The Ariel Helwani Show - Ariel's trip to London, Dubois KOs Joshua, Dana White getting into boxing?, McGregor's 2025 plans, more

Episode Date: September 23, 2024

Ariel is back from London, so he and the boys reacts to his Wembley Stadium experience for Daniel Dubois' shocking KO of Anthony Joshua, his Conor McGregor interview - including McGregor’s potential 2025 return, Dana White's latest boxing plans, a UFC Paris preview, and more.

back in your life on this monday september 23rd 2000 and 24 hello again everyone welcome back to another as we like to say pardon our dust episode of the Ariel Helwani show. It is a Monday and I have to do some kind of show on a Monday, even though we're not quite set up just yet. So here we are, another podcast for you, another surprise pod, if you will, on the feed. Thank you so much for subscribing. If you have already, if you haven't, please do subscribe. Please do rate, comment, review, follow, all those things. It goes a long way, and we've seen a big spike as a result of our first pod here,

and then, of course, the live show in Vegas. Pete C's show, The Crack, is now on the feed. He did a great episode that went up on Friday. Thank you to Pete C and his producer, Oscar, and of course, Mysterious Frank, who has been the absolute boss of all bosses when it comes to all things audio here. The episode that he posted is a behind-the-scenes look at our show in Vegas on September 13th.

He spoke to myself, Rick, GC, I believe Chuck, Shaheen. So it's a really fun look at what was going on, the vibes, the excitement, the atmosphere. So it's a really fun look at what was going on, the vibes, the excitement, the atmosphere. So check that out. All those shows are going to be on this feed. So this is the place to be for all the stuff that we're doing. And I did want to clear one thing up, if I may. We did that live show on September 13th in Vegas at the Venetian at the Yahoo Sportsbook. And I think a lot of fans thought that that is the new show. At least some fans said that. I saw that on the YouTube channel, which I do urge you

to subscribe to that as well and give a thumbs up and like and comment and all those things. That is not the show. That is just like a one-off. We've done those before. We did one in New York. We've done other places. We did it in Chicago and Vegas back in the day. That was just like a one-off. We've done those before. We did one in New York. We've done other places. We did one in Chicago and Vegas back in the day. That was just our sort of unofficial kickoff. So rest assured, there's a studio being built. It's right next door to where we're taping this today. The show is going to be live from the studio. It's going to look very similar to the old setup, 1 p.m. Eastern, on Mondays, on Tuesdays, on Wednesdays, on Thursdays. It's the same old thing, just more and better and no handcuffs. So you saw that. You may have seen the show that I did with Ade on Thursday. And you're like, what's up with all these shows in front of people? No, those are just kind of unofficial, you know, getting our feet wet kickoffs, if you will. Very soon we'll be in a controlled environment and it's going to

look and sound fantastic. So I did want to throw that out because I saw some people concerned about all this. And again, as I said last week, this all really kicks off October 14th. First live show, the website launches on October 14th. Everything really happens on October 14th. You may be saying to yourself, why so long? Well, we have to build a studio. We have to assemble a team. There's so much going on behind the scenes here. It is so much fun. I'm having a blast. So we're giving you these things so that we're not completely dark, but we don't have a set. We don't have a studio to do stuff properly, but rest assured come December, this will all be a distant memory and we'll be off and running. So I did want to get that out of the way just off the bat.

Rick is here with me. Hello, Rick. Hello. GC is here. What's up, man? Frank is here. What's going on? Back in the same spot.

It's great to be here at the Yahoo offices. You guys ever listen to the starters or Basketball Jones, J.E. Skeets, Taz Mellis? It's been a while, but yes. You sound like one of the producers frank when you say that no that's what i'm intending to do yeah it's like why why does it go from like here to up here i have no idea it's like a roller coaster i've had these weird voice mannerisms since i was a kid frank doesn't like when we're all in the same room i've noticed that for sure he hates this it's uncomfortable i like to be able to talk my shit yeah but like

you like to be like sequestered off right but i can i can see like his audio his whole tech setup here when i look that way he looks at me with concern on his face why are you looking at me when we look at him he's like what's going wrong um well it's good to be here with you guys uh i'm back i was in london for the last few days luckily knock on, no travel for the foreseeable future. As of right now, my next trip, if you will, is the Tyson-Paul fight. So I'm very excited about that.

A little bit of a break. So there's a few items that I wanted to talk about with you guys. And we'd go kind of in chronological order. And I want to tell you guys about my trip to London. I want to hear about it.

What a time it was. What a time it was. What a time it was. Okay, let's go in chronological order, if we may. Left Wednesday. We were here on Tuesday doing stuff for the studio, which was a ton of fun, a lot of progress. Wednesday morning. You know, there's two flights that you could take to London. You could take the morning flight and then you're flying all day.

You land at around 8, 9 p.m. Or you could take the 8, 9 p.m. flight and then get there in the morning, but you land at around 8 9 p.m or you could take the 8 9 p.m flight and then get there in the morning but you hit the ground running yeah i chose the former so i was pretty much you sound regretful no no but here's the tricky part you land it's 8 9 you were just on a flight and then you kind of have to go to bed yeah yeah as opposed to just try to sleep on the plane are you a plane sleeper what's your fine with it, but I feel like as I'm getting older, not an old man by any stretch, but it's a little harder to adapt. Got it. So anyway, I took the morning flight.

If you get the internet, you could do a ton of stuff. And I did get to do a ton of stuff. In the midst of all that, I see the news item that the great Adrian Wojnowski retires. Actually, you broke the news to me i believe um that you're texting up a storm and it just happened right there's a lot of stuff that we did and uh might weigh in on that later on but it it made the flight fly by but you land at 8 9 p.m and then you're like well how do i get this like energy out of my system you know you prefer to essentially fly through the night and then hit the round running when you land i don't know i think i actually prefer the way i did it i think the way you did is how i would

prefer yeah but the problem is you land at nine it's pitch black and then you kind of have to go to bed i'm the other way and by the way we're five hours ahead i'm not really i haven't done anything all day take a couple melatonin well they did kick in uh what was fun about this was i was staying in a neighborhood that i've never stayed in before, which was essentially, no joke, a one minute walk hotel to Wembley Stadium. So I see it as I'm coming in. I'm like, oh man, it's right there. I've never been to Wembley. I've never seen Wembley. So put the bags in the room and then I just go for a walk. And it's now, you know, 10.30 p.m. by the time you get there, and it's me in Wembley Stadium at night. Yeah, I was loving the photo shoot, man. I was loving it. I was loving it. First of all, it's Wembley freaking stadium.

This is like one of the most iconic stadiums in the world. Now, those that may not know, it was, the original was torn down and they built a new one. This is the new one, but it's still Wembley, you know? 1966 World Cup final, England's only World Cup, all the FA Cup finals, all the Carabao Cups or Milk Cup or Coca-Cola Cup back in the day, Euro Cup 2021, England, Italy.

My introduction to Wembley, 1992 SummerSlam, Davey Boy Smith, Bret Hart, one of the most iconic events of all time. There's been some AEW events there. Of course, Nottingham Forest got promoted. I mentioned that a thousand times throughout the week against Huddersfield Town back in 2022. So I was just like in awe of it walking around. I love London. I love England. I was just there three weeks ago. There's something about the energy, the people, the hospitality that I adore. So I was there. Yes, I was doing a little photo shoot. I was texting some people. I was having a grand old time. Go to bed.

Take a couple of NeuroGum melatonins. I'm not a big guy when it comes to that stuff, but I have to say a fantastic sleep was had. I appreciate that you're cool with it because i used to take melatonin and then i started having insane oh dreams nothing where like i it would be like i was like fighting when you say insane really like i'm fighting a dragon and i'm like looking down my hands are melting off and like it's like in the dream yeah like serious nightmares how long does it kick in for you i mean i would take it and then 30 minutes later i'd be out like a light i'd sleep all night i mean you get great sleep but take it and then 30 minutes later i'd be out like a light i'd sleep

all night i mean you get great sleep but like it was almost like i was sleeping so deeply the dreams would be so intense like and they were always just like insane nightmares so hopefully they just i'm very afraid to take any of this stuff because i'm afraid i'd get addicted to it but i have to say when you're battling time zones and jet lag it does work yeah i don't think you can eat melatonin not to be that guy melatonin is something that's already in your brain so when you're battling time zones and jet lag. It does work. Yeah, I don't think you can eat melatonin. Not to be that guy. Melatonin is something that's already in your brain, so when you're taking that as a supplement, you're just trying to balance it.

Okay, so there's nothing to be afraid of. Nothing to be afraid of. I don't know what this guy's talking about. Yeah. Dreams might start happening. Sounds like he was taking something a little extra than melatonin. The magic hat man.

Valerian root. That's a supplement you can take that extra. No, we're neuro. We're neuro guys. Neuro guys, all right. Anyway, go to bed. And this was a lot of fun. Everything that we did other than fight night was like an hour and a half away from the hotel.

That was not fun. What was fun was that I was always riding with two people. George Lockhart, who is nutritionist to the stars, has worked with the likes of Conor McGregor, Holly Holm, tyson fury and currently the great joseph parker so every ride was me george and joseph parker i i am now like best friends with these guys george we've known forever he's been on the show a thousand times joseph i didn't know as well you know interviewed him in march when he was on the uh and ganu card when he fought jang What a gentle giant.

What an amazing guy, and what a dynamic they have. George is a wild man. I'll leave it at that. Joseph was once a wild man, but now is just like such a sweetheart. And he's originally from Samoa, so we were talking about Roman Reigns and The Rock, and he's a big MMA fan, big wrestling fan.

He lives in New Zealand now. We were talking about Izzy, and The Rock, and he's a big MMA fan, big wrestling fan. He lives in New Zealand now. We were talking about Izzy, city kickboxing, his own career. It was great, and I was telling him my stories about, you know, we were sort of lamenting that he doesn't talk smack like Tyson and some of the other guys. I was giving him lines. At one point, fast forward, weigh-ins, he had to go on stage and, like, address the crowd,

and he's like, he was calling me oos. I was not, like, part of the, like, you know, that's what they was like i was not like part of like you know that's your family what do i say what do i say and i was okay say this he went out there and nailed it it was like dc it was like are you about to be the mouthpiece for joseph parker at one point we're sitting and he takes a picture of me and him and he sends it to roman reigns and he goes i got my own wise man now wow it's coming yeah yeah i was like let me be your guy. In line for a huge fight soon. He's like right there.

Yeah. So it was just really fun to get to know him. And honestly, like those are long rides. So what a time in his career right now. Oh, yeah. Let me say, like, this is like, if you're ever going to be riding around with Joseph Parker, I was thinking about him this weekend,

just with everything that's going on, obviously, you know, Tyson was there. Yeah, yeah. All the big names in the heavyweight division are there. i was like man joseph parker yeah he's right there he's there on the door he obviously fought aj back in the day but now he's in a better spot um we were talking a lot about nutrition about drinking water and stuff he had to stop i think three or twice on our first ride there thursday morning to go to the bathroom staying hydrated yeah yeah it was a lot of peeing so we get okay so we get to this place called guild hall um which is a historic venue it's thousands of years old

uh william wallace was tried for treason there back in the day wow there was all kinds of history there this is where the press conference was yeah yeah that's cool yeah yeah all kinds of history there we did a round table uh hosted by ade ade oladipo, Darren Barker, Joseph Parker, myself. We did one on Fury Usyk. We did one on Better Be a Biffle and a friend of the program, Chris Billum-Smith, who's fighting Zerto Ramirez in November, I think the 16th. So those are fun, you know, getting to flex my muscles, trying to convince people I know at least a thing about boxing, which is a fun dance. Then we get to the presser. AJ's late, all that stuff.

I get to interview AJ, which was nice, up on the stage. He seemed happy to see me. I thought he was just in such a philosophical mood all week. Some of the lines that he was saying, he seemed very, I don't know, introspective. He seemed very grateful. He seemed to be in a great spot he seemed to be you know very very um focused and and i still feel like the world doesn't understand daniel dubois they're trying to make him into aj make him into fury like he's just a

shy you know i see people throwing out theories that i think that's very um it's very reckless to do that about like why he is the way he is. He's just a little socially awkward. Yeah. He's just a little socially. He doesn't like to thought like, listen, the post fight interview was not a masterclass.

Yeah. He needs a wise man. But like, so people are like, what's wrong with this guy? Is he scared? Is he, is he,

is he crumbling? Like, no, that's just who he is. So they, so they were, even if they're right, who cares?

Like, why does it matter? Who cares? Like, no, but everyone's trying to find a theory about this guy he lacks the heart he lacks the determination he lacks the will whatever so we so we we do the presser get to interview him it was a lot of fun then we do the first episode of ariel and ade i'm i'm leaning towards just calling it ariel and ade

ariel x ade as opposed to the a Ariel and Ade show, there's enough shows. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know? I don't mind that. I like that. That was fun. It was 30 minutes. It's going to be an hour.

It's going to be from our studio. He's at home. And we just did 30 minutes. And it's up on the DAZN YouTube channel. And there's a snippet on our YouTube channel right now. And it just flowed. Like, we didn't talk about a single thing. We didn't prepare a single thing.

It was exactly what I wanted it to be and what it is going to be. So that was a lot of fun. So if you enjoyed that, more to come. More to come beginning October 15th. There we go. So we'll be doing those live.

Thank you for that. On Tuesday nights, right after our show, like our Tuesday show will be one to four-ish. This show with Ade will air live beginning at five on all the DAZN channels. Eastern time. Five Eastern, 10 in the UK.

And then you can watch it on VOD. And then the audio will be up on our feed, the same Ariel Hawani show feed shortly thereafter. So it's going to be great. Friday, I went to do a sit-down for a Friday morning. It was for a documentary that is going to air before the Francis Henem Fajeda fight that the Zonas put together. They went to Cameroon and talked to him about his life and saw where he grew up in the sand mines, talked to him about, unfortunately, the passing of his son, Kobe. And so I had to do an interview with them in English and French.

The French part was tough. It was just hard for me to translate all the terminology in my brain. Then had like two hours to just like walk around. Absolute gorgeous day in London. Got my shoes shined. My shoes shined, which was nice. Sat there and did it? In a place called Burlington Gallery.

Yeah, it was nice. Broback. Got a new pocket square. I mean, I was just like. English gentleman's day. I mean, you sit down, read the paper. I got a coffee. I was having, they were like, do you want to go for lunch?

I was like, I just want to be left alone for an hour and a half and wander London on my way to Trafalgar Square, which is where the weigh-ins were happening. Trafalgar Square is a historic site. So what they like to do, especially with these re-ed season cards, like when they were in LA, they go to Santa Monica. They go to the most impossible places to put on public events. Yep.

Because they were telling me like up until Wednesday, they didn't know if they would be allowed to do it at Trafalgar Square. But Turkey, God bless them. He's like, where's the most tough place to do this? I want to go there. But highest visibility, notable. You want to make an impact.

Yeah, there's a freaking like fountain there. Yeah. It was gorgeous. The turnout was Yeah, there's a freaking like fountain there. It was gorgeous. The turnout was great. So we do the weigh-ins. Love doing those. Love doing those interviews. AJ was great.

Eddie was great. Spoke to, you know, I did the A-side. Allie Drew, who works for DAZN, did the B-side. And that was great. That was a lot of fun. Had a quick show meeting, went home and the thing was on Saturday

because this was the great thing about the card, it had to end by 11 local time because there's a curfew because all around Wembley there's apartment buildings. So that's why if you were watching at home,

this card went by super fast. There wasn't a lot of fill. The only time we filled was because uh the chief support the co-main hamza shiras it ended in the second round and then we had this large gap liam gallagher all that stuff but if you watched the rest of the card it was boom boom boom they actually had to skip like three or two post-fight interviews because it had to be tight which was amazing now for us working on the show like our egos like we want to work but i'm putting myself in the shoes

of people back home who complain that these cards are too long this was the best one by far so because it had to end at 11 the call time was super early um it was at one east uh excuse me local time uh they had this big event outside where all these guys like Usyk was there and Fury was there and Hitman Hatton and Roberto Duran. But we get there and now I'm in Wembley Stadium and I'm just blown away by the sheer size of it all. Like Turkey announced yesterday it was 98,000,

but just being there in an empty stadium of that size is truly amazing. And I wish the UFC would allow themselves to do stuff like this. They just don't want to, for whatever reason, there was some concern that it would rain crazy enough. It only rained like no joke, 10 minutes after the main event, it was crazy. It started to rain. Um, and just like looking around, I was like, how the hell did I end up here? You know, I've had to sort of, you know, kind of muscle my way into this boxing world.

And really it was because of, I do have to give a lot of credit to Nikisa of MVP. Like he called me to moderate the Tyson Jones presser that they were doing virtually for Triller. And that was, I was like, oh wow, this is great. And there was a trickle down effect there. And now doing the stuff with previously Showtime and now DAZN has really been so much fun because it's just a different type of production and there's different liberties that you could take and there's different opportunities. And so I was in the role with Ade, like before the fight,

talking about things and then going in the locker room and then the post-fight wrap up stuff. Of course, I'd like to do more. Of course, I want to be working the whole time. But just to be a small part of that whole show in front of that many people, a fight that meant so much for heavyweight boxing, for boxing in particular, for boxing in the UK.

I've told this to you guys before. We can't even wrap our heads around how much more respect they give to boxing in particular in the UK as opposed to here. You're there midday listening to the radio and they're just talking about like

the state of the heavyweight division. There is no radio station in America or North America that is talking about even like the biggest MMA or boxing story midday on a Friday afternoon. You know what I mean? It's not part of the mainstream culture. It's only the sports culture and then even subset. It's only the combat sports culture here in America.

It's so much fun. And it's really like their second major sport. Like we have here the NFL, the NBA, MLB, NHL, F1, NASCAR, golf. Like for them, it's football. It's English football. It's Premier League championship, whatever. And then it's boxing in terms of like what they give attention to. MMA is not on the level just yet.

But to think 98,000 people, the most for a British combat sports, obviously boxing and MMA event, you look there and when it's empty and you're like, how the hell are they going to fill this up? And they freaking filled it up. Insane. They filled it up. Now the first fight was completely empty. It was the Josh Padley, Mark Chamberlain fight where Padley wins. He was a plus 1100 underdog. Chamberlain, everyone says is Turkey's favorite fighter. And that was kind of shocking. It was weird when it was empty but really shortly thereafter it was filling up very quickly it wasn't one of those where it was just like people there for the biggest crowd yeah main event only so it was amazing like i i thought i thought the card was great i thought the uh the

fights were entertaining they were hoping for a couple of you know earlier stoppages to give us a little more time but for me it's like you came there to see fights. You were never bored. Um, I got to go to the locker room a couple of times. I love those. Those are, those are a tricky dance as well, because like, what are they really going to say 20 minutes before they fight? But I just love the, the opportunity to walk in there and the tension and they're warming up. And then you come in and you ask a couple of questions, then you have to like scurry off. Um, seeing people back was great and um and then and then at one point and we'll get to him more later on they say like go to the back connor's coming and they're like we need you to like go up to him and him see you so that you could get the interview so that's why i posted this one video where i'm like literally walking

up to him he hits me with the the patented shoulder strike there uh like i went for the hug and he nailed me with the shoulder. But we got the interview and it was good to see him. Good to see Dave Fogarty. Good to see his partner, D. And it's like, he's like a freaking, like he's like a Tasmanian devil.

Like he comes with this whole freaking energy and entourage. And we'll talk more about what he said. But then I have to run to the main stage and ade does an interview with eddie and i do an interview with frank i don't know if you guys saw i don't know if you guys weren't watching live right i did not see it live i had to go back to it so eddie frank maybe you were watching it's okay no you guys don't have to like i mean it's kind of a big deal it's like i'm not offended people there no by the way is this mic on it is he's just not eating

it right now are you getting concerned about this no because like i don't hear you as well as i hear myself yeah maybe it hasn't been on this entire time i'm just happy it's not me i hear him incredibly well is your mic on check now one two it sounds a little different than than uh than ej but if you're saying it works, just talk into the mic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, that's much better. That's much better. You did do some things over there, Frank.

I think you just raised his level. I think he faked like he did something. I turned him up in your headphone. A little placebo. Well, something. There's a moment. So we had a little bit of time to kill because the co-main was a quick one.

Liam Gallagher is coming on. And so they say, you go, Ade go talk to Eddie, I go talk to Frank. And I'm on the stage there and I have like some photos and at this point,

they're playing all the hits. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Like all the, what's the other one? Na, na, na, na, na, na, na. They're just playing all the hits to get people excited and to keep them occupied.

The energy, yeah. And I'm looking around at this thing and I'm like, this is unlike anything I've ever experienced 98 000 people for a boxing match tiny ring in the middle and these people are having the time of their lives singing to everyone's singing playing everyone everyone's having the time i'm like how the fuck did i end up here i'm standing next to frank warren hall of fame promoter and like i'm here to talk to him and at one point I tell him like,

I cannot hear you. It is deafening in here. I hope you can hear me because I cannot hear a word that you're saying. God bless him. He said he could hear me just fine. And I was like,

all right, something's wrong with me. And the energy was just, it was insane. So we do the interviews. Liam Gallagher plays. I mean, how crazy is that?

It's just like, it transitions to Liam Gallagher. Liam Gallagher. Who just announced this huge tour. He walks in. By the way, shout out to Liam Gallagher's bass player, who I saw at the coffee shop before the fight, who comes up to me and says he's a big fan.

And I'm like, man, I loved Oasis as a kid. And he's like, well, I'm just on his... So apparently Liam and Noel have their own bands. Shocking. But the dudes who play for the bands don't play for Oasis. So he's like, oh, that's... Oh, I was an Oasis fan too. I didn't't play for oasis so he's like oh that's oh i was an oasis fan too i didn't play with them yeah he's like no i'm with liam only i'm like oh well i still like him um apparently he did he didn't rehearse frank how about that didn't rehearse

rocked right up they show a shot of him like walking into the thing he's chewing on like a straw and he just like walks right to the thing. This is very what I would expect. Yeah. So the place is going crazy. He doesn't play any Oasis songs. There was some rumor out there that they would both show up, Liam and Noel Gallagher. But to be honest, if you just paid a gazillion

dollars for a reunion, you can't give it away. It would be insane. I'd love to know what he got paid for that. I will say this. He kept it relatively short and it's a little bit different when you're at home. Look, full stop. I just want the fights. I don't need the concert. Yeah.

Even if it's Eminem. Because he, Eminem in LA is not Liam Gallagher in London. Because he meant so much to those people. I don't think anyone minded, to be honest. I'd still rather just get into the fights. And honestly, I'd rather everyone involved just save the money and pay a fighter. Sure, fair enough.

When all this was going on, I'm sitting ringside, and now ringside is becoming like an absolute zoo. It's not like the UFC where it's very controlled. It is a freaking madhouse. Like, I don't have a seat anymore, so I decide to go to the back. And I just want to, like, I just want to, I like to see the calm before the storm. i'm standing right outside daniel dubois um locker room and like i'm showing

you guys as i'm as i'm talking about this but like it's just there's something about being back there as these people are about to walk out and like this is daniel just like walking out right and like this dude is about to fight in front of 98 000 people and a million at home or whatever and there's just something so calm and serene about that moment you know it's very still before it really is like modern day gladiator stuff like i'm sure you could hear how crazy the crowd was from like the the tunnels under the stadium like just crazy i feel this is such a blessing to be able to witness this especially and and like here's aj coming out to the scarface music um eddie's doing the you know the father son holy goat like you could just feel how important this is for all of them the entrances were great you could see how

big it is the magnitude of it all and then i kind of make my way i don't even have a seat but i just make my way to ringside and it's me and rory mcelroy i swear to god i'm watching the fight with rory mcelroy i never say a word to him but he's literally as close as eric is to me that is insane yes i was gonna ask can we get get some more because like the videos that were coming out from the ringside of like tyson fury screaming and all this down there and then like i think at one video like t Tyson's like yelling at Herky. He's just like, you're going to have to pay me. And in the back, McGregor's just like chewing on a cigar.

What is going on? Yeah. So I was on the opposite side of them, but right. So those two rows where McGregor and Turkey were sitting, they weren't sitting on the regular chairs. They all were sitting on like thrones. Oh, amazing. Yeah.

Those just two rows. So it was, it was like connor terence crawford uh i saw him at the weigh-ins and said you know i had to do the joke and he just kind of like said fuck you i was gonna say i was like yeah i'm sure he's gotten that yeah yeah yeah yeah connor um usic furia right next to each other. Spencer Brown, Fury's promoter, manager. And so those are like the two. I was on the opposite side, and Roy McIlroy is just sitting there.

He's sitting next to Tony Bellew. Ade's there. Tony's freaking out. Like, Tony was like straight-up coaching AJ. Like, he was freaking out during the whole fight. But it was crazy. Like, Ollie Watkins was sitting over there. There were other celebrities huge who's who of

roberta doran ricky hatton like it's just ridiculous this is amazing and then you're standing there and it's like the best way i can describe it is it was like a heavyweight mma fight you know like sometimes you get these boxing heavyweight fights especially in the clitical eras where they're you know they're they're they're they're they're waiting they're like these two freaking guys were like two bulls it was like what you expect from a ufc heavyweight fight, especially in the clitoral areas where they're, you know, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're waiting. They're like, these two freaking guys were like two bulls. It was like what you expect from a UFC heavyweight fight.

It was amazing. Yeah. It was amazing. And, and Dubois, by now, you know, he catches him early in the first round and AJ never recovered from that. And you could tell he never recovered. His legs never recovered.

Dubois fought the fight of his life on the night of his life. And he was not phased by the moment what was the energy like was it a pro AJ crowd were they percent okay so it wasn't 95 percent England it was it was it shock or was it like it was like holy shit sanity holy shit everyone wanted it was just like I can't believe this is happening and you know you you think it's flashbacks of the Andy Ruiz fight, but seeing him struggle like that, you start to think of that fight in 2019.

And this was supposed to be the coronation once again of AJ. It was a redo. It was, yes. Once again, the third time. Third time heavyweight champion, back. This dude, man. I counted it up.

That was his sixth stadium show. In total, as far as the people in attendance, over 500,000 people just in those six events. Like to try to take anything away from this guy. Oh, no. They're so lucky they have him in Tyson. I mean, we have no one in America that can come close to that for a fight.

The UFC as a brand is hot, but there is no fight in MMA or boxing in America that can sell at 98,000. Like, what would it be? Michigan Stadium or Tennessee? Like, what football stadium could do 100,000? The big house in Michigan. There's several, yeah.

Michigan, Tennessee, Alabama. But there's no fight that could fill that up. There's no fight. There's no fighter. I mean. You're saying specific, like, American fighter and people would be coming out to, like. Jake is the closest, in my opinion. Paul?

Yeah. He ain't selling that shit. He's the only one who even can Jake is the closest in my opinion. Paul? Yeah. He's selling that shit. He's the only one who even can enter the conversation in my opinion for an American. Who else is in that conversation?

No, and he's going to try but he's not going to get $98,000. How many people do you think show up for like a stacked John Jones UFC card in a stadium? It's New York.

You do 20. You do a basketball arena. That's what it is. 30 max. If you want to make it special. They do like a middle ground, like a baseball stadium? Would they go a Legion stadium? Can they do a Legion stadium and do, I don't

know, 70,000? I guess the exception, here's the difference, right? It has to be a stacked card. They're showing up for AJ. They're showing up for AJ. The difference would be Jon Jones versus Tom Aspinall. Maybe you can get it Jon Jones versus Francis Ngannou, but it's always a pairing. It's always the two.

If you're talking about one singular guy, for my money I think Jake Paul is the biggest right now. He's not doing 98. He's probably not doing that. He needs Tyson too. What do you think Tom Aspinall is doing in England? He could do a 98,000 job. It's early.

He also has the benefit of the UFC brand. The brand is hot and you know Leon's going to be there and you know this guy's going to be like, this was AJ versus Dubois. It was 95% in favor of AJ. And so everyone's just like jaw dropped. Holy shit. But it's also, there's no time to breathe. Like he is 15, 20 more seconds in the first round. The fight's over.

He gets saved by the bell. So now you're like, oh my God, he's going to blow it. The Fury fight's dead. Him going for Undisputed is dead. Holy shit, can Dubois do it? Does he have the heart? This and that. Second round, Dubois wins again, and it's like AJ's hanging on for dear life.

He's like Bambi on ice. His legs were gone. Yeah. Third round, I mean, I thought third round it was done. There's one point where Todd Grisham says it's over because it looked, the referee seemed very pro-AJ. Like he was giving everything. He calls it a slip. He goes

like this, but it seems like then he's like, oh no, no, no. I mean like it wasn't a knockdown. It was a little bit weird. And then the fourth round, AJ's doing everything he can to survive. i thought he was not there all of a sudden though he has a moment where he like he like hits his chest he's like i got this and then he comes out fifth round i was like holy shit is this guy gonna pull this off

like if he pulls this off this is one of the greatest things that i've ever seen an athlete do could you imagine the crowd pop had he done oh my god the crowd would have absolutely lost this lost this shit like i mean it would have been the loudest pop i've ever heard he goes for broke he has dubois in the corner he goes for the uppercut and then he gets caught and if you see the punch i watched it a thousand times it's almost like dubois like just like taps him obviously it's much more than that but it's not like a beautiful right the first one was that the first one was a picture perfect oh my god punch actual picture perfect

the viral picture is like perfect the knockout was not but he was so gone by then falls face first I can't even believe the ref was counting at that point

I rewatched it probably like 20 times he was counting like fairly quickly he was counting fairly quickly it should have been waved off right there it was like

6, 7, 8, 9, 10 we're good it wasn't shown on the broadcast, but credit to Ben Davison. He throws in the towel. And then he notices that the ref, I don't know, was this on the broadcast? They announced it on the broadcast at like 8. They're just like, the towel's in. It's over.

And then he like sprints to help him because they were going to let him stand up and fall again. And Dubois, to his credit, and maybe this is just his personality. Maybe he felt weird about it. He celebrates yes his whole team his dad his head trainer don charles they're all celebrating he's just like stone-faced i don't know if it's like i don't know what i just did i can't believe it i feel like it's just him just feels like him yeah sam like all the lead up all week just man a few words like yeah even like the outfits and everything yeah like all business all business it's great back to my hotel room so i can go to sleep so we can get close to the fight that's all he was talking about was just like i'm just ready to fight he's a machine he's a cyborg and um there was a story that was talked about all week about how

they sparred around seven years ago and there was a story that he rocked him or dropped him no one really knows and the story is is that Frank Warren hears about this and runs to him essentially and says, I need to sign you. And so it's crazy that seven years later, there's Frank Warren, there's Dubois coming off a knockout of AJ and it all comes back to AJ, right? And that's just how important he is to that, um, to that market, to that country. And so unbelievable scene, people are going nuts um you know the interviews he says that are you not entertained like that's the best he could come up with it's so classic yeah and uh and then everyone does their thing and then and then we have to to jet up and react to it all and

sometimes those moments are very hard because it's like how do you put into words what you just witnessed now they came to us last and so i had had some time to, to, to gather myself. But even then there's, there's, you're like, damn, I wish I said this. Damn. I wish I said that. So that's why when I walked back and it was a one minute walk, um, I, I just went into the room and, and, and shot something quickly on the phone and put it up on the YouTube channel. Thank you for watching. If you haven't, if you want the immediate raw thoughts, some people said that my energy was low, that I looked tired. I mean, I was freaking tired. But, you know, that was me in the moment reacting to it all. And we'll do more of those things.

And then I slept for an hour and then went to the airport. And the great thing about flying home from England is that you get the five hours back. So it went straight to soccer and there we are. And so, okay, that's my trip. Now let's just talk about what happened. There are some people who say AJ's done what does done mean not done what he says he's not done he's not done but like he's not even done as a draw no oh for sure you're still gonna watch an anthony

if anything has been proven as you illustrated no matter what happens he will continue to sell he will continue to be a draw he is somebody that people are invested in win lose whatever he is going to continue to be that guy if you say done as a potential long reigning world champion if you say like he is not going to ascend to the heights that potentially tyson fury had in his apex and now could continue if he if he writes the ship against usic i could get there right i don right? I don't think AJ is going to be the best heavyweight of this generation. I just don't think it's going to happen for him. It's too late. He was once the best and now he's no longer.

Now he is not and I don't think he will have that as his, what he's remembered for. But as a boxing personality, as a boxing product, as a fighter that people care to watch. It's not done. Of course it's not done. He's a fascinating guy and people are always going to be interested

in seeing fascinating people. Who have people had more conversation about what's next for in the time after? Dubois or Joshua? Well, I think the Dubois one is easy. Dubois should fight the winner of Fiora Yusuf. Period. I think so too.

Now there's some talk about this rematch clause and now Frank Warren is saying there isn't a rematch. Don't exercise it if there is. And even if there is, I can see, you know, Turkey, who I got to see in attendance and shook his hand. That was lovely. Whoever sent the picture too. Can I tell you, it's his personal photographer named Maud.

She is from Marseille. She is brilliant. She isn't a big fight fan. He met her on some non-fighting thing and said, you're going to be the photographer. And so she sent me like all these like very artsy photos. She's unbelievable. So I don't know if you're being.

No, I'm actually being serious. Oh yeah, yeah. She's a great picture. I mean, it's, y'all are literally timing out the handshake. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We did not plan that. No, Daniel Dubois, to me, it's very easy. He fights the winner of Fury Usyk

on December 21st. AJ's next move isn't as easy. Obviously, he'll take some time. I think he's handling the loss incredibly well, and I gave him props for that. People are like, oh, you're giving him props for something he should do? Well, let's not forget, two years ago, he had a complete meltdown in the ring

in Saudi Arabia, threw the belts out of the ring, and was crying on the dance. Everybody killed him everybody killed him for it yeah this time he's like man i rolled the dice it's sport i'm a gladiator i'll be back and i'm like yeah good for you you matured as as he told me what's the difference i've matured you have matured so good on you and you deserve that props it's not easy being in his shoes man 98 000 people the guy just got knocked out cold he's the one they were there for and he feels like he let him down. That's a tough spot. If Fury loses on December 21st, I personally

think he will. Fury, AJ is the fight to make in the third quarter of 2025. Now, like Ade was arguing with me, and I understand. Are the stakes the same? No. But you're not to... Now there's a different story to tell. They're both backs against the wall. They're

both coming off losses, Fury double losses, AJ knockout loss. Finally, we get to see the two giants, no belts, no nothing. Who's the better man? Who's not watching that? And if you

do it in a stadium in England, it's going to sell a hundred million percent. It's just like this one just did. Who's not watching that? Joseph Parker wants to be on that December

21st card i would like to see him fight martin baccoli um there's kubail out there either one of those fights he has to fight on that card in my opinion to time himself but dubois should be next fury loses he fights aj i think he will lose i think it'll be a great fight but ultimately someone has to win zhang is out there um he's obviously going to be in the mix, but Parker is above him because Parker just beat him. And that's the heavyweight division.

If Fury wants to take a long time, then maybe AJ Hergovich. AJ Zhang is a fight that would be of interest to me. Like, there's still... What do you do if Fury wins? What if Fury wins, though? Usyk, Dubois. If rematch?

No, I guess you have to do Dubois-Fury. No, no, no. If Fury wins, it's Fury-Dubois. But you can't do Usyk-AJ3. No, no. I guess you could, but there'd be no point. And give me Parker Usyk. I mean, Parker Usyk would be sick. So what happens for AJ?

AJ fights like a Hergovich. And then what? One more and does he get to Tyson? Yeah. That fight is still a thing, man. It would be a travesty. Look, and? One more and does he get to Tyson? Yeah. That fight is still a thing, man. It would be a travesty. Look, and some people

were asking me about Wilder. Like, to me, the state of AJ on Saturday and over the last four fights, much different than

the state of Deontay Wilder. Agreed. Wilder looked like crap in December and he did not look good in June. Honestly, someone said the only fight I ever want to see Wilder in is Nganou,

a fun boxing. Yeah. I'm down. I'm down. Depending on how Nganou looks in October, but like I'm not signing. Give me, give me,

give me like Wilder versus like a Robert Hellenius. Give me like Wilder versus like, uh, that type of fighter. I mean like, like a top 25. I don't need to see him against a top eight guy. Not right now.

No way. Absolutely not. So he's not really factoring into things. But this isn't the end. And it's a great card. I mean, sorry, it's a great result. What were people complaining about in heavyweight boxing back in the day? It was too predictable.

It was Klitschko's. It was hugging. It was boring decisions. This is what we love. Unpredictability. There's so many players right now. And like these personalities that are starting to come out. Like Usyk rocking just like the all gray with the blue tinted glasses.

And like they're all just kind of like. Hair was slicked back. They're like kind of whining and dying in each other. Talking to each other. Like it's great, man. I mean there's a lot of drama in the heavyweight division of boxing. What is most curious for me is when AJ does come back, are we going to get the

I've rebuilt myself narrative again? Because we've gotten that a few times now. I'm curious if he goes back to that. You released a video this morning where it was just like, it's time to come back for the third time now. Look, part of the narrative coming into this fight

was him and Ben Davison. Yeah. God, I love Ben. He says afterwards, I've gotten a lot of praise for all this, sometimes too much. I deserve the criticism for this.

And to be fair, that clip that came out of him, I think it was in between the fourth and fifths saying like, go for it, roll the dice. And there's a BBC clip

of Shane McGuigan who used to train Daniel Dubois saying like, I don't agree with that. If you do that, you are going to get caught. And literally two minutes later, he gets caught. I am surprised that Davison said, like, who the fuck am I?

But what I think they should have done is like, try to ride out the next three rounds. Just try to get your legs back on. And he went for it. And God bless him for going for it. But that was clearly a mistake. And so to Ben's credit, credit he says give me the criticism which i think is incredible here's the other great thing about the current state of heavyweight boxing and this isn't a commentary on whether it's good or bad and we can have that conversation all

day long but the the the the fact that turkey and saudi arabia are involved there are no more road blocks so before it would be like ah you know this guy is promoted by this guy this guy like no fury aj has never been closer to happening even though he just lost because turkey is involved because they are involved we don't fear we don't fear that we lost it for good now because of the state of boxing i do wonder he goes back now like you go to those fights in riad cool and i understand why they want them in riad but there's no way that he goes back to his room or wherever he goes on Saturday and says, holy shit, there were 98,000 people there. We got to plaster with Riyadh season logos. They sang the Saudi Arabian national anthem before the fight. Like, how is this not good for us? You know what I mean? The difference in the experience and the atmosphere between that and what I experienced in March. Yeah.

Astronomical. That was one of the greatest sporting events that I've ever witnessed live. The one in March was void of a lot of atmosphere. It was happening

at three in the morning to cater to it. Like, this couldn't have been more perfect. And the fact that it ended before 11 because of this,

like everything about it was perfect. And honestly, every time they put on one of these, these massive shows and he creates these fights that we never thought we were ever going to be able to see, he's almost like the legend of him grows and the legitimacy and just the power within the sport just continues to grow.

It's fascinating when you compare it to other sports. In other sports, as we talked about, they're kind of viewed as disruptors and nuisances in golf, in soccer. But in boxing, they're hailed as heroes yeah they're like the saviors of the sport it's a fascinating thing and so let's see how it plays out december 21st is a big one the next one is october 12th by the way better be a versus bivel which is going to be in an unbelievable place yeah it's no accident though think about what those other sports are looking at right when you think about golf or you think about football, they're taking athletes that you want to see compete

against the other pool of athletes and removing them. They're literally disrupting. They are disrupting. They are bringing them together. They are bridging things and they are creating the matchups that people want to see. It is opposite and it is why it is so favorable. 100%.

On Thursday, boxing was a big topic throughout the week because on thursday evening dana white was in dublin to promote the king callum walsh fight which aired on friday on ufc fight pass and uh he did a deal with tnt sports in the uk apparently the the warrens queensberry they had to give him the green light to remove their exclusivity and they did uh he's going all in with this kid and and there he was at the three arena uh winning once again but he did one of those like classic dana doesn't do these it's funny like he puts himself out there for power slap and for this kid and and the boxing ventures unlike in the ufc and so he did one of those where like you could just ask him whatever you want and he was

asked about his his uh his boxing plans his interest in boxing and this was reminiscent to the mayweather mcgregor era 2017 to 2019 and shout out to jedi goodman did you guys see this thread compilation yeah i looked through it like three times it was amazing he got them all i don't know how he does this he got every single one and so dana says like yeah i'm going all in um he compared himself right now to hbo sports which i think is interesting and i understand what he's trying to say which is hey we're a platform come work with us i would strongly argue that the zone is that right now because of their deals with um with mvp with matchroom Golden Boy, with Salida and others, but fine, I get it. And he says, I'm going all in. And so I'm curious to know what that means. Some people like wanted me to talk

shit about it, but I won't because I'm very curious. And I would argue strongly that there is a greater chance of it finally happening now now as opposed to back then for two reasons. Number one, TKO. He's there with Endeavor. They've got the wrestling pillar. They've got the MMA pillar. The boxing pillar makes all the sense. Big hole, yeah.

There was a rumor in January that they were buying top rank. Who knows what will happen? We know Dana adores boxing. We know Nick Khan, who's the president of WWE, adores boxing. His entrance into the world of wwe adores boxing his his his entrance into the world of agencies uh was boxing it was freddie roach and manny pacquiao that's how we got into representation and so it makes all the sense of the world and oh by the way everyone's very close with a guy named turkey ala sheik and we know what he wants to do and so this is very

very possible and i'm curious to see i i got annoyed. There's a young guy named Charlie Parsons, a YouTube guy. And he asked me for an interview and you know, the, the boxing YouTube scene is a fascinating one because they all run around, they do the interviews and God bless them and everyone should have a place and, and, and, and, and make a living and follow your dreams. But they come up with the most ridiculous titles for their YouTube videos. So he asked me for an interview and I do it and it ends up being Ariel Hawane raw, hits back at Dana White for boxing plans.

And I went up to him on Saturday. I was like, there was nothing raw about that. And there was no hitting back. I just was saying exactly what I'm saying here. Why do you do this? He's a young kid and he's great at what he does. But like that shit annoys me to no end there's no hitting back there was no hitting back in fact i say what what i would say to dana

is the water is warm jump in yeah i've been here waiting for you i would love to have you a part of this scene uh you've been talking about interviews just about boxing he just won't talk mma with you oh that'd be great imagine yeah we're not we don't talk UFC. We'll only talk about King Calum Walsh. But I'm curious to see what happens. I just will say, I think there's a better chance now

more than ever for it to happen. But to the point you made earlier, there's nothing to react to, right? Like, it's like, Dana White saying he's going to get into boxing, but he said this 15,000 times. What does that mean?

I've never really said that. I'm like, this is the first time I've ever said I'm really getting into it. And then the thread is just like countless clips. There's like, we're announcing next month our plans. Everyone's talking like, yo. There was one point in like October 2020 was just like, oh yeah, this is happening.

And then like the next month he did an interview on SportsCenter and he's just like, I haven't said shit. I haven't said anything. But there's nothing to like criticize or there's nothing to to tout because there's nothing here that has happened the only reason why i think it's even worth talking about is because of tko and turkey he is a powerful man with a powerful uh company underneath him with a powerful company above him that supports him there is a prime atmosphere for this if he is to get into the boxing game it will be major news it will be a major development there's a big thing happening there but again we have heard this for years now like there's nothing there's nothing here that If he is to get into the boxing game, it will be major news. It will be a major development. There's a big thing happening there.

But again, we have heard this for years now. Like there's nothing here that would have anything to criticize because we don't know what it is yet. If it were to happen, if there is something that develops out of this, I think it would make a lot of sense to acquire a promotion and then essentially have the infrastructure and build it up, like you said, with a room or a top rank. Then it would be a huge deal. It would be a massive thing to talk about. But for now, it's just Dana White saying, I'm getting into boxing for the umpteenth time. I will say this, though.

He cannot use the same business structure, business model that he uses. This idea that I'm going to come in and... I love when he says, I'm going to save boxing, I'm going to fix boxing. Yo, there were just 98,000 people on a card. If anyone was going to do that, it would be Turkey Al-Shaykh.

I mean, it's already happened, really. There's nothing to save. You want to get in? Great. But there's absolutely nothing to save whatsoever. I think it would be accurate. And maybe what he is trying to say is there is a way that he feels he can bring something

that changes it, right? Based on his learnings from the UFC, that there is something radical that he could bring in that structurally might be different from a technical standpoint that he might be able to do. He's going to have some difficulties if he tries to replicate the model, that there is just no way that models but it is not saving boxing it would just be a different version of boxing potentially right um boxing's also had a pretty tremendous year yeah it's well it's had a tremendous year it's also had a tremendous like lifespan boxing has been around for quite a while like i think if uh if there was over a century who was gonna come in and and disrupted it that radically it might have happened already.

But either way, I don't even know what to, like, it's almost the most non-news thing I can possibly think of. I'm so indifferent. I'm so,

what's the word? Not despondent, but like, it has no effect on me when Dana White says I'm going into boxing anymore because we have seen this on and off.

I do think the climate is a little bit different. Sure. And I'm curious to see how it plays out. When he does it, I will care. Yeah.

All right. Fair enough. All right. So that was the boxing side of things. Speaking of Dublin, I did catch up with Conor McGregor,

as I said. Yes. It was good to see him. What did the shoulder check feel like? Oh, he hit me. He hit me. I felt it.

Is he in shape? Are we okay? He was in shape. He was in great form. He had the cigar out. Was it 70, 185? It was too quick. It was too quick. but he always makes time

and i appreciate that and uh you know he did confirm what dana said no 2024 fight yeah he said 2025 i thought it was interesting that he called the the the conclusion of the two fights that are left on his deal the promised land also i thought that was the most interesting part. He was very quick to plug his BKFC deal with DeZone. Going, right? I mean, that was the... October 12th in Marbella. You mean Sven or Guy... Yeah, yeah, Oscar and Ben.

Yeah, it's a big one. Unfortunately, I can't go because it's Yom Kippur. And we have... A couple things. I didn't want to just get into it all there. But I also asked him, you know, I pressed him who's going to be the guy. He's like, I don't know.

But then he did say Chandler. At the very end. What was your take on what we saw from Conor? That's up on my Twitter page now or on DAZN. I knew he wasn't going to fight in 2025. I think we all kind of arrived there, but it was good. Sorry, 24.

Thank you, Frank. Was that an early prediction? No, no, no. No, it's not. I'm confident and hopeful that he fights in 25. I think to the point that he made to Ariel, he needs it. It's time to get this fight on the books, and

it's also time to move toward the end of the contract and into potentially the promised land, which I also found the most fascinating part of this because the UFC has long done this thing where they talk about, and Dana White in particular has talked about like, Conor's not really ready. He's not really ready. And you'll be like, well, what does that mean? Conor said he's ready. What does that actually mean? And they'll be like, he's not in training. He's not really ready. There's a misalignment here that is happening

with the UFC and Conor McGregor where Con mcgregor wants to get these fights out but they're not ready to give it and i wonder how intentional some of this is because at the end of these two fights there's going to be and maybe maybe they'll be able to negotiate with them uh before that but at the end of these two fights there is going to be a real reckoning to be had from both sides. Do you think, I floated the idea, I don't know, this is just a hypothesis. Why are they waiting so long? I believe that there is a negotiation to be had for their new TV deal at the end of 2025.

It's a lot better to be sitting with networks when you say you have Conor McGregor on your roster. Got him for at least two. Yeah. There's no other explanation. Why isn't he fighting in December? Why isn't he fighting in January? Why is it all up in the air? I think that may

be part of it. My other thing is, it's just better to have Conor McGregor under contract than elsewhere. Sure. Yeah, so this is the Francis game we saw. This is the Nate game. It sucks. Yeah, it sucks. It definitely sucks. He will fight. He will fight at some point in 2025 i i i would have thought that it would happen in 2020 he will

fight dream as he fights twice like he said his plans are and then he's done i don't know about that i mean of course i don't know about anything that he says i mean like for the last however x years it's just like this was said this didn't happen. I don't think it's on him. I think there's a real world where he fights in 2025 and then they ice him for a bit and then they just

don't want him to fight. Oh yeah. I guess the result also matters. I don't think it's him. I don't think it's him. I could see a first or second quarter fight and then it drags into

the new TV deal. That's what I 2026 second fight and who knows what happens in between. Yeah. And then, of course, if Chandler loses to Oliveira,

does that ruin... I have so little interest in Michael Chandler versus Conor McGregor. Zero. If Oliveira, even if he wins? I don't give a flying fuck.

Wait. If Chandler knocks out Oliveira, you don't want to see it? Who cares? Oh, so who are you picking? Nate Diaz. Sign Nate Diaz and do the fight.

Why do we... They're not happy with Nate Great I don't care They're not going to give it to him They're not going to give it to him Let's talk realistic though They are mad at Nate Diaz

Do you think McGregor versus Oliveira? Ooh I don't care Oliveira is a star Star, star Like he is mad Let me say it this way He just won't sell it as much

They won't be trying to Yeah, of course They're not going to be able to Shit talk each other He saw the sell I don't need it I don't need any Specific opponent

I really just need Conor McGregor to fight whoever it's against. I don't need Michael Chandler. I'd be fine with Michael Chandler. I don't need Michael Chandler. I'm sure it'll be great because it's going to be an all action fight and someone's probably going to get finished and like, he will sell it on the, on the lead up.

Like he's a fine opponent. What's the next move after Michael Chandler? I think the number one is probably Diaz. Like it's Diaz. Listen, I think the Diaz fight makes the most sense just given where they're both at.

But they weren't happy when he left. They weren't happy he fought Jake and they weren't happy he lost to Jake. Three things. And they will

cut their nose despite their face. And by the way, it's not like you need Nate to get a big time buy rate from Conor. That's just the one that makes the most sense.

You need Nate to get the biggest buy rate from Conor. And if you're looking, if you're the big, I'm not saying. You need Nate to get the biggest buy rate from Conor. And if you're looking, if you're the big, I'm not saying that you need him to get a big buy rate. To get the biggest possible, right? Who could you get that is bigger than Nate Diaz right now? No, no, it's the one that makes the most sense.

I just don't. Is there a massive drop off between Nate? In my opinion, yes. Is there a massive? In my opinion, yes. I don't know. I think there's a big drop off. How big of a drop-off? A big one.

1.8 million pay-per-view buys to 1.3? 1, 2, 1. Really? Even Nate after losing to Jake. Again, Nate and Connor now are both at a point where they are not subject to wins, losses, whatever. It is a fight pairing that is unmistakable.

The Michael Chandler news, is anybody... I'm not, personally. Is there anybody who's going, man, I can't believe we missed Chandler and Conor again? I don't think so. I don't think that fight has the juice. I think most people who are saying that are just saying I can't believe we missed Conor McGregor. I don't think Michael Chandler adds anything

super special to that recipe. Do I think it's a fine fight? Do I think Oliveira's also a fine fight? These are all great fights. I don't think he adds anything to the recipe. I think Nate Diaz does add something to that recipe. Do I think it's a fine fight? Do I think Oliveira is also a fine fight? These are all great fights. I don't think he adds anything to the recipe. I think Nate Diaz does add something to the recipe.

Can I tell you what was most interesting to me? Okay, so we heard Dana say what he said about Conor and then Conor confirms it to me. Yeah. But what I was thinking

about actually after was like, all right, so who's headlining December 7th? Yeah. Because let's just go through the list very quickly. Heavyweight is Jon Jones

fighting November 16th, right? Is it the 16th or 15th? 16th. 16th is Saturday. I keep getting confused. Yeah, because Tyson. Yeah. So, okay, so that's out of the picture.

205 is Pereira, Roundtree. You know, I mean, yes, Pereira could fight two months later or Roundtree, I guess, but let's just remove that one because it's a bit of a quick turnaround. 185 is Drikus. Could you maybe do Drikus versus Sean? But Drikus has shown that he doesn't love these quick turnarounds, right?

All right, so maybe not. 170 is Bilal versus Shafqat. As the main event, pay-per-view? Good fight. All right, let's see if we can add something to it. 155 is Islam not happening, right? It seemed like Armin said that. 145.

145 is Ilya in October, late October, not happening. 135 just happened. I don't know. Can you ask him to turn around that quickly, Murab? I feel like you have a better chance of getting DDP to turn around. Yeah. I think it's, you start with a baseline of Bilal versus Shafqat. Pantoja hasn't fought in a while.

May. That's under, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you make it a two-title fight. Who the hell is Pantoja fighting? Because Tetsura, we thought, was going to be the guy. Yeah. There's no real.

It's Kai Asakura. It could be Kai Asakura, yeah. I think you start with Bilal and Shafqat, and then you say, can we push up DDP? Yeah, let's go to the women. What about Zhang? Yeah, when is Zhang fighting again? Yeah. And why did they book Tatiana Suarez on the same day against Virna?

Love Virna, love Tatiana, but why is it? Why don't they just give us Tatiana versus Zhang? Do you just do Val versus Zhang? Yeah. I like that. Val versus Zhang. You just do Val versus Zhang to make that. Because Shavka

getting a title shot is huge for the real hardcore fans. No, yeah, I know. It's not going to hit the mainstream. The same way they started

with 300, you go, okay, we've got this. We've got 170. We've got Bilal versus Shavka. It doesn't... Just like Bilal versus Leon, it didn't quite have

that extra to bring it. You start there. Then you say, okay, can we push to DDP? If you can't, then you say, can we push to Pereira? But by the way, you need something for January too. We don't know where January is yet. The one that you don't get onto January. DDP in January.

What do you do McGregor in January? I don't think so. I feel like we're too close to get him in January. I'm just really curious what they do with that. I guess you do Shafkat versus Bilal. I feel like we're too close to get him in January. I'm just really curious what they do with that. I guess you do Shafkat versus Bilal. I feel like that needs another one.

If Alex or Khalil come out unscathed, then you just go turn around. One more. And then you could do Zhang. We'll have time to talk about that.

Who does Alex Pereira fight against? Magomed? No. If he wins, you mean? Yeah. Tom Aspinall. Well, Magomed has someone else.

Yeah, Magomed does have someone else. He's never kidding. Is he at Rockage? I feel something weird about the Khalil-Alex fight. It seems like one of those throwaways that is going to ruin all the plans. I think no matter who wins that, you've got a real winner out of that one. By the way, we were really dark during the announcement for that fight. Remember I was saying for the long we were we were really dark uh during the uh the announcement for the that fight and like remember i was saying for the long time we were beating that you guys were

laughing at me you kidding me yeah you were the you were the number one drum we're laughing at the idea we were just saying it is absurd it's absurd that this guy who only fought at the apex and is coming off suspension got the title fight and i love it i'm not hating on it i wanted to i just i love the style matchup. It's just like the biggest anti-MagaMet. It's only absurd because MagaMet exists and they're just like,

no. By the way, way better fight. Oh, who is mad about that? From a pure excitement standpoint, way, way better fight. I just feel like

something crazy is going to happen. I don't know. No matter who wins that, you've got a bonafide guy. Like plus 350. Alex Burr is a pretty big favorite. This is the excitement.

If this was Magomed, would we be like... It's going to be a sick fight. Someone is going to get knocked out. That card is good. That whole card is good. Fantastic card. It's flying under the radar.

We lost someone. Aljamain's out of the Mozart fight. That's unfortunate. Yeah, that sucked. Still a great card. Just pop up. Jose Aldo was on the prelims. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. There's several great fights on that prelims. And then, of course, obviously, probably about Juliana Payne, you're going to get this draft. I was talking to Kayla on Saturday. She's ready to go. She had surgery.

But, man, the fight to make a 135 is Juliana versus Kayla. Yeah. That's the fight. Right. After they both win. They both win. We'll have some time

to talk about that one very quickly. UFC back this weekend. Feels like it's been a... It's crazy what a one week off does, right? It feels bizarre. Yeah.

Makes you crave it more in my opinion. I love it. Imagine if it was like two months. Wow. Just one summer break. Imagine they give us a summer break.

I don't want that. I want three cards. I want three cards a month instead of four. Three cards a month. One off week. a summer break. I don't want that. I want three cards. I want three cards a month instead of four. Three cards a month. One off week. One off week. An apex,

a fight night in a major city in a pay-per-view. That's it. They're back in Paris this weekend. Money Moicano returning. Let's turn to BSD.

Flying under the radar of this fight, I feel like. The BSD story in particular is massive. Coming off the knockout loss to Dustin in March, which feels like 10 years ago now.

Paris is always incredible. An incredible venue, an incredible crowd. Crowd is going to be nuts. Who's the favorite right now? Do you know? I actually don't know. Moicano is on a roll. It's got to be BSD, though.

I mean, the air of invincibility that he had before that Poirier fight. He's currently Mo of a plus 220, according to topology, and a minus 270 BSD. It's at the, the Aqua Arena, which is where I saw Canada lose to France in the quarterfinals of the Olympics.

Yeah. Great venue. Very cool venue. There's like grass on the side of it. It's very cool. That fight is tremendous. Very important in the lightweight division. And the, the co-main

is very important as well. Nasuldin Imovov coming off that somewhat controversial win over Jared Kananier, if you recall. Stoppage was a little bit early in most people's minds. Imovov, a big favorite. Minus 210 to Brendan Allen who has... He's on a roll as well. ...on a tremendous run of late. Are you surprised by that?

Minus 210 to plus 180? That does seem surprising to me. Bernard Allen's won, like, what? Six straight? You think it's because he's home? I think it's because most people do think of Imovov as, like, the guy.

I think that people have not jumped off the bandwagon. They believe that he is going to be the future champ. That's my assessment of it. Like, the performances have not lived up to what he has been projected to be,

but I do think people still project him in that way. That's my amateur assessment. Any bets? Any picks? That last time out against Chris Curtis. I think you could have given that fight to Chris Curtis. That's why? Maybe. I don't know. I don't know. Any picks?

I haven't placed any yet. But, to be fair, that was also... Do you do this when we're on hiatus or no? I've been much more relaxed. I've been much more relaxed. I've been much more relaxed. I haven't been grinding the tape, making, you know,

15 bets every single week. It's good to like... It's nice. It's been nice. I'm not going to lie. To be fair to Brendan, that was a short notice. So like, you know,

it's a hard assessment to make. I think this is just a really good fight. I love this fight. I like both fights. Yeah. Both those top two

are super solid. Steamroll him. Abravole going as well. Let's go. It was exciting when he gets in there. Morgan Charrier is on there. Yeah. It's one of those classic Faraziam.

It's one of those classic. Oh, our good friend, Eileen Perez of Argentina. Her Marab getting after it in Vegas a few weeks ago. No, the crowd is going to be great. This begins at 12 p.m. Eastern on ESPN Plus on Saturday. Saturday is just a beautiful day for me. We're going to ride the UFC Paris card straight into Georgia, Alabama, 730 kick. It's a prime Saturday.

I know we have to get out of here. Two things quickly. One, it's so nice for me to be able to consume content and not be thinking about social media. And two, this is so much fun. I love these pods. These pods are fun. This is the best. This was kind of like our, remember we did the Crust First?

Oh, yeah. This is Crust First-y. Does this have to be a thing? No, it doesn't have to be a thing. There's going to be a time where this won't be needed as much. Yeah, we'll have plenty of platforms for people to consume. All right. We have to take this home because we have a plethora of meetings to get to you guys

don't care about that but we're going to continue to give you guys this stuff uh a couple quick housekeeping notes as they like to say uh please sub to the feed please like please comment please follow all those things are important on the youtube side of things i always forget saying this please sub like comment all that all that. Hit the notification. Hit the notification too for good measure. More content is to come. PT show is to come on the feed. The Ade show is to come as well.

There might be a new merch drop. I haven't really plugged the merch. ArielHawani.com. I understand a lot of people have been posting photos. They're starting to come in this week. Of course, my good friends here, none of them have purchased any stuff, but it's fine. I'm not upset about it. I even gave them 100%

off, friends and family. They buy everyone else's merch. You sent that code for us? I actually don't think I've gotten that one yet. I'd love to check it out. Someone who is getting some free merch is at a b a r n a r d o three just adam who posted a photo today of a crown tattoo on his arm even showed us a different shot it looked i wasn't sure if it was real it's real An uncrowned logo tattooed on his arm

that is unbelievable. It's real. This is like, inarguably, as someone who's sat through all these design meetings and everything, this is our logo.

Like, he's even got the little, like, paint speckles. I just didn't know if he did some crazy Photoshop. Yeah, like AI did. Yeah. I mean, you can see the red

and everything like that. It's crazy. One last housekeeping thing. Oh, yeah. I wasn't done with my housekeeping. Oh, I'm sorry. I can see you. I just red and everything like that. It's crazy. One last housekeeping thing. Oh, yeah. I wasn't done with my housekeeping. Oh, I'm sorry. I can see you. I just want to say thank you to him.

Thank you to the people who bought. And if you want to buy merch, ariahawani.com. Please send me photos. I will repost, retweet, and thank you profusely. And I also did want to give a very quick shout out to our Nottingham Forest, one of four unbeaten teams left in the prem. And to our guy brennan johnson back-to-back goals deactivated his social media last week i i did a bit of a rant in his

favor on sky sports did you see that i saw you defending him oh my gosh i went around and then i got a nice message um from the family um it was nice you know i sort of took is that t2 is tottenham t2 for you he's my my guy. You're just a Brendan Johnson. Wherever he goes, you go. I just took it by storm. I come there and it's just like everyone wants to talk to the American. Anyway, housekeeping from you.

I just want to give an update on the area I want to show fantasy football team. Oh, yeah. I heard there was controversy yesterday. I hear about the controversy. With PT accidentally dropping Greg Kittle instead of putting him

on the bench. Yes, it's not. He dropped him. He literally dropped him from the team. Yes, it's not. He dropped him. Like, literally dropped him from the team. Yes, it's not controversy. It's mismanagement by PT Carroll. I mean, I'm getting all these

texts as we're about to kick off. We're tied right now with the number one team in the league going into Monday night. Obviously, your Bills playing against the Jaguars. We got Josh Allen

and James Cook. They have Jaden Daniels who's also playing, you know, Monday night doubleheader. But you got two and they got one? Yeah, we're projected to win by 15,

but it's looking like we're about to be 3-0, boys. Okay, hold on. What happened with Kittle? Oh, he literally dropped him from the team as opposed to benching him. Should we add him back? He got it all sorted. So I actually didn't have my phone on me.

I was watching Arsenal-Man City at a local bar. Fantastic game. You say you don't have your phone on you. Do you literally leave it at home? Yeah, leave it at home. Leave it in the glove box of my car. That's nuts. Fantastic game. You say you don't have your phone on you. Like, do you literally leave it at home? Yeah, leave it at home. Leave it in the glove box of my car.

That's nuts. Completely disconnect. It's actually amazing in the amount of times that I feel for my pockets to like check for it. It's so free. Can you do this, Rick?

I could never. Neither of you guys could ever do it. I mean, the amount of times where it's just like, the phone is almost like another person in the room. It's just like,

Ariel's talking to his phone. Hey, Rick's on his phone. That's actually not true. I don't think that's true. There's times where Rick, I'm like he can't hear us right now i'll talk to frank while rick's sitting right here you feel there's times you're talking to me or about me and i'm not listening about one thousand percent yeah that's such bullshit you guys have to lock it on your phones it's not an indictment on you you guys have to lock it on each other you can tell when the neck gets craned when the neck gets craned and like you,

I could just be like, uh, I need to work on that. There's a small fire in the kitchen. We need to evacuate the building. Now you just be like, nah, my favorite is he'll put the phone down.

He's like, see you guys want to do something. It's probably the best part is this. When you're saying this, well, the, the, the,

the go-to line for Ariel is just one second. No. Wow. Yeah. I must just one second. No. Wow. Yeah, I must just ignore it, right? I don't even... Ricky, you just... It's just a... So at least have the courtesy of...

You heard something, but you don't know what you heard. At least it's not Rick keeping his ring notifications on for the world to hear. It's like, Jesus, we need to know every time a squirrel passes by your front door.

My God. I've never heard anything like this. We need to know about every, like you sit and talk to this guy and you'll get 40,000 ring notifications. Who wants to hear this?

Then you'll get Slack notifications. Then you'll get tweet notifications. How does your wife live like this? Is your wife the same way? Okay, so let me say

two things here. One, I accept all this. That's a difference, right? Helwani's trying to deflect this. I don't. I know exactly who I am. Number two, I need to know. I need to be in the know. That's the difference right Helwani's trying to deflect this I don't I know exactly who I am Number two

I need to know I need to be in the know What's the point of having these things If not to be notified Oh the notifications Every notification is on I play a dangerous game Of not getting notified

I don't get notified My phone has not vibrated For I think two three years So it never vibrates I know you I mean you Your Your reply ability

Your ability to reply To almost everything Makes it a little scary The fact that I don't Get notifications But reply so fast You don't reply You can really

You can really tell When Helwani is on When he's on planes Cause he like He locks in Like it's like He gets the wifi And it's like

When you know Helwani He's just like The response is like He can't like You respond to him And then you set the phone down, and before you even put it down, he's already responding. We had what would have been like a two-hour call, just over text, and then the woes news drops in the middle, and I'm like, oh, by the way, like, I know we're rolling right now, but by the way, isn't that better than the alternative? Isn't it better than someone just being MIA? I give you massive credit for your, like, I think I was saying it to Rick the other week. I was like, the fact that he's able to just get back to everyone all the time and, like,

just maintain all these relationships is astounding. It annoys me when people don't get back to me, so I don't want to be that person to other people. I mean, there's times where I step, where I go to the... How long do they have to get back to you? Until I get fucking pissed. Until I, like, I wish... Will you send the wave emoji? Is that 30 seconds?

Is that five minutes? Oh, the wave emoji 30 seconds is that five minutes oh they wave emoji don't get me sorry i mean i sent the thing out to the slide to the group channel it's like hey can you guys get this up five hours later there's nothing going on what's the what's what's the is there an excuse or i have to this wasn't this wasn't my place here it's a group effort there's a there's a uh yeah the wave emoji is like yo who uh one hour frank is the answer there's times where i step aside and go to the bathroom there's no excuse in this day and age we all know that we're tied to our phones except for connor apparently like there's no excuse when someone says like i miss him like no i was talking to cam hawkins new member of the team this dude showed me a screen grab he had i think 200 unread this on twitter which i saw i read all of my stuff i might just make take a little

bit longer i think those have been moved on from you know what i'm saying like there's those are not actually going to get replies those just clean them up every night before i go to bed i tried to email down to zero inboxer zero text message also I'm also strategic with when I bail on my phone. It's not going to be noon on a Monday and you're going to be like, Connor doesn't have his phone. It's sad, but it makes me uncomfortable. Oh, of course. It's an anxiety of not having it.

We should just say you have gotten better in terms of checking the social media all the time. Oh, yeah. Like you have, your habits are improving, even though that in particular having the phone on you is still a thing. Work in progress. We went on this long tangent just for me to say I didn't have my phone on me, and I come back to my phone a few hours later to five text messages from PT.

Kittle officially out, I think. Can we put Ferguson in now or too late? Did it. Oh, shit. I think I actually dropped Kittle from the squad instead of the team. Fuck that up bad. Oh, no. And then three hours later

I didn't have my phone on me the whole time. Rectified with Kamish. I was going to say, did we need a commissioner intervention or did he just re-add him and was top of the... I hope he's not listening here. We'll find out if he is. It's actually a blessing in disguise because now he can finally drop the trade that has gone so far.

The Kamish came back and helped him out. So I think it's like a quid pro quo. We're also 3-0 and we're handling ourselves. We're going to win regardless. So we don't need to lean on that anymore. You need a big night from the boys. We got it. We're also 10 to 15 minutes late to this meeting.

So if they ask us what we were doing, just tell them. Working. Hopefully they're not listening to this. Love you all. Thank you so much for listening, downloading, subscribing, all those things and more. Please follow.

Please rate, review. We were shooting up the ranks. I don't know what those charts are, but we were shooting up them. The mysterious charts. Let's keep doing that. Hope you enjoyed this.

Again, October 14th. Circle it on the calendars, but there's plenty more to come between now and then. And there's a lot going on behind the scenes. So much fun building this empire, airplane, whatever you want to call it. And we appreciate your support and patience throughout it all. You're probably listening to some music here that is familiar.

It's correct. It's a death. Thank you to Frank for making that happen. Frank loves that. Frank loves when you say that. Keep it locked. Much more to come. Peace.

We're out of here.