The Ariel Helwani Show - Conor McGregor hints at retirement (again), UFC lightweight title sweepstakes, UFC London musings | The Craic

Episode Date: March 28, 2025

There was a lot of negativity around last week’s London event, so it was only fair for Petesy and Chuck to have veteran U.K. journalist Chisanga Malata back on to give his firsthand impression of what it was like to be in The o2 to witness Sean Brady’s dominant win over Leon Edwards, that put the cherry on top of a rough night for the Brits (1:50).Following the UFC London debrief, Chuck and Petesy give their thoughts on the lightweight title picture and weigh in on who should fight Islam Makhachev next, Ilia Topuria or Charles Oliveira (30:47).Finally, the lads move on to Conor McGregor’s run for Irish presidency, and whether his latest comments mean that we’ve seen the last of “The Notorious” as a combat sports athlete (49:46).

Welcome everybody once again. It is Friday. That can only mean one thing. It is the crack and we are back crackheads. How are you all? Bit of an old disappointing weekend there last weekend. We gave it the whole College Troy to to whet the appetite for UFC London last weekend, as you've probably heard, a lot of people not too happy with how it went.

Of course, Sean Brady with a domination of Leon Edwards in the main event. We're going to be talking to Chasanga Malata of The Sun at the very top of the show. All about that. But fear not. We have some more current news to talk about as well. What the hell is going on at 155 pounds? I mean, we've got a fantastic champion there. And we've got two fantastic contenders who both seem to think they're going to fight him. That's Ilya Toporya and of course, Charles, Dubranque's Olivera.

But not a lot of people seem to know what's going on. We're going to talk all about that with the great Chuck Mendenhall in a matter of moments. So yes, we have a lot to talk about. Oh, and not to mention another return from Conor McGregor, perhaps. We heard him speaking at BKFC last night. The presidential run may interfere with him ever fight again or, or is it in fact a reason why he wants to fight again? Um, so mixed messages there from Le Champ Champ. Uh, we're going to talk about it all on the show.

Of course you have the big Mexico city card tomorrow, a massive, massive card for a live crowd, not at the apex. A lot to be excited about. The boys in the back did a fantastic job of teeing that one up for you yesterday. If you have not checked it out, please do. But let's get on with it. Let's talk about what happened at UFC London, sifting through the debris. I'd call it at this stage.

Let's welcome back to Sangamalata and Chuck Mendel on lads. How are yous? You know, I love yous. It's been a long week since I saw you. Chuck, how are you getting on? This is a nice trio, man. I kind of, I kind of liked this. I think we should always just bitch about this London card to

start every show from now on. Have bring it to song. We just bitch about it the whole time. What do you think? That sounds like a great idea to me. Talk about the car. Can we not just talk about the presidential bid from Connor for about 15 minutes? Alright, that's the crack, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for joining us once again. But cheers. We got to ask you, right? Because we weren't there and usually we'd have a better sense of everything if we were there. We did, of course, watch the car. I don't think any of us are coming at this from the angle of, well, what is everyone talking about? That was magic. Like it was, it was noticeably flat on the TV. Um, before we ask you, we do have some tweets to show you here from some of our UK colleagues, uh, the great fight disciples, Nick, Pete and Adam Catterall.

Um, it is Andy today helping us, uh, not on Air Jordan, but, uh, here it is from Nick Pete first UFC was broken tonight. Very few moments, tons of decisions and heavy wrestling dominated the octagon. Cavanaugh V dos Santos best fight were performance from Shawna, Alexia and Chris Duncan atmosphere was flat, zero energy in the room all night. And that is from Nick P. And let's talk, let's see what his colleague Adam Adam Cattrall on the fight disciples had to say. I've lost count of the amount of UFC events I've attended and worked on, says Cattrall.

I can't remember one ever being as lackluster as that. Chisanga, tell me you were probably in your seat there. You know, they love Chisanga. They give him the best seat in the house. He has, you know, he's a big dude. So he starts threatening people to bring them biscuits and sandwiches. I've been that guy before it's terrifying. So you just get the man what he needs. But they bring him like plastic sheets so he can catch the blood and it doesn't get on his clothes. They're very nice. They treat them so well. Just like it. Tell me I had a lot of stock and bollocks.

Or was this a bit of a shit show? It was a bit of a shit show. Although I think the energy to begin with was, um, was quite high. People were excited. There were a lot of people in their seats for the prelims. Um, and the first one was obviously Kaye Fernandez against, um, Guram Kutatiladze. Listen to that pronunciation. We'll catch that in editing. No, yeah, there were like the arena, I'll probably say was nearly half or three

quarters full for the prelims of people were excited. What you have to remember is that, um, there's the UFC hadn't been to London for two years, cause obviously they opted to go to Manchester last year for their annual visit to the UK. So there was a lot of excitement and the Fernandez could, the Ladzik fight did deliver to certain bit as did the Keelan Loughran win over Nathan Fletcher and the back to back Irish wins, I should actually say. Yes.

Sean about back from a head kick from hell to submit Pudja Tomar. But. Undefeated in 2025, not for nothing. I know it's a tough time for the UK. I'm just saying Ireland undefeated in 2025. Go ahead. You just got that in there. Drink.

This is a drinking thing. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Three and a half. Two and a half and oh, there was a bit of energy in the room then, but, um, the Christine Leroy Duncan fight against Andrei Puleyev, and Puleyev just didn't want to engage with Duncan whatsoever. That started to set the tone for the night.

Although the Taibura Mick Parkin fight was exciting, I personally thought Mick Parkin did enough. And then you had the Lorna Cabernet fight against a man who I like to liken to mini Charles Oliveira. Obviously, he's part of the shootbox team, the DIA team, and Felipe Santos. But then it kind of started to, there was another lull during the Chris Padilla-Jai-Harbert fight. Chris Padilla wasn't really, again, engaging. And that fight didn't really kick off until like the last 20, 30 seconds when Jai hurt him with a knee and cut open his eyebrow. In terms of overall buzz and prolonged buzz for the... I probably would say this is...

And I don't mean to be disrespectful to any of the combatants. I admire them, all of them, but I'd probably say this was the, um, energy wise in the arenas is probably the most lackluster since 2017. And, uh, UFC London 2017 was, uh, the, the great Jimmy Manor against Corey Anderson. Uh, we were sat cage side for that PC. Uh, I scrubbed that one from my memory.

Quite as close back then. Um, I think our romance started the following summer around the Bellator London slash URC Liverpool time. And you remember that was back to back. We had to go from London up to Liverpool, but anyway, I'm digressing, but yes, I probably say that was the most lackluster in

terms of fan energy and, uh, lack of moments since, uh, since that card in 2017. It's kind of crazy guys. Not that long ago, we were putting together like hotbeds. I did one this year too, and I still included England, I believe I'd have to look at this, like the hotbeds of where the UFC should go. So it's always a shame when you see like one of the, the top markets kind of. You know, fine, like go through an apathetic event because it's always a shame when you see like one of the, the top markets kind of, you know, find like go through an apathetic event because it does have a lingering

effect. You remember like the Montreal events that they used to have, the UFC would go to Montreal fairly frequently, but it was usually a GSP type of thing. But as they kind of went down the stretch and I remember being there with Ariel, of course he's from there, but we were, it was the, for the Demetrius Johnson fighting, Quentin Rampage Jackson was like the co-main event and it was just the crowd. Like you're used to these crowds every time you're in Canada that are just this big infectious thing that you knew would be, you know, emanate out to the world.

And everybody be like, do that. They should go there. Remember Dana would be like, we'll come here every single weekend. And it felt like that was the moment that it just kind of, you know, it just kind of went away. And it is a shame, man, because, you know, I think that when we're looking at some of these cards that have happened recently, and we're talking about the golden era of the UK, like, it just feels like it's building

and building this the first time it didn't feel like it was building. And part of that was a little bit of a smoke screen, right? Because you're looking at the crowd and then you see as Pizzi pointed out in his piece this week, the guys who actually probably are the hopes, if they're on this card, this is a whole different scenario, right? Like if they have out there fights on this card, that's a whole different scenario and Patty Pimlet, Tom Aspinall.

So there was this weirdness to it, but it was really just, it was just not a, um, it just didn't feel like a celebration. Usually when they're going into a night like that, the crowd gets behind it, but the Molly McCantham, man, it was just, it was just not a, um, it just didn't feel like a celebration. Usually when they're going into a night like that, the crowd gets behind it. But the Molly McCantham, man, it was just, I felt like it started to nosedive there. Either you go into that Carlos Oldberg fight and it was like dead on arrival, man. Like it was just nothing happened in that fight. And then that set up the really depressing main event for the, you know, for London. So it just kind of spiraled at some point and never recovered.

It seemed to me. Would you agree with that, Shashanga? Yeah, you know, for London. So it just kind of spiraled at some point and never recovered. It seemed to me. Would you agree with that, Shashanga? Yeah, no, a hundred percent. I agree with that notion. I think in UFC London's, recent UFC London's, we've always had like a moment in the pre-lens that has set the tone. It's almost kind of like, almost kind of like,

you know, MSG, there's always something in the pre-lens that sets the tone for the rest of the night and the atmosphere is absolutely electric and We we didn't really have that from a UK perspective obviously Sean abandoned came back in emphatic fashion and then there was the great third round between Nathan Fletcher and well the end of The third round between Nathan Fletcher and Kielan Loughran But there just wasn't that that moment that lit the blue touch paper that made the fans, that reignited the rabid support and the rabidness of the fans, which we're used to seeing, and which prompted Dana White to do two events in 2022.

Just saying, can I ask something? Because on this card, when we talked about it, we had you on, we were talking, you come into it and you're like, there's a little bit of like, watch out, this could be one of these types of cards. Because we saw, you know, you get Sean Brady involved, we're talking about him having 20 minutes of control time in his two previous fights and you're like, this has the writing of like something that could be very depressing. But did it feel like the sense of foreboding, like within that crowd, the one that showed up on Saturday, did that, did

that exist because it felt almost like, you know, you've got like, you're splitting eights against the 10 on the blackjack to be like this, that's what I'm supposed to do, but this feels like a bad idea, you know, like, like, so you buy these tickets at whatever they were 350 pound, like the cheapest, and you know, that deep down that this could be the result, right? Like I felt like that was the writing was on the wall here. Yeah, I think, I think that was the case, especially when, when I dashed back to the bathroom as PT knows I have to go to, uh,

You have three lads to carry them probably. Take me now. And they wheel, they wheel them back there. Yeah. I've done multiple times, but kids obviously consume lots of, uh, toilet paper. Pan just comes up. Yeah. They wheel them back there. Toilet paper. Just comes up. It's a diuretic, so obviously.

And, uh, the casual, the casual fans, you can always tell the casual fans, um, because the conversations that they're having, the, um, the sense that Leon could get dominated, I didn't get that from them. They were just like, oh, Leon's gonna knock them out, just headshot dead and what have you. But the ones that were in the know, especially some of the ones who I spoke to before the weigh-ins and just before when we were queuing up to get our credentials on this Saturday, a lot of them were a bit nervy. They were like, this isn't really the fight that we want for Leon. He's drawn the short straw and one of the guys mentioned this, the complete dominance that Sean had over Gilbert Burns in the last fight.

He was fighting against Kelvin and a lot of them were worried about the confidence that Leon would have going into this. Obviously he got well and truly dominated by Bilal Bar, the final 30 seconds to a minute of round five last July. But yeah, once the tone was kind of set with the lack of usiness and the lack of moments and the lack of results going our way. That fear and concern for Leon, you could just feel it building and just fans

were on edge and yeah, they weren't as excited. So yeah, it was there. And it really came to the fore the second round. Blastable. Like immediately, like there was zero hesitation. It was, it was crazy. Yeah. It's interesting. You bring up Leon and obviously we had conversations about Leon in the lead up to this fight and we're like, we're expecting something big that didn't happen.

Um, and of course, Sean Brady, fantastic. Just brilliant. Just immediately emerges in that title fray. But I think the conversation about Leon is very interesting because it's not so long ago since I was asking everyone in the UK scene, like, is he the greatest UK fighter of all time? And they'd be like, yeah, most people are like, yeah, he has more, he has more defenses.

He has an emphatic win in that title fight. And we've seen a completely different, um, revision of his legacy in the aftermath, which is not completely out of sorts with, uh, MMA in general. Right. Like we, we even with Brady on the flip side of this, we're like, immediately put them into the title shot, disregarding Shavka. Oh, I know. I'm guilty of that too.

So, uh, listen, no heroes here, but, um, it's an Etch A Sketch every single week. Etch A Sketch. It's like, yeah, I think we have a, I think we have a clip of Din Thomas. Um, if I'm not mistaken, Andy, um, speaking about Leon Edwards here, cause I think he is a very balanced take, but compared to the rest of people I've seen, well, definitely compared to the rest of the people have seen, if we have it, we should roll it now if we can Andy

Where does Leon go we do with him now? It's tough man Because I don't want this to be disrespectful towards Leon because I still believe that skill for skill and like his body type and all That he was a great champion. He's a great fighter He's still top five material But I just don't think that Leon is in his heart a real true fighter and I say that like in terms of like Justin Gagee and Dustin Poirier like these guys will fight you in a parking lot. He's an athlete I think he's an athlete and I think he's a performer. I think he's creative. I think in the gym

He's probably eats up everybody in the gym. Yeah, just super magical I just think when the lights come on and it's time for him to really fight I think despite not being a true fighter, he was still that good. Only they could get by with saying that man. I mean, we try, we try saying something like that and then we all turn into a fighter and punch me in the nose, you know? But I mean, I think, I think what Dan said, like, you know, of course Dan's very balanced and that's from the on paper podcast. I should say, but Anthony Smith, he's doing a great job with that. Um, but I've seen a lot worse, if I'm being honest, I've been seeing

people like he never was this guy was never good. Um, he was the worst champion of all time. Like we got to remember when we're talking about this golden era, right? Just saying, like a massive part of it was him winning that fucking belt. So for lads to be just suddenly like, ah, never a good fighter when just, I think last year were like the greatest UK fighter of all time, that seems like a bit of a, a pearl clutching statement to make, right? Yeah, I think so.

I think people are well and truly over the top with the revisionist history of Leon Edwards's legacy at 170 pounds. I I saw a multitude of tweets basically saying that uh is the worst worst champion in UFC history or what have you and I mean it's just absolutely nonsense he knocked out the former pound for pound king out cold fair enough he was losing the fight, but obviously he set up that crosshead kick. That was not a fluke. It wasn't as if he closed his eyes and just threw a head kick and then it landed and he was completely shocked.

He obviously set that kick up strategically and you can hear the audio of his coach, Henry Kilmanson and Fabian Edwards calling for it and him listening and him executing. And then obviously he beat the former pound for pound king again, with the aid of a fence grab or two in that fight. I'm not going to lie and be

but you can't say that he is a fraud or not a true fighter, because I mean, if if he wasn't a true fighter, he would have basically quit on the stool in the fourth round against Kamaru Usman when his lungs are burning, when the altitude is getting to him and his coach is giving him the what's what and basically questioning the cojones that he has. That disappointed me from from din tonus Who's not biased in any way shape or form? Part of Sean Brady's team, but yeah the revisionist history around Leon Edwards is as you say it's massive massive pearl-clutching and Need to put some respect in his name because as you say Arguably the best UK fighter of all time, two title defenses, obviously Bisping could only, uh, mustered the one and he beat the pound for pound King twice in a row.

And obviously he went, was it 11 fights undefeated? 13. It was 13, I think. Yeah. And the crazy thing about the, how do you, when you, when you call a guy a fraud who had 13 undefeated, like undefeated, I think the one obviously with Bilal was, uh, was a no contest, but still you go that, but what are you saying that they're all frauds because he had to beat frauds then if he's, if he's a fraud, it's just such, it's such madness, man. When he beat Kamara Usman, Usman was the very top, we were having conversations about Usman in the GSP sphere. You know, we were talking about that stuff when he pulled that off, obviously it was very like, okay, he earns his nickname.

He's Rocky gets it very late. Like it's a crazy name, but then he backs it up. I'm like, as far as I'm concerned, man, that feat by itself, we love to talk about Ilya Toporya going through two guys. Um, and that's therefore he kind of, and I know we're talking about this later pizza, but like this, therefore it puts him above all else because he's done this crazy feat to me, that was one of the crazy feats that we've seen, beating a guy twice who was, had the, it was on the verge of feeling invincible at that point.

So ridiculous revisionist history, man. And it's kind of offensive after a while, man. It's like, come on, the guy, the guy lost some fights. If he's fighting top competition, he took this fight, you know, under weird circumstances too. I know it wasn't like an ideal camp. He was training for a different guy. Cut them some slack on this. I'll wait until the next one before we start to really, uh, really project where

Leon is at this point in his career. Yeah. I mean, like I agree with what you're saying, the legacy thing, but like it is, he is in dodgy terrain now. Like if he wasn't going into that Sean Brady fight. And I think it's unfair to be like, whatever happens after this title run, you know, is going to completely sabotage, you know, what happened and what we all saw during those times was unbelievable.

Like even, like even when you think about it, BJ Penn had a horrific end to his, to his career. Yeah. I know BJ's going through a lot at the moment, but I'm using it as an example because when we talk about the greatest lightweights of all time, we still talk about BJ, peak BJ Penn was absolutely unbelievable. So to be suddenly like, because he's lost to two fantastic fighters, like, Oh, wow, it's gone. It's, it's absolutely crazy.

You guys think it's because you get like so much turnover in the fan base. Like you get like, in just these two last fights, there's probably fans that feel like they're diehards right now who've probably seen two of his fights. They were the two losses. They are very vocal about what they've seen and they don't know it. I mean, I feel like there's always this refreshing, like, um, you know, like this replenished or whatever you want to say, fan base, it's always kind of turning over people come in and dip their toe and leave others become diehards.

It's weird. Isn't it? Like, I feel like I see this all the time. Yeah, it is. It is very strange. Um, do you, do you have any fear, uh, just, just saying that we are nearing the end of this golden era? Like I know I wrote about it and again, just look around the cage,

even outside of the UFC, I've decoded the chaver there. It was absolutely unbelievable who I think a lot of people want to see in the UFC. Patty Pimla has this massive fight with Michael Chandler. Who could I really think that just catapults him into the total conversation, which we're going to talk about later, which is very messy and someone's going to need plays in hold that thought. I mean, there's a lot to talk about later, which is very messy. And someone's going to need plays in hold that thought. I mean, there's a lot to that. Yeah.

But I mean, are you worried as a guy who has been covering this sport when it wasn't so big? And then you've watched it like climb Everest to become one of the most talked about sports at certain times in the country. Like we, we keep referring to March, uh, 2022 when Volkow's like going to eight different countries to get into fight, uh, Tom when Volkoff's like going to eight different countries to get into fight, uh, Tom hospital. And it's just a magic event.

I can remember ringing you guys were on the ringer MMA show back then. I was calling them guys, Lozano, like this is the best one I've been at. I've been at them all early and this one was absolutely insane. Like, are you starting to worry like, shit, if, if this Tom fight doesn't happen, maybe if, if Patty doesn't beat Chandler, Ooh, we are in, we are up shits creek without a paddle then. Yeah, well I didn't think of it that way. I understand the fear and concern. They're obviously pique some troughs with any with any sport. And I wouldn't say I wouldn't say we're we're in a trough at the moment,

because the narrative around the Golden Age of UK MMA could change as soon as next week. If Lauren Murphy does a job on Josh Emmett in the world famous apex, a fight that really should have been on this card, but yeah But that's another conversation and Well, I know that when he doesn't have a fight yet, but if he is still right there, yeah He's so right there exactly Mentioning there. We've got Patty Pimmel it who is on the precipice of

Not just a title shot, but global superstardom. If he was to go out there and take out Michael Chandler and in a phatic fashion, he literally steals all the thunder that Chandler has accumulated since 2021. Yeah, he's got all the makings of a superstar. He's got the look, he's got the Scouse accent, he's brash, he's backed up so far in the UFC. So if he wins, I think we're right back up there. And then obviously, if this Tom fight

happens with John Jones, then the sport is going to be in a different stratosphere here. And even if Tom loses against John, he's going to become the champion really. Because John will likely walk away from this poor after this fight, I think, unless he's going to fight Poetan. But that depends on whether Big Ankh does another number on that. Who would have thought that Ankh alive holds the key to John Jones prolonging his career. But yeah, almost to lose to John, John will probably leave and then Tom is the next best guy there. And then having having a champion in any sport is massive in particular combat sports, but having a heavyweight champion is something completely different. So for the heavyweight champion, especially to come

from the small town of Atherton and Wigan, uh, which is just outside of Manchester, Chuck, if you, uh, if you're wondering, you're. Well, you know, he knows it. Yeah, I know. I know it well. They don't, they don't serve domestic America might beer there apparently. Cause PC turned Tom Aspin all onto that from what I remember. That's correct.

But while we're on this, do you have a couple of more minutes? Uh, we'll get a couple of more minutes? Uh, we'll get you out of here in five chairs. Yeah. Are you okay for five more? Okay. Um, we're just going to roll this clip of Tom so he can ask you like, because he came on the Ariel O'Wanney show.

I know all of you guys on the ground were dying to hear about, uh, the progress of these negotiations, which you knew were very crucial this week. Here's what he said to Ariel. We talked everything through, you know, Hunter, um, has always been extremely which you knew were very crucial this week. Here's what he said to Ariel. We had a fantastic meeting. Everything went amazing. I understand my position now. I understand what the company is doing now. And you got to stay tuned, my friend. There's some big news coming. Well, Giz, where do we think we're sitting here?

Like, I mean, it sounds positive, but there's also, you know, we probably wanted a bit more closure here. How are we feeling? I'm optimistic. Um, I'm, I'm, I'm optimistic that this fight is happening. I think, uh, well, Tom was the first one to reveal, um, and he just did it ever. So candidly during his, uh, UFC three 13 reaction video that John had basically come to terms with the UFC after demand and fuck you money

It'll be interesting to see how much he's actually being paid for that and whether it's commensurate to the fact that he's Arguably the greatest of all time But Tom wouldn't be He looks he looked happy he looked like he was trying to contain the news Like he has a promise ring. He's wearing his promise ring. It looked like he was just trying to keep it all in and so that he didn't say anything and reveal anything. So I'm optimistic this fight is going to happen.

It's not going to happen in International Fight Week. That's my opinion. Like, unless they've convinced John to shelve this proposed six month plan, which outrageous to begin with, because you know, this is the guy you're going to be fighting, you've known since November, what was it November? Yes. Well, when you quote Steve, you know, yeah. So, um, I think we're probably going to see this fight. The fall. And would it be November?

I'm not saying anything, but I'm just, it feels like they're kind of gunning towards that. I don't know. We're nearly going to get a no comment there. That's just anger. Look, he's I'm a big fan of staying English in New York. That was a great song that Tom came out to do that on yourself.

I think you'd do a great cover version to be honest. Oh, you don't, you don't want to hear these vocal cords and more of a Barry white impersonator. Um, right. We know you got to let you go here. One final question before we do. Do you think that this will affect the UFC's? Which is more than like more than more often than it is an annual show, the March one.

It's ruined every St. Patrick's Day of my life for the vast majority of it. And I'm just wondering, like, do you think this will affect them coming back in March or will they come back and go harder? I think they'll come back and go harder. If you can sell the seats in the gods for 250 pounds to 300 pounds a pop and keep setting record fight nightgates each time you're coming back. And have people cheering no less when you announce it.

Yeah, we paid a stupid amount of money to be here. There's no way in hell that they're going to miss out on that. I think it was like 4.1 million or 4.2 million. Yeah. money to be here. There's no way in hell that they're going to, uh, miss out on that. I think it was like 4.1 million or 4.2 million. There's no way they're going to miss out on that. They would literally, yeah, they'll couple together whatever main event, uh, they can, even, even if it's like, look, we've had Verdu versus Volkov

headline UFC lineman and it's been sold out. Um, so yeah. They got to get Mohammed Mohammed Makhayev back on the prelims, man, for these things. That's the key. Unfortunately, sorry for karate combat. Oh, he's gone. I know I saw that.

Yeah. I saw the, uh, the teasing of the accolades. And as soon as you saw the, uh, three time IMF champion, you were like, well, we know who it is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. But, Chiz, pleasure as always. You did great work all week and you always do. And we'll probably see in November in New York.

And this people is by no way in any way, shape or form. Don't clip it off and say that. this people is by no way in any way shape or form don't clip it off and say that they were reporters pizzi carroll uh chomping in the home just anglin muller have confirmed the day come to that all speculation at this moment go ahead and run with it guys it's going to be november clip it off clip it off right now cheers you're a legend man thank you so much hope to have you on again great to talk to you man thank you for having me on gents i really appreciate it Great to talk to you on. Pleasure for having me on James. I really appreciate it.

Well, there he was. I mean, what a, what a chat it always is, which is he survived. He survived it. That's good. He does a great job. I was going to ask you, like, how did you feel about that? As long before we move on to this 55 thing, like, are you confident or is there a part of you like, I'd be more confident if I had a date or

he pushed us towards a date or something like that. I mean, it's always, I've said this before with John Jones, there's always a little bit of a skepticism in terms of, we know it's hard to kind of get on the same page with the UFC and John Jones. We've seen it plenty of times before. And then there are, he's always got things going on, you know, and I, hopefully we're past those days. Hopefully like everything's good with John Jones and his personal life, everything else. But I think it's always a wait and see, man. Like I, I want to be optimistic.

I do feel like the UFC is putting in its effort to make it happen. And I think if the UFC is committed to making it happen, obviously they're the ones opening the pocketbook. Um, I think that they'll get it done, but I do think it probably ends up when you look at the cards, the way they'll shake out. This is where I love having Ariel on because he's always got his ear to grain, he's talking to the camps behind the scenes and all this. But I think that, um, November would make sense to me, given that timeframe and everything else, I know that's a long time and that's for poor Tom Haspinal that's forever because the guy just wants to, uh, to get this thing done.

But to me, that seems like, you know, John being from upstate New York, coming back to New York always means big deal to him. Um, I think that's probably where it ends up. Yeah. Yeah. I'm more confident than I was. I think the fact that the UFC are having these conversations, they seem to want to make it happen.

I know they always did, but, um but really, really hope we get it. And from one total conundrum to another joke. And I think we did flag this one, you know, as soon as Ilya arrived, I think we were all going to saying, well, there's an Olivera issue here. You know, I can remember at the time when Ilya announced it, Ariel was kind of saying, well, it kind of feels like they've promised Olivera this shot. Um, but there was also kind of like, Hey, there's no way he would vacate that title if he wasn't getting a title shot. Right.

Exactly. Right. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And look, he is, I feel like the biggest fight you can make right now. If you're Islam Makarchev is with Ilya Toporia, but a lot of, and as the lads pointed out yesterday, they did a far greater kind of a look at the lightweight picture with Gagey and Armand and all these guys, I've isolated

Charles and Ilya because I feel like if it's, if it's not either of them, people are going to lose their shit. Yeah. I mean, you know, I agree with you. Like he has earned it, but that's just not how this game works. Let's be honest. The UFC does not work this way. Before we get going ourselves, I believe we have a video of Charles kind of talking

about the situation. I believe Ariel was asking him about like, you know, a rematch with Ironman, would that appeal to you? And I believe we have that video on the, don't we? One other name I wanted to ask you about, because it seemed like some people thought maybe it would be you and Armin, Armin Tsurukian in a rematch, you fought at UFC 300.

Is that a fight that interests you? Would you like to get that one back? Have you ever had people mention Armin, the one you fought in UFC 300? Would you be interested in revisiting this fight? No, not at this moment, it was as I told you, I respect him a lot, he's a great fighter, but I'm in the lead of a title, so it's but right now I'm seeking the title. That's, that's the fight that I want. I want to fight for the title.

That's it. That, that seems like a man who, like you just mentioned earlier, has a promise ring, right? Like this, there's a reason why he is not, you know, there's a reason why he's keeping himself on this track. He doesn't seem to want to even express an interest in anyone else. And that would say to me that he definitely believes that this Islam fight is a real, real possibility.

Chuck, am I reading it wrong? No, I think you're probably reading it right. But I always kind of wonder like when it comes to Charles Olivera, especially in the situation, like why, you know, and I'm sure that the UFC has indicated that he's next, but circumstances change, you mentioned like it's a business and you know, they've got big business happening all through this year. I'm not sure that he's the bigger fight. I mean, I think Charles Oliveira where what he's accomplished and what he's

become in Brazil is phenomenal. Like it's nobody, nobody thought he would get this high, but it is a little weird. I mean, you look at it and you're like, well, he has that lost Armand. In his last five fights, he's three and two. He's already lost to Islam, you know, it's like, he's like, he's got this, it's not exactly the credentials to say like, I'm in the pole position here, but yet he is. And I guess, like, I guess he's in, it's almost like in this fuck, like this, um, grandfatherly way, like, you know, legend let him go almost in the Dustin Poirier

sense when he kind of got boosted into the title shot. I don't know if that's necessarily the best thing for the OC at this point. Like I love Charles Olivera, but even on the, even on the first fight of like this five, right, like he, he misses weight and he stripped of his title. It's like, he comes with his own red flags. If you're, if you're punishing a guy like Armand for, uh, you know, coming up ill or whatever happened to him, like, uh, or, or getting hurt last minute and saying like, Nope, back to back of the line.

I'm not sure why Charles gets the pole position ahead of a guy like Ilya who has that head of steam. That's, that's a gets the pole position ahead of a guy like Ilya, who has that head of steam. That's, that's a really good point. That is a really good point. And we all, we know that every fighter is not born equal in the eyes of Dana White and the UFC press. I think that he has proven now to be the kind of star that the UFC is like, Hey

man, he's a, he's a good draw too. So I'm not saying that he doesn't, I'm not saying that he's like an automatic push him to the side in the sense like, uh, you know, balala or Leon where they're always like, I don't know, man, we're, you know, but I do think that. If you're just looking at it, you're just looking at the logic of it. You're like, I don't have sure that Charles has the best case here. Hmm. No, I agree with you.

Excuse me. best case here. Hmm. No, I agree with you. Excuse me. Um, Ilya met the Spanish press yesterday and the lads talked about this obviously like very strong man quotes, like, you know, Ilya, like he has the whole thing going on, doesn't he? He's like a fucking Roberto Duran or something.

I'm already the fucking champion. He's telling them, listen, don't worry about these lad. It's either him or it's him on the champ. Here's the quote here. And he's just put it up for us. All my training is really focused on Islam or Charles because I don't see any other opponents, neither of them. Neither of them seems to dare to fight me.

It was just like, they asked him about Islam. He's like, ah, he's afraid of me. When all those fails chicken, you know, the most bad motherfuckers of the planet. He, that guy, he's afraid of me. When all else fails, chicken, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The most bad motherfuckers of the planet. He, that guy, he is afraid of me. But I love this stuff. I love how Ilya's coming at this. I do feel- Ilya's juice though, has got to be very close, right?

Like the toporia, like taking toporia's juice would be like pretty close. I'm not saying entirely, because we're talking about the best pound for pound guy in the game in Islam. But dude, Tupori is on top of the game too right now. If I'm Charles Olivera to me, I'm like, you know, I could be the guy to go shut that down quickly too. You know, I know that that's not an easy task, but that's gotta be somewhat tempting, right?

Yeah. That that that's what doesn't really, it's both guys being like, it's this or nothing nearly like, you know, you feel, well, I feel, I don't feel Ilya saying that, but I do feel as though we're in this situation and I don't know how many times we've discussed this. How long have we doing shows together? Like four, four years. Yeah.

Um, and I feel like we've hit this kind of thing so many times where it's like, if you don't make this fight now, you're going to regret it. You're going to regret it. And that's, look, there's a lot of mystery. And again, I always bring this up when Rick was comparing the height of Volkanovsky and Ilya and then kind of saying like, this is the kind of frame we're going to be looking at against Islam. I think Ilya is class.

I think he's absolutely brilliant, but to run the risk of him fighting a Charles and potentially taking this fight away from the fans, the Islam fight. I think that is crazy. That's a great point. There's, okay. What you're pointing out is something that's very important in the sense that in the game, this goes back to like Ronda Rousey and some of the ones that we've seen come up, as long as the casual eye can still catch it's a sense of invincibility.

It goes a long way. So like you have two guys right now, and I know even in our rankings, both guys sit very high. I think Islam's number one in the pound for pound and Tapoya is right in there too. I don't know where exactly where he's at. I'd have to look. I think he's up there because Pereira dropped out, right? But it's very rare, right? For you to be able to put two guys that are consensus in that top space together. It's, it's almost in the John Jones Cormier sense from way back in the day,

it felt almost impossible to imagine either guy losing. And I think that that's where you're, that that's why when you're talking about captivating the imagination, this fight is at its peak because you have a guy, I don't think that what what Ilya has done, especially just you know from Spain, you know, just all the things that we've been talking about, just how he's been celebrated, his victory laps have been sort of epic, but beating guys like that, you know, the pillars of that division back to back, you're never going to get that circumstance again, where he's literally coming in as hot as he possibly can to the situation.

And then Islam, who I think people are now are craving to get any doubt thrown into the situation because unfortunately, Hanado Moikano, as great as we love him as a cult figure in the game, didn't produce that. He didn't give you a sense of like, this is going to be a bad night for Islam or very well could be. It didn't play out like that. I think that it gives you the thing you're missing. You know, like if Islam is not a natural, I know he does, he draws, but like if you're saying like charisma wise or like some kind of bravado wise, he's not an A side. Well, you have it. You have the foil. You have all of that. You put this together, dude. It's big business. And I agree with you, people, when you're looking at this, you almost have to think in these ways,

what is the one that's going to draw the most interest? And unfortunately for Charles, we have seen him lose, we've seen him come back. His story is way more nuanced to get to this point, right? Like he's had to overcome a lot and just his perseverance, but these aren't the types of things that are just these dynamic headlines. Like when you put the Ilya and Islam together, it doesn't get bigger right now. Do you think there's any way, like, and I'm only saying this is only according to me because we just had the conversation moments ago. Do you think there's any way that Islam is kind of saying, and I don't, I wouldn't put this against him if he was like, if you want me to fight this to poor you guy, I want a few, like, this is

a champion V champion fight. I've already done two of them for you with Volkonovsky. Like I want a few more quid, if you're going to put me in this situation, like this is going to be a, because it's just, it's just a strangeness that these two lads who could potentially be fighting don't seem to know who's fighting. And we aren't hearing a word from Islam really about it. You know, Islam is making no indication as to who he is fighting next. So I just wonder if there is a kind of an impasse in negotiations here with

Islam. I wonder that too, um, in a weird way also, you know, I know that he kind of, there was, you have to give him his kudos and talking about Islam for taking that fight with Maikana when the, you know, that, that whole fight card could have fallen apart you know John Jones back at UFC 151 did not want to fight Chael Son and remember and then the you know the whole or what was it 151 was one of those I get the numbers confused now you and Ari let the numbers goes I never remember this stuff you always do this but I think it was because it was 25 later

UFC 176 that also had a similar, like they just didn't happen. They were just scotched, you know, but uh, I think it was 151 where you didn't get, you didn't get the guy who's like, fine, I'll take the replacement. Let's just fight. I just want to make sure I fight. You have to give Islam his, uh, you know, his kudos for doing that. But at the same time, at the same time, there was a nice calculated risk because I think that he was going to beat, you know, I don't mean to discount Wakana, but that's a guy that I think he was like, I'm Taylor made to beat that guy. We got a bit of disruption here on Chuck's end. Sorry, mate.

Oh, you got me or are we good? Oh no. We just had a bit of an issue there, Chuck. You stalled out. You know, you were kind of talking like a robot. I liked it. I was entertained. I don't know how everyone else is feeling're, but you seem to be back now.

Give us a check. All right. Hey, hey, hey, you got me. I think we're just about there. We're just syncing up. We're syncing up here. All right. All right.

All right. Yeah. I think we're good. I think we're good. Um, listen, you probably made a fantastic point there. I probably did. Where, where was I at? I don't really know because I kind of got, it was kind of like listen to Daft Punk.

Do you know how you just catch the beat? You're like, do you know what? Hugh man, Hugh man. Enjoyed it a lot. I enjoyed it a lot. My point was you give like, I think that it was a calculated risk for Islam to take on Moikano. Okay. So that you give him his flowers, but at the same time, like it was calculated risk.

But if you look back at what he's done, like his last five guys, they're all, they've all been featherweights at one point, you know what I mean? Islam, it's not like from his, from his leverage standpoint, like we got to see him against a guy that's going to throw it out. I know the Volkanovsky did, but it was diminishing returns. The second one, all this stuff. I just think it's time for you to get the guy that we want to see him fight. Yeah. Like, I mean, for his legacy as well, to Puri, as hot as. I just think it's time for you to get the guy that we want to see him fight. Yeah.

And like, I mean, for his legacy as well, to Puri as hot as he is now, it's, it's a huge, huge win. I think you're right. I think people will say, well, look, he's just beating all these featherweights. It goes huge. He's a massive 154 of a book. That's the one I will say, would you be pissed off if you're really a now? Because you're kind of standing here going like, is this not the obvious fight to make?

And he also said in this meeting with the, with the Spanish press, the Spanish events not happening. Like this is, these are things that we're really excited about. Just a few months ago in January, we were like, yeah, Madrid is going to be magical. It's like the new crow park. All of a sudden we hear Dave Shaw saying, we're not going to be magical. It's like the new Crowe Park. All of us, we hear Dave Shaw saying we're not going to risk it. Uh, with a roof, like without a roof, as far as I knew they'd had a roof. And even if they didn't, I believe that there's arena at an arena.

Don't a Corby told me this because he went to see someone play there, a band play there of 20,000, like the same size. That's what they should do if they're going to go there. Anyway, they don't play. They generally just don't going to do one of these stadium shows. I don't think it interests them. They want the live experience to be what it is. And that's usually 20,000, right?

That's what they want. So that, that would be perfect. And as I've mentioned before, they have all these marketing deals with La Liga, La Liga, of course, the home of Real Madrid, Barcelona, that's the league they play in. It just all feels like an open goal. But if I'm, if I'm Ilya at the end of this, at the end of the year, you're probably laying this all out. Like this is going to be a, this is going to be a fucking huge year for formerly

known as El Matador now, Leenda, now the legend of he's a street in Toledo named after him, Bud M. Like this is a kind of a, I don't know, man. Am I, am I over egging this? Like it feels like a bit of a, like quite a setback moment we're in right now for, for Ilya. It is. And I mean, you look at it from his perspective, I was mostly speaking

from the Islam perspective, but if you go to Ilya's perspective, you're like, man, he has a chance to run the greatest three fight, you know, streak that we'd be probably seen in the sport. I would say that they have to be up there. When you're talking about knocking off two guys who'd just owned for five, six years, the featherweight division, and then coming in and beating the pound for pound to win a title in a different weight class against a guy who has that kind of iron rule that Islam does, that's historic. And I think that that would be the kind of catalyst to really make him get over. If he hasn't already, if the casual people aren't talking about him, they would then.

I think that the, so I think that the, you know, from that, from these perspectives, that's a big deal, isn't it? Like for him, like he's got what he's got at stake here is huge. You know? Yeah. Yeah. he's got what he's got at stake here is huge. You know? Yeah. Yeah. I'm just from a European perspective, like it's some of the best moments to cover when the UFC or a big event land.

Like, I mean, obviously there's the classic 2004 Dean, but even like 2022 in London, even though they'd be coming there for donkey's years, that felt like one of those moments where you're just catching lightning in a bottle. Like it was Paddy's going to come in. No party. It was Tom. It was the first time we're all in an arena since the pandemic. You know, it was the fan base had such a, an important role to play that night too.

And when I was speaking to guys in Spain about this and I was saying like, this is, this is where Ireland was at. Like you, you guys are right there and you have the guy now. And if you put it on this event, it's going to explode. You're these guys who've been working in MMA over there on the regional scene for the 10 years, there's something going to be thrown into like mainstream spots. It's, it's a crazy situation. You've seen it firsthand, baby. Yeah.

I mean, look, they still fucking keep me around here. It's unbelievable. Let me, let me bring something up to you. All right. Cause we touched on this earlier. Right. If so we're talking about Charles Olivera, like Charles, you know, we're going to, we're going to just push arm in a side.

We're going to push all this side. It's between Charles and Ilya, but Charles, if a kind of trampoline moment or like a, you know, it is exists for a guy to go back into contention and Olivera beat. Chandler. Right. That's who he beat. Shouldn't Patty Pimlet kind of be in the exact same spot then? Like say he goes right through Michael Chandler.

Now what are we talking about? Because let's say that they do go with Charles Olivera in that fight. What better thing could you do than Ilya versus Patti if he gets through Chandler? Like, wouldn't you, am I crazy? Like, I'm like, if Chandler is the common math to a contender and Patti goes through him. I mean, this could get wild, right? Like this is nuts. It's look, I'm so glad you said this joke.

It was, it was a week. We didn't have you on there about a month ago and I said this exact thing. Okay. And Ben folks, Shaheen Shaheen Alshadi laughing in my face. Look at this guy. What an idiot. They're like, Oh shut up, Pizzi. You, you can't. Is it too fast for Patty at this point? Come on. But like, I think, I think I understand the point based on where we're at right now. Okay. If you take the Chand based on where we're at right now. Okay. If you take the Chandler fight out of the equation right now, where Patty's at, I understand that that's crazy, but when this guy fights and he wins, shit goes crazy.

Like, like honestly, that night, that night at the, the, the co-op live, when he did that to Bobby green, like Bobby green isn't a guy that's ever been around the title, title stakes at lightweight. You know, I know he's, he got bumped up there at one stage. He took a short notice, but when, when Patty B him, it felt like the biggest win of all time. And if he beats Chandler, a guy, even the casual fans, people know Chandler because he was in this McGregor sweepstakes for two years.

He's the guy he's meant to fight. This will be even bigger. So if you're stuck at a loose end and you're like, we have to look, we promised Charles this fight. Ilya, would you fight Paddy Bimblett? I think Paddy's coming up to it's like only 10 or what is it like two weeks away? So two weeks. So it's like, no, but it's also from Ilya's point of view, that's a way safer option than having to fight someone like Justin Gagey in his mind at least. Sure. He's been saying I'd smoke this guy for years, right? Exactly.

That's what I'm saying. It's like, and they have the bad blood. I'm just saying, man, in the, in the strangeness of our sport, like that is not the craziest thing that could happen. And if we're, I mean, it's justifiable if Charles Olivera has earned, you know, going three and two, um, in his last five fights, but in, but he beats. All of era, you know, in this kind of close fight, but that, you know, Hey, he's definitively a, uh, you know, punched his ticket back in.

There's no reason that Patty can't catapult. That's the word I was looking for earlier into that spot. You know, I love your column back to that yourself. That's brilliant. Um, yeah, look, it's an interesting situation. Um, it's, it feels like we're in a lot of these situations waiting for things to happen, but they are very exciting things. So we have to be willing to wait, disappointed to hear about Spain.

I hope they can sort that out. things, so we have to be willing to wait, disappointed to hear about Spain. I hope they can sort that out. Um, we have an update from Conor McGregor. Yeah. I believe this is his fourth retirement. I'm not too sure. Maybe fifth. Um, I know he holds the record UFC record for retirement.

So that's another, another record moment. Yes. He was at a BKFC press conference last night in Florida. I believe it was, Hollywood, Florida, maybe. And he had a few things to say. And I don't actually know if we have this video or not.

And you keep saying that you're going to fight and bare knuckles. So when is it going to happen? You know, like I said, I've got two fights on the contract. I'm in negotiations. Last week, something happened to me. I went to the White House and my country is in my, you know, my heart bleeds for my country right now. So there's a lot of stuff going on back home. I'm happy with what I've done. You know, there's something else for me that's in my gut right now and that's kind of where I'm

going. So we'll see. Greatness don't rush also greatness does not rush there was an opportunity or a deal we'll say to fight in Alcatraz only recent it is an event going on in Alcatraz in I believe June and they came to me and it wasn't it wasn't my worth you know as a fighter we've got to know our worth I hold every pay-per-view record in the book I hold every gate record in the book and my comeback will be Slated as the greatest comeback or the biggest most anticipated comeback of all time So it has to be right and right now Ireland is in my is in my is in my thoughts And that's where I'm at it will happen. I'm sure and it's always great to be here

Goosebumps, P.C. Catching lightning in a bottle since 2013. So it's an interesting one because you kind of like this is a minute long clip. And thank you very much for that, Andy. It's an interesting one because you kind of suggest like, you know, after this meeting in the way I was, you know, Orleans in my heart and I've got to, got to go home and run for president. Um, but he also then kind of says like, yeah, but you know, when I fight, it's

going to be class, like a lot of people, like he definitively retards. And I was like, did he not like a minute later, just be like, I know I can't wait for them to announce me as the president of Ireland, as I walked you the ring. As a politician, he's already got, he's mastered the art of the double speed gray. Like he's already kind of telling you two things at once. Yeah. Tell me, I haven't really got to pick your brain on the, on this whole adventure. It, he, he's managed to reinvent himself more than David Bowie at this stage.

And he's only been around for like 10 years, 12 years in like the big spot. Just the same obnoxious fellow the whole way. Let's just, wow. Well, your words, not mine. Your words, not mine. Um, what do you think? I mean, does this seem like a guy who's thinking about fighting to you? Do we have like in this, like Connor energy reserves, like, because I

almost feel like we've been through conversations where we swell up and we say, oh, you know what, man, we talk about him. He's coming back. He's going to do this. We had the Chandler thing on the books. And then after that kind of falls through and you go through this next wave of we're what's that what happened? But we had a bit of a, we had a bit of an internet mess there again.

Oh my God. I'm going to have to have this looked at. Is it on my end over here? I can't, I have no idea. No, you're good. You're still, you're back. You're back. All right.

Um, anyway, I don't even know what the hell I was talking about. What were we saying? Um, sorry, I was asking you about like McGregor, you were talking about like we must have endless McGregor energy. Because we were, because we went through this process and then we've actually been through the process now saying I'm suffering from a Gregor exhaustion multiple times, but yet it kind of just keeps coming up. He's done a masterful job, I will say, of just kind of keeping the

dialogue based around him for a long time. I just don't know much, how much further he can take it. Um, if he does become the president, your president, God help us, man. I mean, I would say, come over here, but you probably don't want to do that either, man. Just me banished them easily. And the first thing Peter Carroll will be evicted from the Island. Me getting cast off on a raft of flames or whatever, but yeah, I

mean, it's absolutely crazy, dude. It's, um, it's an insane situation. And I'm like, I'm, I'm kind of annoying people. I was kind of saying this to the lads this week, like everyone I meet now, like I'm completely on this. I'm like, Oh, what, what do you think about this, uh, presidential run for a co for Conor McGregor? And I was like, what? Like, I mean, you're talking about a more than anyone, mate. And I'm like, well, that's because I keep getting asked about it. And I feel like I need to have something good to say. Like, uh, but we'll have to see how it plays out, man.

I don't know. I mean, on X he's winning by unanimous decision when it comes to this presidential election. I haven't met as many around here as I've said. I wish I had like Swayze and he fears you have and be like, dude, it just can't happen. You know, it's something else goes into this more than just, you know, um, pompousness and, uh, and kind of having power and money and all that stuff. But I can't tell you that because we try it when 2016, we were saying that that

wouldn't happen. And, uh, here we are, you know, it's interesting. Um, you say that because I keep telling people this in Ireland, like they're like, there's absolutely no chance of happening. And I remember talking to all you guys back there and I can remember like 2015, 2014, it's like, nah, not going to happen. And then I arrived in New York the day before he came president of the elector,

like, yes, good chances. Gosh, you're going to happen now. So it's, uh, I don't really know how to, to do anything other than just report it as it happens. I think I was speaking to a journalist who covered politics yesterday in Ireland and he thinks like in the summer, we should know if he's got whatever he needs to become a nominee. You needed 20 members of the Iraq to sign off on it or for county councils.

I think there are about 30 county councils in Ireland. So, um, he has, he definitely has options. I just, uh, I just don't know how he's going to go about it. Um, Chuck, before we head off here, yeah. Big article with Joe Pfeiffer, the man we're told to be at one stage. Yeah. I was thinking of you when we wrote that, um, because you were one of the guys keeping that, uh, you know, be Joe Piper thing alive for a long time.

Does Joe Piper like, like the beach Joe Piper thing? I wonder, you know what I thought that he would, and I was a little bit surprised that he didn't, but he was taking it in a very literal way, almost like you don't want to be me, man. You know? And I'm like, well, of course, you know, it's more of a, and then he kind of corrected himself and he's like, but I know what they mean by it. They mean like, you know, be hungry, um, be ready to overcome whatever's thrown your way.

And, you know, be, you know, alive and like in the moment, all this stuff. But he was, he's, he carries a really big chip on his shoulder. I, that was the first time I'd actually talked to him, man. Yeah. A little, like, yeah, you know, I just, he was talking about fans. I didn't include a lot of this, but just like the haters he has. And I was like, you have haters? That seems crazy to me, man, because you're, you're one of those guys who's

still on the come up, I don't really know. Uh, but he was just talking about like when he lost to Hermansen. Uh, that was crazy. You know, I remember that because the reaction to it was crazy, Chuck, because it felt like everyone was just like, Oh, Hermansen, this guy's terrible. I'm like, he's literally been one of the great European fighters for the last decade. And he remembers that. Let's just put it that way, even though he came back and I think he had a first

run knockout in his next fight, like, uh, he's, he remembers that. So I was just, I would, you know, I think that he's got, he's, it's probably a healthy chip on his shoulder that he's carrying because I think that it's kind of fuels him to, to do more, you know? So it'll be interesting, man. Like Kelvin Gastelum has a way of making guys who look, that are like this, look really bad, you know what I mean? Like, and so we'll see if he's able to do it.

Then obviously like he's got this idea that I could be the first to knock Kelvin Gastelum out. So there's some intrigue. I think it's, it's, it's a fun fight as far as Kelvin Gastelum fights go. This is one of the better ones. What a way to frame that joke. Unbelievable. Like, um, do you know what I was just thinking about there?

Um, because it's Joe Pover and he's a Philly guy. I was out with all those Philadelphia comics there last week, making an absolute pig of myself. Those boys are very respectful. Who are you with? Who are you running with? What are you running? Are there some good ones?

Oh man, they were so cool. It was obviously Shane Gillis. Shane. Yeah. It was Joe DeRosa, the legendary Joe DeRosa and Chris O'Connor. Chris O'Connor is in tires with Shane Gillis and we're with those guys. And what I was going to say about it is like, they remind me so much. And I know there's a big Irish pop in there, but the Philly guys remind me a

lot of Irish people because when they talk about fighting, they only talk about their guys. Like they were like, Oh, we're going to London tomorrow. And I was like, Oh, blah, blah, blah. And they're like, yeah, Sean Brady, Sean Brady. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But you know, thing, and he's like, Sean Brady. And then they were like, and then Sean Brady, Sean Brady. And I was like, yeah, but you know, thing. And he's like, no, but Sean Brady and then, and then Joe's the next week. And I was like, this is so funny.

They only, they only actually watch fights through the prism of when Philly guys are fighting, which I'd find, uh, which I find very Irish. It's a good way to be in Philadelphia. Philadelphia. That you remember back in the eighties, they were throwing us snowballs. Can you hear me? You still got me? Yeah.

Okay. But they were throwing snowballs with batteries. They were throwing snow snowballs with batteries at Santa Claus. Guy dressed as Santa Claus. So I just, I never forget that, you know, that the, the Philly fans are something different, you know, Yeah. We did lose you again there, Chuck.

I'm not going to lie to you, but I still love you. And I know everybody else still loves you. Check out Chuck Mendenhall's article on B Joe Pfeiffer. Check out my article on UFC London not being the death knell of UK MMA, but, sorry, the golden age of UK MMA, should I say. So that's, that's really all we've got for today. We're gonna sort out whatever the issue is there with Chuck so you can hear him beautiful clear HD next week.

Please check us out next Friday. Crackheads, we love you. Have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy the fights. We will see you soon. Thank you to Andy. Thank you to Oscar Losev. Thank you to Tshizaka Malata. Thank you to you, thank you to Oscar Loseph, thank you to Tshizaka Malata, thank you to you,

Chuck Mendenhall.