Alex Pereira: Heavyweight Savior, Ronda Rousey's Comeback, Weidman-Silva 3 | The Craic
00:00Welcome back to the crack, everybody.It's Friday, and that only means one thing.It is this beautiful show on the Ariel Hohani show YouTube channel.It's me, Pizzi Carol, and we're going to talk about MMA today.Just a week away from Tom Asmel v. Cyril Gann.There is news swirling all around the place about Mr. Alex Pareda,who has just returned to his mantle as the light heavyweight champion of the world.We've got a UFC Vancouver card coming up.
00:45Rhonda Rousey appeared on The Breakfast Show,and she seems more keen about this MMA return than we may have bargained for last week.Oh yeah.Guess who is fighting in a trilogy fight?It is Chris Wyatman v. Anderson Silva.but they're a boxing apparently, and I can tell you one thing.The two guys who do this show with me must be absolutely buzzing about it.You know them, you love them.
01:09Let's say hello to Mr. Chuck Mendenhall.Chuck Mendenhall, how are you getting on, sir?How are you?Look at that beautiful hat on your head.How are you?Yeah, you like that?I can barely hear you guys through all the buzzing going on for that white men fight, man.That's going to be huge.
01:20I've left a chunk of 50 minutes in the middle of the show because I know there's a lot of things.Okay, good.Break down the intricacies.A lot of meat on that bone, as Ben likes to say.Well, speaking of Ben, we should bring this man in because last week we may have said he was in a waiting room.Guess what, guys?He was not in a waiting room.We can now reveal.
01:41Here he is.Look at this.This is this beautiful music.Great Jordan.Congratulations, Ben and Brooklyn on your wedding day.Last Friday, this man will do anything to avoid work.He said, no way.I'm going to get married.
01:52Look at this.Look at this outfit.Absolutely stunning.and I believe we have the pictureof him, the beautiful, bro,he broke it on the way down the steps.This is a beautiful, beautiful,Ben, I told him, by the way I said,
02:06on our thread on Slack, I was like,it's weird seeing you this happy, Ben,because this is not usual, you know?You know, that is a sentimentthat has been expressed to mefrom a few different peoplewho know me pretty well.And I'll tell you what,
02:21that'll make you take stockof your life a little bitand make you think aboutwhat's been going on with you over the years because that's like once I hear it I got to admitI don't disagree with what you're saying but yeah it does it does make you go huh that's you knowif one person said it you'd be like okay fine that's one one man talking but several people havesaid it so there must be something to it man it looked like an incredible day dude um fantastic timehad I see uh the great Chad Dundas was there for the co-main event a wonderful time had
02:52can we just talk give an insight into Ben um how we heardhe was in fact getting married um just you know midweek he goes hey peter just want to let you knowcan't do the show friday getting married ben uh unbelievable uh unbelievable uh unbelievable laid backdude i wish i wish i had this way about me how did you manage to uh seemingly put thistogether so quickly whatever anyone knowing and have it look so goddamn cool i'll tell you whatsee this is the only reason i sent you that text was because when i looked at it i was likethe ceremony is at noon we record at 11 my time it's something you usually goes 1215 or so and I was like okay it looks like I'm not going to be able to like if if the ceremony had been an hour later or if this show had started an hour earlier I would have done it I'd have been here because that's that's just the kind of guy I am actually don't doubt that I don't doubt though I think you would haveeveryone's the background running around come on we got to go he's like hang on just want to weigh in on this last who am I picking for this main event this weekend
03:55man. Well, congratulations. His boat look absolutely fantastic and we wish you many, many happyyears together, so I'm sure you will have. But let's burst that bubble immediately and speakabout MMA, the thing that we've dedicated our lives for, for collectively about 50 yearsamong us, I'd assume. Both of you have wrote about the first topic I want to bring to ourattention today, because as I said, the topic of show, Tom Asthma, movie, Cyril Gan is nextweek, and based on what I've been hearing from my American friends, not a huge amount of buzzfor this one across the Atlanticbut alas it is happening
04:29and another thing that's happeningis constant conversationsabout Alex Pereiraand hisapparentlyvery very soon to happenmoved to heavyweightJohn Jones, the White House, all this is happening
04:43Chuck Mendinolwill start with youhere it is there, there's this articlethat's on uncrowded mode, it's simpleAlex Pereira's next fightshould be against John Joneshe goes through all the possibilityhe talks about Hamzat Shemoev wanting a piece.
04:57Obviously, Ankleyev being right there, a trilogy fight with him,but it is John Jones and this entry to heavyweight that has tickled your fancy chukman.Yes.Tell me why.And doesn't it seem like the Oncolaev fight is like the trilogy,which should be kind of like, well, they got to resolve this thing, right?It's 1-1, and that is like maybe 12th on the list of fights for Alex Pereira at this point.I just was looking at it and you're like, if you're not going to give,
05:21like if he's going to make a leap to heavyweight, right?If he's going to make that leap, and he's looking, because I think he fractured his foot,I don't know if that's been 100% confirmed.I know that's what he thought he had done in his fight.And he's going to be out, and it's going to be, you know, until next summer, possibly the White House card.What else are you going to do with him at this point?I know that, like, with Tom Aspinall, we want to kind of put, and I know we're going to talk about that a little later on,you kind of want to like have something on his horizon should he get by Cyril gone.
05:48You want something big there.But I think if you're getting a one-off, right, from John Jones.and you're not sure you can trust him beyond that,which is where Dana White and the UFC has been with this,especially after Dana went on that whole,and I point this out all the time,like this whole media tour where he's arguing about his goat status,his pound for pound status,
06:07only to have John basically say like,nah, man, take the belt,and two weeks later be like,no, I'm coming back and just to kind of, you know,go back and forth and really kind of humiliate Dana in a weird way, man.And if you can't trust him to be in a title shot, right?If you can't throw him against Aspinallin a fight like that, not knowing what the future would hold beyond that.
06:26I just think you've got to make this fight.By the time you get to June, which I think is when they want to do that White House card,Herrera will be, I think, one month away from turning 39.If you're not going to do it now, you're probably not going to do it.Wow.And Ben, would you agree with that?Is this the natural thing to do?I saw your mail bike piece where you've argued, and correct me if I'm wrong,
06:47that really the heavyweight division needs, Alex Perey at this point.We need some verification for a...a champion like Aspinall, we have known about your fears that awaits beyond a potentialCyril Gan win next weekend in Abu Dhabi.Does the heavyweight division need Poetan, need this superstar?I don't know if it absolutely needs Alex Pereira, but it needs Tom Aspinall.And it is going to need something for him to do because it needs him to beat Cyril Gahn.Well, the question that kind of set us off is somebody wrote in and they were like,
07:20am I crazy for thinking that a Cyril Gahn?win next weekend would be a lot more interesting, would open up more interesting doors forwhat we could do in the heavyweight division. And I was just like, no, it would be a disasterand a crisis of legitimacy. You know, if he wins the fight, he wins the fight. Good for him.That's the thing that separates us from pro wrestling. Is that the stuff we want to happenor we think makes sense to happen doesn't always happen. But I think if you picture thesituation right now at heavyweight is that, you know, you had a champion.in Francis and Ghanu, who was the little lineal MMA heavyweight champion.
07:57And then he walks away from the UFC with the belt.So we got to grab a new belt out of the supply closet.We have John Jones and Cyril Gahn fight over it.John Jones beats him easily, just cuts right through Cyril Gond, like a hot knife throughbutter.And then you turn around John Jones, instead of doing the fight that would make the mostsense against Tom Aspinall, handpicks his opponent in Stepe Amiosich, an aged version.version of Steppe Miosich, all very calculated on John Jones's part.
08:27He wanted to get that name on the resume, stick that pelt on the wall, and then leave.And that leaves us in like a bad spot for the heavyweight division.Tom Aspinall gets promoted to heavyweight champion, and it's kind of just good luck for theUFC that they had him sitting around as interim champ, already a believable guy as heavyweightchampion.You look at Tom Asperol and you go, yeah, that seems like that might be the baddest big man onthe planet, and you have him to carry you forward and to kind of bridge that gap oflegitimacy that you lost when you lost Francis and Ghanu.
09:01But if he goes out there and if he loses to Cyril Ghan, people are going to be lookingand saying, well, Gahn is O and two in title fights, lost to both Francis and Gano andJohn Jones, the two guys who we would have otherwise called heavyweight champion if they hadn'tjust pieced up out of the UFC in their own various ways. And so if you have Cyril Gond nowwith the strap around his waist,I don't know if anybody's looking at himand going, yeah, that's the best heavyweight on the planet.Because we've seen that he is not the best heavyweight on the planet.
09:30He's very good, but there's nothing that we've seen.If he beats Tom Aspinall, especially, people will just go,all right, Tom Aspinall was never as good as we thought.And I understand the logic that people are going,hey, if Alex Pereira were to go up to heavyweight,Pereira versus Gone is a fun fight stylisticallyand probably a more winnable fight for Pereira at heavyweight.But that's not necessarily how I think we ought to be viewing it.
09:55Because especially, you know, I saw Chuck making the case,and I understand the case a lot of people are making for Pierre versus John Jones.I kind of think John Jones just beats him kind of easily, just on the wrestling.I kind of think stylistically, it's a terrible matchup for Pereira.I understand why people are excited about it.But for me, if you had Pereira versus Tom Aspinall,that is assuming Aspinall successfully defends the title,then you have a legit champ versus champ.
10:21fight. You have Pereira trying to do something that's never been done before in becoming a threedivision UFC champion. That to me, you can sell that one to me a whole lot more that you cansell Pereira versus John Jones who win or lose is probably just going to leave again as soon asit's over. Like that one just seems like a dead end to me and it's just not nearly as interesting asthe stakes in Pereira versus Aspinall. Ben, can you imagine the 1970s somebody writing into your mailbagand saying, like, I want, I think Ron Lyle should beat, you know, Muhammad Ali or whatever it is.Like, this would be like saying, like, let's get one of the guys, the lesser players of that golden era boxing.Let's put them with the belt while these other, like the big names, because we have all of these John Jones, right?
11:05Like, you've got Aspinall and you've got Ingano out there.But yet we're good.We want this guy to be holding the belt.That would seem a little bit like we're at the masquerade, right?Like, it's not, that would not seem real to me.So I don't, I don't understand that logic.I get it from a lens of Alex Pereira coming up.because then you're like, well, everybody kind of looks at Cyril Gana's like, well, I could probably
11:25beat that guy, you know? And that's just an unfortunate, you know, play season, like you mentioned,Owen, too. And it's crazy to me. Like, Cyril Gong kind of whole, he's almost like the standin for everything that Aspinall wanted, right? Like, because he's already got his shot at Jones. He'salready got his shot in Gano, and Aspenol can't get any of these guys. And I think that that's oneof those weird things where now you're just kind of throwing the remainder of the math.into the situation if he beats gone you kind of want to see him against one of those guys right like that's kind of that's where it has to head if it's not heading in this direction we're not looking at the best of the best here yeah sorry go ahead then yeah i mean i agree with that and i also think that the thing that you have in tom aspinall that you want to capitalize on is we're excited about him but we also feel like in some ways he's still an unknown quantity becausecould Tom Aspinall turn outto just be absolutely unbeatable
12:24for years to come at heavyweighta division where nobody has stayed unbeatablefor very long? Yeah, at this point,maybe, you know, or couldTom Aspinall turn out to havedeficiencies in his game thatwe haven't seen exposed just becausenobody's been able to hang around it with him
12:40for all that long in too manyof these fights? That also seemslike a possibility. I'm sorry to onelast thing, but consider this. Like, saythat, you know, Aspinallwins the title, right? Like he's he retains, he's got the title. When you look at the rankings, the way they exist right now, he's already beaten, gone as one, right? So now he will have beaten one through four. He will beat in one through four already. People have said he hasn't fought anybody, but you're like, he's fought all the dudes that are basically in the top of that space right now, Volkov, who has a fight coming up. The only guy he hasn't would be number five, I think, or four, I think he's number five, Jelton Alameda. That would be the only guy. There we go. There's the graphic, like, that's the only guy on that list that he hasn't fought.So you can see it's unusual for a guy to finally realize a title and already have kind of cleaned out the cupboards in a lot of ways.So it's like this is a very unique setup if he does get it.
13:33And that's why it really is impaired.I think you're 100% right.You need him to be there as kind of a dangling carrot for one of these other guys.But he's imperative.If you start to get into the Cyril Gone era, we're just, you know, we're just in a, we're in like a almost like a woodwork kind of division at that point.You made a point about Pereira and, you know, the fact that he wants to fight Jones.And Ben's going to talk about, I'd love to see him fight Tom Aspin.I agree with you on that, Ben.
14:00But I couldn't help but notice that Poetan was very specific after this fight.It was not.I'm going to heavyweight, guys.It was, I'm fighting John Jones.Obviously very respectful given that John's brother had recently passed away.But Chuck, as a guy, you know, who's in the same neck of the woods, you know, he's goes to the same bowlingAllie, you know, all this kind of stuff.Yeah.
14:23Built different out here in Connecticut, you know.Do you think Pereira couldhave his arm twisted into a Tom Asmelfight or is it the legacy fight with Jonesthat he's after? Because I can't help but feelthat there isthis importance,there is this need for verification
14:40for some reason to comefrom another weight class giventhe state of heavyweight.But it is also striking me thatTom Asperl is the champion of division, butHe seems to be the odd man out as well, which is a crazy situation to be.Nobody wants to fight him, Pizzi, it says, I think that, like, given how, so UncleI was supposed to be the first big test for Pereira in the sense of the wrestling, right?
15:05Like, well, he's a big guy.He's going to wrestle.We didn't really see it, but although he did kind of dominate the first fight in a,and kind of, you know, outpointing Pereira, but this one he goes right at him.And so if you're going to, like, because everything plays out in prospect in the fight game,everything's built on the hype, you have the best B-roll, right?To kind of be like, this guy is going to go right at John Jones.Now, if you really think about it, John Jones has always broke down his opponents really well.
15:31That's why he doesn't like to take short-noticed fights, like with Chale Sondham back of the day and things like that.He wants to break down.Kill the sport.Yeah, he killed the sport back then, remember that?He did kill the sport.R-I-P.And I think that, I mean, just like the way he's going to look at it is he's going to see the vulnerabilities, right?and I think the biggest vulnerability that you can point out
15:51that we still suspect is the caseis going to be that wrestlingand I can't get past thatbesides John Jones is huge nowyou know he walks around very bigI know that you knowand seeing Alexin kind of more in the off timelike he's a big guy he's a big
16:06six three and he's filled out it's not like he'sa smaller like he's but he would be small for heavyweighthe would be small for John Jonesand it's tough to make it's tough for me to see a scenariowhere he's keeping it standing and keeping it in hisdanger zone for too long in that fight.In prospect though, man, like in the buildupto that fight, I think it would be so much fun because we
16:24don't get fights like that.Wouldn't it also though, canyou imagine beingTom Aspinall and if youdefend the title against Cyril gone and thenthe UFC is investing in a bigbuild up of Alex Pereira moving upto heavyweight to fight
16:40the guy who wouldn't fight you?And you're just standing around here being likehow many damn rubber duckiesdo I need tohold up on camera before I shame one of you guys into coming over here and fighting me.Damn it.Because especially, I agree with you that like, like John Jones is a smart fighter, has sucha smart fight IQ that he is going to see those openings in, in Alex Perez game.
17:06The only hopes you would have that he would choose not to exploit them would be ego,that he wants to go out there and prove like I don't have to take him down.I, you know, the other hope you have.an ego.I don't think he's just the other hope you have is that even while he was totallydominant in that steepate fight, you just watched John Jones moving around the cage a littlebit and it was a stark reminder, oh yeah, time is going to do its work on John Jones as well.He is not any more ageless than the rest of us, even if he is kind of a once-in-a-generation
17:40athlete for M&A.He is a slower and slightly diminished version of himself and that's only going to get worsethe longer he stays out of the cage.Plus, we know that when he is out of the cage,he doesn't exactly take the best care of his body at all times.And so those are the hopes you have if you're asked about that.He's going to come under-trained, maybe not terribly motivated,and he will have left his best stuff on the nightclub dance floor.
18:07And those are all real possibilities.Ben, do you think we'll feel any better about this situation next week, right?Like, say, say everything goes according to plan to some extent.Tom Aspinel is the champion of, you know, he is, he's beaten Cyril Gan, he has retainedhis heavyweight championship.Will everything get cleaned up?Will we all suddenly be like, you know, everything makes sense?We suddenly have our North Starback.
18:30He has shown the world that he can beat Cyril Gan.Is everything going to make sense next Sunday morning?You know, I think that it gets closest to making sense if Tom Aspernel goes out there, especiallyif he, like, knocks out.Cyril gone, you know, does one of those Tom Aspinall specials, then I do think we're going topretty quickly find ourselves in a crisis of who do we have him fight. Because as you said,you know, it is uncommon, especially at heavyweight to see a guy get to the top and have beatso many of the top contenders already getting there. You see it more often in a division like
19:04lightweight or something, something where you really got to run the table in order to even get atitle shot in most cases. You got to win seven or eight in a row before we remember your nameand those divisions.Heavyweight, anybody you can string three wins togetheris a title contender at heavyweight.And yet you look around at who else in the division you have for themthat would really get people excited right now.There's not a ton there.
19:26And I do think if you're trying to put together a White House cardand you want a heavyweight title headliner to really say,you know, that's the kind of thing that the masses understand.And that's who you should be trying to market toward for a card like thatthat is going to reach outside the MMA bubble.People understand heavyweight championship of the world.If you say light heavyweight championship,you say welterweight championship,
19:51they kind of go,I don't know if that's like the real stuff or not.Heavyweight championship,everybody knows what that is.And if you had a situation where you could do a British championversus an American challenger or something,that would be great for the narrative.Would have been slightly better
20:08when we were trying to do it to celebrate like America'sbirthday and not Donald Trump's birthday, but still, you know, it would work as a, as a narrativeon the White House.Is that, is it the leverage, like, do you guys think?Like, so John Jones didn't want to fight Aspinall.Let's, Asimol goes in, like you're mentioning Pizzi, everything gets set to right where he's like,boom, he reminds everybody.Is that kind of like, okay, you want it on the White House card?
20:30We told you it was one and a billion chances.Dana White saying this.But now I'm going to give you that one chance, but it's going to be against, you know,you got to fight the guy.Is that the leverage that they need?Because honestly, wouldn't it magnify the absurd.if he doesn't want to fight him on the like a white house card wouldn't that just magnify thiswhole thing it would be it would be if you thought he if you're trying to give him the benefit
20:49of the doubt that he's not ducking which at this point feels nearly impossible that wouldcertainly solidify it forever wouldn't it that like he was he gets his wish but he doesn'twant to fight aspinall at that point yeah i think it would and i mean i think that wouldleverage wise to get john jones to do it is because he he has put himself in such a weirdposition as like a supplicant now he had everything he had the ball was in john jones's court he wasthe heavyweight champion he was in a position to make huge financial demands uh the ufz could evenget a little outside help to come in with the money bags and make that fight happen and he stillsaid no and then to turn around so quickly after that and be like actually i want back in but
21:32for this one event and the the rules then totally flip where the ufc says no thanksWe can't trust you with this one.And he's in a position instead of being like, you come to me and put the blank check on the table and I'll think about it.Now instead, he's saying pretty please.And the UFC is saying, I don't know, man.So, like, he's screwed himself so much.This would be the one way to kind of help himself out if he was like, yeah, sure, let's do the Tom Aspinall title fight and, you know, let's go.Having said all this, congratulations, Cyril gone on your big victory next Saturday.
22:06I've got a pizza.I mean, it's right there.guys. It's a huge fight. The king of Europe will be decided, not just the heavyweight division,but the king of actual storied rivals, England and France. I'm already just getting my future.John Jones may take that fight for free at that point. But just before we move on, like, it's themost right day in a boy seems to be about something in quite some while, having some reservationsabout John Jones with this massive card that's going to happen on the president's lawn or whatever, right?Like, you know, that is, like, you can't just expect to have Alex Pereira waiting.
22:39in the wings in case this doesn't worklike that's holding up everything that's just notone division being destroyedit's two right like if you're alsoputting remember the McGregor thing with the lightweighttitle like that's what it would feel like if we startdoing that with Pereira and Pereira the same agearen't they they're both like 30 they turn 39
22:55next summer you know they're both the same ageso they're in the same boatyou know we've got just a little bita little bit left out of each guy herethe other thing is that if you can't for one reason or anothermake Pereira versus Jones you dohave other stuff like as much as Ithink Pereira probably goes out there and wins another fight with Yuri Prahasa. Damn, if I wouldn't
23:14watch it, Yuri Prahaska just ends up being so much fun. He's just such a wild man, such a weirdsmobilethat we are grateful to have in this sport. And the thing is, even though I don't believe he beatsAlex Pereira, I believe that he believes he will figure out a way this time to beat Alex Pereira.So, like, if none of these dream come true plans come to fruition and just looking at howthings have gone with the UFC making the absolute biggest fights.History suggests that we shouldn't get our hearts set on the number one choice.You do have other stuff you can do with Alex Barrier.Third fight with Yuri, we'll still watch that.
23:52That'll be a lot of fun, you know, even if it's been tilted in one direction so far.Tom Aspinall trying to find a fresh heavyweight contender.If you can't get John Jones back in there, that's probably a little tougher.Poor Carlos Oldberg can't even see the title with ordinary binoculars.He can't even like, he can't even.He should be like the number one guy, right?Like this is, we're not even mentioning the guy.He's just going to show, weep as your biggest rival, you know, retains his title.
24:17And, you know, you become, no one's going to argue with you, you know what I mean?Did you see him celebrating his birthday at the restaurant with his friends where they hand Yuri a cupcake with a lit candle in it?He holds it up, everybody goes, yeah, Yerry, it's your birthday.He goes, you think he's going to blow out the candle?No.He's going to thank his friends.He's going to eat his cupcake.cake. And then he just stuffs the lit candle portion. Like he makes a gesture to blow it out,
24:45but you can see as the lit, as the candle disappears into his mouth, there's still some fire onthis candle. And he eats just the candle. Just the candle. And that just feels like, it doesn'tfeel performative coming from him. It feels like, yeah, it's probably what it's like to hang out withYuri. You know, he's going to maintain that calorie deficit. He's going to do some stuff like that.you know what yeah i'll watch that guy in another title fight even if he's alreadyoh and two against the guy yeah yeah he's undefeated aura as i've said endlessly like i meanoldberg you're beautiful man no doubt about it but aura was you in that shot is perfect where it showsyou're like clenching his fists weeping and then it just pans to oldberg and he's like you're like
25:27yeah that's why that's why we've more things to discuss we're going to hit that ad break so we canPaychuk and Ben. There are hugeboatloads of money that they demand to be on this show.And then we're going to come back and we're going to talk aboutyes, the one you've been waiting forWydeman v. Anderson 3.Yes, big guy upstairs.Just clearing
25:48the caviar from my table here as weget back to Mix Martial Arts.And yes, everybodywas saying, you know, I don't really know if I'minto this Jake Paul V Tank Davis card, butbam! They shut you guys right up thereyesterday when they announced.that's right Anderson Silva v. Chris Weidman
26:07is going down sorry the third timethey will meet each other this time in boxingFriday November 14thI could just hear the collective roars ofadulation just around the internet as this happenedI was like oh my God it's finally happeningit's finally happeningboys this is one of those ones
26:24that you see it and you're likeGod I can't believe I can't believe we're herethey're in the Katie Taylor v Amanda Serranoslot and I thinkIt may have the opposite impact joke.What did you think when you saw this beautiful fight being made on a Jake Paul undercard?I'm always a little confused when they, like, you know, when you mentioned Katie and Amanda being, like, that was sort of like, okay, we're going to balance the ledger out here.Yes.
26:50We're going to give you something of true value to go along with the spectacle that you're about to see.This one was like, I feel like they just go shopping at the MMA relics store, you know, or like the ante.and they just dust these guys off, but I'm like,I, you know,you wouldn't want to watch these guys in like a watermel in a contest or something.It's like, MMA was its own thing.There were reasons that these guys were so compelling when they fought each other.This goes all the way back to like the Chal Sun and UFC, you know,
27:17117 when he presented Anderson Silva at that time,the greatest challenge of his life,take, you know, basically winning four and a half rounds before he loses that fight.Chris Wydenman was kind of like the younger, deadlier version.coming for him. And that was what made it so fun.I was at both those fights. Obviously, we saw howall that plays out. But this is with allof those components in play, all that context.
27:39You go forwarda bunch of years. You take away a bunch of themartial arts and you say, we're going to put you in bigger gloves.You know, at Anderson Silva now 50.And we've seen him in the boxing room before.You get Chris Wydenman, now 41.And I knew exactly what the low-hanging fruitresponse to this was going to be.
27:54It was, hey, at least nobody's going to break a leg in thisfight, you know, because now they're just going to bethrowing. Probably. Probably. I mean, we can't guarantee anything.thing, right? Like, but, but I love both dudes. I think there's a part of me, man. You guys tellme, too, we cover these guys for the bulk of their careers, you know, we've seen them standin and do all this stuff. We've seen Chris Wydenman, and both guys come back from ridiculousinjuries, seeing them knocked out, all that stuff. There's a point when you're like,I don't need, I don't want to see it, you know, I don't want to see it anymore. And I'm not saying
28:22that they're not, they're not entitled to the money and all that, but I don't, I'm not sure I getwhere there's a compellingI must see thisboxing event between these two guysI don't know where that comes into play hereyeah they're boththey're both legends like that's the thing likeit also it almost like
28:40to say that this is part of what that wasI find disrespectfuldo you know what I mean like thesethese guys are savagesI'll never forget reacting to thatfirst fight how unbelievable it wasas you said Weidman on the way upAnderson this seemingly unbeating
28:57unbeatable guy and for the way it played out.And then we're seeing it here.Like this, Ben, what I'm thinking is like, who actually does want this?Like, where was the, like, who was sitting in the MVP head office going, you know what we're going to do?I've got it.It's the one everyone's waiting for.It's Wyden Anderson.Who does want it?
29:15I do see your argument about it being disrespectful because it does kind of feel like the Beatles are reuniting, uh, to play a game of Monopoly.you know like and so you're like it's not really the same thing you guys and but i do think it's smartfor what they're trying to do the whole jake paul and mvp brand and it's sort of found its wayover the years by seeing what works what do audiences respond to what doesn't work they excel atgetting you to watch stuff against your will putting together these kind of fights where you're likeI don't want to, I want to think of myself as the kind of person who doesn't go in for this crap.And then when it's Friday night and it's on Netflix.You know, I really got to do anything.
30:07You probably have Netflix already, you know?Like, you want to watch that Charlie Sheen documentary?It's crazy, by the way.It is good. I do recommend that one.You know, you're already watching stuff on Netflix.It's Friday night.It's on.You might not get us with Jake Paul versus Tank Davis.
30:25Just because it's ridiculous, aside from the ridiculous visuals that you get at the press conference, the energy you get is that Tank Davis looks like he's doing community service out there.He couldn't look any less interested in being there.And so that one is not really on its own, maybe going to get you to sit through the fight card.But if they were to open the card up with Anderson, Sylvan and Chris Widman, and you'd be curious, right?especially because you feel like similar to remember when Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell had that fight at the Golden Boy event where and that one was sad that one was really sad because you watched you watched Chuck Liddell walk out for that one you watched him stand in the corner and shadow box and you went oh no no he's got he's got nothing left but it's like it's the same kind of thing where you were like Chuck was two and oh against Tito when it mattered but now just through the way each guy's skillshave aged was the one time Tito Ortiz could get a win back over Chuck Liddell. Again,disrespectful. A win he did not deserve to have over Chuck Lidl, but a win he nonetheless got.Yeah. And like, and this is kind of the same thing in a way where you're going, all right,
31:38Chris Wyden won those fights when it mattered and ended the Anderson Silva Tile reign. Nothing'sreally going to change the way that chapter of MMA history shaped up. Now, though, AndersonSilva's got that boxing experience. He has seen.know, so considerably older than Chris Wyden.Wyman's had some health woes, all that kind of stuff,doesn't really know a whole lot about just the classic sweet science.Maybe Anderson Silva can get a win back now over this version of Chris Wybman in this sport.And it also feels like, I know we're joking about the broken leg thing,
32:10but there is a part of me that kind of looked at that matchup and went.I feel like probably nobody gets too badly hurt in this one.I feel like we probably box each other to a six-round decision.It's a horribly low bar you're putting it isIt isBut if your only goal is to get me to turn on Netflix on Friday nightAnd just check it out and see how it's goingThen maybe I stick around for the other fights after that
32:36Like I do think it kind of succeeds in doing thatAnd it succeeds in an almost nefarious wayIt feels like a use of the dark artsAnd yet that's what they've been really good atAnd I think that's what they're kind of going to be missing with the Jake Paul Tank Davis thing.Because I'm going to be like, it's the kind of ridiculous I feel like I could skip instead of the kind of ridiculous that I almost hate watch, you know?You're not a little bit intrigued by Tank Davis.So giving up all that size going on there just watching him try to outbox this guy.
33:07Come on.That's going to be fun, isn't it?It just seems like he doesn't give a shit about the entire thing.Dude, I watched the guy take a knee in his last.So I was in the arena when he just decided to take a knee.and I'm like, yeah, this guy doesn't give a shiteven againstwhen he's losing, like,
33:24LeMont Roche.I mean, I agree with you 100%,but that actually kind of,in a strange way, feeds into it too.Like, his indifference towards thisis such a bizarre,such a bizarre thing to go into this fight with.It's just kind of,
33:40just Ben saying this,tuning into a boxing machinebeing like, hope no one gets hurt.Yeah.But you can all admit if Anderson does win, right?Like it's all even Stevens, right?Like we're pretty...Quadrilogy.
33:54Let's go again.I mean, how are we going to find out who is the better guy?Then we got to put on the singlets and have a wrestling back.Yeah.Jesus.Well, I'm here for a while.With the R.A.F. I mean, come on.Is, do more, like, so Boydman and Anderson are, you know, two of the best middleweight
34:15who we've seen in theUSC, like they're both savage fighters,both legends of the sport,and we see them in this situation again.And maybe this is because, you know,we're in the sport,but, and I know that elite boxers do this as well,Mike Tyson being a prime example
34:30with Jake Paul only, uh, not so long ago.But do elite MMA fighters go back to this,go back to competition more than elite boxers,do you think?And obviously, as I'm saying this,endless examples are coming to mind here,like as in,even Mani Paco recently, right?
34:48Like, it just feels like, I don't know.These Jake Paul promotions, veteran MMA stars are not coming away looking fantastic.And I feel like this is another situation where they won't.And I don't know.Is this unique to MMA?Is it aimed though, like MMA fans?Right?It's got to be, right?
35:08Because, but then it's always like, well, if MMA fans wanted to tune in for boxing,they're going to do it.And why does it have to be two guys who aren't boxers, you know?Like, so you bring them, like, all right, we're going to bring the audience that MMA and they come over.But what, it feels like you're not getting anything wholesome from that transaction in general, right?It also seems like Jake Paul's whole gimmick does not work as well on the boxing world as it has worked on the MMA world, you know?100.Like, like when we've seen just like the amount of interest he's able to generate when he is trying to do real boxing stuff is pretty minimal.
35:43compared to when he fights an old MMA fighter who we don't think he deserves to beat, but probably will.And so I think that they're just trying to expand that model a little bit to, you know, other fighters who aren't Jake Paul.And it makes sense in a way where you're trying to create a big tent here on Netflix.You want to get, you know, boxing people who want to see how Tank Davis will do against a guy he is far more skilled than, but also far smaller than.And you want to get some of those MMA people who might otherwise look at it and be like,I was looking for a reason and not give a shit about what Jake Paul does next.Him Fighting Tank Davis is all the reason I need.You sprinkle on a little Anderson Silva Chris Widman and maybe you get those people to say,
36:25damn it, I guess I will watch.You know, as far as the question of like why we see MMA fighters have such a hard time giving it up,like there are plenty of examples in boxing too, but I do think money is a big factor in that.It's just because MMFiters don't typically make that huge amount of money that boxers do.And so it's more likely that they'll get to a spot and be like, I really could actually use that payday.Now, this one, I don't know if it explains that entirely as weeks from Anderson Silva's side, because we do happen to know he's getting a pretty hefty payout from the antitrust law.So I believe he's getting the biggest payday from that, right?Remind us to the number been.
37:05I think it's over 10 million.Was it?Yeah.Yeah. So that's pretty nice. That's pretty nice to just sit home and get that check in the mail.This dude, do you sit run with an entourage? You had to usher with him. Remember in the day? It's nice to go. He's always been living large.Yeah. So maybe that one doesn't explain this one. But for a lot of those guys, I mean, especially it explains why they've been so eager to jump up and do basically any boxing match. You know, and that is always the argument when Dana White's like, you know, the people think the pay is so different. It's not. Really? Then why do so many UFC fighters?want to do one-off boxing matchesand you pretty much never hear boxers
37:42talk about how they want to comeand try it out in the UFC.And from a psychological standpoint,and remember he was a psychological major,a psych major at Hofstra, I believe.Chris Wydenman, like, I think when he left,there was almost like a reluctanceto stop competing.
37:56You could feel it coming off of them.If you talked to him,you knew that this was just,he was going to give it up.You can understand why he's like,hey man, somebody wants me to competeand it's my rivaland I can make some money at it.
38:06You can understand it from his.perspective right like it just yes full sense well he was going to do the gFL stuff rightand then it completely fell apart so yeah and i also think you know gfl yeah see isn't the funnyhow that happens uh the come back guys next year don't worry about the pizzi i beg you if they getif they reach out to you about investing check with me first don't don't give them any bank accountinformation until we've had a chance to talk it over too late too but i did you know i'vetalked to Wyman a few times about it over the years and I think that he has a sense thathe didn't get all out of his MMA career what he should have and I absolutely understand how
38:47he had feel that way because he was definitely unlucky with injuries. His peak was really goodbut it did seem like it was going to be longer and it was going to be more than it ended up being likehe took that that fight with Luke Rockhold you know basically made a mistake couldn't get back into itand then it's just kind of snowballed for him from there and the injuries becausecame such a factor. I remember Stephen Thompson talking about how, you know, when he would trainwith Chris Weidman, he's like, he's so good. You wonder, how did this guy ever lose a fight?And I think that there's some part of Chris Weidman that felt like, you know, I didn't squeeze the,the lemon for all it was worth. And if a chance comes up where I can sort of cash in on the stuff
39:26I did at the peak, I want to do it. Yeah, 100%. That's the, that's the exact vibe he gave atthe end of his career. So it was not a surprise on that level. I will say that like Chris Weidman.And honestly, like, we're talking ourselves into, we're talking ourselves into, like, caring about it.But at the same time, you know, I think that it's kind of like, they're tied at the hip in history now.Because I think if you think of one, you think of the other.And I think this is almost Chris Wydenman's way of being like, okay, Anderson, you got another chance at me here, you know.So he's like that.If you talk to him, he kind of thinks like that.
40:00Yeah, yeah.I don't know, maybe I'm just slightly, I haven't shaken the Vandalay footage.of him being trapped across the ring.And I know that didn't necessarily happenin a boxing match, but it happened in a boxing ring.Yes, it is true.Dude, I watched that again this morning.How chaotic was that scene?
40:19Like, every time I see it, I'm like, my God, what the hell happened here?Like, everybody's swinging at once there.That, I got sent that the day I was going to that NFL game in Dublin.And I just, like, like, I've said it on this, on Ariel's show many times.Like, Van der Leigh was my entry-level drug to MMA.When my brother showed me that guy,people apart and proe it as a teenager. I was like, well, this, I am going to have to get mesome of this. And see him being dragged across. I was genuinely sitting in the bed, like, watching
40:47it. And I was just like, I'm not going to be able to shake this. Yeah. You know, and when I was,I was in San Diego a few weeks ago, and I went to Chris Lieben's gym and I was talking to himfor that story that I ended up. And he mentioned that as well where he was just like, it made me sosad to sit and watch that. You know, he fought Vandrelay. He did have to Vandale. And, and, and, and,And that was even back then, that was still what we were regarding as a diminished version of Vandalay.And he was like, to see him do that where you're just like, what are you doing?You know, what are you really going to get out of this realistically?You shouldn't even be there.
41:23You definitely shouldn't be there when order breaks down and the punches start flying from all directions.But yeah, that one, that maybe is a cautionary tale for it's like, you might think you've laid everything out in a way where you'renot going to get sad, but this sporthas a way of surprising you.True.Is that?I was going to ask.I saw this.
41:48I think Guillermo shared it on Instagram and I watched it.And I was like, was this done in the lead up to the fight or is this actuallyhappening beyond the fight?You know what I mean?Like, obviously they must have shot it beforehand because he doesn't have anymassive cuts or swelling to his face.But they are sitting there like eating whoppers together.This ad and you're like,
42:07Well, it actually speaks to how big the event was, too, right?Like, if you're getting Burking sponsorships off this,like this is a pretty mainstream event.And for that then to happen at that event,it's just, fuck, it's so insane, dude.But, uh, listen, speaking of people coming out of retirement,we'll have a bit of a theme going on the show.We did a lot of this last week, too, joke.
42:27Ronda Rousey on the Breakfast Club.Uh, what's your man's name?Shama Lane, the God, whatever's name?The God, yeah.Yeah, he was on there.Charlebeam.is that nameCharlemann
42:39like the famousEuropean ruleryeahyeah he's veryirritated guyI'll tell you that muchI watch himinterviewing people
42:46and I'm seethinga lot of timelike someoneslap himsorrylet's have a lookat this quotefrom Ronda Rousey
42:53they're likeyou look so goodbecause I'm the greatesteverof course this iswhat happens when I trainI look greatsorry
43:00I don't have tohave a planfor world dominationin mindwe have another oneI believebut Mike Tysoncoming back and being the biggest fight of last
43:08year just kind of proves that I don'tthink anyone's really everdone. Ronda RouseyYou're reading into it, pizza. You're reading into it.Yes, yes. I mean,no smoke. My Tyson coming back,coming back and doing whatis the question I would ask.
43:27Again, he was in a boxing ring.He was in the boxing ring.And he walked away with a check. So that is alsonice, I'm sure. And if that's what we're talkingabout, then fine.This is something that happens to a lot of fighters, especially, I remember talking to MattSarah about it, where he was like, you know, sometimes I'll be in the gym and I'm trainingwith some of these young guys or I'm hitting mitts or something.
43:50And I go, hey, I'm, I could still do some stuff.I could still do some damage.And he's like, it's easy to feel that way when you've been away from it for a little whileand you are also only experiencing stuff like in the gym, hitting myths, for instance, andnot being hit back by somebody who genuinely wants to hurt you for money. And he's like,you can, you can, the longer you've been away, the easier it is to kind of trick yourselfinto thinking that you could still do it and that you still want to put yourself through thosethings, that you're still willing to. But he's like, then you have to have a reality check
44:24moment with yourself and be like, you left for a reason. And that, that reason has not gottenany better probably just because you've been away from it for a few years.It's not. Ronda Rousey, I'm sure can look good going out there, hitting mitts, the stuff about like, I'm the greatest.I assume that's just the pro wrestler and her talking because we saw pretty conclusively, pretty conclusively that she is not the greatest.And you know how I know?Because she got the crap beaten out of her by the greatest, by Amanda Nunes, who is unquestionably the greatest women's MMA fighter in history.And we are never unquestionable about anything when it comes to name and goats in this sport.but that's the one that everybody agrees on and so if you wanted to come back have like a one-off boxing match make some money sure fine like the greatest in terms of what the attention that she brought to women's m-ma sure i give her that too but let's not act like this is you could just throw on some boxing gloves show up and be a an elite boxer for ron rouse if that's that's not what happened she was on the cover of ring magazine back in the day ben that's right
45:34Let's not forget that.Joe Rogan said that she would beat Floyd Mayweather.So, Ben, what are you talking about me?I mean, we all got excited, you know?In retrospect.We all at times get a little carried away in this sport.So that's fine.I will say that I am vastly, like, curious as to if she came back in some kind of non-pro wrestling form,
45:59like she's going to compete in a legit combat sphere, what the reception would be like.kind of hit on this recently. I'm not sure. I really am not sure. Have enough of the people who, you know, really had it in for her or left the game or just kind of don't care anymore about it. Like where's her status at this point? Because, you know, I think she went over to pro wrestling. And, you know, if you talk to people within those circles, I don't think she made the kind of splash they thought she would. You know, I don't really think that she was like the superstar that they thought that she might be in that sphere. So if she comes back, if it'sif it's boxing, it's just such a, it's a curious thing because she caught lightning in such abottle. And she's right when she says, I saw like, you know, portions of that interview and Iknow she was like, you know, my proudest thing is that I kind of bust the doors open for, for women'sMMA, for women to be doing this. That's hard to deny. I mean, in a greatness scale, that is like100% part of her legacy. That's the biggest part of her legacy. But I'm like, how does thattranslate? You know, if she does come back. She was such a polarizing figure by just the way
47:04She handled everything, but I was a person who was around when she was doing this.So were you guys like, but there's so many people within our sphere now, they're,they're newer to the game.I'm not even sure what her reception would be.And if so, if that happened, it would just be fascinating, I think, to see, like, how peopleare perceiving her and kind of where that all goes.Like, what is, what is the perception on that?It's just, I'm with Ben.
47:29The lasting image in my mind is like, well, it was definitive.It's fairly resolute.like she got beat very badly by Amanda Nunes to the point where you're like she's not goingto be able to compete at this division you know like she's she's done that's how it felt sothe intrigue on my level is still there but I feel like it's going to be completely differentfrom where she left yeah I mean the lasting image in a way also was her walking through theairport with the pillow oh my gosh you know like she left the sport pretty bad in that sensebecause it was just like you know it was very easy when you were on top and you were dominating people
48:01then you ran into a couple fighterswho could hand you a couple lossesand she pieced out and that was likethat's also got to be part of the storybecause I mean the contrast isI remember Misha Tate gettingabsolutely smashed by Amanda Nunesat UFC 200 and showing up
48:16with a badly broken nosethat was actively bleedingunder an ice packand she still showed up to the press conferenceand answered questionsand like you couldthat was a resiliencythat you could see that it's
48:29when it turned out like when things got toughthat Ronda Rousey didn't quite have an MNM.A.If she were to come back and fight somebody just for a paycheck, just, you know, for fun,it should be somebody who is in a similar position in one way or another.Don't have her go to boxing and fight a real boxer because that will be sad.She'll get absolutely wrecked.Don't have her come back to MMA and fight somebody who is really still actively in this worldbecause she'll get wrecked there too.
48:55The thing that I heard thrown around were I almost hesitate to say it out loud because as soon as I heard it,I was like, that's disturbingly possible.Is her and Gina Croyo?That's the one.That's the one.Because they were always talking about that.It was always in the back of people's minds.And you could see them each talking themselves and they're believing like, well, I'd beat this version of her.
49:15Right.You could also see, you know, a promoter, whether it's the UFC or somebody else looking at it and being like, people would pay for that.And it doesn't really wouldn't have to mean anything.You could still hype it up as if, you know, two, uh, MMA.women's pioneers yeah it could it could seem like it means some stuff on paper they could alsobe at a point where neither one of them is going to absolutely outclass the other one in a way thatmakes us feel dirty for having watched it like you you could work with that one i also there'ssome part of me that's just like it wouldn't be planned to the the better angels of our nature
49:53would you rather see that or white men and uh and silver which would be honest if they couldplug one of those into that, that co-main event.Which one are you going with?What we're doing boxing with Gina Crono?Yeah, yeah.Oh, Jesus Christ.I mean, I guess I'm still very excited about Wyatman and Anderson.What the future holds.
50:14Ben, we went to the comments on the post with Ronda Rousey.It was an MMA fighting's post, and we've got to tell you, mate, there is some intriguefrom the boxing world on our Jordan, hit them with the graphic.Do welook at that?Do you see who those eyeballsWhat?No.
50:33No, I don't.I can't see that.I see something.Can I tell you who that is with the eyeballs?It's Katie Taylor with some eyeballs.Katie Taylor with the eyeball emoji underneath this.I saw Mike Tyson do it.Now, just for the record,
50:54the likelihood of Katie Taylor,A, having a phone.and B, taking out the phone,seeing an interviewer.It's Ali.He's a menace.He's got her sign on it.We think it's very unlikely, but however,
51:14this is how this goes.And honestly, we were just talking about itwith this Jake Ball cards.Can you honestly tell me that someone in Jake Paul'soffice isn't going, Katie Taylor v. Rhonda Rousey?It'd be smart for them to investigate that.I mean, this is, this is sad for us.This is sad.
51:32That this is all it takes.This is all, like, that is the minimum level of interest that you could possibly show is to open up the comments, not even type out a comment or anything, just hit the eyeball emoji, send, put it down and go about your day and let the rest of us work ourselves into a frenzy over it.That's like, if a friend of yours came and he's trying to tell you about, like, I think this girl's into me and you're like, why?And he was like, well, she, she, uh, she watched my Instagram story or like she, she,she hit the heart on the thing.I'm in, right?And you'd be like, that is the literal minimum.Focus on yourself, King.
52:11I would know, an optimist.I would have told him like, dude, she's into you.She, is she favored in that?She looked at your actual story.Come on, man.It's on.Um, one thing, uh, just to add to this, just to add to Laris to this, very intriguing.possibility.
52:29When I went to interview Katie Taylor,when she went pro,she was like,I want to be the Ronda Rousey of boxing.And she has,she's realized that dream,but really,Ben,
52:40can she be the Ronda Rousey of boxing without boxing,Ronda Rousey?That's my question to you.I mean,in theory,yeah.I don't,I wasn't going anywhere with that question.
52:56I just got to go get tosmoked a couple times, like, by some other boxer and then going to hiding for a year.And then she's done it.She'll have achieved it, right, at this point?Oh, my God.The distressed.Oh, my God.Before we move on, do you think she's coming back?
53:12Like that, like, in some way to combat sports, I feel like she wouldn't be doing all.I know she has a book out at the moment.And she already had a book out, right?Her sister wrote the book.Yeah, she's had a couple.Yeah.This one's like a graphic novel or something, right?I haven't really checked it out, but it was on the show.
53:27that they were doing.I feel like she's coming back, right?Or else is this just a trope that like the, the, the, the publicists were like,you know what you could say?We get a lot of juices flowing around this, this book launch.I'm thinking about coming back.Like, I happen to think she's seriously considering it.I hope it's the second one.
53:44Because that, and that would make sense, right?If you were her publicist and you were trying to, like, jump up some interests in,in a book, wouldn't you be like,oh, at least dangled the possibility out there?Can we get a video hitting some myths or something and throw it out there?get you in the conversation.Look, we're talking about her, so it worked.We even mentioned the book, which none of us knows the name of.
54:03No.So it is, that is like more possible.There's a part of me that just feels like if you were coming back for what is the question.Like, and I would hope that at the very least, she would be honest with herself about what it was that she was hoping to get out of it.Because you're not going to add really anything to the MMA legacy at this point.Like, you might get another paycheck out of it.Extend the life of the celebrity a little bit.And if that's good enough for you, then, okay, fine.
54:35But also, didn't we just hear her talking about the extreme brain trauma that she had suffered?That's what I was going to point out.And that's what I'm saying.Like, she's been citing these neurological issues and that's why she knew her career was done.So, I mean, if she comes back, I'd be like, okay, what are we just shoving all that aside for the time being?Well, and it's not like there's not a history of that, too, right?We van der Leigh came back and had that boxing match and we heard him talking about how he thought that, you know, he was among those in the, in the court filing saying that he thought he was dealing with the brain trauma stuff.Fabricio Verdoom was mentioned in that and then he was going to go fight in the GFL.
55:07So that, that has happened before, but it's also not great.And especially when it was like, she presented that brain trauma stuff as here's what, here's maybe what contributed to the premature end to my MMA career.And you kind of can't have it both ways there if you're going to be like, my.brain was so messed up. I had to stop fighting and I also maybe would have won some of those fights I lost if it wasn't for this brain stuff. And then to show up and be like, I have decided I'm ready for more brain trauma. Yeah. I will say, I will say if she does, we've seen it. I think what part of her transcendence was when she was as big as she was, was she was so defiantly competitive, you know, like just about everything. So I feel like if she's still got that, I think she does. Like even in that interview you're mentioning, um, sharp,Charlemagne is that his name?She still kind of like presents herself, you know, with that era of defiance, this defianceabout her legacy, defiance of her legacy, defiance of her.And I think that that sometimes, like, when you hear that, that's why I won't be surprised
56:09if she shoves aside everything that we've talked about and says, I'm going to do it again.I wouldn't be surprised for that reason alone.I just think that that part of her is still intact.She is not a do-nothing bitch, guys, okay?No, no.That is the last thing that she is.She's not.She's not.
56:21She's not.Who was it?Was it, who was it, Beyonce?That's right, yeah.That was, God, that was at the height of everything, wasn't it?What hysteria in those days.What a legend.Jordan, Jordan has told me the book is expecting the unexpected.
56:36Always a great idea to have a, like a cliche phrase as the title of your book.Is that Travis in the top left there?This looks like an old 50s horror film or something.It's a graphic novel, it seems.Thank you on our George for that.We're going to again, the lads, we need to get the money in their pockets.What do you want me to do?We've got UFC Vancouver to talk about and your super chats, which I have never forgotten and never will.
57:05And we'll see you in two minutes, ladies and gentlemen.Welcome back, everybody.It is the final segment of the show.We are looking forward the UFC Vancouver car that is happening this weekend, which I hear is a beautiful place.you know and my uncle lives there of nevergreat city absolutely great cityI'd love to be is this where you guys had that drinking sessionyeah that's right we did that's right yeah yeah
57:30me and me and Chuck Minhal ran a muck in the streets of Vancouverafter the Canucks the Canucks had won one of the Stanley Cupfinals games against the Boston Bruins and the whole citywas celebrating it did not end well for the Vancouver Canucksboth as a city and a team in that one because theythey ended up losing the series and then having riots and, you know, burning cars out in the street and everything.But for that one night, everything was magical and wonderful.It's a wonderful city.
57:58It combines how great of a nation Canada is with how great of a region the Pacific Northwest is.And, yeah, I highly recommend a trip there for everybody.Oh, my God.I'm really buzzing about it.I will go there at some stage.Ariel's big on obviously being Canadian and whatnot.But they've got a big old fight here, ready to ridder against Brayette.Brendan Allen. It was meant to be Fluffy Hernandez. It is now Brendan Allen, which does
58:23take a bit of intrigue away from it from being completely honest. Kevin Holland v. MikeMalotte. Mike Malotte seems to be the guy that a lot of hopes are being pitted on in thereover in Canada. And then Marlon Verravi, Eamon Zahabhi as well. Jasmine Jastavisius againstManon Firo, a big opportunity for her there. Lads, how is the level of excitement?Chuck, you mentioned that Ben is really close to this event.Yeah, he should be going.That's a supper, basically, Missoula, isn't it?Close by the standards of the Pacific Northwest, I guess.
58:55I'll tell you, when I was in grad school and the AWP, the Association of Writing Programs,its conference that it holds every year was in Vancouver one year, and we went.We got a, like, a 10 passenger van, and we drove it all in one shot from Missoula to Vancouver,and I don't recommend that.It's a long, long drive.I think it took us eight to ten hours to get up there.So, yeah, it was a long and arduous drive, but we had a great time.And I'm sure sullied the reputation of the University of Montana when we were there with our behavior and antics.
59:31But you know what?As far as like, I am always at this point interested to CRDR fight.He is a fun guy to watch.His style is unique enough and interesting enough where you're just like, let's see how this matches up a.against other styles and against a variety of other opponents.It does lose a lot, though, because it felt like when they announced RDR and Fluffy,I was just like, that is the fight of like the two, you know, guys on the come up in that division.Let's see who's going to be the guy.
01:00:01That was, and also like going to be a really interesting style matchup.This one feels like it only matters if RDR wins.If Brendan Allen goes in there and pulls off the upset, all we've really found out is,Okay, well, the hype train has kind of derailed for Derritter.Otherwise, it just feels like, okay, we're hoping that he can do what's available to him to stay on that path.But as far as what it actually means immediately for the division, you lost a lot when Fluffy had to pull out.Yeah, he's kind of on the reverse end of it now, right?Because he was the derailer of hype trains of going in the Bonnickle fight and also like, obviously with the Whitaker, not that he was, you know,
01:00:46on some kind of winning streak.But to win those fights, it was like, okay, this guy's for real.We should be paying attention to him in this division.And Fluffy would have been the natural escalation to that.And he would have been in that same role.Now it's kind of reversed because it feels like now he's got something to protect,which is his standing, which kind of came out of nowhere.So it is, it has been a lot of fun.
01:01:05And unfortunately in the fighting, this is kind of where you end up sometimes.And it's like, those are the stakes.They're very esoteric.But if R.D.are losing, you're like, oh, man, now we lose this kind of.strange momentum that we didn't know that we wanted that we have right now.Yeah, it's, um, yeah, I really like RDR and I think I was underwhelmed by him initiallyin the UFC, but he's blown us out of the war now with the, the likes of a nickel fight and
01:01:28things like that.He looks really good.There is interesting things happening for the divisions in these fights.Obviously, I mentioned him a lot.He's not quite there, but Kevin Holland obviously always in the mix.It would be a big win for him, but I think Zahabi has a great shot of kind of pushing himselfup the rankings here. So doesJazz DeVisius against
01:01:49Firo, Fero, obviously a contender,former challenger. Jasminetrying to get herself into those situations.One thing I will say, lads, I talk to39-year-old Davy Grant, who isturning 40 intwo months, and I havenever, never, I can't
01:02:05remember the last time I spoketo someone that is so happyabout being in the UFC,seems so in the moment.You know, like a guy that's just like,He's like, oh, I'm not even considering retiring.I've just relocated my family to Las Vegas, actually.And, yeah, this is the greatest thing of all time.
01:02:21I can't believe that I'm doing this for a living.It's absolutely amazing.And I'm just, like, watching him.He's in the midst of a weight cut.He's absolutely beaming.Like, he's like, my family are so happy in Las Vegas.Crazily, he initially took a long time to convince his wife to move.You know, she runs a business in Durham there in the UK, took a lot of convincing.
01:02:42Initially, he went to Dubai.He's like, we're going to move to Dubai.spent two weeks in Duboy and was like, you know what?Actually going to go to Vegas now.So completely put the family true loop, but, uh, wow, did he need to go to Dubai to,so that Vegas would seem like it's not that hot?I don't know, baby.He is of a similar complexion to myself, Ben, so, you know, he was struggling out there
01:03:02regardless, you know, absolutely, but, um, you know who else, you know who else isbeaming like that?Who?Happy gets just a guy right over there.That guy had been folks, look at him, is being married now?He is.It takes us full circle, as you said, at the top there,I'm a full circle,
01:03:19he's a different man now that he's married.Now you've got that ring on his finger.It's a beautiful,beautiful thing.You and Davy, Grant,two of the happiest men in MMA,Ben and Davy.I'm trying to keep on an even keel,
01:03:29let's say that.We're not trying to get too high or not trying to get too low.Oh, man, it's just, you know,it's crazy seeing a guy, like,from that era of, like,we were obviously behind you guys in the UK and Ireland,you know, in the early days of the sport.And I was saying to him, like, you're from that era, like, when he used to show up at an event, not knowing who your opponent was, not knowing what he looked like.
01:03:53And you find out basically, you get in the scales, you stand beside the scales.And next of all, you're like, right, you're looking around going, I wonder which one it is.He's in the UFC.He's excited to get his free gear bag full of stuff.He's fighting Charles Jordane.He is an underdog, as he always is, but this could make it a three-fight win streak for him.I will have that.One crown is going to have that feature.
01:04:14either today or tomorrow.I only sent it in this morning.Apologies, Mr. Al Shady.But very, very much looking forward to that.It is UFC 321 next week, as we've been telling you throughout this show.And we will be back then, and there will be a whole host of shows on Uncrowned.There will be the live watchalong.There will be the post-fight show.
01:04:32And there will be a lot of build-up throughout the week with the Arilawani show.And, of course, the boys in the back and the crack with these lads, fingers crossed.Hopefully no one's getting married, Chuck.Now marriage is coming up, right?Yeah, it's going to be tough for me to do that.but fuck are you going are you going to this event as well are you going to Abu Dhabi what'shappening here no no no I just I'm already married that's it's just going to be toughtough but not impossible you know it could be pulled off where there's a will there's a
01:04:59start laying the groundwork today you know Abu Dhabi specialize that kind of shit youmaybe I will make that track then um on air Jordan do we have any super chatsno I remember so natural now you know what I'm sayingWait, where's the music?The music is 90% of it.Bill, Bill, the legend.He recently retired from the Las Vegas police forces.No, really?
01:05:23Eric told us last week, an absolute legend.We have a badge here.Show it up, Bill.Can we show the badge?Can we show the badge?Let's show the badge on Air Jordan.Look at that.Look at that.
01:05:31That's what I flash anytime I get in trouble in Vegas.I'm like, come on, I'm sure that helps.I'm on the forest.Use Bill's name and hope it all works out.I ram my head into the police car, just like John Jones.That's where I learned it.Wow.I can't have nothing more.
01:05:44Bill,a gigantic thank you to Pizzi Chook, Benon the team for all you do.Ben, congrats on the wedding.We're loving it, Ben.You're getting all this love.Yeah, thank you.Thank you, Bill.
01:05:56Bill, what a legend.He needs a Las Vegas police badge.We should get him one as well.Anything else there on there, Jordan?Could Rhonda v. Katie be match for his first M.MA fight?Buzzi alpaca.So I mean, you take a punch to the stomach there, Pizzi.If I'm Katie,
01:06:14Taylor, you got to back up a Brinks truck to my house to get me to do that as anan M.A fight, you know, because it's just the Ronda might still, as Toby Keith would say,she not as good as she once was, but she might be as good once as she ever was.If she can grab you, throw a judo toss on somebody who has never ever seen one beforeand then snatch your arm up, you know, like I think the, the MMA game has passed thatera by. That's not happening anymore for anybody, uh, especially not for her after all theseyears away and the age and everything, but you might be able to do it to Katie Taylor, whichyour Katie, the brand would suffer from that to make sure it's worth the money. Yeah, it's like
01:06:59you're dead. It's like when people are talking about, uh, Terrence Crawford. Could that be like,you know, like, do they have 100 million? Do they have that? Because that's how much it willcost. So, uh, yeah, I don't know, man. I think I am interested in this Eddie Heron, potentially,down i think he is a barrel of laughs like i'm not to say that he is he is this squeaky clean guy heabsolutely isn't but this thing dana white and him is it could bring out the best in old dw as youwere saying last week chuck so i am excited about that um we have one more super chat um mr jordancomes on so my favorite m m m mott piece is in search of strange brew oh i wonder who wrote thatwhat is the written piece each of you are most proud of or your favorite
01:07:44Too right. Oh, man.Choke Manlan Hall, obviously referencing your fantastic piece.And so you start with you, Chuk. It is, it is bad. That one was pretty fun. I mean,doesn't that one have to stand out for you just because of how hard it was to find?I think so. I think so. I think so. Like, success when you're like, there are so many challenges in the way of getting a story and you get it done anyway. Yeah. It was one of those ones where you're like, you're trying it and people are sort of like, why do you care about that dude, you know? But you're like, well, I know there's a story to it. You know, there's some story to it. And it took like, I don't know, 18 months, two years to.of track him down and all this stuff.Um, so I guess that one would stand out.But in terms of, for me, in terms of like in a similar way, like a very challenging
01:08:23one was the one I did on Douglas Crosby, which was called, I forget, it was, yeah, long formpiece on Douglas Crosby.And it was, it was very, it was super tough because he, he did, he put you through all thesestrange things.Like, you know, he would talk to my assistant.You're never sure who you're texting with.And it was like just this, this process, but then to incorporate his weirdness and allthose quirks and tie that into
01:08:45him being an arbiter in oursport like a guy who is like a judgeand like you got to likeyou know think about all this and trying to getto the bottom of his philosophiesyou know I'm still like judgingand to put that all into a piece that made senseI was like that was a real challenge but I was always happy with the way
01:09:04that one came outBenyou know I mean I got a few where I waspleased with my ability to push throughand do the story you know that the seriesI did on the Grudge Gymin Denver over the years.The Hurt Locker.
01:09:19The Hurt business.Yeah.You know, that one stands up for me.It's weird.Whenever I go back and read an old story I did,and Chuck, I'm sure this happens to you sometimes too,where sometimes I'm Googling for information that I know is out there that I want toput in another story, and I'll find the link to the story will come up, and then when I
01:09:37click on it, only then do I realize, oh, I wrote this.Right.I wrote this like 10 years ago or, you know, 15 years ago.don't really remember. And it's the same thing when I go back and look at like some of thestories that I was proud of. If I go read them right now, the thing that will stand out to meis things that sentence level stuff that I would change if I were, like I want to be able togo edit it right now and you can't. And so I kind of have to stop myself from even doing it becauseall that will stand out to me is just the ways that I wouldn't, that I don't like the things that
01:10:11that kind of bugged me about it now.But I also, I wrote one of covering a high school kid who was going off to fight in a pro-MMA fight here in Montana.And that one was an honorable mention for the Best American Sports Writing that year.So I was pretty pleased with that one.Nice.Nice.Well, there are two fantastic writers.There's absolutely no doubt about that.
01:10:34And it is a pleasure for me to host this wonderful show with them.And as I said, we hope to be back here next Friday with these.beautiful, beautiful men.And with all you beautiful crackheads in the comments,giving us that love,hitting us with super chat,so I actually can't introduce the topic.You know what I mean?
01:10:50Like, that's what it was.Sometimes I didn't see them.It wasn't me not being good on my job.Far from it.Okay?Anyway, that is the end of a show.Have a wonderful weekend.Enjoy UFC Vancouver.
01:11:01And it's the big one next week, baby.It's Tom Asmel, be Cyril Gann,and I will make you love that fight.I probably will make you love that fight before it happens.On Air, Jordan, you're the man.Oscar Lose.You're also the man.We love you all.
01:11:13See you next week.
There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click any sentence in the transcript to leave one.