The Ariel Helwani Show - Alex Pereira: Heavyweight Savior, Ronda Rousey's Comeback, Weidman-Silva 3 | The Craic

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

Petesy Carroll, Chuck Mindenhall, and Ben Fowlkes reunite for your weekly dose of The Craic.First up, they dive into what’s next for Alex Pereira and his possible move to heavyweight, and how it could shake up next week’s title clash between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane (4:02).Next, the guys react to the Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva trilogy announcement set for the undercard of the Jake Paul vs. Gervonta Davis Netflix boxing event (25:46).Another surprise comeback rumor making the rounds is Ronda Rousey’s potential return. After her recent comments hinting at a 2026 comeback, Petesy and the boys weigh in (42:20).To close the show, the trio break down their favorite matchups from this weekend’s UFC Vancouver card, then answer your superchats (57:08).

Welcome 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.

Rhonda 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.

Let'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.

I'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.

Here 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.

Look at this. Look at this outfit. Absolutely stunning. and I believe we have the picture of 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,

on 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 sentiment that has been expressed to me from a few different people who know me pretty well. And I'll tell you what,

that'll make you take stock of your life a little bit and make you think about what's been going on with you over the years because that's like once I hear it I got to admit I don't disagree with what you're saying but yeah it does it does make you go huh that's you know if one person said it you'd be like okay fine that's one one man talking but several people have said it so there must be something to it man it looked like an incredible day dude um fantastic time had I see uh the great Chad Dundas was there for the co-main event a wonderful time had

can we just talk give an insight into Ben um how we heard he was in fact getting married um just you know midweek he goes hey peter just want to let you know can't do the show friday getting married ben uh unbelievable uh unbelievable uh unbelievable laid back dude i wish i wish i had this way about me how did you manage to uh seemingly put this together so quickly whatever anyone knowing and have it look so goddamn cool i'll tell you what see this is the only reason i sent you that text was because when i looked at it i was like the 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 have everyone'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

man. Well, congratulations. His boat look absolutely fantastic and we wish you many, many happy years together, so I'm sure you will have. But let's burst that bubble immediately and speak about MMA, the thing that we've dedicated our lives for, for collectively about 50 years among us, I'd assume. Both of you have wrote about the first topic I want to bring to our attention today, because as I said, the topic of show, Tom Asthma, movie, Cyril Gan is next week, and based on what I've been hearing from my American friends, not a huge amount of buzz for this one across the Atlantic but alas it is happening

and another thing that's happening is constant conversations about Alex Pereira and his apparently very very soon to happen moved to heavyweight John Jones, the White House, all this is happening

Chuck Mendinol will start with you here it is there, there's this article that's on uncrowded mode, it's simple Alex Pereira's next fight should be against John Jones he goes through all the possibility he talks about Hamzat Shemoev wanting a piece.

Obviously, 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,

like 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.

You 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,

only 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 Aspinall in a fight like that, not knowing what the future would hold beyond that.

I 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,

that 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 potential Cyril 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,

am I crazy for thinking that a Cyril Gahn? win next weekend would be a lot more interesting, would open up more interesting doors for what we could do in the heavyweight division. And I was just like, no, it would be a disaster and 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 happen or we think makes sense to happen doesn't always happen. But I think if you picture the situation right now at heavyweight is that, you know, you had a champion. in Francis and Ghanu, who was the little lineal MMA heavyweight champion.

And 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 through butter. And then you turn around John Jones, instead of doing the fight that would make the most sense against Tom Aspinall, handpicks his opponent in Stepe Amiosich, an aged version. version of Steppe Miosich, all very calculated on John Jones's part.

He 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 the UFC that they had him sitting around as interim champ, already a believable guy as heavyweight champion. You look at Tom Asperol and you go, yeah, that seems like that might be the baddest big man on the planet, and you have him to carry you forward and to kind of bridge that gap of legitimacy that you lost when you lost Francis and Ghanu.

But if he goes out there and if he loses to Cyril Ghan, people are going to be looking and saying, well, Gahn is O and two in title fights, lost to both Francis and Gano and John Jones, the two guys who we would have otherwise called heavyweight champion if they hadn't just pieced up out of the UFC in their own various ways. And so if you have Cyril Gond now with the strap around his waist, I don't know if anybody's looking at him and going, yeah, that's the best heavyweight on the planet. Because we've seen that he is not the best heavyweight on the planet.

He'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 stylistically and probably a more winnable fight for Pereira at heavyweight. But that's not necessarily how I think we ought to be viewing it.

Because 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.

fight. You have Pereira trying to do something that's never been done before in becoming a three division UFC champion. That to me, you can sell that one to me a whole lot more that you can sell Pereira versus John Jones who win or lose is probably just going to leave again as soon as it's over. Like that one just seems like a dead end to me and it's just not nearly as interesting as the stakes in Pereira versus Aspinall. Ben, can you imagine the 1970s somebody writing into your mailbag and 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?

Like, 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

beat 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 stand in for everything that Aspinall wanted, right? Like, because he's already got his shot at Jones. He's already got his shot in Gano, and Aspenol can't get any of these guys. And I think that that's one of 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 because could Tom Aspinall turn out to just be absolutely unbeatable

for years to come at heavyweight a division where nobody has stayed unbeatable for very long? Yeah, at this point, maybe, you know, or could Tom Aspinall turn out to have deficiencies in his game that we haven't seen exposed just because nobody's been able to hang around it with him

for all that long in too many of these fights? That also seems like a possibility. I'm sorry to one last thing, but consider this. Like, say that, you know, Aspinall wins 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.

And 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.

But 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 bowling Allie, you know, all this kind of stuff. Yeah.

Built different out here in Connecticut, you know. Do you think Pereira could have his arm twisted into a Tom Asmel fight or is it the legacy fight with Jones that he's after? Because I can't help but feel that there is this importance, there is this need for verification

for some reason to come from another weight class given the state of heavyweight. But it is also striking me that Tom Asperl is the champion of division, but He 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 Uncle I was supposed to be the first big test for Pereira in the sense of the wrestling, right?

Like, 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.

That'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

that we still suspect is the case is going to be that wrestling and I can't get past that besides John Jones is huge now you know he walks around very big I know that you know and seeing Alexin kind of more in the off time like he's a big guy he's a big

six three and he's filled out it's not like he's a smaller like he's but he would be small for heavyweight he would be small for John Jones and it's tough to make it's tough for me to see a scenario where he's keeping it standing and keeping it in his danger zone for too long in that fight. In prospect though, man, like in the buildup to that fight, I think it would be so much fun because we

don't get fights like that. Wouldn't it also though, can you imagine being Tom Aspinall and if you defend the title against Cyril gone and then the UFC is investing in a big build up of Alex Pereira moving up to heavyweight to fight

the guy who wouldn't fight you? And you're just standing around here being like how many damn rubber duckies do I need to hold 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 such a smart fight IQ that he is going to see those openings in, in Alex Perez game.

The 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 totally dominant in that steepate fight, you just watched John Jones moving around the cage a little bit 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

athlete for M&A. He is a slower and slightly diminished version of himself and that's only going to get worse the 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.

And 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 retained his heavyweight championship. Will everything get cleaned up? Will we all suddenly be like, you know, everything makes sense? We suddenly have our North Starback.

He 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, especially if he, like, knocks out. Cyril gone, you know, does one of those Tom Aspinall specials, then I do think we're going to pretty 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 beat so many of the top contenders already getting there. You see it more often in a division like

lightweight or something, something where you really got to run the table in order to even get a title shot in most cases. You got to win seven or eight in a row before we remember your name and those divisions. Heavyweight, anybody you can string three wins together is a title contender at heavyweight. And yet you look around at who else in the division you have for them that would really get people excited right now. There's not a ton there.

And I do think if you're trying to put together a White House card and 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 that that 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,

they 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 champion versus an American challenger or something, that would be great for the narrative. Would have been slightly better

when we were trying to do it to celebrate like America's birthday and not Donald Trump's birthday, but still, you know, it would work as a, as a narrative on 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?

We 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 this whole thing it would be it would be if you thought he if you're trying to give him the benefit

of the doubt that he's not ducking which at this point feels nearly impossible that would certainly solidify it forever wouldn't it that like he was he gets his wish but he doesn't want to fight aspinall at that point yeah i think it would and i mean i think that would leverage wise to get john jones to do it is because he he has put himself in such a weird position as like a supplicant now he had everything he had the ball was in john jones's court he was the heavyweight champion he was in a position to make huge financial demands uh the ufz could even get a little outside help to come in with the money bags and make that fight happen and he still said no and then to turn around so quickly after that and be like actually i want back in but

for this one event and the the rules then totally flip where the ufc says no thanks We 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.

I'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 the most right day in a boy seems to be about something in quite some while, having some reservations about 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.

in the wings in case this doesn't work like that's holding up everything that's just not one division being destroyed it's two right like if you're also putting remember the McGregor thing with the lightweight title like that's what it would feel like if we start doing that with Pereira and Pereira the same age aren't they they're both like 30 they turn 39

next summer you know they're both the same age so they're in the same boat you know we've got just a little bit a little bit left out of each guy here the other thing is that if you can't for one reason or another make Pereira versus Jones you do have other stuff like as much as I think Pereira probably goes out there and wins another fight with Yuri Prahasa. Damn, if I wouldn't

watch it, Yuri Prahaska just ends up being so much fun. He's just such a wild man, such a weirdsmobile that we are grateful to have in this sport. And the thing is, even though I don't believe he beats Alex 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 how things 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.

That'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.

And, 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,

but you can see as the lit, as the candle disappears into his mouth, there's still some fire on this candle. And he eats just the candle. Just the candle. And that just feels like, it doesn't feel performative coming from him. It feels like, yeah, it's probably what it's like to hang out with Yuri. 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 already oh and two against the guy yeah yeah he's undefeated aura as i've said endlessly like i mean oldberg you're beautiful man no doubt about it but aura was you in that shot is perfect where it shows you're like clenching his fists weeping and then it just pans to oldberg and he's like you're like

yeah that's why that's why we've more things to discuss we're going to hit that ad break so we can Paychuk and Ben. There are huge boatloads of money that they demand to be on this show. And then we're going to come back and we're going to talk about yes, the one you've been waiting for Wydeman v. Anderson 3. Yes, big guy upstairs. Just clearing

the caviar from my table here as we get back to Mix Martial Arts. And yes, everybody was saying, you know, I don't really know if I'm into this Jake Paul V Tank Davis card, but bam! They shut you guys right up there yesterday when they announced. that's right Anderson Silva v. Chris Weidman

is going down sorry the third time they will meet each other this time in boxing Friday November 14th I could just hear the collective roars of adulation just around the internet as this happened I was like oh my God it's finally happening it's finally happening boys this is one of those ones

that you see it and you're like God I can't believe I can't believe we're here they're in the Katie Taylor v Amanda Serrano slot and I think It 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.

We'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,

117 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 how all that plays out. But this is with all of those components in play, all that context.

You go forward a bunch of years. You take away a bunch of the martial 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 fruit response to this was going to be.

It was, hey, at least nobody's going to break a leg in this fight, you know, because now they're just going to be throwing. 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 tell me, too, we cover these guys for the bulk of their careers, you know, we've seen them stand in and do all this stuff. We've seen Chris Wydenman, and both guys come back from ridiculous injuries, 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

that they're not, they're not entitled to the money and all that, but I don't, I'm not sure I get where there's a compelling I must see this boxing event between these two guys I don't know where that comes into play here yeah they're both they're both legends like that's the thing like it also it almost like

to say that this is part of what that was I find disrespectful do you know what I mean like these these guys are savages I'll never forget reacting to that first fight how unbelievable it was as you said Weidman on the way up Anderson this seemingly unbeating

unbeatable 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?

I 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 smart for what they're trying to do the whole jake paul and mvp brand and it's sort of found its way over the years by seeing what works what do audiences respond to what doesn't work they excel at getting you to watch stuff against your will putting together these kind of fights where you're like I 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.

You 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.

Just 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 skills have 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,

Chris Wyden won those fights when it mattered and ended the Anderson Silva Tile reign. Nothing's really going to change the way that chapter of MMA history shaped up. Now, though, Anderson Silva'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,

but 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 is It is But if your only goal is to get me to turn on Netflix on Friday night And just check it out and see how it's going Then maybe I stick around for the other fights after that

Like I do think it kind of succeeds in doing that And it succeeds in an almost nefarious way It feels like a use of the dark arts And yet that's what they've been really good at And 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.

Come 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 shit even against when he's losing, like,

LeMont 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 this is such a bizarre, such a bizarre thing to go into this fight with. It's just kind of,

just Ben saying this, tuning into a boxing machine being 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.

Let'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

who we've seen in the USC, 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

with 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?

Like, 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?

Because, 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.

compared 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,

damn 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.

I 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 matches and you pretty much never hear boxers

talk about how they want to come and 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 reluctance to stop competing.

You 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 compete and it's my rival and I can make some money at it.

You can understand it from his. perspective right like it just yes full sense well he was going to do the gFL stuff right and then it completely fell apart so yeah and i also think you know gfl yeah see isn't the funny how that happens uh the come back guys next year don't worry about the pizzi i beg you if they get if they reach out to you about investing check with me first don't don't give them any bank account information until we've had a chance to talk it over too late too but i did you know i've talked to Wyman a few times about it over the years and I think that he has a sense that he didn't get all out of his MMA career what he should have and I absolutely understand how

he had feel that way because he was definitely unlucky with injuries. His peak was really good but it did seem like it was going to be longer and it was going to be more than it ended up being like he took that that fight with Luke Rockhold you know basically made a mistake couldn't get back into it and then it's just kind of snowballed for him from there and the injuries because came such a factor. I remember Stephen Thompson talking about how, you know, when he would train with 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

I did at the peak, I want to do it. Yeah, 100%. That's the, that's the exact vibe he gave at the 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.

Yeah, 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 happen in 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?

Like, 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 me some of this. And see him being dragged across. I was genuinely sitting in the bed, like, watching

it. 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 him for that story that I ended up. And he mentioned that as well where he was just like, it made me so sad 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.

You 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're not going to get sad, but this sport has a way of surprising you. True. Is that? I was going to ask. I saw this.

I 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 actually happening beyond the fight? You know what I mean? Like, obviously they must have shot it beforehand because he doesn't have any massive cuts or swelling to his face. But they are sitting there like eating whoppers together. This ad and you're like,

Well, 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.

Ronda 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 name Charlemann

like the famous European ruler yeah yeah he's very irritated guy I'll tell you that much I watch him interviewing people

and I'm seething a lot of time like someone slap him sorry let's have a look at this quote from Ronda Rousey

they're like you look so good because I'm the greatest ever of course this is what happens when I train I look great sorry

I don't have to have a plan for world domination in mind we have another one I believe but Mike Tyson coming back and being the biggest fight of last

year just kind of proves that I don't think anyone's really ever done. Ronda Rousey You're reading into it, pizza. You're reading into it. Yes, yes. I mean, no smoke. My Tyson coming back, coming back and doing what is the question I would ask.

Again, he was in a boxing ring. He was in the boxing ring. And he walked away with a check. So that is also nice, I'm sure. And if that's what we're talking about, then fine. This is something that happens to a lot of fighters, especially, I remember talking to Matt Sarah about it, where he was like, you know, sometimes I'll be in the gym and I'm training with some of these young guys or I'm hitting mitts or something.

And 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 while and you are also only experiencing stuff like in the gym, hitting myths, for instance, and not 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 yourself into thinking that you could still do it and that you still want to put yourself through those things, that you're still willing to. But he's like, then you have to have a reality check

moment with yourself and be like, you left for a reason. And that, that reason has not gotten any 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

Let'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,

like 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's if it's boxing, it's just such a, it's a curious thing because she caught lightning in such a bottle. And she's right when she says, I saw like, you know, portions of that interview and I know she was like, you know, my proudest thing is that I kind of bust the doors open for, for women's MMA, for women to be doing this. That's hard to deny. I mean, in a greatness scale, that is like 100% part of her legacy. That's the biggest part of her legacy. But I'm like, how does that translate? You know, if she does come back. She was such a polarizing figure by just the way

She 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 people are 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.

The 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 going to be able to compete at this division you know like she's she's done that's how it felt so the intrigue on my level is still there but I feel like it's going to be completely different from where she left yeah I mean the lasting image in a way also was her walking through the airport with the pillow oh my gosh you know like she left the sport pretty bad in that sense because it was just like you know it was very easy when you were on top and you were dominating people

then you ran into a couple fighters who could hand you a couple losses and she pieced out and that was like that's also got to be part of the story because I mean the contrast is I remember Misha Tate getting absolutely smashed by Amanda Nunes at UFC 200 and showing up

with a badly broken nose that was actively bleeding under an ice pack and she still showed up to the press conference and answered questions and like you could that was a resiliency that you could see that it's

when it turned out like when things got tough that 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 world because she'll get wrecked there too.

The 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.

Right. 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 also be at a point where neither one of them is going to absolutely outclass the other one in a way that makes us feel dirty for having watched it like you you could work with that one i also there's some part of me that's just like it wouldn't be planned to the the better angels of our nature

would you rather see that or white men and uh and silver which would be honest if they could plug 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.

Ben, 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 intrigue from the boxing world on our Jordan, hit them with the graphic. Do we look at that? Do you see who those eyeballs What? No.

No, 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,

the 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,

this is how this goes. And honestly, we were just talking about it with this Jake Ball cards. Can you honestly tell me that someone in Jake Paul's office 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.

That 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.

I 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.

When 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,

can 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.

I just got to go get to smoked 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?

Like 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.

that 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.

Because 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.

No. 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.

But 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.

So 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 defiance about 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

if 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.

She'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.

Always 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.

And 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 never great city absolutely great city I'd love to be is this where you guys had that drinking session yeah that's right we did that's right yeah yeah

me and me and Chuck Minhal ran a muck in the streets of Vancouver after the Canucks the Canucks had won one of the Stanley Cup finals games against the Boston Bruins and the whole city was celebrating it did not end well for the Vancouver Canucks both as a city and a team in that one because they they 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.

It 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

take a bit of intrigue away from it from being completely honest. Kevin Holland v. Mike Malotte. Mike Malotte seems to be the guy that a lot of hopes are being pitted on in there over in Canada. And then Marlon Verravi, Eamon Zahabhi as well. Jasmine Jastavisius against Manon 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.

I'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.

But 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.

That 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,

on 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.

And 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 initially in the UFC, but he's blown us out of the war now with the, the likes of a nickel fight and

things 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 himself up the rankings here. So does Jazz DeVisius against

Firo, Fero, obviously a contender, former challenger. Jasmine trying to get herself into those situations. One thing I will say, lads, I talk to 39-year-old Davy Grant, who is turning 40 in two months, and I have never, never, I can't

remember the last time I spoke to someone that is so happy about 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.

I 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.

Initially, 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

regardless, you know, absolutely, but, um, you know who else, you know who else is beaming 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,

he'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,

let'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.

And 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.

either 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.

And 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's happening here no no no I just I'm already married that's it's just going to be tough tough but not impossible you know it could be pulled off where there's a will there's a

start laying the groundwork today you know Abu Dhabi specialize that kind of shit you maybe I will make that track then um on air Jordan do we have any super chats no I remember so natural now you know what I'm saying Wait, 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?

Eric 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.

That'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.

Bill, a gigantic thank you to Pizzi Chook, Ben on 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.

Bill, 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,

Taylor, you got to back up a Brinks truck to my house to get me to do that as an an 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 before and then snatch your arm up, you know, like I think the, the MMA game has passed that era by. That's not happening anymore for anybody, uh, especially not for her after all these years away and the age and everything, but you might be able to do it to Katie Taylor, which your Katie, the brand would suffer from that to make sure it's worth the money. Yeah, it's like

you'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 will cost. 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 he absolutely isn't but this thing dana white and him is it could bring out the best in old dw as you were saying last week chuck so i am excited about that um we have one more super chat um mr jordan comes on so my favorite m m m mott piece is in search of strange brew oh i wonder who wrote that what is the written piece each of you are most proud of or your favorite

Too 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

one was the one I did on Douglas Crosby, which was called, I forget, it was, yeah, long form piece on Douglas Crosby. And it was, it was very, it was super tough because he, he did, he put you through all these strange 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 all those quirks and tie that into

him being an arbiter in our sport like a guy who is like a judge and like you got to like you know think about all this and trying to get to the bottom of his philosophies you know I'm still like judging and to put that all into a piece that made sense I was like that was a real challenge but I was always happy with the way

that one came out Ben you know I mean I got a few where I was pleased with my ability to push through and do the story you know that the series I did on the Grudge Gym in Denver over the years. The Hurt Locker.

The 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 to put in another story, and I'll find the link to the story will come up, and then when I

click 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 the stories that I was proud of. If I go read them right now, the thing that will stand out to me is things that sentence level stuff that I would change if I were, like I want to be able to go edit it right now and you can't. And so I kind of have to stop myself from even doing it because all that will stand out to me is just the ways that I wouldn't, that I don't like the things that

that 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.

And 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?

Like, 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.

And 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.

See you next week.