The Ariel Helwani Show - Cain Velasquez reaction, Raul Rosas Jr, Steve Erceg, David Taylor, GLORY 100 breaking news, more

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

Ariel Helwani and the gang kick off the show with the latest news on Cain Velasquez and the James Krause betting scandal (07:47).Raul Rosas Jr. discusses his UFC Mexico City return against Vince Morales, how he got Carl's Jr. to give him his own burger, chasing Jon Jones' fabled UFC record and more (32:28).Steve Erceg discusses his UFC Mexico City main event against Brandon Moreno, battling imposter syndrome, his disdain for "diva" Muhammad Mokaev and more (59:34).Former two-time GLORY Kickboxing champion and Contender Series alum Artem Vakhitov discusses why he spurned a UFC contract and announces his GLORY return against Rico Verhoeven (1:28:31).Olympic champion and head coach of the Oklahoma State wrestling program David Taylor discusses Wyatt Hendrickson's monster upset of Gable Steveson, Hendrickson's future and more (1:58:27).EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/uncrowned Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Err-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r- And 25, hello again everyone. I sure hope you're doing well. It's great to be back on a lovely, ah, screwed that up, Tuesday in New York City. This time around we can actually see the Empire State Building and boy, oh boy, do we have a lot to discuss and I'm in a great mood on this Tuesday afternoon. Why, why do you ask?

Well, earlier today my daughter had biography day at her school and they do like this wax museum type thing where you go into the gym and everyone's dressed up as their famous person and so you had Jackie Robinson there, you had Pele there, you had Ruth Bader Ginsburg there, you had Audrey Hepburn there. You had Neil Armstrong there. Did you know who my daughter dressed up as, Frank? Who was her biography superstar? No, that would be incredible. In fact, during the pandemic, my son was in second grade

and he had biography day and he chose me. And I kind of felt like 50% was honored. 50% felt like he was just looking for the easy way out It was a little too obvious that he just chose his dad No, my daughter was the legendary Ella Fitzgerald Yeah, yeah a bit of an old soul choice, right? Definitely Summertime and the livings easy. No, that's um Not Ellen Fitzgerald. Yeah, it'd be sublime. Yeah, sublime.

That's not Ellen Fitzgerald. That's a spoke- Maybe the antithesis of Ella Fitzgerald. Rock is on the microphone with Ross MG, people. She did have a song named Summertime. Mack the Knife, Dream a Little Dream of Me. It's a lovely day today. Are you a fan of Ella Fitzgerald? Yeah, big fan. Yeah, Dream a Little Dream of me. It's a lovely day today. Are you a fan of Ella Fitzgerald?

Yeah, big fan. Yeah, what a legend. I mean, 14 Grammys I learned, and born in Virginia. The first, I think her nickname was the First Lady of Soul. Yeah, First Lady of Song. Damn it. Yeah, Queen of Jazz. Yeah, yeah.

First Lady of Jazz. Yeah, so she had the pearl necklace. She had the long sleeve dress with the high heels and the bow. I got her bow like Hollywood Hulk Hogan. It was a grand old time and always nice to see the youth. No, Muhammad Ali this year. My son was Muhammad Ali a couple of years ago

and he was in second grade. Do you dress up as them? Yeah, it's like a wax museum thing. So they're all dressed up as these characters. And the costumes are great. The costumes are great. So it's good to connect with the youth. It's good to give back, you know, show face,

support the kids, and come back here and talk a little fist fighting and kicking. Oh, you were there. You were at biography day. Yeah, I went. Oh. Did you check in late? What happened? I said this morning I went to my kid's school. Yeah, I didn't realize that you went. Oh, I was there. Yes, I were there. You were at biography day. Yeah, I went. Did you check in late? What happened? I said this morning I went to my kid's school.

Yeah, I didn't realize that you went. Oh, I was there. Yes, I was there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, congrats, man. So, yeah, no, I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, thanks. You think, should I have rolled eight deep with you guys?

Looking forward to the mitzvah as well. Oh, yeah, the mitzvah's gonna be a grand time. Well, anyway, shout out to Ella Fitzgerald, the pride of Virginia, and shout out to yesterday's program. We had a great show. A lot of things were discussed, covered a lot of ground with the likes of Sean Brady, Tom Aspinall, and others.

So do check that out up on the channel. Another four pack of guests on this Tuesday afternoon, and you know we like to play two on Tuesdays at five o'clock. We'll be on the Dizone Boxing YouTube channel. Adé is away. It's actually his birthday today. So happy birthday to him. It's a 45 year olds and six year olds who'd like to take the day off on their birthday. So he is away, but I am not going to be solo.

The great Darren Barker will join us. Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren, Jim Lampley as well. So it will be a grand old time over on the channel at 5 o'clock today on this here program in about 25 minutes time. We'll go to Mexico City where Raul Rosas is standing by. He'll join us. He's fighting on the card this weekend. He is obviously a rising star. Still just 20 years young. A lot to talk to Raul Rosas about. Steve Erceg is one half of the main event going up against Brandon Moreno.

He'll join us at two o'clock to talk about that important battle in the 125 pound division. I am looking forward to having Astro Boy on. Artem Vakitov is one of the best kickboxers in the world. You'll recall just a few months ago he won on the Dana White Contender Series program. So beginning his journey, perhaps in the footsteps of one Alex Pera, who oh by the way, he has a win over. He's one and one against Alex Pera. He's a two-time glory light heavyweight champion, and we've seen a trend as of late these glory champions transitioning over into MMA. He was three and one as well as recently

as this past November and he has some news to share with all of us. Look him up. He is incredible and I'm looking forward to talking to him for the first time and David Taylor one of the best American-born wrestlers of the past couple decades Olympic champion gold medalist back in 2020 in Tokyo, technically 21, but we call it 2020. Now the head coach of your Oklahoma State Cowboys, head coach for one Wyatt Hendrickson, who defeated Gable Stevenson in one of the all-time great upsets this past Saturday, national championship heavyweight Division. He'll join us. And he was once in studio on this program and gave me a signed wrestling shoe.

How about that? Scrap life, baby. Yeah. Anyway, David Taylor will join us. Still, I'm told with some aspirations to transition into MMA, we'll see if his newfound success as a rookie coach might have changed things. We do have some breaking news though off the top of the program. Everyone has been talking about, yep, May 31st. It's been the big question. Who is going to headline the May 31st UFC Apex event?

It's what everyone's talking about. And we finally have the answer to that question. It is in fact going to be a big fight at 125 pounds, just like this weekend's main event, but it's at the mighty, mighty apex. It's going to be the streaking Macy barber going up against former. Almost title contender, Aaron Blanchfield, you'll recall a year ago in Atlantic city, Blanchfield fought Fiorro, lost that fight, but did come back and, and defeat Rosadamunis recently. Well, Macy Barber has won, I think six or seven

in a row. She's on a roll as of late and she's been out for a year. Her last fight was a year ago. And so they'll, they'll meet on the 31st of May at the Apex, big fight in the women's flyweight division. And one might say, no, it wouldn't be a number one contender fight.

Could it be a number one contender fight? I mean, we've got the title fight on May 10th. I feel like there's someone else. Well, no, actually, no, actually it could be a number one contender fight. If Valentina beats Manon Fiorot, I suspect they'll do Valentina versus Zhang. And maybe when she comes back,

she'll fight the winner of this fight. Or if Fiorot wins, maybe she fights the winner of this fight. Or if Fiorot wins, they run it back. Who the hell knows? I do think that this would probably be some kind of top contender fight. It's just the Zhang Weili component that muddies the waters a little bit.

Anyway, there's the answer to the question. Yesterday, as we were saying goodbye, we were all awaiting the news regarding Cain Velazquez and just a few minutes after we signed off, we did in fact get the news and it was a bit of. And it was a bit of a roller coaster of emotions because the news was kind of trickling in. And I think at first we didn't quite understand the entire story and now obviously, you know, some 20 hours later we do.

I'm going to read this report from uncrowned.com Shaheen Alshadi, our editor in chief, who did a great job of reporting on it all. Cain Velasquez is heading to prison. As of right now, we do believe he is back in prison. The former two-time UFC heavyweight champion was sentenced to five years for attempted murder and other charges at a hearing Monday at the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose, California, ending a three year saga that has been repeatedly delayed in the court.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Arthur Bocanegra oversaw the case. NBC Bay Area first reported the verdict on Monday. Velasquez 42 faced 10 felony charges stemming from a 2022 incident in which he engaged in an 11 mile high speed car chase with Harry Goulart, who is accused of molesting Velasquez's then four year old son on quote multiple occasions. Velasquez fired several shots through his windshield from a 40 caliber handgun during the chase into a car carrying Goulart, Goulart's mother and Goulart's stepfather, Paul Bender,

resulting in non-life threatening injuries to Bender due to a gunshot wound to his arm. Photos showing Gulart's truck lined with bullet holes were presented again to the court before Monday's sentencing. Velasquez's 10 charges range from attempted murder, shooting at a motor vehicle or aircraft, assault with a firearm, assault with a deadly weapon, willfully discharging a firearm from a vehicle and carrying a loaded firearm with intent to commit a felony. Velasquez pleaded no contest to all charges related to this case.

Prosecutors sought a sentence of 30 years to life for Velasquez while the defense hoped to attain time served and probation. Impact statements from Velasquez, his wife and his 15-year-old daughter were delivered before Monday's proceedings, according to local reports, from Velazquez's wife and his 15-year-old daughter were delivered for Monday's proceedings. According to local reports with Velazquez's daughter pleading the court to allow the former UFC star to attend her high school soccer games, statements from Harry Goulart and the Goulart family were also read. Here's the important part. Velazquez's sentence includes time served. The former champ spent nearly one year incarcerated

following the 2022 incident as well as nearly two years on house arrest with an ankle monitor. Local outlet KRON4 reported that Bocanegra was emotional and had quote tears in his eyes as he delivered Velasquez's sentence. We have a statement here from the judge who appeared to have a lot of sympathy for Cain Velasquez, said, quote, punishment comes in many ways and one of the worst is forcing a father to not be present in his child's life. This is a tragic case. Mr. Velasquez is not a danger to public safety. So it seemed like he had great mercy on Cain and his family. We told you yesterday that Cain on Kyle Kingsbury's podcast said that he

believed what he did was not correct and he had a great remorse. He said, quote, the way I handled things was not the way to do it. We cannot put the law in our own hands. And so when you consider the time served, it might end up being, according to his team, what I'm hearing, as soon as potentially January with some good behavior involved to where he could be released. So initially when we heard about the five years, oh my god, five years is a nightmare, and any day behind bars for a good man like Cain Velasquez is a nightmare. But I do believe that this was a good day for Cain Velasquez. All things considered when

you when you consider in fact are the fact that they were seeking 30 years to life. As you can see there he is being credited for 1,283 days served. We were reacting to some of the the visuals of him yesterday, courtesy of local news outlets. And he did seem very much at peace. There he is, hands in his pocket with his daughter by his side. That's a man who looks to be at peace. Look at that. It's almost like he's somewhat smiling. And, you know, we have seen a change in Cain's demeanor over the last couple years.

A gentle giant, soft-spoken, one of the nicest human beings that I've ever come across. And you know, I had a brief, here he is with some of his friends and teammates supporting him. An incredible guy and it makes me emotional seeing him like that because no one deserves that. No one deserves what he and his family have gone through and Harry Goulart is going to have his day in court. His trial begins on the 2nd of June, I do believe. I have this written. Yeah, it starts on the 2nd of June and he pled not guilty to one charge of lewd acts with a minor. I think every parent out there sympathizes with Kane, understands what he was going through. And quite frankly, I've heard from a lot of people and I would back it up, would, would, you know, would, would think about doing the same.

That's your children. You're, you're here to protect them and. You send them off to different places to, to, to, to, to off to different places, to schools, to camps, you know, to activities and you do so with the hope, with the trust that they will be taken care of. And this is every parent's worst nightmare. And so I don't blame Cain one bit. He acknowledges what he did was wrong. He acknowledges that he shouldn't have done it. But I'm so glad that that judge had mercy on him.

And you saw a lot of fighters speak up on his behalf and back him because he is truly one of the most beloved human beings in the history of MMA, not just a trailblazer, a pioneer, but an absolute class act. We have some tweets here. Michael K said, Kane shouldn't serve any jail time in the heat of the moment. We trailblazer or pioneer but an absolute class act we have some tweets here Michael Kay said Kane shouldn't serve any jail time in the heat of the moment what man wouldn't have a lapse in judgment to protect his family the focus should be on the man that committed crimes much

worse than what Kane did I'm thankful he only has to serve five years instead of 30 again time served helps Kane out tremendously. Some more reaction from notables in the MMA world. Oban Elliott. Well, if that's the case, all in all a good result when you consider how fucked the justice system is. He's referring to the time served. Absolutely gutted for Kane and his family. You'll be out in no time champ. You are forever a legend to us and a hero to your family. More reaction. This is awful. More reaction. Free Kane from Jorge Masvidal. This from DC, obviously one of his best friends.

Been by his side for so many years. Warrior, Kane you are the man. That won't ever change. You will approach this like you've done every step in your life. See you soon champ. Hard not to get emotional reading this stuff because you know what these people mean to Kane Velasquez. Saw others like Khabib Nurmagomedov. See you soon, champ. Hard not to get emotional reading this stuff because you know what these people mean to Cain Velasquez.

Saw others like Khabib Nurmagomedov and many other fighters back in Cain Velasquez who will be free in the not too distant future. And I was talking to one of his friends yesterday and you just have to know that in Northern California, Cain Velasquez, UFC champion, Lucha Libre star, first ever Mexican-American heavyweight champion in combat sports, first ever Mexican-American champion in the UFC, ain't no one fucking with Cain Velasquez behind bars, I can assure you of that.

And he alluded to that when talking about how he was treated the first time around. But, you know, there are some people who have to worry about those things. I would imagine given what he did, given what he stands for, given his reputation, given his, his, his, his resume and, and, and who he represents, uh, to me, I saw, you know, I saw some people doing the whole like, oh, you can't take, you got kids. Do you have kids? and who he represents to me. I saw some people doing the whole like, oh, you can't take, you got kids? Do you have kids? Don't weigh in on this bullshit.

Spare me, spare me that bullshit. You don't get it. Cain Velasquez is a good man. We'll always support him here. And I just wish him the best and I hope that he is able to hang in there, stay mentally strong and get back to his family as soon as possible. It's a tough one to process because I understand what he did.

You can't just go running around, you know, with a, with a gun. I get that. Trust me, I get that. But this isn't like someone stole his wallet. Okay. When your kid is hurt, you feel it. It's hard to explain, but you feel it. You feel like when my kids don't take a shower at night, I feel it. When my son is hurt, I feel it. I was telling you guys about the time that my son sat on the bench for a basketball game. I felt his pain. I can't even fathom what he felt on that day. Can't even fathom, don't even want to fathom, can't even process it. So thank God he had that judge.

And again, he seemed to be at peace with it all. Anyone have any thoughts on the Cain Velasquez situation? This is a different one. No, I would echo everything you said. Certainly as a father myself, like, couldn't even imagine what he was going through and what the family's gone through. What I would just hope is that justice

is served in the case of the man who has been accused of the, basically, you know, what has been said by many people online and fighters and other people who have supported Kane. You know, we have got one case case here but then there's another case in June with for the man accused of what he did to Cain's family. Hopefully justice is served in that case. That is that is how justice can be enacted you know. Cain took tried to take the law into his own hands, admits now that

that was faulty. There is an opportunity for justice to be served. Let's see what happens in June and I hope that it is. Yeah. I saw the family speaking outside the courthouse saying that they were disappointed, that they're going to clear their name, that this is all alleged and nothing happened. I mean, I would have a hard time believing

that Cain Belasquez would do something like this if he didn't feel quite strongly like this actually transpired. And I can't stand the devil's advocates out there being like, well, you know, what are you guys celebrating? Fuck you. There is no way that any parent on the planet

would feel differently than, than Rick and I here. Yeah. There's no way. There's just no way. I question, I question if you have a heart. I question if you have a beating heart, if you have a conscience, if you don't feel that same way. And so I think everyone sympathizes with him. And the thing is, like we all covered, we all watched him in his prime, the most soft spoken, gentle giant there is. Just an absolute legend. Pete, see your thoughts.

I think my big takeaway from all of this, and I think you guys have done a great job of expressing how the community feels about this. But I think one thing that we need to take away from it is look at his reaction to this, his life being torn upside down. He came on your show not so long ago and the transformative situation he's gone through because of this, in the depths of absolute despair, I'd imagine, under house arrest, having been in prison. You saw him walking out there, you were just talking about it, like a weight's been lifted off his shoulder.

The way he's reacted to all this has been absolutely perfect, really. He couldn't ask for a man to react better than he had. I think the testimony he gave in the court helped him greatly too. This is clearly a man who understands the situation he's in. As you said on the Kyle Kingsbury show, he said he'd accept whatever came his way. But really everything he's done has been such an amazing reaction to a horrific situation. And you know, we already love this guy. And I think the fact that he's come out of this, well, you know, obviously he has to serve some time still and hopefully your timeline

on that is correct, but really it is so admirable the way he's taken all this and destroyed and his reaction to it has just been perfect as far as I'm concerned. You see that same thing that I'm talking about, like the look on his face. Yeah. Every time I see him speak, I think, wow, like what an achievement this is for him to come through this with this kind of clarity in his mind and to be so self assured, you know, obviously the situation happens like that. is for him to come through this with this kind of clarity in his mind and to be so self-assured.

You know, obviously the situation happens like that. There's no telling how anyone's going to react and no one's saying, you know, it's perfectly acceptable to do what he did, but it's certainly understandable. It is absolutely understandable. And thank God nobody was hurt and everything like that because he would have been looking at it a lot better. But I think this is an all round win. If we're looking at 30 to life I think this is a this is a win and hopefully he's out and he can put this behind him and and to that point yep he has acknowledged that he

that he made the wrong absolutely incorrect choice and he has accepted his punishment and the punishment was handed out and so this is this is how this goes. And to your, like, I couldn't agree with you more, Pizzi. He has come to terms with this, realized his error, and accepted the penalty for it. And now he moves on. No one was hurt physically from what he did, you know, long-term injuries. But, you know, we may never know the psychological pain

that this has caused. The family, the victim, everyone involved from the the Velasquez family. So let's just hope that justice is served and let's hope that that Cain is able to hang in there. It was very nice to see so many people in the MMA community stick up for him and really, you know, like ever since we've talked to him post-retirement, you know, we've talked about like the ayahuasca and the meditation, all that. His transformation as a human being, like he's almost become one of those guys that I bet would say like, I don't want to squash a bug. You know what I mean? Like he just,

he just seems so at peace and I can't imagine, you know, that video that we talked about, I don't know if it was on the show or off the show where he's sitting on a, on a, on a horse, having an ice cream. It is just amazing like that. He just seems like, like, I keep saying gentle giant, but it's just amazing that this guy was one of the baddest dudes on the planet at one point, completely annihilated Brock Lesnar to win the heavyweight title and one of the greatest heavyweights

of all time. And that, you know, this has occurred to him. So I don't think he's a violent person. I have to imagine if you've seen what he has seen. When you've had to deal with what his family is dealing with and face that and rebuild yourself after, there's only one way you can go from there, right? You're going all the way to the bottom. That is the worst thing that could happen to a family.

And now you're thinking about, OK, you have to rebuild and you have to find that light and find that way forward. And it seems like he's found a great path. He is truly as you've said at peace is the way to describe it. Thank God the judge was one of these people saying oh this cage fighter is a is a menace to society and we need to thank God because if it was 20 years ago we might have you know we might have been looking at that. Yeah, maybe it's this new demeanor that he has. It really does feel like, like Rick said, like he just has no regrets. He's at peace with it. He did what he felt like he had to do and now he's just gonna move forward with it. And a man that has no fears either. I don't imagine that he

fears finishing this time in prison. Okay, well great stuff guys and I know this is a tough one to talk about, but appreciate the insight. I did want to get to one other news item before we get to our first guest of the day and that is some sort of resolution into this Jeff Molina, Derek Minner now infamous fight not really a resolution to the James Krause situation but we did get I don't know further further along in this process for the first time in a very, very long time. This according to MMA Fighting's Damon Martin, UFC veteran Jeff Malina has been suspended for 36

months due to his involvement in the betting scandals surrounding his coach, James Krause, former top 15 flyweight, found that his fate on Tuesday during a monthly meeting with the Nevada Athletic Commission following an education agreement, adjudication, excuse me, agreement reached with the state attorney general. He must pay $235.56 in prosecution fees.

The situation initially involved Melina's teammate, Derek Minner, after he fought and lost to Shailene Nurnham-Becky by first round TKO at UFC Vegas 64 back in November of 22. Suspicions were raised after betting lines for the fight shifted dramatically just before the event kicked off with Minner becoming a massive dog before ultimately losing the fight in just 67 seconds.

Kraus and Minner were then suspended for failing to report an injury prior to the fight. But the actual investigation was surrounding a potential betting scandal that actually led to several sports books refusing to take bets on UFC fights. Molina was initially suspended all the way back in December of 22 when an investigation opened up over allegations of betting irregularities surrounding Krauss. On Tuesday, Matthew Feely, Deputy Attorney General for the state of Nevada revealed that

Molina's suspensions stemmed from him failing to disclose minors injury and then placing Wagers on the outcome of the fight after Molina having direct knowledge of a serious injury This is a quote from Philly sustained by a fellow fighter Derek Minner Molina failed to inform the Commission of minors serious injury in violation of NAC 467 885 and Instead of informing the Commission additionally additionally placed a significant bet, or significant bets, with gaming entity, with a gaming entity on the outcome of Minter's fight. The suspension was made retroactive

to the date of Minter's fight. So Molina is cleared to compete again on or after November 5th, 2025. What do you think of this GC? He knew of the injury and placed bets. It doesn't say if he placed the bet on him to lose, but one suspects that that's what he did. He absolutely did. There's no way, and the fact that they're saying that it was a significant bet is sketchy in its own, right?

I think the fact that he only got fined, what did you say, like $235? I feel like the fine should be forever much the bet was for for I mean they have to know at that point that he placed The bet what sportsbook it was with they'll have the slips. They'll have the the history of it It feels like you should have to pay that back and I remember when this happened. It was on a fight apex fight night I think it was like Marina Rodriguez versus Amanda Lemmo just happening at the apex You know a Saturday afternoon in November and I remember I bet on Derek Minner by submission or something that day or maybe I just took him as an underdog but if you look at it he opened the day minus 210 on BetMGM Saturday morning he is a minus 210 that's Shailene Norden

Beka by fight time rolling around he was a minus 450 I remember everyone on Twitter like alerted to it they were like look at this line movement this is insane what is going on with this fight why is the line moving this drastically. Sportsbook stopped taking the bets on the fight and then sure enough they go out there and it ended in like 70 seconds however long it took and then suspicions have just been rates from there and then Jeff Molina gets lumped into it. It's very sketchy all around I honestly feel like the the punishment should be should be a little bit heavier. I mean this is this is insider trading. You should not be able to place bets moving forward. I

don't think Minner and Molina should be able to fight under these circumstances. Obviously how this rings into Krause who we don't know what's going on with him. He's just started posting on social media recently about like getting back into BJJ and things like that. It's it's very sketchy but I guess Minner and Molina by the end of this year will be able to fight again. By the way according to Nolan King who does a great job of covering these items as well, he reported that Derek Minner has been handed a 29 month suspension by Nevada for non-disclosure of a serious injury for his bout against Nurt and Becky. The suspension is retroactive. So we'll conclude tomorrow, March 26. So in the end,

Molina gets seven more months. Do you think that's fair? He bet. All right. So here's my thing is I think Derek Menner being a fighter, fighting through an injury, was like, I'm just going to go out there and fight it. I'm going to try and win the fight. You don't think he necessarily threw the fight? I mean, I guess it's impossible. He might have. Yeah, it's impossible. Because if he did throw the fight, that's just as bad. Like you went out there and fight it I'm gonna try and win the fight. You don't think he necessarily threw the fight? I mean I guess it's possible. Yeah it's impossible. Because if he did throw the fight that's just as bad like you went out there in the competition. If not worse. Right. Because I wonder if he knew that Molina went and bet on it. And did he bet on himself? Again. Or had someone place a bet against them. They would have been betting on on Nordenbeck, because remember while all this was going on James Krause was running a VIP, a pay-to-play, group chat, a sub stack, whatever it may be, he was

charging four picks. And I have to imagine it wasn't just a Jeff Molina bet that alerted the sportsbook to move the line so sharply to stop taking action on this fight. I would suspect that he gave out this play to dump it on Nordenbeke. It's just very, very sketchy all around and UFC cut ties, all ties with James Krause and said if you are associated with this guy you will also be cut from the promotion. So I don't know what eventually is gonna happen to him but it is, it's sketchy surrounding all of this. Yeah he was essentially banned right from cornering any UFC fighters. Yeah yeah yeah I don't I don't imagine he'll be back

and I'm I imagine there will be legal action beyond just the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspending these guys for James Krause. PT? Or someone wants to say something? I was just gonna say while Minner is is you know in the in the fight in the inciting incident, it's a lot harder to prove I went in there injured and I threw the fight than just, I went in there injured and lost the fight, right? Whereas with Molina, his actions are very trackable.

Placing the bet is very trackable. There is a way to find that. There is a way to, if, if Minner never said anything to anybody, like I'm going to throw this fight, but everybody knew he was injured, you still have enough data, but you can't prove that he threw the fight. So it is, I feel like it's much harder to kind of litigate that and then find punishment for it.

Whereas Molina's actions are very trackable and traceable. There is also a world, and obviously we don't know the answer to these, only the guys in that small group know the answer to it. But there's a world where Jeff Molina was just aware of the injury and was like, oh, he's gonna lose, went and placed a significant wager against them and just didn't tell anyone on his team.

I think the, the, the Krause element is, is really the most interesting because that will tell us how widespread it is. Like just, um, as GC said, like this kind of pay to play betting group he was in. I can remember you interviewing him about this, Ariel, and you immediately were like, hang on a second. This feels a bit weird. Like, Fodder's your coach? And he was like, yeah.

And you were like, what? I can remember it just being a really strange interview where you're kind of, you're casting doubt on the legality of what was going on here. But really, it could have been a lot more damaging. Like I can remember discussing at the time with you and Chuck, and this could have really delegitimized the sport. If this had been so widespread that sports books aren't taking bets on UFC events, that's a catastrophic look for the promotion.

So I think they reacted very well to it. It was nearly in the blink of an eye. He was just caught. There was a lot of complaints initially. Then as information came out and looked, we're still waiting for a lot of information I think more people realized how serious this was I'd say there's gonna be a lot of autopsies on that air pay-to-play group he was in just to see how widespread this was there's more on this story over on on crown.com Drake Riggs writing up a

report go check it out there's an interesting nugget in there that we didn't discuss yet. James Krause has actually recently resurfaced to proclaim he's more than $5 million in debt. So he is now focusing on the real estate world. And it doesn't seem like he's really all too much involved in the world of fighting. One last note on it.

Just cause it sparked my curiosity because I remember it was in 2022 when the UFC came out and was like, UFC fighters can no longer wager on any UFC fight. And I'm actually looking at a tweet of yours from October 17th, which was just a couple of weeks before this fight took place. And they came out and said, no, UFC fighters

are now prohibited from gambling on any UFC fight. So just weeks after that, Jeff Molina breaks the rules with insider information. Oh, yes. Perhaps they knew. Perhaps they saw this coming. Uh, crazy story, crazy story. And maybe there'll be more, uh, twists and turns. Uh, I don't think James has ever really done an interview about any of this.

So, uh, let's see, but, uh, it feels like the UFC kind of dodged a bullet with that one and, and, and all the blame went on, you know, the two fighters involved and their coach. Uh, let us turn our attention to this weekend's event in Mexico city, one of the great, uh, fight towns in the history of combat sports, whether it's boxing, pro wrestling, or mixed martial arts. The UFC is back for a fight night headline by Brandon Moreno versus Steve Ursek, Ursek will join us in about 30 minutes time, but you had to know that Raul Rosas Jr. would be on this card.

It's an obvious and it's his first time fighting in Mexico City since joining the UFC. He's kind enough to join us right now as he prepares for Vince Morales. Hello, Raul. How are you, my friend? Como estas? Muy bien? I'm doing good. How are you? How's the Spanish? Is it doing? It's not bad, right? Hey, it was not bad. It was impressive. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. When you, when you, when you found out that the UFC was going to Mexico City, did you know like you had to be on this card? Yeah, I mean, uh, I was 50-50. I was hoping to fight sooner, but when that wasn't given,

then I knew I had to jump on this card. So yeah, I'm grateful that I'm here now. So your last fight was at the Sphere, right? In September. When were you hoping to fight? I was hoping to fight one more that year in December but it wasn't given so I was hoping to fight in January 18th I wanted to fight in LA but then the card got fully stacked up right away and there was a few battle waits but they all made it to the fight you know they all got to go out there and perform. But I was staying ready in case anybody got injured, but you know, they all made it. So after that, I just had to wait for the medical city court.

Um, I know you also said that you wanted a, a ranked opponent. Uh, Vince might be like the most accomplished and, and, and, and, you know, long as tenured MMA fighter that you have faced. This is arguably, he's got a pretty good resume, but he's not ranked. Were you happy with the opponent or were you looking for a bigger name? Yeah, I mean, uh, I was happy with the opponent. Uh, like I said, right now I'm just happy to go out there and perform. He is a tough opponent and he's a very like experienced, I'm happy with the opponent. Like I said, right now I'm just happy to go out there and perform. He is a tough opponent, and he's a very experienced

veteran fighter, so I'm just excited to go out there and be able to solve the puzzle to finish him because he's faced a lot of top guys, and they haven't been able to finish him, so I'm excited to go out there, figure it out, finish him, and make it look kind of easy. You have fought a bunch of times in Mexico, but always in Tijuana.

This is prior to the UFC. So this is your first time fighting in the UFC on a Mexico card and in Mexico city in general, what's the buzz like? What's the vibe like so far? I'm excited. You know, the people out here, you know, the crowd out here you know the crowd out

here is different you know they they all get crazy and I have a lot of family out here that's gonna be able to watch me perform for the first time in person that can go to the United States so I'm excited to just give back to all my people right here. I keep hearing about the Performance Institute over there. Have you had a chance to check it out? Yeah, yeah, how is it? I'll say I like the one in Vegas better. Oh, why is that? Why is that? You know the the cafeteria for sure we like in Vegas they got like pizza They got like all this other stuff. They'd be searching it up, you know, and over here, they just got like the healthy meal.

And the same meal goes for everybody. Like if they make chicken and rice, everybody's gonna have chicken and rice. So I mean, it's a good thing, you know, but when you're not in a diet, you know, it kind of sucks. How long have you been in Mexico preparing for this fight? I've been out here for like three weeks now, about before we show, you know, I feel, I feel pretty good. Getting acclimated to the, uh, the high altitude and whatnot.

Yeah. Yeah. By the way, speaking of food, what's going on with you and Carl's junior? Is there like a, is there like a Raul Rosas hamburger over there? What's happening here? This is incredible. It's gonna come out either the day of my fight or maybe a few days after you know. But we're gonna have the Chiwi Whis burger so I'm excited you know after my fight. Let's get it. Yeah by the way every time you do it on the show I think like Zoom cancels you out.

So we have to add our own Chiwiwi. You hear that? Do it again, Frank, do it again for us. Chiwiwi! Now we just have it on demand, you know, because when you do it, for some reason, it goes so high pitch that it like, it just disappears. I don't know what it is, like a noise cancellation.

Yeah, yeah, that's smart that you have it now. You have it ready. Yeah, now we got it on the ready. Wait, so it's actually called the Chiwiwi's Burger? Yeah, that's more that you have it now. You have it ready. Yeah, now we got it on the ready. Wait, so it's actually called the Chiwis Burger? Yeah, that's what it's going to be called. Wow, so this is like a sponsorship deal. Yeah. Yo, this is huge.

How did this come about? They hit me up after my last fight in this year. I don't know if it was a little before I forgot, but yeah, now we just resigned. So we're like on the second contract, I guess of a sponsorship. Amazing. It's gonna be a nice one, yeah. And what is the Chiwis burger?

Like, what am I getting if I order this? I don't know, to be honest, they haven't told me what's in it yet. So I just hope that, you know, we mix it up pretty good. We make it pretty good, you know. What would you want it? Like if I. So I just hope that, you know, we mix it up pretty good. We make it pretty good, you know, and what would you want it? Like if I asked you what is it, you know, like what's the, what's the order? What are you getting? To be honest, I'm letting them do it because I'm a very picky guy with the food. You know,

when I get a burger, for example, I don't like cheese on the burger. And I know a lot of people like cheese. I don't like tomatoes. I don a burger, for example, I don't like cheese on the burger. And I know a lot of people like cheese. I don't like tomatoes. I don't like. So what's your order? Tell me your order. Cause I saw, I saw some like onion rings on there. Was that onion rings? Yeah, there was onions, tomatoes, pickles, uh, cheese, uh, meat obviously.

And I forgot what else. Crazy. Look at you, man. 20 20 years old you have your own burger Yeah, yeah, that's pretty dope. It is pretty dope and is this at any Carl's jr. Or only at like ones in certain areas It is gonna be in every location So it's not out yet, but when they really say right after my fight It's gonna be out in all the locations in the world Wow It's going to be out in all the locations in the world.

Wow. So that's pretty dope. That is dope. Yeah, man. Incredible. All the stuff. And I even saw your merch store has like GTA inspired stuff. Like we got, we got Raul Rosas GTA inspired merch before GTA six. I mean, this is crazy.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, uh, I just, uh, try to come up with any ideas, you know, for the people. So yeah, I'm gonna come out with new ideas after this fight. So I'm excited for all of it. You got that joke, the GTA 6 joke, did you get it? Yeah, yeah. People say that on the internet,

like we got so-and-so before GTA 6, you know that? Yeah, we got this collab before GTA 6. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I love that. Would you guess that I've never played GTA before? I've never had the pleasure. Are you a GTA guy? I used to play a little bit, but I play for like 30 minutes and then I get bored.

It's pretty fun when you do like the hacking shit. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, did we lose you? You got a phone call. Yeah. All good. My kids are asking me to play, but I think they're too young.

Isn't there some like questionable stuff in there? It's not like for 12 year olds, right? I mean, I think they can play as long as they stay, they just gotta stay away from the strip club, you know? It looks kind of real to be honest. Yeah, just that, you're good. I'm going to tell them Uncle Raul said that they could play, just stay away from the strip club. I've seen some exciting stuff about your family members.

So there's four of you, there's four kids, right? Here we got the whole crew right here. We've got Jesse, who's a bantamweight, won his last fight at Fury FC 95 last August. He's six and one. We've got Kevin, who's 23, lightweight, four-fight winning streak, won at Fury FC 101 last month. And then we have Kenia, who who is your sister right? Who's 27, straw weight, fighting next at Fury Challenger Series 13 in April, once fought Mackenzie Dern as well. There's the whole crew, you're the youngest of the bunch yet you made it to the UFC first. Yeah I mean that's why I believe so much that you know God has a plan for all of us.

Obviously we thought the order was going gonna be different from oldest to youngest, you know, but uh, I Just you know somehow got the head start Especially with my other brother after me Jesse roses that he's six and one right after me We were fighting on the same cards coming up um We were fighting on the same cards coming up, but then his opponents would pull out the on fight week So then that's where I got the head start right there and made it to the ufc But i'm excited because uh, I believe I truly believe not just because we're brothers

That we're all in the same level but also different Styles, so i'm excited for them to come into the UFC as well. God willing Jesse and Kevin will be in the UFC this year and my sister next year so you know it'll be pretty fun to share a card eventually like we had before but now in the UFC together maybe in Mexico City or wherever you know it's given. Yeah I'm just excited you, to have them all sharing. And we're all going to be 135ers too, me and my brothers. So eventually we're going to have to sit down and talk and see who's going to move up.

And, uh, yeah. It would be unbelievable if all four of you were in the UFC at the same time. So do you think the next one up will be Jesse? Yeah, I think the next one up is Jesse, and right after is Tevin. But I think they'll make it around the same time to the UFC. And you say you have fought on the same card before.

Have you ever, all four of you fought on the same card? Yeah, inclusively it was me, my brothers, and my dad fought on the same card, and we all won that night. What, your dad too? Yeah, yeah, my dad fought on the same card and we all won that night. So what your dad too? Yeah, yeah, my dad's also a professional fighter. What what what year was this? I Was like, I don't know but I was like Nine or ten years old. I was like you were nine or ten. Yeah, was it an amateur fight?

Yeah, it was amateur MMA My first fight I was eight years old, so yeah. Your first fight you were eight years old? And what was it, what were the rules? Everything was legal except no headshots. And if I got like a submission, we just kept going. We just kept going. Any head gear or shin guards or anything?

Just gloves and shin guards, that's it. Wow, you were eight. Were you nervous? No, to be honest, the first time I stepped in that I still remember like right here, I was just like, okay, like I knew so much because I had been training since I was four like I mean for eight Year old I knew yeah, I knew a lot

Like so I was like, okay like I got in there and then the bell ring and I was like, okay So what I use I was like so I use my striking So I take them down and like the kids just started coming at me. So I just started like using my instincts, you know So, uh, sorry, I So yeah, it was pretty fun. Wow, and did you win? Yeah, yeah. How? Of course, my record as a kid,

all the way till I was 14, I would say it was 26 wins and two losses. Wow, and how many times did you fight on the same card as your dad? Like two or three times. Okay. Does he still fight? No, uh, after he just, he just like became a coach. Okay. Because like on your topology record, there's two amateur bouts

and the first one is in 2020, but you have many more before that. Yeah. Yeah. Cause, uh, on my topology, it shows the fights that I have with adults, because at 15, I started fighting adults. But before that, I was fighting kids my age, like two years older than me or like my age. So those didn't go on my record. Incredible. And your siblings, did they all started around that age too? Yeah, yeah, we all started training the same day,

we all started fighting the same day as well, like the same day that I fought, the same day all my brothers fought. So we all just had a, we've had the same training sessions, the same career, just different paths due to fights. Did you guys fight a lot in the backyard? Yeah, yeah, we did, especially in the house. At first, you know, we would fight a lot. But then it started getting crazy because we know,

we all know how to fight. So we would break a lot of things because we would be all over the place. The scrambles would be crazy in the kitchen and shit. In the kitchen, not outside? Not anywhere, anywhere in the living room, we broke windows. We broke, we broke a lot of shit. And your mom was cool with this? No. And she was, I would be having a purple light and I would have to share. All good.

All good. I would be having a purple light and I wouldn't have to say like, Oh yeah, I would hide it and then for a day and then the next day I would be having a purple eye and I would have to say like, oh yeah, I would hide it and then for a day and then the next day I would come back from school and I would be like, oh yeah, I was playing on the playground and I hit the pool because I would have like purple eyes. Right, right, right. Did she ever fight your mom?

No, no, my sister no. And then we would jump my sister actually because she was the oldest. So we would also beat her up. By the way, speaking of, uh, of, of fights, fights that didn't happen, you were scheduled to go up against Muhammad Makaev in a grappling match in October, but it didn't, it didn't, uh, materialize. It was announced and everything. What happened? Um, the UFC preferred me for me to stay, uh, just to the UFC, like concentrating on the fights.

Okay. So they didn't want me to go out there and grapple, but, uh, I was excited because Mokai, I believe is the best 125 grappler in the world. And, uh, I just wanted to go out there and I knew it was going to be a fun match, fun scrambles and shit. So I was excited for that match. Maybe one day in the future it can happen you know yeah um so I mean that that would be incredible and and it would be somewhat of a statement you know he's such a good grappler if you could go up against him how like how close to the fight did it get cancelled like

the week of or something like that well yeah it got announced. They called me a week and a half before, uh, before the actual match and I accepted and then they got announced like two days later and then as soon as they got announced the UFC saw it and, uh, they told me no. So I was like, all right. Yeah. They have their own grappling promotion as well. So maybe, uh, maybe you could get on that. So you said that you wanted to fight more active,

or you wanted to be more active since your last fight. If all goes according to plan, on Saturday, how quickly would you like to return? How many times do you want to fight in 25? I want to fight four times this year, so I'm hoping I'll get this one done and then maybe God willing I come out good, no injuries. Maybe I'll try to return here International Fight Week and then we'll see what's after that. Hopefully a ranked opponent but I'll just keep showing up.

You're ready to take that big step? but I'll just keep showing up. You're ready to take that big step. Yeah, you know, I was excited because I was supposed to take on Rob Font when, when Dominic Cruz pulled out. Oh. But I had, my brother was fighting that week, so I was already over there. And I was, I had a lot of things going on helping out my brothers for their fights so I

Couldn't make the weight Which is on me, you know and also I didn't want to dip on my brothers because I Would be fighting at the same I was gonna be fighting the same day as my brother So all my corners were on his corner and I didn't want to take anything away from that. And also my brother is always on my corner. He wasn't going to be on my corner. So I was going to pretty much be on myself. So I just decided it was not the time yet. But um... Yeah. When you say you were supposed to fight Rob, like was it offered to you?

Yeah, when you say you were supposed to fight Rob like was it offered to you? Yeah, yeah, you can't on the interview. I saw an interview. He said I was Offered to him as well. He said yes, I said yes, but he didn't know what happened, but it was because uh My brother was fighting the same day and he had all the corners that I was gonna take and like I said He was on my corner too. So I was pretty much be by myself and yeah So I just I just couldn't go by myself on a big fight like that, you know Sure did you did you watch his fight and if so when you were watching were you thinking like oh I Would have had I would have had a lot of success against him and that would have been obviously the biggest win of your career

Obviously, it would have been the biggest win of my career and Jin Matsumoto, he looked great. He looked great. I think both of them looked great. Both of them looked like really good. Vapma obviously has a tough opponent, talked better and he hits hard and everything. But I think I can stop the puzzle

and I can go out there and beat them but right now it's not the time to talk anymore. I got to concentrate on what's ahead of me and if one day we cross paths you know I'll be an honor but yeah props to him and Gene Matamota for going out there and putting on the show. By the way we've had several people over the years talk about wanting to be the youngest champion in UFC history. I still feel like you are in pole position to try and beat John Jones's record. Do you know how much time you have left? Yeah, I have three years, but I'm

trying to do it sooner, you know, but I still believe that I can break it especially like imagine like I just keep concentrating on what's ahead of me and then getting the jobs done and if another opportunity presents itself like this like for example like the raw pump moment you know that'll be a big jump up and then it'll get me closer to the belt so eventually I feel like I'll break it. Yeah, John was 23 years and 243 days old. You are currently 20 years and 137 days old, meaning you have three years and 106 days left to beat it. That's a good amount of time.

I feel, I mean, especially if you get three to four fights in this year, you could do this within the next year and a half or so. You can at least be put in that position. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Like in this year, hopefully, if even this year, like I at least get ranked top 15, that'll put me in a good position to break the record. I remember maybe, I don't know, two years or so ago, we talked about Aljameen Sterling,

who was the champion at the time, and you had said that you were very confident against him, and that kind of blew up. He is no longer the champion. Marab is the champion, and obviously there's Sean O'Malley and others below him right now in that sort of top five territory. But when you look at yourself at this point,

comparing yourself to the likes of Marab, how do you feel you stack up right now? I mean, obviously, I'm always confident in myself and I feel good, but I've had so many rounds with Marab and he's been a good guy to me. He's helped me a lot. So I don't want to compare myself in a fight with him yet. So I just respect him and I'll see whatever comes up whenever I'm in the conversation for the title. Fair enough. I respect that. By the way, what's going on over at Chiwiwi's Gang, the YouTube channel? What do you got over there? I got a YouTube channel just doing a lot of crazy shit that I do because I'm going to I just be all over the place so I started like putting it on YouTube doing for

lives and shit just for fun you know. Like what kind of crazy shit? What kind of crazy shit? Just whatever like working or like going to concerts you know going with the fans going with the fans going with the people just just whatever. Did you train with Eddie Reynoso? Yeah I did. Incredible. How long did you train with him for? He of course the head trainer for the likes of Canelo Alvarez now Ryan Garcia as well Jaime Munguia, Tiofema

Lopez one of the best coaches in all boxing. When did that happen? It happened around January, I think. I went for a few days and then went back home and then went back for a few days. I still go back and forth here and there. I learned a little bit from him. So it's nice and I'm grateful that he opened the doors for me to go train. What I did this offseason, I was just reaching out to a lot of coaches like and just trying to evolve, just trying to get better. I went to boxing gyms, I went to the best Jiu Jitsu schools like Cobrinha and I was just

learning a lot from all these people and then when the fight came, I just put it all together and I'm excited to go out there and show my new skillset. Any of those big names there when you were at the gym? Like, Canelo, Ryan Garcia, Teofimo, Munguia. Oscar Valdez was there when I was training. Who else? Have you ever met Canelo? No, no. Oscar Valdez was there when I was training. Have you ever met Canelo?

No, no. The other day, I was gonna meet him, but I didn't show up. What? You didn't show up? No, it's just I had some appointments for this fight, so I had to do some exams. Ah, okay. All right, I was gonna like exams. So I can't make it. All right. I was going to say man, you can't stand up Canelo Alvarez. I mean that's royalty.

Oh yeah. Imagine he's sitting around waiting for Raul Rosas. I know. Well if he's in town you should invite him. You should invite him to the fight. Oh yeah for sure. I don't think he's in town though but he's training right now for his upcoming fight. Yes.

Uh, William Skull on the 4th of May. Um, all right. So what are you thinking Saturday? How are you feeling? How does this, how does this end? I'm feeling excited. I'm feeling pumped. Uh, you know, obviously I'm ready for a war because he, like I said, he's a tough

opponent, but I'm excited and I'm pretty sure I, I, I go out there and finish him either by knockout. I feel like I can, I can get the knockout or get the submission. But either way, I'm going to go out there, get the finish. And I know I saw his interview. He said he's going to look for the finish every single second.

So that, that, that makes me think it's gonna be a scrap and I'm excited to go out there and put the finish, you know? Love it. By the way, last thing, have you trademarked Chiwis yet? Oh yeah, yeah, for sure. I did after like a long time ago. Let's, can we get one maybe like a bit away from the computer or phone so then maybe it doesn't pop.

Let's see, in three, two. Chiwi! We got it, in three, two. Chee-wee-wee. We got it, we got it there. See, I guess the key is just a little bit away from the- Little bit away, right? The device, you're a legend. Thank you, Raul, all the best to you. Good luck on Saturday, looking forward to it very much.

Thanks so much. There he is, Raul Rosas Jr. We need to get that one. That's an exclusive for us, Frank. That's a big one. I know. You on that? I'm on it.

Thank you. Appreciate it. Of course. Right now, let's see. Oh, he's a minus 310 over the plus 250 Vince Morales. Vandetta. Morales by the way, 34 years older than Raul Rosas, which is kind of a theme every time he fights because he is so young.

He's, he's the youngest fighter on the roster. He was offered a contract at 17, made his debut at 18, currently on a three fight winning streak. Amazingly, how about this? Morales made his professional debut when Rosas was just 10 years old. At 10 years old, Raul had a full amateur career under his belt

already apparently. Started at eight when Rosas made his pro debut. A month later, Morales KO Luis Smolka at UFC on ESPN in December of 2021. Wins in Bellator, rise in 10 fights in the UFC. By far the most experienced fighter I would say that Rosas has fought in the UFC so far. And perhaps if he gets by Morales, he will get that ranked opponent that he so desires. The main event is Brandon Moreno against Steve Erceg.

The last time Brandon Moreno fought in Mexico City, it has been a minute. When was the last time Brandon Moreno fought in Mexico City? Last year, right? Was it last year's card? Him and Roy Valle? Yeah, you're right.

It hasn't been a minute. I was thinking the sphere card that he wasn't on. Yeah, it was February. Roy Valle took that fight on short notice. So it's been a little over a year. But then prior to that, it was a quote unquote minute because prior to that, it was September of 2019. The Asgar Asgarov draw. That was his first fight back after leaving the UFC and winning the vacant flyway title. In a matter of moments, we will talk to the man who will be fighting Brandon Moreno.

And you know, he's made a bit of a habit of fighting the local hero on his home turf. It was not that long ago, a little less than a year ago, some 10 or so months ago, that he fought Alessandro de Pantoja in Brazil. And now he fights Brandon Moreno in Mexico City. What a wild time, what a career. We speak now to Astro Boy, who is also in Mexico City, Steve Erceg, kind enough to join us.

Hello, Steve, how are you? Hey, good, how are you? I'm doing great. Big opportunity for you. What, Steve, how are you? Yeah, good, how are you? I'm doing great. Big opportunity for you. What about that?

Fighting Moreno in Mexico, fighting Pantoja in Brazil. This is big time stuff. You enjoy these things, like fighting the star on their home turf, not neutral territory? Yeah, 100%. I love going to the local city and I've said it a couple of times now, but if they find life on Mars, I hope they call me to fight for the first show against the Martian.

I love it. I also love the way in which you announced this fight on the bike and then you crashed into the side of the road. Was this a parody of something? Was this an office thing? What am I missing here? I'm not very up to speed with the cool kid stuff. So yes, there was a parody of the office and yeah,

him pretending he could ride a bike and crashing it into a car. And I thought about crashing it into the Mitsubishi in the back to start with. I thought, ah, maybe not a good idea. So I just crashed it on the, on the, um, on the grass. This is a deep cut. Was the Mexico reference a Bjorn Rebny reference or am I overthinking this? No, you definitely have to think.

Okay. All right. I thought it was Mexico. That's a famous, it hits close to home for me. Would you believe I, I don't know to ride a bike. I'm 42 years of age. I don't know how to ride a bike. So I thought that you were maybe mocking the likes of me. So I was a little sensitive about it. No, I was just, yeah, I wasn't

mocking you specifically. Okay. Just people who can't ride a bike. Just people who generally can't ride a bike. Yeah. We do have feelings too, Steve. Yeah, I'm sorry. Everyone's sort of conscious of other people's feelings, but I guess we don't matter. That's all well and good. This is a big opportunity. And I think that you have been in Mexico for the last few weeks getting acclimated. Yeah, we got here just over three weeks ago now. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to find out that we weren't here long enough.

So got here plenty early. How was it early on? The people talk about the high altitude and just getting used to the air. Did you feel that early on? Not really. The time I noticed it the most was honestly going up the stairs. But the first week I was told that if I go too hard in training, I'll put myself into a hole. And it's hard to come back from after that.

So they told me to just like relax, which was honestly the hardest part being like knowing I'm going to fight Brandon Moreno and having to take a back step. That was the hardest part of the whole thing I'd say. What's the city like, the atmosphere? Like can you tell, like is you know we keep hearing about MMA growing over there, they just opened the PI. Can you feel that the sport is exploding over there? Yeah for sure. Definitely a lot of fans that recognized me which first of all they recognized me I was sort of shocked by it and the second thing was they didn't hate me immediately. I was also shocked by it but at the PI that was like fantastic. The athletes they're all so good and I got to train. And yeah, it was a really cool experience so far.

Why were you shocked that people recognize you? You had a tremendous fight against the champion out that long ago. If you're an MMA fan, you know who Steve Erceg is. Um, I don't know. I just feel like I haven't been here that long. And I mean, I feel like I've got recognized more here than I do in Perth. So I don't know if that's because people in Perth don't want to bother me maybe or whether it's, yeah, I don't know what it is, but I feel like more people came up to me here than they

do in Perth. I saw an interview that you did with, I believe, BJPenn.com where you talked about, for lack of a better term, like imposter syndrome, like here you are so young in your career, so young in your time in the UFC, fighting likes of Pantoja fighting the likes of Moreno that you still can't quite believe All this has happened to you in such a short amount of time. Is that an accurate assessment of how you're feeling? Yeah, for sure. I mean I did a face-off with Moreno Yesterday and it was I said to him. It's it man. It's so weird. I've been standing here I've been watching on TV for so long

and now I'm standing in front of you ready to fight. So it just, yeah, I don't know. It doesn't feel real sometimes. At some point, do you feel like you need to get over that? You are here, you belong, you're a headline or you've headline multiple times now. Do you feel like that's something you need to shed? No, I mean, I think I belong.

I do think I belong. It just, I don't want to lose that whole like excited to be around the sport and excited to meet all these, like get these opportunities and stuff. I feel like if I start thinking that, oh yeah, I'm the man and blah, blah, blah, I know I might lose something and become less relatable perhaps. Okay. Fair enough. Uh, what was that like by the way, facing off with him?

Was he, was he a nice guy towards you? Yeah, he seemed fair enough. What was that like by the way, facing off with him? Was he a nice guy towards you? Yeah, he seemed nice enough. We didn't really say much. It was just face off. Honestly, the whole thing took a minute and a half. Hello, face off, leave. I know you've spent some time at the Mexico City PI. Have you been to the Vegas one?

And if so, all right, so you have, are you able to compare? We just spoke to Raul Rosas, who said that he to the Vegas one and, and if so, all right, so you have, are you able to compare it? We just spoke to Raul Rosas who said that he likes the Vegas one better. What's, what's your breakdown? I like the Mexico one because I got to do, I got to train with like different athletes and that sort of thing. So like the Vegas PI is awesome, but it's like like you go in there, you train with your own team. So like that's a, it feels like a very different experience with this one. Like I came in and I've got this whole team that I can like learn off of and train with

and like, you would just get a cool experience for me. I know you've been there for a few weeks now, as you said, any Lucha Lib libre? Did you go to any of the matches? So, no, I didn't. I was going to do it last week on the Friday. Apparently Friday is the best day to go, but we just couldn't make it. Um, we went to the soccer the week before, so that was really cool. But, um, the plan is to hopefully get one in, um, after the fight, go to lucha libre. Okay. It is incredible.

Uh, when the UFC was, uh, in Mexico City for the first time, many moons ago, I went on a Friday night. It's an unbelievable experience. And I feel like Astro Boy is kind of a Lucha Libre like name, you know, I could see the mask now, I could see the whole gimmick. I feel like this is something that you would be great at. I really hope they don't call me up. That'd be, yeah, not fun. Um, by the way, I like the merch, the sort of a Speedy Gonzales inspired merch. Thank you very much. I like this.

Yes. Yes. Look at that. Who designed that? I thought, um, my manager designed it. Well done. I, yeah, I thought it was, um, yeah, I came to it, to him with the idea as well and he was way ahead of me. So, um, it was cool that we're on the same page. I thought it was, um, yeah, I came to it, to him with the idea as well. And he was a way ahead of me.

So, um, it was cool that we're on the same page. I love it. Um, could you explain, because I think you were supposed to fight earlier this month, right? And then you got pushed to this one. So what happened there? Honestly, I don't really know. They called me and well, yeah, they called me and said that as to, you couldn't

fight anymore on the March card and they have a called me and said that Asu couldn't fight anymore on the March card and they have a replacement fight and yeah obviously the replacement was Moreno and obviously I was very excited and then I found out later that Asu is still fighting against maybe a debut guy and then yeah I don't know what happened I think maybe the UFC needed somebody for Mexico City against Brandon and it was me or Asu and I was apparently more exciting or yeah, I don't know how to describe it, but I think I was probably lied to. Okay. All right. Well, I mean, it's Asu Almabayev on an Apex card or Brandon Moreno in Mexico

City. I would imagine that this interested you more, right? Yeah, 100%. I mean, I am not a person that usually gets excited as soon as I get a call about a fight. Usually the first emotion is nerves and then I might get excited after. But yeah, I don't know what I was, but I wasn't even nervous when I got called.

I got nervous later, but yeah, I was just so excited fighting in Mexico again. Brandon Moran is like a dream dream fight. So considering, you know, the last two fights, Pantoja and Kikar France, two of the very best Kikar friends probably fighting for the belt next, were you expecting a name of, of, of this stature or were you surprised that it ended up being Brandon as your next opponent? No, I was definitely surprised. I expected somebody like Asu. Yeah. Like somebody like in the top 10, top 15, slightly lower down. So yeah, it was a shock,

but like a happy, happy shock. And by the way, they were just in Australia. I know you don't reside in Sydney, but you know, it is your home country. How come you weren't on that card? Uh, I don't really know. I asked to be on it, but maybe people didn't want to come over, um, and travel. I'm not really sure. Okay. The last time of course we saw you was against Kikar France in August. Uh, that was a tough one for you in retrospect. You know, how, how do you assess what went down?

How, you know, how it went and what went wrong? Yeah, I mean, how do you assess what went down? How, you know, how it went and what went wrong? Yeah, I mean, I'm thankful for the experience. I mean, I still get to fight in Perth and like it was a cool event. And I did feel like I was doing some stuff well, although it wasn't for very long. Yeah, mostly just moving back in a straight line for too long.

I felt like I was getting out of the way early and honestly I was trying to hold myself back from going and just starting to trade with it because I felt like I felt really good. I was like, oh, I got him now and relax, he hits hard, take your time, don't do anything silly. But yeah, just going back on a straight line, um, didn't serve me very well and it, uh, yeah. So I think one step, two steps back, left, right. Um, I've been told that for a long time and it's just getting it to muscle memory is the hardest part.

Did his power surprise you? No, I expected him to hit very hard. The first time he landed on a sale they went, Oh, this isn't so bad. And then obviously, uh, next thing I know I'm fumbling on the floor, like, ah, I've lost this round. And then I realized it's the referee. So, uh, considering that was a home fight for you in the UFC, how did you handle the aftermath?

Uh, I mean, obviously losing saps, but I had obligations to like go in to the Metro South party and that sort of thing. And it's like, I don't want to be a, a South coast. I'll go and meet all my friends and family and stuff that are going down and I'll just try to still enjoy the night as much as I can. Um, you know, I, I've seen also in, in a recent interview with ESPN Australia, I believe it was where you said that you're, you're giving your body more time to rest, like you're not pushing yourself as hard in training. Is that an accurate breakdown of how you're feeling and how do you balance, you know, not training too much, but also training enough?

Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's easy. I mean, I'm always worried that I'm not doing enough. So I was like, oh, I'm only doing three sets of two this week, and I'm only doing two of wrestling, and I'm always trying to fit more and more in. It's a hard thing to do, everybody. So I don't like listening to my body, because I feel like that's a coward's way to justify not training, so I try to listen to my body because I feel like that's a coward's way to justify not training.

So I try to listen to my coach as much as I can and, um, slightly reducing, uh, the amount of sessions I do. And then, um, also getting my nutrition dialed in more has really helped. And so what about sparring? How do you feel about that? Are you one to believe that too much sparring or any sparring at all is not healthy? I think too much hard sparring is bad, but I honestly like to do light sparring every day. Okay.

We spar hard once a week. And then yeah, the other day, I feel like it's my iron the best. I make the best progress when I'm sparring consistently. And is this how you always felt about training or is this something that has come to you recently? No, we've always been adapting it. So it's more of a, yeah, last six months, maybe last year sort of thing. We're doing more of those live sparring drills and that sort of thing. I definitely, early in my career, only spied once and yeah, that was hard sparring, but now as often as possible. You know, every, sometimes the, is this a must win fight? Conversation is silly because every fight is gigantic for any fighter, but no one wants to be on, on a losing streak.

Are you approaching this as must win? Do you feel like you have to win to keep your job? How are you viewing this fight? I'm looking at it like, um, obviously I'm going in there to win. I don't like losing, but if I do lose, I mean, I wasn't good enough to be here anyway. So, um, I can't dwell on wins and losses in the UFC too much. I'm going to go out there and do my best. And, um, I believe my best is good enough, but we'll find out.

But also, I mean, the last three opponents are three of the very best fighters in the, in the sport at 125 pounds. So it's not like your typical, you know, Oh, you just lost one here and there. So I feel like I feel you didn't ask me, but it can't, it can't be a must win if you're fighting Pantoja, Kaikar France and Moreno. You go out there, you hang tough, you do your best. And not all, not all three fight losing streak are viewed the same. If this does in fact become that, do you know what I mean? Yeah, I definitely hope you're right.

But of course we hope for a win and that's what you are planning for. Yes. There was a period where I felt like there was this narrative that maybe Brandon Moreno's back in for a win and that's what you are planning for. There was a period where I felt like there was this narrative that maybe Brandon Moreno's best days were behind him and then he fought Amir Al-Bazi in Edmonton in November and it looked like he had turned back the clock and looked like, you know, the old champion, Brandon Moreno. What did you think of that performance?

Yeah, I thought he looked really sharp. It looks like he's getting a little bit lower, I think, more boxing heavy game. Like he still has the kicks and that sort of thing off of the step through. But I feel like he's been working on his boxing a lot and it shows it looks pretty good. And so are you expecting that type of approach to this fight? Yeah, I expect mostly he'll try to box with me, but, um, I'm definitely planning on him shooting at some stage because if everything goes well for me, it means that I'm whipping him on the feet. Yeah. He'll have to change something up. So I'm prepared for wherever he wants the fight to go.

Are you, you know, there's, there's a bunch of media stuff coming up in the, the face-offs and the way-ins and the fight and the atmosphere, you know, the Mexican fans are so passionate. Are you, are you relishing this idea of not getting any cheers and, and perhaps bunch of media stuff coming up in the faceoffs and the weigh-ins and the fight and the atmosphere, the Mexican fans are so passionate. Are you relishing this idea of not getting any cheers and perhaps the Pantoja experience prepared you for all of this? Yeah, I mean, I really enjoy just a loud crowd in general. Whether it's for me or against me, it doesn't really matter.

I obviously know they're going to be against me for this one. So yeah, I'm hoping to silence them by the end of the night. Can I ask if it is in fact, Pantoja, Kaikar France next, you know, them, them very well, obviously, who do you think wins that fight? That is a really tough one. I think they're like tailor made to fight against each other. like Pantoza has a really strong chin and is really good on the ground and Kaikai of France hits really hard and has really good takedown defense so I'm really excited to see how that one goes um

I mean yeah I don't know if Pantoza gets him down, I think Pantoza, uh, will submit him. But I mean, Kai, if he hits him, he's got to be the one to crack him. If, if I couldn't do it, somebody's got to do it and that car would be the one. So I don't know. I'm on the fence. I'm sorry. No, that's fair. That's fair. There, there, there is a big talking point on one, one 25 regarding Muhammad Makaev who may have been next for a title shot of things kind of went differently. How do you feel about him not being in the UFC? I was shocked that he got cut. Obviously being undefeated, you think that's enough to stay in in the OC, but yeah, I don't know.

I didn't like the way he interacted with people around him. And then, yeah, he's messaged me since, and I'm thinking more and more that he's a massive nob, so I don't care. What do you mean? What did you see? What did you see as far as his interactions? He seemed like a privileged, like a diva, I guess.

Like everything has to be done the way I want it. I don't care if that's not how it's done. And I don't know, it was surprising because you think somebody that grew up the way he grew up would be a little bit more humble and that sort of thing, but it just seemed, I'm the guy you guys work around, I don't know, he He seemed like a douche.

And, and, and you witnessed this firsthand. Yeah. And then what did he call me? A liar because he, he just said I was a liar. I said, I've, I've make a very clear point not to lie in my life. Obviously people do grow up sometimes, but I try to be very honest with people and about things. And yeah, he said it didn't happen. grew up sometimes, but I try to be very honest with people about things. And yeah, he said it didn't happen.

And I don't disagree that he probably didn't recognize that he was being like that because he's a diva. And so, and you've talked about this in other interviews and he heard it and then messaged you. Yeah, it was, I think I just said I didn't like the way he treated it. So I didn't get into specifics, but it was a very vague and then he messaged me and I don't know. There you go. Yeah. And, uh, was that recent? I messaged me maybe a year ago, less than a year ago.

I can't remember. And then, um, after I got knocked out, obviously he messaged me and asked me if I woke up. Ah, there you go. Good on him. What a nice guy. That's not, that's not a nice guy. ago, less than a year ago, I can't remember. And then, um, after I got knocked out, obviously he messaged me and asked me if I woke up, there you go. Good on him. What a nice guy. That's not, would you like to fight him? I was okay.

Oh, of course. I mean, I imagine like another thing who goes, uh, who gets into a street fight with somebody, but starts at like, Oh, let's squash the beef. Let's take a photo and then King hits them. That's like the most dog thing I've ever heard in my life. Like what he did to cut was like disgraceful. If you're going to do it, who cares? But go face to face.

I do it like a man. I don't know. It was disgusting. But there you go. Um, and so to finish your thought, if he did come back some way, somehow you would love to slap him around. Hundred percent. I assume that if I ever went to London and he was he saw me in the street I assume he's gonna try to king hit me so I'm ready for whatever nonsense he wants to generate I guess you're such a nice mild

mannered respectful guy I don't know I imagine he was pretty upset against after getting cut right I don't know now no no he was pretty upset against after getting cut. Right. I don't know now No, no, I'm a secretly an asshole. Who knows? What did you say King hit you? So King hit is a Coward's punch. It's like if you're facing the other way not expecting somebody comes up in oh He's doing the back of the head. We call that a king hit. Okay, all right. In Australia. That's an Australian thing. Okay, okay, I didn't know that.

By the way, did you watch the, are you a big NBL fan? No, not really. Okay, I saw that it was the finals, the basketball. Yeah, I didn't watch it at all. All right, we'll have to talk about something that happened. Matthew Delvedova, do you know who he is? Sure. I do know who he is, yes.

Legend, legend. He won the MVP award, but his team lost the finals until he gave the award to the star of the winning team. I thought that was very honorable of him. Oh wow, that is very honorable of him. Yeah. By the way, honorable of you as well, I do believe you hit 100K followers on Instagram

and then you arm barred your mom. Yeah, she had it coming. She would give me the side. I anyway, so yeah, she was, um, I don't think she was that surprised. I usually, I guess I usually beat up dad more so in the house anyway, but everybody gets it at some stage. So was that the thing? Like, did you tell everyone if you hit a hundred K, you'd arm bar your mom?

No, I just felt like I didn't want to, yeah, I didn't want to post, Oh, hey guys, thanks for the support. Like, you know what I'll do? I'll do something stupid. That's right. Typical of me. And did you, did you, I mean, like, were you going, were you going hard there or were you having some mercy on her soul? Um, well, she did tap it.

I didn't let go. So, good lucky dad was there to break it up. That's dirty by the way. I mean, maybe you are an asshole. Maybe Muhammad Mekhi was right. Maybe, perhaps. I wouldn't be surprised. Yeah.

All right, so what are we thinking as far as Saturday? How does it flow? How does it play out? What are you envisioning? Yeah, so, I usually go on with like a dead set plan and all that stuff. But for this one, I don't know why this, it feels like I looked at his patterns and that sort of thing. And we're just going to sort of see how the fight flows.

I'm going to do my thing and what he gives me, what he gives me. So, I mean, I think I really do think I can knock him out, but I'm ready to take it to the ground. I'm ready to go five rounds. Yeah, it's a mystery this one. We'll find out. All right. Well, I'm looking forward to it.

A big opportunity for you. You'll relish the opportunity, rise to the occasion, looking forward to seeing how it plays out on Saturday. Thank you, Steve, all the best to you and stay safe out there in Mexico. All right. Don't start any trouble. We'll see.

We'll see. Thank you very much. All right. There he is. Astro boy himself, Steve Erceg, returning to action in the main event of UFC Mexico City this Saturday. And he is currently a slight dog, I do believe. I see here that Brandon Moreno is a minus 195.

He's a plus 165. Obviously his last two fights were against two of the best. You can actually get them at plus 200 in a couple of books. You like that? You feeling that HL? You said it, not me. I mean, plus 200. Little astro boy.

Yo, I mean, Moreno looked great in his last fight. He sure did. He skunked Al-Bazi, five rounds to none. I mean, it was very one-sided, but you're intrigued. I don't know. Have you done anything? I might stay away from it. Oh, you don't like it?

I don't know, I don't know. Cause you're right, like Moreno did look great last time. You looked fantastic, back home. Although he did look great last time. He looked fantastic. Back home. Although he lost back home last year, as you said. Yeah. I just have not knocked down his last fight. Yeah.

Tough. Well, he looked pretty good against Pantoja. Looked pretty good against the champ. He looks fantastic against the champ. Yeah. I mean, really no one gave him a shot. It's gonna be a great fight. I think it's gonna be a great fight.

I might. It's a good fight at 125. Uh, Manuel Torres against Jude Dober is in the chief support slot. I'm really excited about a good fight at 125, uh, Manuel Torres against Jude Dober is in the chief support slot. I'm really excited about Joe Pfeiffer against Kevin Gaslam. Obviously his boy, Sean Brady, like if you're Joe Pfeiffer and you saw Sean Brady do what he

did, uh, in London to the Brit Leon Edwards, Gaslam, obviously Mexican-American you've got to be, you've got to be inspired. You've got to be motivated going in there. Joey P with the new haircut. He, uh, he's going to be, you've got to be inspired. You've got to be motivated going in there. Joey P with the new haircut. He, uh, he's going to be looking good out there. He introduced it when he was roasting Jeremy Stevens in January, uh, roast us

against Vince Morales, David Martinez against Simon Oliveira, Ronaldo Rodriguez against Kevin Borjas, Edgar Chavez against CJ Vergara. What else we got here? Lupico Dinez. Vince Pichel. Man, Vince Pichel has been around. Austin Hubbard in the current jerker spot.

Four o'clock start. 13 fights. The Arena CDMX. I was at UFC 180 and 188. One of them was Verdoom, Mark Hunt. The other one was Kane Verdoom, I believe off the top of my head. The crowds were great. And then one of the times I went to a, I think

it was a CMLL or maybe it was a AAA card on a Friday night. And it was so, it was straight out of a movie. It was Friday night at the local stadium. It was a CMLL or maybe it was a AAA card on a Friday night. And it was so, it was straight out of a movie. It was Friday night at the local arena. And you know, when they show Lucha Libre on TV, in movies, there's like grandmothers in the front row with their purses, yelling at the bad guys.

That's what it is. It's exactly like that. It's kind of a throwback. It feels like you're in Memphis in the 70s and it's Jerry Lawler against Jeff Jarrett or Jerry Jarrett. Anyway, I enjoyed it. And that's where I got my El Nariz mask. You can get your El Nariz t-shirt right now

over at arielhalwani.com, the official merch store for all things El Nariz and Hialwani. But yes, that is where I got it. I got, Roots of Fight sent me a Rey Mysterio mask signed by him recently. God bless the good people at Roots of Fight. Gentlemen, in a matter of moments, we are going to be joined by Artem Vakitov. Our good friend New York Rick once did PR for Glory Kickboxing. He is busy right now. I was going to ask him to set the scene for us. But in case you are unfamiliar with Mr. Vakitov, let me tell you a few things about him. You may recall, and he's coming with some news, so stay tuned. Frank, is your finger on the pulse? Yes, it is on the pulse. The pulse being the button. Yep. You may recall that we last saw

Artem Vakitov on Dana White's Contender Series back in October, October 8th to be exact of 2024. He won via first round TKO. He beat Islam Masrov. He transitioned over to mixed martial arts back in June of 2023, lost his debut in Russia due to an arm injury. So, you know, but since then 3-0 in MMA. A win in January, a win in February and then the contender series win. Got the

UFC contract. Prior to that, 23 wins, six losses in the world of kickboxing, two time glory light heavyweight champion, his second to last fight in kickboxing, his last fight in glory was a majority decision win over Poetan Alex Pereira. That was an immediate rematch. After losing a split decision to Alex Pereira back in January of 2021. The second fight was in September of 2021. Beat Pascal Torre at Muay Thai Factory and then moved over to MMA. Had five title defenses, most in glory light heavyweight history, still just 33. The last man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing. still just 33, the last man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing, and of course talked about after winning the Contender Series fight, talked about wanting the

third fight but wanting it in MMA. What's interesting about his MMA record, he's three and one, which is the exact same record that Pereira had in MMA when he entered the UFC. And of course, the contender series fight is considered a pre-UFC bout, not an official UFC bout. And so lots of interest, lots of excitement. When we spoke to Alex Pereira after the Khalil Roundtree victory in October, he was still the light heavyweight champion. We talked to him about potentially fighting Artem. Pereira was actually in attendance for that fight, you'll recall. This happened right after the roundtree fight, like literally days after the roundtree fight.

And so we have been told that Artem Vakitov is going to be joining us with some news. And I know a lot of people are excited about that. The people that I've talked to, our good friend Alan Murphy, New York Rick, John Joe O'Regan have told us that this man is legit when it comes to kickboxing. And again, as I said at the top, there has been a trend as of late, seeing these glory champions graduate and transition over to MMA, UFC, Dunbei, PFL and become even bigger stars. And so let us see what Artem Vakitov has in store for all of us. I'm told where he is joining us from. It is 1 30 in the morning. He's in Khmerovo, Siberia and his two wonderful

daughters Alina and Nicole are fast asleep so he has to keep it down. Let's go to Siberia now and say hello to the one and only Artem Vakitov. Hello, Artem, how are you? Hello. Spasiba. I'm fine. Spasiba. Good speak Russian. Thank you.

It's 1 30 in the morning over there. Well, Spasiba, thank you for joining us and thank you to your interpreter Andre for helping as well. Okay, thank you. Okay, so Artem, I've been talking about you to your interpreter, Andrei, for helping as well. Okay, thank you. Okay, so Artem, I've been talking about you and your record, your resume, and we obviously saw you in October, Dana White Contender Series. You got the win and you were offered a contract and now here we are, we're being told that you have some big news to announce. And so the floor is yours. What is the news that you'd like to announce? It's a good fight, a fight we've wanted for a long time, since 2017. Can you translate it like that? It's a big fight, which we wanted from 2017 already.

Yes, we didn't get to the top in UFC. As they say, they have their rules of contract after the down and white contender. But we didn't get along a little, but we still have good relations with them. So that's it. I think the opponent in glory is Rico Verhoeven. He is a heavyweight champion and I think he doesn't need to be represented. We agreed to fight like this right away because we always wanted to be a double champion and fight with Rico. It will be a big fight for me Verhoeven. I think Rico Verhoeven does not need to be represented because he is well known and for sure we wanted this fight a long time ago. For me it's a good opportunity to become a double champion and it was in my mind a very long time ago. Okay, so Artem, you just announced that you are fighting Rico Verhoeven.

We learned last week that he is going to headline Glory 100 on the 14th of June in the Netherlands. He's obviously the face of Glory, the heavyweight champion. And so that obviously means that your next fight is not in the UFC, is not in MMA, but it's back in Glory, but you're moving up to heavyweight. So there's a lot to digest there. Could I ask why aren't you signing with the UFC? Usually we have, we have always seen the winners of the Contender Series fights, get a UFC contract and enter the UFC. I think you're the only one to, to not go that route.

What happened? Usually fighters who win the D-WC get a contract and continue. Why did you decide to come back? We agreed on some contracts because they have their own rules after this White Contender. They offer this contract to athletes. We were not happy with it. But when Glory proposed to bring back Russian fighters and have a big fight, become a double champion for good fees, we agreed to it right away. contract after the Novi Contenders series. Unfortunately we couldn't reach an agreement and for some things we couldn't agree. When we got an offer and we saw the news that all the Russian fighters were coming back to glory and we got an offer to fight against rica and probably the possibility to become a double champion we agree that very very easily. And for sure for good money why not.

Okay were you disappointed that it didn't work out with the UFC. Hmm. Are there a strength to be a nice little to you? Are you upset that you didn't make it to the UFC? We were aiming for that moment. I think we can still make it. We don't have a point on that. But the main goal is the upcoming fight and then we will see what happens next. I'm not so disappointed but we are not stopped on it and why not in future. But now we are mostly focused on the upcoming fight so it's more important for us for now. I just got some satisfaction from MMA classes, from wrestling, from grappling, from all this stuff. But it also was good with me, so you see how it's going now.

This deal that you have signed with Glory, is it a one-fight deal or a multi-fight deal? There are still some interesting tournaments that are going on. What is the name of the last tournament? Last Heavyweight Staging. Yes, Last Heavyweight Staging. It is a tournament that is held in heavyweight. All 36 people will fight for the best heavyweight in the world. And of course, I want to return my belt to my division and have two champions in two weight categories at the same time. This is also one of the main goals. It became like, you know, a big sense for me and, uh, um, to try myself in this

tournament and the same time become double champion, you know, it's like good motivation for me. Yes. Uh, if you win the heavyweight title, obviously you would make tremendous history being the first man to beat Rico Verhoeven in, in glory kickboxing, but also just the third man to have a belt in two different weight classes in glory, uh, Robin Van Roosmalen and Alex Pereira being the other two. And so obviously this is a big deal because you're moving up, you're fighting the face of the company and it's at glory 100.

Do you think at some point you will return to MMA or is this a sign that perhaps for the rest of your career you're going to stick with kickboxing. I can't say for sure. If there are any suggestions, we will discuss it with the team, with the coaches, with the managers. I'm focused on this fight now's part of the job of my team and we will see what will be happening. Now I'm most focused the victory will be ours and I'm ready to fight back against Rik. I think the story will continue and big and good story for it. I'm assuming a lot of people will comment on the fact that there's a size difference between you and Rico. Four or five inches taller, he's obviously bigger, he's a heavyweight, you're a light heavyweight. What is your response to people who will say that he's bigger than you, he's too big for you. I fought with guys of almost the same size as Rik Verkhovin. I fought and defeated fighters with whom he met and fought fairly evenly.

I won them. Therefore, I always fought with heavyweights and guys bigger than me. Therefore, for me this is not some new challenge or something else. It's a a new challenge for me. It's something I'm used to. I'm ready for it. You can hit 90 kg with a Kutyr, or 100-120 kg. There's no difference. It's not a fight where you decide.

You have to be smart. We have a good team and we work on tactics and plan for the fight. I even beat some fighters who were fighting with Rico and they got very close fights. And you know, it's not so big difference when you even in my weight division could deliver a punch, it doesn't matter which weight. So we have a good team and it's not a wrestling when you really have some advantages in your weight because when in wrestling you are bigger or your opponent for sure it could be an issue. And it mostly will be like a tactic and technical job and work with my team so we are ready.

Can I ask very recently we saw Alex Pereira fight a guy you know very well, you're one and one against him, fight a fellow Russian in Magomed Ankaleev. What did you think of that fight and in particular what did you think of Alex's performance? You know about the fight between Alex and Ankalayev. Share your thoughts about this fight. How do you think Alex performed? I was waiting for this fight. It was interesting. There were two different schools of fighting and striking technique.

It was interesting to watch. But I think Alex focused on defense. It was clear that he focused on defense from takedowns, from wrestling and did not perform his work. This is the main disadvantage. Because when I started working myself, when you are waiting for the passes, you do not perform your work. It was also with Alex. Therefore, I think if they have a rematch, the fight will be completely different. You know, it was it was look like Alex Pereira did not enough because he was really very focused on his defence and when you are focusing on your defence, exactly on defence from takedowns, you can't do properly your your work your plan and unfortunately

this mistake was done but from another side uncle I have he did his job very well and the before well so he really done with that but still it was really close fight but you see what's happened in final what do you think happens if and when they fight again He felt that there was no danger. I think he can be confident and attack. But when Ankalayev attacks, it is hard to change the fight. If the fight is on the opposite side, Ankalayev can catch him and change the fight. But this fight will be much more interesting. I think he will not fight Alex will be more confident only because he already got this mistake about the protection from the takedowns and he felt well and now he know what uncle I could do and with this kind of confidence he can deliver his punch I guess and still uncle I would be trying to get any takedowns, and if this fight would happen in like in front courses, so it would be like not full fight, and it will be finalizing

not until the end of rounds, something like before the rounds will be finalizing not until the end of rounds something like before the rounds will be ending were you surprised knowing Alex like you do were you surprised at all the success that he has had in MMA did you think he was going to be this successful when moving over to MMA What do you think about Alex's success? Do you think he could have achieved such success? As much as he is now in MMA? Yes, I didn't think it would be like this. He didn't have a predisposition in the fight, but there was a blow and he has delivered this knockout in kickboxing and MMA.

There are very few fighters of this level in MMA. He did his job and everything was right. That's why people like his observance and knockout. People loved him for it. I think it would be interesting to have a fight with him in kickboxing. We have a long history with him in kickboxing. We could have a fight in but for sure he had his very strong punch and people loved it and you know he just delivered well to some people and was knocking out people well. And for me it would be interesting our trilogy still in case if he would finish his

career in MMA or UFC to finalize our deal and trilogy maybe in key boxing rules again. What do you think would happen knowing how well you know him if you fought him in MMA now? Like if your next fight was against Alex in MMA, how do you think this fight would have gone for the Spaniards? It would have been a stand-off. I think no one would have gotten into it. I look at his fights and see how he can win. He has no defense, only attack and only punch. If I had to explain everything to him, I would have in the striking style. As he has no defense, he has only one punch, I could find the keys and win him easily because I'm seeing how to do it and very confident with my team that we could get this win by our strategy. I would love to see it happen.

I'm assuming at some point you want to see that fight happen, the third fight between you guys, whether it's an MMA or kickboxing, right? So you're ready to see the next fight, no matter if it's an MMA or a kickboxing fight? We had two fights in kickboxing, it would be more interesting to finish the trilogy in kick rules. But if in MMA rules, why not? Last thing, June 14th against Rico Verhoeven, what a test that is, what a fight that is. What is your thoughts and plans? We have been watching this fight for a long time. There has always been a plan and I have seen it in action. I have seen it with the guys he fought against. There is a plan and I think we won't reveal it now.

But the main weapon is speed and endurance. Even in life I saw his fights and how he was fighting with his opponents. We have a plan, a good plan, but for sure we can't open it for now. So let's work on it and we'll get it done. Rika is a star, a kickboxing and glory fighter. I think this fight will be very interesting for the audience. Many people are waiting for it. We started our MMA career. Many people asked and were interested. They wrote about kickboxing.

I love kickboxing, and kickboxing is my life. It's my favorite sport, and I feel myself 100% in it. It's a kickboxing star, it's a face of glory and for fans, for viewers it will be really a very big show. And when I started my career with MMA everybody was asking me when will be the fight in kickboxing and why and when. So now we are getting back to kickboxing and this is my direction and you know I love kickboxing and I came from kickboxing. Well congratulations on the deal, congratulations on gaining the fight. Spasiba Artem.

Thank you. Looking forward to it. Good luck to you. Thank you. Looking forward to it. Good luck to you. Thank you. See you next time. Yes. All right. There he is.

Uh, the pride of Russia, Artem Vakitov announcing that he has turned down the contender series contract, couldn't come to terms. Uh, this I do believe is a first since the contender series started. You win the fight, you get the contract, you're in and you're gladly in. And it seemed like when he won his fight, he was in. But here comes Glory. Glory gaining some momentum. You'll recall last week we announced here on the program that they had

signed their deal with Dezone. They'll be airing in Dezone here in America, parts of Europe, Netherlands, which is huge for them as well. They've got this last heavyweight standing tournament, 32 heavyweights culminating in a one night tournament with the final eight, Glory 99. And then that of course is in April, so in just a few weeks time in Rotterdam and then Glory 100 on June 14th headline by that that's a big time fight that's a big time fight now I would say that music is like 20 minutes or so late Frank hey finger the pulse yeah Rick big fight huge fight our Tom Vakitov is Yeah. Rick, big fight?

Huge fight. Artem Vakitov is as legit as it possibly gets. I have not been, like there's not been a lot of like heavyweight fights and opponents that I've been craving for Rico. This one feels like a big fight coming up from the division below. Fresh, new, he's had to fight a lot of the same guys, right? Fresh and new as a name, but like as a as a resume is an experience as a Level athlete this guy is the cream of the crop

And so to me I'm as somebody who like followed kickboxing very very Stringently and religiously for a long time and then has now kind of like weaned off it quite a bit I am I am 100% watching this surprise. He didn didn't go the Contenders series to UFC route. I can't imagine that the paydays to fight Rico Verhoeven and the payday for your first UFC fight are equal. I think that's like 10K. And so I'm not surprised. Yeah, so not surprised at all.

He's probably getting a little more to fight Glory 100 against Rico Verhoeven. If the UFC told him, okay, we're gonna put you on 10K and 10K, but two fights from now, we're going to put you on 10 K and 10 K, but two fights from now, we're going to up that as soon as we start building this Alex Pereira chase storyline up, maybe you can convince him, right?

But if you make no guarantees there or you make no assurances and you just say, take it or leave it, he can fight much, he, he is one of the best in his sport. Why, why would he take lesser? So yeah, this, this wouldn't surprise me. All it tells me is that they weren't biting as much on the chasing Alex storyline as they may have when they had Alex and it was the chasing Izzy story. Speaking of

new signings what about the PFL signing Taylor Lapulus we spoke about him last week somewhat surprisingly leaving the UFC but there you go we are delighted to announce that elite French bantamweight Taylor Lapilous has signed a multi-fight deal with the PFL. He brings an impressive record of 21-4 to the smart cage after multiple stints by the way with the UFC and Aries. You'll recall he left the UFC on a bit of a run. He's won his last two in a row, including a win over Vince Morales, who is fighting Raul

Rosas this weekend, had a two fight winning streak in the UFC, lost to Farid Basharat, but prior to that beat Kaelin Loughran and had one. Had two UFC stints in both, he went three and one. Right, there it is. Yeah. had one had had two UFC stints in both he went three and one right there it is yeah fun in TKO areas and a lot of people it's tough yeah I mean yeah it's tough you're six and two in the UFC and you've been cut twice now was he cut or

they not come to terms did it Morgan Charier say that it was that right didn't come to terms that he fought out his contract and they didn't come to terms like Mohammed said. That said, when you're six and two in the UFC, you would think that that's a guy you want to retain, you know, as opposed to like, more and more every single day it becomes clear what the economics and what the strategy of the UFC is, right, in terms of how they're thinking about talent. Cheaper talent, guys that are, and girls that are signed off contender series are

going to do more because they're reducing their costs as opposed to that middle-class UFC fighter like a Taylor who's like great but not necessarily moving the needle in terms of tickets they become more expendable it's the it's the bottom and the top that become the most valuable for the UFC not that middle but yeah good signing. Are you surprised? Okay so So, so let's say they say, Hey, uh, arts and vacu-tub. This is the protocol, right? As he said, you know, you'll win the contender series, you get this contract. It's around 10 K.

You know, this is the start. This is what everyone has to go through. If you go through this route. Although I will say, I don't think Bo nickel had the same terms, but, uh, it seemed like they signed Bo and then put him in the Contender series with a deal already in place. You know what I mean? Everyone was going crazy over that whole

Bo Nicol thing because he had to fight twice in Contender series, but that was just to get him experience. Are you surprised that they wouldn't say, look, there's a story here with, with Alex, you know, rules were meant to be broken or can they not set that precedent? Is it not worth it basically? I think rules are meant to be broken. You sign him. There's a

great story here, right? It was a big deal when he fought in October. Yeah, you you have the potential. I'm not saying that that was going to come to fruition, but you have the potential of him becoming another star for you by chasing down your current light heavyweight champion at the time. Yeah. Surprising. I thought he was 100% going the route of the UFC and now he's going back to glory in a massive fight for them. Gets a headline, Glory 100 against the biggest star. Not bad. Not bad. Gentlemen, in a matter of moments, we'll talk to an Olympic gold medalist, 2020 freestyle Olympic gold medalist, the great David Taylor.

He joined us in studio a couple of years ago, three time world champion, three time Pan-American champion, three time US Open champion, two time NCAA division one champion, four-time Big Ten champion, wins over the likes of Bo Nicol, Jordan Burrows, Pat Downey, Aaron Brooks, and many others, retired in 2024 and then became the head coach of your Oklahoma State Cowboys. Of course, alma mater for one, Daniel Cormier, among many others, and what a weekend they had.

They ended the madness, as it's called, in Philadelphia with a gigantic win over Gable Stevenson, who of course you know from the Olympic Games, from the University of Minnesota, Big Ten champion, national champion, Buffalo Bill Hopeful, WWE Hopeful, his guy Wyatt Hendrickson defeating Gable Stevenson in an absolute shocker and the call on ESPN was incredible. David Taylor, once kind enough to give me his wrestling shoe sign and after his first year as head man over at Oklahoma State, I thought it would be great to have him on after that massive victory. He's kind enough to join us during a busy day for him.

Hello, David, how are you? Good to talk to you again. Good to see you. Thanks for having me. Congratulations. What has the last 72 or so hours been like for you since Saturday night? It's been good. You know, I think it's finishing up my first season as coach at Oklahoma State. And, you know, we just had a really good tournament and finished up with that incredible match, you know, with Wyatt and Gable just, um, you know, was a really good end of the weekend. Okay.

I know I read a story yesterday where I think it was in the Oklahoma and you texted, uh, Wyatt last summer and you just wrote something to the effect of Wyatt Hendrickson, national champion. So you believed in the young man. He's on your squad. You're obviously going to do everything in your power to set them up for the next season. last summer and you just wrote something to the effect of Wyatt Hendrickson, national champion. So you believed in the young man, he's on your squad, you're obviously gonna do everything in your power to set him up for success. Here you are going up against Big Bad Gable Steveson on Saturday night under the

lights. Your level of confidence to pull off, to see your guy pull off an upset of this magnitude, how were you feeling going into the match? Well I just, when I told him I'm gonna come come here, I said, hey, I'll have a plan for you. I'll have a plan. I'll have you healthy and excited and help you win the national title, you know? And I think he just believed in it, you know? And I think when you get into a match of this caliber, you know, if you're in combat sports, you're wrestling, you're MMA, whatever it may be, you just have to have unwavered belief. And I just feel like that's what he had going into this tournament. You know, we were never training for one specific person.

I was just trying to help him be the best wrestler that he could. And in preparation for this match, again, in his warmup, he was calm. You know, in the tunnel, I just have never seen him locked in like he was. You know, like he was just ready to go. They got in the very first exchange

and Gable got to his leg and why it was able to extend it into a scramble and they still made it and it just showed like, Hey, he believes. And, um, he gave himself a chance, you know, that he was losing by two points with going into, uh, with a minute left in the match, he picked up his sprint, put a couple scores to get, put a couple of flurries together and was able to get to the leg and get that takedown with 20 seconds left, and then ride him out. Just a good testament to him and just his belief.

And what a way for you to culminate your first year as a head coach at such a prestigious institution. What would you say about this past year? How would you describe it? You're relatively young, 34, you were active not that long ago. What has the last year been like for you? It's been a bit of a whirlwind, you know. I just, you know, I lost the Olympic trials in April of last year and was in a crossroads of if I was going to continue,

what was I going to do? And Oklahoma State called and gave me the opportunity to come and be the head coach. And then I got down here and started to just train with the guys and trying to help just set the standard of expectation of what we're going to do as a program. And we just had a great group of guys this year and just every week we were making progress. And as for myself, I was learning how to communicate with all of them. Not everyone's wired the way I was and learning how to just have a different relationship with each guy and what what was going to help them be be successful, you know, at the national tournament. And I felt like for our first national tournament, you know, we had a lot of success. We had three national finalists, two national champions and finished third place as a team. You know, Oklahoma State Wrestling is historically won 34 national titles

we just had our 144th individual champion hundred fifth forty fifth individual champion this weekend and Just getting restoring prominence, you know, I believe Oklahoma State's a sleeping giant and we established ourselves Establish ourselves right back in the mix. Yeah first time since 2016 OSU has two NCAA champs in the same year so that's huge as you mentioned third overall six all Americans two individual champions Dean and Wyatt and what I think is really fun is that you're just the second coach in Big 12 history to win a team title in his first season as head coach joining the great Kale Sanderson

who did it back in 2007 at Iowa State, who was your head coach at Penn State. Pretty awesome. Yeah, it's been, I've been blessed. I've been blessed to be around a lot of great coaches and a lot of people on my, you know, when I was a competitor. And just I think throughout that process, you know, you learn as a competitor, you know, what to do to prepare and make adjustments. I also learned from all of my coaches, I had different people that coach me different ways. And I think down here, we're able to just

have our own blend, you know, there's there's some similarities to my past, and there's differences and but we're just trying to help these guys just achieve their goals, you know, it's just we sit them down and ask what they want to do. And, uh, just trying to help them do that. That that's really what we're trying to do and help how we can serve our athletes best. And, uh, this year was a really good step in that direction. When you didn't make the Olympic team, did you think, okay, now it's time to transition into coaching.

Was that a part of the plan or did this kind of come out of the blue and, and, and, and change your plans? Uh, I mean, I think when it came to coaching, the places that I would have been interested in just had established options. So it wasn't something that I had a strong desire. I mean, like John Smith was the coach here for 33 years, my entire livelihood since I was born,

he was that coach here. So the tenure of coaches in these situations, like there's not a lot of turnover. So it wasn't something I had a strong desire for, but when I, when I lost, you know, I, I, I achieved everything I wanted to do, you know, as a competitor and was starting to look at what's next. And this job was available and it was something that, uh, when looking at it was just a great opportunity, you know, for the next step, you know, in my career.

And, um, I just felt that. This was an opportunity to impact wrestling at the highest level. You know, you get a chance to recruit these young athletes and develop them and help them achieve their dreams. So the ups and the downs and it's just, I feel like it was a calling for me to do and I'm really grateful to be here. And you're getting an opportunity to replace a legend, right? DC has told me a lot about the great John Smith. He was in attendance over the weekend having him there.

Does that add pressure? Does that help? What is that like having, you know, the face of the program for so many years, the leader, the guy over there in the stands as you're now replacing him and doing your thing? I think when I, before I took this job, you know, it was important to me to have, you know, Coach Smith's blessing, you know, and him believing that I was the best, I was the right guy for this job, you know, and I think he believed that strongly. And after getting down here and laying out my plan, you know, he, I think he's at peace,

you know, he's really enjoying retirement and he gets to just be a fan, you know, in the dual means, you know, I kind of see where he sits and he gets to just be a fan. The duel means I kind of see where he sits and he just sits there and just watches. I think he's got a smile on his face and he just feels like almost wrestling is in good hands. He's extremely supportive. When he's given me advice this year, it's been great advice. I think he and I have a lot of similarities based on you know, the way we competed in our mindset, and just different eras, you know, like he was a he was a little more old school and his philosophy, I'm a little more new school in mind, but in terms of like those underlying

principles of how to be successful, we share a lot of those same values. When we spoke, when you were in studio, when you were kind enough to gift us this, it did seem like there was some thought of transitioning over to MMA at some point when you were officially done competing in wrestling. Are those dreams done? Are those plans done? Yeah, I'm fully committed to coaching. I think I loved competing and I think I knew that I was getting towards the end of my desire to compete in wrestling.

I just had achieved everything I wanted. That the excitement of what MMA would have brought was exciting, but I just think at the age that I was, I just wasn't interested in trying to restart and train that way for another four or five or six years at that level. So I did think about it. I did consider it pretty heavily for a period of time. And then once this job obviously presented itself, I got down here and got rolling. You know, it's a college coaching and college athletics is very much full-time job and more. You know, there's so many different dynamics to it and it's a whole different challenge in itself

and it's a way to compete differently and just helping our guys understand like what it's gonna take to live a championship lifestyle and you know, I'm fully committed to that. How close were you to actually trying MMA? I was pretty close. You know, I actually, I went out to factory X with coach Mark Montoya a couple different times

and trained. I was hitting mitts and I was practicing jujitsu and I was balancing wrestling and doing that for a little bit of time. Just for the, so I was prepared if I didn't want to make that transition, I wasn't just gonna just jump in cold turkey and then I liked it. I just think ultimately you I wasn't just gonna just jump in cold turkey. And, um,

then I liked it. Uh, I just think ultimately you just gotta have that fire to compete at that level. And it's a little different when you're, you know, when you're wrestling, you can control most of the things and you're fighting. If you don't have that strong desire to 100% want to be in there, you know, it's just, it's not going to be good. Right. And speaking of the time sort of changing, like when you were in school at Penn State, as opposed to now with NIL and all that stuff, it's totally different. Like back in the day, Gable wouldn't be able to come back to school after the stuff that he just did with WWE and the Buffalo Bills. How challenging is that?

We see it a lot in basketball and football. How much has that affected wrestling these days? Wrestling is a niche sport, you know, and I think it's, obviously NIL definitely plays a factor in it. And I think it's obviously NIL definitely plays a factor in it. I think our goal here is to have Stillwater and Oklahoma State being a wrestling destination. This is where people come because they want to achieve their goals at the highest level. And that's our main focus, in helping guys. And I also just came from that era myself. So I believe in helping guys build their brands and how they can market themselves

and create opportunities, you know, obviously above and beyond, you know, just wrestling and just having a long-term approach for them and helping them see a bigger vision throughout the process. So I just try and help them, you know, have a bigger mentality than just wrestling. And, you know, the guys that desire that stuff, help them with a plan.

Have you kept tabs on Bo? And if so, what do you think of how he's doing? He's doing good. He's starting to hit that trajectory where he's gonna start jumping into ranked opponents. I know his next guy coming up, he's got a really good background in one, right? One FC, I think, maybe.

Yep. And so this will be a good challenge for him. And what about Wyatt? Was he a senior or does he have another year? Well, I was senior, so he just graduated. Okay, so what does he do now? Like, what is the path for someone like him? Wyatt was unique. So he spent his first, you know, four years at Air Force Academy, you know, wrestling for the Air Force. And he was granted this one year of eligibility, I think because it was COVID time. And it's the only person in Academy history

that has the ability to like go and transfer and continue doing and competing. So technically he's serving for the WCAP, the World Class Athlete Program currently, stationed in Stillwater, and his job is to wrestle. Wow. So he'll be wrestling, competing and competing to train for the LA 28 Olympics and that will start for him now. Oh wow, so but but he can't compete for OSU next year right? He's done. No, so he graduated, he'll stay you know in wrestling we have what's called Olympic Regional Training Centers. So ours is

called the Cowboy Regional Training Center. So he'll start, he'll be a member of that and he'll train full-time wrestling. And he's got the ability, he won a U23 World Championships. He's got the ability to compete, to be a world champion, be an Olympic gold medalist. And I think that's the next step for him. But he does have a big personality. I think he could be very successful outside of wrestling, whether that's in the military or whatever he decides to do. But he's very driven. And I think he still can do some really awesome things in wrestling. Are you referring to pro wrestling when you say this about his personality?

I think he could be really good in it. Oh yeah, he's a big boy. Yeah. He's a showman. And I think he showed that this weekend. I think what made Gable so He's a showman, you know, and I think he showed that this weekend. You know, I think what made Gable so unique and special is his wrestling ability was unbelievable, is unbelievable, but also it's a showmanship side of things that he brought to wrestling that was unique. And Wyatt is the same, you know, like he wins, he's a pinner, he does a backflip, you know, he's a 260 pound amazing athlete, you know, and the way that those two guys can wrestle is so unique. You don't see that for heavyweights, you know, how they can wrestle. And so if they continue wrestling, they're going to be wrestling against each other,

you know, to become world Olympic champions. And, you know, obviously we've seen Gable has had a lot of success doing other things. And I think, you know, Wyatt could do similar, you know, he's just Captain America. You know, he's got that, you know, good branding and, you know, with his background in the Air Force, I just think he could be successful doing different things. Last thing, I was talking about this yesterday on the show. I still maintain like this was such a great scene. Like I said, Jordan Burrows and DC were great on the call.

The crowd was great. You got the President of the United States in attendance. It's a packed crowd at the Wells Fargo. And yet I still feel like you mentioned wrestling being a niche sport. Same weekend as the basketball tournament kicking off. Why can't they pick another weekend? So you guys aren't going head to head where you could get a little bit more of that shine.

Do you like it on this weekend? Or do you think it would behoove NCAA wrestling to pick a different time for the finals? I think it would be, you know, I think it would be good. I think those are things that, you things that we could continue to discuss. This is my first year as a coach. So obviously I got to earn my stripes before I can start making suggestions. But I think there's some changes.

They can help with our marketability of wrestling. We have some really great personalities and these kids are getting better and better. It's amazing the skill they have in high school, coming out of high school, wrestling at the level of being a world and Olympic champion. And those guys are going to be wrestling in college here in the next four, five, six, seven, eight years. Some of these kids that you're going to see wrestling in the Olympic games are going to be wrestling in college. Like what Gable did, I think we're going to see that over the next quad and beyond. So I think that what the product is on the mat is pretty special. And I think that what the product is on the mat is pretty special.

And I think what we can do to bring more eyeballs to our sport would be great. Next year, we're actually in November, we're having a national duels invitational. So we're gonna invite all the best teams in the country, the best 16 teams in the country are gonna come to Tulsa and we're gonna have a national duels. So that's gonna be really exciting.

It's a little shorter, so it's not an individual competition. It's gonna be a team competition. You win as a team, you move on. That's gonna be really exciting. So the idea is you have a team competition in the beginning of the year, and people can plan around that and watch it. And then you have the national tournament,

individual tournament at the end of the year. So just trying to continue to innovate and create really cool opportunities for our kids and things that we can do to move the sport forward. Love it. Did you talk to DC afterwards? I did, yeah. He was pumped.

He was, you know, Daniel's a Oklahoma State alumni and you know, he's, you know, obviously he's so successful and you know, his personality is obviously much bigger than wrestling, but wrestling was his foundation and he loves it and he loves the Cowboys. You know, and actually one of the kids that's from his high school, Cody Merrill is a freshman this year. He redshirted, so he'll, you know, he'll be in our lineup next year.

So there's a lot of ties to Daniel and, you know, it was great to see him and him, you know, give him back and wanted to be a part of the broadcast. This helps bring more eyeball source for it. For sure. Congratulations. Well done. Great rookie season for you as head coach and what a way to end it.

Appreciate you joining us. I know it was a busy day for you. So thanks so much for the time, coach. Thank you. Appreciate you having me. All right, there he is. The great David Taylor, Olympic gold medalist. And now the head man, the head coach over at Oklahoma State.

Gable did post on social media a little something after the loss to Wyatt Hendrickson saying to my supporters, I appreciate all the love through my time and collegiate wrestling from skipping warmups to staying late after every duel, regardless the city to talk to everyone definitely made it worth the time to all the doubters and naysayers that I had this year because you'll recall he came back after the WWE stint and the Bill stint as well. And will continue to have, regardless of how you feel,

you still watch. And I thank you for that too. See you again. Gable out. I mean, what a career. And of course, when he won the gold medal in Tokyo, David Taylor was on that team as well, that US team. It was one of the great finishes of all time. That, you know, I will admit, I am not a connoisseur

when it comes to collegiate wrestling like I am. You know, the sweet science or mixed martial arts or professional wrestling, but I appreciate it. And I always make a point to watch on on the Saturday the finals because the atmosphere is just fantastic and I and I do wish that they weren't going head to head with the with the NCAA basketball tournament. Nevertheless very cool to talk to the coach, busy day for him. I appreciate him stopping by. What about Ilya Teporia? New

nickname for Ilya. Did you guys hear his new nickname? Any thoughts on that? I have it here. I did have it and then I lost it. La leyenda. What does it mean, Andy? What does it mean? The legend. Yeah, there it is. Not only that, he's got his own street. This in Toledo, Spain. Paseo Ilya Teporia. Look at this guy. I mean, that's legendary stuff. He's got his own street? How old is Ilya Teporia? He's got to be the youngest guy to ever have his own street. Usually that happens like, you know, you're 50 or 60. You've had a hall of fame career in whatever sport.

He's got his own street from his adopted home country of Spain. Paseo street. Yes. Paseo. No, I don't think so. Passage? Passage. Oh, so it's not a street, it's a passage?

Yep. Nah, not as cool. Calle is street. Calle. Is that what it says on the street though? And would it say Calle or, it's a passage? Yep. Nah, not as cool. Calle is street. Calle. Is that what it says on the street though? In, would it say calle or would it say paseo? So depending on where you're at,

like it could say paseo and that's, it's literally a street. Yeah. You're right. Like, like sort of like there's some streets here that are road, street. I feel like it's like that, right? Yeah. You know, like there'll be like Green Avenue

or Wall Street or Stevens Road, you know? Sometimes even a drive. Sometimes a drive. Thank you for that, Honor Jordan. There was a lot of controversy yesterday at the beginning of yesterday's show. There was a talk of a vacation and people were accusing you of taking another vacation.

Any comments on said accusations? The policy of vacation is pretty flexible it seems so yeah it's rich coming from the only one who has taken a rich is actually my father so what do we add as far as vacation days right now I mean I was in Florida like PT said I saw my heroes and I was working so I don't know if I Okay, all right, I thought it was unlimited PTO policy here at on crown PTO. Yeah, that's what I was thinking unlimited PTO Jordan is the only only one capitalized. He's using all of our PTO for himself What does PTO personal time off? It's pay time. Hey, I actually don't get that. Yeah

What is PTO, personal time off? It's pay time off. Pay time off. And I actually don't get that. Yeah. I mean, you just heard Ariel wasn't even familiar with the term. No, no, no. Take that up with HR, will you?

HR. We'll see you in the HR office tomorrow at 8 a.m. as I am the head of HR here. Yes, that's right. Yeah. By the way, shout out to Mohammed Makaev, my new best friend, in the chat. Oh, shout out. Thumbs up to the chat, Mohammed Makaev, my new best friend in the chat. Oh, shout out.

Thumbs up to the chat. Mohammed Makaev in the chat. He wrote Chiwiwi's the man. Respect little bro. Now, if there's a thing, that means it's him, right? That definitely means it's him, but respect little bro. You think he's? I don't know. He little bro-ed him, right?

I have to give him respect. Yeah. I thought it was like, because I saw people in the chat talking about Makai being in the chat and I thought, uh oh, he's here to respond to Erseg. But apparently not. Some people are- He's just a Raul Rosas. All right. They're supposed to grapple back in Abu Dhabi. That's right. Maybe that's why he checked in. Some people, by the way, in the chat saying that On Air Jordan sounds like Steve Erceg. I said earlier during the interview, I was like, Steve Erceg is On Air Jordan if he was an elite mixed martial artist.

Wow. Are you talking demeanor? Everything about him. Wow. Your thoughts on Er Jordan. I mean, sounds like a compliment. His use of vocabulary. Look at this angle too. This looks like Steve Ersik back here. This looks like Steve Ersik. On Air Jordan called someone a knob earlier today too. What?

And Steve Ersik called someone a knob. Ersik said that. I think that we don't use that insult enough. Yeah, it is a good one. I mean, Frank and I had a little tiff earlier. Again. I apologize after the fact, but we're good now, I think. You guys are averaging like-

That's fucking bullshit. Are you averaging like a tiff a week now with Frank? I don't even know what he's talking about. Oh, okay. So if I was engaged in a tiff, I apologize. You're unaware. It stemmed from the vacation about. Okay, so if I was engaged in a tiff, I apologize. You're unaware It stemmed from the vacation talk. Yeah, it was probably that by the way I mean if you're being compared to one of the best fighters in the world who went toe-to-toe with the champ could be worse

All right, you shouldn't be someone I mean I see another person saying that I sound like I need some day quills So, you know what in the chat losses, you know, is that a, they're saying you're sick, you caught the Draculon flu. Yeah. Far be it for me, far be it for me to throw a Frankie under the bus, but it does seem given the few that they have, like he's almost, he's not doing you any favors with this, with this audio quality, cause he doesn't actually sound like that. It sounds like, hello shoppers.

Yeah, it sounds like one of those. Do you like the Chiwi Weasburger? Yeah. So you're saying it sounds better now? Have you ever executed a King hit before on Air Jordan? Yeah, totally. I know exactly what that is, but Frank actually doesn't know what that is.

So if you want- He hits someone in the back of the head. Yeah. It's a sucker punch. He explained this already. Yeah. Yeah. So any chance he has to dunk on me,

even though I was in the same room as him when it was described. Oh dear. Everything okay. Do we need a, is it time to actually schedule some kind of like team bonding exercise? Everyone stop chatting shit!

Yeah, we talk about this every week now. I think it's less time needed. The Passover can't come soon enough. Oh, that's right, the Passover break. Do you think we need to go like axe throwing or... That'd be dangerous. What could we do? Drinking and axe throwing could end up

with one less teammate coming down. Wait, is it during Passover you wanna do this? Cause I'm on vacation. No, I know, we all know about your trip, but. Where is it, Portugal this time? Yeah, Portugal, thank you. It's just a random trip in April in Portugal. I mean, you know, it must be nice.

No, I'm just saying like. Big Manel Cop fan. What do people do? What do people do? I always see like, hey, let's go. Usually like a dinner. Talking like team building. Yeah, team building, yeah. The team's already built.

Yeah, the team's put together. Can we get, there's been some requests for a- Escape room? No, for a Fight Feast Chiwis Burger review. Is there a check, Hardee's? What is it again? So it's Carl's Jr. on the West Coast, I believe, and then Hardee's in is it again? So it's Carl's jr. On the west coast I believe and then hardy's on in the southeast at least but if they have it I will go get it asap

Is there Carl's jr. Here? I don't know I've never seen one and I've lived here my whole life So yeah, then it sounds like they don't have them here, but it's not a jalapenos over on that thing It looks like heartburn. Well, I'll actually I'll actually be in Atlanta this weekend for a wedding and they have Hardee's down there so if they have a Chewy Wees burger I'll get it but it was kind of weird that he made the burger on video with onion rings, jalapenos, barbecue sauce, he's like talking about how great it's going to be and then you asked what's on and he's like I don't know. Who do you think was following him? We have a picture of it. Probably the hardest junior. I think we can actually see it's onion rings, barbecue sauce, jalapeno, cheese despite him not liking cheese, bacon is on there as well. So like what he was saying that I kind of wanted to be like, please don't say you don't like it. You know what I mean?

I kind of want him to do the beep, beep, beep, because I figured that's his burger, right? Yeah I think that is his burger. Like how do you come up with a Chiwis burger not endorsed by the Chiwis man himself? Yeah, I think it's so spicy that you say Chiwis. Like he's making it with such gusto here. Yeah, look at him, placing each individual bacon slice on there. He's got the shirt, he's got the hat.

Yeah, I was gonna say. That looks like American cheese there, the picture- Yeah, the cheese is different on the- Picture looked like either white American or Swiss. Yeah, that's white right there. Pepper Jack maybe. Oh yeah, you're right. How do you feel about the onion rings in the burger?

It's a bold statement. I like it. No, I like it. This is a good burger. That's the only vegetable on that thing. It's fitting for Chewy. No, he said tomatoes too, even though he also said he doesn't like tomatoes. Yeah, he's like I fucking hate the burger but we're selling it.

I mean by the way, it looks fucking fantastic. That's why his phone kept ringing. It was Carl's Jr. calling like what are you doing? Yo man. Yeah, it was Carl. Carl Jr. himself. Go to Wendy's. It was Big Carl. It was actually Carl's scene. It was Big Carl. It was Big Carl. It was actually Carl Cena. It was Big Carl. That looks like a great burger, I gotta be honest. Yeah, I'd rip a couple for sure. The jalapenos. 20 years young and the guy's got his own burger with Carl's Jr. Like that's blue chip. Blue chip. And he commented on Carl Jr. post about it and was like, man, I used to work there and now I'm sponsored and got my own burger. Ah, he used to work there, I missed that. And it was in the notes, but and then even from. You even said it in the interview. Yeah, I think I also said it in the pre-show.

But like by labor laws, like I feel like that could have only been just a couple years ago that he worked there. Don't bring up labor laws, come on man. Like 16? Yeah. Like that's like four years ago. He was fighting at eight though.

Yeah, by the way, has he talked about that? That he fought at eight. I don't know about eight years old. Eight years old. He's been fighting for a minute That's my daughter next year Well, fighting at eight. Get her some gloves. Time to get her in the octagon. Do you know how nonchalantly you spoke about beating up his sister? He's like, oh yeah, we used to beat her up. No, she was the oldest Scrambles on the kitchen. If you're if you the the youngest you could beat up on the the older sibling Even if she's a for sure my brother's a fighter coffee table one time split my head wide open Wow Had seven years on me though, so my mom was pissed What was it a power bomb or was it just like a like?

How do you know by the shirt and just threw me and what I mean we're talking age difference was like 9 to 16 At that point. Lippin' off, what did you do to deserve that? Yeah, what were you guys fighting about? We were fighting about, I mean, we used to do, like we used to be into WWE and we had like fake wrestling, but sometimes it would turn into real fights. Oh my gosh, you used to be into WWE back then.

Oh yeah, yeah. You can tell us that. Yeah. Like what era are we talking about? Ruthless aggression, attitude era? See, I wasn't like that into it where I knew all about like the ruthless aggression. I just knew like the guys. Big sexy Kevin Nash.

Oh this is pre. This is pre attitude. Yeah. Was he big sexy or was he big daddy cool? And by the way- Was big sexy ever a nickname for him? Yes, but this is- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Kevin Natt. But you're an Atlanta boy, so were you more WCW? Or should I say WCW? Man, they just sat my dumb ass down in front of it when I was like five or six. Were you watching at 6.05 on TBS? See, I can't remember any of this. Because you know it always started at 05.

But 6.05 is that Thunder? What is that? The Undertaker was my favorite. Saturday Nights. My nickname between the brother wrestling was the Intimidator, and my signature move was I would just kick my brothers in the nuts because I was so much smaller than I was like six seven

they're like 1315 why did TBS always start at oh five so you know that it always would be oh five and 35 yeah I don't know you guys know that oh five is a real baseball move well that's cuz they were on TBS yeah it's because WTBS is a cable channel owned by Ted Turner. He took over the business. Shout out Ted Turner, he's a legend. Yeah, one of the many inspirations, Turner time, was the practice of starting WTBS programming at 05 at 35.

Why? For the simple reason, did that go through or no? Oh, but it just looked funny. Whatever, for the simple reason that that got there. No, but it just looks funny. Whatever. For the simple reason that once you started watching something on WTBS, it would be darn difficult to switch easily to another channel or programming. Once something on WTBS was over, the program on the other channels had already begun. So why not just keep it tuned to WTBS? Right, because you're not starting at the O'clock that the other programs would.

Smart. I like it. It never worked that way, but smart. They still do it. They still do it. I don't know. So, like, Nitro and all that would always be at O5. TBS.

Actually, I think it might have been only a TBS thing, not a TNT thing. So, it would have been Thunder on Wednesday. No, TNT was, like, even weirder. It would be, like, O3. There was, like, weird- Fucking Georgians. There was weird shit that would happen there. Yeah and by the way when I say Georgians I mean like people from Atlanta not the other Georgians. Right we can offend those. I don't want no Tbilisi smoke. You're about to get the smoke now.

Anything else or are we good? I feel like we're good, man. 3.30 hard. I mean. We do have another show coming up. We'll have Eddie Hearn. Oh, I see I always, wow, look at that! That was amazing. That was incredible.

Why does it always feel like I'm ready to go home and then you hit me? Cause you forget. I do forget. You literally forget. Why does it feel like I've ready to go home and then you hit me. Cause you forget. I do forget. You literally forget. Why does it feel like I've forgotten something you're reminding me? I don't know, maybe because you fucking forgot.

Can we see that again? That was amazing. Wow. Who's responsible for this? That's way better than the on the nose one that always is like, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, you know? Anyways, what do we got? Thanks. hard work readman right yes one countdown has began young young park booked for a per topology interview to bring Alex Tainara dance party in studio. Three, Tyra News, I'm happy, thank you.

Wow. I'm happy, thank you! I'm not really sure what the question is. There were several questions in there. That was just a terrible reading of it. Can we show that one more time? Yeah, one more time. Jun-Yong Park is booked per tapology.

Interview? Is there? Okay. Will you interview him? And then two, bring Alexia Thanera for a dance party in studio. Cool. And then-

Question mark. Is there news for Tatsu Rotara? I'm happy, thank you. Got it. I'm happy to go! By the way, haven't heard that one in a while, thank you. Feel like we just brought back the Chowewies too. Yeah, Frank.

That's not bad boy off. I'm happy to go! Wow, doubled up. It would be nice to, I mean, we have such a extensive library. Don't just stick to the same old, same old. Like, Darren Till, like, we've heard him, all right? Time to fudge it up.

Any answer for those three things? Who the fuck is we? Yeah, I got nothing. Well, I mean, Tyra Dance Party, sure, she's invited. June Young Park interview, Iron Turtle. Eileen Perez, let's invite her too. June Young Park, yeah, absolutely. He's a hard guy to get in touch with. And what's the other one? Tyra News?

Yeah, do you know anything about Tyra's next fight? You can get this though at arielhoany.com by the way. Just wanted to let you know. Two plugs of that. Yeah. Oh, that's good. What else? Brandon Moreno is my favorite fighter and I always wanted to know about his walkout song. It was a song written for him. It's an amazing song. Where did it come from? Can you please ask him if he comes on? Deal. I don't know the details

but the next time he's on, please remind me. Who's that Mike? Was it Mike? Correct. Yeah Mike. Mike D specifically. Hit us up again, this time for like, and if it's the second time, it has to be for like 25 or up, just for the record, and then we'll be sure to remember. What else? This is Wade Maligan, right? It's quite one for New York, Rick. Have you been following the times of Australians fronting phenom Gout Gout? Looks good for LA 28.

Oh yeah, of course I mean he's talking about all the Usain Bolt comparisons maybe you know maybe one of our own is about to do some big things on the big stage so shout out to the Gout sufferers out there and Gout Gout the legend. He's one of our own. He actually just went sub 20 in the 200 meter. Is that true? Yeah. They're literally comparing him to Usain Bolt. Gout Gout is about to eat the man. Legend. Oh, yeah, I'll be there. Will you guys be there? We're there. If Gout Gout's there, I'm there. Hopefully. So, well, Wyatt Hendrickson, what else? That's all she wrote. Oh, alright.

Usually before the last one you say, and the last one, so I don't have to say that and it gets all awkward. Okay. We do have a show coming up in about 90 minutes. I was saying Eddie Hearn, Big Frank Warren, that is, Darren Barker and Jim Lampley joining us to remember the life of the late great George Foreman. Tomorrow's program. You ready for this, my friends?

Tomorrow on the program we've got the artist formerly known as Baron Corbin, formerly of WWE, the legend known as Norma Dumont, the absolute stud known as Charles Dubronc's Olivera and joining us in studio for what I do believe is his first interview since UFC 313, Po-A-Tan himself, Alex Pereira and the Legend Plinyo Cruz in studio that's tomorrow on the program. Remember when we started like, oh you may not have enough guests to book. Eww, there aren't enough people. Eww, you've burned too many bridges.

Eww, running out of guests. What do you say now? When you read comments, is that the voice that you give them in your mind? They haven't heard you break that one out in a while. Yeah. Listen, Jordan and I don't think he's ever heard it before. He's like, what is this? Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions.

Daddy-O, thank you very much to our guests today. Raul Rosa, Steve Versaig, Vadim, and David Taylor. Thanks so much to them thanks to you back later today peace I'm out here