was. Hey I mean Grindr I just met her right yeah let's go alright. Hey Luke Thomas it's Friday you know our listeners ain't got shit to do we're coming off a PFL Thursday. We got UFC Atlanta on Saturday. Are you fired up about life or are you hoping the padlock on your office store keeps hurricane toques away? Yeah. Well, I don't know how well that's going to go. I'm here in the bomb shelter. My daughter is on a rampage. She has no school today. It's like one of those parent teacher conference days where you're going to meet. You have to do that later.

It's finals for my kids. Isn't she almost done? Yeah. Her last day is I think next week. So we're almost done with that. And then the summer camps began. So fun stuff for people who I'm sure who are listening in their 20s and 30s don't give a **** but that's probably for

those same listeners. I wanted to let them know today's episode of morning combat is presented by DraftKings and that DraftKings the crown is yours. Welcome to everybody on the watching on the DraftKings network, watching on YouTube, listening on podcasts or anyone listening while crowning at the moment. Okay. Keep pushing. You'll get there at the end of the day. Hey, why

don't you like this video if you like us? Why don't you subscribe to what's going on here? And if you are freeloading, all you have to do is hit subscribe. You can mute the notifications, but you hit subscribe. It helps us further our hope of staying alive and continuing to tell the truth in combat sports, whether you're ready for the truth or not, right, Luke? That's what I've been doing. That's why. Welcome on board.

Okay. Hey, we do have a great episode and a third member of our team, the producer director, bong enthusiast and son of a horned up Australian man's ballbag. Hey, it's Luke, go Sita who did a main card minute podcast watch along during an 11 PM Eastern PFL Nashville card. Wow, brother. Last, I mean, it was a good card. Shout out that gene getting the decision plus 400. No big deal. Did your girl dump you yet? You enjoyed every second of it. She, you know, watched her show out on the couch,

you know, and she's in bed by 11 o'clock anyway. I mean, what were they doing with that main car time? I have no idea. I can't believe you picked watching PFL over sleeping in the bed with your girlfriend. That is, I slept in the bed with my girlfriend just later in the night. What do you mean? Okay. We're getting intimate here. We're getting personal. Oh wow. Long out looks like I'm out of this. Everyone I told you Gen Z men aren't banging their girls. There'm personal. Oh, wow. Look, it's like I'm out of this. Everyone I told you, Gen Z men aren't

banging their girls. There we go. Oh, boy. Look at this. Look at this. I didn't think it was time for shots fired yet. **** We'll get there but you buy Cuervo. Yeah. Shout it out. Shout it out with our sponsors. Uh Luke, power to the people

fighting the good union fight. I believe it it seems like MMA fighting and Vox have come to terms to prevent a strike. So our good friends will be back in business. Always happy to see good people taking care of. Absolutely. So shout out to journalism. Shout out to. I have I have something for you, BC. Oh, please. You have a shirt I could wear on Monday.

Turns out I got a couple of them. Oh, my God. So do I get to pick my poison or do you? Yeah. So here's what I'm going to do. And this is what I would like to do. And I'm a couple of them. Oh my god. So do I get to pick my poison or do you? Yeah, so here's what I'm going to do. And this is what I would like to do. And I'm sorry they got delayed. There was a giant shipping problem. It was a whole thing. Tariffs.

All I heard about was tariffs. Well, dude, I bought both of these out of my own pocket. Show didn't pay for this. I bought them. But we don't have the showtime budget to get us gnarly robes anymore. We certainly don't. So here's

what I'm going to do. I'm going to like, you're going to I'm not going to let you pick the shirt ahead of time. You can pick the shirt on air and what you're going to do is I'm going to put it flat on the table and you're going to hold

it up for the camera and let it see what it says. You gotta read it out and then once you read out both of them, you can decide which one you want to wear. And then I have to change on air. You can just put it over what you have. Alright, I'll wear wife beater to the show then. We'll just put the new T-shirt over that. Yeah. There we go. Luke, anything else you wanna say about life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness,

BJ Penn's fourth arrest, or any ice pickups in DC? Because that is getting serious out there. It's mostly Northern Virginia. It's supposed to be coming. There is a big ass parade which I will not be going to because I'm not a fucking idiot. I have a kids party anyway in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday so I'm going to be taking the Tukster to that. What is the setup? Is it like a bouncy house?

Is there like painting? Yeah, it's supposed to be someone's house and they got they're supposed to have like a giant extravaganza so I'm hoping that there is a corner for me to sit in and I don't have to talk to anyone while I burn two hours. You know what I'm saying? I'll be talking Spanish anyway. You can just go deep.

No, no, no. This is one of her, uh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, seriously, do we need those people in this world? I don't know, but, uh, that's the best part is that going to one of my wives parties, you know, she's like, I gotta go with first of all, I've said this before, dude, you know, Latin American people, they just party better.

I don't care what anyone says. There's always booze and I'm not under any obligation to talk to anybody. It's actually perfect. You should draft uncle Pepe who uses his pipe pay to get down. You should draft him as like your party wingman. Uh, I could, but he's also a little quiet, you know what I mean? He's not a big partier, so.

All right, all right, there you go. Honestly, it'd be best if you were there. That way we could go and make total asses of ourselves. That'd be great. If we get Jake and the knock-ins. Tuki asked about you. What did she refer to me as? So she goes, is, is uncle gringo

an uncle? And I'm like, hence the name. And then she goes, is uncle gringo and uncle like, and then she named some of my, her actual uncles. And I was like, well, not quite like that. You know, she was trying to ask, like, are you related to us? And I was like, I don't know if you could tell, but he's clearly got a chromosomal issue that's different than the rest of us. And that makes him, you know, unusual. All right.

I didn't say that. I don't even have that. Uh, you may have seen that flash on the bottom of the screen. Our merch hole is back in its field. It's morning combat dot shop. You can wear our fantastic design. Shout out people like average Joe art, who is a designer for this here site, long Island, Luke running the show quickly.

No, see the,, we moving product over there at morningcombat.shop, because the proceeds, they go to the three of us. We're moving product. Slowed down a bit since the initial launch, obviously, but the posters are officially sold out. We'll be dropping new merch next month, but you can still get the skits and bits stuff

for the rest of June, so if you didn't already, hop on. And I don't know if you saw yesterday during the Brian Campbell ramble, but the fans are now asking for autographed bongs on the MK morning. Are they really? Yes, they are. And I don't know if no seat can get that done, but we'll, would we get fired if we did that? Uh, I think we'd get high. I think that's the point. Yeah. All right.

There you go. Fired from who? From who? Luke. All right. I've already been fired a few times. You know, all right. Hey, enough of this BS. Let's get into the show. All right. You guys ready? Locked up fired. Let's do it. UFC Atlanta is topic number one. And this don't suck. This does not suck for a fight night. We're back state farm arena and a crossroads welterweight till in the main event and this UFC Atlanta preview is brought to you by Total Wireless, the official wireless provider of UFC. Get unlimited data that won't slow you down. There's a big narrative here. Will the bad knees of Komaro Usman slow him down? Let's get into it. Despite being 38 years old, riding a three fight, losing skid, snapping a 600 day layoff and oh by the way, having not won a fight in the

division since 2021, former pound per pound King Kamara Usman will bring his number five welterweight ranking into this crossroads bout with a streaking number seven Joaquin Buckley. So Luke, if you're looking for stakes, right? Get them out on the grill. Uh Usman believes this is just the beginning of him getting back into title contention in two divisions while Buckley has revealed this week that the UFC told him this fight right here is a number one contenders bout. So if we know the stakes, what is the most interesting angle in your mind to focus on stylistically in

this matchup? Oh, this is a very good question. All right. Assuming that the stakes are as aforementioned most interesting. I mean, to me, I'm going to say a couple of things. One, I think that the potential work rate of Buckley could prove decisive. It's not like Ousmane has bad cardio is really not what I mean, but I Tend to think that the accuracy and the effectiveness of what he's doing declines Over high work rate bouts unless he's the one dealing so I'm referring to a situation where Buckley is really putting it on him

Again, not so much in damage, but just making him labor his way through things. But to me what I'm going to say is the takedown in either direction seems like a really important bout. I actually don't think the bout is going to be decided by who gets more takedowns or something like that. I don't really think that's quite right but what I mean to to say is to what extent I mean Buckley goes for about two per 15 minutes and Ousmane is about just a shade under three per 15 minutes So you would imagine that they would at least statistically be able to trade the amount of takedowns here But it's more than that I think if you get Buckley who is gonna be faster and I think much more explosive and mobile on the feet if

faster and I think much more explosive and mobile on the feet. If he's then able to get takedowns enough to disrupt a what Usman is already being able to do on the field, which I think is going to be largely playing catch up or at least playing Buckley's game, but more to that point, just kind of setting the offensive tone here a little bit and putting him, putting him in a space where he's, you know, what Usman did to RDA was just kind of overwhelm him with offense, and I don't think Buckley is going to be able to replicate the numbers that Ousmane put in, which is like a hundred strikes landed and 10 takedowns. I'm not expecting that.

But what I am saying is BC, I think this might be one of those fights where you've, and I've kind of thought this was coming for a while, where Ousmane is kind of going to be shown to be a little bit old. We've, we've seen it already, but what I mean is, you know, here he had a break. He had a chance to get ready. This wasn't Shumayev on short notice. This wasn't a different weight class. Two years to get ready. Look, what are we doing here? Right? This is what I mean. So what I'm trying to explain is to me, like the, the way in which the takedown can be weaponized here is not that I think the

fight is going to end there, but rather what it signifies and what it kind of shows and then what it leads usmen unless he's able to dominate with it what it kind of leads him to in the later rounds which is I think is going to be playing just a ton of different catch-up I'm kind of looking to see I'm kind of looking to see Buckley just do a lot you know I'm looking to see both sides is Buckley truly ready for the title? Six wins in a row since moving down to 170 pounds. Four stoppages in those six fights.

And look, the names have been pretty decent as of late. Colby Covington at the end of 2024. Wonder Boy Thompson just two months earlier in October. So it's been a hell of a run. Vicente Luque, Andre Fialo, in that streak of fighters he had stopped. He enters in as the B-side in terms of name value on this marquee, but the betting favorite

according to DraftKings, Buckley minus 278 and the veteran Usman plus 225. Nocita, if we can pick these elements out of order, can you please show me the picture of Usman at age 38? Luke, he shredded. You can see the Clyde Drexler hairline right there. Uh, he looks both old and fit. Are you confident Kamaru can still be 80% of the man who won 19 consecutive fights captured the welterweight title dominated as pound for

pound king for a few rounds maybe. But first of all, even 80% is a big drop off, right? I mean, we're talking about a portion of the game where any amount of change can yield drastic consequences. So like 80% from down from whatever it used to be, the, obviously the such that he had a hundred percent standard would be an enormous drop off. And I think he probably could do it. I think he can probably do it for the first three rounds.

And I don't think he's gonna fade from a cardio standpoint BC. I think he's just gonna be made to play catch up, which is kind of what I was alluding to earlier. I think he can probably win a round, maybe two. I don't know if Buckley has it in him to stop him. I think his attacks appear to be a little less coordinated and again a little bit more just a just a wave of offense. But I think this is probably the time that like people have been

ranking him highly and like I said it before including him and like top of the division. Let's match make. I think this is the part of the career where he gets ushered out. I mean in the crossroad setup, it should be, this would be seven wins in a row for Buckley if it gets it done, the biggest name possible on that list. But Luke, this is a crowded division at the moment, right? Like it's extra crowded by the addition of Islam, Mahachev.

So what are we doing here from the standpoint? If JDM is going to defend against Mahachv next, don't we already have issues with Hamza? I'm sorry, Shavkat Rachmanoff being owed a title shot when he gets off of injury. You've also got Sean Brady in a position to claim a big shot. Ian Gary feeling like he's one win away. Is it really possible in your eyes that Buckley with a win here could go from this to a title shot? I think only if he beats the shit out of Usman or stops him early. Like if he goes in there and just just steam rolls him that yes that would be enough. But that seems relatively unlikely. Now Buckley makes a big noise and I think that might also put him ahead of Sean Brady,

who had a really nice win over Leon, but you know, I mean, obviously I like Sean Brady, but I don't know if he is, you know, the UFC's preferred candidate in the sense of how much he'll do to sell a fight, whereas Buckley will do quite a bit. So that makes a bit of a difference. But you're right, like, by the way, they could just be telling him that this is number one contender. I mean, the point you're raising is like, well, Rachmanov just was and Bilal is probably going to look for a fight relatively soon. And as you mentioned, Ian

Gary is not far behind. And hello, there's Sean Brady, like, I don't know what about this fight is so different, that the winner under any circumstance would be placed into a number one contenders position. It seems to me it'd be put into like 1A or 1B and then those two are going to have to fight it out, right? Because if Islam JDM is excellent and controversial, they're going to run that one back. I agree. You know, so like it's just to me, if you're a contender at welterweight, I just don't know how you can look

at this your situation. You can feel very good about it. You're clearly right next to the mountain top. It's not it's not fool's gold, but you're going to have to clear another hurdle to get to that next spot and you you cannot leave any stone on turn. He has to go in here and really put it on Usman. Indeed and Usman is 38 years old, incredibly inactive as I mentioned, 600 days off, hasn't won in this division in four years. But Luke, he went to the media table at Q&A day here and straight up believes he's got a three fight plan to, I guess, immortality. I mean,

Usman's already in my opinion, one of the greatest fighters in UFC history. He's done things very few people do. I just think it's ridiculous for him to retain a number five rating. And I want to know if you think the amount of ambition he's showing about his short term future is ridiculous too. Let's listen to the former champ. Being in mind that the bell is always something you still want. How do you see your path there? My path there?

Well, just pretty simple. I just lay out the map right here. Finish Buckley this weekend and then wait for the winner of, I believe, Islam and JDM, which is going to be an incredible fight. Such a great thing now, having Islam come up into the division. You know, who wouldn't buy a ticket to that? Former pound for pound and current pound for pound.

And I love Islam, Islam's a great fighter. I think that's something that we will both remember forever. Wouldn't that? And go ahead and probably vacate, go up, myself, Drikus Duplessi if he is the champion or Hamza Chamayev too. If Drikus is no longer the champion, we do that in, if Drikus is the champion, we do that in the first card in Africa.

I mean, that's another blockbuster, these are back to back blockbuster fights that you tell your grandkids about and Who wouldn't watch those and so and then after that, you know now you're sitting with two belts and it's like What do we do next, you know, so That's I would say long-term goal in the back of my mind Can somebody tell? Uncle Marty that it's not 2018? Like, I don't want to be a jerk about this.

I respect everything Usman has done. He's one of the greats. But Luke, like, how do you go from a three fight losing skid to let's say he does defeat Buckley and sort of, you know, prove that Buckley is not ready for this level? How do you go from that into a immediate shot in a crowded division for the welterweight title and then you're gonna fight in Africa to become a two division champion? What are we doing here Luke? Daydreaming. Daydreaming.

It's not at all real. I mean just nothing about that was realistic. You're right dude. I don't want to sit here and bash Usman. He's the second best welterweight of all time you know against only the only one to do it better in my judgment was George St. Pierre and even then it was been had an absolutely tremendous career. But, you know, this is what he does sometimes we see, like, you know, he was out there kind of advocating for a Canelo fight when he was champion at the time. And he was giving these like, in his mind, I think what sounded like plausible scenarios. And then to anybody else listening, there was like none of this sounds plausible. Like absolutely. He's selling, he's selling a vision, you know, with like, I appreciate his optimism for himself.

I don't think it's rooted in reality. And even if he were to beat Buckley, I just cannot imagine a scenario where they're just going to feed him to Islam. If he wins or even JDM, they would feed him to shove cot or somebody else to build them up. Like how is a 38 year old welterweight with terrible knees, anything that the UFC wants to plan around? Yeah. Just, just be realistic.

This fight's important for the title contention picture, but I don't think either of these guys with a win, even an impressive win is in line to do that. I mean, is there a scenario where, let's say, Islam takes the title and Buckley wins this in the most aggressive, in-your-face, impressive style ever? Maybe is there a chance we run him into Islam next? I guess maybe, but dude, there's guys that have been owed. Are one of these guys just going to fight each other? Maybe they will.

I don't know. I still like this matchup and I still wanna get who's gonna win this. But we got one more piece of sound from Joaquin Buckley during the faceoff they had outside State Farm Arena where Buck was not afraid to kind of cuck to the honor of being so excited to face a legend like Usman. I feel going up against New Gene. Feel good? excited to face a legend like did show up at our three margarita show Luke after it ended I always support that move from him right there. Listen, he's jazz for the opportunity he's pumped for the opportunity and he should be

this is a big one for him. And I know what a lot of people might say it's like a loose been kept it cool and you know here was here was Buckley fanboying out which is true I mean that's what happened. But at the same time, Buckley is is like right on the tip of achieving his greatest professional accomplishments ever. Everything he's dreamed of the whole reason he's been in this all the wins all the losses. He is hungry. Okay, Usman is well past all of that. And so the only way to really hold your position is to be much better

than the other guy. Is he I have my sincere sincere doubts about that. We'll see on Saturday. But to me, people like trying to be, oh, well, you know, he's going to do a Pat Berry on Mirko Krokop. And I didn't get that vibe. Pat Berry was like reverential to me, him Buckley having this kind of joyful attitude about facing off with Usman is more of a position that like it's validation he deserves to be here. That's a very different thing than like it's this weird moment where you have to fight your hero. I didn't get that but yeah, we'll be talking about Pat Berry very shortly by the way

the coach of the co-main event star. I want to get though our betting enthusiast and expert Long Island Luke to chime in three to one basically minus 278 the odds from DraftKings in favor of Buckley. This is a five round fight against old Marty. Where are you leaning from a betting standpoint? You got to go with Buckley here. I mean the layoff for Usman the poor knees I just I don't love this fight for him and I just feel like Buckley a Buckley's undefeated at welterweight six in a row like Buckley's undefeated at welterweight six in a row like this is bad news. Bad news for Usman. I I feel at least I'm

taking Buckley. I got him parlayed with Rose actually plus 101. So interesting now Luke Thomas from the standpoint of over under if Buckley does get this win, can he finish Usman? You don't see that often maybe never right? I mean when does that happen? Well, I mean, Leon finished him. Uh that can happen. I mean, you're right. The the the head kick heard around the world. I obviously take that one that one example back but a durable dude who went in there on short notice

against Homs and kind of rally late. I'm giving him his props but if Buckley stops this man, that's a hell of a statement after he's got big power. His power translated at 85 and it was it's obviously significant at 70. Buckley again, kind of tends to throw a lot at you that not necessarily all of it works, but he can do a lot BC he can wrestle offensively. His takedown defense I think is going to be tested to a degree in this one. But on the feet,

he's just got many more weapons is much quicker, I think much more agile at this point. And that's good. I think he's going to use that to his advantage. Can he stop them? It wouldn't be my first thought. I do think Buckley will win. And I think he'll probably win by decision. I wouldn't rule out a stoppage.

And I would say if like, Ousmane gets stopped inside too and like looks old and this is clearly the end. You know what I mean? But I do think Ousmane, Ousmane's crafty, is a veteran and he's faced guys, all respect to Buckley, but he's definitely fought guys better than him. So I think he should be able to make the distance, but I guess we'll see. I think we're going to get a Buckley stoppage. I think it'll be on injury though. I'm, I'm,

that's, I'm serious. That is a legitimate possibility. Like, could he do like an oblique kick and stomp out his knees? Something like that will happen and then the old body will break down and you know, but either way, this should be a breakthrough for Buckley. I don't think title shot next, but we'll see what happens in that regard. Co-main event. According to Rose Nami-Yunas, this one also could have future title implications from her standpoint. Just two and two is Rose after moving up to 125 pounds. The losses against Blanchefield and Farrow in competitive fights, but it just feels like we have been missing something of Rose during this run. So Rose saying, look, I feel like

I'm finally adjusted to this weight. She also mentioned in the interview I had with her on the BCX this week that her fiance slash trainer Pat Barry has really helped her realize some things about what she wasn't doing to her first four opponents at 125. But Luke, is it still realistic in your eyes as Rose welcomes a streaking Miranda Maverick who's on a four fight win streak in a fight. Rose is expected to win a minus 230 favorite. Is it still realistic to consider at 32 that Rose is a threat to the flyweight title or is her slide of late maybe more to do with the coaching change of Trevor Whitman being gone during this four fight stretch and Pat Berry coming to the forefront. Which one is it?

Is it both? How do you look at Rose's comments of her believing she's still in this and she's got a lot of fight left to go after that bill? I don't think there's enough on tape. I mean, obviously she's a little bit up and down. I think she's one. I think you indicated two of the last four or two of the last three, certainly, but obviously losing the Blanchfield.

I, there's not enough evidence to conclude that she's out of the mix in that way there. She's still winning against decent names and she's still young enough and it just seems like I'm not saying the division is utterly wide open, but it doesn't seem totally out of reach either. Plus the opponent she's got to me is certainly putting the best win streak of her career together.

But I just don't think has the same kind of fluid dynamic offense as Rose. And so for those reasons, I would not be ready to count out Rose. On the other hand, BC, and maybe you feel differently, but it just seems to me that she's not really passing the eye test. She's getting the job done, and it would be silly to conclude she's not, at least in close proximity. But there's a certain kind of meanness to her game that is missing. There's a certain kind of dynamism that has been kind of, I don't know, mellowed out in the middle of it. And of course, you need a more cerebral fighter as you get older, but again, she's not physically

over the hill and it just seems like there's a little bit of a quiet instinct to, you know, not push it in ways that maybe once would have been there. I mean, part of her game used to be a little bit of that. This, this like great quick capacity for violence or, you know, even in Invicta, she's throwing up flying arm bars and stuff like that. A lot of that has been kind of drummed out of her and

you can do that if you're John Jones at light heavyweight, and you're just much, much much better than the rest of those guys. And so you know, some measure of evening out your game actually is better for longevity. I don't know that this is better for longevity, it seems like it's a bit of a downgrade. And so I just, I'd be, it'd be foolish to count her out. Yes. But at the same time,

I don't have a strong vote of confidence that it's like some kind of inevitability either. I agree. I mean, you know, Pat Berry is kind of right. She's always been on that three or four fight pattern where she can win three in a row. And some of those wins look like literally the very best in the division's history, if we're're talking 115 and then lose in such disastrous fashion and being honest about

her anxieties and mental challenges where it's easy to root for her but at 115 she could always come back around and give you that performance really like oh wow she's still a killer she's got a 13 and seven record but it's deceiving we already know that but at flyweight exactly I haven't seen that. I haven't seen that edge. I haven't seen that killer instinct. Under Trevor Whitman, she just seems to be a different fighter. Now, we do have to figure out is the weight cut the difference or is it just she was sharper under Trevor? She was more confident. I know Pat Berry is a big hype man, but I don't know. It's interesting. So I had her on my podcast this week and I did ask her specifically about that transition to this weight class and how she would rate her performances thus far going

two and two. Here's Rose. Are you confident in who you are in this weight class and that there's still a big run to the top here? Yeah, there is because I know what I know. I know that what I'm capable of. And so it is a little frustrating feeling like I know That I can do better and I know that it could be a lot better and so it's just kind of one of those things where I said to submit to God's plan, you know, because at the end of the day, it's like I it just it just When this plan at the time and also I made some realizations too that I've realized, I've made a lot of adjustments in my training as far as like just me realizing that I was like

kind of holding myself back and I didn't even know that I was doing that. Like I thought I was like, I'm like, I'm like, you know, in training and I'm like breathing hard and then, you know, or I'm like struggling with something and past like, you're just letting these people do this. I'm like, what are you talking about? Then I'll go back and re-watch it just all of a sudden until now and it's like oh yeah what was I doing? Like why am I just like kind of just sitting there you know and I'm thinking I'm like I'm breathing I'm making myself pretty heavy you know so so it's just kind of one of those things where I'm like it's one of those realizations where it's like it's better to realize that now and hopefully that translates into the fight and hopefully, yeah, that's just what

I'm praying for, that I'm not crazy and that, yeah, the adjustments are, I guess, the difference maker. I mean, look, with respect, she's been Mercurial her entire career with those highs and lows in the performance and a lot of times it does come down to mental. Did she sound mentally ready there? Like maybe some of these realizations that she's, you know, given her opponents too much respect that maybe that's the difference. Again, nothing about what you see or hear from her is like automatically disqualifying. I didn't, maybe you feel differently.

I didn't hear anything in there that I was like, well, you could nitpick this or nitpick that. It didn't sound to me all the way off. It's just that when it comes fight time, it just seems like she can get to third, maybe even fourth gear, but not the one from the previous fifth gear that really made her special and set her apart. That to me seems to be the issue. Like you asking how much of a percentage of Kamara Usman

at his highest level are we gonna get? Is it gonna be 80%? Feels like we're getting like 85, maybe even 90, which sounds like a lot, but I've told you before, five, 10% difference can just yield pretty significant results. I don't know, I don't know what to make of this one. I guess, I mean, the thing is Rose at her best

just seems like vastly better than Miranda at her best. But this is like a different kind of zenned out Rose. And that makes this obviously much more competitive than it otherwise would be. No question about it. Now look, Maverick has run four in a row. She's won six of her last seven overall, going back the past three years, the only loss a decision to Jasmine Jasdivisius.

They also have history together, and I wonder if this really favors Rose. Rose told me specifically they sparred kind of regularly for the past three years, but in the last year and a half it got very regularly. She says they know each other's tendencies, all that. And I think, Luke, the biggest problem is you look at Maverick's resume and you're like, okay, her best wins are Andrea Lee, Priscilla Cotchawera. You know, like, we're not talking about the level of Rose. So with Rose being ranked

six and Maverick at 12, this does feel like a let Rose get well after that competitive, but you know, 48, 47 on all three scorecards lost to Blanchfield. But a lot of people are still saying with Rose only being 32, and Rose admitted that she hears it too, why don't you just fight at straw weight?

Is it the weight cutter that's the issue, or what is the issue? And Luke, that's something I asked her about as well. Let's hear one more time from Rose. And I technically probably still couldn't make it. It's just like, but like the way that I feel, and I feel like body types are different too. And especially as you get lower and lower,

I feel like the harder it is, like every pound matters more the smaller you go. So I just, I feel like, like now, and I have put on more size and I naturally was just getting bigger and bigger each time. So like I don't know it just like what we do is already dangerous as it is but then when you're adding like the dehydration and stuff I just I really I just really didn't like it and then and you know I only have like I also have this goal of becoming two division champions still so like

that's my other goal like I've already achieved whatever goals at straw weight that I wanted to achieve. I became champion and defendant and all this stuff, you know. And like sure I could go back down there and you know I think I would be you know become champion again if I really wanted to. But um I just feel like I've been there and done that already. And um if I can and if whatever this and and the adjustment to make to one weight class, I feel like it takes time and it takes, yeah, it's just, it's a lot that has to come together. So I don't wanna waste my time, you know, doing something that I already did, you know? I mean, I understand that.

I understand she feels like she's accomplished everything at 115. She's actually hoping Whaley moves up. She wants to fight her a third time and would love it if Whaley beats Valentina to do it for the title. But Luke, even though Rose said she believes she's one or two wins away from a title shot, if she performs like she did in the last four, I don't think she can beat Valentina or even for Ro in a rematch or anyone at the highest level. I'd kind of like to see her if she wins on Saturday against an Alexa Grosso so we can learn more about both of them. But let's focus in on Saturday.

What can Miranda Mavrick do in your eyes to slow this journey? Um, she has to get the take down and I think has to mix it up. Uh, if she can keep this fight on the ground the entire time, then I would say actually you can do that. I don't think that's gonna be super likely, but I'm looking, I had her stats here just a minute ago, actually as I got him here, excuse me, per 15 minutes, and this is a 15 minute fight,

2.39 takedowns per 15 minutes from Miranda Maverick. It is central to what she has to do. That's nearly one around, right? Not quite, but that's about where we're at. That's what she's going to have to do. BC. She's going to have to kind of pancake her a little bit. She has movement on the outside and it's gotten a lot better, but I still think she's quite hittable there. It still seems a little bit robotic. Uh, not, not, not terribly.

I'm not saying she has a terrible stamp. That's not my point, but the movement is a little bit robotic and rehearsed and I think someone like Rose, who's a little bit more naturally on her feet willing to throw and able to throw can make contact with that and cause problems. But if you're dogged enough and you can get the take down enough, I know that Rose can be a threat off of her back, but I just don't see defensive wrestling and defensive

grappling or even offensive grappling from defensive positions as necessarily her strong suit. And here's the other part BC if she does get taken down, does she really have the fire to compete underneath like for example, Giuliana Pena was overmatched right against Kayla terribly overmatched but on the ground she was throwing hammer fists and like up kicks and up kicks were illegal but I'm saying she was trying to be

pesky underneath, right? Anything she could to do to disrupt and we saw Diego Sanchez do this to very great effect when he got taken down and played from guard. There's a certain kind of urgency. I don't know if Rose has that urgency in her offense the same way, particularly from that position. That is something Miranda could get. Now the problem with this BC is if Miranda fights this way, which by same way, particularly from that position. That is something Miranda could get. Now the problem with this BC is if Miranda fights this way, which by the way, seems to me very plausible,

it's a good win over a big name, but it's not, it's not, you know, we talked about it before. It's not a politician winning an election via landslide where you all, now you can just call your shots. It'd be kind of like a grindy. I'm not going to say obvious win, but nothing especially interesting about it, which would not be great for Rose. And you know, obviously Miranda getting one of her roses is important, but it

wouldn't be a big mandate. I'm just saying it's not like she's going to go in there and box her ears off and then finish her off on the ground. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying she could probably grind her out here for a little bit just by being just aggressive and good with the top control. But I don't expect like heavy ground and pound. And I don't expect necessarily fierce resistance from Rose either. It could be for a bit of a dull affair if Miranda gets her way. It has tendency to be dull. I just feel like Rose, any version of her is going to win this because she's more skilled and will know how to win that striking battle to keep Miranda off of her.

And maybe Miranda gets a take down or two, but Rose is still showing good strength in this division. No, see the only betting Intel I'm looking for is a Rose finish. If, if she's back on that pattern and she locks back in and finds the eye of a tiger, is a Rose finish possible here from a betting standpoint in your eyes? I was just trying to find the odds on it. Personally, I don't think so. I think this fight goes the distance no matter what. Over two and a half on this is minus 520. So oddsmakers think it goes long as well Rose by finish though BC plus

500 on I take that bet I'd give it a roll. I give it a roll. But I don't know if she's gonna be that I don't know if she has it in her anymore. I really don't I don't either I would have taken the over two and a half if it wasn't such a hefty price That's probably why I settled on Rose, but I don't feel too confident in her but she should get this done, right? She should she should Luke Thomas knows that at the end of the day, right? We can move on she should get this done, right? She should, she should. Luke Thomas knows that at the end of the day, right? We can move on. She should get this done. I'll, I'm going to, I'll, I'll take a flyer on Maverick.

Get the fricking get out as Luke Thomas would say, get out. Luke, what are you doing here? You're predicting a collapse because this is a, if, if Rose loses this, she should retire. Rose has been a champion in this organization. I don't think Maverick ever will, but I just don't have great confidence in whatever Rose has got going on these days. I hope I'm wrong.

I do. Nothing would be better than seeing her back at the top. Believe me. I'm not mad about that. Yeah, but dude, how's more of a Moravarik? How's Moravarik going to win this? Luke, please. First of all, it's what's her nickname.

It's fear the, yeah. So how's, how's, how's fear's her nickname? It's fear. The yeah. So how is fear that house? How is fear that going to win this? Yeah. Yeah. I think she's going to grind her out. Oh, she's going to grind her out. Even if, OK, if the rose from the Esparza rematch shows up, all bets are off. But, dude, this is I think it's much more of a leap that that Moravarik controls the aspects here and does enough to get a win

unless it's just a horrific fight that neither deserves to win and you're saying that's that's what's gonna happen yeah basically. I think there's a decent chance of it. Get out of here. All right let's go plus 500 on the rose stoppage just to prove that you're wrong here. Luke let's keep on going down the card a middleweight matchup Edmundabazzian, is two and two since he re, since enduring that consecutive stoppage loss defeat streak that he was on where he kind of looked like a bust. He's though a minus 170 favorite against a plus 142 Andrei Petroski.

Is this the same theme in your eyes, Luke, for this young Armenian that if he doesn't finish Petroski in the first round, he probably gases out and loses. Is that what we're looking at here in this match? Yeah, probably. By the way, how does Shabazi and have two takedowns per 15 minutes? That's an interesting stat. And his takedown defense, by the way, is not that great at 65%. And I think Petroski, if he can get him down, who's got, you know, 3.38 takedowns per 15 minutes. So BC, he's good for more than one around. Just seems to me like if he can survive the first couple of, you know, 3.38 takedowns per 15 minutes. So BC, he's good for more than one around.

Just seems to me like if he can survive the first couple of, you know, first round and a half, something like that, he could probably overtake him late. I cannot believe that Shabazzian is still having these issues, but he is still having these issues. He's still dangerous, BC. He is up and down. So it's not just like, you know, we're not dealing with some kind of BJ Penn losing streak here where all he just can't get right. He'll get right at times. He at times he can still put it on you. I think Petroski is there to be hit a little bit. Yeah, his striking differential between landed and absorbed

is almost nil. You know, he's there to be hit to a degree. It's just if you could play the game, survive, move this over the long haul, you have to like his chances. So if you know, dude, I favor it for 4 minutes and then he gets usually countered with a hook and then the gassing starts coming in and then he he

looks like a like a deer, a baby deer Luke was taken on defense is good, but it's not lights out and for someone like Petroski who doesn't have the best takedowns, but he's got good takedowns and the relentless. It's a bit of a bad matchup. I think yeah, Petroski riding a three fight win streak, no names, no games, have the best takedowns, but he's got good takedowns and the relentless.

It's a bit of a bad matchup. I think. Yeah. Petroski riding a three fight win streak. No names on there though, but this is an interesting, how Hedolfo Vieira, he beat Hedolfo Vieira. But it was good. He's good, but he's been, he's been gotten before. You know what I'm saying?

Luke? Yeah. All right. Let's get it. Let's go down to this, this Bannon weight matchup. A lot of talk about Cody Garbrandt here as a plus one six four underdog against the rugged veteran Hione Barcellos, who will be a minus one 98 favorite in this Bannon weight till we already know the enduring narrative about Garbrandt. He'll never be the guy again. It

doesn't appear to be that once did the robot against Dom Cruz in one of the most eye opening pound for pound breakthrough performances. But he's also changed the look up so aggressively with the longer hair, the bald spot shining through and now the eye tap. I know Luke Thomas, you must be wondering what's up with that eye tat. We got some sound to tell you. Yeah, I just love artwork, you know, tattoos. Actually, I was getting my armpit done and uh it was hurting a little bit so I was like trying to let it cop out to my tattoo. I was like let's put one on the face. So I went to the face and did it and just to give me some time to not act like it's sissy on the armpit.

So we'll put the uh the face tattoo on and just went with it full send fuck it Can I ask a question? He got his arm. This is the most MMA story ever so I was getting my armpit down After I did my Sean Brady ass cheeks yeah, what do you got Luke? What do you got? What is exactly the definition of full send I? Take it to mean when a young white male is looking to do something aggressively, whether that means attempt something dangerous, make a trick shot, man, you know what I mean? Go, go get that chick's number. It's like a full send. Am I misinterpreting the youth of according according to urban dictionary, full send a term popularized in the

online culture essentially means to do something with 100% commitment. Yes. Even if it means failing or facing potential consequences. It implies that we got it right. There we go. We got it right. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm hip. Luke. I'm a hip dude. I'm a hip dad. Okay. Alright. Dude, you're you're the most washed piece of shit that I know. Hey, I'm taking my kids on a tour of Yukon today. This I feel like it's, you know, I don't.

Yeah, I don't know what's more washed than that. I don't want them to go, Luke. I got one year left, you know, savor the flavor. Right. I can move in. I feel like I was trying to get they were pushing me out of the door back in the day. You know what I'm saying? I'm like, kids, don't leave, don't leave. All right. I know. But we were kids. Parents were like, yo, when you're me out of the door back in the day. You know what I'm saying? Now I'm like, kids don't leave, don't leave. All right. I know.

But we were kids, parents were like, yo, when you're 18, you're motherfucking dead to me. Yes. Here is, here is the rate we will charge you for rent when you're 18. I didn't realize this. I didn't realize this. And I was talking to, you know, who I was talking to about this was actually Chris Algieri. Chris Algieri noted that when he fought Pacquiao, HBO boxing made it a big story that he was living at home with his parents at the time. He was living in their basement, right? Living in Huntington, shout out.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, just an absolute shithole if ever there was one. No, no, but it was in a real nice house with an ingrown. I'm just being mean to Long Island Luke. I'm not being mean to Chris Algieri, but he was trying to explain to me. He's like, dude, my dad is from Italy and my mom is from Argentina. Like in those cultures, you don't you don't leave the house until you marry. You don't just live at home. He's like, I was just living at home because that's just what you do. So, you know, there's different parts of the world where you can stay stay in the house to your motherfucking 30. You know, I think I know a

lot of dudes who are from that part of the world who still live with their moms and dads. Yeah, but the difference is those dudes are getting laid, probably, right? Unlike the American ones. Yeah, unlike Long Island Luke, they're actually having sex with women. You know what I'm saying?

Long Island Luke lives with a lady. Would you please, I mean, come on, all right? He's got it together. Luke Thomas, what do you think about that idea? My daughter drew on me. Can you see that? My daughter drew on me this morning. Oh, that red spot? I thought that was a hickey from a hickey man. No, Luke Thomas, my daughter drew on me this morning. That red spot. I thought that was a hickey. No, it's charity.

She drew cherries on me. Yeah. All right. Would you, your wife wouldn't give you a, uh, a hickey this deep into the marriage, right? She's not a, she's not, she's not, oh, you know, dub T or whatever the equivalent would be. Uh, Luke Thomas, Cody Garbrand, bless his soul. He says with a win here, the fight that needs to be made is him versus sugar. Sean O'Malley. And he even said, I think it could move pay per views.

Yeah. You mean as a main event? No one believes in that at all. Except, I mean, dude, you got him and Ousman up there being like, I'm one shot away from, from going to Mars. You know, you might as well just say something like that. I mean, and I want to talk about Garbrand. I love him, Luke. He's only 33. Here's what I was going to Mars. You know, he might as well just say shit like that. I mean, absolutely. And I don't wanna talk too bad about Garbrandt. I love him, Luke.

He's only 33. Here's what I was gonna say. He's obviously been chinned too many times. There's just no question his durability is messed up. However, BC, these are his last three losses. Figaro, former champ, Kaikara, France, could be the next champ. I think it's, you know, certainly fighting for one.

And then Rob Font, a very, very good fighter. Now the wins aren't super inspiring, Kelleher and Jones, but what I'm trying to point out is- Your Sun Tzu- He's not a wind stand up though. That was beautiful. The knockout of Rafael Sun Tzu, that was beautiful. That was a while ago. That was a while ago. But I'm trying to point out, he's not losing to chumps. He's only losing to like basically very, very good guys, right? Those are the ones that are beating him.

Now the figure eight, a one happened very quickly and kind of surprisingly, but nevertheless, not surprisingly, just very quickly. But the point I'm trying to make is he's not losing to chumps. Like he hasn't lost to like just guys who are just done not that much in their career, so you can't dismiss him, but I'm just trying to point out, you know, this statement of like, Oh, they're going to give me an O'Malley under what circumstance would he ever take that fight? I mean, just like that.

We're not even being serious here. It's a silly thing to say. What do you think about Garbrandt being in underdog despite the fact that he only loses to elites against bar cellos who I certainly respect he'll give you an honest scrap, but he's not a killer at this point in his career. Just 38 too. He's not a super young guy. Although the Talbot win was pretty restorative.

I think a lot of people thought Talbot was gonna go in there and do something to him. Right. And he got a little bit run over in that fight, to be honest with you. I mean, I guess he got a little bit better. Yeah, that was just the 311. I forgot that ever happened.

Holy crap. Yeah, dude. And again, we'll be talking this year about how all these undefeated prospects are losing. This was one of them. Um, I think this is winnable for Garbrandt. It's just a question of like, can Garbrandt open up anymore? Barcellos is going to pursue his fight even if he gets finished, right? He's got a certain kind of commitment and it's the only kind of commitment that he can have in a fight. It doesn't, there's no real nuance to it. I mean there's nuance to his game but the intensity is never really calibrated. He just kind of goes for what

he goes for if it works great if it doesn't. And then on one hand that makes him dangerous, on the other hand that makes him vulnerable. But I feel like with Cody he's been calibrating the intensity and that's kind of been messing him up and I don't know if he can get to a place where it's a little bit more, he's got more ready made offense. That's good to go. He just seems like he's reluctant to engage in the same kinds of ways. I don't know.

Well, because we'll see. Yeah. I think it's going to be a fun scrap, by the way. I think they'll actually match you up very interestingly. I, but even him as a dog. I mean, I think they'll actually match up very interestingly. But even him as a dog, I mean, I get it. Hiany just resurrect himself for that moment as the veteran that stopped the young bright prospect whose gas tank wasn't ready for prime time and he got caught up in a bad fight for him. I just feel like Garbrandt's still set up to potentially get a KO here,

but I've lost all the confidence. Where in recent years I was like, I don't have the confidence, but I still believe he might be able to spark himself into a run. Now the run he was on, those two wins were second, third tier type, but yeah, we'll see what happens, Luke. I don't know about that eye tap,

but you know, it's not my life, Luke, right? I don't have the balls to get an eye tap. So, you know, I'll just go back to my basement. People are like, oh, it's a big deal that he got a face tat. I'm like, his whole neck was blown. Like the whole thing, like. Yeah. Luke, can you tell me more about this Atlanta card?

We do have Cody Brundage at middleweight against Mancer Abdul Malik. I don't know if you care about that. I do. Paul Craig is back in the featured prelim against Hidalgo Bolado with probably his job on the line. Old guy welterweights with Kiesa and court McGee. Where are you at on this? The one that's a little bit more interesting to me is Chris Mutino was back. I don't have

any high thoughts about him, but Malcolm Wellmaker, a bit of an interesting guy to pay attention to. There's a little bit of hype behind him. That could be an interesting one. Ricky Simone against Cameron Smotherman should at least be action packed for as long as it lasts. Obviously BC, your pants are gonna be around your ankles when Vanessa Demopoulos is the curtain-joker on this card. I know you'll be greatly enjoying that and you know, there's some other ones you could pick on this card as well. Phil Roe Angelosa could be a little bit of fun. Fun fights

between guys who put a little bit together. Umar C taking on Alonzo Minnifield. Umar C, I believe the brother of Sadabu C. So, just some decent names on there. You know, Huyesta and Court McGee, neither of them have a stoppage via strikes in their career. Do you think one of them gets it in this fight?

Court McGee doesn't have one? That's what I read. I've read that, okay. Also, Luke- You read, That's incorrect. He has five. I was going to say that doesn't make, I'm pretty sure you knock someone out. I read the interesting stat about that fight is that they both won tough. So it's two former tough winners going to head to head. I keep getting MMA sent held left and right lately. I mean, come on here. Just a fountain of misinformation, your co-host here. Luke, we skipped by Mutino, but for him to go on the regional scene, aggressively work his way back and then get another contract when he was

initially just the guy with the green hair they brought in so that O'Malley last minute can beat him up. That seems to be a story, but I don't know if you saw the interviews he did this week where Mutino admitted he was suicidal after being cut from the UFC and had was going through a bad breakup. And if it wasn't the next girl he met that sort of saved him, he doesn't think he would be here. Luke. Uh, that's, that's a, uh, that hit, that hit, hit, hit hard, you know, you may, you may be holding, you may be right. Long Island Luke, where,

which of his fights does he have stoppages in that are TKOs? Yeah, put some respect on my name I'm unsure do a great now says court Mickey has five ko wins. Yeah, but I'm looking like Any in the UFC, okay. Yeah, not in the UFC. He has it one is submission of punches Okay, that must be the stat I saw their combined amount of fights without a stop between UFC. It's got to be you. You were pretty close. Okay, so guys, put some respect back on my name. When I give you news, it's breaking. Okay, that's what it is. It's not fake. It's breaking.

Breaking my balls. Breaking my balls. No, Sita, you like really bad MMA. What else should we be looking for? Is Paul Craig going to survive this job interview on Saturday? I think he could, dude. I mean, he's going against the guy who had herpes last time they tried to fight. Oh yeah, that herpes guy. Yeah, we ran through this card. We have pretty much every fight on this card, so I'm not going to point out what's what, but I'll just give you a few interesting facts. Three Cody's fighting on this card. Garbrandt, Durden, Brundage. Cody's fighting on this card Garbrandt Durden Brundage. I like the tough first tough thing. Also Michael Chiesa. His nickname is Maverick Miranda Maverick also on two Mavericks on the

card. I mean, I don't fear either. This is the kind of shit that I find interesting. All right. Yeah. But one is like Maverick is the nickname and the other one is fear. The yeah. Isn't she just adopt a baby Luke Luke I wasn't following too close on Instagram but I think I saw do you think I pay attention to these people's lives and the personal capacity whatsoever she's got a thriving pickle business yes yes dude pickles are so gross people don't realize they're cucumbers in disguise I mean wake up he's got a pickle business. Let me tell you. Let's play find the pickle. All right. Let's go to topic number two and it is all things PFL. They had a semi-finals

in two divisions Thursday night in Nashville. They were not in a universal studios, apex like venue. It seemed to be an okay lower bowl and a small venue. It felt good to see in that regard. And it also coincides with all different kinds of PFL news, both good and extremely disturbing. But look, to kick things off here, despite the 11 PM Eastern main card start, are you kidding me here, Don, with two N's? Decent action in the main event that Gene advances to the welterweight finals with a really hard fought split decision over the ass kicking machine, Jason Jackson, he'll take on Logan store Lee come August 1st as storily took a grapple heavy

decision from Masayuki Kokori. Those will go down. Um, this summer is this the best final pairing so far in your eyes after what we saw on Thursday night? Cause that gene Loganorley. Okay, I'm in I didn't think that gene would win this. I That gene dropped Jason Jackson in the first round dude, Jason Jackson was the damn jab with a jam jab Dude, you know what's interesting about Jason Jackson because I watched this fight live last night. He was wrestling Like it was peppy lapue. Do you remember this where he's like trying to get the cat and the cat is like trying to just constantly push him on and he's just constantly trying to find another way to like re secure the hug. You know, that's what it felt like to me because he was just hanging on for dear life. It looked like Pepe Le Pew trying to

wrestle a cat. It didn't look that way to you. It looked that way to me. It was kind of funny. But dude, that gene, listen, the tournament system, it's not like there are no benefits to it. Occasionally, someone breaks out in a tournament and they look great. That gene is exactly that guy there. Brooklyn Malt when he was not supposed to get and probably this Jason Jackson when he was not supposed to get and now he takes on Logan Storley, who, you know, is not necessarily turning in the most interesting

fights, but he is a winner. He is very good. And to be honest, since his split decision loss to, uh, to Amasov bat for the Bellator title way back or the interim title or whatever in from that point forward, I don't think he's improved at all. Like he's the same exact fighter. Like he can win certain fights. He's lost fights. He probably should have won.

He's still incomplete. He's tough as nails and he probably tears up a saloon on Friday nights in South Dakota, but do you get what I'm saying? Look, I thought there was going to be a big evolution coming to like his striking that I've, that I haven't seen yet. Uh, there was for a time, like up through the Adam Borich fight and stuff like that too, but I feel like now he's just kind of in win mode

and there's really not much else to say about it. Oh, who's this? This Reggie? Reggie, yeah, yeah, he's back, he's back. I didn't pin the door down today. So I love the fight between Thad Gene and Logan Storley. I think it's going to be great. And also dude, Jesus Pinedo arguably the best fighter ever out of Peru.

What a revelation he is running over Brago last night and you know, Moved Havel I have is not going to be an easy fight for anyone, but these are good finals. These are good finals between good talented fighters. And in the case of Gene, he's still undefeated And I think very tested to a degree but certainly not like Logan Storley who's more than 20 fights into his career at this point Fun fun, you know, it's it's kind of a like a striker verse It's not quite right, but it's something of striker versus smothering grappler in both cases. Yeah. One and store Lee in the other. So, you really just kind

of wonder what Pinedo and Jean have in store to to deal with this uh a tough fight in any direction but you know, listen, you can't say you got bad finals out of these uh welter weights and featherweight. No, this part of it is good. I mean, he's just Pinedo. He needed 76 seconds to knock out Braga and he put together a pretty gnarly combination of punches and boxers. I want to tell you something about that. I met a guy when I called XFC in Iowa, Saeed Yakub Kakhramanov, and he went like two and one in the UFC and the one fight he lost was when he was in Uzbekistan. They called him on short notice to fight Said Nurbaqa Madoff and he gave Said a bit of a tough fight at first. Obviously, you know, he lost in the end, but he won the other two and I think

submitted one of the guys in the one of the ones he won. Like he's a very good fighter and they just let him go, you know, and here is a case of Jesus Paneto, what one and one in the UFC, very, very young, they let him go. And I don't think that that was necessary. Listen, prospecting is a tough, tough challenge. It's hard to know exactly who's going to break out. So it's not like I'm saying these were obvious calls. They were not necessarily obvious calls, but in the end, they let Pinedo go and he has turned out to be quite good. I would say a top ten featherweight in the world,

you know, you'd be surprised sometimes who can really round the corner. I think Pinedo has done that PFL finals in both the welterweight and featherweight divisions will be August 1st. I believe it's all the right the championship of all in the so

they're actually splitting them up this year across three cards. So those two are August 1st. Hey, PFL, you never know, Luke, they make a lot of changes and we gave them credit for all the changes in the past week and a half, whether it be the $25 tickets, the new PFL app, which will house live streams of all the international cards and, uh, getting out of the apexes. But it hasn't all been perfect PR wise for Don and company when Don welcomed famous actor and good friend,

also accused rapist Russell Brand to the PFL Nashville proceedings. Brand was on camera. I didn't watch the full broadcast. I piecemealed the fights this morning. So I don't know if he was featured or interviewed Luke, but he did appear on camera. And we got another video to show that PFL social put out of him and Don

chopping it up. Luke is this um, we're told we're told officially here that it was just a guest spot. He's not a he's not doing business with PFL. But two weeks ago, he was facing trial for some shit. It's kind of in cancel mode. If you believe in that, is this a, a, a PFL not being self-aware? What are we doing here? I mean, can we get the tape brothers next please? I guess it's what MMA promotions do, right? I know it's like, dude, I don't want to hear any,

and MMA fans will say they don't care, but then when you insult the sport or when they hear insults about the sport, they get bitter. So they care. Dude nobody, nobody has a right to complain about the rotten reputation that MMA has more broadly. I'm sorry it's well deserved. It's earned, it's earned in every possible way. There's nobody they won't say no to. And listen, I don't know if Brand will exonerate himself, BC, but just as like a basic move of understanding how things work in the world, if someone has just recently, to your point, weeks old,

been charged with serious crimes, at a bare minimum, just put it on the back burner, right? At a bare minimum. And even if this guy is there in a friendly capacity, they're still putting out, you know, social media assets related to this that seem, you know, just totally inadvisable. And I know there's a bunch of people that are like, you know, he's been charged and not accused of anything. Dude, I've, I've, I've met a lot of people. I don't, I've never been friends with anybody who's ever been charged with

a crime like this, you know, and I was in the fucking Marine Corps. Like, what are we fucking talking about here? This is, you know, this is absolutely insane. Like, there's people here who don't believe in anything. They don't have any principles. They don't have any standards. They only believe in here's my tribe, here's theirs. As long as you're in this one, it doesn't really matter who you are and what you've done. We don't really care. It's the saddest, most pathetic way to go through life. And I'll say one more thing about it too, BC. Dude, it used to be the case for much of my career

that we could tell people, oh, you don't know enough about MMA, right? The more you might learn, the more you will find that it's actually not what you thought. It is actually much more scientific of a style of fighting. And these guys are great athletes. Like you have this bad view of MMA

because you don't know enough about it. And now we're in a place where the more you learn about MMA, actually the worse it looks, right? The more you look under the hood, the more horrendous it appears. Every terrible thing that people say about this sport on the outside is 1000% deserved. We earned it because we can't say no to dirtbags. So,

congratulations everyone. Welcome to the hell you have brought us to. Welcome to morning combat brought to you by some shit coin. Okay, I mean, we're close to that by the way, but no, we're not. We got great. We got great sponsors. But yeah, Luke, we are in that era. I'm not surprised.

Mother effer. It's comical in a way. It's gross. It's whatever. Here's the Don Davis. See the Tates at power slap. And he was like, I got to get in on that. I got it. Yeah, I got I got a friend. got, I can one up you. I got a friend.

Let me make a phone call. Uh, but Luke, here's an actual PFL development that I want to get your take on. If we're just being, Oh, Don made this decision. It's probably the bad one. So we tweet came out from the PFL announcing that a lightweight title eliminator between Mansour, Bernoui and Archie Colgan has been added to the 2025 PFL World Tournament 6 event on June 20th in Wichita and it will air live on ESPN. The winner of that fight will be granted a fight against undefeated 155 pound champion series title holder

champion series title holder. Usman Nermaga Medoff who we all felt like the promotion was building against for this big rematch against Paul Hughes, maybe the MMA fight of the year earlier this year and then we saw Paul Hughes headline that PFL card in in Belfast that look like it was going crazy. He's calling out Usman afterwards and then you top it off PFL puts out that tweet. Here's the response reply from Paul Hughes of Hey, quit with the rage bait. And now we also have reports from Hughes that he was texting us

modern magomed off being like, what the frick, what are we gonna do this rematch or what? And the quote from Hughes was I texted him myself last week. And I was just like, what's going on rematch now. And Usman said, you have to win one more fight, brother. And then Paul would go on to say, he's trying to delay this. Luke, we got a lot of issues with PFL from a brand presentation of who are the champions. Are they the PFL champions or this champion? Like, it's so crazy. Are they just muddying the waters by not making this fight now when this

could be their identity Hughes and Usman and the rivalry they have. But bro if in defense of PFL if I may if Nurmagomedov doesn't want it they can't make him do it so what are you proposing exactly? Is this so you're saying the only reason why they put out this tweet and made this change and are announcing now that the lightweight title eliminator bout will produce the next title contender is because Ousmane said no, I don't want the rematch. I want that's exactly what I'm saying. I mean, has clearly said to them, I don't want this fight. So what are you supposed to do? Give him more money. What? John Jones has repeatedly said he doesn't want the Aspen all fight. So what are they supposed to do?

Oh, I know. Wait till they announce their next TV deal. Then suddenly that fight will happen. You know that maybe. I mean, that's what John keeps saying. He just said it again on social media recently. Uh the UFC knows my plans. You need to wait for them to announce it. Maybe that means they've already agreed to it. Luke would be great. It would be great. I'll

talk about it when we have those plant when we have those plans confirmed one way or the other, but I'm just saying, you know, people are like, oh, what should the P the PFL should make this fight if Ous says, no, they can't make him, I'll give him a bunch of money. But then, you know, that's like robbing Peter to pay Paul to a degree with a promotion that I think it needs to be more diligent about its finances. It's a tough spot for them. I mean, I think that they, I've been very clear that I think the way in which they arrange

their product hamstrings them. And this is part of that problem too. It's not utterly one or the other. But on some level, dude, I've talked very clear that I think the way in which they arrange their product hamstrings them and this is part of that problem too. It's not utterly one or the other. But on some level, dude, I've talked to matchmakers and they have repeatedly stressed to me over the years. You would not believe how many fights that they wanted to get made and they just couldn't because one guy just didn't want it and they can't make them. But it's not, Luke, it's not a universally accepted rule though, that if a fighter says no that they're in MMA where they have most control anyone could ever imagine because of the Mansobsen and their own league

that they'll be fine with it. Wasn't Jermaine Duran to me stripped for refusing to defend against Chris Cyborg? Yes. Yes. Or are they just not having balls? Like I look, I'm trying to figure out when Usman Nirmaga-Madoff's contract ends and it appears that at the beginning of this year he had said publicly leading up to

the Paul Hughes fight that he resigned with them and he kind of made a comment of let's see in a year and a year and a half like you know what they have for me. So I don't think it's something where he just doesn't want to fight Hughes and he's gonna wait and you know finish out the deal and then run to the UFC

although I think he will be in the UFC at the expiration of his deal. I just feel like this is like what they could bank their identity on. Their identity right now outside of confusing tournaments is what? Their MMA identity. It's uh Dakota Ditcheva is a breakout star and an attraction. I'm not even gonna bring up that she had to tell Mike Bond publicly how unhappy she was before she could get a fight. But this rivalry should be it. I mean, maybe we're still gonna play into this rivalry

and build up to it. But I feel like 2025 was a make or break year. They need monster fights to get people to care about their brand. Isn't that rematch however they wanna present it present it right live on ESPN or on a pay preview or however, it's going to happen. Isn't that the biggest thing they can do to get eyes and be looked at as legitimate or does it not matter because the TV

deals already signed in the same way? It doesn't matter for UFC right now of trying really hard because the deals already guaranteed. I do think that the way PFL thinks about their fights is as a calendar experience, not individually this one over that one, which I think is part of their issues. But you see, you probably make a good point that there's more that they could be doing, putting pressure on Uspin to take the fight, right? They could threaten to strip them, they could up the pay, they could do something, you know,

who's to say? I don't know. But at the same time, you know, oh, well, why can't the UFC do it? But the UFC has much more flexibility. They have much greater financial resources. They have much greater leverage. They're dirtier. They just have, they're much more powerful. No, what I'm saying is they'll put you in situations as a fighter where they have the leverage and you're really setting up and you do that. You do that in PFL. They're just going to leave. They're going to do media tours talking to people and say I want out and then you know, that tends to work. You get released like Pico and exactly. So the point the point I'm trying to make is again, I'm not I'm not I don't want to absolve PFL from blame here in every way. I think that all things being what they are making that rematch makes an

enormous amount of sense and they should make every effort to do it. However, just never lose sight of the fact that if a guy doesn't want to do it, that's the end of the conversation. I think they've kind of found themselves there to a degree. Quickly, Nosita reminded us that we also have Dirty Boxing 2, the Masvidal card this weekend that is filled with UFC names from Jair Rosenstreich in the main event to Alex Caseras Luke taking on. That's the guy I was telling you about. So I had your coup cock Romanoff.

There you go. Cock Romanoff man. If you're the way if your last name is cock Romanoff, you better have a big. You know what I mean? Like right. I'll tell him that you want to see his hog. But what I want to do, I just kind of wrong? I'll tell him that you want to see his hog, but what I was going to say is, what's kind of funny about this BC is he's, I mean, he can strike.

He fought in karate combat, but he's actually a wrestler. You know, he just trying to stay busy. This is what I mean. Like this dude could easily go to the UFC right now and win fights. Easily. It's just a strange moment in fighters' lives where they have to just take fights where they exist. And if that means a weird kind of boxing rule set, then that's just what you have to do.

Luke, let's transition to topic three. How about this? For daring to be great, we talked after his most recent victory, whether Flyweight Joshua Vann, despite being just 23 years old, whether this Myanmar future hope is ready for big time names right now, well, ready or not, he has accepted one. Riding a four fight win streak, having won 12 of his last 13 overall,

Van will make a 23 day turnaround when he replaces an injured Menell Cop who has a broken foot, to take the fight against number one ranked Brandon Royval. That goes down International Fight Week UFC 317 Las Vegas on June 28th. Van is 7 and 1 in the UFC and all eight fights have come within the last two years. So Luke, straight to the point, number 10 Joshua Van, is he ready for the smoke that the perennial contender rod dog is able to bring in this very interesting fight come IFW. I mean, I feel like it's too much too soon, but I don't

know. I I I hate this fight because if you were planning Josh Vans career, you wouldn't jump this far ahead this quickly. On the other hand, BC, I kind of love this fight because if you were planning Josh Vans career, you wouldn't jump this far ahead this quickly. On the other hand, BC, I kind of love this fight because he's trying to jump so far so quickly. Yes. And it's such a big test. And it's such a difficult one because raw dog is durable, highly experienced. You know, I would say at this point, respectively well rounded, obviously, I think they're gonna have different skills, raw dogs gonna be a little bit more of a, you know, grappler wrestler, you know, mixing it up in the middle kind of fight versus, you know, van at mid range, working behind the jab kind of thing.

But you know, van is aggressive. He puts tons of combination work together. He's going to be there to have openings. Rod dog is probably going to find him. I mean, dude, this is a very interesting fight. And I have to say, I really appreciate that Royville took this contest because you're giving a shot to someone who is kind of hot as a prospect. And now you're basically treating him as a de facto number one contender. I mean, I'm not saying that if he wins, he'll get the title shot, but I'm

not saying if he not good, what if he goes in there and he knocks out Royville? Well, I mean, you know, you're doing something that like, you know, Brandon Moreno couldn't do basically. I mean, that's insane. I'm sure Royville still getting some form of a promise that like, because he's the number one contender that you win this fight, just like the same terms, if you would have beaten cop, you're going to get a title shot. So since he's about that life, I would think for him, it's just, I'd rather fight this guy now early, you know, when he's riding this win streak when he's still just 23. And if I, if the same stakes are in play and I'm the raw dog and I get down like that, and you know, our guy does Luke. In fact, we got a video of Royval being like, I love me some Josh van Josh van. Josh van. Oh sick. It's my favorite flyway. It's not me or Louise. Huge Josh van fan though. Yeah, who can't be? Royva wants to make some magic here Luke on top of the stakes, right? I, dude, I, it's, it's not the fight that I would have picked, but it's got for fly. Dude. When was the last time flyweight

had like a bunch of intriguing fights all kind of being made? I mean, that great the great four fight rivalry with Figueredo and Murano but but like Josh Vann is a breath of fresh air. I still am kind of worried that it's too much too soon, even if he wins, because of what it could do to his development to just get pushed so far so fast. And in fact, we should say there might even be a criticism due for the UFC that because

they have these calendar demands that they're now kind of cannibalizing their own talent and pushing them too quickly. So I have mixed feelings about this about BC. On the one hand, I absolutely understand the excitement and the intrigue and just the battle that awaits guaranteed action. On the other hand, if Royville loses, he risked a lot to get basically nothing. And in the, in the same event, if, if van wins, that's great for him, but I wonder what it does to his longterm development for a guy who's just 23 years old, but here we are. That's what's going to happen. Let's see how it goes. I mean, look, you're right about the calendar

filling being part of it. And if it blows up in their face, then it's like, Oh, did we not learn from Sage North Cub PVZ? But look, if you've got somebody that's super game, super ambitious, super motivated, and is starting to pick off big names one by one and wants the smoke. I mean, it reminds you of John Jones getting that very quick turnaround against Shogun to make sure that that purse snatcher didn't get away before brutally defeating a legend. And suddenly he's that guy right now. He's that guy. That's what Josh Fan has an opportunity to do, Luke. And Vegas believes this is going to be a real fight. Minus 125 on DraftKings is the Raw Dog favorite. Plus 105 for Josh Vann. Now, Vann was

on the Ariel Hauwani show immediately after this announcement. And Luke, he had a big reveal. You beat Royvault, you fight for the damn title. Let's hear the kid. Four, there's a strong case to be made. You win this fight, you're the number one contender. Do you think that's the case? Yeah, for sure. I win this fight, I'm the number one. Have you been told this? You win this fight, you're getting a title shot? No, but who am I supposed to fight next? You know what I mean? If I beat the number one guy that I'm the number one

so That's what I'm thinking right now. Yeah, I know you did you did mention Brandon Moreno right for Noche UFC So he would be another big name, but I guess in your mind you win this fight. You're fighting the winner of Pantoja KKF Yeah for sure the the only reason why I called out Moreno was because everybody in the top 15 got a matchup and stuff like that, you know what I mean? And it was just me and him that were left and he said he wanted to fight on the no-chase, so I want to fight in Texas, you know what I mean? So that's the reason why I called him out. But they give me a title, yeah, I go for the title.

You see Royval over there ranked number one, you're ranked number 10. Shout out to him for obviously taking the fight. Is he someone that you have been watching, thinking about fighting for the last couple years? Nah, to be honest, I didn't think I was gonna fight him next, you know what I mean? But when the opportunity come, I was like, hell yeah, I didn't think I was gonna fight him next. You know what I mean?

But when the opportunity come, I was like, hell yeah, I'll take it. But you know what I mean? I don't really watch fights. So by now when they call me for this fight, you know what I mean? I went back and watched all his fights. Oh wow, did you even know who he was?

I mean, I know who he was. You know what I mean? He's the top guys in the division and stuff like that that but I ain't really watched like all of his fight. Wow he's like you may it's funny Royval is like that's my favorite fighter and then this guy's like yeah I don't know his work but Luke I stand corrected he did not say the UFC told him he was saying if I beat the number one guy who else am I gonna fight in your eyes for Van if he gets a fifth straight win and defeats the number one contender, is there any reason not to give him the winner?

Or is the reason that we kind of saw Steve Ersak just fall apart after giving a title shot? Exactly too much too soon. No, I don't like the idea of giving him a title shot even with a dominant victory. Mm hmm. Okay. I would like to see him fight at least another one before doing that. I don't think that that's going to happen. That's not, it's not what I'm predicting what will happen if he stops Brandon Royville, but for his own sake, slowing it down just a little bit,

I think would really be important. Yeah. Uh, this is, this is a big opportunity. He's going to take it. That's wild here. This should be a fun fight. And it's almost like buried on that card too, you know, uh, with it, with how many big, you know, title fights you got at the top, but I'm going to be fired up to see it. Let's buried on that card too you know uh with it with how many big you know

title fights you got at the top but I'm gonna be fired up to see it let's move on to topic number four obviously we've been talking about this ad nauseam we we knew it could be coming but we really wasn't sure which rumor which report to believe as far as the marriage between TKO boxing now I guess it's called Zufa boxing and Turkey and Turki Al-Ashik Saudi Arabia in response here to this Canelo Alvarez-Terrence Crawford super fight. September 13th, we now know it will be on Netflix. Dana was telling the truth, he's the promoter. We don't have a venue as of yet,

but Boxing Scene is reporting that Allegiant Stadium is being sought out aggressively. That would of course mean moving UNLV football out of there, but I think that's something that can probably be done given the amount of interest and income this will bring to the city. So Luke, given though the inside report from the folks at the MMA draw that it actually was some disharmony behind the scenes and it took going the level of bringing in the closer himself, Nick Khan, WWE president under the TKO banner to be like the arbiter to get Turkey, TKO and Netflix to agree and sign and do this. Uh, this is gonna happen. This is gonna be a big fight. There's a lot of history at stake. What are your expectations now that we're sort of through this soap opera of how big this fight can be

in terms of its build? They're gonna kick off a three city global press tour in Riyadh, New York and Vegas. And what are your expectations on the Dana White TKO Zufa boxing side of it to come out on opening night and announce themselves aggressively in this boxing space. Can they make this work? That's not to say that I'm not saying can they make Canelo Crawford a successful event? I don't really have any doubt that they will.

I think that there's too much, too much money, too many power players, too many people who have experience in the industry doing this at a high level for this to event to be some kind of failure. I think it'll be a massive success. You know what kind of fight you're going to get, I guess we'll see. But in terms of what they can do to engineer interest, I think that they will do a good job. But the way that it was reported was that the Saudis basically want to retain control

and that Dana White will be visible. But I think the interesting thing for me to look at BC is like. Once we see what the event actually looks like, is it going to look like a Dana White event, which is kind of stripped down? I mean, it's, it's nice. You know, it's, it looks modern. It looks sleek, but it doesn't look fanciful in the way that we typically understand pageantry or is it going to look like what the Saudis like, which

they do like pageantry? They do like the big spectacle. They do like the circus almost atmosphere, which by the way, to be clear, I tend to prefer that as well for big boxing contests. I think to me, that's what we're really going to have to take a look at here. You know, Dana White getting out there and doing the media for it is promoting it in a certain way. But with like, the word promoting is doing some interesting work here. Does promoting mean I'm the guy who goes on the Jim Rome show, I'm

the guy who shows up on ESPN first take, or does promoting mean that plus, the way in which this event will work is according to my interests as a promoter, like that will be his signature on the event. Like clearly he was the one making a call. Are the Saudis just writing a check or are they writing a check with specific instructions for how this is to look, for how this is to go? To me that is the interesting question and one again one way or the other I'm not expecting failure nor wishing it. In fact we should say BC them doing a media tour

holding the event in Vegas and putting it on Netflix is exactly what the American boxing market needs so desperately. A fight that is easy to access that has, we think, pomp and circumstance and is not sitting behind a paywall with big names that the public recognizes in about of at least some kind of consequence. And again, taking place in Las Vegas. This is exactly what the fight game needs right now in the United States. So there's no world where I'm in any way rooting for anything but massive success. I guess the dance of the question, as I indicated, I'm looking to see who's actually in the driver's seat on this one. I agree with you.

I think that's the biggest intrigue in soap opera salacious side of this is like, we can read the reports from outlets like MMA draw and try to decide for ourselves if we believe that's how it's broken down. If you actually care about, was it Turkey that overextended his, you know, his offer there with Netflix that things got sour?

Or was it really the potential of finding out that Canelo Avera has told Turkey, he's not gonna fight in Saudi anymore, it has to be in the US and that he's not a Friday night fighter as the card was originally pitched to be the Friday night of that weekend, he's a Saturday night fighter. It seems if that's true,

then that's Turkey sort of bending aggressively to him. Is that the reason why we had disconnect? I don't really know. And you know, at the end, you could say, I don't care. But to me, this is going to dictate how this relationship will go. The UFC does not and TKO are not involved in these type of ventures unless they have full control. And UFC has that editorially, they have that in every possible way, but this time it's not their money. So will this be a thing? Because everyone I talk to who's ever worked for Turkey, they're like, he's on top of every single decision.

It's his show. And look, we even have video now from Eddie Hearn, who kind of revealed that like that's how it is working for Turkey. When you're working for Turkey, you're giving up in exchange for the money and the opportunity to do these big events, you're giving up in exchange for the money and the opportunity to do these big events. You're giving up the control and the decision making. I don't know yet if I believe that Dana and TKO and Zuffa or whatever you want to call them are going to be down for that or if it's going to operate this way. Here's Eddie Hearn. I'd like to get your response on this.

Would you have liked to have been the promoter of this fight? Oh, yeah, of course I mean who wouldn't I mean, yes, it's a fantastic fire But I don't think But the reality is is the promoter of this fire is Turk Yelashak You know, it doesn't matter when you know when whenever there's a Riyadh season event or a ring magazine event All the decisions are made from his excellency.

I've been involved. And you actually don't really get much of an opportunity to make any decisions because he makes them all for you. Everything down to the design of the promo, to the on sale ticket dates, to the venue deal. I mean, they're financially bankrolling the event, so they're going to be making all the decisions. I think it's a good look to have Dana doing it. I mean, you're not really, you know, you're kind of, you're a guest promoter. And that's really what a lot of us are when we do

Re-Ed Season or Ring Magazine events. So should I be doing it? No, not really. I mean, I think Dana's got a much bigger profile than me in America. So I get the move. I wouldn't be able to do it anyway, because I'm exclusive to net to design. And obviously the fights on Netflix. But no, I think it's a pretty, pretty cool movie. I think it's good for boxing. But no, I think it's a pretty cool move really. I think it's good for boxing. I think, as I said to you before, Dana's making a move into boxing for a reason. Right. Luke, there we go onto some lengthy stuff there in his appearance on Dazon's Ariel

and Ade show, but what do you make from the standpoint of who is stamping those decisions at the end of the day? Can this relationship work if it's set up the way Eddie just described? I mean Nick Khan already worked a bit of a I don't know if miracles the word but certainly some Careful surgery to put Humpty Dumpty back together again And by the way He had just done that in the resigning of WWE's R-Truth and his surprise appearance at the pay-per-view last weekend.

The report was that it took after R-Truth turned down multiple offers from WWE TKO to resign because they realized they had done him wrong. It took Nick Khan on that too, Luke. So is it like, is Nick Khan the bandaid that needs to be there at all times? I mean, he's clearly a valuable contributor to the operation. Here's where I come down on this, BC. People have asked me, like, can this relationship between TKO and Saudi Arabia ultimately work?

Because Netflix is here, but who knows how long they're going to be along for the ride. On the one hand, their relationship makes total sense, right? Huge money meets huge corporation with tons of ties, like dominates the fight business, like of course that relationship makes sense, right? Unlimited wealth plus essentially unlimited, not quite, but unlimited power. That makes sense. On the other hand, like it just seems destined for failure too, right? On like,

you've got someone with unlimited power that wants all the control versus people who have enjoyed all the control themselves. They may not have access to that same kind of capital, but they're certainly well capitalized. They're used to calling the shots and they're used to having decisions. How long can this relationship actually sustain? Again, I think Canelo versus Crawford

is gonna be a success no matter what, and probably a huge one at that. But I guess I'm a little bit unsure of the long term of what kind of fruit this partnership can actually bear when there are, again, which that seems inevitable, disagreements over who gets say and what matters and what goes. I don't know.

Yeah, no, I think it's a big topic to follow. And anyone's smart enough to remember, you'll say no BC we have seen the UFC be the co-pilot before in something like this and that would be obviously Mayweather McGregor but that was on boxing's terms and UFC wasn't happy with their co-pilot spot and complain the whole time about every showtime decision there was a lot of back and forth behind the scenes between the two sides and I think it fueled even further Dana going, if I'm doing something like this, you know, and I'm putting my name on it, I'm going to be in control.

So we'll see how that goes. The current Draft King odds for this fight are Canelo Alvarez as your minus one eighty five favorite Crawford is only a plus one fifty underdog. And it's I mean, it helps that Canelo's coming off that awful fight with Williams School. I think that brought a lot of people back in on the, yeah, maybe Crawford really does have a chance. I do believe Crawford has a chance,

but we can't look away on the chance, the same chance he has to get bodied and just finding out that this is too big. But then again, that's part of the reason why we are going to tune in. And now, Luke, if we're talking from a standpoint of any shots being fired here, how about Turkey Al-Ashiq this week being very aggressive in coming out and sending a message

on social media to all future Riyadh season and Ring Magazine card fighters so that we don't have a repeat, you would think, of that weekend march or May 2nd in Times Square with the low CompuBox historic numbers there and then Canelo that next night. Shots Fired brought to you by Cuervo. You already know now is a good time to enjoy the tequila that invented tequila. Let's hear it. Shots Fired. And here is the tweet in question.

From this point on, I don't want to see any more Tom and Jerry type boxing matches where one fighter is running around the ring and the other is chasing him. We can no longer support these kinds of fights with Riyadh, Sizzan and the ring. We want to support fighters who leave it all in the ring and fight with heart and pride. Now look, I'm not saying I disagree with that or that any of us disagree with that. Do you think that that stern warning is going to be enough to induce the type of action we feel like we deserve for the money, pay-per-view prices and the money that these guys are being paid?

With Canelo Crawford? Or you mean like in general? General. No. That's a message he sent into the box. Yeah. So what I mean, guys are going to win the way they know how to win. You know, that's just what it's going to be. Um, I don't think it's going to make much of a difference, but I mean, the reality is, you know, he who pays the piper calls the tune. This is what he

wants. This is what he's asking for. This is what he's demanding. I don't think it's going to make much of it. I mean, I make some difference, I suppose maybe on the margins, but it's like, you know what an edict over Twitter and then saying something to someone in person. Just one of these Saudi Arabian purses is enough for some of these guys to be like content with their situation or they're always going to have some kind of excuse about why they had to fight a certain way. I just, you have to change the incentive structure in a real way, not in a like a

threatening way To get what you want out of these guys. It just doesn't work that way, especially when they're already well capitalized It's not like people who need to get the you know, the rent money so that the other lights don't get turned off or something You know, I'm skeptical that it actually works. But you know, this is what you're gonna get You've got me again boxing has decided to go all in on a religious monarchy dictatorship. Well, there's people saying this is kind of coincides perfectly with the with either the TKO as a fization of boxing, which they're attempting to do, or maybe just the Dana White influence. Isn't that a very Dana move to to incentivize action like that? We've seen it, you know,

countlessly in UFC. Yeah, but there's not a ton of evidence that it actually works. That's the problem. I agree with you, but it kind of feels like it's a Dana type move in a lot of ways in their part. Yeah. I mean, again, it's dictatorial, which it's, to be clear, it's not like I even disagree with like what he's asking for in a sense of is what he's asking for desirable if it worked.

I mean, who would argue otherwise what you want to see boring fights. Nobody wants to see boring fights, but it's a question of like, you know, the promoter and what they want out of this. And it's not a question of are they asking for something that is desired by fans in this case? The question is if you're making these kinds of edicts in public, imagine what they're doing in private, right? That's sort of the issue. Imagine the heavy handedness that comes with doing business. But boxing appears to want the paycheck and are happy to do business

with people who make outrageous demands. So, you know, this is the bed they have made time to lay in it. Uh, somewhat related to this on the idea of Turkey being very Dana-like of late is the way that Teofimo Lopez Devin Haney fight seemed to get announced and then fall apart and everyone blamed Teo. Here was him on a recent podcast Sit down where Interesting comments about how that fell apart But they're more publicly announced it right now And this is not talking bad on

right now okay and this is not talking bad on Turkey Al-Asheq it's not talking bad on any of the guys that was part of the deal however however listen I don't mind fighting anyone they put in front of me. However, I am a prize fighter. I am a person that is about principles. Sela and I, we signed fight two and three contract with X amount of dollars. And when it came to before we actually signed the fight with Barboza, my team and I and my lawyers, we all came to an agreement for fight two and three being signed before we did fight one. Okay, now, with that being said, we successfully did fight one, which was against Barboza. Fight two includes, and I quote, Jaron Boots Ennis or any other fighter that is in that high calibrated level, meaning it could be Haney, Rolando Romero, anyone that you guys want to see us face against.

That was fight 2. That was signed and sealed. With X amount of dollars that I will not express here, there's none of your damn business. When we came to fight too They Seller and and and in Riyadh and all this said we're not gonna pay you what we agreed on For August They have it and The fight that they publicly announced the fight before I even signed the damn deal. Couldn't they just wait?

I felt like part of me feels like I got kind of like jobbed in the sense of like was the Boos fight even something that was happening or not? Luke, it was lengthy there and yet I hear some chewing while he's speaking but on that, I look like an IG livestream, not a podcast. Either way, announcing a fight that's not signed for, that seems, we've seen that before on the MMA side. Do you believe him? Is he a valid voice in this space? Are we seeing signs of discontent or is this just obvious that the purse is tightening now from the original rollout of the past year and a

half of Riyadh season and that we're ready to merge with, with TKO and UFC here. So is a more of that in your eyes. I'm just amazed he was able to get through a few minutes without the N word. I'm really just kind of like blown away. It was an incredible restraint on his part. Yeah, I mean, this is the Saudi plan, right? You just show up and you spray a bunch of money at first

and you don't make a lot of demands about it and everyone kind of loves it. And then slowly over time, the demands start increasing and then slowly over time, the expectations start increasing. And then slowly over time the expectations start increasing and then slowly over time the control starts to tighten and some of the games start to go up. This is their plan. They show up and everyone's like, oh, they treat them like a funcular figures showing up on Christmas Day with presents for all of their nieces and nephews. But it all comes at a cost. There's no such thing as a free lunch. This is where we're at now. So I believe what he's saying. I believe him. I believe what he is telling.

I believe that they are announcing stuff without it being signed. And I believe that there might be playing games about some belt tightening, although obviously their purses are still going to be, you know, higher than what you would normally get. But again, you know, they were, it's not like they weren't warned. Hey, I don't know if it's a great idea to do business with a religious dictatorial monarchy, but they didn't listen so enjoy it. All right Zufa boxing coming to a theater near you. No this is a big launch though we'll see

how this fight goes. Luke topic number five interesting potential trend here that you put on my radar. PFL's Logan Storley who of course last night advanced to the welterweight final on August 1st, is saying he believes the NIL money available to college athletes and in particular college wrestlers is so much that it's actually preventing potential college wrestling stars from making that transition to MMA, which has been such a fruitful pipeline in this sport's history. Luke, he gave an interview with MMA Fighting where he went on to elaborate further, but what are your thoughts on this?

This to me seems like it might be a big problem. People have rightly noted that the bang you got for your buck by getting a wrestler out of college and putting him to MMA has declined relative to what it was. Circa Matt Hughes, two time All-American, you know, never won a national title, but obviously was very, very good and a huge figure in that Walter Wade division and really MMA at the time, like what it meant to have a premier athlete with that particular skill set come over.

That is true. The level of what you get or the amount of what you get by just taking a good elite wrestler out of college and putting an MMA has declined. That part is true. However, you know, the factors that put them there, which is that, you know, unless you could make an Olympic or world team, basically your career prospects were done after college. And again, in a world where everyone was a student athlete, this constrained their options

to such a degree that they had nowhere else to go. But here comes MMA and all of a sudden now you can make some money as a wrestler. But two things have happened. One, the growth of sports jujitsu has taken many of them that would ordinarily have done this. Michael Pixley, Jason Knolff, to name but a few. I should say three things. Two, now you can do like seminars and tutorials that you can sell online and you can do some coaching. And you can make a pretty decent coin. And now there's this NIL money.

And again, that's not going to affect like every wrestler. There's still going to be wrestlers who don't make a lot, who don't have a lot of career prospects, who are still very, very good, who might be interested in MMA. It's not like you're completely shutting off the valve. But BC, part of the reason why MMA was able to sell itself for a time was not just because you could say,

hey, these guys have college degrees. That was part of it. But you could talk about their athletic pedigree and where they came from and people intuitively understood this and more to the point, it was just feeding the ranks of who was there, all the way from heavyweight down to you know, you name it, virtually any weight class below it. And now,

I mean, ask yourself what it means to have this pipeline not again, not completely shut off, but to be severely diminished. I'm not saying it's the UFC's fault because they didn't pay enough and you know, I should say that I don't think that that helps like that clearly doesn't help. But the point I'm trying to make is, who can solve this problem? Because it's a much bigger problem than just the UFC's problem. It's a, I would argue, something of a global problem because there's also a broader set of circumstances. You could

get guys like Fabricio Verduem and Josh Barnett and Frank Mir and you name it to compete at a time when the prizes weren't necessarily as high because it was still this new coveted thing that would attract people who would make that trade- off. But now you're not getting as many people of that athletic caliber or interest to make that trade off. And then on top of it, you're adding these issues about what wrestlers can now have options with either NIL or submission grappling and or coaching and tutorials online in between. So you've got a global and at least and in particular a domestic supply problem.

Well how do you fix that? It's not gonna I mean if if to an extent to an extent the UFC has been able and all promotions but obviously we talk about UFC because of the flag bearer they've been able to just receive the sport as it is. There was enough home grown things happening. There were enough mechanisms in play that put the wind at the UFC is back. But just taking heavy weight BC, the wind is no longer at their back even with the growth of the sport globally. It seems to me that like somebody some kind of entity is going to have to change or go on a recruiting spree or do something to make sure

that we have a consistent level of talent available in order to make this sport work the way that it once did and I wouldn't I recognize that what wrestlers brought is not the same as what it meant 10 or 15 years ago but it's still pretty valuable and it's still pretty important to lose that is not a good thing. No, and I agree with you that it's not, you know, one person or one entity's fault that it's the result of bringing in so much change and a lot of the change was necessary, but collegiate athletes have leverage and rights now and you know, and get paid and can transfer through the portal seemingly at will. So it's a different time in that regard.

Interesting from Storley in particular, in talking to MMA Fighting, he says a lot of the top guys are making, meaning collegiate wrestlers, between a million and a million and a half with their NIL endorsement deals. So it's changing the way the top recruits look at it. His specific quote was, I think the landscape of MMA has changed with contender series and less guys on the roster with PFL, Bellator being gone. It's changed a little bit. Wrestling has some money and there's no security in your early career in MMA.

That's just the truth of it. The first few years are very, very tough. And I think with guys making money over there and going into coaching and coaching rules, you have a little more security. more guys are just getting regular jobs and don't want to do MMA. I think it'll be interesting the next five years what it looks like with wrestlers coming over. It's changing a lot, Luke.

So this is a trend to follow. But if you can make that kind of money and not take the punishment and not have to be dirt hungry and living in your car, which is how a lot of MMA careers seem to start off. And you're already famous. It's a day it's going to take the industry to if they really want these guys to develop an incentive structure of early recruitment, you know, and to, to foster that relationship. It can't be just, I also think I know no one wants to hear this. It's a tired debate and I'm tired of having it, but better fighter pay might fix some of this too. That's also too. Yeah. I agree with you on that one. All right.

Those are our five topics this week. Thank you for playing. I'm told we don't have any dead wrong. So look, we passed the test this past week. Good to know. I was right about everything. There we go. Morning combat at gmail.com is your pathway to Friday segments of Dead Wrong fansubs, or just to reach out to the show or show Mikey your piece, but please don't, please don't do that. Let's do a submission segment where you put up

two picks and tight t-shirts of your significant others. This one's called fansubs. You've got mail. Viewers. Viewers we do have. One of them is Saul from Louisville, the finest gutter man this side of anything, Luke, okay? He gets it done in and out of the ring, if you know what I mean. He says, made the trip from Louisville to Bowling Green, a two-hour commute for Abuelo's 81st birthday. My cousin Jessica made the trip with me and we stopped at the local Buc-ee's on the way down and she drove my drunk ass all that way back.

Luke, you know Saul is repping MK in everything that he does in life. I love that he gives us these little snippets of his personal life. Shout out to Abuela, shout out to cousin Jessica, right? Wait, wait, wait, go back to the picture with the cake. I was gonna say it's Abuelo. Abuelo, excuse me, my fault. Yeah, but more wait. Go back to the picture with the cake. I was gonna say it's a buello Buello, excuse me my fault. Yeah, but more than that look at the top of that cake that looks like either the logo

for Conmobile, you know, Conca cap is the North American Soccer Federation essentially Conmobile is the one for South America or it looks like the one for the one for South America or it looks like the one for maybe Ecuador. I'm not I can't quite tell but I'd be curious to see what that logo is that's on. I will also is also a big fan of pack my bowl Luke and smoke it so I never forget that who is inside of it too well dressed man look at these look at these they got tahini over there next to the hot sauce. I got the

top of Tio shit brother. They're doing it right. We should do. I've always said it. Well, we don't have the budget anymore, but we should do a WWF in your house contest where MK if you win comes to your house, does an episode from your house parties with you right there. Uh, let me look at me right now. I would 1000% do that. If somebody, if somebody wants to make it worth our while, we at a bare minimum, I will 1000% do that. I will 1000% do that. And he's like, I will blow up your restroom. So yeah. And BC will bang your girl cause

that's his dream. Here we go. Hey, our second one comes from King Kim Bong ill He says sup donks made some memes of a running joke from the main card minute live streams Thanks to Bong Island Luke suggestions hashtag main card memes Well, yeah, what's up with that? Okay. This is a running joke back to when we were debating in February What was better the UFC Saudi card or UFC 312 and Luke was adamant that UFC 312 was better even though everyone on paper it was so it's been a running joke in my chat that UFC Vegas 107 which was the Blanchfield barber debacle is a Luke would argue it's a better card than Saudi Arabia

because I mean I would not actually argue that but these are funny memes. Oh here's a BC one UFC Saudi was better than UFC Vegas. 107 LT says, are you? I think, I think my favorite part about these Photoshop's is how unbelievably shitty they are. You know, that's the least effort ever to put a head on a neck. It's quite amazing. All right. Thank you. Kim bong eel, uh, for that one. Alright. Uh thank that you put that in my he MTV? Uh it was just WWF in

contest. No, VH1 did one. backyard with that same c you, MK dogs, I don't kno it worth our contest. I'm telling you MK dogs. I don't know how you can make it worth our while. I will show up to your house. We will do MK. We will party. We'll hit the bong. We'll do all that fun stuff. Okay. But what it all on camera. First of all, we got to get Jake there with the cameras, but also are we, are we limiting it to us? Are we going to end up between the boss lady and Jay Piquette in Nova Scotia? You know what I mean?

Like I would go to Canada. I would go to Canada. Wow. Yeah. I would do it. We should take Joe Piper. I'm also going to take a dump upper Decker style in your house and then just leave.

Yeah. See that's, that's what the actual in your house element is. We will break your plumbing MK style. I got to get out of here. Let's speed it up. This is Joe M. He says father's day is coming up. I found the perfect gift for BC's kids to get him. Oh my God. That's an autographed 9-eleven bin Laden jersey that's signed by Robert O'Neill, the Navy seal who killed bin Laden for $85. That is you got to, you got to wear that every September. Dude, when I get like immediately taken down, if I walk the New York city streets

with that, or does it just fit in on the crazy New York? I don't know anymore. I can't tell. Yeah. Wow, Joe, that was incredible. Also to close, Alan W is the Hall of Fame contributor of this segment. Big fan of that international man of mystery. He says we got five photos here. First of them is a morning combats He says, uh, we got five photos here. First of them is a morning combats punch out. Luke. It's, uh, I read books, suck my balls. Thomas

against little Brian. This is great, dude. You gotta send that to me. That's unbelievable. Also the over the, over the penis score in the top left and the points. Oh, 9-11 in the top left. Oh my God. Oh my God. No, Sita are, look at the points. 420. Are we able to put this on a t-shirt under, under your draw? Please? Can we sell this? Oh my God. I think we should be able to. Dude, this is maybe one of my favorite fansubs I've ever seen. That is fucking awesome. With the, with the DC flag on your groin too. Yeah. On the penis. Yeah. That's so good.

All right. Alan W's got one called deep thoughts. Deep thoughts by Luke Thomas. Just because you don't give up. Doesn't mean you will make it. Look at that garish robe you're wearing too. Yes. And the loafers, I would never wear loafers like that, but it absolutely works for the picture. We got a youth basketball camp is our next one. Eric Campbell's youth basketball camp in school of discipline. Yes. For those hard cores that that listen to the BC ramble. That's what I do to my kids on the driveway. I play dirty. I play hard.

I talk trash. We got to do a tournament you versus like a series of 11 and 12 year olds and then they lower the hoop so you can dunk on them. Oh, dude, that'd be so good. Scalabrini style to show up at your driveway and just ruin your kids. That'd be great. Yeah. And then probably take your significant other home. Yeah, bro. There you go. We also have a scooter rentals. Luke. Bangkok scooter rentals. Oh, please. Could this be a t-shirt? I mean, seriously,

if we made this a shirt, how many would we sell? Am I wrong? Is it like all of them? We can't use John Jones likeness like that, but maybe if we like blur out his face or something, we could still do you could imply it's John John. Do you think we'd sell 500 of those? No, they should have spelled Bangkok CEO's Yes, okay, but you know other way other way. I mean, what are you employing here? Oh, let's go to the final one. He says they are degenerate on the ground now. They have wings. It's donk air Luke you're uh, you are, what's that guy's name?

Um, the, uh, the actor that plays the guy, the ball guy in that movie, John Malkovich. That's John Malkovich. Yeah. I'm Nicholas cage in the middle with the hair and there's no Sita. Oh, that's so good. So is no Sita, uh, Cusack. Yes. Yes, he is great. Wow. That is great. Alan W. Thank you. Thank you so much for your that Mike Tyson's punch out one is put it up one more time. Put the Mike Tyson's punch the 911 the 420 the 202 by the way around one 202 is the area code here for phone numbers. Oh wow. That's a deep dive right there dude. That is

Absolutely first fucking and also look at your face on the bottom right hand corner. Yeah, that's your that's your rapist face You know, okay Wow, we can call it. We can call it my French Canadian face moving forward I got to go I got to get out here on fantastic stuff morning combat at gmail.com Like and subscribe here are our handles if you're ready to handle them. Morningcombat.shop, Luke Nusita's a great guy. Follow his show, the main card minute as well.

Luke Thomas, anything else? No, probably not. I might do a live stream this weekend for Buckley and Usman, so stay tuned for YouTube.com slash Luke Thomas. There you go, check out the sub stack as well. I gotta ratch that Kyle Kulinski interview, Luke. find out what's going on it's up i just put it up this morning well done right there all right that's it we out of here uh let's get it done

i don't know i gotta go thank you there you go this is an iHeart podcast