My Mom's Basement - EPISODE 60 - UFC 249 RECAP WITH MEGAN OLIVI

Episode Date: May 11, 2020

Robbie is joined by friend of the program Megan Olivi this week, and she gives her first hand account of what putting on UFC 249 was like! They discuss what went into the event, how special it felt for all involved, the atmosphere around fight week in general, and more.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/mymomsbasement

Hey My Mom's Basement listeners, you can find our episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, and Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Even if you're not a traditional MMA fan, maybe if you're a My Mom's Basement listener for the Star Wars episodes or the music episodes or anything like that, I think you probably might have watched this anyway because it drew in eyes from all around the world. Obviously, the UFC was the first sport to get back up and running. I spoke to Dana White earlier in the week about it, and I wanted to have Megan Olivion because she was one of the very few people

down there in Jacksonville, the skeleton crew that put this event on. It reminded me of Ruff and Rowdy. Like, when we go down, it's a very tiny crew. It's become something much bigger than it was in the early days already since Barstool acquired it. But just in the way that they were talking about it and the way they were talking about

having fun in the way that Megan and I talk about how the broadcast team had so much fun putting the show on and how they felt like it was something special in the moment. It really just seemed like good vibes all around, which is the best thing we could have asked for out of this event. Like they pulled things off safely. I know they had one hiccup where Jacare actually did test positive for COVID-19, unfortunately, wishing him the best, wishing his family the best. Cause I know someone in his family also had it and was exposed, but this event went on pretty much without a hitch other than that.

And it's a testament to Dana White. It's a testament to the UFC. I'll be called a boot licker for saying that, but it really is. Now, I also want to give a quick shout out to my mom's basement guest, Calvin Cater, because he fought on this card and got a super impressive knockout victory over Jeremy Stevens. One of his most impressive thus far in his entire career. I mean, Stevens, obviously a legend. He's been around forever. Who the fuck is that guy? Fuckingvin cater man this kid has the i'm calling him a kid i'm much younger than him has some of the crispest striking i've ever seen in the ufc and i mean that no hyperbole put jeremy stevens out with a elbow and then a few more ground and pound shots

terrifying the entire featherweight division should be on notice shout out to calvin cater fucking loved seeing him do well on Saturday. I loved all the fights. I mean, we'll talk about them at the end of this podcast with Megan O'Leary, but from the top of the card to the bottom, it was a really, really good event. We got fights on Wednesday as well, fights on Saturday after that. I'm excited. The spotlight's on, like I said. All eyes are on the UFC. All eyes are on our little niche. So without further ado, let's get into it. Let's talk UFC 249 with Megan Olivi. All right. Welcome back to the show. It's My Mom's Basement. I am here with the very special guest, Megan Olivi.

It's been a while since you've been on the show. We did that UFC 249 simulation thing recently, but we haven't sat down and done this for a while. So first and foremost, just how are you? I'm great. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, no, everything's good. Back to work. So that's been nice. But I actually thoroughly enjoyed quarantine at home. We got to just chill and hang out with my husband and my dog. So it was a fun time. Yeah, I was gonna ask what your favorite quarantine watches were with Joe because you guys are like my favorite when it comes to throwing me pop culture recommendations or any, oh, you got to watch this show. You got to watch this movie. You're so artistic. You're

so creative. You have great taste to both of you. So what were you watching? What were you listening to that? You were like, Oh shit, I got to recommend that to people. Um, watching. Okay. So we, we watched a bunch of really good things, but I would say the number one thing that I'm recommending to people is what we do in the shadows. So it's a movie that if you haven't seen it, you don't need to see it to watch the show. I do suggest that you watch the movie. It's great. So funny. And then they made a TV show of it. Um, which, um, I don't know how to say his name. Ty Ty Tyco Atiti. Yeah. Yeah. Tyco Atiti. Fans of this show will know Tyco Atiti from Thor Ragnarok. He did that and he's doing a new Star Wars movie they just gave him. I don't know if you saw that.

I'm jazzed up about it. Yes. But yeah, What We Do in the Shadows. I've seen the movie. You told me to watch the show and I haven't gotten on the show yet. I love the movie. The movie is like one of my favorite. I love that mockumentary style.

I love Spinal Tap and Pop Star, like all of those type of movies. So I would give that the highest of recommendations as well. But continue on the show. The show is like the movie. Taika writes it and he directs some of the episodes. It is so freaking funny. Like I am not, like I didn't watch Twilight. You don't have to like vampires.

There's nothing like that. It's just hilarious. You didn't watch Twilight? What? I never, I've never seen it. You know, this is a fun fact about me. I don't think I've ever said this on the podcast. I went to each and every midnight showing of Twilight when I was in middle school because my sister, my older sister, was so into it that I just loved the passion.

Like when you would show up and Edward would show up on screen and girls would just scream. It was like Star Wars, literally. That's amazing. So I would go and it was also an excuse to stay up late when I was in middle school. Yeah, of course. But I went to every single midnight showing of Twilight. I don't think I've seen any of the movies since, but I was there, yeah.

Yeah, no, I haven't. I'm surprised you haven't seen them. Well, everyone's like, oh, I don't like vampires. I'm like, it's not that. It's essentially like vampires living on Staten Island, but they're from like the 1700s and they're living in modern day.

It's just the greatest. So that, there were some limited series that we watched. The first one that comes to mind is Little Fires Everywhere, which is based on a book. I've heard great things about that. Hulu, right? It's really good. um there were some limited series that we watched the first one that comes to mind is um little fires everywhere which is based on a book i've heard great things about that hulu right really good um i'm kind of like a brat because i read the book and they weren't like totally true to it so i was like you're one of those people yeah not as good as the book i am i'm one of those idiots

uh but no that was really good and then like I started back on old classics. So like Brooklyn nine, nine and the Sopranos just, I love laughing. And then I also love the Sopranos. So those are, I gotta, I gotta keep going on Sopranos. I'm on like season two, I think. Um, I just started for the first time. So I'm like still making my way through it, but also had UFC two 49. Like you, like you said, you're back to work. The quarantine sort of over for you, I guess not. Cause you're quarantined right now in your own hotel room, but talk to me about what the past week and the weekend has been like for you because it has to be drastically different than your regular duties, right?

Yeah, it's definitely, I mean, the preparation alone was, was really different. You know, there were kind of rumors about when we were going to have fights and where they were going to be and who was going to be on the card. And so throughout that time I was doing, you know, there were kind of rumors about when we were going to have fights and where they were going to be and who was going to be on the card. And so throughout that time, I was doing, you know, digital interviews for UFC using platforms like Zoom and stuff like that. But then once the card got announced, we really just, you know, trying to figure out what the precautions were in place to be safe and stuff like that. So in terms of prep, we traditionally have fighter meetings in person during fight week.

The fighters arrive and then the next day we kind of just stack our day where it's next person, next person, next person. We get like 30 minutes with them. We can kind of pick their brains, talk to them, make sure we have the most updated information and straighten the horse's mouth. This is you and the rest of the broadcast team?

Correct, yeah. So it'll be our producers, whoever's producing the show, and then myself, John Inik, and whoever's calling the fight, like in this case, Daniel Cormier. So this time we had to do all those calls over conference call. And I feel like I should have recorded them because they were so awkward. It was weird.

There was like this weird pause. So like somebody would try to ask a question and then a fighter was like trying to make small talk and then like we're laughing and then somebody else is trying to talk like it was just a fucking mess that's sort of like become the charm of all of the like even this i'm thinking like i hope in years from now people go back and are listening to my mom's basement they're like oh these are the weird quarantine episodes where all of the interviews people were like talking over each other didn't know when to say words yeah it was it was amazing so like I had I had the mulling speaker and then I just muted it until it was my turn to talk but like my husband was in the kitchen with me for a lot of them like listening and he was just dying he's like you guys can't he's like you guys cannot get it together no we can't well i was texting you and we'll get to the broadcast but

like that was my favorite part of ufc 249 it wasn't i don't want to say it was laid back because saying that sounds like you guys like didn't carry less effort in but it was just a different vibe it was more of like an acknowledgement that this is a crazy world we're living in right now. We're making the best of it, but this is all very weird. So continue on with the rest of the week and the hotel and you had to take the COVID test. Did that suck? Yeah. You know, it wasn't like I don't want to do it again,

but it wasn't nearly as bad as people were making it seem. Yeah, Francis Higano hated it. He said he'd rather get punched in the face. Right. I mean, I'm not doubting Francis listen I will never doubt Francis but I'm like really because it it it honestly wasn't that bad but also I've never like my I can breathe out of my nose so if they have I don't know if it's like a different like I don't know how Orlovsky is going to do it oh my god yeah and did you see Calvin C cater's nose after his fight with stevens it's

so it's like if he's got to get another one before he goes back good luck to the doctor that's like trying to slip that in like a fucking credit card yeah right yeah um it's very kind nurses that's who did ours they were from the mayo clinic and they uh they were so kind and like just like it's gonna be okay and all the guys were freaking out and all the girls were like okay let's just go um but no that i mean the hotel, the hotel is obviously different. Everyone's wearing masks. Most people are wearing gloves. Um, the staff here like needs to be tremendously commended because they are just consistently like wiping stuff down and making sure stuff's clean. Um, they have stocks like, uh, I don't, I don't know how to, it's kind of like a pantry market

downstairs so that like it's 24 hours a day. Fighters can get water and salads and fruit and Gatorade, stuff like that, which, you know, because a lot of things are closed. Um, so they've, they've done like a really good job here. Um, and then, um, it's just been weird, you know, for me, I'm still like, uh, I have to work all three shows. I want to make sure I'm safe. Florida is very much open. Not everything, but a lot of things. I've just stayed in my room, stuck to myself. We have so much work that it hasn't even been an opportunity to go outside.

Today, we had the day off. It was our day off in the next 10, and it rained. It wasn't like I could do anything. Shit, that's the worst. The fight itself, UFC 249 fight day, you show up to the arena and how was it different than your regular? I'm showing up for a pay-per-view. Were you doing the same things just without people present or is it like, no, this is completely different now?

A little bit of both. So, I mean, on the, so starting on the weigh-in day, we had to start doing our interviews socially distant. So we would be in the same room. I saw the videos. The videos looked absurd. Yeah, in the same room, but we were like 20 feet apart. So we didn't even use headsets for the first day because we could just hear each other. We were just trying not to like peer over, you know, and like. Yeah. to like peer over you know and like yeah um so that kind of we kind of got used to it on friday it's very difficult to do this because the fighters like they couldn't really see me i couldn't see them or just kind of like hearing each other's voices so saturday i arrived and i rehearse um because we do things that are specifically timed for me um and so i got there and just everybody's in masks and gloves um it was a weird vibe traditionally like everybody's having fun it's

kind of like we're excited right yeah yeah and rehearsals are they might be my favorite part of the whole night because it's very laid back you know we're just having fun everybody's like my producers are in my ears like joking and the people from the truck we have a great time um but this was just like oh shit and then i had to make sure even though i've tested totally clean for everything um i had to make sure everyone around me was okay if i took the mask off to be on air yeah they were really good about it but like you know i didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable so that that kind of stuff was weird and having no one in there and like a skeleton crew not even our full crew was like i was eerie and so i was

back i felt like we were in high school because i was like behind the bleachers but i could still hear what was happening out there and they could still hear me yeah i'm doing these interviews and i'm like oh i don't want to be too loud because what if they can hear me while this fight's going on like it was it was very eerie. Well, we saw fighters talking. Greg Hardy said that he heard Daniel Cormier say he wasn't checking kicks. So he adjusted. I think Carla Esparza also said the same thing in her post fight interview.

That's, I don't know if it's an issue. It's like, it is what it is. It's almost, that's what it has to come down to. Were you out like on the arena while fights were happening? People said it was weird. It sounded like the corners were talking over the commentators how loud could you hear them yeah no you can i mean you could definitely hear them so the the reason it was different than the ultimate fighter is because the ultimate fighter doesn't have commentary so you're used to hearing you know the corners then but i could just we could we could straight up hear everybody that had to be

so awkward for especially someone gets hit with a huge shot and rogan gives a signature oh he's right if i was that fighter i'd be like man i'm such a big fan don't say i'm rocked rogan like come on exactly um you know i think it's a testament to our fighters like if they were able to hear their coaches and our commentary team that is that's a lot of concentration because i feel like i would be pulled in a million directions like Like if I'm talking and they start talking to my ear, I have to like try really hard. So I can't imagine. While someone's trying to rip your head off. Exactly. It was, it was interesting, but I think it was really cool. I mean, listen, a crowd for us who, you know,

I got to the arena at three o'clock in the afternoon and I left there close to three o'clock in the morning. So for, for teams that are there that long and we're really always trying to have a lot of energy, the crowd just naturally gives it to us a lot. You know, these, these moments where we can kind of feed off of them. But last night, it just, it, we were almost like silly, all of us, like the, the commentary, we were all just joking. Like I felt like we were a little like crazy. That's that's exactly the vibe that I got that yeah we were talking about

yeah like I wish you could have seen right before we went live like the Anik DC um Rogan like stand up the shit they were saying and then like I was just dying laughing backstage and we were just all like loopy it was it was so odd. Like Joe trying to get cheers for the first winner of the night. I forget who the first, oh, it was Ryan Spann. And Ryan Spann, ladies and gentlemen, to nobody in the crowd. And then hearing like how hard DC and Anik laughed. And then later in the card, there was a, there was a fight at heavyweight, I think.

And DC was joking about how hard it is to get down to light heavyweight. People were making stubby jokes at DC. I was like, what is that? But like I said, it was, that's the kind of entertainment we sort of need right now. You know, the, I know the media tried to cast like sort of a dark cloud and I don't even want to say the media tried to cast this because now the media will come after me, but there were things going around this card that people were trying to bring it down and stuff. It wound up being such a wholesome sort of like entertaining night of, Hey, things are going to be okay. Things are going to be back to normal soon.

We got fights on Wednesday. We got fights on Saturday. Like you said, you're going to be in all of them. It's like, I love that the UFC seemingly pulled this thing off safely and pulled this thing off. Like they said they were going to do. Yeah. And you know, it was really special for us because we love working and like, we, we want

to be able to have the UFC return and have you guys like at home like oh if you can forget about things for a little while like that is important you know people don't don't talk about that enough but we need distractions like I can't handle basic life emotions so I have to watch like trash tv and funny shows because I'm like I don't want to cry extra because I cry enough in my real life. You know what I mean? So it's like, right. Yeah. So it's just like, we need that. And the fights were amazing. The athletes were amazing. And our commentary team, our broadcasting, we genuinely all get along. Like we really like each other. And so to be

able to share, like before we went on air, we all kind of talked about that this was a special thing. And even if we only get to have that type of atmosphere once in our careers, it's really important that we got to do it together. And so like it felt special the whole night. And it felt like we are never going to like be this silly group of people again that are like pulling these reports off or these, know commentary hits off or whatever but like we're doing it tonight you know yeah I do want to just touch on the fights that we saw last night because there were some incredible fights what were like the the first things that come to mind when I say UFC 249 last night what do you think of oh my god so many things well certainly Gaethje I mean yeah we know it was i think his greatest performance to date um and tony ferguson i i love that guy he deserves all the credit in the world um he has been essentially in training camp

forever and you know for a different opponent with a very different style and he didn't even blink you know so tony i think tony just needs you know some rest and he'll be good um he showed and and like you said the gaethje performance the way gaethje was also he's way more composed calculated like it seemed like he went into that fight knowing listen i can't make a single mistake tony caught him with that uppercut in the second round too where like that shows you oh my god you could never count tony out even at that point wherever you know all the tweets are coming in tony's getting dominated tony is getting dominated and it looks like that he catches you with an uppercut and it's, you make one mistake. Exactly. And you know, so I loved

that fight. I thought the co-made event was interesting in so many ways. I thought Henry coming out with those powerful leg kicks in the first round was really brilliant. The stoppage obviously was controversial at first. Um, a lot of people seem to then agree with it. You know, me, I'm the biggest cruise fan. I'm not the biggest Cejudo fan. But yeah, he did take like 10, 11, 12 unanswered shots. I was okay with it. Yeah. And then, so in my head, you know, as I'm watching fights, I'm writing notes, like who could, you know, things I need to make sure I hit upon during these interviews.

So I'm like, oh my God, I can't wait to talk to Henry about knocking out, you know, the consensus greatest of all time, Phantom weight. And then it's like, then he retires. And at first I think I maybe had the same feeling as everyone else. Like, is this real? Like, yeah, the way he, cause even he, he said something before the retirement speech that was very triple C-esque. It was like in character. And then he went right into the retirement. So I think that threw people off.

I am the greatest of all time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But you know what? He came backstage. So I think that threw people off. I am the greatest of all time. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. But you know what? He came backstage and we actually had a really nice conversation. We had a really great conversation the day before too. He and my husband have really become, they have a lot of mutual respect for one another now. They actually, I would say, are pretty friendly now, especially considering where they started.

Yeah, amazing. If you've watched their season of The Ultimate Fighter, how far they've come. Yeah. And he had such kind things to say. And I felt the same way being able to say my thoughts about him as a combat sports athlete. So when I got to kind of talk to him about that, I realized, no, the retirement I think is real. The guy's been competing since he was like 11 years old at the highest level. And he told me, listen, I liked being off. I liked my time off. And then what does that say me, he's like, listen, I liked being off. Like I liked my time off. And then what does that say? You know? And it's like, you, you earned it. Like go out on top. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I wrote a blog about it last night. And again, I'm the biggest hater in the

world, but you have to respect that. Like he has been training since he's 11. And when you put that into context, you're like, oh shit, this has been a long time. He wants to start a family for him. Go start a family, man. Exactly. And then the other thing. Get out of here. We don't have to listen to you anymore. You're cringed. But I think for me, the other thing that stood out was Bryce Mitchell.

Oh my God. Maybe he's like one of these guys where a lot of casual fans or first time viewers might have looked at that fight and said a grappling fight, the entire fight. I don't know if I'd be interested in that, but he's so crafty and he's so creative with his submissions. How could you not be entertained by that guy on the ground? And what I think got maybe overlooked in this situation, I couldn't hear the commentary for that fight. I was watching it, but I couldn't hear what was being said.

So maybe they touched upon it, but Charles Rosa is a black belt. Rogan mentioned that, yeah. Yeah, it's not like this was a myth, a mismatch by any capacity. I mean, this was just a freaking clinic. He made it look like a mismatch. He made him look like me in there.

Bryce is just like such a nice kid too. And you know, I was in his locker room. I filmed a hit in his locker room before. And he was just like, hi ma'am. Thank you so much. Like,

you're going to be great. He's like, I do appreciate that. You know? and he was just like hi ma'am thank you so much like you're gonna be great he's like i do appreciate that you know and it's just like and he's got his camo shorts what a feel-good moment in the middle of the pandemic dana officially confirmed we're getting him the camo shorts for the future and you know what he's earned him he's asked for him a bajillion times i know it's literally the only thing he's wanted fighters are asking for 50k they're asking for title shots ranked opponents he literally joe rogan's wanted. Fighters are asking for 50 K. They're asking for title shots, ranked opponents. He literally,

Joe Rogan's pocket. Yes. Joe Rogan's pocket. He just wants to fight in camera shorts. Come on, let the guy fight in some camera shorts. They're going to get a whole pattern he wants and everything. Is there any other takeaways,

anything else before we get you out of here? I just appreciate the fact that people watched, you know, I, I, for me personally, I just hope that like our fans remembered why they love it so much. And then I really do hope that people who maybe shrugged us off before in the past,

who were watching ESPN last night, like found why we are so special. Because I truly think we have the best athletes in the world. I think our production team overall, from camera ops all the way to the top, is the best in the world. And not like in sports, in entertainment, anywhere. I think that the top is the best in the world and not like in sports and entertainment anywhere. I think that we put on the best show and the fact that if you could come in this arena and see the skeleton crew we're working with,

the safety precautions we took and then see what we pulled off on, on your broadcast. Like it's something that we're really proud of. And, you know, I hope just continues. And I hope that we, we, we open people's eyes to what we are. I hope so as well. Megan, thank you so much for joining. We always appreciate it. It is mother's day weekend.

So I want to wish every mother out there a happy mother's day. And we will talk to you next week.