The Ariel Helwani Show - Aljamain Sterling in studio, Joshua Van, Sam Jones & Adam Maca in studio, On The Nose, more

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

Ariel Helwani starts with news and notes before the crew joins to answer your On the Nose questions and check in on their PFL tournament bracket predictions (08:53).Joshua Van calls in before his short-notice fight against No. 1 flyweight contender Brandon Royval to talk about his win over Bruno Silva, jumping up the rankings, buying his mom a house, training with Myanmar's Aung La Nsang, and more (1:03:20).Aljamain Sterling joins in-studio to break down his teammate Merab Dvalishvili’s huge win at UFC 316. The former champion also discusses his Funk Harbor rum, what’s next for O’Malley, Sandhagen’s chances against Merab, being on a reality show with Petr Yan, the Jones-Aspinall drama, provides an update on his return, and more (1:31:03).Sam Jones, manager of 18-year-old boxing phenom Adam Maca, stops by the studio to talk about the changing business and stories from the fighters he works with (2:43:48). Later, Adam joins the conversation to discuss his debut at The Theater at MSG, signing with Matchroom Boxing, his aspirations in the sport, and more (3:10:31).Ariel and the Boys reunite to answer your Super Chats (3:32:24).

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Errrya Wadi Show! Back in your life on this Wednesday, June 11, 2000. And 25, hello again, everyone. Sometimes when I have my chair too far out, it gets stuck on the carpet. And so I really have to push it in. Hey, everyone. It's good to be here. Yes, Frank. Did you know, Frankie? Did you know because, you know, a couple weeks ago we celebrated your birthday. No, we actually celebrated it again over on Saturday.

Yeah, no, but did you know because at the at the dinner you had a nice fat piece of I believe it was German chocolate cake. It wasn't German chocolate cake. It was an 18 layer chocolate cake. But I know where you're going with this. Did you know that German chocolate cake actually isn't from Germany? I did know that. Where's it from? We all knew that. It's from Texas where I'm from.

Who invented it? A Texan named Mr. German what's his first name Albert mr. Samuel German Samuel you're not allowed to go to the bathroom before we go live any place listen that's a good one pretty right yeah I learned that just moments ago while just you know checking out the the sights and sounds and did not know that camera did not know that there no this time I just sort of I kept it right here I downloaded it right here and was pretty excited about that if I'm being honest I did not know that I also learned that Father's Day which is this Sunday happy Father's Day to all the pops out there actually originated in

Spokane Washington okay so well we're all in the control room, like where the hell is the talent? We really should just be envisioning that you're in the bathroom reading Mr. Fass. I'm learning, I'm interpreting, I'm bettering myself, as they say. And so I wanted to share that wisdom, that knowledge with all of you.

We have a great show lined up for everyone. We love Wednesdays around these parts. We get to answer your questions. There are many. We shall get to them momentarily. We will also be talking to one of the brightest young stars in the UFC, Joshua Vann, who is coming off another brilliant win this past Saturday. Prudential Center, UFC 316, and he's back! UFC 317. I love when this sort of thing happens. Someone gets on a roll, UFC gets excited about them. Double pay-per-view back to back same month. Third fight of 2025, can he get to five?

I mean, at this pace, he might be fighting for the belt by the time the year is done. And so Joshua Vann will join us. A great young man who we've had on once before, looking forward to having him back on. The great Al Jemaine Sterling, who I disrespected on Saturday's post show when I was talking about Murab having the most title defenses, I forgot that Al Jow had three in a row. It was 2 a.m. I was a little bit tired, a little loopy. I do kind of sometimes consider the Yan rematch almost like a

title victory as opposed to a title defense but technically it is a title defense. Nevertheless he will join us in studio to talk about Marab's big win. What's up with his career? All that and more. Always great to have the Funkmaster, the liquor and presario on the program. He'll join us at 2.30. Then one of the best managers in boxing, Sam Jones, will be in studio. And what I like so much about Sam, I keep saying this to the guys,

Sam Jones reminds me of Malky Kawa circa 2011. He's brash, he pushes his guys, he likes the limelight. If you're unfamiliar with him, you may have seen him once on the Ion Adais show. If you did not see that, you will like him. Like I said, if you're unfamiliar with his style, with who he is, anything like that, fast talking, entertaining,

passionate, emotional, really pushes his guys. He was involved in a little thing with Regis Pro-Grey and Jack Cattarall about, I don't know, 16 or so months ago. My timeline may be off here, but in any event, his guy Jack Cattarall was fighting Regis Pro-Grey in Manchester. Regis then calls him out and says, I got receipts of you talking smack about Jack. No way, no way. Pulls up a voice note of him talking smack about his guy who wasn't his guy at the time, too regis. He got him good.

He played it off well. It was great fun, great theater. And so he'll join us as well as one of his latest signees, a young man named Adam Maka from the UK who represents Albania is going to make his debut on the Richardson-Hitchitchens versus George Cambosa's card This Saturday right here in New York at the theater at Madison Square Garden And so we'll have them both in studio back end of the show speaking of Madison Square Garden the actual Mecca

Saw the promo that Netflix posted this morning for Katie Taylor versus Amanda's around three Headline, excuse me narrated. I should say by Charlize Theron. Did you guys see this? I mean this this is a great promo This really hit I'm getting excited Yeah, it's quite good one month away one month away from exactly today And it's gonna be so great to have pizza in New York because if I'm being honest We're not getting enough pizza in our lives these days I mean he shows up to the post show and and fuck is we I mean this is his debut This is his debut on the on the week like he has not shown up on Monday

He has not shown up on Tuesday. He tried to get out of today. He texted me like do I need to come on? I'm like, yeah, man. Yes, you do and he's like, I just I don't want to you know what it is, Frank You know what it is. What is it? He dropped the mic on Saturday on the post show and he's like, I'm good for the week. I'm good. In case you missed it, in case you missed this gem from pizza, here it is. Shout out to all the North South heads out there. Guys, love doing the show with you. It's nice.

Shout out to TST, wherever you may be. We love you too, bud. And shout out to all our fans and everyone watching. Who are we, the fucking Rolling Stones? I don't know why I said that. I don't know why I said that. Peace and love. It's too late for this shit. Thank you everyone.

Thank you everyone back in the control room at the HQ. We'll talk to you on Monday. Appreciate you watching and listening. That is so great. That's what happens on the post show. That's what happens on the post. A couple of notes from that, P.T. Number one, I don't quite realize how like your eyes are a quarter open. Okay, the best part about that is we're in the back and like when he was not on air, I swear to God, P.T. only had one eye open. He was chewing through yawns too. He was doing the thing where he was like, mmm.

I was like, man, it's like 7-10 over there for Pizzi right now. I know, I feel so bad. I sound like shit too. I sound like I'm half asleep also. It's 2 o'clock in the morning, my daughter's right next door, throwing up, coming into my room. She goes, wow, yeah. I'm stressed out.

I don't want to wake her up if she ends up falling asleep again. Uh, I hope you guys appreciate the post shows. Can I just say that? We're all in the control room just having a party. I'm not talking about you guys. We're like, Oh, is my daughter sick? I haven't been able to see her. It's a, it's that delirious thing though, right?

No, like we're all pretty delirious. It can go off in a second on those post-fight shows. I always remember that when we did, we did it for some obscure fight night card when we were with Spotify and you got that text message the next day. And it said that was the worst hour of broadcasting I've ever heard in my life. Cause we just, we're just laughing throughout the whole thing. Yeah, brilliant. Great fun.

Well, it's good to see you, BT. Yeah, like honestly, I thought you had fantastic shows without me. So I was feeling a bit left out. So delighted to hear that, you know, big interviews. I'm sitting at home going, fuck, what do they say? I'm here if you need me. And they just kept getting better and better. And I was like, no, I got to act like I don't even care at all so to have this moment maybe feel very

good thank you very much are those are those headphones there to your right they don't usually notice the headphones there a line took a lend to them last night she left them there so annoyed about how far is it can you not reach over and move it or you can can't be bothered. Okay. Just go ahead and throw them on the ground. So then when you call me, your headphones aren't working. Oh dear. Hey guys, time now for everyone's favorite segment of the week.

It is time... It's time for all the notice. Yeah. Oh dear. What do I go? Top first, newest first, oldest first. I don't know. Kyle Grant, Ariel. After the Mario Bautista loss, who does Patchy Mix fight next? Does he get a 10 to 15 ranked fighter like Sohuto or Zahabi? Or does he go right back of the line and have to fight an unranked fighter next? What do you guys think?

Do they build them up? I mean, Sohudo and Zahabi are two very different cases right now. Zahabi's a guy who's on a roll. I don't hate the idea of Bautista versus Zahabi. Is that crazy? Both guys coming off wins over Aldo? That's not crazy, I like that.

But maybe Zahabi versus Mix does make sense. I don't think mix again, I'm, I'm sort of, I'm not throwing that out, but I want to see him full camp jitters out of the way. Let's give them a mulligan. He looked so dramatically different than the guy we saw in Bellator. He can't be that. I refuse to believe.

Do a GCs go yeah. Loke dog, the winner of Loke dog V, Coilor Phillips. And that's a to believe. Do a GC's go yeah. Loke dog, the winner of Loke dog V. Coiler Phillips. And that's a good fight. Oh boy. Loke dog, patchy mix.

So, so, so basically, so he is taking a step back then. For sure. Yeah. Have to like, do you think he wants to step back or do you think it's in his best interest? I'm not sure if it matters. I think that's what UFC will give them regardless. You can't possibly match him up after that.

You just can't. Yeah. Reaction to it's been awful. You need to see his real level. If that's the performance we can expect, it's not against top guys. Maybe throw him on an apex. Go ahead.

Headliner? Like without the glitz and glamour, the bright lights. I mean, he can handle it. He's fought. You know, he's fought in some arenas before. I don't know. Something. I'm surprised there hasn't been anything like there hasn't been some kind of leak from the camp or something that, cause it just didn't seem like him at all.

I know we've talked about this at Nausium now. I know every podcast and MMA media guy has talked about this, but it was, it was so underwhelming that, and I said this on Saturday in the post which it almost feels like there had to be something wrong. And I'm not trying to take away from Bautista. I thought he was absolutely brilliant. I thought it's the best he's fought by a distance, but, um, Pachi just, I just, I just can't believe that that was him at 100%. I'm giving him a mulligan. I want to see what he comes back with. But yes, I think someone in the top like in the, in the 15th 20, even like 12, 13 to 20 range. I know they don't rank 16, 17, 18, but you get my point.

By the way, if nothing else, just to erase the, the east of this performance, right? Let him get somebody that he can look good against. Not necessarily, okay, he's in there with a top 10 guy and it's like, yeah, you look competent. No, get him somebody that he can go out there and style on and remind people who Patchy Mix is and then you start doing the ascent. So yeah, I don't even want to see a ranked guy. I just want to see somebody ho hum, get through it and then get back into the contention conversation.

I remember, so Eddie Al much of a step down, to be honest. But he had been around. Saroney was really close. That's why he was really close. And also he was a little more accomplished than Pachy Mix. I mean, certainly. Here's your mom goes to college. Ariel, if you were managing a young up and comer in the UFC, what would you do? I would probably go to college.

I would probably go to college. I would probably go to college. I would probably go to college. I would probably go to college. I would probably go to college. I would probably go to college. I would probably go to college. I would probably go to college. I would probably go to college. I would mom goes to college. Ariel, if you were managing a young up and comer in the UFC, what way would you steer their career? Would you try and get in with the brass and bootlick Ali style?

Would you just allow the talent to take over and shine through Tim Simpson style or would you push for a gimmick to ensure they always are selling pay-per-views, Chael slash Lambert with Colby? I mean, I think I would be more Tim Simpson style, if you will. You know, 10 to 12 solid people, one per. I like his business model. Shoots for one star in every division and then goes all in on that now part of getting bigger part of you know being

successful you'll probably start adding more and there might be some conflicts here and there like he was almost going to have to deal with with Leon fighting JDM but I like that style doesn. Doesn't puff his chest out too much, supports his guys on social media and whatever. Doesn't do a million interviews and speaks when he needs to speak. Now, I don't necessarily think, what you're saying here is,

I don't necessarily think what Ali does as far as the media is bad. He somehow gets, let's be 1000% clear about this. he asks for a lot of these interviews. I've been on the receiving end, get me on the show, get me on the show. So you see him popping up. I just think a lot of the managers these days don't care, don't want to do the interviews, honestly, like the Lloyd Pearsons of the world, the Tim Simpsons of the world, the Danny Rubinstein's of the world, the Orin Hodak's of the world, Audie hardly does any, like they just don't want it.

He likes it. He likes the attention and he feels like he's doing his guys some kind of favor by speaking on their behalf. And a lot of his guys aren't the best speakers. And so, you know, it helps. And there is a method to the madness. You come out and say Justin Gaethje is going to retire if he doesn't get a title shot. People start talking about it. And you're kind of wedged into that conversation. But then when you, when you refer to the bootleg style, you're talking

about the relationship with the brass. And ultimately. If I am representing people, if I am working for you, because that is what a manager slash agent is doing. He is working for the client. In this case, the fighter. My number one priority has to be the fighter. For a lot of these guys, he's at the top of the list, his number one priority is his relationship

with the UFC. Now, there's a tricky balance there because you have to have a good relationship with the UFC in order to get things. The UFC doesn't have good relationships with certain fighters, excuse me, and managers, and then those guys won't get contender series slots. And then they have really good relationships with other guys and they'll give them like 80% of the contender series slots and they'll give them more favorable matchup. It happens. It is the furthest thing from a meritocracy. So I think the best thing is you don't have a contentious relationship,

there's respect, there's mutual admiration and respect, but you're not catering to them over your fighter. If something is presented that's better for your relationship with the brass as opposed to better for your fighter's career, you can't say yes to that. And so you just have to do that dance. Smokey Joe leads, hi Ariel, how many bars of Sydney Sweeney soap did you buy and did it taste as delightful as you'd hope? Up the mighty leads. Is this in reference to yesterday I was talking about Sydney Sweeney on the show? Yeah, yeah she sold, she is selling soap that has her bath water

infused into it. By the way, I don't believe this for a second. Does anyone believe this? Yeah, I believe this. Do we actually think she sat in a bath and then someone took the water from that and turned it? That's 1000%. Kind of a trick. By the way, who's to check? How do we know?

No, there's nobody. I sold like 2000 of them. Is there a video, like do they have photos? But even if they had photos or videos. They're asking for a different product now. I was gonna say yes, you guys can put a link, bro. No, no, no, all I'm saying is, certificate of authenticity. If I buy an autograph from like a store,

like a memorabilia store, they'll often show you the photo. So you're asking if somebody was there watching Sydney take the bath and then going. You wanna see her in the bath? No one said she had to be naked in the bath. She could be in a bathing suit. Like I'm just saying. There's no way to verify.

I don't want the soap then. I don't want the soap. She went to the bathing suit. What the fuck? there's no way to verify but also is this like water that she used to actually bathe herself like she was dirty these are the questions that an interesting consumer would ask I guess we're always saying recycle reuse you know she's just doing the doing right by the I'm calling cap I'm calling cap on the whole thing I believe it fully I believe it too. I just bath water bliss here it is okay they're just they're just they're just promoting

it as such is there any visual evidence of her in a bath and then them taking the water from said bath it's completely sold out for bath how much how much how much is one it's completely sold out it was it was a limited release I mean the advertisement it is a picture of her in a bath a bathtub. Okay. Okay. There's the answer You're like we need I need a certificate of authenticity also by the way, could you imagine what are these going for on the By the way, could you imagine what are these going for on the SRP 250 someone's like Ariel Ohani bath soap. I think we should look at that. I think this would be new merch They're numbered out of 5,000. It's so weird. It's I mean

For a few years now, it is we're not gonna kink shame. We like it. Wait, wait Wait, what's the trend the trend of like people taking the bath water and selling it for real companies are doing this It's a saying to you know, I drink your bath. Oh, I've heard that but like is there a taking used to make a oh wait What I was saying was correct, okay, I'm happy I'm happy to know that I'm happy I'm happy was correct okay I'm happy I'm happy to know that I'm happy I'm happy yeah cut to Ariel Hawani's home and there's 30 of the next week where the bar sofa sitting on his desk next to all my big revelation of the past 24 hours is that I don't even know like how she's so famous I mean obviously I know she's good-looking all that stuff but like I was doing the bit with Ade,

and even you guys, cinephiles that you are, couldn't even name. Modern Well. No, we can name, but Euphoria. That's what she's really famous for. Titanic. We can name, but it is accurate to say she's not in- She's in Titanic?

Yeah. Yeah. You didn't know that? Yeah, she's like one of the young kids getting off the boat. It also comes with a signed picture of her that says, you can shower with me anytime. Bro, this is crazy.

I don't think that's true. I cannot even imagine how much you got paid to do this. Wait a second, wait a second. That's the certificate? Yeah. No, no, again, I need the dude at the card show signing the autograph. I need that version. You need it stamped. I need something. You need PS show signing the autograph. I need that version.

You need it like stamped. I need something. You need PSA grading on the Sidney Sweeney. By the way, you know what's the move by the way? NFT, all right, of her saying, hey, come, you know, I'm gonna take a bath right now. That's the move. And then cut to a shot of a gorilla having a pizza party,

wearing a cowboy hat, and then it ends with Darren Taylor going like this, we don't care. Hey, favorite segment of the week from Patrick McCray, GC, can you break the fourth wall on Fight Feast a little? What is the editing process like? How much footage gets left unseen? And will we ever get an episode of all the outtakes? Ariel, will you be on the broadcast for Katie versus Amanda?

I sure will. GC. Sometimes there's not any outtakes, which is unfortunate. Sometimes it just works out that there isn't any. The editing process, compile all the footage, a lot of it gets cut out. Camera guy Nick is good at cutting it down and then I will add all the production elements to it.

It's a timely process, but I think it's worth it. It's a lot of fun. Soup to nuts, what are we saying? Soup to nuts, I mean, the day of filming takes a while. Like to go to the destination, to do everything there and then get home is usually like four or five hours and then editing is probably another four or five hours six hours I'd probably say like 12 hours of of time spent on each one favorite one probably Philadelphia still yeah

yeah she's gonna go to her but I got a I got a good plan for this weekend in Atlanta oh yeah okay Jake hi Ariel and crew. Just wondering, what are your thoughts on the chances of a potential Kayla fight versus Rhonda, presuming she gets past Amanda? I would say less than negative a thousand. I know it's unlikely, but do you think there's a chance? No. I don't think Rhonda's fighting. Here's a question. Kayla and her prime, Rhonda and her prime 135, who wins? You have to assume Kayla, right? Rhonda was a really good striker.

Stop that. Kayla's a better striker and Kayla was a better juggling player. And the games evolved as well. I would say Kayla. For sure, Kayla. Yeah, you'd be right. Love to see it. A little bit of history there. It's some tension. What about that story that she told on Monday

about the sparring session and then I'm not the one who stopped after two rounds. What's that all about? Oh, man, come on. You think she was pissing her off? Oh my God. No, she's saying Amanda was whooping her ass, but she wanted to keep going and Amanda did not.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, all right. Why would she not want to continue? Did something happen at the end of the second? Did something happen at the end of the second? Yeah, yeah. Was she gaining momentum? And she had hardly even trained MMA at that point.

See, I'm not buying this whole like, oh, we're friends, let's hug it out. There's tension there. There's no doubt about it, right? Am I right? Amanda has gone on record and said that she left the gym because of Kayla Harrison. I don't think it's friendly at all. Roboido, aka Roberto. Hi Ariel. Is Dana moving away from the UFC perhaps for boxing? His appearances are becoming less and less frequent.

No. I think he just, I mean, I'll admit, like it's a little weird that he's, where was it? It was Jersey last week. He wasn't at like the press conference and all that, and he was promoting his drink, right? But I just think, I think the train can go, look, here's the thing. I think it is such a well-oiled machine. We are not in 2009, 2010 territory where he has to go out there, do a million interviews,

do the scrums, talk to newspapers, talk to everyone and sell everyone on what it is. The work is done. Now, is there a benefit at times to having him there? Yes, but you can also make the case from just being a thousand percent honest that he does more harm than good. Like Saturday's Post-Fight Press Conference was not one for the highlight reel. He seemed disinterested, he seemed apathetic, honestly he seemed like he wasn't like fully up to date with everything. The part that like makes me cringe inside is when he goes to these press conferences and someone's like, so uh you know like who do you think is next for Josh Vann? Like come on you really think he's

going to tell you like about the 12th ranked flyweight or something like that? Or they'll ask him about like, you know, some Swedish or European fighter on the prelims. Like what did you think of him? And yeah, he's good. Good. See how it all plays out. So that's a little uncomfortable. And so I think that when it comes to the Dana that we see at slap fighting and even with this new project, with the boxing stuff, you'll see elements of the old Dana coming out where he's passionate. He has to be passionate about the project.

And I think there's a part of him that thinks like, the job is done here. And the whole thing could kind of roll without him. I'm not asking for this, but if Dana just stepped aside tomorrow, I don't necessarily think the product takes a hit. Does anyone disagree?

He's not doing the negotiation. He's still very much affiliated and in many respects the face, but it's not from like a PR standpoint. It's more from like a figurehead standpoint. Yeah. I think the hit there, what the product would take a hit, but it would be in that the UFC loses one of its biggest stars that that would be it. Like it would, it would be the equivalent of taking the hit

that they're going to take when John Jones goes away. Like they're losing somebody who's a bankable star for them in Dana White. It's not the business. It's not the operations of it. It's the face of it. What odds would you give on him being around for the next broadcast deal, Larry?

Not this one, the next one. Well, we don't know how long it's going to be. Let's say it's going to be, I don't know, seven years. Yeah. I don't think he wants to go anywhere, to be honest. Like I think this is his life. Yeah, I was going to say, I feel like the odds are like minus 500, minus a thousand, he'll still be around.

Look at, by the way, look at the lifers, Bob Aram, Don King, Vince McMahon. They don't go anywhere. They worked so hard to build this. Why would they? Now, they could keep this and also start building other things, which is what you're seeing Dana do now. But I don't think he wants, look at him now. He's walking out with the president.

He's got all the celebrities there. He's got the multi-billion dollar deals. Like, why walk away from this? And also, you're not in the weeds. Like, Hunter Campbell is doing the weed work, if you will. He's doing the negotiation. Like it's, it's the perfect setup. Show up, do a couple of interviews, do some face-offs. It's a great gig.

So the trouble hearing at the press conference. Yeah. So what is that? What is that? Um, speaking of which from our boy, Abay, hello Ariel. How will history reflect on UFC slash Dana's handling of current, handling of current handling of Jones and heavyweight? As you say, they've now pulled out the stops to make Tom versus Jones,

but when considering the full story, they quote unquote fumbled the bag. At the very least, make Jones versus Aspenall instead of a steep A fight, Dana pretended was must see. I don't think John was taking that fight. So it was either you're getting John or you're not. Add to that Dana's ego costing us Jones versus Enganu at least once. I mean, John wasn't really all that interested as well. You could say that to a degree, but there were more players involved. And even if Jones left, no harm no foul, we see Aspinall versus Enganu at least once. Aspinall wasn't a player back in 2020 or something like that when they were trying to make

that fight. And even two years ago he wasn't who he is today. Instead Prime Aspinall's shelved and almost cleaned out of the division. I believe that's why Dane is so desperate to produce the fight and paper over the cracks of mishandling the division. He'll boast making it the biggest fight ever, when in reality, Jones, Tom, and Francis, between the three of them, you had at least three superfights.

Thoughts? The UFC has had superfights slip through the cracks in the past. Anderson versus GSP, Randy versus Fedor, Brock versus Fedor. There's been, you know, those are three. Jones versus Anderson was talked about at one point. Jones versus Enganu, Jones versus Aspinal now. So this isn't necessarily new, but it does feel like it's a little bit more

frequent. I mean, I would even put Ilja versus Islam as a potential huge miss. Like that could have been gigantic. Definitely. But ultimately, I don't think it's going to be a, it'll be a bigger stain on Jones's legacy than Dana's legacy. But also, by the way, I mean, let the

record show, Francis Enganu came on this program and said, they offered him the money to fight John Jones. Like, that was what the deal was. Francis Ngannou went a different direction. That was not Dana White's ego. That was Francis Ngannou saying, I want this offer over this offer.

They wanted him to fight John Jones. So that's not on Dana. The offer was what the offer was, and Francis went a different direction. But that's not Dana. And, and this time around, according to my reporting, they have given, or at least offered John what he wanted. Yeah, that's not Dana, though.

That's not Dana. Sorry. Speaking of Dana, from Cosmo Kramer, good afternoon, Ariel and crew. Dana White called you to ask for your advice. How nice. He needs a September pay-per-view to hold since Noche was switched to a fight night He wants to pick wants you to pick the location and the main and co-main to generate the most

Viewership possible for the fighters that are currently not booked where and who are you choosing? Have a nice day. Wow. What a question I like this Well, you have to look at who's available, right? So Pantoja will have fought in, I'm going through the, uh, the roster here, the rankings. Islam V. Islam V JDM. Yep. Well, honestly, if, if, if, if, if, if there are no roadblocks and, and Ilya gets by Charles,

I revisit that. That's the biggest I can make. You have Tom and John now, right? Cause they're both not booked. Yeah, but I'm, let's, let's, let's assume that they're not available. There's Marab out there. What do we got here? Oh, um, there's Marab out there. Volk out there.

There's JDM, there's Islam. DD people have fought in August. Oh, there's Islam, DDP will have fought in August. Oh, there's Zhang Weili versus Valentina. Can I do Ilya versus Islam and Zhang versus Valentina? I like that one-two punch. Ilya's booked. No, I'm saying he gets by Charles, he fights two months later. What do you think?

I like it, but... Risqué? You're following the rules if I'm being honest. Why, why a man why why why why the fights in two weeks fucking Elias book the fight is okay well John versus Valentina and can I do an all-women's card Kayla versus Amanda I don't put a Marab v. Volk. Pereira versus Onkaliyev? No? Don't love it. Who's Volk's?

Volk's number one contender? Hmm. Marab super fight. Arnold Allen. Arnold Allen versus Volkanovsky and Zhang versus Valentina. Where is it happening? The UBS arena on Long Island.

Oh, I should do that. I should do that. Long Island card. Actually that's the one that's the one that, uh, yeah, Trevor North Ariel and crew are people being too hard on Marab for not finishing fights. His last opponents have been Omar, Sean, so who do you own Jose Aldo, all of whom are incredibly

difficult to finish. Also, are there any similarities between the anti-trust lawsuit and collegiate athletics receiving NIL money? Both are not considered employees of the governing entities UFC and NCAA. Well, first of all, regarding Marab, I don't think people are being too hard on him. I think Marab's getting a lot of love now, right? I think he's getting a lot of love. And plus, this sport is very much like, what have you done for me lately? And his last fight was a stoppage win over Sean. Speaking of Sean, he did a podcast yesterday with his coach, Tim Welch, and I'm very impressed with how level-headed he is. Like, he's just not emotional and not offering excuses.

Obviously a little bummed and disappointed, but if you miss that, it's a really interesting look at how he's handling all of this, just a couple of things that I've been talking about. and not offering excuses. Obviously a little bummed and disappointed, but if you miss that, it's a really interesting look at how he's handling all of this, just a couple of days removed. He's one of the guys that does something that is rarer and rarer these days, which is you don't shit on your opponent

before you fight them. Instead, you say they're fucking fantastic, and I'm gonna beat them, and when I do, then you're gonna know how good I am. And he's like, you said, said going into the fight the first fight Marabza a hard motherfucker set it heading into this one and then set it after the fight like that does you wonders because you're you're really taking the challenge seriously and also not now you didn't get beat by somebody

who sucks you got beat by the best bantamweight in the world yeah I've always liked the way Sean O'Malley has handled it. I saw some recently do the opposite I'm like, oh this could I mean we were just talking about patchy mix who said this guy's yeah He's a bum and then you lose to a bum. What are you? Yeah, so it doesn't work that well Sean O'Malley's the best example of this is Tommy Fury who called Jake Paul a bum and then reacted like he had just won You know the heavyweight title of the world when he beat him. Got cried, yeah.

Yeah. I'm like, wait a second. I thought he was a bum. I thought he was a bum. And now you're reacting like it's the biggest win of your life. You know, Paci said he was looking past the guy. Yeah. Through him. I'm looking through him. He's not even in front of me. That's what he said. He said he was going to submit him and then submit all his coaches as well.

Jesus. Yeah, it just doesn't look good. And also... The amount of lines that he said. Yeah. The belt is mine. Called him a journeyman. Rob is just holding it for well. Jesus. Yeah, it just doesn't look good. And also- The amount of lines that he said. The belt is fine. Called him a journeyman. Marab is just holding it for me. Jesus.

That's what he said to Chook in his interview too. Like, Marab used to roll with me. That's what he said. Like, he wasn't rolling with Marab, he was rolling with me. But as you can see, if he had just come in with like, look, I'm getting my debut, I'm excited about it, Mario Batista is a really hard opponent, the landing is softer. But at the same like, look, I'm getting my debut, I'm excited about it, Mario Batista's a really hard opponent, the landing is softer.

But at the same time, look, if he comes out looking like roses out of that, it was worth the, you roll it into the Connor McGregor thing. You just keep, you know, rolling hot at the table, but it doesn't look good. I think Sean O'Malley does it perfectly every time, if I'm being honest. Cape Town Matt, hey Ariel and team,

while listening to that really awkward chat with Derrick Lewis, I I kept wondering is Ariel going to tell him to get lost? Did you think that at all? I'm struggling to work out why he agreed to the interview. I then wondered have you ever asked a guest to prematurely end a live interview on the show? I've been watching you guys for years and that interview with Derek was the most awkward I've seen. Thanks for everything you do and hashtag strip John Jones. here's the thing. I will answer this, and inevitably, there will be comments of,

Ariel's crying about, look, I'm answering the questions, just for the record. And I'm sort of going in chronological order here. Bouncing around a little bit, but I don't read these beforehand. I try to, like, read the first two lines, just to make sure that everything is kosher. Um, I did not think, I did not enjoy the interview,

as I said last week, but I did not think of ending it. I don't know, Rick, you may remember. I don't think I've ever ended an interview prematurely. Obviously, some go longer than the other, but I've never been like, all right, see you later. The worst one was probably the Bryce Mitchell one back in the day. The one where I think it would have been justified,

but I prefer almost working it out. Strickland, you remember he was like saying some stuff to me, but I don't mind the friction, I don't mind the awkwardness, I don't mind the tension, but I do think Derek was trying a little too hard to create a moment and it just wasn't there. I get his sense of humor, I've talked to him a bunch of times.

And it was just, I think, missed the mark. Now, maybe it's because we haven't talked in three years, and we were a little rusty, but ultimately forgot about it, don't really care, and didn't think to end it prematurely. And also, you have to remember that we're doing live programming, right? And so there's the entertainment factor. It's not just like, does Ariel want to continue talking to this person? Like, there's an expectation. So yeah, there's a lot of factors that play into that.

But I can't think off the top of my head, Ariel, of one that you just like said, let's pull the plug. Santana507, shout out to the crew. My question, what do you think of the John Jones, Tom Aspinal situation? Nah, just kidding, serious question. Considering Umar and Islam have very similar, if not the same style, and that Murab has already won

against that style, as well as the murderous row he has been through, do you think there should be an argument for Murab being number one pound for pound over Islam? Thank you very much, and much love from Panama, the country, not Florida. Shout out. Yeah. By the way, we have our-

I think we have the on-ground pound for pound rankings. Yeah, we do have it. And let me go to it. Stand by, stand by. We're going to put it up on the screen. Oh, we got it. Okay. Islam one, Toporia two, Murab three. Don't hate it, but I think you can make a very

strong case for Murab two, if not one. I have those three in the same order. And Pentecostal four I like as well. Drichas don't mind. Tommy don't mind. Magomed don't mind. I think it gets a little wonky towards the end, but don't hate it. But yes, to answer the question, I do think you can make a case for Marab,

number one. I really do. Reboito, question for Pizzi, what's the story of the statues of Pele and Maradona behind you being from Naples. It's nice to see Diego every week. Peace to you all. I got these when I was on the on the Amalfi coast before we started this show. And I just figured I need more shit for the background. I used to have a lovely pair of headphones here, but it was my get rid of them today.

Is that an Everton logo top left? Now Dublin, GAA. Love Maradona. Life is life. We have Baggio there as well, mate. Oh, where, where, where? For the Italians. Ah, you're covering him. Look at the ponytail.

Roberto Baggio. Some revolver. Oh yeah. Are you hyped for the club world cup? Do you know what? It's not a popular thing to say, but I am. I know. Everyone's giving out about it, but I'm actually fucking really excited.

Because the summer. I'm trying to crawl into my design contacts. So I'm just like, oh, it's funny enough. I'll be in America that week. Oh, just like, all right, cool. Come on. Oh, that's right. You'll be here for the final. Yes, I'm saying I'm texting everyone going,

I mean, you were are you working at the event? And they'd be like, just not write me back, but I'll get one of them. I'll catch one of you design. We should go to the final on the, what is it? It's on the Sunday. It's on the 13th. Yeah, let's do it. It's at MetLife.

Oh shit. No, I'm flying home on the Sunday. We can go to the semis. Is the semis at MetLife too? Yeah. For the uninitiated, why is it not like... Tell us, PT. Give us some prestige.

Like, why do people not want it? They see it as like a money grab. Like there was, you know, there's already a lot of complaints about how much the players are playing. That is true. I don't understand how they do it. Yeah, it's crazy. And then there was a big kind of protest a couple of years ago when they tried to bring

in this Super League. And this is just kind of seen as an extension of that. But here's, I remember when they were doing that super league. Here's the thing, Rick, this is the first time that they've done this format in the past. The club world cup would be like, wouldn't it be like in December or something? Yeah. And they would take like four top teams from different regions and, and it would be in

some like random city and no one would care about it. It wouldn't even get like a blip on the way. It would be like UEFA nations league. Of course some would care, but it would be in some like random city and no one would care about it. It wouldn't even get like a blip on the way. It would be like UEFA nations league. Of course, some would care, but it would be nothing. Now what they've done is now what they've done is they're trying to recreate the world cup. So instead of being a yearly thing, it's going to be a once every four year thing. And it's going to be when there's no world cup, no, uh, Euro cup. So in that, in that little, and no women's world cup.

And, um, so, so this year, this summer, everyone loves the summer global tournaments. This was an off one, perfect. Copa America was in America last year. This is in America this year, World Cup in America next year. Perfect for them in their quest to grow the game. And it's 32 teams, and now it's going to be every four years. So they're going to try to make it into a thing like the World Cup and Euro Cup where it's a lot more prestigious and not just this watered down thing.

So this is the first time ever that it's this format and you'll only see it again in four years. Dezone paid a crap load for it, reportedly over a billion dollars. They've got the rights. TNT has the rights. But that was donated by Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia donated a billion and they, Dezone. I mean, neither here nor there. I don't know. Is that, is that a fact? I don't know. Is that like reported? That's what, that's a report. And I heard, yeah, yeah. Sure. Um, I mean, yes. Uh, the zone maybe doesn't have that kind of a liquid cash.

It's a huge get for them. And, uh, I'm curious. I've seen reports that the tickets aren't selling very well, like inter Miami is giving away and stuff like that. The weird thing about it is it sounds like the qualification was a little wonky. Like they really wanted Messi involved. And so they did this one thing where like, okay, because you won this random thing, you're in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They want some random things. So that kind of takes away from it. But I think-

Who can participate? It's any soccer club in the entire world? World, so it's like X amount from Europe, X amount from Asia. I don't know what the threshold is though. And so they gamed it a little bit to get messy in there. They gamed, and then even for like some of the English clubs, if you go in, you could type in like, how do you qualify?

And it's like, oh, they were the six once removed and had an uncle named Frank. And it's like, what? I don't know. To be honest, don't we want that? Right. If you're watching the product, don't you want those teams that you want to see? Don't you want to see a messy? Everything?

There's no Arsenal. There's no, uh, well, there's only so many. I think Man City is definitely in it. Man City is in it. Chelsea is in it. Real. One thing in the defense of all this, um, the champions league was a Well, there's only so many. I think Man City is definitely in it. Man City is in it. Chelsea is in it. One thing in the defense of all this, the Champions League was a manufactured thing

when it first came out by Le Keep, I believe it was, in France. Like a magazine literally made this because they were like, we need something to report on during the week because there's nothing else on. So that formed the most prestigious tournament in world football at the club football anyway, the champions league at the time when that came out, nobody wanted to touch it. Like I think it was the fifties and sixties. Um, they were like, Oh, this is bullshit. This is just some magazine thing that came along and now it's like the, the biggest honor you can win in, in club football. So, you know,

things can change. Oh, look, I'm, I'm, I'm, I am, I am genuinely looking forward to see another thing, Rick, that people are annoyed about is they've kind of changed the rules of the transfer window to cater to this. So the transfer window is remaining open to allow players to get transferred in to new clubs for this. So the likes of Trent Alexander Ireland from Arnold from Liverpool can go to Real Madrid earlier. I think they had to pay 10 million to get them there earlier. So he's going to be in it for real. I think so as far as I know. You're going to teams that are in it from teams

that were not so that they could stack it. Yeah. Well, I like that. That sounds great. They just paid more. They just paid more money. And the likes of Neymar is looking to get into a team here to give himself a chance at getting into it.

The Brazil team again, things like that. Like there's loads of little subplots. Um, this is going to be the one soccer event that Rick watches. I love the idea of them just rigging it. I love not, not sorry, not rigging the outcome. I want to be clear. I'm not, I'm not casting aspersions on how it, how it actually goes on the, on the pitch, but like the idea of like, Hey, we want to get our biggest stars and best players in this shit. I'm, I'm down. Yeah. They tried to get Ronaldo, we want to get our biggest stars and best players in this shit. I'm down. Yeah. They tried to get Ronaldo.

That's what I'm saying. They tried to get Ronaldo and it didn't work out. Who knows? Everyone's getting mad in the chat that we're talking about soccer. Chill out. OK, so crazy. Everyone. My chat is such a positive one.

It's crazy. It's crazy. One dude is freaking out saying, I know nothing about football. Yo, I'm just trying to explain to the cat. That was a good explanation, Ariel. I thought that was a fucking good explanation, mate. Back to your mom goes to college, Ariel, you've consistently shown that you understand

what doesn't work in MMA promotions, thank you. For instance, you saw that the PFL was destined to fail long before most others were even raising concerns. Like you said, a team format just doesn't work. Well, in their case, it wasn't a team format, it's more the league standings, playoff format, but yes, it does seem like we're evolving away from that which I would say is good news So here's my question if you were to launch your own MMA organization

What would you do differently to stand out and generally challenge the UFC if not match it at least come close? Would also like to hear New York Ricks take well the thing is like you have to just you have to take baby steps Don't try to blow things out of the water, out of the gate, look at what happened to the legs of affliction. Try to see, look, I know it's easier said than done, but try to see what they're not doing and try to lean into that. For example, people seem, at least I think,

to have this appetite for just like fun fights. Put on fun fights, Put on the best fun fights possible. Have fun entrances. Great production. Great visuals. Let them wear what they want. Let them be themselves. Be the place where, hey, if the UFC and PFL are going to be like all buttoned up, like we'll be the fun league. What would Elite XC and Strikeforce attempted to do and to some degree had a bit of success. Obviously Obviously it didn't work out. It's very, very hard. It's extremely hard to run a proper MMA organization. But here's another example. Over in boxing, I think what MVP is doing right now is brilliant.

It's very clear that the big dog, Riyadh Season, isn't all that invested, for whatever reason, in women's boxing. So let's just gobble up all the women's stars out there and let's go all the way in. Smart, be different. I mean, that was a huge thing for Scott Coker in the Strike Force days. He had a women's division, they didn't,

they being the UFC. And then obviously that changed once they acquired Strike Force. So just try to put on fun fights. I would invest a lot in production, make it look as good as possible, crisp, fun entrances, quick shows, not drawn out, tap into local markets. If you want to just focus on one region, focus on one region. Maybe you go back to the Bay.

Maybe you try to take what StrikeForce once had, but this sort of, hey, we're going to make this a league and standings and playoffs and all this stuff. It just, it won't work. It hasn't worked. It will never work. Just put on fun fights. Don't even, the belt doesn't even matter. Introduce those later, put on the best

matchups possible. That's where I would start. By the way, speaking of the PFL, they are back. There's a fight on that card coming up later this week that I'm really looking forward to. The Thad Gene versus Jason Jackson fight are back. There's a fight on that card coming up later this week that I'm really looking forward to the Thad Jean versus Jason Jackson fight.

Yeah, it's going to be a good one. They had a really great, um, face to face after their, their wins. We had, uh, Thad on the show, not to be confused with Thad Jean, um, and I enjoyed him very much representing Haichi and, uh, you'll recall when recall when they, when they kicked this all off, we did our brackets for the, the PFL tournaments. And I thought this would be a good time now with the,

the second round upon us to check in on how we all are doing. Rick, do you have some results for us? Yeah, why don't we start with looking at the bracket, right? The current bracket. So we've got, this is the current welterweight bracket. Um, and so that's tomorrow at 11 PM Eastern on ESPN main card. That's right. Those are, those are two really good fights.

Yeah. We've got the, the matchup that you just mentioned, Jason Jackson and Thad Gene, and then Storli still in it and, uh, Kukuri, uh, who, who got by in the first round. So now, you know, let's see who's still live actually from the picks that we originally made. Yes, let's see. Let's see. Okay. First up, Ariel's picks. Wow.

I could have sworn I picked Thad. You've got, no, you did not pick that. I know. You've got- I was waiting so excited to check this. You got Logan Storley as your winner and he's still in it. Yo, I got Kikori too. You got Kikori.

And you got three of the four. You got Jackson as well. Yeah. We're going to GC's in it. Yo, I got Kikori too. You got Kikori. And you got three of the four. You got Jackson as well. Yeah. We're going to GC's picks next. Oh.

Jackson. All right, my final is alive, baby. He had the same bracket as you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like it? Except. If a winner. He has, yeah, he has Jackson.

Yeah, final's still alive. Let's go to Jason Jackson. Let's go to, let's go to my picks. Okay. Oh no, let's go to my picks. Okay. No, no, let's go to my picks. Yeah, I had... Okay. I had... Ah, you got one half of the bracket, right? I didn't have Jackson even. Oh, you don't have the final.

Yeah, it's rough out here. And then finally to Pizzi's picks, he has Jason Jackson taking it all. So, he's still alive. So, me and Pizzi have the same he has Jason Jackson taking it all. So he's still alive. So me and Pizzi have the same one. By the way. We really went over. Nice. Yeah, not a single one.

And I think he could be the favorite. He's the underdog. Oh, okay. Well, I just feel like he's got good vibes. Yeah, great vibes. Who is the favorite? Jason Jackson. He's the chill guy.

He is a chill guy. What else? What else? Did he ever get that date with Dakota? How did that all work out? I don't think he did. No, it didn't work out for him. What else? What else? Did he ever get that date with Dakota? How did that all work out? I don't think it did. What else? What else?

Let's actually go to featherweight. We're going to go to featherweight because that's the, the other one that's going to be on, on tomorrow's card. All right. This is the current bracket. Hey Suspenedo, Gabriel Braga, Havu Liev and Kim.

Let's see where everybody landed. We'll start with Ariel. I definitely picked Jeremy Kennedy. You picked Jeremy Kennedy. Oh, Jesus, to win, gosh. What was I thinking? Oh, over. I don't think you have anybody left.

Yeah, you went over. Your brackets. I'm surprised I didn't do the all-Canadian final, but. Yeah, I actually shamed you for that. And you were like, I'm not a big Fred Dupras believer. That's true. Should have been even less than'm not a big Fred Dupras believer. That's true. Should have been even less than one.

You should have taken Gabriel Braga. So I literally have none? You have none left. Jeez. Goodbye. Okay, see ya. GC had Movlede Habilayev. Oh. Yeah. And Gabriel Braga.

And Pinedo. I went three for four on this one. Okay, that's not bad. You did pretty good. Not bad, not bad. Six of eight. So you got two three for fours, yeah? You did pretty good. Not bad, not bad. Six of eight. So you got two three fours, yeah? Yeah, I still got my finals in both.

I did okay. I've got my guys left. I've also got Mo Vlid winning, but I had Adam Boric winning, so Jesus Bonito beat him. But I'm still live. I'm still live if Mo Vlid can get it done. How about Pizzi do?

Pizzi had the exact same bracket as me. Pizzi had the same bracket. Okay. All right. So I think I'm in first right now. Yeah, you're at first, but you have first everything. You're the pick king of this group.

It's exhausting. Yeah, it is. It's, it's, it's tough being at the top, you know, Drake close, Drake is, Drake is close. Mendenhall, you know, we're all in the mix there. Nobody, nobody's out of it except for Frank. Um, Drake close. Drake is Drake is close. Mendenhall, you know, Oh, you're talking about all the other we're all in the mix there. No, but nobody's out of it except for Frank. All right. GC's me.

Bantamweight. Let's go to the Bantamweight bracket. This one's the following week, Friday, June 20th, a little earlier start time. I can appreciate that on the East coast. Oh yeah. Get a little earlier start time. ESPN ESPN plus here's car in bantamweight bracket

Okay, and here's definitely one with jake. No, I did not. Okay. Did not I thought you did Yeah, I thought I did too. I I got him all the way to the final, but I didn't get him Okay, so how many are correct there? I think hadley You've still got hadley. Yeah, just one good Gutierrez? Yes. Yeah. Gutierrez as well. I think I really fucked this one. Your winner is unfortunately out. All right. Jake Hadley's still in.

But you've got Hadley and you've got. Okay. Yeah. So, so, so GC still has, so he has, you have all three so far still alive. Yeah. All three of my champs. All right.

What else? What else? I've blown it once again. Man, we all believe my champs. All right, what else? What else? I've blown it once again. Man, we all believe in Gasmov. I lost in the first round with Leandro Ego. I think mine's really bad this time on this bracket. Yeah, I'm completely out. Yeah, you had Gasmov. And Pizzi. Fuck. Okay, I think the next one's a good one. What do we got? What do we got? Let's go to, I want keep this in the in the chronological order. So what do we got lightweight? Let's go to lightweight. Yeah This is the winner. This one's for you. Oh my dear. What a mess. No, I thought that was the winner of

Yeah, some featured fight. Yeah, there was a there was another about Archie Colgan. Yes, that was it Well, this one doesn't count because Kevin Lee just like Walt. Let's say no, it still counts. Yeah. It's are still our. I changed my pick. But.

O town phenom. Rising prospect Motown Motown. Yeah. And Lee is, is back Brent Primus, Alfie Davis. Oh yeah. You're a big D KC fan. You were out there in the lobby. Davis here.

I think I've got a few lads here. You were going big on Mark D. Casey. Yeah, I mean, I like the vets. But had I known freaking Kevin Lee would just waltz in, I would have gone with him. You should have asked yourself the question that everybody asks. Where does Kevin Lee get into this?

That's a good point. That's a good point. You would have been there. Let's go to GC. Robert Donov. Still in it? Still in it. Four for four. Yeah. Son of a gun. So got your boy D.C. Robert Donov. Still in it? Still in it. Four for four.

Yeah. Son of a gun. Took out your boy, D.K.C. Son of a saint. I heard that this past week. I like that. Instead of son of a bee, son of a saint. What else, what else?

Yeah, I had Shabli. Mm. I don't think I'm doing good here. And here comes Pizzi. I have Pizzi. Ah, Shabli too. No D.K.C. for you, huh? Shabli got bounced? Yeah. No, didn't he have to pull out?

He got sick. They don't have Alvy Davis, no? Yeah, yeah. Alright, let's keep going. What else? Let's go to heavyweight. This is fun. It's great. We've got Moldovski and Romanov. What's at stake, by the way? We never actually discussed that by the way. We never kind of outlined. $100,000. GC is feeling good now.

The winner has to give us 1%. Alright, here we go., you got no yeah and Moldovski they're both in it All right. All right. So this is my best one heavyweight, baby. You're doing 27th watch party watch party in Vegas before Fight week. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. All right, what do we got? What do we got? What do we got? Oh, yeah, Romanoff Wow pop. Oh, you got everyone, huh? I think I just missed the Nascimento one. No, but all your finalists, no, a lot. Not Babli, he's missing. Oh, right, right, right. He had one incorrect.

Why the fuck did I pick Babli? Okay, what else, what else? Your boy got them all. Let's go. Your boy's got all four of them. Heavyweight was my bracket, heavyweight was my bracket. Now I just need a Romanov win. And then Pizzi.

Popov, all right. You're a little steny, huh? Yeah. I can't see shit, boys. I'm just taking your, taking your wood for whatever it says here. I'm just like, yeah, okay. All right, let's go to light heavyweight.

Okay. Is this the last one? No, we've got three more. Jesus, all right. Oh, fuck. Light heavyweight. Let's power through these. Shu Fei, Simian Powell, Sullivan, Collie, Phil Davis. Alright how'd we do?

How'd we do? Phil Davis, Sullivan, Collie, Shu Fei, Simian Powell, you nailed it Eric. Four for four baby! What else? I got uh, I got ooh Rob, Sullivan, Collie, Carl, Moore. Who made these fucking picks for me?

These are awful. Who put the gun to my head when I was picking these? These are awful. What is going on here? I did well. There's Rick. Tell me how I did. I'm judging by your noises.

I did well. I did well. PTU had Rob, Sullivan, yeah, why did we believe in Carl Moore and Carl Albrecht? Karl Moore has had some fucking great fights. All right, we're really hoping for a car on Carl Weekend there It didn't happen the big rematch big rematch middleweight. What do we got? Yeah, let's do middleweight baby and Edwards Josh Silvera Fucking well here. And now I'm doing well here.

Impa. Josh Silvera, Saidi Busai, Aaron Jeffery. Aaron Jeffery's still alive though. Impa still with me. Yeah, Impa. Impa is my champ, fuck. Yeah, so did I. Jeffery. Oh well.

So did I. Tough. Piz stuff pizza Fabian Edwards come on the fucking Edwards don't forget about old Mike Shipman oh no shipment huh all right what do we have left that they should offer women's flyway it's flyway yeah go to ditch of a oh yeah no she is not in it shock a little picture Jenna Bishop, Liz Carmouche. I took a few Hail Marys in this bracket if I remember correctly.

I remember you talking me through your process. You were big on the Hail Mary. They all lost, I believe. Ariel can't win this one. Ariel out. Okay, yeah. Thela Santos gone. Pete C. Can't win this one.

Kano Wotani was a solid pick, man. News to me. Uh, New York, Rick, Liz Carmouche. Uh, Talos Santos out. Only person with Liz Carmouche. I'm in. Damn. People have told me I'm a-

Tyler did us no favors there. Yeah, come on, Tyler. I'm a women's flyweight specialist. Pop Todd, uh, cue the Oban Elliott, please, Frank, if you will. Fucking hell. I can't wait for that card tomorrow. That is tomorrow on ESPN. 11 p.m., main card start.

Nice, PFO after dark. Nice, yeah. Fucking hell. There it is. PFO with breakfast pizza. Jesus Christ. Or just when the local closes down, right? Isn't that around the time?

Yeah, that we do in lock-ins, everyone will be dying to see it. Let's go back to a couple more questions before we say hello to Josh Van Arial. Why would John Jones rather fight Francis instead of Tom? Well, Francis a little bit older. I think the skill set favors him. And yeah, a little bit older. I think the skill set favors him. And yeah, a little bit older.

I think he's talking shit and is only saying this because he knows that there's a 1000% chance, no chance of this fight happening. That too, that 100% is accurate, yes. I think if he was offered 50 million to fight Francis, he would still not take it. I don't know about that. I think he would take it.

What do you guys think? You think he takes it or not? Yeah, I think he takes it. Yeah. What's up, Ariel and the boys? Few things I'd love to get your opinion on. You could only get, you could only get one. You can assume all are in their primes if you

want. John versus Tom, John versus Francis, Tom versus Francis. In terms of Joe Pfeiffer saying fraud check is when you fight tougher competition and get absolutely finished or the fight isn't close. Wouldn't that really be a reality check? Fraud check would have been losing Bo Nicol to Jamie Pickett or Cody Brundage losing to RDR. We need to see Mario Bautista and Song Yedong fight winner, winner fights Marab after Corey, if not Mario and Song. Can I tell you something about Mario? I feel like people really love Mario now.

I don't agree that, I didn't see that. He still feels like he's flying under the radar. Oh no, no, no. I look at the comments and then I see a lot of all my homies forgive Mario, all my homies love Mario I The best thing to happen to Mario Bautista last week I'm not getting the mic not getting the mic That was freaking out on the or at least I was I was like what the fuck is this that was that was the best thing

This guy just be patchy mix and they can't give him a goddamn mic. Yeah What was the three options were the the the John Tom Francis give me John and Francis that's yeah I'll go I'll go John Francis John Tom you know what I'll go Tom Francis I'll take any of them but Tom Tom John and Francis yeah John Francis prime for prime right yeah what a time what about Aaron who says what's up Ariel what do you think the 20 year old Ariel from Syracuse University? Walking to the shower and his flip-flops Holding New York Ricks anti dandruff shampoo would have thought when Merab said that being interviewed by you is

A dream for him. I've heard other fighters say that they watched you for so many years and it was a dream or goal to be On the show. Love the show Aaron Yeah, man. Let me tell you something. Those were some dark days not gonna lie I've told the story about waiting until everyone was in their room in their dorm waiting to like two three just to go brush My teeth. I was dealing with a lot social anxiety depression Very homesick Loneliness, I just I couldn't I couldn't get out of my shell very homesick, loneliness.

I just, I couldn't get out of my shell. I just couldn't figure it out. And so yes, to see how this whole story has played out. And you know what's the craziest part about it? Saturday mornings I would wake up and the highlight of my week was doing a show that I called the Main Event. And then I called it the Great White Northern Sports Show.

And it's literally the exact same version of this show. I'd have a couple of guests on who I would reach out to via email. Like I've said, the likes of Dave Meltzer and Bruce Buffer have come on. Dan Severn, etc., some WWE guys. Bobby the Brain Heenan, that was incredible. Gave me like an hour and a half. Tommy Dreamer as well. And then I would talk to my fake producer, Lester, which is, you know, it's great to talk

to actual real people these days, but it was very, very similar. And so to see how, like I've literally been doing a version of this show for 25 years. There was a break in between there because I did a little production for a couple of years, but that was 2001. So almost 25. It's really the same show. I

wonder if I could find those tapes from back in the day. That was a good time. Anyway, point is, dream big, keep going. Don't stop believing. Slava, hey Ariel, I haven't missed an episode since you went back to Vox. And, oh, we did this already, bro. Don't read the same question twice. It's what I'm talking about. We did this one already.

I did see this question, someone also wrote back that he did this last week, and he said, I haven't finished last week's episode. Yeah, and also that's a- so now you're lying because you said you haven't missed an episode. So that means you're three episodes. Well, he's still watching the episode. He hasn't missed it. Grab his rick and twist it Says asks what's the best advice your mother and father gave you? My mother always used to say to me, if you want to make God laugh,

tell him your plans for the future. And it's not necessarily advice, but it's like what I observed. So I always say I got my work ethic from my dad. I got my interviewing skills from my mom, but they were so supportive and so loving. And I remember in Syracuse when I wanted to quit, they were like, yeah, that's not happening.

You're not quitting. They didn't just coddle me and say, yeah, sure, you can come home. I'm like, no, you're finishing this. By the way, he also adds, PS, tell Frank to respond to my Xbox Live friend request invite. Duly noted. All right, so get on that.

Do you actually talk to people? I don't have an Xbox, but I do have a Colecovision and TurboGrafx-16. So is this not true? It's a running... do you watch every episode? Yeah, yeah, yeah, stop it. You know yourself Frank. Thank you very much to everyone for the questions. Arhehoand.substake.com is the place to send them. Back end, we'll maybe squeeze in a few but gentlemen We do have to get to our first guest of the day who is on fire Killing it right now has won four fights in a row just 23 Years young we just saw him fight on Saturday

Massive win over Bruno Silva very impressive third round TKO And he's coming back in just a couple of weeks at UFC 317 fighting the great Brandon Royval. He is the pride of Myanmar. He is one of the top flyweights in the world. He is the one and only Joshua Van, who is kind enough to join us right here and now. Hello my friend, good to talk to you again. Welcome back to the show. Ah, thank you man. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure really enjoyed our first check congratulations on the win and Man, I was thinking I'm happy that we waited a couple days to have you on because if we had you on Monday This interview would have been outdated because you already have your next fight booked And so could I ask how did this all come about you replacing Manel Cap to fight Brandon Royval in just a couple of weeks

Yeah, man When they call me Sunday, you know what I mean, it's just up to me that I can't say no. And I told the media I wanna fight as soon as possible. So you know what I mean? The UFC gave me a matchup and I have to say yes. So what happened? Did your, and there you are making the announcement on Monday afternoon.

What happened? Did your manager call you up and say, hey, you wanna fight in two weeks? And did you say yes right away? Yeah, he was like, hey man, you wanna fight Roe-Ivo? I said, yeah. And at first I didn't believe it, you know what I mean? And then I think Roe-Ivo has posted

like a Instagram reel or something. Yeah. And I was like, oh, this shit is happening. So that's when I make a post on Twitter. I love it. I love it. Now, how did you feel or how do you feel after your fight? You know, you did win, but it went almost a distance. Any bumps and bruises? Nah, no bruise at all.

Yeah, you look good. You look good. Yeah. Yeah, he's a tough man, man. Bruno Silva, shout out to him. He's a great guy. You know what I mean? I knew that I was gonna finish him,

but you know what I mean? So you knew you were gonna finish him, but it came relatively late in the fight. Were you at that point disappointed that you had not finished him? Nah. If you at that point disappointed that you had not finished him? Nah. If you listen to my corner, they want me to take it slow, you know what I mean? Like my previous fight, I always chased for the knockout and that probably why like a lot of people get away

from me knocking them out. You know what I mean? This time I could have had him in the second round, you know what I mean? But I just let it flow. The look on your face there as you're celebrating on top of the cage, it's happiness, but I also wonder if there's a little relief there as well, because your first three wins in this winning streak, you know, they were decisions and you wanted to finish.

So is there a part of you that's like, yes, I got one. This is what I was looking for? Yeah, and it wasn't just like the finish, you know what I mean? It was how I did it, you know what I mean? So it was just amazing, man. I go up there and I was like, I just suck it in, you know what I mean?

I kind of feel like this, I mean, this opportunity is incredible that you're getting because it's a huge card, International Fight Week against a guy who has fought for the belt before. There's a strong case to be made. You win this fight, you're the number one contender. Do you think that's the case? Yeah, for sure. I win this fight, I'm the number one.

Have you been told this? You win this fight, you're getting a title shot? No, but like, who am I supposed to fight next? You know what I mean? Like, but who am I supposed to fight next? You know what I mean? If I beat the number one guy, I'm the number one. So that's what I'm thinking right now. Yeah, I know you did mention Brandon Moreno, right, for Noche UFC.

So he would be another big name. But I guess in your mind, you win this fight, you're fighting the winner of Pantoja KKF. Yeah, for sure. The only reason why I called out Moreno was because, you know, everybody in the top 15 got a matchup and stuff like that, you know what I mean? And it was just me and him that were left

and he said he wanted to fight on the noche, so I want to fight in Texas. You know what I mean? So that was that's the reason why I call him out. But they give me a title. Yeah, I go for the title. You see Royval over there ranked number one, you're ranked number 10. Shout out to him for for obviously taking the fight.

Is he someone that you have been watching, thinking about fighting for the last couple of years? And not to be honest, I didn't think I was gonna fight him next. You know what I mean? But when the opportunity come, I was like, hell yeah, I'll take it. But you know what I mean, I don't really watch fights. So by now when they call me for this fight,

you know what I mean, I went back and watched all his fights, so. Oh wow, did you even know who he was? I mean, I know who he was, you know what I mean? I went back and watched all his fights. Oh wow, did you even know who he was? I mean, I know who he was, you know what I mean? He's the top guys in the division and stuff like that, but I ain't really watched all of his fights. Sure, so do you watch fighting at all? Like this weekend, will you watch the card?

Who's fighting? This is Usman Bakley. It's a fight night, it's a solid card, not a pay-per-view. Are you a hardcore fan who's gonna watch every weekend or if you're not fighting someone or there's no flyweights involved, you'd rather do something else? See, I like watching when Arasani is and Conor

and all them guys fight, you know what I mean? Yeah, I watch the big pay-per-views and stuff like that. I got you. By the way, congratulations. I saw the big pay-per-views and stuff like that. I got you. By the way, congratulations, I saw in the aftermath of the win. Did you buy your mom a new house? Yes, I did. Look at this, man.

This is incredible. Was this a goal of yours? Yeah, man, you know what I mean? Two days ago, my homeboy just texted me and saying like, hey man, you said this four years ago, you know, when you start training and look at you now. So it just brings back memories, like when I used to run in the street

and telling everybody, hey, one day I'm gonna do this. And you know, finally happened. It was just a dream come true. Look at that. That must be, did she know that you were buying it for her? No. Wow. So what was her reaction when you told her?

See, she was happy. She was very happy and then I told her, hey, I'm fighting in three weeks. But then she was like, oh, oh no, who? And then I was like the number one guy. And then she, like her face just changed completely after that. Does she get very nervous when you fight? Yes. Okay does she even watch live?

Mm-hmm she always come to my fight. Okay so she was there in New Jersey. Mm-hmm. And how is she when she's watching her son fighting like is she super anxious is she unable to you know some parents are watching like that? I mean she watched watch me fight, you know what I mean? She get nervous before like the fight started and all that, but I guess like when the fight starts, she enjoy watching me fight, you know? That's an incredible gift to be able to give to your mom. Do you remember the first time you started to think about

like this was something, this was a goal of yours, this is something you wanted to strive for, and why was that? Did you feel like she deserved better was there something going on where you felt like okay I can improve her life if I get to a certain part of my career see you know when my dad passed away in 2017 I had to I had to be the man of the house right so that's what kind of changed my life in a way too,

because I'm the only son in the family and stuff like that. So I see her struggling, and she would give me her credit card. So I can use that to go out and do whatever I want with it and stuff like that. So it was the only right for me to give her back, you know what I mean? And when I start training, like I would, you know,

we would run outside and stuff like that. And whenever I see like a new buildings or, you know, like a beautiful houses, you know what I mean? I always look up to, I always look to my friends and be like, hey, look, one day, one day I'll buy it. So yeah. to my friends and be like, hey, look, one day, one day I'll buy it. So, wow. Yeah. When did you actually buy the house before this fight? I bought it after I fought at, uh, was that the one I fought the Japanese kid?

Uh, what's his name? Retsuruya. Yes. Yes. But, uh, you know how like the process and all that was, but I just kept it secret. Love it. And you know what I mean? You were actually a little bit disappointed after the Rey fight, right?

I remember you tweeted something to that effect. So this time around, I would imagine you're over the moon. You're thrilled with the performance, with the finish, everything. Yeah, man, Rey Seruya is perfect example of me being impatient, you know, during the fight. So I was chasing him, chasing him, and that's when he, you know, his shot was like, you know what I mean? When you fight a wrestler and you rush, you know, that's when you give them the shot. So that's the reason why he survived.

We talked about your upbringing last time, and considering everything you give them the shot. So that's the reason why he survived. We talked about your upbringing last time and considering everything you and your family have been through. Here you are, you're living in a time where you're a top 10 fighter in the UFC. You just came off a great win on a huge card. They're asking you to come back two weeks later.

You bought your mom a house. Your dreams are coming true in front of your eyes. How are you dealing with all of this mentally? Like how are you processing all the things, the great things that are happening to you and your family right now? Staying humble, you know, and I don't get on social media that much no more because of, you know, sometimes when I get love like this or, you know, when I get attention like this, I tend to get big head, you know what I mean? So I'm trying not to do that right now,

especially I feel like this is a life changing fight. You know what I mean? So I wanna take it slow and serious, so I don't really wanna get on social media too much. Do you have anyone who checks you? Who's like, yo man, you're feeling yourself a little too much. Your head's getting a little too big.

Yeah, the coaches, Dan and Nader, especially Joseph. And you know what I mean? They'd be like, hey, we got a top. When did that happen? When's the last time that happened? The fight that I lost. Oh really? Yeah.

Well you were getting a big head after a loss. No, no, it was before, you know what I mean? I was on a three year winning streak and then, you know, like the fight kept falling off so I started like, I started drinking and I don't wanna train and stuff like that, you know what I mean? So they, we had to have a to train and stuff like that you know what I mean so they we had to add a series talk and stuff like that okay but but these days

you seem like you've got a good head on your shoulders and like I said you've come from so far by the way we were doing a little bit of research and I wanted to confirm something with you if I could we were looking on YouTube for you know some some good Joshua van content and we stumbled upon This young man with a voice of an angel and we weren't sure if this is you Is this you That's not you Okay, there's a boy named Josh van who has

Who's uploading videos from like 13 years ago, who was uploading videos, and we were debating, is this you, is this not you? And then some other people said they saw some videos of you singing, that you do have a good voice, but this is not you. No, that's not me. Okay, see?

I was right. Don't you have a good voice though? I got a decent voice, you know, I sing a little here and there at church. Oh, you do? Yeah. You're a part of like a choir or something? Nah, like I sing solo.

You think by yourself, what, really? Yeah. Like what? Just church stuff, you know? So you're up there on the stage by yourself? Yeah. Wow! That's incredible.

How long have you been doing that for? I mean, our culture is like, you know what I mean? They love singing, so like we do this shit, sing, we was little kids, stuff like that. So yeah. Are you still doing it till this day? Sometimes, you know, when I have time, or like when my pastor want me to sing, yes. Okay.

Is it any songs that I would know, or are they all kind of like, you know, like? Yeah, it's in my language. Oh wow! Can we hear a little bit, or? Since we played another kid singing that wasn't you, I feel like it's only fair. See, I'll send you the videos later.

Okay. You post them somewhere? Yeah, I post them on my Facebook and stuff like that. By the way, this is why we're like, oh, he posts videos on his Facebook. This has to be him. But it's a big swing and a miss for us. We really nailed that one. I kind of want to crawl into a hole right now, if I'm being honest. nailed that one. I kind of want to crawl into a hole right now if I'm being honest. I love it. I love the fact that there's probably people at the church who are like, who probably don't even know that you're a fighter, right? They just think that you're a guy with a good voice who sings at church. Our church is a small church, you know what I mean?

So it's like, it's like a family church type. So everybody knows everybody, you know? So before I go to fight, you know, they always pray for me, like the whole church will pray for me and stuff like that. Oh, wow. Amazing. Do you consider yourself a very spiritual, very religious person? You know what I mean? I pray a lot, but I won't say I'm the perfect Christian, you know what I mean? I do a lot of things where I'm not supposed to, but I feel like my connection with God is closer than ever. Okay. Also, just speaking, I'm not trying to make your head too big, but just speaking

of all the good things, did you know that you're now tied with Yohani on J-Check as the fastest ever to reach 750 significant strikes in the UFC. Look at this. It took you only seven fights. That's an incredible thing. That's crazy, right? I saw that before my last fight and I'm like, yeah, that's bad ass. Yes. And also you have, I believe, five flyweight fights with 100 plus significant strikes, and the only other fighter to do that is Brandon Moreno. You're putting yourself in really special territory here. Yeah, man.

Shout out to my boxing coach, Jose Vasquez. He's the reason for it all. Yeah, him and Frank. I saw you with another famous fighter from your country, Ong Lang Sang. You guys were doing, you were doing some workouts. You were hitting mitts with him. Here's some footage here.

Do you guys have a relationship or was this the first time that you had trained together? This is the first time we met. Oh, wow. Really, so he got a fighter that fight for Fury, where I used to fight and stuff like that. So they came to Houston and he had reached out to me to do a shakeout at our gym.

So that's how we met. Is this someone that you looked up to as you were climbing the ranks? Yeah, man, he always look out for me. I was a little kid, so I was scared to reach out to him. So he reached out to me first, and then after that, we were kind of like, I would ask him advice and stuff like that on Instagrams and stuff like that.

But we never see each other. That was the first time we met, and it was great. He was a great guy. Wow, so you looked up to him, you were shy to reach out and then he reached out to you first? Yeah. That must have felt incredible. It was, man, everybody in my family is a big fan of his,

you know what I mean, so when he hit me up, I lost it. Oh my God, I can't imagine. Will you train together more in the future? Ah, yeah, he trained out of Florida, so you know what I mean, if we have time, Oh my God, I can't imagine. Will you train together more in the future? Yeah, he trained out of Florida, so you know what I mean, if we have time, we can cross train or whatever. I know you said that if you win this fight,

you think that you're the number one contender. You're also on pace to either tie or break the record for most fights in a year. Five is the record, this will be your third. Is that something that you would like to accomplish this year? Yeah, if the UFC give me opportunity, yes. But I feel like after I win this fight, you know what I mean, it's going to be the title. So I'm going to be the most active champion. I love that. The belt is being defended on that same card with

Pantoja going up against Kai-Kai France. Who do you like in that fight? I like them both. You know Kai is a very powerful guy. You know so I feel like if Kai don't show him too much respect I think he can get it done. But if, yeah. So, but if Pintoja bully him in there, then it's done. It's a wrap. Do you have a preference? Meaning if all goes according to plan and you fight for the belt, would you rather fight one guy over the other? I mean, it would be ideally if I fight Pintoja, right? Because nobody ever beat him as a champion. You know what I mean, it would be ideally if I fight Pintoja, right? Cause nobody ever beat him as a champion. You know what I mean? So if I go out there and beat him,

that'll be, you know what I mean? But whoever get the belt, man, may the best man win. This month marks your two year anniversary in the UFC. Is this all happening faster than you had planned? No, I really like, I feel like this is God timing, but in my head I wanna rush everything, you know what I mean? I remember there was time where I wanna be

the youngest champion in the UFC, so you know what I mean? I feel like everything happened for a reason, so I feel like this is the perfect timing. Did you like Newark? I like the people, but I don't really like the way they do things over there and stuff like that. What do you mean, what do you mean?

What do they do that you don't like? Because after the fight, you know, we got to the hotel looking for food and stuff like that, and there's no food, everything was closed and stuff. So, yeah, it was a little different. You guys were, I believe your hotel was in Morristown, right? Somewhere like that.

Yeah, it wasn't exactly like prime location, so I can see. And also by the time you guys got back, like what, did you stay till the end of the card? No, you know, after the fight, the post-fight interviews and all that, we weren't back, but it was like around 12. Okay, yeah, it's tough.

All right, so you're not a huge fan of New Jersey. Yeah, I like the people. The people, all right. We'll take it, we'll take it. Did you watch the rest of the card? Did you see what Marab did? No, I was too busy watching my own fight. Wait, you're just watching it over and over?

Over and over to see what I gotta fix on, you know, see what I can get better on and stuff like that. So I like watching myself. What's something that you aren't happy with as far as the fight and the performance is concerned? You know, even though I stay calm in this fight, like there is time where I still rush it, you know what I mean? So I could, yeah, I could like the leg kicks and stuff like that, you know what I mean? I could avoid that so much better.

Okay. Yeah, just let things like that. Another fun little factoid, you now hold the record for most strikes landed per minute with an average of 8.2, which is better than Tom Aspinall's 8.07. Did you know that one? Yes. Okay, you know them all.

I'm trying to surprise you with one like you surprised your mom, but you know everything. You're killing it right now, my man. And I'm really excited that you're getting this opportunity. How do you think this plays out against Roy Ville in just a couple of weeks? Man, it's going to be a great fight, you know. The fans are going to love it. So, he's a dog. And he's going to come out and bang. And you know what I mean? Uh, I'm going to do the same thing. So maybe the best man win. Yeah. He's literally a dog.

I believe his nickname is raw dog. Yeah. It's an interesting one. The field is going to meet in the middle. Oh, I love it. And, uh, the fence really seemed to be behind you. Very excited about you and you're giving them good reason to be behind you. So continued success. Congratulations on the win. Congrats on getting this fight.

Congrats on what you just did for your mom, which was incredible. Most impressive of all, if you ask me and looking forward to seeing you back in there on June 28. Thank you so much, Joshua. Yeah. One thing I want to say is please UFC or Mick or Dana, you know, me and and my coach Daniel Pineda make a deal before this fight so he said he coming back out of retirement if I finish this fight and you know what I mean so you know what I mean if y'all got a chance you know what I mean give my boy a chance give him a fight at 155 and if we can be in the same car, that'd be amazing. So when I fight for the title, he can fight.

There you are. Yeah, Daniel's been around for a while. Great veteran. I love that. So you made a deal that if you get a finish against Bruno Silva, he'll come out of retirement. Yeah, he can, he can fight on my undercar when I fought for the belt.

Oh, wow. How would he feel about that? Would he be okay with that? Oh man, you know what I'm saying? That's always my dream, you know, for me to be in the same car as him. So if the UFC can make it happen, that'd be great. By the way, how long have you been together?

I started training with them in 2022, so three years. Okay. Well, it's working out and we'd love to see that happen. That would be a great story. I think for you taking this fight on short notice, it's the least they can do. They owe you this one. So let's see if they oblige.

Thank you so much, Joshua. Really appreciate it. All the best to you and good luck on June 28th. All right man, thank you for having me. There he is, Joshua Van, doing big things, four in a row. Joined second longest active winning streak in the Flyweight division. Rank 10th as we showed you, seven wins via KO, two via sub, five via decision. 24 months by the way, he's already fought eight times.

June marks two years in the UFC. He's already fought eight times. And he's going to have his ninth later this month as well. That's an incredible run. And that will be his third fight of 2025, the record. Magni Holland, they've had five fights in one calendar year. He's getting close, although he's right. If he beats, if he beats Royval, I wonder if they do give him the title shot, because like we talked about yesterday, there's Horiguchi out there. There's Brandon Moreno out there.

Moreno versus Joshua Vann would be incredible. That would be incredible. That would be amazing. So looking forward to that. That is going down on June 28th, UFC 317. We'll be out there for UFC 317 doing a show on Thursday, Friday, doing the watch party, doing the post show. And then we've never done this. Well, yeah, we've never done this before, but we'll be out there. UFC 317 doing a show on Thursday Friday doing the watch party doing the post show and then

We've never done this because we well, yeah, we've never done this before but But if I'm being honest, I'm looking forward to it we're sure we're sticking around till Monday We're sticking around till Monday to do a post show to maybe get some of the guys in studio with us After the fight, what do you think, Frank? Wait, we are? Yeah. Sounds like I gotta poke a fight. By the way, who should I blame for the Joshua Van video there or should I just blame myself?

Yourself. Yeah, myself. Listen. I tried to tell you. You did throw it in the chat. I mean, sure. Did I find it? You smiled.

Did I find it? And also, by the way, did I not, did we not talk about the potential of it not being him and what the reaction would be if it wasn't him? I think that's because someone said, I don't know if that's him or not. Are you implying that you said that? No, no, no. You asked someone that, someone close to him, and they were like, I don't know if that's him or not. I did do my due diligence. We took a risk, man. We took a risk. You asked someone that, someone close to him, and they're like, I don't know if that's him or not. I did do my due diligence. We took a risk, man.

We took a risk. Josh Bickie kind of looked like him. The timeline matches up perfectly as well. Yeah, the singing, the church singing, the Facebook videos, we did find that. So it's like, okay, he's a singer. Also like that looks like a 10 year old kid. Yeah.

13 years ago, he was a 10 year old kid. Is it possible it's actually him? I think it might be him. you think he's messing with me he started smiling when you were like the absurdity of give me give me give me Tim Welch was like that's not my music I've been there but it was his music was it not it was yes boy oh yeah why did Tim do? He says that he couldn't hear it, which that is possible. Yeah, that's a hundred, I mean, with you on the ones and twos?

Jeez. It's a thousand. You know what? I think you were just, you saw some kid, you're like, oh, this is probably him. Unrelated TST coming in next week, just to shadow. Oh, okay, just to see how we do. See how we do things around here.

More than Mary, man. Wow, wow. Just need a good. You know, when someone came in to shadow me, I heard something about a Wally Pip situation. No, no, I'm not. Who's Wally Pip? He got replaced one day by like Luke Garrett

or something like that, never got his job back. Yeah, yeah. Don't forget Frank. Frank's replacing longtime audio guy Nick over here as well. That's right He did come in camera man No, two different separate people two Knicks don't make a right. Yep. Yep. No, listen everyone's No one has anything to worry about everyone's jobs are very very very secure. Is it jobbing commie said no, it's AI comm They'll be taking over. They'll be taking over all of us.

That was a resounding speech. Don't worry everyone, your jobs are... Yeah, everyone's okay. By the way, there can come a time where I'll be replaced by AI. I said you showed me... Just to soften the blow. You showed me... We're all in this together, guys. You can't spell H Haewani without AI. That's a good point, well said. You showed me a video where Dana White was talking about all kinds of craziness and it was AI.

Yeah. It sounded exactly like him. Match the lips and everything. One time you had a fan write you a letter that was all AI. Who saw the video of the kangaroo with the boarding pass? I thought that was 100% a real video, it was AI. That was the first time I really got got.

I've never heard of that. Oh yeah, it was going viral. Oh yes, yes, that was AI. That was AI? Yeah. Oh my God. It was such good AI that someone told me that, I was like, nah, bullshit, I did not get got there,

there's no way. That's scary, man. Yeah, Forbes came out and confirmed that it was all AI. That certificate of authenticity from Sydney Sweeney earlier. AI? Yeah. Ah, you know yourself. I can actually now that I think about it, Ariel also can't be spelled without AI. AI for both of them.

Maybe this is already AI wanting. Guess what? You can't spell Algemane without AI as well. Without further ado, gents, let us say hello to the former UFC Bantamweight champion, the, oh yes, there he is, the liquor impresario himself, the CEO and founder of Funk Harbor, the one and only. Al Jemaine, sorry, I hurt you, my man.

Welcome, welcome, please have a seat, have a seat. What is this, you brought gifts again? Yes, I was supposed to bring the white. Yeah, what happened? But we left it at the gym. Bro. Which gym? In New York? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I've heard of it. Probably shouldn't have it at the gym. No. This is nice. I want to get this in a good spot. Is this in a good spot? I want to make sure. Let me see that shot on Aljo here. Yeah, where is it? Where should we put it? Right there. Yeah. Every time they cut to you, it'll be sitting right there. That's nice. Good shot. It is a nice shot. Thank you. How is that? How is to you. It'll be sitting right there. That's nice. Good shot. It is a nice shot

Thank you. How is that? How is that? Oh, are we drinking right now? What are we doing Rick? Oh, we're actually let's do it You know, you know what? This is great. We had a big win big win celebration My son's bar mitzvah on Saturday and it's your son's bar mitzvah. You know what a bar mitzvah is? Um, I have never been to one but you heard of it. I know what it is What is it? What is it? Mazel tov, everything. Mazel Tov 13, a boy becomes a man. It's apropos to drink. Wait, 13? 13.

Boy becomes a man at 13? In the Jewish religion, yeah. Okay. Look at this, look at this. Ooh, it's brand new? Brand new bottle. Okay. Just for you?

Can't wait. How much are we doing? Look at that. I won't kill you. I think you're gonna like it. Is this a new one or what? No, so the white one was the one you never had. Okay. That was the one you never had. Okay.

That was the one I wanted to bring for you, but unfortunately... Now what's the difference between white and this? This one's just aged. Okay, thank you, thank you. So we say L'chaim. L'chaim. L'chaim, to life. L'chaim. Yeah.

To Marab. Big ups. Big up Marab, the Walshvili. The champ. Now do I do it in one shot? No, no, no. Okay, that's great. Don't do that. Sip it, sip it.

Yeah, this is a nice sipper. Oh yeah. So, I want to tell you also before we get going with everything else, the last time I was here and we actually tried this, we actually got a big contact that reached out. Really cool dude. We haven't closed the deal yet, but just a really nice dude he heard. Because of the show. Because of the show. Amazing.

He watches and he wants to bring us in just to help. And he said he liked our story and everything and he liked me. And I haven't had the chance to meet him yet, but I plan to. Do like a nice dinner over there. Because that's huge. You know, know for me obviously I'm funding this I haven't put a ton of marketing dollars behind it to like really help with the brand awareness and exposure is just me posting on socials and things like that going into these restaurants. So with that said him helping us if that account closes that's that's that's a big deal.

Amazing. Yeah so I get like 1% of that or you know, we could we could talk. Finderspeed. No, I love that. That's incredible. How is it going? Is it is it tougher than you expected? Oh, yeah. Is it because I didn't realize how these guys operate. They they do all this stuff with marketing dollars. You need to have the money to do these activations and things like that going in, doing samples and stuff. So it's a lot of work and obviously, I'm like the attraction for it right. I'm a world champion. Three defenses like it's a big deal so when I go in and mix it a little bit easier but I can't be in all these places at once so you need reps that people that you pay boots

on the ground I go in they do these activations get people to try sample it and help it move this way people get familiar with the brand. Otherwise they only see it when I post it. By the way, I appreciate the shade there, three defenses. That's a shot and I should apologize because I was talking at 2 a.m. doing our post show that Murab has tied the record for most defenses. But then seven or so minutes later, thank you to the YouTube chat, thumbs up to the chat. I was reminded it's three. It's to the YouTube chat thumbs up to the chat. I was reminded

It's three it's three title defenses. You still have the record. You know why no excuses late But for some reason in my brain like the yawn fight in a way is a defense But it also kind of felt like a title victory because you needed to like yeah You know what I mean? Of course, but you have the record three. Yeah So that's my bad. And in another weird way, my fight with Sanhagen, him and I being ranked three and four should have been the title fight. 1000%. But it wasn't.

That should have been a vacant title fight, yes. Yeah, but. I still never understood why they didn't do that. Yeah, they liked Jan Moore, they liked Jose Aldo Moore, even if he was coming off of a loss, they just, whatever. Man, what a win, that last like a minute fifty or something? Yeah like a minute thirty minute forty. Crazy. It was crazy because that would have been you know what that would have done if that was the actual title fight like for my career at the

time. Oh my god. To get a win like that and that type of fashion over the guy they think was gonna be the long-reigning champion. Yes. That would have been huge. But it is what it is, history is just funny, you know. Rick, everything okay? Yeah, we're just gonna flop this chair. Okay. This one's a little low, right? Yeah, what is going on? I feel like I'm shrinking.

I feel like you're talking down on me. I'm like, I'm your son. I actually, I have no confidence, so I'd like to like overpower my guess, you know? Oh, is it better? Yeah, it's better. Oh my gosh. Okay, yeah, what are we,

are we trying to make Aljo look bad here or what? Oh yeah, move the mic too, yeah. Just to get a closer to your mouth. Yeah, there we go. How are we looking now? Yeah, I felt super tiny. This is a lot nicer. This is better, yeah.

It did seem off. I thought maybe it was the alcohol just making you sink in your... Your hair looks fantastic, by the way. I think I actually cut it this morning. Oh yeah. I do it myself. You do it yourself?

Yeah. Not the braids. No, not the braids, definitely. Just the cut. I do it myself. You do it yourself? Yeah. Not the braids. No, not the braids, definitely. Just the cut? Yeah, the cut. How long does the braid take? Like an hour.

Okay. Who does that? So I did the ESPN morning show for 316 and the UFC covered it. Cause they told me last minute, I'm like, dude, I had these braids in, it's going to look like shit. I don't want to wear a fro. And they were able to take care of it.

Oh yeah, the Wayans show. Yeah. That's a fun show. Well not the Wayans show, they call it the morning show. Okay, okay, okay. It's like playing some games and stuff with Frankie Yeager, DC, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, but it is during the Wayans. Yeah. Laura Sanko. Well after. Okay, there's all kinds of weird stuff that goes on on that show. Do a lot of activities. Yes.

It's a little different. It is a little different, but I like it. Sometimes I'm in a binge. I think it's a good, it's like a different, like you get to let your hair down,. Yes. It's a little different. It is a little different, but I like it. Sometimes I'm a tinge. I think it's a good, it's like a different, like you get to let your hair down. You get to have fun a little bit. I was gonna say it's fun. I wore a suit.

I'm like, if I knew we were gonna be doing all of this, I would not have wore a suit today. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm thinking, yeah, whatever. It was fun though. So, all right, so you were there. By the way, is everything okay? No, I'm just smelling it.

You liked it? Is that what we're supposed to do? Yeah, just enjoy it a little bit. You ever put it in, I was talking about putting it in like a daiquiri or a pinot colada. Would you recommend that? Yeah, but I would use the white for that. You could do this one with like an old fashioned

espresso martini. Ah, yes. You're gonna be like, I don't think I could drink a regular espresso martini ever again. Cause it's just such a nice thing. No additives, no preservatives, no food color. So it's like, it's just clean, tastes nice. You can get hammered on this, wake up the next day, and won't feel, unless you stay really late, you won't feel like you got hit by, you know, it just, you won't feel like shit.

Okay, that's a great selling point. Did you see the scenes earlier today in Georgia for Murab? I saw some of it with him on the truck. I was like, this guy is the president. The freaking man. He's the president over there right now. Some of those scenes are amazing. Like him coming into the, here we go, him coming into the airport. Look at this, man.

Oh my, and I went with him, I think in 2021. And to see it now, I'm like, bro, I could only imagine what that's going to look like. Why don't we do that here in the States? There's so many stars that you guys kind of get lost in the shuffle. And then you have someone on a world stage doing this. Like, this is just him.

These are people waiting for him at the gate in Georgia. Man, that's unreal. Like, this is what you dream of and what you think it would be to become a champion. Look at this, this is outside the airport. Look at this, that's your boy. Yeah, that's... He's the best man.

I wish I was there, I really wish I was there. Were you supposed to go? Yeah, well, they told me last minute and I already committed to one of my good friends' wedding. So it's this Saturday, I'm like, what am I gonna do? Go for two days and fly back? It's gonna be a lot. They're on the freaking bus.

John Wood is up there signing autographs. That's a, man. Look at that. What a life. My favorite is the horse. The horse by the bus is the best. Yeah. You know what's so funny?

Like we had him on the show on Monday and he's sitting in his car on Long Island and there's people walking their dog. And I'm like, these people probably don't know that one of the best fighters in the world is just sitting there. Like, I don't know if he could go to like a local bagel shop on Long Island and there's people walking their dog and I'm like these people probably don't know that one of the best fighters in the world is just sitting there like I don't know if he could go to like a local bagel shop on Long Island and if anyone bothers him and then he comes there and he's like the Pope. Yeah it's night and day it's insane.

But that's why it's always nice like if you become a champion you represent another country or you're from another country I should say. They treat it a little bit differently than how we do it like you said we have so much sports and different things that people are into so it's a little bit differently than how we do it. Like you said, we have so much sports and different things that people are into, so it's a little bit harder. But it's like if LeBron were to walk down the street, like he's going to get harassed. Because people, that's what we do. We look at those type of sports more than we do for MMA, but it's growing. And the fight fans in the States, like last night I went to Johnny Magorries and they

carry my rumums so you know I go there from time to time and we're just talking shop because we got an event this weekend at Eisenhower Park where that's my first sponsored event that I'm doing where I'm like spending my actual money so I'm like okay I want to make sure this goes right. Where is that? Eisenhower Park? Eisenhower Park in Long Island. Okay, okay.

It's right across. Which day? I'll be there Friday night, doing like a little meet and greet and then we're also going to be there Saturday. I got the wedding so I won't be there and then I'm gonna try to come in on and I think Warren G supposed to perform so it's gonna be cool. Yeah, Warren G. My favorite rapper of all time.

Regulate. I swear. Regulated. Regulated. Mount up. It was a clear back night. A clear white moon. Warren G was on the streets trying to consume some skirts for the eve so I could get the fuck, legit love Warren G.

Okay, yeah, it's gonna be sick. Nate Dogg? Yeah, yeah. And then suddenly I'm gonna try to pop back out. But yeah, I went to McGorries and they just, some of the guys just came in from the Mets game and I didn't realize how many of them were fight fans. They saw me and they did a double take, they're like, holy shit, what? I'm like, this is crazy. But it's not on the level of like that with Marab. That's

super stardom. He can't walk anywhere over there without people knowing that it's him. Do you get the sense? I don't get the sense, but you obviously know him. He's one of your best friends. He's the same dude. His head hasn't grown. He doesn't think he's better same dude. Like his head hasn't grown. He doesn't like think he's better than anyone. He hasn't turned into a superstar, right? Like has he changed at all? Not at all. Still the guy that would help out anybody. Still helps out a lot of his like countrymen

that come over to Vegas that want to train, like gets him in the gym or he puts them up in his house. And he's the only person I know that will take a stranger. Like, yeah, he's from his country, know that will take a stranger. Like yeah, he's from his country, but it would take a stranger if he thinks that they're a good person would just put them in a house without actually doing like a thorough background check to what you're going to be dealing with. And I think that's very commendable because not a lot of people would do that, especially here in the States. That's just not something

we do. So it's very nice. It's a he's just a great do all around and somebody that would take his shirt off your back his back and give it to you. There you are. There's the crew. I loved seeing Al there. Yeah him and Wyman. I saw him on the walkout. I ran right over to him like what's up boy? It was great to see you guys together. It's always nice. Oh my gosh. Wyman is looking jacked. Look at him. Yeah retired Wyman. A father of four Wyman. Yeah, it's a different uh, it's a whole different look. You and Marab you're literally neighbors in Vegas. Yeah. Yeah's a different, it's a whole different look. You and Marab, you're literally neighbors in Vegas? Yeah, yeah. Like how many houses down?

So we're like on a, on like an L. So I'm like in the end and then he's probably was that one, two, three, four or five houses. Was that on purpose? No, but it ended up just working out because the house he was looking at, he showed it to me and then I started laughing I go brother I was just looking at that house to possibly buy for myself and then move into that one and then rent this one to like all our training partners that come from New York. Yeah. And it's this way I can like have something

that's a little bit more for just me and my fiance right so he showed me that I was just like I'm back off like this is all you. I thought it would just be cool right. Yeah, of course. You get a house right here I'm like this is the most safe and dangerous neighborhood all at the same time. That is true. Do you train together like in like in the neighborhood and stuff like that you say like hey yo I'm going for a run you want to come?

Is it like that? I mean once in a while we'll do like exploration peak because it's not too far from my house is like 10 15 minutes we'll drive. What's that? It's like it's just a small peak we could just run up it's not too far from my house is like 10 15 minutes we'll drive what's that. It's like it's just a small peak we could just run up it's got a trail it's got a park. Okay, and we'll just run some sprints up the mountain. And we'll do that. It's not like a crazy big mountain like the Red Rocks but it's good enough to get the job done you get the elevation when you're running. Or should I say the incline. And I mean, other than that we train like if I go to

train in his garage, or he comes to mine or we'll go to syndicate, or we go to the PI, it's usually like that. Do you think you'll ever come back to the East Coast to live? Man, the quality of life over there is so good. And I don't know if it's because of what I do for work right now. So I guess there's a conversation to be had once I'm fully fully retired. And then I can be like, you know what, I'm completely done with fighting. Unless I'm coaching, right, maybe there's an opportunity. But for right now, if I did go back to East Coast, I would probably I mean, I made enough money where I can maybe just go to Florida, like, I don't have to work again. This is

just like a hobby, and something I actually legitimately enjoy doing to Florida. Like I don't have to work again. This is just like a hobby. It's something I actually legitimately enjoy doing. I mean I drink in training camp. I don't get bombs because I don't want people getting the wrong idea and messaging. What's the appropriate amount? I'll have like one or two. Like if I,

A day? No, no, if I'm in fight camp. Yeah, yeah, if you're in fight camp. And I'll go clean. Like I'm trying to get in shape. Once I'm in shape and I have like a good sparring like I had a really good week And then the next week maybe I hit the pinnacle where like okay, I can crush three fives or five fives. No problem I'm I just I've earned a

Drink or two and it's usually in my house. Okay Yeah, is there a point like a week before I won't do it or two weeks before I won't do it No, I drink all the way up to the fight and it's one two drinks Yeah, if you lose the fight because of one or two drinks, that's not you probably we're gonna lose the fight anyway, right? But usually after the weigh-ins we go like a do a team dinner if I get to like now that I have this I'll bring this and we'll just do like an open cork fee and I'll have like a shot on the rocks, just nice and easy and just puts me to sleep. And I've been doing that for years now at this point, and it's always made me feel good I slept better, I sleep better.

And I don't know, it's just like I said something I enjoy but in terms of working coming back to the East Coast. I don't necessarily need to work, but I you know you got to have something that you're doing right otherwise what's the point of even living it's like you're gonna just chill all day. There's no fun in that like you I always want to have something that I'm working towards and this has been a fun ride. So coming back, maybe I just go to like Florida or something. Maybe I don't know. Right now I like Vegas. Vegas is a great time. I don't gamble. If you're a UFC fighter, it's perfect though right you have the PI there. Yeah, I don't gamble. So that's the main thing.

I was worried about that because I did have a bad gambling problem when I was in college as a freshman. I spent up a lot of money, Ariel, with my refund checks. On what? Sports? I played sick bowl, roulette, blackjack.

So games, not sports. Not sports, I was never good at sports betting because what are you betting on? Emotions of an athlete? The cards don't have emotions. The dice don't have emotions. There are so many different variables when it comes to betting on sports. Someone could have it off day.

They may be arguing with their wife or something. Something crazy. You just never know. For you to bet on that just on the stats well, sometimes the stats don't actually give you the whole picture of what people are going through going into a game, or a fight. So why'd you stop? I lost a lot of money, my refund check money.

Wow, like what's a lot for a college student? Probably like three, four grand. Damn. And that was like my money for the semester, so. Oh no. I maxed out on my refund check. So being that we had so many siblings, we were able to get the max capacity for FASFA and Pell,

the Pell grant and all the other stuff. So my residual was like, this is what I got to use to budget for food and everything. Cause I was asking my parents for money and whatnot. I already knew it was hard back home, right? So yeah, once I realized like, yeah, I'm gonna one, I'm gonna have to pay this back to I'm about to be broke. And I was starting that's when I started cutting hair for money. And yeah, it was just,

I didn't know you cut hair. Yeah, I used to cut hair for money in high school and college. And then I just kept cutting my own. It's just saves me it's just a pain in the ass sometimes because like to wake up in the morning, you have to go set everything up and clean up. Yeah, it's a little bit. It's so hard. How do you get it all perfect here on the sides and stuff like that?

Mirrors? Yeah, that's like a little three-sided mirror. Oh, you have one? Yeah, yeah. Oh, you got the whole setup. Are you sitting in a chair with a thing and all that? Nah, nah. I'm cutting hair, leaving hair drops all over the floor.

No, your fiance probably hates that. She hates it. She'll clean the bathroom and then I'm coming in there, she's like, why the floor. No, your fiance probably hates that. She hates it. She'll clean the bathroom and then I'm coming in there, she's like, why do you have to cut your hair in here? I'm like, well, where else you want me to cut it? Because no matter where I cut it, it's gonna be- What if you do it in the shower? And then it's like a confined space?

I never thought about that. But also, I don't think the rack will hang over. Okay. Yeah. It'll start swinging. Okay. Just because of the weight, right? So yeah, with the door, you can just put over the door, the over. Okay. Yeah. It'll start swinging. Okay. Just because of the weight, right? So yeah, with the door, you can just put over the door to door supports. Got it. Got it. Oh man. Yeah, it's a bitch to clean up that stuff. Yeah. But you know. When's the wedding, by the way? October. October. Is it in fact true that Marab is going to give you half of his performance bonus? What was that all about? I think he was just saying

that cheek and tongue. I don't think he was actually. That's a nice little gift right there. That would be sick, but I don't expect him to do that. I do a lot for him, he does a lot for me. It's just like, we just take care of each other, you know? So even like in the beginning when he wasn't making as much money, and I think I had just fought Saint Hagen

and he was cornering me and everything and helping me with the training camp, I tried to give him money. I think one time I tried to give him like five or 10 grand and he was justing me and everything and helping me with the training camp I try to give him money. I think one time I tried to give him like five or ten grand and he was just like, no brother, no brother. And he's like, why you do this? This is crazy, bro. I just want to help.

I'm like, yeah, but your time is worth something. Like, look at it as like a gift from me to go do whatever you want to do. Like, yeah, I don't have to do it, but I'm doing it because you're my boy. You hooked me up. And you're my training partner. I want to keep my training partners happy. And what's the best way to do it but I'm doing it because you're my boy, you hooked me up. And you're my training partner. I want to keep my training partners happy and what's the best way to do that? You get by them stuff or you give them money, gives them an incentive to want to show up to those training sessions and help push you right. Same thing for me like I'm not asking

for money, I don't need it. I'm pretty well set. But I know these younger guys like Dennis, I know a lot of these other guys, Pumi, I've worked with like Timmy or Julian or some of these other guys. I just break them off something like a thousand dollars or something here or there just for being a part of the camp. Cause at the end of the day, they're more important than the coaches to a certain extent. And for me, most of my training sessions are with my training partners. So these guys give me the best looks that I can get to help me prepare to go to these fights. And same things like, I'm in there with him, so I understand some of the stuff that he could do better, or what's working, and I can articulate that to him where he can understand and make those improvements in real time. So it's always nice to see and just help out where I can help out.

So he was talking in the post fight presser as well that like he said, oh, thank you to Aljo for all the sparring sessions. Aljo doesn't really like to spar, but for me he did. Is that a true thing? Like, do you not like to spar anymore? Yeah, I only like sparring when I'm in camp. And really because when people spar,

and you see this in every single gym, people just wanna take your heads off. Like, there's no rhyme or reason with the sparring, it's just, I know I fought hard today and that's it. It's like, well, this isn't a fight, it's a training session. And until you get training partners that can understand that, then it makes it, I'm less likely to wanna just go sparring hard, for what reason? To get a headache and go home, like, oh, I'm less likely to wanna just go sparring hard for what reason?

To get a headache and go home like, oh, I did really good, now I'm home with this headache. Cause like, that was cool. Let's do it again in two days. It's like, it doesn't make any sense. And I find you make the most improvements, like similar to like the Thai fighters. They like play spar all the time.

They're just playful, it's controlled. You get to work things out in real time. If I hit you with a jab, I could throw you that same jab and have you like react to it differently. I could throw it slow, I could throw it fast, and now you're reacting in different ways. And now you're actually getting practical feedback in real time versus I'm just looking to hit you with a big one, two I see I stuck you with a jab and I'm coming back with a big one two or maybe I think the jab I come with a big hook and a cross down the middle like okay I cleaned your clock but then what did I get out of that what did you get out of that I maybe my ego but in terms of getting better is like okay you landed

a good shot on someone who might not have thought it was gonna be going like that and if you if you're both going like that, this like what did you actually work on for the training session? I go spar, I'm having something in mind that I'm working on, whether it's my defense, I'm trying to work my output. I'm trying to work on my setups, my takedowns. Okay, the double legs weren't working the last sparring session. Now this session, I want to work on my singles.

Because this is the transition. Okay, if I go double leg, how do I do better than what I was doing last week where I kept getting stopped and every time I shot the double, they kept getting the underhook and picking it up and stopping my take down. So you have to have something that you're working for. And this is like when I was coaching a lot back in Long Island, and even the little bit that I coach in Vegas, I try to just share the knowledge that I've learned that helped me accelerate my growth as fast as I could and just share the same practices and beliefs

that I have. And you see the guys that it's starting to click with, you see the guys who kind of want to still do things their own way, which is fine. I'm like, MMA is the beauty of this sport is you could do anything, anyhow, any old way. It could be the most bizarre technique. See exhibit A with DDP. Just gonna say that, yeah.

And he makes it work. As long as he connects, he makes it work, right? So I'm not gonna tell you that doesn't work, but there could be more efficient ways to do things. And that's just what it comes down to. When this fight was announced, when you knew that Murab was gonna fight Sean, how did you think it was gonna play out

versus how it actually played out? What were you thinking about the matchup? Second time, they fought back in September. Shawn didn't get another fight in. Murab active, right? He won in January, looked great. What did you think was gonna happen? I don't know.

My honest thoughts, I thought it was a stupid fight. I was like, for him to sit and wait, not have to fight anybody, it gives him a good opportunity, right? Cause he was just in there, kind of still fresh, didn't have like the mix up with another feeling with fighting somebody else and preparing for somebody else. I was like, this could be, I don't wanna say a trap,

but more in his favor. When you say his, Sean? Sean's favor. Yeah, yeah. But at the end of the day, like, Marab is Marab, and like, even sparring with him and trying to give him the same exact looks and everything and trying to imitate Sean as best as I could,

I just told him, I was like, dude, like, yeah, I might be landing some punches here and there, and yeah, with four ounce gloves, it might be worse in terms of the damage that's actually done. I was like, but if you're doing this the way that you're doing and you keep improving every week, I don't see how this guy even keeps up with you. It's just going to be really, really hard. And we had some tidbits of some things that John and I were talking about, John Wood,

with some of the scenarios like the way Sean came out for this rematch was literally the same way I came out for literally all the sparring sessions. And I didn't even know. I was like, this is probably what I'm thinking he's going to do. If I'm O'Malley, what is my plan of attack coming out for round one? And then if I come out like that, then what do I do for round two? And being able to give him those same looks, like just trying to dive into your opponent's mind and replicate that.

You see that a hundred times, you're gonna see that in the fight, you're gonna laugh. It's gonna be like, this is slow motion. And that's exactly what it looked like. Looked like Sean was in one gear and Marab was in another. Did you think Sean had improved? Did you think that he was a better version of the guy that we saw in September?

Respectfully, I didn't see anything that was significantly different. The only thing I could honestly look at was say, maybe he was more bouncy on his feet in round one, like hopping around side to side, maybe that was the whole thing he was talking about with his hip, but honestly, it didn't make a difference. Cause I told him, I was like, dude,

I think I have pretty decent cardio. And if I'm bouncing around and faking like this and I'm missing and not able to slow you down with any type of damage, and I'm obviously not wrestling him, you see what is happening to me, it's going to happen to him. I'm telling you from experience, like no one could humanly possibly, like it's not possible to fake that many times, hard fakesakes and then looked at those shots and then react control the breathing all the same time and react to your opponents movements and their feints and be able to keep up that pace the whole time and

That was pretty much what I what I told him was like I saw I don't want to be unfair to him But I don't think that version of him looked better than the first one I felt like the first one he looked better in my opinion. Overall defense did that surprise you at all? I mean he stopped some takedowns in the first fight too. Yeah. But at the end of the day it's like you stop the takedown but then what? He's gonna keep shooting. He's gonna keep shooting again and again. So yeah you stop one takedown you want a biscuit like can you stop at the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth? And then after that, have you done anything offensive to actually win the rounds? And when you break it down like that,

he's an enigma to try to figure out in Marab. Obviously hindsight 2020, but did you think it was a mistake to not fight someone else in between the two fights? Or like if you're gonna get the immediate title shot, just take it? I think it would be naive to not take it Yeah

I think it would have been better for him and his mental to go out there beat somebody up and then come back and say I'm back baby. Like yeah back bitches. Yeah after he just whooped someone else's ass, right? Just to get that confidence again, like I think there's a ridiculous stat with UFC champions when they lose There's like a crazy stat like automatic rematches that they don't win. Yeah, like the percentage is extremely low and I can't remember who's actually done that going into an immediate rematch, like right back to back. So with that said, I think he would have been better served in hindsight, hindsight so it was 2020. The championship challenger pay is always different from going back to your regular contractual pay.

So there's probably a lot more riding for him in that but now he's in a weird spot and you know if I had any words of advice that I could give him is just like, it's going to be dark, it's going to be cloudy, it's going to be rainy. This is like the low right this is the lows of low you lost two fights in a row. Now you haven't won a fight since May of last year or what was that May or March? March, March. In Miami. Yeah. But the one thing to keep in perspective is time will pass and the clouds will pass as well and eventually you just got to get back on the horse and this is what's going to let his fans know and himself like can he prove to himself that he can get back up and do

it again or will he let this kind of define him and kind of just go on a down downhill trend from here. So I've been there I've lost my first two pro fights back to back in the UFC on my brand new contract after that whole controversy with trying to get a little bit of a bigger pay and that didn't bode well for me right if? If I lost my next one to his coach, to Keanu Mendes, if I had lost him, I was probably getting cut. So with that said, like, I understand the adversity part and feeling like maybe you're not good enough. But obviously he became a champ,

albeit some weird circumstances, but you know, he still became a champ. It's not easy, but it's what you do after that. And it was gonna show his true colors and what his character is really made of if he can actually bounce back. And again, I don't hate O'Malley. I don't have any dislike towards him. I mean, if he wants to bottle Funk Harbor, send me an address.

I'll send one to him and Tim Welch. I just, the only thing I didn't like about him was parading around acting as if he didn't stack the deck against me and took a favorable position and was acting like he beat the best version of Al Jermain Sterling which him and I both know if you look at all my performances even the performance after that with Kader Moser like if you're going to tell me that guy was the same guy that fought him who completely was in a bad headspace and didn't even want to be in the octagon that night then I don't know what to tell you.

You don't know what you're looking at. Did it annoy you that he got the immediate rematch and you didn't? I mean, I would be lying if I say it didn't. When you first found out, you were like, damn. I mean, it's whatever, man. It is what it is. It definitely is one of those things. But you know, I'm not the cup of tea where they want to put right back into it

Obviously my style is my style. So I get it in a business standpoint But at the end of the day is like you can't be envious of what other people get, you know What he eats doesn't make me shit. So happy for him. He got it. I didn't I had to work my ass off And that's the one thing that no one could ever say about my career is I've never been handed anything I've taken a long road just like Marab had to take the long road and we both cashed out made the best of it I think that's the beauty of our story is two guys from the same area pretty much grew up training with each other and both of us had some bumps and bruises along the way and we both managed to make it to the top and

Just reap all the benefits of being champ. I do get the impression, like let's say, God forbid, Marab stumbles in his next fight, I don't think he's getting an immediate rematch. Against whomever that is. Like there's basically some guys who get that and some who don't. Balala ain't getting an immediate rematch and I know he didn't successfully defend,

but you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Leon's not getting an immediate rematch. I just feel like for whatever reason, there's guys that they like, there's guys that they like, there's guys that they don't like, and if they like you, they'll give you an immediate rematch. Yeah.

Like you deserved one, just based on, if you have X amount of defenses, I think you deserve it, right? Yeah, because even if I had won that fight with Shawn, Dana said it at the press conference that he would allow me to go up to 145 and challenge Vogue at the time. So it was just kind of crazy to go from that to like, just, yeah, we're not going to do

that. I was just like, this is why I asked for a rematch clause because then even if I lost, I could make peace with it and be like, all right, now I can finally take my vacation and I could recoup, clear my head, get back into the fight game and wanting to be back in the cage. They never do rematch clauses, unfortunately. I don't know, has anyone gotten one? In MMA, in the UFC?

I know it's a big thing in boxing. I mean, Murab might, not Murab, Mali might have gotten one with the Murab fight. I don't know if he needed that one on paper. And by the way, I had no problem with him getting the title fight because I didn't think that he leapfrogged anyone. I didn't think there was anyone who was more deserving.

Deserving, yeah. Right? There was no one. Yeah, Kamara cleaned out the whole division. Yeah. Well, that's the crazy thing. It took him so long to get to a title fight, but in doing so, he beat a lot of the guys on the way.

Yeah. And that's the same thing that's happening right now at 145 with Mosar. If he doesn't get the next title shot and he fights another contender, like say he fights Pico. Pico is just, wow, oh my God, he's got great wrestling, great boxing. He comes in and he loses to Mosar. Then what the hell do you do with Pico? You just gave Mosar another contender to kill him off. You gotta give him a title shot then, no?

I'm like give him the title shot. He deserves it already. He deserved a fight ago instead of Diego Lopez. You and Diego were going back and forth about all this. Yeah, it was just stupid. He made it seem like I was talking shit about him. I was like, bro, I'm only saying what I think and I think what I'm saying is very, very valid. You can say you had more fights and you've been more active. Cool. But at the end of the day, he did beat you and it wasn't that long ago.

And he's only continued to win. Why should he not get the title shot? But whatever. But I just think when you kill off the contender, I think Volkonovsky is really good where his grappling, obviously in the Islam fight, for people to say that he's going to be a boring fight, it's going to be a great fight. The Islam Volkonovsky fight was a great fight, the first one. I don't see how this one wouldn't be anything similar to that. And two of the most deserving guys at the weight class, right? And then you give other guys an opportunity to build up their resume so you can build up another contender versus knocking off another prospect, another contender is like, well, that only hurts in the long run, right? Right now, it's like stepping over the

dollar to pick up pennies. Like, I don't understand it. Obviously, it's not my business. I don't run the metrics and know the numbers. So maybe they're seeing something or have insight on something we don't know, or maybe it's just a quick, this is the money fight to make right now. So let's just take advantage of it while it's hot, right? So that could also be it. If you were Sean, would you move up to 45 now?

I don't know his situation. Like for me, making 35 was daunting. I mean, I was making weight and then blowing up to 180 pounds. And to get back down and have to do that again on two and a half, three months notice after coming out of a five round battle with Henry Ciudos, like that's not an easy thing to do. But it is what it is. You think that you're going to take some time off and recover and then like I said, it's not being in the right headspace to fight for anybody.

If you're not in there to fight and you don't want to be in the diopticons, it's the worst place to go in there second guessing if you want to be in there or not. But so for him, it depends on his weight cut. I don't know if there's, there's still some fun fights for him at 35, but if he's struggling that badly to make 35 then maybe it's time to go up. But I don't think, it seems like he's fine at the weight class. Yeah. But if he does come up, um, I saw you tweet about that. I'm here. What a story by the way that would be. Yeah, it would be fun because there's obviously, like you said, a storyline and now people would

get to see what a motivated Sterling would look like and what he would have done in the first fight had I been giving time and I even asked him to push the fight back like can we just push it back to September or October just to give me a little bit more time so I could get the weight down recover first so I could do a whole proper camp versus just jumping in when my legs are beat to shit. And I had to do all this rehab for all these other stuff. I'm like, but the people don't, they don't see that they only see the performance and then if you say something about it, you're the, you're the asshole, you're making excuses.

And then when O'Malley fought Marab the first time is, oh my hip with the lights and all this other weird shit. I'm just like, how come he's not getting the same backlash that I got? It's very bizarre. Why do you think that is? I have no idea. Only the fans can answer that. Like I think I get an unfair shake because of the whole DQ knee thing and I don't know if that's right or wrong. You don't think that's behind you now? I would think. Do you feel like it's not? I don't know because even that same scenario that we're talking about is like well

why is it okay for him to say I I need a surgery, I only had one hip? But then it's like, but I just fought, I had to go do a crazy ass diet all over again. And I came in there injured. And then there rebuttals, well, he had broken ribs. I'm like, if he had broken ribs, he wouldn't be able to breathe. Are you fucking stupid? He wouldn't be able to fight if he had broken, legitimately broken ribs coming into the fight. No. but it is what it is. Again, fair play to him. He took advantage of the situation and that's why sports are sports, right?

Because you don't know what's happening with the other team, the injuries or the backstory. So sometimes you win and that's just what it is. And unfortunately, it wasn't my night, it was his night. So fair play to him. And again, if he wants to come up to 45, I'll be more than happy to welcome him, but it really depends. I don't think he should come up unless he feels

there's no reason for him to stick around at 35. Other than the title shot, which is obviously the ultimate, is that your most desired fight before it's all said and done? Nah, I don't really give a shit about it. You don't really go long for it? Nah, I would hang out with the guy. It's like, I don't have a vendetta, him. You don't long for it? No, like I would hang out with the guy. It's like I don't have a vendetta like I need to get this guy back.

Like I'm satisfied by seeing Marab do to him what I should have done. And that's... That says a lot about you. That's satisfying in itself, you know? Because Marab knows, he said it in multiple interviews, like it's not always the better fighter that wins. And I'm pretty sure O'Malley, even when I asked for the rematch publicly with the little thing at the fights yeah and he was just like no cuz he he knows cuz if he if he

felt confident where he's like oh I'll beat his ass again he would have taken it but you know when you got an advantage and you capitalize on it's just like well I don't know if I'm gonna get that lucky again and I again I respect that I understand just like someone who plays basketball with you they beat you in a game and then you asked for a rematch and they just like now I'm going home right now. My mom's cooking. Yeah, I mean like that I so does it hit different on Saturday when you see him get submitted because of the history between you two Not because he lost I was just more happy about the performance Okay, because again to go through that whole training camp with Marab having to spar that often with him and have to deal with that, I couldn't use my wrestling, only defensively.

So for me to have to go through that and see all the good things that he was doing and then for him to put it into practicality in the real time and watch it, I'm just like, damn, this guy is just freaking good. So to see that, that made me happy in itself. It wasn't really, I always tell these guys when I was coaching them in Long Island, we were still living back home. And I would appreciate it guys. It's not about the wins and the losses.

It's about the performance. And if you had a good performance, and if you're doing things that you do well in here, I would imagine that you should have a good night in the cage as well. And if that happens, then that's more than enough to be able to get your hand raised and if it's not as long as the performance was good like who wants to win and it was they made a ton of mistakes then it's like all these other guys are watching them like damn this guy who's I don't know I can't wait to fight that guy and I'm calling him out so it's always been about the performance and obviously for him

closing the chapter on it for good, now no one can say anything whatsoever. That's nice. It's nice to see. How do you think Corey does against Marav? I think better than O'Malley. And hear me out on this. Sanhagen is actually a solid grappler. He's not a good defensive grappler like wrestling wise, but he's got

good scramble ability. He's been working with Ryan Hall a lot so he has a lot of that leglock game on point now. Even though he hasn't shown too much of it but even with the figuero fight just moving figuero. He moves well in those positions and usually those are the positions that are very dangerous where you could get caught especially if a guy has any clue what he's doing with the leg attacks. And he did a really good job with Umar being able to get back up, roll, hit his Grammy rolls, get back up, attack the legs, get back to his feet. The difference is all that requires a lot of energy. So if you constantly get taken down and you're just constantly rolling around, I think he's

going to get tired just like everybody else and And Marabba get another title defense. That's the way I see that fight playing out. But other than that, I think it's a great matchup stylistically because Corey's still very dynamic with his attacks. He's got the flying knees. He's got a little the leg kicks, the front kicks, the shifting stances. So he's a tough puzzle. But Marabba, like everybody else, he manages somehow

to get to the leg, then get to that body lock, drags you down, and then he's just beating on you for 25 minutes or less. Is that the one that you think makes, like they sort of said it is, but it's not 100 percent. Do you think he's the most deserving to fight Murab? The most deserving, I mean, I know Jan's got to fight. Yeah. But there's really nobody else that he hasn't fought yet. So if you want some new blood, I think Sanhig is the most fun matchup that you could possibly make right now. I agree.

A lot of people want to see Pantoja versus Marab. Pantoja moving up from 125. Yeah, speaking of Pantoja, you babysitting over there, brother. What? You babysitting. Oh, my bad. By the way, what does that have to do with Pantoja? Does he babysit people? No, no, no.

Is that what it's called, babysitting? Yeah, it's like you get a drink. OK, sorry. My bad, my bad. But with Pantoja, I think that's a great fight as well. I don't know if Pantoja needs to take that fight. I don't know if Marab needs to take that fight. But if you want something compelling.

People are looking for something, but I kind of feel like I like long dominant champions. Me too. Let's see if they can get seven in a row, eight in a row. Like DJ back in the day, like Anderson. I know Anderson took a couple of two or five. GSP, John. I think those are the most sensible things to do

is like, why am I going to go up in weight and have a harder time in a division that this guy is doing really, really well in like. Like, why am I gonna go up in weight and have a harder time in a division that this guy is doing really, really well in like. And then you lose a little bit of your aura if you lose, even if you go back down, right? It's not the same, yeah. Yeah.

I don't know. By the way, what's up with your boy John? Can we talk about this? What do you want? What's going on with your boy John? What's happening? What's happening here? You've known him for a long time.

What's going on with John? What's happening here? He's living his best life long time. What's going on with John? What's happening here? He's living his best life. Yeah, okay. So just give up the belt. Stop, stop stopping others from living out their dreams. You all have dreams, right? You know, but the thing with the belt situation with that is, even though he, John has the belt, the official belt, I don't think it makes a difference to discredit Tom Aspinall. Because if Aspinall's willing to fight,

and he's defending, that's as good for me to be the undisputed champion versus John, who's only fighting ever so often. You mean like defending the interim title? Yeah. Nah, everyone wants that, right?. I hear you but what i'm saying is because john isn't fighting. Yeah often Aspinal is defending it's in my mind the way I look at it like this is just a title like you just have a title Versus what i'm actually doing i'm doing the stuff that you're supposed to do

So when you actually want to come back now, you're this is is the way I'm asking all this is how I'm spinning it. Okay. When you come back and you want to fight, whenever that is, if you do, you're fighting the champ. You know, because- You know you get paid a little different. They both get paid the same. Interim, undisputed, it's a little different. I was told, contractually, the interims get paid the same thing, but John Jones is different so his payouts are probably different, but Having the belt versus being an interim gym you still get pay-per-view points sure that's technically the same But like okay first of all if he beats John his stock goes up right now Okay

Now if he doesn't get to fight John if John just doesn't want to fight him for whatever reason One of the the the right thing to do especially for someone who to his point doesn't need the belt John Jones doesn't get to fight John, if John just doesn't want to fight him for whatever reason, what is the right thing to do, especially for someone who, to his point, doesn't need the belt. John Jones doesn't need a title. There's a few guys out there, John, Connor, that might be it, that just don't need a belt, and they're huge draws and they can headline pay-per-views.

Give up the title, let this guy live out his dreams, and if you want to come back, great, or if you want to have fun fights, if you want to fight Steve A again, just fight those fights. But the heavyweight champion of the world or the champion of any division, there's like a, part of the rule is like,

you got to fight the top guy, right? Fight Steve A again is hilarious. I mean, it's crazy. That fight made no sense back then. It definitely wouldn't make sense. He's campaigning for Francis, knowing that it's not going to happen, A A and B, the guy is like seven years older than Tom, like everyone wants the Tom fight.

What are we doing here? Yeah, no, I hear you. But also, again, it's like if John decides to retire as like sitting around and waiting for him, doesn't even make any sense. Like, I'm going to continue to defend my belt. And I think the fans, the true fans that understand the scenario and the runaround that's going on are gonna look at Tom and recognize him as the Undisputed champ and when John does decide to come back whether he vacates the belt or not that door is always gonna be there so if he does decide to

come back say hey I want to fight you now okay cool it's still gonna be the same thing versus if he keeps the belt and Tom keeps fighting like if Tom keeps the belt. But there's prestige no? No there prestige, but... Like Dustin Poirier, interim champ, never got the undisputed. Is it the same? If you were just the interim champ, would you feel the same? But then he had a chance to unify. He did and he lost. And he lost. Yeah, I'm just saying like, if Tom's just going around defending his interim title,

it doesn't feel the same. You're not viewed in the same light. Your legacy isn't the same. Of course. But again, I guess maybe, I don't know if I'm explaining this right, if John is not going to fight and he's playing this game of I'm retired or I'm living my best life, I don't need the belt. Okay, John is here. Aspenall is here and he's competing and he's being active. Yeah. I'm going to recognize Tom as the champ versus this guy over here who's not really giving his all at the moment or any attention or any love because at any moment even if John vacates he could come back and Asminal could be the undisputed champ and he could still lose to John and guess what people are gonna say he was always the paper

champ. Okay but while he's seeing his best life why doesn't he give up the belt? But that's what I'm saying even if he gives up the belt. But if give up, if, give up the damn belt, that's how it works. No, okay, John gives up the belt. Yes. He comes back and he beats Tom. Okay. Fair play. Then it's the same thing, versus if he holds the belt. But clearly right now he doesn't want to fight him, right?

Yeah. So just let the guy fight for the undisputed belt. I'm not even saying, by the way, that they should hand Tom the belt. Just next fight, it's Tom versus Cyril Gaan, let's just say. Undisputed belt. Just make it for the vacant title. Now usually the interim. What if he ever say it wouldn't be vacant?

Well, like I'm just saying, I'm not even saying gift Tom the belt, let him earn it. If you don't wanna give it to him. Now, historically the interim. But he's already interim, yeah you can. I would love that, I think that makes the most sense, but I'm just trying to say like, I don't think anyone should be handed anything, I just, I don't like the idea of I'm living my best life.

Look at me. I get it, dude. You, you, you have nothing left to prove. You've done it all. Amazing Thailand right now. Right? Let's let someone else live their best life. You're, you're literally stopping someone else from living their best life.

Yeah. I, that's my point. I, I get it, but I also, I think you understand. And I appreciate the fact that you're friends with him so you don't... No, no, I'm not trying to put you in a tough spot. It's not even to try to like protect John or anything like that. It's more... I guess because I'm so involved in the sport that I can look at it and decipher.

I'm like, well, this guy's playing games. So to me right now, this is the actual champ until he actually decides to come back and wants to fight, then he's fighting to unify the belts whenever he decides to see fit. I can separate that and look at Tom and say, Tom is the actual champ right now. And people can go and say well is really John Jones. Well John Jones isn't fighting. Yeah. So guess what? Until he actually comes back and says he's fighting, this is the champ. And that's what I'm saying is like if he says I'm vacating it and says I'm gonna go into hiatus again and then John pops up again two years later and says I want to fight.

And then he, and if he wins, which it would be very hard to take that much time off and come back and beat a guy like Tom. They're going to look at Tom and say he was a paper champ. Well, at least he had a two year reign. Yeah, I guess. I see it from that standpoint too, but... Sponsorships, like people just view you differently when you're the undisputed champion. I mean, you know this. Yeah yeah but he's still the man he's

not a man I'd love to see the fight but if not I'd love to see it move along by the way we talked about young I saw you guys speaking of were you in Thailand with him where were you yeah we were coaching against each other for the same show yeah I'll global the show that John was doing is it the same one doing now yeah wow so who are these guys the fighters no no no like who what's this show that's getting all these big names to come over to yeah they did some other seasons before and then they switched it over I think we were sit right here yeah yeah I think was both of you season two he came out there to train to jumpstart his training camp for Diego Lopez and I

didn't even know he's gonna be out there so I wish I came out there in better shape cuz we sparred and I was I got tired after like one round like brother this is not what I expected I didn't come out here for this I was like partying. Were you and Jan really going after it here? No Jan just fights everybody in the house. What is this you're on a soccer field? Soccer field yeah he's trying to take me down. Legit like what percentage is he going here? Is he going 50? Maybe 50, 60.

But I didn't see- He tried to hit you with a spinning back fist. Yeah, he calf kicked me like every day that I saw him. I was like, brother. Were you cool? Were we cool? Yeah.

I mean, I guess- Was there tension? He told me I owe him, I still owe him 10%. He said, brother, I changed your life. He gave you an Oscar. Maybe I owe you a cut. Maybe I do. So, but like there was no tension, right?

No, no, but they did try to get us to fight. Whoa. Three two minute rounds with the MMA gloves. And I was like, I got to talk to my manager. I was like, one that just sounds ridiculous. I'm like, I was like, can I wrestle? And they said, no, just boxing. Nah.

This is the president, the guy who would be like the Dana White Alfredo. And I'm talking to him like, you want to see me get my ass kicked, don't you? Because there's no reason why you want me to just go straight up just boxing with these small gloves. Like boxing gloves, I'd be like, okay, it'd be like a spar. Three two-minute rounds, okay, that's fine. But for me to go out there and just straight up with MMA gloves, I'm like, nah, dude, I'm good. Would you be allowed to do that? That's why I told him, I gotta ask, so I defer to that to kind of get out of it. Smart, smart.

I was like, I really don't want to do that. You have to ask for permission to do the show from the UFC. No, I just went. You just do it, yeah. It's nice. I don't think it's like a... I heard they pay really well. I got paid pretty decent for short notice.

Yeah. And I would imagine Diaz, obviously Diaz going out there, I forgot about the Dagestan beef. So I know they got into a little bit of altercation out there. And I would imagine they paid Yoel, Jorge and Jones a pretty penny. Yeah, and like is it tough-esque? Are you even able to like... They can fight in the house.

So it's way more drama. Guys are pulling knives and shit. Oh Jesus. Pocket knives out of the fanny pack. Guys falling on the floor, they're trying to stab him. I'm like, yo, this is unhinged. Guys kicking each other in a street fight, in the balls. The whole season is out right now.

I think they're on episode 8. On YouTube? On YouTube, yeah. And are you able to interact with these guys? Do they all speak English? We use a lot of translators. That's the one thing I told them. You guys got to do a better job of getting the translation devices so that we can actually have a full conversation. Because it just takes so long. You say something and I'm like You guys got to do a better job of getting like the translation devices so that we can actually have a full conversation.

Because it just takes so long. You say something and I'm like, hearing you talk, then they type it or they explain to me, they're talking really slow. And then the conversation gets in an awkward position because there's so much like quiet air. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We could probably have done this a little bit. So it never, it was friendly.

It was nice to see you guys hanging out like that. Yeah, like, like I said, even like with Sean,, I don't have any animosity towards any of these guys that I've fought. At the end of the day, we're all chasing the same dream, the same goal, trying to make money. I met his son. We were at the soccer field. We were playing around a little bit.

I was wrestling around with him, playing soccer with him a little bit. Who you guys are. I mean, it's like all day you guys are kicking each other. All day, all day. It's crazy. And they were asking, when are you guys are? I mean it's like all day you guys are kicking each other. All day, all day. It's crazy. And they were asking like when you guys gonna fight again? I was like hey if we want to do a trilogy he's got to come up to 45. I was like I ain't going back down to 35. Get me when I'm powerful. So what is going on with you? Because I saw you tweet a couple of weeks ago like hey I'm ready to go essentially right? So what's happening? I saw Hunter after the fights and I told him like hey like what's happening right now like I've been asking for a while but he's like he

knows I had my bachelor party coming up and some other stuff with the wedding I was like yeah but I... They're being mindful of your schedule all of a sudden. Yeah but I'm like that's cool and all but I've been waiting and asking since the very beginning even for the June card I was like that'd be dope for me and Marab to get on the same card. New work. That'd have been sick. But it didn't happen and Hunter said he's like I got you just send me the dates of when is inconvenient and when be practical. I'm in great shape right now. I don't want to lose it by like just hanging out working the whole time and doing some other stuff.

So I'm in shape. I want to take advantage of this. I'm about to be 36. Yeah. the whole time and doing some other stuff. So I'm in shape. I want to take advantage of this. I'm about to be 36. Yeah, I want to get in as many fights in as I can before, you know, the final swan song has the ship sailed for a pre wedding fight or is there still. I think there's still time. Like when would you want to cut it off? Okay, August, August would be good. September would be good. Okay. But see, because it's June for me to have to dial it back and not peak too early and wait all the way to September, that's just such a long time. So I'm kind of like, I would rather do something sooner

rather than later. Who do you want? In an ideal world, in terms of name value that makes sense, that people are gonna give a shit about the fight, Bryan Otega. Former title challenger a couple times. Is he sticking around at 45? He's the homie man. He's cool. You know, I've

I thought he's going to move up. I heard the same thing. But then I also heard that he that was just rumors. Okay. I know he's the same thing like he was in bad head spaces with certain fights. And I think we've seen that with him where he's had some really bad performances. And then he'll come back after taking some time off and then Bryan comes back and looks like a freaking world beater when he fought Korean Zombie. And he came back and pieced him up. I'm like, that was not the Bryan that fought these other guys that we were just

watching, you know. So I know it's not an easy fight, but it's just one of those things where you want to be in there and you got to have the right headspace. So I think that's what it is for him just taking some some time off, healing up some injuries. The next big name would be Arnold Allen. I like that one. That's a hard fight for me. Yeah. Why?

Southpaw. Most are had a hard time holding him down. And he's just a dog, man. When he knows he's losing, he just goes forward and just starts swinging. Yeah. The Max Holloway fight where he just went for broke. What was the other one that he went crazy like that too? I forget, it wasn't a cater fight,

but there was another one where when he's down, he knows he's down, he just starts going. Maybe the Mosar fight, maybe that was the one I'm thinking. But that's a really hard fight. He's not easy to take down, long southpaw. Yeah. Dan Hooker. Was it Dan? it yeah Dan Hooker maybe yeah yeah that's I think that was the one good memory yeah man by the way there's

there's this young cat sort of young John Silva who's making some noise oh yeah he's tough I told him I told his coach after he won against Bryce I saw him in the back room and said just tell him not to call me out I was like, I feel like they're gonna try to make you versus John Solo. Why do I feel like they're gonna? Tell John not to call me out. That guy's a crazy mofo. I like this guy.

I don't wanna fight him right now. I can fight him, I just don't wanna fight him right now. I'm on a different trajectory right now. I wanna do something different. He's on a different trajectory. He was like, you do your thing, I do my thing, and eventually we will meet up. But for right now, I was like,

I don't want those problems right now. And I'm just being honest, that's a tough cat to for right now, I was like, I don't want those problems right now. I'm like, and I'm just being honest, he's a tough, that's a tough cat to fight right now. He's amazing. What do you make of what's going on at the top there with Yair and Diego, most are to a degree, Yair and Diego have this thing at the press conference

and it seems like they want to fight or it seems like the UFC wants to book them. And now there's the back and forth and Yair is saying you should fight, to Diego you should fight John Silva. What do you make of all this? I think Diego should fight Gene Silva or Yair. I feel like Yair versus Diego is the fight. I think so too.

What do you think of Yair saying I should be next? I would love to fight Diego. You would love to fight Diego? I would love to fight him. Oh I like that. You guys had a thing. Yeah, it was a stupid thing and I used to have so much. I don't have it. I mean I don't not like the guy, but that just makes it easier. Even his manager got involved too, right?

Yeah, and I thought it was really stupid. And I understand going to bat for your guy, I'm like, but there was nothing I said that was distasteful or where you could be pissed off about other than just the fact that I'm pointing out facts that the most deserving guy is getting overstepped the same way that happened to Marab got overstuffed. Like when something's not right, I fucking call it out. Right? If someone asks me I'm not just going to come out of nowhere and say well that's why it shouldn't happen. But if you ask me and I give my opinion like I'm just giving my opinion doesn't mean I don't like Diego doesn't mean I

don't like Cheeto. It's just calling it out what it is. It is what it is. But if you get the opportunity like I've told them both when they got pissed at me. I said just be grateful you're getting this opportunity and make the most of it. Because at the end of the day you get one shot to become the champ. Very few people get multiple chances at fighting for a world title. And if you don't cash out or look good in the attempt, good luck trying to get back to that belt. It's going to be very very difficult especially if the same champ that you lost to is there. And that was it. It somehow turned into- You got personal. Yeah, it was like me being bitter and jealous. And I was like, jealous of what? I'm like,

I'm pretty sure I have way more money in my bank account than you. I'm pretty sure I'm way happier because I could travel the world and do all these things that a young kid from where I'm from couldn't do any of this before. I'm like, I think I'm pretty damn good in my skin right now. I'm just giving some advice. I'm just couldn't do any of this before. I'm like, I think I'm pretty damn good in my skin right now. I'm just giving some advice. I'm just like, hey, be grateful for the opportunity and make the most of it. I think even with him being like disrespectful,

him and his coach, manager, I thought I gave a pretty respectful response back. And I even told him, I was like, yo, like, cause house is always in Vegas. I'm like, if you've got something to say, say to me in Vegas. Like we could talk about it and have a one-on-one conversation, he's like, yo, like, because house is always in Vegas. I'm like, if you got something to say, say to me in Vegas. Like we could talk about it and have a one on one conversation. That's fine.

And he's not my favorite manager anyway to like out of all the managers, I just feel like this is, that's a whole, I'm not even going to go down that hole, but, but if you have something to say, I'm more than happy to have a conversation. We could talk about, I seen him, we were in the locker room, me, him, Diego, some other people. I looked at them, they looked at me, they didn't say anything. I seen him, we were in the locker room, me, him, Diego, some other people. I looked at them, they looked at me, they didn't say anything, I didn't say anything, I said, all right, go about my thing.

This is after the tweets. Yeah, so I was just like, all right, it is what it is. I guess there's nothing more to be said. I'm like, you had a great title fight effort, and it is what it is. You came up short, and like I said, just make the most of the opportunity. So.

He wants to fight on that No Check card. It seems like Yair might be banged up. That could be one for you, September. That would be September 13th with who Diego well I mean if he's down for it I'm down to fight him so at this point like I said like I need shit will get off the pot yeah and I think the most so far it was good enough where I don't think I fall back that many spots in that type of a loss where on a different day with another with a

different set of judges I probably win. Bryan Battle beats Randy Brown. Respect to Bryan Battle but I thought Randy Brown won that fight. Sirugan beats Alex Volkov. Respect to Sirugan and he knows too he showed in his interview. Volkov won that fight. So on the same night all those three bad decisions happened like maybe on another day I would have actually won but I didn't. So I just don't think it's that type of loss warrants me going all the way into the back of the line. So no. Hell no. He should be fighting for the belt next. Movstar should be fighting for the belt next. No? Yeah, I thought you said me. No no no no.

Yeah I mean we gotta get a couple. Don't get me rolled up. of us should be fighting for the belt next. It's crazy that this is... What do you think of Yair saying he should be fighting for the belt next? Yair saying he should fight for the belt next? Yeah, after his last one over Pitbull. You know, every time I give him my opinion, it comes back on me and these guys get mad at me like I'm talking shit. I'm not talking shit but respectfully, Yair should not be fighting. If he gets the opportunity, great. But based on merit, Yair should not be getting the opportunity next. I think he should have to win one more. And I think that's very, very reasonable and understandable. But if he gets it, great.

He's a big name. But, but we've seen that movie before But I think at this point of Vokes career, maybe there's a chance that he could catch him right so You think pico does well? I? Mean he's had some bumps and bruises up in a belt or Apache makes just came over from belt or a lot of guys think like Because it killing it in one organization that come over and think it's gonna be easy sailing But it's not man. I don't know what it is Because if you had told me like training with patchy and everything tell me about this what I would happen

I would have thought That his performance would have been a lot better than that Especially after all the shit and big game he was talking that was shocking that did not look like the same person, right? Yeah, I was very perplexed watching this. I'm like, did I fool myself from my personal experiences and my personal relationship with him that I thought he was a lot better and listening to all the hype of all the things that he was saying? Or is it actually that maybe it was just an off night? I don't know. But Mario Batista is also really good and people kind of overlooked that and I was conflicted because I know how good Mario is I know how good patchy is at the same time. I'm like, well, he's a former champion world champion. He just put to sleep

Magomed Magomed off, but it was a close rematch. I did think Magomed won the rematch But whatever patchy won a very close fight But that's how talented those guys are and then comes in and Mario Bautista kind of kind of schools them so when you see that it just makes you wonder like what is the difference why is it that when guys come over they look so yeah different than how you remember them from their other organizations and their other previous fights and I don't know so now with Pico is the same thing like he's very good very dangerous he fought one of my guys James Gonzalez, one of my training partners from New

York and it was a competitive fight and James is a very awkward guy so I can understand that anyone fighting James Gonzalez has an awkward fight with him because that's just what he does. But then that fights a few of the other ones I'm like he's good but it still seems like everybody else like there's one thing to talk somebody up and hype it up versus the performance and that's all that matters what does the performance actually look like on fight night and when I look at those things I'm like I think he's gonna do well I don't know if he comes in and smokes Mozart like people think he's gonna do him like based on what what are we actually comparing just give me

something to look at where I could go based on these things, he's going to come in, he's going to smoke this weight class and give it some a lot of new life. But it's a fun name, big name. A lot of people know who he is. So that's what makes it interesting. And I'm looking forward to his debut. I don't know if the Moser fight is actually going to happen. I think it's a stupid fight for Moser high risk, very low reward. but he goes and extends his winning streak again. I think he's undeniable. I agree. It's a big risk, it's a big jump,

especially for your debut for Pico. Let me ask you this, and we'll end on this. I remember when you came on the show many years ago, you had the hats, cheers. Look at that. Down the hats. L'chaim. L'chaim.

Tamarab, you had the hats you were gonna pick, you were gonna announce, you know the whole thing. Oh, yes Remember that yes, you have a video. No, I don't have the video. It sounded like I was setting it up No, that was that was a good time. I Don't know if that could happen anymore. No, you know what I mean? You had multiple choices you had you had UFC you had Bellator you had one championship It was was it World Series of fighting. I think you had Bellator, you had one championship. Was it World Series in fighting? I think you had four hats, yeah.

Which became, like, you're a free agent, you're that guy in, I think that was 2016? Yeah. You're that guy in 2025? What are you doing? What, you know, I talk about this a lot on the show, like I say MMA's in a recession, but not the UFC. The UFC's killing it.

They're tripping over money. They're about to score a multi-billion dollar TV deal coming up in 2026. Fighters are gonna get 0% of that, no problem. I'll go on and on about this. I'm not trying to, that's, I said that. I won't jump into that one. The point is, isn't it, like you know fighters,

you're with the young guys, you're seeing them come up, you're mentoring guys, you're training with guys. It bums me out that, not because I'm rooting for competition, I just, I like the fact when the fighters have options. You know what I mean? It's a totally different time, 10 years later. Yeah, it's almost like the NFL, NBA,

like you have options to go to different teams. Yes, you have 32. Or 31, if you're on one team. Isn't it disappointing what's happened, especially here in North America? Yeah, I mean, see, I have two opinions on this. It's nice to have everybody under one umbrella for one reason, because you get to see the best fight the best.

Sure. Because there is a lack of cross-promotional fights. It doesn't exist. It doesn't happen in our sport. Other, like boxing, they do it all the time. They don't do it here with the MMA, which is sad because Pachi could have still been the Bellator champion and come over

and done a crossover fight a while ago. If it was like cohesive like that, these guys had a friendly relationship. But because of that, not having it, you have everything under one umbrella. So it's always hard to see Ben Ashken fighting all these guys, he's killing everybody, crushing them, making them look just like the easiest thing that he's ever, like just playing with them like a baby, right?

And shout out to Ben Ashken too, yeah. Yeah, hope he feels better. Hope he has a speedy recovery. But with that said, it would have been nice to see him against the UFC competition years ago when he was in his prime before the hip surgery replacement that he needed and all these other injuries that came along the way. So you see him, he comes over, he doesn't do well. That's the only reason why it's nice to have them all under one umbrella. But the other side of it is when you have other organizations, there's a better free market for guys to have a

better opportunity to make more money and to actually test their value. When it's only one, it's a natural way of life, right? Like you can't have, you can't get a fair assessment on what you're actually worth if there's only one show in town, one big show in town. Like I can't go to LFA, Cage Fury, Fury Fighting, 8-1. They're regional promotions and that's not a knock. That's not a knock. You need them.

But like if you were a free agent right now, the same guy back in 2016, who are you talking to? I think that's why a lot of the fighters were excited about GFL. Yes, that would have been great. Yeah. But then that died. PFL has not... They cut their winnings in half. Yes. For the tournament. And they're not signing guys anymore. Like a couple years ago, they were signing Rory, Anthony Pettis, you know, like those types of names. Not doing that anymore.

I just am worried that you guys, you have no negotiation power. That's it. And it's not because I want you to leave the UFC. It's just because you want to get the most because this window is so small, right? You get hurt. You get, who God knows what happens. So I just remember that. I remember that like, man, I feel like that was the peak here where you had multiple options and that was post Strikeforce. Strikeforce was not even around

anymore. The XC wasn't around, but you had three, four options that were legit. One back in the day was signing Eddie Alvarez and Sage. Remember that? Like those are real things. Now, like who are you talking to? Yeah, it's a little Yeah it's a little it's a little disappointing to see because yeah you just have one show in town obviously for me like I fight for the company. Now you're good but it's been one of the best experiences of my life in terms of I've fought for other promotions regional of course but the level of professionalism from But the level of professionalism from picking you up at the airport, getting the flights taken care of. It's a well-oiled machine, right?

It's a well-oiled machine. The media coverage, everything is very well taken care of in comparison. Even the staff, the blue shirts, man, they do such a great job. I know just about all of them. I see them all the time when I go to the fights or when I'm fighting. It's always showing love to each other. They know me. I know them. They know my fiance like it's actually crazy It almost feels like a family with those guys obviously not with everybody like co-workers, right? Like they're like colleagues that you're in the trenches with. Yeah, so with the Heidi Dean by the way who I heard. Yeah. Yeah Oh, yes, I forgot about that. She was a staple. Yeah, she kind of reminds me of like the Burt Watson. 100%.

For the fans that don't know, when you guys would be on the scale, she would be like, stand straight, baby. 3, 2, 1 for the pose, right? She was the one. Yes. She's a legend. Yeah, it sucks, man. But I go to these other, the bigger organizations, the B or C league.

And the setup and the professionalism C league and the setup in the Professionalism isn't quite the same and it's kind of sad to see that you know, so That's the it's it's it's literally like your goal and aspirations to get to the UFC There is no other I just hope to get to this organization or that one because it's there's never been a close second I just hope to get to this organization or that one because there's never been a close second in my personal. Sure, sure, sure. Well, you're doing fine. I appreciate you coming in.

Thank you very much. Good luck with the funk, the funk harbor. I didn't even notice that you had that, damn. Shining, baby. What are we talking about? How many carrots here? See if I tell you, man. Yeah, don't tell me.

Look, I finished it. You did good. Impressed? Impressed. What if I take another one? I can't drive home if I take another one. Nah, you'd be fine. Look, I finished it. You did good. Impressed? Impressed. What if I take another one? I can't drive home if I take another one. Nah, you'd be fine. Nah, I'm already... You feel good? It is a nice, right? You don't feel like...

Yeah, it feels nice. I can bring it... Can I bring it to the synagogue for the Bar Mitzvah? Yeah. This is for my son, for my boy, Aljo. The 13-year-old? 13-year-old. No? We take a shot. That's like kind of a thing. You give him a little shot. By the way, shout out to my nephew, Jared. You're his favorite fighter. Today's his 17th birthday. Shout out Jared.

Happy birthday, Jared! He loves you. Thank you for the support. Yeah, he's a huge, huge fan. I actually invited him to come, but he has school, so he couldn't make it, but yeah, I wanted to mention that. Thank you for coming. Appreciate it very much.

Good luck. Hopefully see you back before the wedding. Yeah, yeah. I didn't get to save see you back before the wedding. Yeah, yeah. I didn't get to save the date yet for the wedding. Is that coming or? I mean, I was sure, I thought you were going to be too busy, but I mean- Oh, I mean, it's not.

I got a couple fighters coming, so if you want to come do a little coverage. No, listen, listen. I invited Piotr Jan. Come on. Yeah, yeah. He got to save the date and I didn't? He said if he's in the States, he'll come.

I was like, yeah. Where are we doing this, by the way? Vegas. Okay, Vegas. Not a destination. I thought maybe back home Jamaica. Uh, my mom she needs her still doesn't have a green card. We've been working on this for a while now and Obviously with the Trump thing and all that so she's a little scared to fly She thinks if she goes to the airport, they're gonna like handcuff her. Oh, no I don't think that's gonna happen. But just tell her to wear a mask. I

They're gonna like handcuff her. Oh, no, I don't think that's gonna happen. But just tell her to wear a mask I see you on threads blowing up there. Come on. Stay with that. That was not Controversial I actually saw it when you just posted it and then I saw it again a day later and I was like, oh no They've come for Aljo when they got so mad I was like you guys think I'm being facetious, but I'm it was literally like some cloth thing like your shirt I'm just like what are we doing yeah we don't but whatever stay away from it yeah I just left it I just try to let it die but then people keep commenting like all right we're almost two weeks later and people still commenting on this out the threads I see you on there repping

the Knicks out of the threads yeah that was a heartbreaker that was tough that was tough anyway you're the man Aljo thank you so much check out fun harbor he is the man we're gonna take a quick break back with Sam Jones. Do not go anywhere. The dog dish that we're gonna eat. There's another edition of Fight Feast. That's the Iowa edition. We're gonna get an Atlanta edition, I think, next week. Is that right, GC?

I should have asked beforehand if he's actually in the- Oh yeah, right here. Yeah, we sure are gonna get an Atlanta one. What are we getting? What's on tap? What's on tap? We're gonna go to the Varsity Tourist Trap, but I'm gonna show you what to order there. What to, everyone's like, uh, slot.

Is that a Bulldogs spot? There was one in Athens, yeah. But, no, it's like burgers and hot dogs. Presidents go there, famous people go there. It's like a touristy, touristy spot. Then I'm gonna go to a hole-in-the-wall place, like a local place, my favorite place to eat in which is spot. Then I'm gonna go to like a hole in the wall place, like a local place, my favorite place to eat in all of Atlanta.

And then maybe get something at the Braves game as well. Maybe get something. What, a Braves game too? Oh yeah. Fulton County Stadium? Nope. Turner Field? Nope, also not Turner Field.

Those are the last two stadiums. What's this one called? Truist Park, at the Battery. Shout out to that. Is it not called like SunTrust or something? Open to SunTrust, called? Truist Park, at the Battery. Is it not called like Sun Trust or something? Open to Sun Trust, change to Truist. And then maybe Mary Max as well. What is that?

Southern Comfort Food, fried chicken, collard greens, mac and cheese. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be great. And the card. Who are the Bravos playing? Colorado Rockies, so hopefully they'll win. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Rockies suck.

Rockies are fucking terrible. Shout out to Funk Harbor. Shout out, man. Pour yourself another glass. Nah. I'll get one back here, brother. By the way, before he left, he poured me, he's like, oh, you got more?

Here's another, for the road. He knows himself. Yes, he knows himself. All right, very much looking forward. By the way, Frank, you know, we got a clip that I have to play, we forgot to say, can you, when I call for that, can you play it in the studio?

You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I could do that. All right, we forgot to talk about that before. Okay, thank you very much to Al Jamey Sterling. That was great stuff, appreciate him very much. Looking forward to seeing him back in there. He's freaking fit, by the way. He told me he's like 160. He's ready to go. Let's get this guy a fight.

This weekend here in New York, Madison Square Garden, the theater at MSG, another great matchroom card. It's a great night of boxing, headlined by the champ, the newly crowned champ, Richardson Hitchens going up against the former champ, George Kambosas. Top to bottom it's a great card. There's a young man named Adam Maka making his pro debut over 70 amateur fights and 70 wins excuse me as an amateur and he was a big signing for matchroom. In a bit we'll be joined by him in studio but first I've been talking about this manager we had him out on the Ariel and Ade show. I enjoy him I appreciate him he's got a great style. If you're unfamiliar with Sam Jones you're about to fall in love with him because he reminds me of a prime Malky Kawa.

You may get that reference. Brash, outspoken, but sells his fighters, promotes his fighters, and is passionate about his fighters. I appreciate that. Let's say hello first and foremost to one of the best managers in the sweet science. Sam Jones is here. Hey Sam. How are you? Good to see you. Come in. Don't be shy. Please have a seat. I'm definitely not shy. This is it, man. Welcome to the big leagues. This isn't your run of the mill, IFL TV, boxing YouTube channel.

This is the big show here. This is the big show. I've made the big league. Yes. In fact, yesterday I was talking to Eddie about you. I don't know if you know this. He was on my other show. We have multiple shows. Uh, this is the, uh, Dazon show that you were on. Uh, I, I mentioned that you were coming on. Did you happen to see this? No, did he say that you were struggling for a lineup or something?

No, no, no. Here's what Eddie had to say yesterday when I told him you were coming on. By the way, you mentioned Adam Macca. He's going to come on my show tomorrow. And wouldn't you know it, your old friend, Sam Jones texting me, Hey, get me on the show, get me in studio. Oh, he's such, you know what? He's such a two-faced.

Some can of piss, huh? He's going to me, Eddie, are you in New York? I said, no, not till the late afternoon. Oh, could you come on the aerial show? What? I said, can you go on there with Adam Macker? I said, I won't be able to go on there till late. He went, oh, oh, I suppose I'll have to go on.

Ah! I'm like, you don't need to tell yourself that. Do you know what's mad about him? I thought to myself, I suppose I'll have to go on. Do you know what's mad about him? I thought to myself, I'm selfless. So I thought, you know what? It's good if Eddie goes on with Adam. Sure, sure, sure. But don't worry, I'll do your job for you. Yeah, he's part time retired now anyway. I love it. I love it. I love your style. And I told you this on text and I don't know if you looked them up. You remind me of a prime Malky Kawa. There was a guy, a manager in MMA.

And you are him, meaning you're brash, you're passionate, you promote your fighters. Tremendously good looking. Tremendously good, you can have a similar beard to him. And the thing is, you're not afraid to mix it up, you're not afraid to put yourself out there. I appreciate that about you, so well done. Especially if you're in this field, right, you have to put yourself out there. I appreciate that about you. So well done. You have to be, especially if you're in this field, right? You have to put yourself out there

and you have to be able to hold a room and you have to be able to sell your fighters. If you can't sell yourself, you can't sell your fighters. So I believe I can do that pretty well. But a lot of boxing managers, I feel like, just leave it up to the promoters to do that. No, because the promoters have, if a promoter has, I know Eddie, for example, if he has 300 fighters, I don't know No, because the promoters have, if a promoter has, I know Eddie for example,

if he has 300 fighters, I don't know how many fighters Matt Shum have, he ain't got time to like put his sole purposes to promote one individual fighter. Like he will have his favorites, and he'll have his mid-tier and he'll have his lower tier. That's just the reality. My job's to promote my fighters as well.

I believe that's, listen, if a manager wants to take a percentage off a fighter who gets punched in the head for money, you have to earn every round penny you get from them. So I want the fighter to want to pay me money after the fight. Think, you deserve this, your big pork chop.

You deserve it. How many guys do you represent now? It's like 15. 15, is that a good number for you or you represent now? It's like 15. 15. Is that a good number for you or you want more? It's not that I want more. Like it's more, I like to think I've got a big heart as well. So like you see if someone, I have a fighter called Connor Walker. Yeah.

I don't know that you. He's fighting in a couple of weeks, right? He's fighting next week. Next week. Yeah, but he'd asked me to manage him for a while and I was like, ah, busy, busy. But then you get to know him and he's a lovely kid and he's got a great story, but like I've helped him to get higher up in his career, earn more money and that's like big satisfaction for me.

But yeah, so no, there's no like a cap on how many fighters I take. There obviously is a cap. I can't go too many because I want to be able to always answer the phone to my fighters and give my fighters a hundred percent time and commitment. So there is obviously a cap, but you can never say never to how many you're gonna get, but it's not gonna be tons and tons. So in mixed martial arts, we're used to managers

who are outspoken, because there's only really one promoter. As opposed to in boxing, where you'll have Eddie and Frank and Ben Shalom and Oscar. So there's enough voices out there to where I think a lot of the managers don't want to muddy the waters. But the reason why you stick out to me is because you remind me of an MMA manager who has to really promote his guys

because Dana, in particular in the UFC, is not gonna choose sides because he kind of owns the whole thing. And so you're able to big up your guy. You know what I mean? He's not gonna pick a side. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, his job is to promote the,

which is very well by the way. The brand, yes, yes. He promotes the whole show and both sides. Now you've got to, if I'm on your side I've got you back. I'll promote you as best I possibly can. And so last time we had you on I was like, man you really should be a boxing promoter. Have we done anything to get to that point? I feel like that's the end game here. Eddie's hogging the show. He's hogging it. Go after him. No, no. It's not so much that. It's like, this is my journey now. And like, if something takes me somewhere else,

then I'm open to everything, but I'm loving what I'm doing right now. You love it? Yeah, I love it. If I wouldn't, I put my heart and soul into it, so I wouldn't do it if I didn't love it. How'd you get into it? Fluke.

Fluke? Yeah, complete fluke. What were you doing? I just turned out to be really good at it. No, just fluke. One of my first? I just turned out to be really good at it. No, just fluke. One of my first interactions with boxing was with Floyd Mayweather. Wow. Yeah, yeah, he probably won't remember that, but there's actually an article, if you actually

type my name in, I actually met Floyd. I had like a five minute meeting with him. How old are you? So, not nearly ten years ago. Okay. Forty-five. No, I'm kidding. Forty-five.

I'm taking the piss. You like to swear on this channel. No, no, kidding. I'm taking the piss. You like to swear on this channel every time. You can swear. No, so then I met him and he was talking like, I was trying to get Savannah Marshall, who I had at the time, on the Conor McGregor on the card, which I managed to do, by the way. But then he was just like,

I thought to myself, I backed myself in a meeting with anyone, I don't care who they are, fuck you all. Like I backed myself in a meeting. But then he was just like going, what's that watch, man? And I had like a meeting with anyone. I don't care who the fuck you are. Like I backed myself in a meeting. But then he was just like going, what's that watch, man? And I had like a Casio watch. I can't remember, but it was a bit of a dead watch, to be fair, but he was like focusing on my watch and he kind of changed the subject and got bored.

So then he kind of, I kind of got him back again. And then he's, and then I had a meeting with Leonard Elaby and I was chasing him around London. And I managed to get Savannah on the undercard. And from then I signed Joe Joyce, and then the rest is- What were you doing before? Like your inch?

Everything. I've done every job you can imagine. Every job? Yeah, loads of jobs. Were you a big boxing fan as a kid? Was this a dream for you? I don't really know, to be honest, Harry. I just knew that I could, I can operate.

I can hold a room, I can sell well, I can sell myself, I can sell, I thought I'm a good negotiator, so they're the ingredients, you know what I mean? They're the ingredients, I'm not talented enough to fight, so you gotta respect the fighters that go in there and do it, but I can do, I can market, I can sell,

so I thought, yeah, I'm good at this, and I did my foot in it, and then it just- Who was your first client? Joe Joyce. Joe Joyce? How'd you get him off the bat? Signed him, just signed him. I met Joe Joyce at an airport.

Just like he's there, you walk up to him. Yeah, we knew each other from then and then we'd get speaking and then But did you just walk up to him and say hi, I'm Sam? No, no, yeah, we, yeah. Wow, and then you signed him? Yeah, Joe Joyce, he signed with David Hay and then kind of the rest was history from there and I got

him yeah you signed with Richard Schaefer and David Hay they had Haymaker Ringstar I believe it was called at the time and I lived at the hotel next to David Hay's gym called the Park Plaza there's no I'm not sponsored by the park you lived there yeah lived there why'd you live at a hotel because it was next to David it was beautiful it was on London it was like an apartment so shout out David Hay he gave me a wicked apartment. It was like, and then Joe was staying there and that's where we trained with Ishmael Salas, the legendary Cuban trainer, so that's how Joe started,

and that's how I started off the back of that with my then business partner at the time, I was signing fighters and then we kind of, I kind of made my own name from there. I've had a lot of, listen, I've had people that have helped me along the way. Peter Fiori, for example, he helped me massively. How so? I was in around his gym when I was younger.

Before I was involved in boxing. I used to spend loads of time in his gym and watching Tyson train. And then Peter would always give me good advice. So, Peter was a massive part in my startup in boxing. He let me in close. So yeah, big shout out to Peter for I've got so much time for him. And so when did you start to feel like you were really making a career out of this?

It's one thing to have a- With Joe Joyce, no with Joe Joyce because I knew once I had Joe, I can really do this. Yeah. I can really do this and then it just kind of got bigger and bigger from then. You kind of make your name from there, don't you? When you're negotiating with some of these guys

and talking to some of these promoters, you're not intimidated early on. Not one bit. That was probably the positives, because most people, as you know, boxing's the wild west. You can come in there, but a lot of people come and go. And a lot of people I know predicted me to not last very long.

Why's that? Because loud mouth fucker. They didn't think I could probably handle it for that long because there's a lot of people that want you down for. Do you understand? But now I'm in a position now in boxing where honestly, I'm so relaxed in my own skin. I don't care what anybody else is doing.

You feel comfortable? Yeah, as long as I deliver for the people I work for and I work in a good, honest way, that's all I care about. How do you feel, you know, like you said, it's the Wild West, there's a lot of backstabbing, there's some shady characters. Sharks! How do you deal with these guys?

You just, you know what they are. You know what they are when you have a meeting with somebody and you're not really fond of them, it doesn't matter. Like, if you... Like, I'll do a deal with anybody. I'll do a deal with anybody. As long as it's good for my fighters, I'll do a deal with anybody. You can't really think too personally in boxing. I don't really take stuff personal.

That's why I kind of take things for a pinch of salt. I kind of laugh. I laugh at my own self sometimes. Like, you can't take it too seriously, if that makes sense. You can't take, you can't have, oh, I hate him. I'm not doing any work with him. Like that's not the way to be. The Regis program thing would be the perfect example of that. Regis is my guy.

He got me, didn't he? He absolutely, I knew we were going to bring this up. I know, but it's so great. He did. He absolutely. What was the backstory there? The backstory was right. I was working for a company at the time and I was trying to get,

Regis was the WBC champion, right? He had just won the belt from, I can't remember his name. I can't remember the name of the guy who Regis beat for the belt. Dalton Smith beat him in Sheffield. Okay. Pedraza, I think it might be. Was this in New Orleans? No, it wasn't in New Orleans. I'm sure it was on a Trilla card. Yeah, that's what I... Oh no, it was in Atlanta. It was

on the Ben Askren, Jake Paul fight. Who did he beat? It was in the empty arena. I can't beat... In the empty arena? You remember? I remember, I know the fight. Okay. And it was a big coming out party for him. So Regis, yeah, Regis done really well. He won the belt. And I was trying to persuade Regis to kind of fight Jack Cachel And it was a big coming out party. Yeah, Regis done really well. He won the belt and I was trying to persuade Regis to kind of fight Jack Katchel because it was a good fight at the time for both of them. Did you rep him? Both of them. Like I was working for the company that was repping both of them. Got it. So I was trying to get the fight on and I was just like genuinely tongue in cheek saying and it wasn't a voice note, it was a zoom call. I was trying to get Regis to take the fight with Jack. I just said, you whoop him. And I, Ariel, I swear I forgot I had this conversation.

I have loads of conversations. And by the way, how I think today might not be how I think tomorrow. Sure, sure. Like I would predict a fight, I don't know, for example, like Usyk DuBois, for example. I think Usyk's gonna beat DuBois. Then the next day I might think on an interview,

do you know what, Daniel DuBois is gonna win that fight. I contradict myself all the time. We all do. Well, how do you find that clip though? Like he was recording it? I don't know, but there was a few other people on that call. Listen, it's a bit naughty to record the phone call, but it is what it is. He got me. It made the promotion. So there you are at the press conference. I got a clip of you. I wasn't even involved in the press conference, Ariel. And he fucked me. I was like, I was standing there.

Did your heart sink? Do you know what? Do you know what? I was thinking more at the time because I sounded like a stuttering fucker in that. I was thinking I couldn't believe he did it but I thought you know what he's 10-7 me but it's made the fight bigger. Sure. More eyeballs on it. Listen you're here talking about it now. I remember it was a great moment. It was entertaining, but I did feel for you because here's your guy, Jack, sitting there. I felt for me too.

I just thought, Regis, you fucker, you've done this. You've done this to me. But at the same time, I did laugh about it at the end. You did say you had stuff on him. Yeah, but I was trying to make him worried. You had nothing? Nah. I was trying to play reverse psychology with him, but it didn't work. Smart.

He did get me. He did get me. He did get me. But look, I mean this when I say Regis is my friend. I've known Regis a long time. He just pulled the bat out of the pants, didn't he? And got me. What happened afterwards? Did Jack say like, yo man?

No, not one bit. Because he's such a nice guy, Jack. It's not just that. Like at the same time, it was years ago. It was years ago. He wasn't bothered. I said it last week, week before the fight, oh by the way, even in joking way,

oh, you're gonna whoop him. I'm sure Jack would have pulled his left hand out and clipped me one. But it's part of, listen, it made the fight bigger, didn't it? I was saying to myself, God, I've promoted the fight and made it bigger without even meaning to this time. So yeah, he got me, you can't win them all.

That was a tough night for Jack in Manchester. It was a tough night for Jack against Regis. Yeah, and then Jack. Yeah, and no, I meant the Barbosa. Yeah, it weren't Jack's best performance, if I'm honest, Ariel. It weren't his best performance. And Jack knows that.

He could have forced the fight. I don't want to do Barbosa a disservice by saying that he should have won, but we kind of think Jack should be winning them type of fights. But listen, credit to Barbos, he's got a young family, went on and earned a load of money in Times Square. Good luck to Barbos, I know he lost against Tio,

but it's boxing, isn't it? If people were scared to risk their rows and take hard fights, Jack's done things the hard way. So he's got another fight against Harlem U-Bank, against July the 5th, it's a good comeback fight. Against a young, well, I say young, he's the same age as Jack, 31, but it's a good fight that people are gonna be interested in, especially in the UK,

because the U-Bank names carry good weight. Yeah, of course, especially right now. Yeah, and Jack's straight back into another big fight. How do you handle those situations? I was looking at an interview right after the Johnny Fischer fight, the most recent one against Dave Allen. It's gotta be tough, right?

Like, the highs are great, but sometimes the lows. I didn't manage Johnny in Fischer fight, the most recent one against Dave Allen. It's gotta be tough, right? Like, the highs are great, but sometimes the lows. I didn't manage Johnny in the second fight, so me and Johnny were working together with the first one, but we weren't together for the second one. Oh, you weren't? Yeah, I was just Johnny's friend at that point. You seemed distraught.

Oh, distraught for him because I knew he could box better, but at the same time, I'm friends with Dave Allen. I'm really good friends with Dave Allen. So yeah, it was a tough night for Johnny, but look, it is what it is, isn't it? Again, it's boxing, especially heavyweight boxing. Why did you manage him for the second fight? I didn't manage him for the second fight.

No, why not? Again, look, when Johnny lost, when Johnny boxed Dave Allen the first time, I thought Dave Allen won the fight. Oh. Yeah, I thought Dave Allen won the fight. So I don't know whether- You said that in an interview.

Yeah, I said it in the interview. And they got mad. Yeah, I don't know whether they were mad. Big fight. Yeah, I thought Dave Allen won the fight. So I don't know whether. You said that in an interview and they got mad. Yeah, I don't know whether they were mad. Big John. Big John, no, I like me and John Bitt. He was mad at a lot of people. I saw him get mad at Gareth. Maybe, listen, there's a lot. You have to understand from a dad's point,

this is why I don't hold no grudges, Ariel. Because look, when a dad's watching anything, their son do everything, it's like, it's an emotional feeling, isn't it, towards it. It's like everyone, the world against them but like look like I say I don't hold grudges I don't hold grudges I don't need to hold grudges I wish everybody the best. So do you have long-term deals with guys or can they go fight by fight? No I have long-term deals with there's a couple of handshakes okay but then the

rest they're under contract. We see me, I will. I've got time. Say if we go into an agreement, right, and I honestly think it's big on like, do you like me? Yeah, and I like you because we're going to be spending a lot of time together, we're going to be speaking a lot together. I don't want to work with pricks. I don't have time for it. I'm sure they don't either. So it's like if we're a year down the line and he thinks I'm a dick and I think they're a dick, then I'm not even got time for that. I'm blessed where I have a lot of people

reaching out to me to represent them. So I'm not gonna struggle for work. Do you understand why? Am I making sense? I felt like your coming out party was Taylor Cattarall. They put you on the dais, you were selling that. I felt like that was, honestly that's where I kind of really paid attention to you. And I was like, this guy's like an old school pro wrestling manager. You're like Paul Heyman up there.

I had a few coffees that day. But also like, you know, with all due respect, Cattarall doesn't really sell himself so he could use a mouthpiece. Yeah, he's not an abrasive character. He was in that build up to be fair. Yeah, I was. He slapped Josh. You stole the show. You stole the show. Did you feel like that was a turning point for you? Not so much.

Because when Joyce, my first press conference was Bermane Stiverne against Joe Joyce with Richard Schaeffer. And if you watch the clip back, Bermane Stiverne tried to kill me that day, honestly. What'd you do? Or what'd you say? No, I was just agitating him. But I thought it was just a joke.

I was thinking I was just selling the fight. He wanted to fuck me up. Honestly, like he was waiting for me after the cameras went off. And you've seen the size of Bermane's tavern, he's huge. So I was thinking, oh, he's legit mad. So like, he was really mad. Like Richard Schafer was like, like this, like this.

And he was like, oh God, you really like pissed him off. So that was like the first bit. And then I started, I just, I don't know. Like I wanna make him off. So that was the first bit, and then I started, I just, I don't know, I wanna make fights bigger. If I can help promote the fight and put one extra set of eyeballs on the show, then it's job done. How do you feel about the state of the business right now?

It's an interesting time. I saw yesterday you were even commenting on Turkey saying, I want fun fights, I want fights. Today? Yeah, it was this morning, right? If you are a fun fighter, come hit us up. You know where to find us. Yeah, I was trying to put Connor Walker on the show.

I saw that, I saw that. I was trying to put more of my fighters. Hey, that's what you should be doing as a manager. Listen, he wants good fights. I've got fighters that have fun, fan-friendly styles. But I understand it. Look, you don't want to be paying millions and millions like what Turkey's doing at the moment

for no disrespect, like the Devin Haney fight against Ramirez. Like, we don't, to be paying millions and millions like what Turkey's doing at the moment for no disrespect like the Devon Haney fight against Ramirez. Like we don't, like it's not, Devon Haney's a beautiful boxer, phenomenally gifted fighter. But if you're paying millions of dollars, you don't want to see that. You want to see two guys come in the ring and have a fight. And you're going to meet Adam Macker in a minute. You're going to be excited when he, because when he was putting people's lights out with 16 ounce gloves on, imagine what he's gonna do with a set of-

70 amateur wins. Yeah, 70 amateur wins and over 40 by knockout. He's a freak of nature, but like what I say, but going back to what I was saying about turkeys, if he wants fun fights, let's get some. What do you think about this TKO boxing, or Zufa boxing as they're calling it? The more promoters, say from a manager's perspective,

the more promoters the better. Have you had any talks with them yet? No. No, do you think that their model can work in boxing? The UFC model. Yes, but it'll be difficult. It'll be difficult, because boxing is a totally different world to MMA.

Totally different world. But I like the concept, and if it works, then great. Do you understand what I mean? But it's like the more... What about getting rid of the three letter belts? The WBCs, the IBFs, the IBFs? I'm not keen on that. Why?

Because I just think the WBC, like if you ask a young fighter what they wanna do, they envision that the green strap or one of the big four belts, the WBO, WBA, IBF, WBC. But if you ask a young prospect when they turn pro, what do they want to do? They want to become world champion. Do you understand what I mean? Yeah. But they want you to now, like, if you ask a young MMA fighter, what do you want

to do? You want to be a UFC champion. UFC champion, yeah. So that's what they are envisioning, right? Yeah, for sure. But you can't take away hundreds and hundreds of years of of history it's very it's gonna be very difficult to do that but the concept great great and listen Dana White is a huge name isn't it so anything he puts his name behind it will be big and obviously you've got turkey there as well it's gonna be it's gonna be big and it's listen anything that benefits boxing I'm all for and right now in the UK boxing is on fire right

yeah it's doing good I wish we were like I wish it was one tenth as popular here Anything that benefits boxing, I'm all for. And right now in the UK, boxing's on fire, right? Yeah, it's doing good. I wish we were like, I wish it was one tenth as popular here as it is over there. We can't get any big fights here. Yeah, listen, I have it. You guys are having another stadium show every week.

In America, it was like, when I grew up, I was like, all the big fights took place in Las Vegas. I remember waking up watching Nazeem Hamad against Kevin Kelly in the garden over there, and Len Hamid against Kevin Kelly in the, in the garden over there and Lennox Lewis against Mike Tyson in America. Like all the big fights, it was stay up till four o'clock in the morning. And that's, and that's, and that's when the fights were, but it's kind of changing that the big fights, they say Saudi Arabia now, but I just think everyone's, a lot of boxing fans that they get are kind of not annoyed, but like, Oh, why is it happening? Or

listen, as long as the fights are happening and the fires are getting paid and you can watch the fights, let's be happy and grateful. I saw you with Nassim, you're buddies with him? I've managed both his sons. You managed both of them? Both his sons, yeah, Adam Hamad. There you are.

Look at you guys. That was in Libya. Libya? Yes. Why? In Benghazi, cause that's where Adam Hamad had his last, not his last fight, the one before. Okay. In Benghazi, because that's where Adam Hammid had his last, not his last fight, the one before in Benghazi.

That was a wild atmosphere. And what are the sons like? Oh, they're best kids. Yeah? I'm saying that, they're the best kids. What's he like? Do you have to go through him? Naz. Yeah.

Naz, Naz is big boss. Naz is big boss, but no, listen, I'm not just saying this. I love Naz. I love Naz. Legend. He's my own family. I love him to pieces. If he asked me to do anything, I'd do it for him. Wow, that's a- He just saying this, I love Nas. I love Nas like he's my own family. I love him to pieces. If he asked me to do anything, I'd do it for him. Wow, that's a-

He's the reason why I love boxing. Really? He was your guy? I really, I wouldn't say dial my mom in now, but my mom sewed me a pair of leopard print shorts when I was younger. Wow. When he used to box, I used to put them on with my skinny chest.

I ain't skinny anymore. Yeah. And I used to come down the steps and like imitate, try and imitate what he was, I was obsessed with him. Wow. So he's the guy that kind of introduced you to the game. Absolutely. And now you're doing business with him

and you're representing his sons. Yeah, I represent him. What a life. Yeah, I represent in his sons. But yeah, I'm very fortunate, really, really fortunate. That's why I'm happy to be here. Do you know what I mean? I'm happy to be here.

Oh, I thought you meant on this show. I am happy to be here also. You mean in life. Okay, okay, okay. Who's the toughest guy to negotiate with? Who's the biggest canapes, as they say? What, in boxing? Yeah.

Who's the one that you're like, okay, this is gonna get? I can't say that. Why not, why not? I can't say that. The tightest, I'll tell you the tightest, Frank Smith, he's the tightest. Frank Smith? I just heard from him today. But he is, yeah'll tell you the tightest. Frank Smith. He's the tightest.

Frank Smith? I just heard from him today. Yeah, he sent me a message. He's also one of the best. What do you mean by tightest? He's hard to get. You have to shake him to get money out of him. But one of the most honest, straightest guys to deal with in boxing. Which is a rarity, right? Absolutely. Like I said, I'll argue with Frank Smith over a hotel room. But he's straight down the line and everything that you agree, he delivers.

What a story. Him as well, right? Like he meets Eddie when he's a teenager, right? And he rises up and now he's number two. Oh, Frank's done amazing. Frank's done amazing. I don't want to gas him up too much because I'm still trying to get more money out of him

after this interview. But no, Frank's a good guy. Frank's good, but yeah, he's tight. What do you think's gonna happen with Sky? Sky and Boxer and how big of a blow is this to the region? I hope Sky stay in boxing, right? I hope Sky stay in boxing, but look, Ben Shalom. Good relationship with him?

How's your relationship with him? It's okay, it's okay. I don't have any fights with him, but it's not like any reason. Like I'll do a deal with him, but like Ben's not like, look, you've got Frank Warren, who's one of the greatest, if not the greatest promoter of all time. The Don.

He's, Frank's the main, the goat. You've got Frank Warren and you've got Eddie Hearn, yeah? Two phenomenal promoters. And then you've got Ben Shalom, who's not really an outspoken type, like he's not, like like he's not like a, an outspoken promoter, does that make sense? Yeah, I get it.

But look, what you do have to credit him is, he got the Sky deal, and like he's got a good stable of fighters, he's done well from start up, he's done really well. So, but it was always gonna be a hard job for him to kind of follow what Eddie and Matroom did. Joe with those big Joshua fight nights. So like, it was always going to be a hard job for him to kind of follow what Eddie and Matron did. Joe with those big Joshua fight nights. So like it was a hard thing for him.

But I think Ben will stay in boxing. I think Ben will get a different broadcaster or whatever they're going to do and he'll stay in boxing. But as for Sky, I hope they stay in boxing. They stay in some capacity because it's important. Good eyeballs. It's a huge platform. And yeah. It's good for Boxer to have a home. I don't know if it's the best thing for them

to have Dizone as their home. I think it would be good. No, I don't think so as well. I don't think it will be Dizone. I'm not saying this out of even what I know because I actually know nothing about what's going on there. But I believe with the stable of fighters they have, they will still be able to get a broadcaster.

They'll get of some capacity. I'm sure they will still be able to get a broadcaster. They'll get of some capacity. I'm sure they will. Got like Ben Whittock who does mad numbers for them. Callum Simpson who get Caroline Dubois up coming. So they've got some Adam Azim, really, really good talent of crop of fighters that they've built, they've done really well. So yeah, if they stay in boxing, great.

By the way, what do you think of MVP here in America really going all in with the women? Savannah Marshall you mentioned, they just signed her. At the beginning, I kind of think when you watch Jay Paul, you kind of think, what is he doing? But then you think Jay Paul is a smart guy. He's a marketing genius, him and his brother. Yeah.

So Jay Paul's doing unbelievable, especially for women's boxing. If you're a women's boxer right now, if you're just honest, you want to sign with Jake Paul. That's the spot. Ellie Scott and he went- It doesn't matter who you are with, whether you're with Eddie, Frank Warren, Bob Aron,

Oscar Delahoy, you want to be. If you are a female fighter, they're all lying if they don't say they want to be signing with Jake Paul in their MVP. Have you done any business with them? No. Not yet. But I know Mike Leonardi, the guy who runs it. He's a really good guy, I know him.

So I'm sure maybe I'll be doing something in future. I can say, I'll do a deal with anyone. So this card on Saturday at the theater, you have Adam Maka, you have anyone else? No, Adam Maka. So you're here for a young man who's making his pro debut. Who is Adam Maka for the audience out there who may not be familiar?

Who is this man that we're about to meet? An 18 year old. 18 year old. Hard punching phenomenon. And this promo that they put out about him. I mean this is a big deal when Metrum signed him. Listen, it was a big deal when I signed him. You got him first.

Yeah, I got him first and as I say, he wanted to sign with Eddie. We did a deal very quickly with Eddie, with Frank Smith, managed to get a few quid out of Frank Smith. Yeah. But he's, you'll be amazed by his maturity. He's got such maturity for, he's only just turned 18. Yeah. But you'll be amazed by his maturity.

He's got such maturity for, he's only just turned 18. Just turned. He's not like an old 18, he's just turned 18 years old. For him to take this in his stride, I'm extremely proud of him, and I'm sure his family are beyond proud of him. Because he doesn't, listen, a lot of promoters might say this, Eddie for one, right?

Oh, he appreciates a boxer, stands like this and sticks the jab out. No, he wants to see see can destroy and good fights. Adam Maka, you will be entertained. You will be entertained when he fights because he comes to fuck people up. I love it. I mean, 18, you don't see a lot of guys at this age getting this platform. Yes, I included it as part of the deal Uh, uh, all right. Well without further ado

Let us say hello to the aforementioned adam maca who represents not only the uk but albania as well. Hello my friend How are you? Welcome to the program Oh, I thought I was gonna get it Nice to meet you How's it going? Pleasure to meet you. Have a seat. Thank you so much. 18 years young and you're about to debut at the Mecca in the greatest city in the world. Speak closer to the microphone and if you don't mind just like turning it a little bit

towards you so that you can... The top there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There it is. Welcome, welcome. Is this all like very surreal for a young man to make a debut like this on Saturday? Yeah, look, I'm sort of just taking it all in it. It doesn't really feel Feel real yet. Maybe on Saturday when I when I get in the ring

It'll come to life a bit. Are you the kind of guy that gets a little bit nervous before fights? You've done this a lot of time not on the pro level, but this is a different stage on big stages. Okay, I sort of on the pro level but this is a different stage. I've been on big stages. I sort of, you're fighting if I'm sparring in the gym, if I'm in Madison Square Garden. I like to just sort of, I don't like to think too much. I just like to get in, fight week, I don't like to think about fighting too much as well. I love it. Why'd you sign with this guy? I took it for great food. That was it. You know what? We went to Sheesh in London and the Turkish was good. Smart.

But look, we met with a few different managers and I feel like me and Sam, we just clicked and I thought he was the best man for the job. So how does it work? I'm curious, so you sign him first, and then you start talking to the different promoters? Yeah. And did you always want to take him to Matchroom, or were you open for business with everyone? Listen, it was whoever come up with the most deal and the best plan.

Okay. Yeah, we were speaking before. Was everyone interested? Yeah, we had the options. So, literally what he said he text and he said whoever's offering the most. It's not so much the most neither it's the best plan for him. Look he's boxing in New York and for Matchroom to deliver that for him listen take me out of it I did put it included

as part of the deal but for Matchroom to deliver this is pretty special. What did you put in the deal? What did you put in the deal? Want me to tell you? Yeah, yeah. No, no, it was part of the deal that his debut must be in New York. Oh wow, because you knew this day was coming. And in New York, they have a large Albanian contingency. They have a lot of Albanians,

so there's gonna be a lot of eyeballs on the map. I love it. Do you know who Action Bronson is? No. Action Bronson is an absolute legend. He's a rapper. He's from Queens, New York, but he's also a chef.

He has a show called F That's Delicious. He has shoes with New Balance, I'm wearing them right now. He's a New York legend, but also world renowned. He is from Albania. And so he reps Albania, and there's a few fighters that he loves from Albania who are MMA fighters. He's a big MMA fan, and so we gotta figure out a way. He's gonna love Adam.

We gotta figure out a way, because he is a huge fan of all things Albania now. You're not born in Albania, right? No, no, no, you're born in the UK. Yes, your family's from Albania Yes, why always it seems like you rep more Albania than the UK though. Am I wrong about that? No Why wrong? I feel like that's just an Albanian thing. You're proud about Yeah, you're proud about your roots and where you're from, where your family's from. And I have no English blood, so it's not really...

His mom's from the Yemen. Oh wow. Yeah, so I'm Yemeni-Albanian. Okay, and how'd you get into boxing? My mom took me when I was about six years old just to the gym. And then when I started sparring, I was seven or eight. And it was the fighting without getting told off that I liked.

No teachers telling you off, just getting in the ring and you can have a fight and punch someone up with no consequences. You liked it right away? Yeah. When did you start to think, okay, so you're six, you're just doing it for fun. When did you start to think like, you can actually make a career out of this?

When I started sparring, when I got to about eight, nine. Eight, nine, you started sparring? Yeah. Dang. And just even getting in with bigger lads, all different sizes and that. And when I was beating them up, I just thought like,. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life Wow, when did you first hear about him? I watched him box when I was like 15 years old. Wow. Yeah

What was that when when people when he used to spare box right in the amateurs? the was Save the sound there's three rings and there's loads of fights going to do it Surround yeah ring that he's boxing and like Like I told you, you're going to be entertained when he boxes. He's not looking to nick a points win or burglar points win. He's coming to whoop somebody. Who did you grow up looking up to, emulating, trying to be like? To be honest, the only boxing that, like, I'd watch the Rocky films all the time. So it was, didn't you? I wanted to be like... You don't watch, like, the actual fights? No. Really? Even now I don't

watch fights. Why is that? I just... You're not inspired by it. You know what it is? It's, like, I'd watch fights from before, the Edwin Valeros, Roberto Duran... Old school. But, because, like Sam said, you'll be excited when I fight. Now, are all that run in a couple points when is is uh... i don't want to be seen five hours watching people go job for job so uh... you think it's boring and you're trying to change that yeah you will change that uh... and i want i want kids to be

looking at looking at these fights watching fights thinking i wanna fight like that. It might bring a bit more entertainment in the next few years. Some showmanship. Yeah. Now there's a line, right? Like some people didn't like,

Ben Whitaker was like all the way here as far as the showmanship. Where are you on, and so was Nassim Hamad, right? Like he was, where are you on the showmanship scale? Are you gonna hot dog out there? Look, it depends what mood I'm in. I like that. Sometimes I'm at that bit, sometimes I want to be serious and I might calm down a bit.

So 70 amateur wins, 40 via knockout. That's not something you often see on the amateur side, right? There's some clips, if you go on his Instagram, there's a clip that went completely viral. The poor kid, he iced him he doesn't happen in amateur boxing like it may be in heavyweight sure sure not the weight he boxes that bantamweight right yeah but if you say he's looking at look at the size of his hands like a baseball commit crazy he's got big hands for a smaller guy well he's growing as well he's gonna end up he's gonna end up going through the

weights he is where do you think you ultimately end up? A minimum light weight. Right. Minimum. Now, it's interesting. So why did you decide to go pro now? Since I started boxing, I said it in the matchroom video, but since I started boxing, I wanted to be a professional boxer. You know, watching the Rockies and that. You see them, them 12 rounds. Even for me, over three round fights I just

It's not so much my thing if you're watching the amateurs in in a European finals before I was two rounds down and And I had to win the last round by either stopping him or or getting the 10-8 on the scorecards and I've done it But um, but it's the the free rounds that just go quick two minute rounds three minute rounds where people can just nick a win just by flicking and running that so it's not sort of my thing did you consider Olympics no no why not it's just's... you know what? It's the corruption. Especially, um... It's like, you see, you'll go... you'll wait four years, go to an Olympic qualifiers, you get robbed out of the decision, and then that's it.

You've wasted four years of your boxing career when you could have been earning money. Right. Do you agree with that? I can't say too much on it, but look, he's... Why can't you say too much on it? Listen, there is some awful decisions in amateur boxing. Sure, sure. But like, do you agree with... Should every young fighter try to go to the Olympic route first or no?

It depends what type of fighter you are. Like, some people have styles where it's more suited to the amateur game. His style is suited to the professional game. And also, if I didn't think he wasn't quite ready, I would say, listen, he's only 18, but if you look at the, don't want to gas him up too much, but if you look at the structure of him, he's built for fighting, he's programmed him,

and built for fighting. But when he can punch like a horse kick, so you're not gonna be bored watching him fight. You're just not, people are gonna love, the Americans like that. They like that style of fighting. You're not gonna be bored watching Adam McAvoy. So the bar is like super high. Like you got this great video when they announced you

when Matrim, the way he's talking about you, your amateur pedigree as well. There's a lot to live up to here. And I feel like you want all the smoke. Yeah, look, there's no pressure for me. I like it. It's what I do. It like it's what I do look at this video did you know that they were gonna big you up like this like that this was part of the plan I knew I knew Sam was yeah but like they don't do this for all their

fighters this is I did this you made this video I directed it yeah come on I directed it Sam was doing film directing I directed it I thought was doing film directing. Look, look, look. I directed it. There you are in there. I directed it. I thought that was the matchroom problem. No. You made this. My video was better than the matchroom's. The one before on there was the matchroom one.

Oh. I directed this, honestly. I come to Brighton and I directed this whole thing. Call me Peter Jackson. I love it. Have you done this for many of your fighters? This was the first one I directed. That film I directed, like, of the whole...

What's something like that cost? This is high level stuff. it was quite a few quid. Hopefully Adam wins in fights Look at that attention to detail the words where is this right Brighton Brighton? Yeah, I know that one filming that Hovind Albion, right? Yeah, I'm a force guy Hov and Albion, right? Yeah. The football club. I'm a Forrest guy. Sell that, sell that. Won't speak about that. Sell the AmEx out one day. That's the dream. Yes. American Express Stadium.

Yeah, well, MSG was my dream, but. Ticked off. Yeah. So we'll take that one off and move on to the AmEx. Now we've got the theater, you can still go to the big one. Yeah, yeah, that's the plan. That's the plan. Yeah.

I mean, I feel like that's actually possible. You guys do stadium shows every week No, I mean even for some guys who probably don't deserve a stadium show. Yeah. Yeah, no, that's true Listen, there's a there's a few there's a few of that. But you see Albanians, right? I used to manage a guy called Florian Marco, right and people still stop me like Albanians like from where I live in Derby Derby Yeah, yeah Stop me from it. but like even now, like it's, they follow their own.

There's one thing about Albanians, they back and they follow their own. But he- Is there a big population in the UK? Yes, yes. You see him, he's gonna be the best Albanian athlete to ever come out of Albania. And I'll put my house, car, and-

I love that. And what- Who's number one of all time right now coming out of Albania Like who's the greatest Albanian athlete of all time say him now already? Yeah Say myself I love that I love the brashness That there's loads of good sports people in running in There's two good wrestlers at the moment. They won the world championships Olympic qualifiers But I at the moment, they won the world championships, Olympic qualifiers, but I believe I am the greatest

and I will prove that. I love it. And your family, they're behind you, they're happy. Yeah, my family, 100%, they're everywhere with me, they've never missed a fight. My dad, he's never even missed a training session. Wow. So yeah, everyone's 100%. Will they be there on Saturday?

Yes. They're watching now, his mom 100%. Will they be there on Saturday? Yes. They're watching now. His mom and sisters will be watching now and his dad. Yeah. His dad's watching it in the lobby in the hotel where we're staying.

I love it. Is this your first time in New York? Yes. Yeah, my first time in America. Jeez, Louise. Yeah. What a weekend for you. Yeah, I know.

First time in America, first time in New York. Fighting at MSG in your debut. What do you think of it so far? Well, I'm walking around, I'm smelling and looking at all the food and I'm thinking, ah. The pizza is phenomenal. Save that for after. I had a piece of it today.

You did? Phenomenal. Yeah, it's a different. Yeah, he's walked up to the hotel lobby with a pizza. Caught me red-handed. I was just walking out of the box, I was like, down. He said to me, he said, I won't be eating it this week, he said, for you. Yeah.

Not in your eyesight. And so, like you said, you're bent in weight, how much weight do you have to cut between now and Friday? A kilo. A kilo, okay. Very disciplined. I mean, it looks like you're ready to go right now. Very disciplined.

How big do you get in between fights? Not, I don't put on much weight. To be fair, I like to eat healthy. Obviously after my fight, I bought a few sweets and chocolate from the shops. Okay. But I put on about three, four kilos. But I eat healthy all year round. You have to be super disciplined. Yeah. What do your friends do? Like, you probably have friends that aren't- Yeah, you know what? My friends, I've got a good group of friends. I've got my two good mates.

They're footballers for Brighton. Like they play for the club? Yes. Okay, what are their names? Harry Mills and Zayn Alboros. Okay. And then I've also got my best mate as well, Leo Atang, signed with Matrim recently.

Making his debut on Jack's undercard. Yes, yes, yes. Big, handsome fucker. You got this guy too? You got him too? No, he's with my, he's with Matrim with my friend. He managed by my friend, he's in good hands. Okay.

But watch out for him because he's gonna be a star. He's another guy that they signed recently. He's gonna be a star in his own right, but you can't miss him. Handsome, gleaming side, dimples, and yeah, he's gonna make some, make a serious statement on July 5th. Okay.

I've got my other two friends as well, Kai and Anoma, all of them, they're all coming out as well to support, but they're 100% behind me, all of my friends. To debut in America as opposed to the UK, was that, obviously you wanna be, but I feel like you'd have a huge backing over there as well.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, in the UK, the whole- Most guys in his position would debut at yeah, in the UK, the whole- Most guys in his position would debut at a show in the UK, right? Yeah, listen, he's special, so he deserves special, and this is special, this is the Mecca of boxing. No one's ever done it before. The Mecca of boxing, not from where he's from

and his heritage, no one's debuted at 18 years old, so we wanted to give him lift off, and I know the American fans that will tune in to watch him will wanna watch him again. Have you guys gone to the venue? Have you gone to MS MSG we drove past it today? I've been there before Of course yeah, it's a very special place even the theater with the lights Yeah, yeah, it's an amazing place and some of the greatest fighters of all time have competed there in fact George Camposas had his greatest win ever there

I had a debutant there Guido Vianello. I managed him at the time, big Italian heavyweight. He was on the undercard of Lomachenko and Pedraza. Yes, yes, yes. I had done a debut there before, so this is extra special, I had done that, 18 years old. And when you're this young and when you're just starting, like the goal is how many fights per year? Three, four, six.

So you'll fight like every two months? Yeah. Do you already know the next day? Get this one out the way first, get this one out the way. No, you'll fight like every two months. Yeah. Do you already know the next day? Get this one out the way first. Get this one out the way. No, he'll fight again in August and then September. You already have it lined up? Yeah, I have it in my head of what the date,

the rough dates he's gonna box again. One thing in MMA that's different in boxing, like back in the day in boxing, you'll fight 30 times and then you'll start to get the real fights. But I feel like things are changing a little bit in boxing where guys like the Morels of the world, the Andy Cruisers of the world, like less than 10 fights, they're jumping in there.

A lot of promoters are in a rush, aren't they? Because they want to get their investment back. It's a time again, he's a freak. He's a freak of nature, Moses Atama. Unbelievable talent. But it's like him, right? You're going to see him fasten people to the floor and they're going to go, oh, Eddie's going to go, oh go oh let's be British title next like it's like oh

like he's gonna be like a victim of his own success because he's gonna have to be they're gonna want to push him but it's our job but look he's 18 years old feet on the ground we know what he can do and personally I'll fight anyone he would he would he would he would fight anyway anyway I was just gonna fight in a way tomorrow as well come on, I was just gonna say. He would. He'd fight him next. I swear to you. I'll fight Inouye tomorrow as well. Saturday night. Come on. That's a big jump. Yeah, yeah. He would do that. Arguably number one pound for pound.

He would do that. Trust me. Like I'm not just saying it. He would do it. How do you think you'd fare against him right now? I think I'd beat him. You think you'd beat him? I'd beat him. This guy. No, I don't think it. I'd beat him. You beat Inouye. You haven't had one pro fight. No. And you're not just saying that. No, I'm not just saying that. I see it in your eyes. No, no, he believes it.

I'm laughing, it's funny, but he believes it. He said it to me in the car on the way here. You know what, I don't like when people laugh when I say stuff, because I'm being serious. When we was on the car on the way here, he was saying the same thing. That's why it's funny, he meant he would say it. And if you put him on a lie detector now, Tess,

to say, would you fuck Inoue up, it would green light tick. I love it. How far away do you think you are from those fights realistically? I'm down. No, no, we, we listen it's feet on the ground. Yeah. But he doesn't think anyone can beat him.

And what, listen, why would he with his amateur period? In a 12 round fight, there's, like, I've got, I've got the heart. I've got, I've got the dedication. I just don't let you mind Nick Nick three or four Take them, but I like this guy. I like You think I was I was I don't really need to say more like with Eddie I've not actually he says you always say this about you first. I've not said much about Adam to Eddie I just said listen go on

Watch him like the guy that he's fighting on Saturday. listen, yeah, he's lost a couple of fights, he's won a couple of fights, like a middle record, but Ray Ford boxed him a few years back, and Adam wants to do a number on him. What do you think? How does it end? It ends quickly. That's how it ends.

I'm not saying anything. Sub four rounds? Yes. Yeah. Yes, it ends quick. What's the anything. Sub four rounds? Yes. Yeah. Yes, it ends quick. What's the walkout? What are we doing? You wanted walkout music.

We didn't come through for you. What are we walking out for? Special. Special? He doesn't want to say it. He doesn't want it. Return of the Mac. Oh, that's the one.

His name. That's the one. Love that song. Legend, Mark Morrison. Yeah. One of the all time great tracks. And what are we wearing? Oh, it's a, I got a new kit. Legend Mark Morrison. Yeah, one of the all-time great tracks and what are we wearing? Oh Yeah

It's a I got I got a new kit sparkly red and black Albanian Yemeni flags on it. Do we have sponsors lined up? What are we doing here Sam? He's gonna get he's gonna get plenty of spots. What do you mean? Well, I want sponsors for the debut Financial okay, Scaffolding, and then obviously... I want an Everlast, I want a... Can I get a Lonsdale in there? But after the debut, when I show everyone what I can do, when I put on a great performance, then we'll have the bigger ones all coming through.

You can go like a blank canvas for a bit, because if you people rush into sponsors, the price is... Money. His price is going to go up, trust me up trust me you're gonna be entertained I told you before I said if you sit and watch him I've seen enough of him as an amateur like he's not gonna change his style he's coming in there to rip someone's head right off that's what he's good that's what he does it's what he's programmed to do that's what boxing sport entertainment you don't buy a ticket to go watch something to not be entertained sure if you go if you go to watch a film

if you go to a football it's watch something to not be entertained Sure, if you go if you go to watch a film if you go to football it's because you want to be entertained so when when fighters are coming out even if I'm sparring in the gym and I'm sat, you know for a few seconds, you know with your jabs I think I this is boring for everyone who's watching so you just got a few punches and entertain people Well, this is this is what people want right this is what turkey was tweeting about yesterday yeah if he wants someone on the underguard he said he wanted to put premium top-tier blue chip talent on the Canelo Crawford show that's gonna entertain you look no further than him

how would that work though because you're a matchroom fighter listen I'm sure ready we'll give it we'll give him a little free pass for that event yeah that'd be good. Allegiant Stadium, 60 or so thousand on Netflix. No problem. Yeah, no problem. All right, well good luck to you. I'm looking forward to it.

I mean, we will be watching on Saturday and you've set the bar very high. Make sure you tune in and watch. And we'll play this after you get the knockout and be like, they told you first. I love it. Good luck, thank you for coming in. Can't wait.

Thank you for coming in. Can't wait. Thank you for coming in. Appreciate it Sam. Keep up everything that you're doing. And you can watch that fight by the way on D'Zone. That's gonna be, is that gonna be on before the bell? I don't know. Actually I don't know the running order just yet.

I think it'll be on around seven o'clock local time. Local time which is 12 in the UK. All right, can't wait. And great main event. Who do we have in the main event? Hitchens or? I'd like to see Kambosis win. I'd like to see Kambosis win as well. Yeah. Good right. Can't wait and a great main event. Who do we have in the main event? Hitchens or I'd like to see combos. I'd like to see combos this win as well Yeah, I can fight everybody tough as a pub staying under his skin a little bit

I saw the face-to-face today where he was making fun of his belt and all the pressures on Richard's initiatives because he's the young open coming coming. Yeah, but I'd like to see combos. He's like kind of rewrite History a little bit. I'd like I'd like to him do it. He's done it rewrite history a little bit. I'd like to see him do it. He's done it twice. He's come here, done it twice. Same place, yeah. All right. I look forward to it.

Thank you guys. All the best. Appreciate it. Have a good break. We'll say bye to the guys and we'll be back to wrap up the show. Don't go anywhere. Thank you. That was Joe Pfeiffer yesterday.

Check that out. That was Sam Jones and Adam Acker. I thoroughly enjoyed that. It's lovely to meet a young man who's just about to commence his life, his career, new chapter, and have that kind of confidence. In case you missed it, he said that he would eff up Naoya Inoue today.

That's a different level of confidence. Now, you say that and you lay an egg in your debut, they're going to come after you. So let's see what he translates into, but got to give props to Sam. We were joking about it, but he hits me up. He says, this is the guy you got to get him on. We're in New York.

So I said, sure. I'll be honest. I wasn't terribly familiar with him. In fact, I was talking to Ade about him yesterday. Not terribly familiar with him as well. But I remember when they announced them. I remember seeing the videos. I remember thinking like, golly, they're really putting a lot into this young man. And at the time he was 17, now he's 18. Let's see what it translates into. I'll be

watching on Saturday. I am very interested to see if he could back all of this up. So hope you enjoyed that. Hope you enjoyed Al Jemaine Sterling. Let's answer some super chats. Shall we? Hope you enjoyed Al Jermain Sterling. Let's answer some super chats, shall we? Super chats. We shall. What we got, Frankie? Cosmo Kramer asks, question for GC, favorite fight card, July 19th?

Favorite fight card, July 19th. What else is happening other than 3.19 or 3.18? So is he asking you, no, I think he's asking you, is the July 19th pay-per-view your oh my card of the summer I don't know maybe of all time I thought he was talking about your birthday cuz your birthday is the 17th right or the 16th 16 or could he be? 2019 because your birthday is the 17th, right? Or the 16th? 16th. Or could he be the 17th? He's the 17th. July 2019.

That's a good question. If he's asking my favorite fight on that card, it's gotta be Dustin Maxx, Loke Dawg's fighting. You can't pick the main event. Like you did earlier with PFO. What did I do? The one I'm looking forward to most.

Oh, come on. Jason Jackson that's- That's different when it's like. All right Jimmy Crude, uh, Marcin Brock. I appreciate that. No problem. Thank you. Thank you. What else? Cosmo Kramer writes again. Oh, we love the post shows. Thank you boys. I appreciate that. Yeah. The post shows are fun. I mean, there's a part of me that feels like my soul dies a little bit every time I do one of those. And I'm sure you guys feel the same because you're up and Adam But no one suffers more than pizza. I mean it is 6 a.m. Ish When the show starts let alone when it ends. Yeah, I'm sure he's suffering the most

Yeah, I'd say he is I'm agreeing with you. Gosh What else California driving or Mick Jagger says shout out to all the fans? Yeah shout out to all the fans. Yeah shout out What else? Gabriel area longtime listener first time commenter Appreciate the work you and the boys and Andy put in for entertainment on a week to week basis. That's very nice of you Gabriel Thank you. We are working hard We've got some fun things coming up very excited about fanatics fest

Got a couple of guests lined up for that, which I am supremely excited about, but I don't wanna jinx it just yet. Excited to be out in Vegas, we haven't been out there since September and we weren't really a thing. We did the shows back in April of last year, UFC 300 shows, but to be honest,

this is gonna be way better. We've got an amazing studio, the plans, the setup, and I'm very interested to see how the Monday after thing works. It may not work. We may fall flat on our face and we may not get a single guest, but we'll be in Vegas and we'll get someone. But the thought was, all right, we love to get the post-Paperview Monday guests. Well, if we're in the city, let's see if we can get them on the Monday after in person, right? UFC released the guest list for UFC X and it is stout.

Yeah, so maybe we can tap into that as well. Or maybe we'll have a booth at UFC X, what do you say? Yeah, yeah, I think so. It's tough. I'm thinking we're gonna have a booth there. What else Nate? Says loved your appearance on the bonfire. Oh, thank you. RAP to Jordan Breen rest in peace Jordan Breen thank you for having me Mike bond and Please do yourself a favor and read Ben folks's feature on Jordan Breen

Which came out either yesterday or two days ago. I'm pretty sure it was yesterday. Phenomenal stuff. And it's one of the many reasons why I love what we're doing at Uncrowned. I was talking to someone about this today, like, we have given, and Shaheen in particular, have given, especially the the OGs, if you will. You know the guys that I'm talking about. They have the green light to write about whatever they want. And so an article like that may not have a home at other places, but we have the people who could do it and we have the home for it.

And so yes, Uncrowned.com is your home for all things combat sports. And we ain't going anywhere and dare I say as far as combat sports are concerned, we're the only one that has no real allegiances to any promotion promoter, broadcaster. We're down the middle here. And I love that. What else? Mason Bickner writes, happy seventh month guys. Oh, thanks.

Keep up the great content. Has it been seven months? It has, because he's been a member for seven months. Okay, well shout out to him. What else? Rojos, because he's been a member for seven months. Okay, well, shout out to him. What else? Rojos, Ariel, sir, you may be suffering from fructose malabsorption. I'm no doctor, just a first-time writer.

Long time listener. Jones is an official quack quack. Why, why, why does he? Probably about your fruit after dinner. Oh. But he's no doctor, So take it with a grain of salt. Although I'm not a doctor either. You do what you want. All right. What else? Jake from Wendy City. Are we entering a golden period for the welterweight

division? Been a fan for 15 plus years and this is the most excited I've been for division. Go JDM. I don't know if it's a golden period. I mean there was a great stretch there when GSP was fighting the likes of Johnny Hendrix, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz, BJ moving up. But I would say Walter Wade has become infinitely more interesting. And right now to me, it's the most interesting weight class. And there's a slew of young fighters coming up that have never fought for gold that I think are going to be absolute beasts. And the fun thing is like, who's going to be the champ that's reigning supreme for a while,

or is it going to get passed around? Is it going to be JDM for a while? Is it going to be Islam? I mean, you just got the pound for pound best fighter, just enter the weight class. Is it going to be Ian Machado Gary? Is it going to be Sean Brady? Is it going to be Rachmanov?

Is it going to be Pratches? You know, it's a great time. It's a really great time. So yes, definitely up there. What else? What else? What else? Rachmanov, is it gonna be Pratches? You know, it's a great time, it's a really great time. So yes, definitely up there. What else? Dion Warren, what are some questions you stay away from with fighters?

Oh, that is a good question. I don't know. I always find, can I say something? I always find, speaking of that Derek Lewis interview, I always find it very weird when I ask fighters how many fights you have left on your deal, and they'll say, how much do you make? Do we not realize that those are two completely different questions?

I do, boss. It's very weird to me. And they're like, I'm like, if you want me to answer the same question that I just asked you, I have a three-year deal with almost two years left. Who cares? I don't think I've ever said to a fighter, like, tell me exactly. Now, athletics are different, right?

We know to the penny what Kevin Durant makes, what Jalen Brunson makes, but in fighting it's a little bit more hush-hush, and that's fine. I try not to be disrespectful. I try not to cross any lines. Do I always get it right? No. I'm sure there are people like people bring up that old Masvidal interview and they splice it up. Masvidal had no issues talking about any of that stuff. Why? Because he had already talked about it. It's like I unearthed some old stuff about Masvidal's dad. He's talked about

it. He's had other issues since then, and he's talked about them. Fighters are different. Sometimes you'll see people get offended on behalf of fighters. These guys, they're a little bit different. So anyway, you just kind of have to know who you're talking to, read the room, read the situation, and try to be

as respectful as possible, but also ask pertinent questions, ask questions that are interesting, not just like, how's your training camp, how's life, et cetera. What else? XO, thanks for the advice last time, Ariel. I think I'm going to pull the plug today

for my job and start my business. I'm 22 for context and I love you and the boys. And Frank, put video on Spotify, god damn. I really have been seeing that a lot. Can I just say, as a Spotify podcast user, I actually find it a little bit annoying when the video pops up. Fucking hell. If I want to see the video, I go to YouTube.

If I want to hear the audio only, I go to Spotify. Why do people want the video on Spotify? I don't get it. They like what they like. Do they not like YouTube? Is that why? Possibly. Maybe it's convenient for them. Anyway. Do they not like YouTube, is that why? Possibly, maybe it's convenient for them. Anyway. Maybe they feel like it is. It's all right there?

Yeah, that we're ignoring something. You're listening to something, or maybe you're listening and you're like, oh, let me see what that looked like. Right, or they think it's like, we just need to like check a box and now all of a sudden it's done. It just doesn't work like that.

Yeah, no, definitely not. I am very- So before you quit your job, maybe consider. No. All right.. Yeah. No, definitely not. So before you quit your job, maybe consider. No. Good luck, 22, young man. You got this. Real quick, he actually wrote back. Oh.

EXO, also, how should it go about quitting? Well, you should be very respectful. You should try not to burn any bridges. It's a small world. You never know when you're going to meet someone again. If you'll need a recommendation, a second chance, whatever. You be respectful, be honest, be transparent, but don't burn the bridge on the way out.

Number one rule. There have been a couple of times that I wanted to burn a bridge. Well, I'll say this. I didn't want to consciously burn a bridge, but if I did what I wanted to do, I would have burnt the bridge and I've had people talk me off the ledge. And I haven't been perfect and and I've certainly messed up, and there are certain situations that I wish I could take back.

But I do remember a couple that I really wanted to do something, I was convinced otherwise, and I'm still friends and acquaintances with those people, and I would not be if I did what I initially wanted to do, when I would have acted with emotion. So good luck. What else?

Well, I'm glad you said that. Lastly, Duncan writes, I have been a sound technician at Sony for the past two decades, and I have to state that it would be negligent on my part were I not to compliment the audio of the show. It truly is the gold standard. Well, the truth is you are right and so as much as you know as much as we like to joke

Frank's the best in the business because not only is he a audio engineer. He's also an audio producer and that's You know, that's the big thing and not only is he an audio producer, he's also a talent, which is a big deal. So yeah, we love you, Frank. And it wasn't quite the same without you. I know you were enjoying your time away and I'm sure you didn't check in and leave a comment on the YouTube chat or anything like that.

But like- This is just a fun Carver talking. Yeah, no, 100% by the way. 100% of the fun Carver talking. Shout out. Can we answer- No, sent in it, I see. Yeah, no, there's just a smidge. Can we answer a couple more before the hard out,

a couple more questions here. Matt Moe. We have a hard out? Sup, Ariel, I heard you name drop Lex Friedman last week. Was wondering if you watch his pod or what you know of him. Honestly, I don't know much. I don't watch his pod. If I could be 1000% real with all of you, from what I've seen, I've actually found his style to be quite

boring and dry and I don't really quite get it. The suit, the look, the reading, the questions off the sheet, but sometimes it hits and sometimes it doesn't. And it hits with him. Apparently you guys know what I'm talking about anyone Anyone see his stuff. I've seen him in the past. I'm not a regular watcher or listener Yeah, and it's just not for me. Don't know a thing about him. You've heard of him though Vaguely, okay Yeah, he would have no idea. I didn't know who he was. Quick Google. 4.7 million subscribers on YouTube. Numbers. Had Vladimir Zelensky on. Oh no, he's huge. Impressive. Yeah, he's huge. Matt Choweewees. Hello Ariel and crew and James DeHuna. Happy National Corn on the Cobb Day. So following

the news of Canela versus Crawford being aired on Netflix and not a pay-per-view, do you think this is a method of Dana dipping his toe into the Netflix option to see if the numbers can be produced? No, no, no, no, no. There's no dipping your toe into Netflix. Everyone wants to be in business with Netflix. It's a matter of whether or not they want to be in business with you. And so Netflix very much is into the world of like one-offs, the hot dog eating contest, Jake Paul Tyson, Katie versus Amanda Three, this fight. And so it's a big deal that they want to be in business. the hot dog eating contest, Jake Paul Tyson, Katie versus Amanda Three, this fight. And so it's a big deal that they want to be in business.

And there have been some reports about what happened on the way to this announcement of a couple of days ago. And I'm hearing the same things. It was salvaged and I think a lot of it, I think Nick Khan was a huge part of, as far as TKO is concerned, I do not think it's hyperbole to say that the most important person is Nick Khan. Nick Khan stretches from MMA to boxing to wrestling. Obviously his main gig is

wrestling, but he is supremely important in the boxing world and he has influence as far as MMA is concerned as well. And he's the guy who doesn't negotiate emotionally, who doesn't have an ego, who doesn't want to be in front of the camera, who doesn't want to be front-facing. He's the deal-maker, he's the former agent, he's the guy who's been there and cut some of the biggest deals in broadcasting. Not only represented talent, but also represented entities. Did the top-rank deal with ESPN, for example. SEC with ESPN, others as well.

And so, yeah, he's the guy who really stirs this drink, in my opinion. He's the most important guy of this deal. I don't know if this deal could happen without him. And I certainly don't know if it can be salvaged without him. So it's just a name that you have to to pay attention to and respect in my opinion. Okay this is from grabyourrickandtwisted or grabhisrick. He's asking about the ESPN Plus fight catalog. My understanding is this all has to do with the new platform that they're starting

and it's not a sign of them getting off ESPN or anything like that. People went crazy. Who's going back and watching like fights from three years ago? Are a lot of people doing that? This is from Jack Ryan. It seems, it seems sincere.

So I'll read some of it. Hey Ariel, great chat with Joe Pfeiffer yesterday. Sadly, as he said, the 246 view, getting Cheeto eating basement dwelling YouTube podcasters are nothing new in the sport, but recently I've noticed this abhorrent level of disrespect, disrespectful chatter about superhuman fighters has also trickled into the mouths of the more established and respected MMA media minds.

I've had to boycott two major podcasts in the last week due to the nonsense they have continued to spur from their crumb-ridden cake holes. I get this content might drive engagement, but I think these people need to remember that the words can have a real effect on the mental health of fighters, especially considering the fighters are literally the thing putting food on their family's table. Sorry, this is more of a rant than a question, but I'd just like to say thank you to you and the whole team for maintaining such a high standard of reporting and conversation and praying, excuse me, and paying the fighters the respect they deserve.

I really hope the other podcasters will learn a thing or two from you because as a wise man once said chat shit get bang. That was Jamie Farty by the way who said that. This is from Chris and I couldn't have said it better myself. This is from Chris Rem to Andy. You said that you didn't know much about MMA before taking the job. How much of it is interesting to and I couldn't have said it better myself. This is from Chris Rem to Andy. You said that you didn't know much about MMA before taking the job. How much of it is interesting to you now? I love the fighters' stories a lot.

I think I've mentioned this to you before, Ariel. What I love most about the interviews that you do is hearing their stories. And that's what gets me into watching them. I'm more into the story first and then the fighter. And there's a few that I've like started following because of it, so. That's the thing.

If you get emotionally invested in them as people, then it's like, it doesn't matter if they're doing hopscotch or tennis or that to me is what ultimately like attracted me to fighting. It was the fighters, the characters. And so the promotions that don't tell the stories of, if they all just look the same, then it just becomes all noise.

But like now I wanna watch that young man fight because now I'm invested in his success, his story, his journey. That's when you know you've got someone. And that's the beauty of fighting because when you truly fall in love with a fighter and their story and you want them to succeed so badly, you will stay up till 1 a.m. and be like

come on man you got this that's the best that's the best so yeah that that's what I hope that we try to do on the show less X's and O's here there's other great places for that but more like can we can we touch your heart for lack of a better word I think you do well thank thank you, Andy. Hey, crew. You need a little brown right here if you want to. It's so inappropriate. That Duncan note was a paid actor. I wasn't going to say it before, but the one saying that Frank did a good job, paid actor.

Coming from bootlicker lens of all people. Hey crew, for Ariel, what is the backstory of how you and your wife Jacqueline got together? I know you both knew each other in grade school, seventh grade, August of 1994, but was there romance from the start? Well, if I'm being honest, what has been told to me was perhaps the romance was one-sided, her end, and I was a little late to the game as far as like, oh girls, seventh grade, seventh, eighth, ninth. I was still very much into like the NBA, sports, you know, I was just kind of figuring it all out. Tenth grade, seventh, eighth, ninth. I was still very much into like the NBA, sports. You know, I was just kind of figuring it all out. Tenth grade though, that's when I remember,

I remember one of my brother's best friends in seventh grade telling me like, yo man, like when are you gonna get a girlfriend? And I was like, I don't want a girlfriend. I don't want a girlfriend, I'm in seventh grade. Whereas we say in Canada, great seven, he's like, yo, the one to go after is Jacqueline. I'm like, what?

Are you crazy? No way. And I kind of knew in the back of, like her friends would tell me and all this, we had this thing called last will and testament in our yearbook. And do you guys know what that is? Last will and testament?

Where you leave your friend something. Did you guys have that? In the yearbook, it's like, for me, they would leave me like a Patrick Ewing Jersey back in the day. In our seventh grade yearbook, last will and testament, her name, it was AH. Her friends left me because she had this crush. And I actually told her best friend that at the end

of the year, I was gonna ask her out and I actually planned on doing it and then I chickened out. And then I realized that I wasn't quite ready for all of this. In any event, 10th grade, we get together. Then we took a break for the summer. 11th grade, we got together. Then we took another break. Then we took an extended break.

Then I went to Syracuse. Then we happened to move to New York at the same time just pals saw the movie Garden State and that was it. Funny enough my son is now in seventh grade. Quite a leap from taking all these breaks, saw the movie Garden State and then the rest is history. Literally that's the story. Have you guys seen a Garden State? Yes. I liked it better the first watch if I'm being honest. A Garden State or Garden State? It's just a Garden State? Yes. Highly recommend. I liked it better the first watch if I'm being honest. A Garden State or Garden State? It's just called Garden State. Zach Braff.

With Zach Braff, Natalie Portman. Phenomenal. Method Man. Method Man, great shout. Highly recommend and Frank as you know, great soundtrack. Amazing soundtrack. Yeah. Nothing goes better together than a movie and a soundtrack.

Damn right, Connor. What are you talking about? I don't understand. Thanks for watching. I want to never see boys in the back. Yeah, nothing goes better together than a movie in a song damn right come on Sam thanks for watching. I want to never see boys in the back. You are aware that we have a show on there's yes Oh, well you're gonna do an obscure reference. Yeah It's such bullshit because I often comment on the show and no And no one even responds all Oh, I write you guys Oh, we stop that no that love it interviews. Okay. I don't even get like a oh, thanks for watching better He's not lying. He's not lying. Yeah, we'll be doing the show and then he'll be Typing chat and don't even acknowledge. Nah, it's messed up. Right just looking to see yeah

Last week. What was it? He was like that was a great interview I was like, yeah that meant something to me And I didn't even say a word about it. It was a great interview and no one even said anything. I didn't even acknowledge it. No. I just put that one in like the memory box and in my heart and then I just let it go. Oh shit, we're over the heart out.

Heart out means nothing. Do we have a heart out? Who set the heart out? Yeah, who put this heart out in place? Okay, here it is. This is a good one. This is a good one. We'll end on this taco enthusiast.

No, no, no. Oh, I misunderstood. Jesus. Fucking hell, Frank it is. This is a good one. This is a good one. We'll end on this taco enthusiast. No, no, no. Oh, I misunderstood. Fucking hell, Frank. Wow. It's a good one to end on. All right, let's do it. Shut up taco enthusiast. Ariel, help me out here. My girlfriend bought multiple tickets to the UFC fights in Atlanta this weekend as an anniversary gift to me. She's the best. Her and I have been to several events together and we're both pretty big fans.

But one friend joining us is not a UFC fan, nor has he ever paid attention to it. He's a big wrestling fan for context. This is my shot to get him engaged. Can you give me a 60 second promo to sell the event this weekend, the storylines, and what's at stake? The UFC isn't doing their job as a promoter.

I can't find a good promo video to show him before the fights this weekend. Help me bring in a new MMA fan. Well, my friend Ariel, before you do this, before you do this, can I just, please let me caution, let me caution for a second. There's two ways this can go, right? You're going to, you're going to cut an amazing 60 second promo, right? Yes. But the problem is, if you do this, and But the problem is, if you do this, and the expectations are up here, and then the card is a giant turd, this will be worse than if you say nothing.

I'm just throwing it out there. You need to get your friend engaged. You need to get them hooked. It's like Sam talking about, like sometimes you just gotta go in there. Okay, okay, I'm just cautioning. And so on Saturday night, you have the return of the once great welterweight champion

who had one of the all time great runs, who I do believe ended up winning, what was it? 13 or so fights in a row. Kamara Usman, the Nigerian, 15 fights in a row, the Nigerian nightmare. What a run he had until he met, of course, the leg of one Leon Edwards. Two years ago we last saw this man in action.

He took a fight on short notice against the boogie man. In Abu Dhabi No one wanted to fight Hamza Chamayef. Marusun said I'll do it and I'll do it at 185 and I'll go the distance with the guy And oh by the way, if it was a five round fight, I would have beaten him and he's right if he says all that He's right. We haven't seen him in almost two years and and as as fate would have it in the world of combat sports It's kill or be killed. It's it the film The Lion King, the circle of life. The young always wants to eat the old, and the old tries to stick around as long as possible. And so in this case, you've got the young upstart Joaquin Buckley, who's had some

stops and starts in his career, has had some great moments and some low moments, but he's figured it all out. He's coming off a huge win over a once foe of Kamara Usman. He's on a winning streak. He's trying to be what Kamara Usman once was. All of this is gravy for Kamara Usman. And so you're going to see a guy and Kamara Usman try to go on one last run, one last hurrah, one last sail off into the sunset. Or you're going to try to see a guy in walking Buckley take his soul take everything that he

Worked for take his spot and cement his place and punch his ticket as the number one welterweight Contender in the world and oh by the way if that's not enough for you You've got the return of the former champion the former two-time champion Thug Rose Nama Yunus one of the most beloved fighters of all time an inspiration going up against a former training partner of hers Miranda Maverick. Where else would you rather be than A town down on Saturday night?

And oh, by the way, he says, GC, beer on me for coming back to the A and I run into you at the arena. Sounds like a plan. Can't wait for this one. Yeah, it's gonna be great. What's that? I'm on a bad streak of cards I go to aren't really great.

Yeah. Hopefully this one changes. This is why I wanted to exercise caution. GC is going to be in the building. I don't know. I don't know. Well at least it's not TST because he's got the worst luck. Oh isn't he coming?

Oh he is coming! Oh for fuck's sake. No no no. Oh he's not coming. TST really does have the worst luck. Three straight events he's gone where one of the fighters in the main event has gotten injured. I'm half joking, but truly, I can't think of more,

statistically, there's times that you go, you cannot miss this, they always bomb. When you tell your friends, you gotta see this, you gotta see this, you gotta see this, they always bomb an MMA. It's like tried and true. You can never get it right. Well, I had to do it for my boy. No, no, of course, of course.

TE, taco enthusiast. So not only are we getting the UFC back in Atlanta, sight of course of two great pay-per-views, UFC 201 and what was it? 236? Tremendous. Matchroom, Madison Square Garden. Great card. PFL returning, Thad Gene versus Jason Jackson, one of their more intriguing matchups and rivalries. Oh, my son's Bar Mitzvah. I mean that's a big deal. You're also getting Glory 100 this weekend on Dizone pay-per-view. Shout out to the man himself. I mean you throw around the word goat a lot in combat sports. There's there's only one goat of kickboxing and that's Rico Verhoeven, the most

decorated champion in Glory's history, the most decorated heavyweight champion of all time. What a poster that is. And he's going up against Artem Vakitov. You may recall a couple months ago on the program, Artem came on to say, you know what, Contenders Series, you know what, UFC, you can take your contract and you can shove it where the sun don't shine. I'm going to go up against the GO the goat Rico Verhoeven at Glory 100 Vakitov by the way with a win over Alex Pereira in kickboxing look at this lineup look at this card Rick's gonna be locked in I will be watching prelims on Facebook and YouTube main card on Dazon pay-per-view Glory 100 Saturday

afternoon here in the United States, Saturday evening in Amsterdam, and then that rolls right into the UFC event. There'll be much to talk about next week on the program, but for now, it is time to say goodbye. Tomorrow, boys in the back, previewing all the great action this weekend, and in particular the UFC in Atlanta. What's the pound for pound? What are we doing? Yeah, GC. Fight cards in Georgia. I went to school at the University of Georgia. Dogs, DAWG, S. Biggest dogs in MMA. Who's got that dog in them?

Okay, so not like underdogs. Correct. Not like Matt Serra. Somebody thought that. That's not it. Biggest dog. Brandon Royvult? He might be on there. So who's got that dog in them? Hey, that's the worry. Okay. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. I like it

Also PFL action tomorrow as well Where can people leave a voicemail my favorite segment of the week. It's a good question. It's 415 sup bi TV 415 sup biV that's 787-2482. Frank does it in a great voice. Tell us the number Frank. One more time it's 415-787-2482. That's it. That's it. That's the voice. Hi what's up baby. I love it. It's my favorite segment of the week. I tried to actually get Don Davis on the show this week. Perhaps he'll show up on your show. He'll be there tomorrow. I think he'll like... He'll be there tomorrow.

I laugh out loud whenever that guy shows up. He's gonna cut a promo on this Jason Jackson bad gene. Oh my God, perfect, right? On the third, are you guys doing, you're doing a pre-show rolling into the, no it's 11 o'clock. We'll do our preview, we'll do our preview, but then... No, no, no, we're going 10 hours

straight into PFL main card. Love it, Love it. It's been a fun week for me. What is that, five or six in-studio guests this week? A busy week. I pass the baton over to the guys for tomorrow's program. Thank you to Sam Jones. Thank you, Adam Maka.

Thank you, Al Jermain Sterling for coming in. Thank you to Josh Vann. Thanks, all of you. Thanks, all the back to tomorrow's A type. Peace out, man.