The Ariel Helwani Show - Dustin Poirier, Paulo Costa, Daniel Rodriguez, Costello Van Steenis, Eric Bischoff & AJ Francis IN STUDIO, monster weekend recap

Episode Date: July 21, 2025

Ariel Helwani starts the show by paying homage to Dustin Poirier’s career after his Max Holloway retirement fight at UFC 318. The crew joins to offer their thoughts and recap the rest of the packed weekend, including Oleksandr Usyk’s big win over Daniel Dubois and Manny Pacquiao’s shocking draw. (05:26).Newly crowned PFL middleweight champion Costello Van Steenis calls in after his fifth-round rear-naked choke finish of Johnny Eblen. He discusses the win, transitioning from Bellator to PFL, training with Mousasi, his brother’s MMA journey, and more (1:22:30).Paulo Costa is back after beating Roman Kopylov at UFC 318 to talk about coming back after back-to-back losses, shaking during the press conference, his hatred for Khamzat Chimaev, his ideal return, and more (1:50:08).Daniel Rodriguez is next after his back-and-forth victory against Kevin Holland. He speaks on the story behind his tattoos, not getting a bonus, his three-fight win streak, and more (2:14:08).TNA superstar AJ Francis is the first in-studio guest and joins after Slammiversary to share his thoughts on leaving the WWE, meeting The Rock, his NFL career, what went wrong with Hit Row, and much more (2:32:28).Eric Bischoff, chief media officer of Real American Freestyle Wrestling, joins in-studio to get into signing with Fox Nation, the stress of launching a promotion, signing Bo Nickal, Hulk Hogan’s involvement, and stories from his time with WWE and WCW (3:19:31).The legendary Dustin Poirier closes the day after his retirement war with Max Holloway at UFC 318. He discusses ending his career in Louisiana, jumping the gilly, Lil Wayne’s walkout, filming "Fightville 2," and more (4:04:29).Ariel and the crew tie a bow on the show by answering your Superchats (4:39:07).

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 was great to be back here on a post pay-per-view Monday And if I'm being 100% honest with all of you, I was not sure if I would be here Why because I got a bad bad case of the food poisoning last night bad case I don't know if it was quite, you know, Smith and Walensky bad, but it was pretty freaking bad. It was pretty damn bad, and at around three, four a.m. yesterday, I was like, am I gonna have to cancel

for the very first time? I've never had to cancel a show. Am I going to have to cancel for the very first time? And then I was thinking, no, there's no way, there's no freaking way. I have to be here on a post-pay-per-view Monday. I have to be here to talk about what transpired Saturday night in New Orleans I have to be here to talk about Dustin Poirier

I have to be here to talk to Dustin Poirier and so we are here my friends and we are powering through and we've got a massive show a Superstacked show a super stacked post pay-per-view Monday, following a super stacked, uncrowned Saturday from all over the world. Amazing events, five in particular. And pretty damn, like, pretty damn good action all across the board. Started off in South Africa, PFL Africa, the debut in South Africa, and wouldn't you know it, there's a new... Now, I want to say PFL middleweight champion, but I don't even know if that's a thing. Bellator middleweight champion? That's definitely not a thing.

What exactly is Costello Van Stenis? What exactly is he? Is he the road to Dubai champion? What exactly is he? Regardless, what a win. Down 39-37 on two scorecards, 38-38 on another one, and then he gets a submission with nine seconds to go. Incredible stuff, incredible scenes to go to. Ditcheva gets back on track, AJ McKee gets back on track. Then we went to London, and Oleksandr Usyk put on a virtuoso performance. It was unbelievable to see what he did to Daniel Dubois. He stops him midway through the fight and it never really felt close.

And it was incredible to see how much he was celebrated and loved in London. Incredible to see that kind of crowd for Usyk Dubois. And now all of a sudden you have Oleksandr Usyk who has two wins over Joshua, two wins over Fury, twosyk Dubois and now all of a sudden you have Ole Alexander Usyk who has two wins over Joshua, two wins over Fury, two wins over Dubois. It's unbelievable. Undisputed at cruiserweight, undisputed at heavyweight, undisputed again at heavyweight. How he could not be in the conversation for greatest of all time is beyond me.

Afterwards Joseph Parker is in the ring, afterwards Joseph Parker's in the ring, afterwards, Jake Paul's in the ring, afterwards, Derek Chazor is in the ring, and on and on it goes. Then we went to UFC 318 in New Orleans. We'll go back to that in a moment. While that was going on, Manny Pacquiao was turning back the clock in Las Vegas. He fights Mario Barrios to a draw,

second draw in a row for Mario Barrios, who recall he had one on the Netflix card back in November. Pacquiao looked great, and they're gonna run this back, no doubt, and I can tell you the interest in this fight was off the charts over on Uncrowned.com. Shout out to everyone over there, including REIC Shaheen for an incredible weekend. Pacquiao looked great at 46.

Came oh so close. Over in Frisco, Bam Rodriguez showing once again why he's the man, top pound for pound fighter, did his thing over on Dazon. It was dizzying all the action. It was all over the place, but it was all really great stuff. Whether you're a fan of MMA, boxing, or both,

it was all really great stuff. Whether you're a fan of MMA, boxing or both, it was all really great stuff. And UFC 318, which may have been a little thin on paper, I'd say delivered from top to bottom. The prelims were unbelievable. It was, it was first round finish after first round finish after first round finish. How many in a row here? Let me see here.

Let me see. Uh, I think we started with six finishes. Six finishes. How many in a row here? Let me see here. Let me see. Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch- Ryan Spann, first round. Jimmy Crute, first round. Islam Dula Tov, first round. Atiba Gautier, first round. And then it was split decision, unanimous decision, unanimous decision, unanimous decision. Big win for Michael Johnson, big dog. Patricia Pippel gets the ever elusive first UFC victory, beats Danny Gage. D-Rod, incredible fight against Kevin Holland. Paulo Costa gets the win against Roman Kopilov gets back on track as well. And then the main event, Max Holloway.

By now, you know, Max Holloway has defeated Dustin Poirier in what was Dustin Poirier's retirement fight. And man, I was trying to think, I was trying to think when was the last time a main event made me this emotional? When was the last time a fight made me this emotional? Perhaps it was Izzy against Pereira Miami. Perhaps it was DC against Stipe in Las Vegas in the midst of COVID. This was special stuff, man. It really was special stuff and the UFC nailed it.

And it was so unique as well. I was trying to think, I was special stuff, man. It really was special stuff. And the UFC nailed it. And it was so unique as well. We've had retirement fights. We've had situations where a fighter has told us this is going to be the last one. This has happened before.

I remember Chris Lytle on a UFC on versus show said, going into his fight against Dan Hardy, this is going to be my last one. That fight was in Milwaukee. He has no connection to Milwaukee. He's from Indianapolis. We had DC against Stipe say this is going to be the last one. That was at the apex in the midst of COVID. It is so rare to get the retirement fight in the main event of a

pay-per-view in that fighter's home state. Supremely rare. And then for him to be celebrated the way in which he was all week long. And yeah, Dustin Poirier never won an undisputed title. He won the interim belt in 2019, he beat Max Holloway. Yeah, Dustin Poirier has a few losses on his resume. 10 to be exact. You're a boxing fan, you look at the 10 losses, you're like, what? You guys are celebrating this guy?

Never was an undisputed champion? What is going on here? Headlining a pay-per-view? If that's your thought, you just don't get it. In many ways, no one deserved this more than Dustin Poirier. Because ever since we met Dustin Poirier, way back when, via the documentary Fight Phil, this guy has taken us on an emotional journey. From the beginning, he opened his life to us. When most fighters aren't opening their lives, we don't know who these guys are when they're

1-0, 0-1. Especially not in those days. These days you meet them a little bit earlier with contender series and all that, but not in 2010, 2011, 2012. You're not finding out about these guys then. And then having this kind of longevity, 13 years at the top of the game since entering the UFC, entered the UFC in 2011, it's now 2015, 14 years in the UFC, not to mention WEC before that, not to mention the regional scene before that.

It had to be Dustin. It had to be this way for Dustin Poirier to take us on this journey. I don't know how he handled it and I can't wait to ask him about it. It seemed like every time I was looking online, social media, YouTube, the broadcast, it's another tribute to him and he's crying. I don't know how he was unable to allow those emotions, those tears to affect him. He said afterwards he was able to compartmentalize it and I believe him, but how could that not be draining? That one video that they did on the broadcast

where he's sitting on the chair and they're playing those videos from his wife, from his daughter, from Tim Crater, from his first kickboxing coach, from his mom. Outstanding. Made me cry. Can't imagine. And it was so nice to see this guy who had fallen short so many times, three official times in undisputed title fights, had big moments, and certainly had a lot of great moments, but also had some very public, you know, stumbles, if you will. And when I say the public stumbles, I'm just talking about from an athletic standpoint. This guy has never embarrassed the company. He's never embarrassed his family.

He's never embarrassed his state, his hometown. He's been outstanding. And so it was beautiful to see him get this. And it was also really interesting to see Max Holloway, who is typically an uber baby face, be treated as the heel and actually kind of like it, I felt. At the pre-fight press conference, it seemed like he was enjoying being the bad guy, being the spoiler. He had to play it that way. It couldn't be like, oh, I'm just here to be an opponent. No, he's got his own aspirations. He's trying to get another fight with Ilya. And you saw that kickoff.

BMF this, title fight at 155 that. He wasn't here to just like be a part of the show. He was trying to ruin the show. He was trying to spoil the whole damn thing and he did that. But it was unique to see him in that role because we never see him in that role. He was also staring at some history, the wrong kind of history. He would have gone 0-6 in trilogies. Well, technically 0-3, 0-3, so 0-2, but 0-3 against Volk, 0-3 against DP. So he salvages it in the last one. His son was brilliant rushing the front row

and the interactions with him before the fight, after the fight, in the back with Dustin. Everyone played their part. It was really beautiful to watch. And I posted on social media on my Instagram on Saturday morning a clip that I absolutely love from Fight Phil. And we'll play it in a moment. And my caption was, Mission Accomplished DP, Mission Accomplished.

And then of course he had some knuckleheads on there who were like, what do you mean Mission Accomplished? He never wanted a belt. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll explain why it was precisely a Mission Accomplished for DP. First, here's the clip My dream is to be The best fighter than I can be to be The best fighter at 155 pounds in the world I just want to be the best fighter, period. That's my dream. People who say that this is a crazy dream or like a fantasy dream that I'm chasing

and that I won't be able to do it, you know, what's their dream? What are they going to do with their life? You know, I'll find out, you know. I'll find out. I'll push this as far as I can push it and then I'll see what I'll find out, you know, I'll find out. I'll push this as far as I can push it. And then I'll see what I'll do from there. But at least I'm out here, you know, doing what I wanna do. And there you have it.

I'll find out. I will push it as far as I can push it. That's what he did. That's why it was mission accomplished. He pushed this thing as far as he could push it. And the truth is he could probably stick around a little longer or a lot longer. He just went toe to toe with one of the best fighters

in the world. And we'll get to Max. He was sort of the B side of all this, but we learned a lot about Max on Saturday too, which has sort of been brushed to the side. Prior to this, Dustin went toe-to-toe with the best lightweight in the world, Issam Akhachev. He could probably go longer, but he said it time and again. He wants to be healthy. He wants to be there for his family. He's

done. And that takes a lot of courage. And that's what makes him special because most people aren't doing that. Most people aren't headlining shows in their home state, in their hometown, and then saying, peace, I'm out of here. No, we want more. Oh, I need to get that last win. Oh, let me go for one last title run. That's why he's built different.

That's why he's cut from a different cloth. And so, yeah, it was a mission accomplished. He found out and he pushed it as far as he could go. And when you look at how far he has come from, it's a pretty damn incredible journey. Speaking of Fightville, like to that point, here's a clip from that movie, which you must watch. Do yourself a favor.

And there might be more coming, but more on that down the line. Do yourself a favor and watch it, but watch this clip and then tell me it's not a mission accomplished. Watch this clip right here and look at how far this guy has come from and then remember what you saw on Saturday and the celebration that he received all week long and getting a show in his home state. The UFC doesn't do this sort of thing. Mission accomplished. take a look.

I definitely think fighting has opened the path to redemption for me. I mean I've tried, I've been in boot camp and juvenile detentions and programs and all this stuff that's supposed to help you and I mean that didn't help you know. But when I found something that I wanted and that I really was going to chase no matter what roadblock was in front of me I would break it down and go get it. This is a picture of me right when I started training. I was probably about 200 pounds in that picture. Big transformation. Look way different man. People like that haven't seen me since I looked like that like don't even notice me sometimes. He's finally found what

he's been looking for all of this time. I know that he has been waiting his whole life to climb up something and put his hands in the air because he did it the best. It's so freaking good. In the movie, he talks about riding his bike to his then girlfriend, now wife's work,

waiting for her to get off work so she can drive him to practice. And everyone has their version of this story. He got in trouble with the law, fights, things like that, and look at what he turned his life into. It's a beautiful thing. And I know that there is a variation of this story almost within every single fighter,

but this freaking guy, there's something about him. There's something about the way in which he, he speaks to our heart. There's something about the way in which he, he conducts himself. Ah, it was beautiful. He had Lil Wayne walk him out. Sure, they didn't have Lil Wayne perform,

but if you saw him at WrestleMania a couple years ago, maybe that was for the best. But if you saw him at WrestleMania a couple years ago, maybe that was for the best. He's a Louisiana icon, and he had him walk out with him for his final walk. The walkout was great. The scene was great. The fight was great.

I know he was disappointed. In all fairness, I did have it 4-1 max. I think he can maybe make a case for 3-2. But I thought in the moment that it was probably going to be 4-1, I thought he stole the second round with the late flurry at the end, went for the jumping guillotine. And I have to say for a brief moment there, and it was brief, but for a brief moment there I was like, oh my God, if he pulls this off, if this freaking guy pulls this off, it will be the greatest sendoff in the history of the sport. He's been talking about this one move

for five, six, seven years. He had Max rocked, he jumps the ghillie, and Max defended it great. He turned on his back. It was just a couple seconds at best, but holy shit, we got that moment. And for a moment, I was like, if he actually does this, I mean, Hollywood would never believe it.

People asked him afterwards if he regretted that, if he should have just continued to, you know, attack him with blows, and of course he's going to say no. That's his thing. Jump the ghillie. They had the great moment at the end, pointing down down and Dustin being, you know, not having to prove anything to anyone. Being somewhat self-deprecating, say, yeah, I took a few shots and then I like, all right, I'm going to, I'm going to clinch with this guy.

And yeah, we did learn a lot about Max Hallway because Max Hallway is coming off his first knockout loss. And sometimes when someone comes off a knockout loss, especially after all the fights, all the minutes in the cage, all the strikes landed, all the strikes absorbed, you see someone nosedive. You see them fall off a cliff in their career. And so I was wondering, would he be able to take a punch? Would he fight different? Would he be a little bit more cautious? He really wasn't. Max Hallways is all the way back.

Some way, somehow, he has survived that Ilya Tupori knockout and he's come all the way back. Remarkable. And now he's in the mix, going back and forth with Ilya about the BMF title, talking about a potential fight against Charles, the BMF title has given him life. There's Ilya rubbing in his face that he has a BMF title. Max taking some shots at the post-fight press conference, saying it's a little bit sad that you had to buy a title.

Then tweeting back at him with the belt. Who knows? The BMF to me is a very silly thing. The champion is the BMF. I get it. I will say this, every time they've had a BMF title fight, the fight has been great. It has delivered. I don't know if that's coincidence or not, or it's just a byproduct of the fighters that are fighting for that type of belt. I don't know if there's any sort of prestige. I'm not against it because the fighters get pay-per-view points off of it it so more power to them but is it some sort of like prestigious thing that nah it's like the it's the WWF hardcore title from back in the day maybe a smidge more prestigious

because that was sort of a mid card belt and and you know we've seen some some a-listers fight for that belt for the UFC this is probably the best result because, you know, the guy going home, if he would have won the belt, then you have to retire it or then you have to have a vacant title fight, whatever, whatever. Max gets the dub over the retiring legend and now he's building himself back up in order to get another big fight. So if this was, you know, 1970s Memphis wrestling, the guy who actually is going to leave town, so to speak, retire, usually loses, usually does the job.

So for the promotion, probably the best case result. I know they weren't really thinking of it that way, and it would have been incredible to see Dustin win. But I'm saying from a promotional standpoint, yeah, probably. So much has felt so soulless in the world of the UFC over the last couple years. And this was the complete opposite. In the state, in the city that has given us soul food, you get this thing that means something, that pulls on our heartstrings, that actually like makes us care, reminds us why we care, reminds us why we love this, reminds us why we fall in love with these guys and their journey and why we'll do anything to watch them to get over the hump, to try to propel them, to try to excel, live out their dreams. Somehow, it makes us think about our own dreams and what we can accomplish.

It was everything that fights sports, it was everything that combat sports, about MMA, it was everything that the UFC should be. It was beautifully done, it was tasteful, it was classy, it mattered. It felt like it meant something, it was great. There was no bad blood. There was respect, but there was also some tension there before the fight. It wasn't fabricated. It wasn't phony. It was incredible. And so today on the program, we're going to talk to Dustin Poirier. We're going to talk to him about walking off into the sunset.

Can't wait for that chat. So kind of him. He's so kind. He's so kind. And so today on the program, we're going to talk to Dustin Poirier. We're going to talk to him about. Walking off into the sunset. Can't wait for that chat. So kind of him, so gracious to join us on the Monday after all this less than 48 hours removed from an incredibly emotional night. I thought that they had him out there and they're playing Frank Sinatra.

I'm like this poor guy. He must be mentally and emotionally exhausted. We'll find out. Prior to that we'll be joined by Eric Bischoff who's going to stop by to talk about everything going on with Real American Freestyle Wrestling, the chief media officer at Real American Freestyle Wrestling. And they made some news earlier today. They announced that they have a TV deal. Well, it's a streaming deal. It's with Fox Nation. And Fox Nation is a streaming platform

that I believe is 7.99 a month. They have their first show coming up on the 30th of August at the Wollstein Center in Cleveland. And they have another show coming up in October. And so this is going to be the home of Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan and Israel Martinez's real American freestyle wrestling league. He's going to be joining us, Eric Bischoff, in studio to talk about it all.

Looking forward to that. What a legend. Prior to that, we'll be joined by AJ Francis, formerly known as Top Dalla of Hit row fame in WWE now known as AJ Francis of first class in TNA. He was in the four team tag team title ladder match yesterday at TNA slam anniversary which was ultimately won by the Hardy boys and after Bully Ray showed up and teased that they'll have one last match with the Dudleys and all this stuff. But he had a great night. Big Man, former Marilyn Turp, which I know excites on-air Jordan.

This is him at Slammiversary yesterday. Look at this. Look at the athleticism on this guy. He was in WWE, had a nice run there, and has now reinvented himself in TNA. Take a look. Yo, not bad. A little moonsault action. Nailed it. Anyway, that was at UBS TNA having their biggest show ever. Over 7,600 people in attendance. Congratulations to them. Prior to that, Daniel Rodriguez is going to join us to talk about his incredible fight against Kevin Hall.

And I'm still unsure how that didn't win fight of the night or the main event and how Vittori Brendan-Allen did. But nevertheless, a big win for Daniel Rodriguez. Prior to that, Costello Van Stinez's who had the moment of the weekend perhaps certainly as far as PFOs is concerned the the most shocking moment of the weekend his submission win over Johnny Eblen to become the middleweight champion of that promotion with just nine seconds left we could take a look at it real quick right here nine seconds left fifth round first time he's ever been in the

championship rounds there's Johnny Eblen unde undefeated. And look at this, holding on for dear life, arms under the chin, nowhere for him to go. He's got the figure four in and Eblen's out. No tap and Costello Van Stenis wins the belt. Unbelievable scene. So we'll talk to him about that. And the F1 mention Paolo Costa is going to join us at two o'clock to talk about his big win over Roman Kapilov. Not the pride of Georgia, the pride of Russia. Look at that six pack.

That's a great day. The boys did a great job on Saturday with the watch party, great post show with two members of 3PacPT and Chuck. Guys, what a great scene it was when you guys were reacting to the ghillie. That moment right there. I think that was everyone. For just like a second and a half, right? You had it, it was there.

It was right there. Freaking there. The storybook ending. That would have been the greatest ending of all time. For me, like it seems like the high bar for me is Robbie Lawler, right? At the moment. Unless I'm mistaken, unless I'm forgetting something from further back, but Robbie Lawler to go out there as a dog, knock out Nego Price, watch the package right off into the sunset. It's as good as it gets. This would have been, I mean this was pretty damn good. He didn't have it in his hometown.

That was in Vegas. That wasn't in his hometown. Right. That was on a prelim. If he had pulled off the ghillie, it would have been movie shit. It still was movie shit, in my opinion. It was. Almost.

This would have really been like a Hollywood film written for Dustin Poirier. It would have been unreal. I can't imagine if it had actually happened. And I mean, he had Max hurt. And also the fact that he got hurt in the first round and Max was having a lot of success in that second round as well. If he had got it done there,

it would have been this comeback. He gets the ghillie. Can you imagine the post-fight interview if he had won by Guillotine? This move, this move that he's been talking about forever, but just the fact that he got them to do, like people don't realize 13 or so pay-per-views, a lot of them are already earmarked in the same, but like there's X amount in Vegas, you're gonna do your October show in Vegas,

you'll do your March show in Vegas, you'll do your international fight week in Vegas. Like some of this stuff is planned a year or two in advance for them to go to New Orleans to do this in a place where they're like, You'll do your March show in Vegas. You'll do your International Fight Week in Vegas. Like some of this stuff is planned a year or two in advance for them to go to New Orleans to do this in a place where they don't usually go. They haven't been there in like 10 years for a pay-per-view. You know, the last one was a fight night

and for him to get them to do a show there and to have it essentially built around him in the main event against someone like Max. like that was a victory in its own right. That's why I say the whole thing was movie shit in the end, like the result, the result would have been, would have made it, you know, a hundred out of a hundred. But in the end, the results almost felt like it didn't really matter. Well, that's, you know what I mean? That's the most heartening part to me because there's a world where we see

Dustin fall short there and all he's thinking about is, I almost had it, right? I could have been there. I could have won that fight. But we see the opposite. We see him being grateful. We see him talking about spending time with the family. We see him soaking in some of the accolades and the admiration and the appreciation that people had for him during the week.

To me, it shows me that Dustin is ready to move on in a way that he had not been previously. And I'm heartened by that. I am heart been previously. And I'm heartened by that. I am heartened by the idea that Dustin is fully at peace with a lock Hall of Fame career, no doubt, no brainer, everybody loves him, and he can go do something else now. Are we confident he'll never fight again? I'm not confident he'll never fight again,

but I think the offer that would make never fight again? I'm not confident he'll never fight again, but I think the offer that would make him fight again would have to be something so monumental. It would have to be Conor McGregor, it would have to be a championship, and even a championship would have to be maybe against somebody that was worthwhile. It would really take a lot, I imagine, to get Dustin out because he's, as I said, it seems like he is fully committed to the retirement in a way that he did not previously yeah I don't I don't think he does fight again yeah it would be a shame right it was perfect definitely not in the UFC I think I feel

adamant that he won't fight again in the UFC that's that's it there's no doubt he will get the itch there's no doubt he's a born fighter you we showed clips from the movie Fight Bill. That man was born to fight. It is what he was put on this earth to do. He will get the itch at some point. Can he combat that? I have a feeling unless it is something

that you cannot say no to, unless it is an offer that you cannot refuse, he will not come back. I mean, after the Islam fight, it was sort of like going into that one. It was like, oh, is this the last ride? And then after a few months, he came back and he went, one last dance, I need one last dance.

You can't do all that again now. It really would have to be like, an offer you just can't refuse, and I'm just not sure if there's a fight like that right now for him. Yeah, I mean, it was just too perfect. It would kind of ruin it all. I mean, what does he do?

He comes back and fights like a McGregor, Nate Diaz, or something like that on a card in Vegas. Those are big fights. Those are big fights. Of course they're big fights, but I just don't know. We have to acknowledge Dustin is in a different spot than a lot of these other guys. This is not a please go away Dustin.

Dustin is still that dude, and we want to see Dustin fight. So if all of a sudden that Nate Diaz fight becomes available, I'm not exactly like, yeah, I don't want to see Dustin fight. So if all of a sudden that Nate Diaz fight becomes available, I'm not exactly like, yeah I don't want to see it. It ruined this perfect thing. I'd be up for it. Dustin versus Nate would be fantastic. Hell, I'd even watch another Conor McGregor fight at this point. So I'm not ready to close the door. I hope that Dustin is ready to close the door, but I'm not closing the door on it. If Dustin Poirier comes back in my life, I'll be happy, not sad. The resume is insane.

Max Holloway, Islam, Benoit Saint-Denis, Gagey, Chandler, Olivera, McGregor, McGregor, Hooker, Khabib, Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gagey, Anthony Pettis, Eddie Alvarez, Jim Miller, Michael Johnson. It was crazy to see Michael Johnson on the prelims of his retirement fight, because he blasted him all those years ago, right?

He knocked him out in 2016, like out cold. Out cold. Since then, it's been quite a run for Dustin. Yeah. And getting a dub is a massive underdog as well. Huge. But like, those fights, Johnson, Green, Joe Duffy, and that was 2016, as he was trying to build himself

back up after the Conor loss. After that, it's all Hall of Famers. It's a decade of Hall of Famers. This to me is why this idea of like, Dustin never got the undisputed belt. Who gives a fuck? Yeah. Like what does that matter when you look at the names of the people he fought? If you're gonna sit there and tell me that there aren't some people who have held undisputed gold in the UFC, that would have worse resumes than Dustin Poirier who fought all these guys or every person who has undisputed gold has better resumes than Dustin who fought all these guys I call you a bullshitter you're a liar just outright there's no

way that this guy's resume isn't equivalent to having been a champion and look at those those championship fights Khabibib Nirmangomedov, Charles Oliveira, Islam Makashev. Many people have gotten shots at undisputed gold and had success and not been able to retain the belt afterward, fighting much easier opponents than that in their title fights. I am 100% agree with you, Rick. This is a championship level resume, Hall of Fame,

no doubt. It's laughable. It's almost comical to read the names you just read out over the last, since 2016. It's just insane. There are no breaks. There were no easy fights for the last 10 years. Yeah, you know, when people say best fighters

do not win a belt, like I sort of consider that belt a belt. I mean the interim. Yeah, like I consider that a belt. There are dudes, like there's the Gustafsons of the world who never Who never won the belt like I put them in a different category You know that could have easily have been a title fight. It could have easily been a title fight Well considering I mean even consider recent history Tom Aspinall was interim champion for how like that dude's a champion Like it does not matter and now he has officially become a champion thankfully

But like it does not matter that is that is UFC gold at the time that that fight was made They decided that these guys were championship caliber. I'm okay with it. Were we okay with little Wayne not seeing horrible No, that's the what the fuck are we doing and like you get why you get these people on Yeah, get these people on Twitter like defending it being like well Dana White doesn't like the musical performances, who gives a fuck? Like, you're gonna do this entire event in New Orleans surrounding Dustin Poirier, and then you're going to let him walk out with Lil Wayne,

it's gonna become this big news story, it's been confirmed, they're walking out together, and then you're not gonna allow him to perform. Yeah. I don't know, maybe Dustin's like, I just wanted him there, I just wanted him there, I didn't want him to perform, Yeah. I don't know, maybe Dustin's like, I just wanted him there. I just wanted him there. I didn't want him to perform, but I feel like Dustin Poirier

wanted him to perform in the UFC. It was like- Have you ever seen him at WrestleMania? No, was it bad? It was bad. It was really, really bad. I mean, listen, if I'm being totally honest, usually those performances aren't great.

Yeah. I'm usually just like, ah, that was fine. But it is cool to see it, especially when it's a guy like Lil Wayne that represents New Orleans. If you're cool to see it, especially when it's a guy like Lil Wayne that represents New Orleans. If you're gonna break the rules, if you're gonna go, we're doing this fight in this location specifically for this guy, it's his night, it's his moment, we're here,

just go all the way in. Why half-ass it? Why do you walk first? It was weird that he was so nonchalant just kinda walking there with his hands in his pocket. He might as well have been Dale Brown. He was wearing a cardigan. He might as well have been the security guy. He might as well have been Dale Brown. He was wearing a cordigan. He might as well have been the security guy. He might as well have been David Goggins or Zuck. He was way too friendly with Max.

Like, who's side are you on, little Wayne? Who's side are you on, Wheezy? You can't be going around shaking Max's hand. That's the thing, he needs to be on the microphone introing him. He needs to bring him in. Like, make it sick. You can work in remixes. You really could have made it a whole production. And then... Oh, so They don't do that.

Why'd he walk first? Why'd he walk first? I don't give, I do not care about the BMF belt and like him being the title challenger for the BMF belt. Come on, man. Look, I respect Silver more than anyone. History is history. I respect Silver more than anyone on this show.

But have Dustin walk second. There's the whole reason we're all here. You guys aren't glowing about all of this like I was. No, no. We were sitting on- But there's nitpicking. There's a few details that they- We're nitpicking the presentation from him

like about to walk to the fight starting. We were kind of like, man, this feels like a little bit like a let down. The UFC's part of the, okay, let me start with, they did some packages and things throughout the night that were tremendous. They were fantastic. The UFC did a great job in that part Presentationally this pay-per-view was built around Dustin Poirier and and it being in New Orleans

And then when the moment came for this Spotlight to be on and to say okay. Now, this is our showcase of New Orleans We've got Grammy winning artists Lil Wayne we can we can do something here They fumble at the goal line. That to me is a misstep. But that is inconsequential when you think about the moment for Dustin. It was exactly the fight that he needed to fight against Max. I've long been saying that this is the fight. I love the second fight. I think it's a fantastic fight. I think this one was even better.

And so it was a perfect moment. He he goes out on top in a certain way Right like against a very tough opponent showing that he's still game one, you know one fight removed from Islam Makachev There's a there's a there's a positive way that that this career ended for Dustin Poirier But there are some little bits along the way that they could have just done better not anything Not that they didn't do a good job As I said, those packages were great, but they they botched that part Netflix the the Katie Taylor Amanda Serrano fight was one week earlier And you saw exactly how to do this properly it was right there Coming out the the following day, and that wasn't great that you do it really I'm pointing to the good version

I'm not saying it was gonna be an award-winning performance by Lil Wayne But like if you're gonna have him there you might as well sure might as well just let it rip man Let it let it feel special for some reason he's very stuck in his ways like when it like if you're gonna have him there, you might as well just let it rip, man. Let it feel special. For some reason, he's very stuck in his ways. Like when it comes to stadium shows, like he wants it to look the same. If you're gonna do that, just let him walk out with Theo Vaughn.

He's more of his friend. He's more of like a, what was the point of Lil Wayne? It just made no sense. Dustin has no title Lil Wayne other than it would have been a Louisiana artist singing the song. If he's not singing, then what the hell is he there for?

What is the point? Yeah, you're right, you're right. I remember there was a time where Chels Sun and wanted CM Punk to walk out with him and they said no. Remember that? It's fucking incredible, yeah. Chicago.

I think you feel special, man. At his height, at Punk's height in Chicago. And they said no. So this is a bit of an escape from how they used to feel. They did give him the- We've had performances. They did give him the Frank Sinatra. McGregor and Chad Mendes.

That might be the only one. But that happened, yes? No, no, it did happen, but it's literally the only time they've ever done it. Hey, we went to New Orleans for fucking Dustin Poirier's retirement fight. Make the exception. Well, now we're gonna have to give everyone retiring

the ability to walk out with someone. It's like, I disagree with that. Dustin Poirier is one of the most special fighters we've seen in the last year. Yeah, you ain't Dustin Poirier. You know, and I thought you were gonna say something to the effect with someone, it's like, I disagree with that. Dustin Poirier is one of the most special fighters we've seen in the United States. Yeah, you ain't Dustin Poirier. You know, and I thought you were gonna say something to the effect of like, how many fighters are not gonna say, I want that, I want that show.

You ain't Dustin. No, there's the answer. You're not Dustin Poirier, sorry, bro. How many fighters do you want Connor McGregor money? In the next 30 minutes, you know what I was thinking? I'd love a retirement show in Indycott, New York, or I'd love a retirement show in Albuquerque. Okay, all right, I mean we can do that for John Jones. We can do that for John Jones.

You think so? Albuquerque arena. Think about all the legends that have come and gone and none of them have gotten that. Yeah. Pretty remarkable, what a testament to how great this guy is. Agreed.

Company man, man, got it done. Honestly, one of the biggest stars was Max Holloway at the end. He's just like, oh, appreciate you guys booing me. Love it. Calls out anybody who wants the BMF belt, calls out Ilya Toporyan. And he's just like, I'm done talking. It's Dustin's moment. I'm out of here. And then when the crowd wasn't hype enough, he's just like, man, y'all better get loud for this, dude. Like he is y'all's guy. He is a legend. By the way, I'll tell you one person who does deserve it.

If we don't get that Max Holloway Hawaii show, that'd be a fucking tragedy. Yo, I'm so happy you said that. When he was walking out with the flag, right after Dustin walked out, like this poor guy can't even get, forget retirement show, he can't even get a fight in Hawaii. And now he's the B side at this guy's retirement fight

in his hometown. And we were looking at it, I mean that was the first pay-per-view in Louisiana in like what, like 20 years or something? Yeah, 2001. Yeah, 2001. It's so crazy because there are very few guys, especially the American fighters,

that are so tied to their state. Max is at the very top of that list. He flies the flag. He's a Hawaiian kickboxer, you know, just everything. And here he is, the B-side to someone's retirement fight. And he can't even get a fight. And I don't even know if that's ever gonna happen. Maybe for his retirement.

Fight in Hawaii or Croke Park. Those are like the two that will just never happen in our lifetime. Oh, we're starting to add some to the list. I mean, I guess PFL just did Africa. Yeah. That opened the door for UFC going to Africa. Probably not.

Spain's starting to get like penciled onto that list as well. Yeah, the Bell tour went to Hawaii a couple times. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That didn't open the door. What about Max? Like, I can't see them doing the Ilya fight. Why not? Right off the jump? Maybe not yet, but I could see it in the pipe.

I mean, I will say this. I felt like he was like 300 yards away from Ilya. I think he got like he got to the 20 yard line. He's in the red zone now. He did an amazing job of putting himself right back in the mix. The back and forth about the belt, new weight class. He looks great at 55. Completely different than in 2019. Looks amazing. Max Holloway's last two fights at 55 are an epic knockout of Justin Gaethje and a 49-46 at Dusta Poirier. Is that not the best resume at 55? Like I'm look I'm open to the idea that he's not next but like if you're comparing resumes what is Max

Holloway not done that somebody else is doing to deserve a shot at the 55 belt? 55 pound belt. He's got a story with Ilya and he's got two big ass wins. Over the Patti fight? Over Gachey? Okay he beat Gachey! I know. He knocked Gachey clean out in the biggest spectacle in UFC history. Gachey is not getting the title shot. He might. He might but I'm strictly doing the resume conversation. I'm doing meritocracy. Max got a win over Dustin and Justin Gaethje. That's good enough for me.

What do you want to see right now? Ilya versus Max too at lightweight or Ilya versus Patti? Ilya versus Patti. Yeah. Yeah, Ilya, Patti. Okay, so if you do Ilya versus Patti, what do you do with Max? Can't do Max versus Gaethje.

Wasn't very close fight. Max versus Armand? Yeah, it's a bad matchup. I want to see Armand versus Gagey. I love that fight. Max Charles? Let Max sit on, oh! You know what?

Oh shit, Max Charles. But Charles coming off a loss, should he get a BMF title fight? Oh God. I've never seen you show this much respect. No, no. I respect your respect. Max versus Charles is inspired.

Good for you GC. Okay, so Ilya versus Patty. Yep. Armin versus Charles. No, Armin versus. Armin versus Gachey. It's all confusing cause they still have Islam in here. Armin versus Gachey, Charles versus Max.

Hell yeah, done, sold. Sign it, wrap it up. I would have mind seeing Gagey versus Hooker too, if he comes back. Sure, if Hooker's in the mix, we can, we can have him if he's healthy. Yeah, that kind of feels like that's what it is. Hooker versus Max is also a fun one.

Max Charles too. Max, and I don't know if you guys remember, but the first Max Charles fight ended in very, very unceremonious fashion. I don't, remind me? GC, top of the head, do you know where Max Charles 1 happened? Uh... Top of the head.

UFC Fight Night 74 ended in a... What was it, an arm injury? You're looking at it? No, but where, where, where, where? In a million years, you wouldn't know if you actually didn't look at it. It was either Toronto or Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan. Yeah, Saskatchewan. Max Holloway, Charles O'Levira, Saskatchewan.

I have the topology page right here. I don't remember this at all. Whose arm got injured? It was like some sort of esophageal injury. It says neck shoulder injury, round one. It was a collar bone. Something weird happened. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do remember now. And says neck shoulder injury. It was a collar bone. Something weird happened. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do remember now.

And very quickly, right? Yeah, a minute 39. Yeah, the fight never really started. We've all been clamoring for it. I do remember. Kind of, yeah. When was that, by the way? In Saskatoon, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

That sounds like a made-up place. No, no, it's the best. What was that, 14, 15? Yeah, 15. 15. Can you tell me the month? Yeah, of course the best. What was that? 14, 15? Yeah, 15. 15. Can you tell me the month? Yeah, of course, August. Wow, nice. Yeah, I remember it.

I remember it was a fight night in Saskatchewan. I mean, I think it was the only fight night in Saskatchewan. At the Saskattel Center. Yeah. They need to go back to Saskatchewan, and they need to go back to Nova Scotia. By the way, I'm not even looking. August 23rd? Fucking hell, man.

Is that it? For real? Nailed it. Ah, that's incredible. That's incredible. Look, it's not even on my screen. Can you name the co-main event? Fuck, that's tough. That's tough.

It's tough. That is tough. No, you got no shot. No shot. Can you name one Canadian fighter that was on the card? I'm pretty sure, yo, Rick, I'm pretty sure. Did Frankie Perez fight on that card? Is that the one where he retired?

all the way at the bottom against Did you fight Sam Stout? Yes, no, it's not bullshit. It's the fucking best Olivier Obin Mercier on that card. Oh yeah. Gonna win over Tony Sims. Hell yeah. What was the co-main? Was Derek Lewis on there? Nah, Neil Magni, Eric Silva.

You're probably thinking of the Nova Scotia card. Derek Lewis versus Travis Brown. That was a good one, that was a good one. Neil Magni, Eric Silva was the co-main. Yeah. I'm down for any random. By the way, by the way. Was it a Sunday?

Was it a Sunday? I'm pretty sure it was a Sunday night. It was! At nine p.m. Sunday! You can see the reflection in your glasses. There's no way. I swear to God, I swear. Don't show your screen.

Don't show your screen. Don't show your screen. I'm telling you, I'm not looking at it, but I remember- You can only see it on your glasses. Can you name the attendance and gate? Nah. That's crazy. 14,000?

7,200. 7,200? That's crap. No wonder they never went back to Saskatoon. Livegate 949,000. Somebody's retirement's fine. Not quite Miami. Can you name the announcers?

John Anik and? Brian Stan? Yeah. Hell yeah. I'm joking, what kind of gate would Hawaii get, you think? Well, the problem is they don't have a big enough arena. Right. It's a small arena, it's the...

Blaisdale. The Blaisdale Center. Yeah. May and Rick would be there. Would Jack Johnson come out with Max Holloway? Like the singer or the boxer? The singer. Oh, is he the one?

Isn't Bruno Mars from Hawaii? Is he? Bruno Mars. It's probably a better kid than John Johnson. It was great. I can't wait to talk to Dustin. What a guy. Reached out to him.

No problem. I'll be there driving home today. Were you guys surprised that Brendan Allen versus Martin Vittori was the fight of the night? Yeah. I mean. Extremely. I don't want to spend more than two minutes debating this,

but it was a little bit weird, right? There's no debate to be had. The words were taken directly out of, right? There was no debate that we had. Yeah, I was gonna say. The words were taken directly out of my mouth. There's no debate. It was the third best fight of the night. Behind D-Rod and... D-Rod and Holland and Max and the husband.

And the main event, yeah, the main event. Kevin Holland and D-Rod had some insane moments, especially that third round, where it looked like D-Rod was dead to rights. That one uppercut that Kevin Holland landed looked like it put him out on his feet. And then he just like took him down, got into full mountain,

then it looked like Kevin Holland was gonna get finished. It was, that was an insane fight, man. I can't believe that that didn't get it either. D-Wrek still hasn't gotten a bonus in the UFC. Get the fuck out of here for real. He's been in some sick fights. Some wars. He's had like 10 wins or so.

Also a new Jesus head tattoo. Every time that man comes on, he's got a new insane piece. He has a full hairline tattooed on his head. Look at that. That's JC. Shout out to him. Familiar. No, but it actually really was a fun card,

especially for those prelims. I'm a big fan of Dulatov. I mean, this guy, I can't get enough to him. Familiar. No, but it actually really was a fun card, especially for those prelims. I'm a big fan of Doolatov. I mean, this guy, I can't get enough of him. I can't get enough of this guy. Gotta stay pretty. Oh my God, he's a character, man. He's like the new Mokwan. He's the new Mr. Finland.

Yo, he's unbelievable. For those that don't know, he's like a legit runway model. Yeah. How does this happen? Where exactly is he from? I wanna say like, he's similar to Abis Magomedov. I wanna say he's from Russia by way of Germany. Yeah, Dusseldorf.

Yeah, because he's boys with Abis. The Ripper. I wanna say I read something on Twitter. It's like someone with his family is into fashion. What's Frank talking about over there? Why is he so... I don't know. He's yapping.

What's going on? There's some fires in EVE violent? He's yapping. What's going on? There's some fires in E.V. put out from time to time. What kind of fire? What kind of fire? Green. There's no fire. Everything is going great back here. You guys are cooking.

Don't let Frank. What's going on? Cooking with fire. It's a good looking bloke though. He is good. And I could not be a bigger fan of Atiba Gautier. This dude reminds me. I mean, the obvious comparison is the Francis one from back in the day. I mean, but like, he is so freaking jacked.

He'll be on the show tomorrow. He is so freaking jacked. And when he punches, you know who he kind of reminds me of? He reminds me of Pat Brown, the Olympian turned pro boxer. Like when, and he's had a couple fights now. When he punches, like there's a thud. Like he just is so freaking strong. It's like a couple fights now, when he punches, there's a thud. He just is so freaking strong.

It's like a two by four hitting these dudes. This guy's a problem. And this fight was over as soon as it started. And Robert Valentine is calling him on. And he's like, yeah, okay, no problem. Yeah. And he's like, all right. After he'd already eaten massive shots.

Yeah. Who was the MVP, all right. After he had already eaten like massive shots. Yeah. Who was the MVP of Saturday? Max Holloway. In combat sports. Oh, okay. Of the day. Man, it's tough times ago. Wow, this is a really tough question.

I think it's Danny. I was thinking of this. I actually started to like give out my awards and I'm like, well, this is too hard because honestly the initial was Usyk. That was my really tough question. I think it's Danny. Yeah, I was thinking of this. I actually started to like give out my awards and I'm like, well, this is too hard because honestly the initial was Usyk. That was my very first thought. I was like, dude, undisputed heavyweight title. Unbelievable.

Put all the doubts to rest with the low blow stuff, looked unreal, just keeps getting it done. Look at this guy. I might go Usyk, man. Just took him out. He's like one of the greatest boxers of our generation. Yes, one of the greatest athletes. It's unbelievable what he's doing. Undefeated. It's unreal. He's fighting one of the greatest boxers of our generation. Yes, one of the greatest athletes. It's unbelievable what he's doing.

Undefeated. It's unreal. He's fighting these bigger dudes. Cruiserweight. He's fighting them in rematches. Look how smaller he is. He's fighting them in rematches too. So you think, like, and he's beating them

even better in the rematch. Legit. I feel like every time he rematches someone, it goes better for him. Dude was like, what the fuck was that? I don't want to hear any bullshit about him quitting. Usyk is generational. Generational.

Unbelievable. What'd you guys think of the Jake Paul face off afterwards? I thought the most interesting part was Jake Paul being like, let's do MMA. Yes, that is for sure. Because a boxing match with Usyk is a... He's been pushing that for a bit. The boxing match would not go his way. I'm more interested in that for Usyk than anybody else He's been pushing that for a bit. The boxing match would not go his way. I'm more interested in that for Usyk than anybody else.

Nah, get the fuck out. Who, Parker? Yes, Parker, are you kidding me? Give me Parker and then what? No, first of all, sign me up for Jake versus AJ. Put that shit on Netflix. Me too. Give me that over the Tank Davis fight any day.

A thousand percent. Oh God, the Tank Davis fight. A thousand percent. Oh God, the Tank Davis fight. A thousand percent. The size differential with Tank Davis would be. And Jake is speaking like it's a real thing. Jake versus AJ, Usyk versus Parker, of course. I want nothing to do with Usyk versus Chisora. Usyk versus Parker is the fight to make it.

No, stop. If Usyk is fighting a heavyweight boxer next, for the title, it has to be Joseph Parker, I agree. What a scene that was at Wembley, 90,000 people, man. It's like you had Lil Wayne there and they won't give him the microphone and yet over on the other side of the street, they're doing that.

Why can't we ever get things like that? I mean, this was an attempt in that direction. This was a nod toward it. What, just having Lil Wayne in a cardigan? No, in Louisiana, being like, hey, we're going to Dustin's home. We're going to the market. We're showing the love for the,

help us build this groundswell. But UFC could have scenes like this. They could have scenes like Wembley. Oh yeah, they sure could. Easy. And they could have unique feelings at each show. Yes. Okay, but you guys can't tell me

that 46-year-old Manny Pacquiao is not the MVP. No, that was the other one. That was the other one. He's the MVP 46 years old man. He was unbelievable He was gonna get the nod a lot of people every scorecard I've heard is seven five Pacquiao. That's everybody saying Yeah, I was like we're doing the watch party so I'm watching it with I'm watching Costa and I'm watching with one eye on this and it feels like everyone Seems to believe that Manny Pacquiao won the fight. It was super, super close.

I was texting with Shaheen at the same time, and I'm like, I think this guy got it. It was like seven, five, one way, seven, five, the other six, six, six. I mean, they have to run it back. A, it'll be gigantic business. And B, it's warranted. It's actually warranted.

Oh, yeah. We were kind of like keeping an eye on the live odds and like going into's warranted. It's actually warranted. Oh yeah. We were kinda like keeping an eye on the live odds and like going into the final round, Pacquiao was like minus six or seven hundred on the live odds. No way. Really? Yeah. And I said before,

like I was gonna watch it like this because I was afraid. Me too. And this dude, like even the way he was moving out there, I was like, holy shit, 46 years old Manny Pacquiao. This to me felt like the way I felt when I watched the Anderson Silva versus Julio Cesar Chavez fight

where I was just like expecting doom and gloom. And it gave me this hopefulness that I was like, holy fuck, this guy really is still him. He's still Manny Pacquiao. Now granted, Prime Manny Pacquiao makes this a quick night, but I was like, there's flashes of the guy that I love and the guy that I grew up watching. I was like, there's flashes of the guy that I love and the guy that I grew up watching. I was captivated by that part. Obviously I had to go back and watch

it, but man, it felt special. What a turn of events for our friend Connor Ben who this time last week is like, oh, I might get the Barrios fight or the Pacquiao fight or I might get the U-Bank fight. Now there's no U-Bank fight, it appears, at least for now They're saying November who the hell knows and these two are gonna run it back. So now the options aren't Cool. Oh wow When do you say that? Yeah, that's right. We had them together. Oh, yeah, that's right. I forgot about that or fight Well, uh Pacquiao and Berrios and other business. Oh, yeah. Now is there not a chance that Pacquiao goes a different direction? No WBC belt and Bario's and other business. Now is there not a chance that Pac Yogo's a different direction?

No. WBC belt? Gotta do it. Oh, we have some breaking news guys. Oh. Oh. The poker fell table is up. It is. The auction is live.

I just put the link in the chat. I have pinned it. Yes! The Ariel Hauwani Show International Fight Week signed poker table felt is live right now. On the Uncrowned Combat eBay channel. Yeah, yeah, now yourself. This is incredible. And again, by the way way you can see the picture right there Aspen all DJ Izzy Merab Vogue Hooker Tracy Cortez Ariel Hawani great signature right there in the middle you see how it sticks out and the list goes on and I think it's like 13 14 Joanne would 12 of them 12 of them Raulul Rosas Jr. Raul Rosas. Ian Machado Gary. Ian Machado Gary.

Rico Verhoeven. Verhoeven. Joanne and John Wood. Andy Aspinall. Andy Aspinall. Every single cent. So if this sells for 99 cents, well, it's 99 cents. If it sells for a thousand bucks,

every single cent is going to Ben Askren's family. Not some kind of foundation, we're just giving it to them. So please, there it is. If you're listening to this live, if you're watching this live, on the YouTube channel in the chat, at the very top, it's in black. 10 days, it'll end July 31st, that's a Thursday, at 1pm.

Okay. But right as me and Rick are going on to preview UFC Apex 109 is when it'll end. Now some people are saying. Uh oh. There are no seller reviews. Oh yeah, that's because it's the first time we've ever. Everyone's talking shit.

No shit. They say it's a little bit suspect. Oh time we've ever told anything. No shit. They say it's a little bit suspect. Oh, we're already at 102. Yeah, let's go boys. Let's go. Everyone watch it right now. Just, let's go, five bucks. Oh, holy shit, 18 bids already?

Hell yeah. Get that up, get that up. Free shipping. Free shipping. I'm covering the shipping. Oh, that's very kind of you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it ends at seven, it ends at 12.58 p.m. on July 31st.

That's a Thursday. That's a Thursday, right before. Right as they're going on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what you just said. Okay, that's so exciting. Thank you for doing that, and please, support if you can. Thank you for doing that, man. Support if you can, love it.

Pacquiao draw, Fundora gets the win over Zu. That was an incredible fight as well. That PBC card was pretty damn good too. The Dzone card was good as well. Omari Jones with the win. And then PFL Africa. What about them? What about Kost? Didn't I joke about this last week? Didn't I joke that like Eblen got the title shot against Musasi, you

guys were there, he was a prelim fighter. Do you know the last time Costello v. Enstinas, do you know the last time he fought he was the curtain-jerker? Wow. That doesn't surprise me. The very last fight he had? Yes. That is, that's insane. You can't, you can't do this. He's a great fighter and these are solid fights. But if

you're, if you're, if your top contender is fighting in a title fight and then wins and no one saw his last fight and you did nothing to promote it, it doesn't hit the same. It doesn't but you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. But there's a new path. There's a branch that came off. He will forever now be the guy who beat Johnny Eblen.

And so now we get the story of, can Johnny Eblen climb back, get the rematch, what does the career of Costello look like from here? So it's almost like, yes, you're right. And that probably goes, you know, nine out of 10 times the other way. And then all of a sudden he's forgotten. But now he's going to be remembered as the guy who beat Johnny. And now you can build off that. Yeah. And it's kind of the same thing that happened to Johnny after he beat Gaggard.

Gaggard and in a way it's actually a good thing because now you've got a little bit of a rivalry, they'll probably run it back. I saw what Eblen posted about like you may have won the battle, you're not going to win the war. It was very dramatic, what a scene. I just wish they did more to tell us about who these people were or at least put them in prime positions Leading up to these title fights so that the winds would we would mean more now in our YouTube chat by the way in our YouTube chat PFL MMA was there it appears and Shut up they confirmed that he is the PFL middleweight world champion. There it is. Wow, thanks guys.

The CVS era has begun. The CVS era has become. Receipts for days. Now we might need to do, we might need to go a different direction. Why, why, why? CVS? It's already kind of taken. You got to.

By who? DDP was taken too. The pharmacy? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's why he said receipts. That was a good line. Yeah, that was a great line. You buy into it, you get a sponsorship,

you put it on your shorts. Super long receipts. We get the Monster Energy logo on the UFC shorts, you get the CVS logo when you're the middleweight champion of the world. Oh, fuck. Just a little Van Steenist, baby. I mean, Rick alluded to it all week last week

that it was gonna be the Van Steenis era. I knew that somebody was gonna lose out of Dakota and Johnny. Yeah, it felt like something was amiss. And by the way, once again, PFL in an international setting, the product looks so much better. There's a crowd there, they're into it. Compare that to them in Universal Studios here in Orlando, or even some,

you know, some random city where it feels like there's 500 people there. It feels big, it feels important, you're putting on the best fights possible. Dakota Shined, unfortunately, it appears as though she may have broken her hand in the victory. She was very emotional afterwards about that, but it was just great to see her fight. And she did announce in the post fight interview that she had resigned with the PFL and that was kind of a big thing that was brewing behind the scenes that that she didn't really talk about but she did she did seem in a few interviews she did seem to be a little bit frustrated with her position this is something that they're gonna face with a bunch of different people but she announced that she had resigned with the PFL and she announced that she's going to be sticking

around, she said, for I think a couple of years. So that's a huge, huge coup for the PFL brass and it's a huge deal for her and at least for now puts an end to the talk of her going to the UFC, right? Everyone seemed to think that if the UFC could pick one fighter from the PFL to bring over, to raid, to sign, to steal, whatever you want to say, it would be her, right? Well, now at least for now, at least for the short term,

it puts an end to that. The problem that they're gonna have is, who are the opponents? 125 in the UFC is so interesting right now. There are a couple of interesting names out there, Liz and Palo Santo's got Pop, but you know, there's names for her to fight.

But nothing like the names in the UFC. What's going on with the big PC? Not PC Carol. Okay. Who me? He gave me the hand. He says, ugh. Yep. Let's see where we're at. This is fun.

I've never done an eBay. Have you ever done an eBay auction before? Oh, yeah. I grew up on eBay. We're at 430, 51 bids. That's good for how quickly we said this. Yeah, my dad growing up loved eBay. Big train guy.

Lanterns, bells, his whole man cave is just trains stuff wait so he would buy the stuff off eBay or he would sell his stuff both buy and also sell yeah he's a rail head as they as they say so much so he actually lives on train tracks so he sits on the back porch and trains just roll by wait what what like their house is situated on train tracks in Atlanta. And they chose that on purpose? Oh yeah, yeah. Wow.

Yeah, built a house right next to train tracks. Yeah, so he used eBay all the time growing up. So yeah, I'm very familiar with it. He used to do a thing called e-sniping, where you'd like use a third party service and they would put in a bid for you at the very last second. Yeah, it's so crazy. Yeah, it's crazy.

Yeah, my dad, yeah, big eBay guy. Sold all my Yu-Gi-Oh cards on eBay. Sold 20 for like $3,500. And where does the love of trains come from? I have no idea actually. Just growing up, he's just always liked trains. Anytime we would go on vacation, he would make us ride a train where it was.

Sometimes vacation centered around trains. They are marvelous machines. Yeah, any road trip would be like vacation centered around trains. They were marvelous machines. Any road trip would be like, gotta stop at trains. He actually is like jealous of my commute being on trains. Big train guy. Now he has grandkids in there getting into trains. He's loving it. So yeah, show off to Ethan.

Has he ever, what's the word, not driven a train? Yeah, like been a conductor, like an engineer. He sat up there with him. Wow. He's like a kid in a candy shop. Imagine me, but six-six, full head of hair and like NX goofier, and like that's what it is. Would he be okay with you saying that?

Absolutely. Okay. Yeah, he like, he'll talk to trains about anyone. Oh wow. Like embarrasses my mom. My mom's like, Wendell, not the train, talk please. Wendell's an'll talk to trains about anyone. Oh, I can bear says my mom my mom's like stuff Wendell Not the train talk, please. Wendell's an incredible name by the way Wendell McDonald. Yeah. Yeah, it's great stuff. Mr. Wendell. Mr One of that song. Nope, really? Yeah Frank. I also do not remember this really mr. Wendell. No Think you're aging yourself on this one. No, no, by the way, I just saw that Malcolm Jamal Warner has passed away. That's in peace. Do you know Malcolm Jamal from Cosby? Yeah, Mr.

Wendell is arrested development. Mr. Wendell. Hey, can I tell you guys what my favorite and thank you for that and thank you to everyone who has who has already built a bid. We are at 470, 55. Should we get a ticker? Can I tell you, that'd be fun. Can I tell you what was my low key sort of like, not favorite moment of the night, but like kind of chuckled to myself moment. So as you guys know,

maybe like the most annoying story of 2025 has been John Jones, will he, won't he? And then he retires and refuses to fight Tom. We don't have to go over all that once again. But two things that were really funny were he was at the ESPYs. He was on the red carpet and he was doing an interview with the people on the red carpet. I don't know if you guys saw this, but they were talking to him like he had been retired for five years.

And they're like, so like, what's him like he had been retired for five years. And they're like, so like, what's it like being out of retirement now and like going out and training? He's like, oh, I'm so sore. I'm like, he's been retired for two days. What are you talking about? They were legit talking to him like he was a guy coming out of retirement,

like Manny Pacquiao, like four or five years since his last fight. He's like, oh, everything hurts, everything's sore. First of all, you were retired for two days. Second of all, this fight that you're saying that you wanna compete in is happening next year. Next year, next July, 12 months from now. You're not training for anything.

Who are you kidding? But they heard retired, then they heard unretired, so that was the slant for the interview. And then we get to the post-fight presser, and I think Dana has, he has come to the conclusion that he's not going to, you know, hit John with a zinger, but clearly he was annoyed at how all this went down. He was annoyed that John said yes and then said no,

and said he was in and then said he was out and then dragged his feet and all this stuff and now vacated the title. Clearly that annoyed him and I don't blame him for being annoyed. And so Dana is asked about John being interested in fighting on this card and you could just feel thousands of miles away John's heartbreak. I mean Dana hit him with a zinger there. He hit him with a zinger, he broke his heart, he crushed his dreams, and he essentially said no we're not

doing this in case you missed it. And I know you've got a lot of questions about the White House card potentially. Conor McGregor said he's back in the pool with hopes of potentially fighting on that like a year from now and then Nate Diaz said he would love to be the opponent. I know you've said that trilogy is something you could do anytime and it would make sense. Are you interested in doing business with Nate Diaz? I love Nate. I love Nate. That fights a year away so I'm not even thinking about anything right now. The landscape will change so much by next 4th of July. You know, who by next Fourth of July. Who knows what's

going to happen? Who knows who's going to be on the card or what the main event will be or who will hold all the titles? Everything could be completely different. So it's not even worth thinking about it right now. Sure. I guess just one follow up on that though with John Jones. I have other problems. I'm dealing with the logistics and all the things on figuring out how to make this thing happen, how do we want to do it. I'm going to fly out there in about 10 days, two weeks, and we'll have all the renderings

done, sit down with him and go through the renderings and see what he wants to do and what he doesn't want to do. John Jones says he wants to be on there too, and he says he would fight whoever the champion is at that time. Would you be okay with him coming back and potentially winning that belt again? And you might have to go through? It's not even about him winning the belt. I mean, you know, you know, I felt about him. I just I can't risk putting him in big positions in a big spot and have something go wrong. Fair enough. Yeah, especially the White House card.

And here's John's reaction. I heard the comments made at last night's press conference. I was a little disappointed. I'm still in the UFC's drug testing pool. Did he ever leave? Is there even one? What is this testing pool thing? Amanda Nunes saying that she wants to buy.

Is it a real thing? Who knows? Staying sharp and continue to train like a professional. I'll be ready for whatever comes next. Where was this energy a month ago? In a recent interview I shared, by the way, it's just so nicely crafted all this. In a recent interview I shared that the opportunity to fight at the White House gave me something deeper to fight for, a why that goes beyond a paycheck or a belt. Fighting for my country gives me a greater purpose. The silver lining in all of this is knowing the fans see my heart.

They see I am ready and willing to take on anyone to represent my country on a historic stage. For me it's never been just about the opponent. Chasing legacy. By the way, if it's never been about the opponent, then why wasn't he interested in fighting Tom Aspinal? Why did he continue to say who is Tom and what has he done to deserve this? In any event, I'm chasing legacy, something timeless, something bigger than the moment. So for now, I'll keep grinding. Stay patient. Stay faithful. I'm ready to fight on July 4th, hashtag Independence Day. Johnny was on one as far as Twitter is concerned. Apparently, he was the only person who was somewhat interested in MMA who had no idea that one Dustin Poirier was retiring this weekend. I mean he's literally on Twitter 24-7 but he wrote at 12 31 a.m. that I think is in

the middle of the main event right the main event was on July 19th 12 31 a.m. July 20th shit I didn't realize Dustin was retiring after night. Why is he retiring? And then I love this. This was the best. A fan writes to him. He said he wants to retire on his own terms. He doesn't want the sport to retire him.

Wow, no way. Almost like you said the same thing, champion got hate for it. I won't call it a double standard. I'll just say it's a weird coincidence. Again, missing the whole point. Failing to realize, and did offer some congratulations to Dustin, failing to realize that the issue here wasn't him retiring, not retiring, go out on his terms, not let the sport retire him.

It was that he was holding up a whole weight class. He was holding up a whole division. And he was holding him. It was that he was holding up a whole weight class. He was holding up a whole division and he was holding up one guy for a very long time from realizing his own dreams. He still can't get that. If John Jones wasn't champion, like is anyone calling for Conor McGregor to retire? Conor McGregor hasn't fought in four years. No one's saying we demand you retire.

No, it doesn't really matter if he retires or not because he's not holding anything up. If he comes back, great. If he doesn't, great. John was holding something that was holding things up. That's what we were saying. We don't care if he like stick around, don't stick around, come back, fight July 4th,

do what you want. You're not the champ anymore. Perfect. Would you still fight even if it's not on the White House card? I don't think so, but right now it's hard to say. I'm just gonna focus on staying focused, getting in the best shape, and continuing to nail all the business that I already have on the table. Great. You won't hear a single person, now that he's unretired, ask for him to retire because he doesn't own anything. He's not holding anything up. He still doesn't get it. It's mind-numbing. How does he not understand that the only issue that we ever had with him was that he was holding up a division? He was a champion

who was not acting like a champion. He was a champion who was not defending his belt against the number one guy, against the interim champion, against the guy the whole world wanted him to see, and against the guy that the promotion, who he says he loves working for, wanted him to see fight, and who had got him the money, got him the 30 million that he wanted. No one's calling for Alex Pereira to retire, now retire, he's not the champ. No one's calling for Conor to do the same thing. that he wanted. No one's calling for Alex Perrett to retire, now retire, he's not the champ. No one's calling for Connor to do the same, not the champ.

That's the difference. So these like, oh, double standard and oh my God, gives you a headache. But for the record, I agree 1000% with Dana White. The White House card has to be with guys that you can count on. Has to be with guys that aren't going to embarrass the company.

And unfortunately, he's done that. UFC 200, he did that. He's in the midst of something right now. They're gonna put a guy who's in the midst of this thing right now on the White House card? No, you put Sean Brady on the White House card. That's who you put on the White House card. You put Dustin Poirier on the White House card? No, you put Sean Brady on the White House card. That's who you put on the White House card. You put Dustin Poirier on the White House card.

You put guys like that. Someone who's currently involved in something with the law, you're gonna put him on the White House card? Are you kidding? Come on. No way. So kudos to Dana White for saying that. That was the right thing to say. But by the way, this is going to take just a bit of a spoiler.

This is going to take 85 twists and turns between now and July 4th of next year, between now and December. 85 is probably way too little. So many twists and turns. By the way, there's some breaking news. I don't know if you guys saw this news. Did you guys happen to see that next week? No, is it this week? This week, there's a press conference for Misfits 22. They announced that Darren Till is going to be fighting Luke Rockhold. Tony Ferguson is going to be fighting Salt Poppy. You know about this. We talked about this last Wednesday,

but did you guys see the latest fight announced to this? Did anyone? No, I have not. You have not seen it? I haven't seen anything. Serious? I'm actually being dead serious. You're about to break the news to me live on air.

Warren Spencer in the first ever Misfits MMA bout, you know Warren Spencer is right, going up against Dylan Danis. Oh, does it happen? By the way, the Misfits MMA, which I guess is a thing now, the Misfits MMA light heavyweight title is going to be on the line. So this is on the card. Darren, Luke, Tony, Poppy,

Danis, Spencer. And this is gonna be for the Misfits MMA light heavyweight title. Yes. We could see Dylan Dennis holding an MMA world title. Hell yeah. Wow. There it is. Ring of Thrones. Warren Spencer. What do you think? In case you're unfamiliar, in case you're one of the last people on the planet who is unfamiliar with Warren Spencer, UK guy, currently, 1 and 0 is a boxer. According to Tapology, no MMA fights. 0 and 2, to start his exhibition boxing career, One was on a CFN card, then the next two were on Misfits, did beat someone via majority decision in November of 24

on a Misfits card and then got a first round KO in his pro boxing debut. And so this is going to be his pro MMA debut. You said living under a rock, not knowing who he is? Yeah, I mean, just the way he is. Pro boxing debut, and so this is gonna be his pro MMA debut. You said living under a rock, not knowing who he is? Yeah, I mean, just in case you were one of the few. I'm doing some research here, former mechanic. Yeah. Looks like he trains with Andrew Tate.

Is he some kind of influencer guy? Yeah, for sure. It is remarkable that with everything going on, you look at Dylan's tapology page and he's still just 2-0. Do we think this happens? This feels like every time we get a Dylan Danis fight announcement,

it's for like five weeks from now. It's a quick turnaround. Yeah, I feel like it is every time. Do we see this happen? I think it happens. I think so too. Yeah. feel like it is every time. Do we see this happen? I think it happens. I think so too. I got faith. I think it's what happens. Yeah. Because I think that he will win this fight. Right? Yeah and become a champion. Yeah. And start defending that belt for misfits. You hyped? If Dylan Dennis is really gonna

fight, yeah. In MMA too? Yeah, I'm down. I wonder, by the way, I wonder what the situation is gonna be, because are they gonna compete in a cage, or are they gonna compete in a ring with ropes? Because they'll have the boxing, right? So it'll probably be in a ring. Yeah, a ring with ropes. And is that good for a grappler? We're gonna find out on August 30th in Manchester. You going?

If you're going, I'm going. I'm not going. Same day, I think, as CJI. Oh, shit. Okay. You mean keeping up with Dylan's Blackjack streams? No. What's going on?

I don't know. It feels just like every time I'm getting on IG, I see a reel of him doing Blackjack or something. Oh. He's got like a partnership or something like that. Looks like he's been doing pretty good, you know? Jordan just posted something in the channel. What is this, Jordan? Oh, 10 haters, one mechanic? What do you mean? I thought you were familiar with the guy there. What's going on?

I thought you were a Warren Spencer fan. What's happening? He fought 10 haters, yeah. And he's the mechanic? He is the former mechanic. He is the former mechanic, yes. And he fought 10 haters? yeah. And he's the mechanic? He is the former mechanic, yes. And he fought 10 haters? According to this poster.

How did you learn about Warren Spencer, if not through the 10 haters, one mechanic fights? It was approximately 3.30 p.m. yesterday when Dylan posted, actually McGregor posted something, like bigging him up, and then I was like, oh shit. Wow, this was yesterday? They announced it yesterday. I was really out of the loop yesterday. Yeah

But wait, what's ten haters versus one mechanic and did he win? He definitely won I'm watching the video you would ten and all the same night thought ten guys that looks like there's a low blow in there He had ringside announcers. It looked like it was in local gyms some security Wow Looks great where they dressed up as an arm. You're gonna want a hundred a hundred pounds He had ringside announcers. It looked like it was in local gyms, some security. Wow. It looks great. Were they dressed up as anonymous figures? You could have won a 100 pound Amazon gift card if you won. Oh wow.

Warren the Mechanic Spencer on YouTube. He did a Bonnie Blue Cube boxing edition. What does that mean? It looks like guys just queued up to fight him oh my gosh it was like that where they waited in the line yeah that's the Bonnie blue reference and he beat them all no legit he's yet dudes are just lining up and he's just okay so Dylan's in trouble well no he's just boxing him I don't know how his MMA he's got hands yeah against Well, no, he's just boxing him. I don't know how his MMA- He's got hands. Yeah, against the competition that he's fighting.

I mean, the guys that he's fighting are rocking head gear. He's raw dogging it. Maybe a wrong term there at the bottom. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, look, Phil Rowe fought 100 guerrillas. That's right. Warren Spencer fights 10 haters. Oh, joking aside, I am excited for this.

You gonna watch it the card Yeah, they're until fighting. I mean it really is Slanting towards the MMA fan base there until and Tony Ferguson and Dylan Dennis. That's not a bad three final fights I will be tuned in Ferguson versus all poppy is like It's like fever dream stuff Please, Tony. Tony. It's like fever dream stuff. The videos of Poppy being like, five years ago I was making these TikTok videos. I'm like, Tony, five years ago you were the champion.

The Twitter campaign that's gonna get put out on Tony Ferguson if he loses to Sal Poppy. The TikToks from five years ago of him doing like the... Yeah, oh my God. It's gonna be bad. It's not good. By the way, I give him a lot of credit for taking the fight because the potential for getting clowned,

if you lose to him, is so great that some people would just be like, nah, it's not worth it. If he loses to Salt Poppy, hang him up. What does hang him up really mean, you know? Don't fight for money publicly again. I don't know if I can guarantee that, unfortunately. I'm saying in your opinion, do you think he should? No, no.

No, keep rolling. No, yeah. Depends on how he looks also. He's never had a pro boxing bout before. Poppy has. Poppy's the favorite. Is- Poppy's the favorite?

No, but I just figure because of the experience. Where can we get odds? Misfits? Yeah, let me see. I might be able to find something. Odds. What are we doing? Nothing yet, but there will be odds.

You don't think, do you think they do odds for, cause- For sure. Yeah? Yeah, there will be for sure. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. No, I got nothing. Nothing? Yeah.

At 365, no? No, it's just like a recap. But online? It's just a recap. Martial arts, what would it be under? Martial arts or boxing? Yeah, it's a good question. I mean, the Dylan Dantus fight

would be under martial arts. That's for sure. Yeah, I'm kind good question. I mean, the Dylan Dennis fight would be under martial arts. That's for sure. Yeah, I'm kind of hyped for it. I'm looking forward to it. It's gonna be fun. Yeah. Dylan Dennis, he's back. Maybe we'll have him in studio again.

All right, back into the show, my friends. We are going to be joined by the great Dustin Poirier, El Diamante, who had his final walk on Saturday. Prior to that, we're gonna be joined by Eric Bischoff, the chief media officer of Real American Freestyle Wrestling. They announced earlier today that they have signed a deal with Fox Nation, which I think actually, could be if I'm wrong,

I think on air Jordan, big fan of Fox Nation, which I think actually, could be if I'm wrong, I think On Air, Jordan's a big fan of, Fox Nation. It's the only favorite on our TV channels. Yes. It's actually the only streaming service he pays for. It actually is. Actually the TV doesn't even change channels. It doesn't work anymore. It just stays on there.

It stays on there and you know, Mrs. On Air just lives with it. I love it. Well there you have it. Their first, actually their first show is August 30th too. That's a crazy day. Not quite this past Saturday in terms of like level of prestige. That's perfect. We're actually having a block party. Everyone's invited August 30th. Oh really?

Move the tv outside. Everyone gets to watch Real American Wrestling. Well there'll be that. There'll be misfits. Yeah, will there be a second screen for misfits there? Well I assume the mechanic will have already finished his 11th fight of that night by the time. NCJI, NCJI. Oh shit, yeah, we'll need to get a second TV. Wow, are you calling Dylan Dennis the 11th opponent?

Oh man. The 11th hater, I guess. I don't want that smoke. Prior to that, we're gonna be joined by AJ Francis of TNA Wrestling fame. He was part of the Slammiversary pay-per-view yesterday at the UBS Arena. Highest attended show in TNA history. 7,600 and change.

It was a stone's throw away from where Rick and Jordan live, but yet they were not in attendance, unfortunately. Prior to that we're going to be joined by D-Rod, Daniel Rodriguez, coming off his incredible win over Kevin Holland, which probably should have been the fight of the night. And prior to that, we're going to be joined by Paulo Costa. But first, let us speak to the man who shocked the MMA world on Saturday in Cape Town, South Africa. He was going up against the undefe on Saturday in Cape Town, South Africa. He was going up against the undefeated Johnny Eblen, the middleweight champion of the PFL.

And it appeared as though he was seconds away from losing that fight. According to two judges, he was down 39, 37, going into the fifth and final round. So even if he wins that round, it's still, you know, what is it? 39, 38, 40. My math is bad, but you get the point. He needed to get a finish. One judge did have it 38, 38 though. So it was a close fight, but there you have it with just seconds remaining, nine to be exact. He gets the submission win over Johnny Eblen in one of the most exciting and dramatic moments in the history of PFL slash Bellator.

They call him the Spaniard. He is the pride of the Netherlands and Spain. He's the one and only Costello Van Stenis. He's kind enough to join us right here now with the belt behind him. Hello, Costello. How are you? Good afternoon, Mr. Ariel Awani. How are you? I'm doing great. Better than ever. I can't imagine. I can't imagine. You must be on cloud nine. You're probably still up in the clouds right now, right? You're probably still dreaming about Saturday. Yeah, I'm not coming up there for a while. And so how many times have you watched that finishing sequence?

There's no count on that. There's really no count on that. I've been in the plane for like 13 hours, flying back to the Netherlands, and it's just watching it over and over and over again. Just, it's beautiful. I don't know, it's great. Can I ask, what are you thinking in this moment here as you are squeezing for dear life

and you know there's seconds remaining, right? So you know that this is your chance. Do you remember anything going on in your mind at this moment? Yeah, at that very moment I was planning on, if this guy's not gonna tap, I'm gonna try and break his neck. Really, I was using my full potential strength to actually hurt him really bad

because I was saying the whole week, I'm not gonna lose, the whole week, the whole training camp, I'm not gonna lose, I can't lose. I've been dedicating my whole life for this moment. There's no chance I'm losing this fight. So even though I have to squeeze the hell off, I was actually really trying to do that at that moment. But lucky for him, he fell asleep. Yes. Are you able to see the clock from where you're at on the mat? Do you know how much time is left?

No, not at all. Not at that moment. I heard my trainers screaming all different languages, Spanish and in Dutch and in English saying, there's only 15 seconds left. So I was like, oh, 15 seconds, I need to squeeze. It's now all or nothing. So that's what I just did. I just squeezed it like a pimple as hard as I possible. That moment where you realize that he's out and the ref says the fight is over, what does that feel like? It's like in Michigan, you actually, it's like you've been studying for homework and you actually feel like going in,

if I study for the homework, I cannot fail. But of course, when you pass the exam, I mean, not the homework, the exam, when you pass the exam, you're like, yes, I got my, I did my mission, I made it come true. So it was like, it's very difficult, it's very difficult to explain how you feel at that moment because it's like one of the best feelings in the world.

So as I said at the top, three judges had it, excuse me, two of the three judges had it, three, one for him going into the fifth. What did you think the score was? Here it is. So 3-1 for him, 3-1 for him, and then one had it 2-2. What did you think the score was going into the fifth? I thought the third and the fourth fight, the round, I mean, I thought it was for me. Of course, he took me down, I think, one or two times, but I've been the one that's making all the damages but it depends on the judges of course it could go both ways. He did I had a little bit more cage control stand wise I think I had all the cage control stand wise I've been punching him standing

up I nearly knocked him out yeah he did throw me on the floor he did push me against the cage but he wasn't doing a lot of action so it it depends on that night. It could have been, if there were different judges, it would have been a different scorecard maybe. Okay. Doesn't really matter. I finished it. So it's for sure. Were you thinking I need to finish to win this fight? Yes, 100%. 100%. Yeah, 100%. But I already thought I need to finish the fight before I started the fight. I was like, now this guy, if I'm gonna go in points with this guy, he's probably gonna beat me because all he does is like wrestle,

take you to the floor, hold you down, and yeah, get them points. So it was like, if he takes me down, I'm gonna do as much damage as possible. And hopefully he'll let me go and so I can stand up and try and finish him. What a, what a freaking scene, man. Unbelievable.

I can't even imagine what that feels like to win like that in dramatic fashion like that after a long career where you're trying to get this moment. And you were in Bellator and now in the PFL, and it sort of feels like there have been some fighters that kind of got lost in the shuffle in the transition. How would you describe the last couple of years between being in the PFL and then coming over and them trying to figure out how they're going to make this all work?

Oh, it was scary, Ariel. It was really scary. When the organization changed from Bellator to PFL, first they were both existing, so they were saying, oh, we can fight in both organizations. Well, that was cool. That was beautiful. But then they were saying, yeah, Bellator's gonna go away,

so it's gonna be only PFL. That was a little bit scary because then big names were disappearing, other fighters were saying, yeah, Bellator's gonna go away, so it's gonna be only PFL. That was a little bit scary, because then big names were disappearing, other fighters were disappearing, they were getting thrown out. I was like, shit, man. And then I had a fight coming out against Babane. He was an undefeated fighter for the last 10 years,

knocking everybody out in the first round. I'm like, okay, it's my turn to fight this guy. So I was thinking, that was last year, May, and I was thinking, the one who loses this fight, they're gonna kick us out. They're gonna kick us out of the organization, most probably, and thank God that I won that fight in a good way, so I was like,

okay, I'm saved by the bell for this one. This was like the moment, the feeling that I was thinking the whole time. Maybe it wasn't like this, but that's what I was feeling at that moment. Wow, you lose that fight, you get kicked out, now you're the champion of the organization. Yes. And to stay.

It's crazy. It really is crazy. And are you the PFL midway champion? Brother, right here. There it is. Look at this beautiful diamond. It is a beautiful, it is a- Fine. The reason I asked that is

cause it got a little bit confusing with the Bellator belt and then it was the road to Dubai And so I wasn't sure what they were calling it No, it's a this is the yeah, the pfl world champion damn. That's all my name's on it This is mine for life. Yeah history in South Africa. So I'm really glad about that What was what was South Africa like? Oh, beautiful country. I felt African myself once I was down there. Wow, had you ever been down there? Never, never.

No, it was a long flight. I would definitely go back though, but not at this season. I would go back in December because apparently the weather is really good and the weather was a little bit crappy at the moment. It was raining and it wasn't so nice. But the people were very nice.

They were really friendly and helpful and it was really good. I didn't get to taste the crocodile though, that's a shame. Is that something they eat there? Yeah, they went to this market and they're saying, oh you can eat zebra, you can eat crocodiles. So that's my training part is, oh please eat that and let me know how it tastes because I'm not gonna taste some different things I've never had before, before a fight. Right. So I said I'm gonna come back on Sunday but I had loads of other things to do. So I didn't get the chance to go to that market

and eat that crocodile. What did they say as far as how it tasted? It tastes like chicken, like chicken and beef, a little bit different, a little bit more chewing gum, but it was, they said it was nice. It was all right. Wow. What, in terms of what you gathered, what was their interest level in MMA like?

Like how much did they know about what the PFL was, about what you guys were doing, all that stuff? Oh, it was crazy, Ariel. The people there, I don't know, we felt like movie stars over there. Also in the hotel, everybody was shaking their hands, taking pictures. That was before the fight. After the fight, it was like crazy. It was, I've never had that feeling before in no country at all. It's like standing in two hours long in a row to take pictures with people and like, fuck, hide the bell, let's go away because I want to rest. I want to be on myself for at least an hour. But now the people there were really kind, really beautiful people down there like giving you much love about them may seem and treating you like really, yeah, I don't know the treatment you should receive.

People were standing it for two hours trying to get your your your autograph. They want to go went to Table Mountain to take some beautiful pictures over there. The people were like, taking pictures and there were more people coming and more people coming like god fuck let's let's hide that belt and let's go away because we've been here for two hours taking pictures with people so I would rather go home and have some food. I love it. I would imagine you have been dreaming of a moment like this for quite some time for it to finally be here to be a reality. how have you been able to process it? Or has it still not sunk in? Well, to be honest, it hasn't really sunk in yet.

I just got back hours ago from Cape Town, and for me, it was like another hard fight for the moment. Of course, I have the BFL belt, but I just need to sit down. I need to be on myself a little bit. I haven't been a full 24 hours on myself yet. I like to have my me time, you know, just be on myself, be my normal person, get everything processed in my head.

But I'll have that, yeah, starting probably from tomorrow on because now everybody's coming to my house. I need to go to visit some people and yeah, thank them for helping me for training camps and just show my face around, you know? For sure. What's this other belt behind you? Oh, this one.

This one's my brother's. And then I have another one here. I bought this one with 2017. I got that one in Poland. It's the PLMA Championship. This one's my brother's. Okay. Your brother's a fighter as well, Gino.

Yeah, he fights for PFL. He's in the PFL tournament, the lightweight division. He's fighting 26 of September. He's a very good fighter. He's a very good fighter. He's a very good fighter. He's a very good fighter. He's a very good fighter. He's a very good fighter. He's a very good fighter. He's a very good fighter. He's a fighter as well, Gino. Yeah, he fights for PFL.

He's in the PFL tournament of the lightweight division. He's fighting 26th of September for the semi-finals. Okay, and by the way, it seems like you guys have the same chest tattoo there, right? What does that represent? Yes, it's a meaning. My grandma, she passed away a few years ago, and when we were like, this was like 10 years ago, my grandma passed away and she was actually taking care of us a lot.

She was a very important person for us in our family, especially for me and my brother. And we did, yeah, we put our ashes in our chest. Okay, I love that. And so you are nicknamed the Spaniard, but you live in the Netherlands. Were you born in the Netherlands? No, no, I live, I'm living in Andorra. I, but you live in the Netherlands. Were you born in the Netherlands? No, no, I'm living in Andorra. I do my training camps in the Netherlands. I live in Andorra, I'm in Spain, my family,

I've been living for 20 years in Spain. My brother, how do I say this? Well, I've been living in Spain for 20 years and my whole life, my whole childhood. And then I went to the Netherlands for training. That's where I met Musasi and Ricardo and everybody. And they took me in like a family since I was 21.

And since then, they've been drilling me, making me the person I am today and making me one of their family members, just training every single day. It seems obviously like recently with Ilya and yourself and others that Spanish MMA is becoming a hot commodity, but a few years ago wasn't really a thing. There were no real top level fighters coming from Spain.

So how did you get into it? Oh, it's crazy. It's crazy. I got into it actually, I wasn't going to school anymore. I stopped school when I was 16 and I wasn't really doing much. And I met my trainer Gerardo Lopez and he told me, hey man, you need to get off the streets, come and train with me. So that's what I did. So I started doing MMA. I had no idea what MMA was. And after five months, I just did some fights. I did like two fights in one night, a tournament, won that fight. And then he told, oh man, you

should watch some fights. And so I started watching fights with him. We went to the cafe to watch John Jones and Rampage Jackson at that time. They were hot at that moment. So I was like, oh man, Anderson Silver, I was really fan of these people. I was like, wow, this is crazy, man.

But this is MMA, okay, makes more shots. I wanna be like them. So yeah, you should be professional when you're 25. I'm like, 25, man, come on, that's ages like them. So yeah, you should be professional when you're 25. I'm like, 25, man, come on, that's ages away. I'm 18. I was gonna, I'm not gonna wait that long. I just want to fight, you know, and get some money with it.

And well, then he had to leave. So then he told me, hey man, you shouldn't stay here in Spain if you want to make something out of this. You need to go to a different country. So I packed my bags, jumped on the bus, called my godfather that lives in the Netherlands. And that's what I did. I went just full out on plan A and put in my 100% into it and making dreams come true

since I packed my bags and went on the bus. Wow. Did you go with your brother? No, I went on myself. He's 27. I'm 32. I went on my own and it's just me. It was just me going on an adventure,

making my dreams come true. And then my brother came on later on, a few years later. How do you meet Musasi? I was looking for gyms. I went to gym, to gym, to gym. Then finally I found a gym where I actually felt comfortable. And after training like a couple of months, I think it was like four months training

at MMA in Miami with Ricardo Wondo. He told me, hey kid come with me to Lida. It's like 30 minutes drive. So he picked me up every Wednesday and Saturday and Saturday morning. This is when I started training at Musasi. They didn't even know my name for a couple of years. They called me, hey Chinese boy, come here. That used to be my nickname. Yeah but. Yeah. Yeah. But it was, it was all right. It was all right. They, once you get interesting, they actually going to put effort and remembering your name. Sure. So it took like a little bit of time. Then they said, okay, come on, uh, come with me to training, man. Help me, help me get ready for camps.

I remember this moment, Musashi was fighting in the UFC. It was a little bit before he was going to fight Chris Wegman and Ryo Hall. And now he was fighting in the UFC. It was a little bit before he was gonna fight Chris Wegman and Uriah Hall. And now he was fighting Jack Aray, that was his fight. That's when I started training with Musasi. And he asked me to help him with the training camp. I was 22 years old at that moment. And this is, yeah, since then,

every training camp I've been helping him. And I've been making my ways, my path. And now he's always helping me. He's not fighting at the moment, so he's like actually coaching me. I'm really thankful for that because he's one hell of a coach, man. Yeah, and who knows you better than your own brother?

And he's in the PFL too, which is great. He's a part of PFL Europe, I believe. Yeah, yeah, correct, that's true. Your mom is from the Philippines and your dad is from the Netherlands, right? Yes, yes, sir. And where did they meet? Well, they met when I wasn't born yet.

Yes, of course. No, my dad went to the Philippines. He actually wanted a wife and it was a really weird story. So he went to the Philippines. He met my mom for a couple of weeks and then told my mom, hey, come live with me in the Netherlands. Well that only lasted one year because when I was one we moved to Spain.

So it was a weird story, long story short, my parents they knew each other for a month, got married, got kids because my dad really wanted half-caste children you know. He was a different man, he they wanted to be he wanted special wow especially guy got to bro he got to yeah boys fighting and kicking ass right amen are they still together your parents yes sir they are still together happily married already for 30 something years I love it and five years how do they feel about what their boys are doing? My mom hates it. My mom hates it.

When I was fighting Evelyn, she was in the church, she was puking. She never saw me fight before. In the church, she said I was puking, I was crying, I can't do this, I can't see this, why did you do this? Like mom, we won, we were world champion. We made our dreams come true, but I don't think, I'm not sure if my mom really noticed what I'm doing.

But of course she's very happy for me, I'm like, mom, we're gonna take care of you now. So yeah, yeah, she's a really easy woman. So this is very easy and very beautiful woman she is. So you got revenge for Musasi? Yes, sir. I did. I got revenge for everybody, for the whole team.

Did you speak to him after the fight? Yeah, if I speak to him, they're sending me videos, they were partying like crazy, like holding up all the belts they have, the collections, saying, oh, we got another one, we got another one. So I did it. They're all on Jameson, being crazy, and that was beautiful, FaceTiming.

When we were in the bus, we FaceTimed them. Yes, yes. I would imagine, and you probably agree, you think the PFL's gonna run it back between you two, do a rematch? Yeah, probably, probably. We'll definitely fight sooner or later, Evelyn and I. But I think they want me to fight the winner of the tournament of Edwards and Dalton.

Okay. So, whoever, man. I mean, I got the target on my back. I'm ready. I'm going to be ready. So, I mean, the adventure just starts now, right? He posted yesterday, the fight game is unpredictable. That's what makes it so incredible. I was up on the cards heading into the fifth, just steps from the finish line. But in the final seconds I made a mistake, gave up position and it cost me the fight. I own that respect to Costello. You're a warrior and a tough challenge, but this story isn't over. We'll run it back. You may have won the battle, but I will win the war. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I totally agree. We'll definitely run it back sooner or later.

But I think somebody else is in line now. Like I said before, they want me to fight the winner of them two. So maybe let him fight the loser of them two and we'll see. Okay. So you don't think, I thought actually, to be honest, that it was going to be an immediate rematch, but you don't think it's going to be immediate. No, I don't think it will happen though. I mean, if you want, I mean, if PFL wants that, I'm good to go I'm the champion so I'll fight anybody and I believe I'm the best in the world

I don't believe Evelyn if we if Evelyn and I fight again I believe it's gonna be even easier than this first fight because I came in with a lot of respect against him Of course, this guy was 16 and oh undefeated Everybody all these legends Dustin Poirier and all big fighters are talking so good about this guy oh yeah he's one of the best middleweight fighters in the world outside of the UFC he's gonna be top of the food chain for a very long time so yeah that did give me some respect to him you know but now I know his energy

I know his gas tank I know he's human just like we all are you know and his gas tank is not better than mine. His strength is not better than mine. Yeah, of course his wrestling is better than mine because he's been doing it since he was five. But puts some striking in the game, and it's all different. By the way, speaking of that gas tank,

that was your first time going to the championship rounds, having a five round fight. He had done it three times. How did it feel? It felt natural. I'm born for that. I don't know. I would even fight six, seven, eight times.

I don't care. I was in the zone. I could have kept on going all night. Put it back to pride rules. I think like two times, 10 minutes or unlimited time. I'd do unlimited time, definitely. Wow. If anybody gets finished, yeah, let's go.

You were feeling it. Yeah, I was definitely feeling it. I felt myself in that moment. I was all there. I said, I could have gone for hours. Who's the best middleweight in the world? Fucking I am. Yeah.

You say that because you know, DDP and Khamzat are fighting in a month. Oh yeah. Man, I think I'm more of a people champs in Du Plessis country than he is. People there love me. I was like, whoa. I'm one of the people's champs in the Du Plessis country than he is. People there love me. I was like, whoa.

They even said, you're adopted by Cape Town. We want you as the people's champ. I'm like, what? That's awesome. You were surprised by this? Yeah, no, I was really surprised. I've never met so much energy of fans and the people from Cape Town. Oh my God.

They said, oh, you're our adopted gladiator. Like that's crazy. So, so now you like, you know, the, the talk about Evelyn was he's one of the guys in the PFL who can hang with the very best in the UFC. You feel like you now enter that conversation. You, you can hang with the very best in the world. I believe Evelyn can be in top 10 and you can be in top five. I believe, I believe I could be champion in the UFC and in any organization.

I love it. Well, congratulations on the win. It's great to meet you. Very happy for you. And thanks for doing this. I know you had a long day of travel. So we appreciate you joining us. It's around, I think it's almost nine o'clock over there,

9 p.m. So thank you so much for doing this. Congrats, enjoy it and looking forward to the next one. Thank you so much, Ariel. See you next time, man. Thank you for having me doing this. Congrats, enjoy it, and looking forward to the next one. Thank you so much, Ariel. See you next time, man. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. There he is, the brand new PFL middleweight champion,

the one and only Costello Van Stenis, his brother Gino in the PFL as well. He has fought in KSW, now 1-0 in PFL Europe, and they're doing it. He's 32, KSW, now 1-0 in PFL Europe. And they're doing it. He's 32 by the way. He turns 33 in just five days time. So what a time to be him. He's 17-3. I fully know he may not be a household name, but certainly a name to look out for. 7-2 in Bellator, now 2-0 in the PFL and the champ

of the middleweight division how about that shocking stuff what a way to start Saturday a very busy Saturday in combat sports submitting Paulo Costa with just nine seconds remaining pretty incredible in a matter of moments we're gonna be joined by another middleweight one who fought for a UFC title and one who got back on track this past Saturday. The 34-year-old Paolo Costa, aka Boa Xinha, aka The Eraser. He had a hard fought victory over Roman Kapilov. Kapilov, by the way, was on a 6-1 run in his last seven fights. Costa won in four since 2020, the lone win, a victory

over one Luke Rockhold back in 2022. He had lost his last two in a row. His last fight was about 13 months ago. A UFC 302 lost to Sean Strickland, but he looked good out there. Some were even saying it looked like vintage Paulo Costa. Some were even saying it looked like the best version of Paulo Costa, a poised Paulo Costa, a measured Paulo Costa. He even said it himself, the old Paulo is back. Israel Desenya saying as well that might have been the best version of him. And afterwards he was very fired up. Before the fight he was fired up about

wanting to fight Khamzat Shemaev. After the fight he was fired up about wanting to fight Khamzat Shemaev. He went on social media once again saying he wants the Shemaiev fight. He talked at the at the press conference, someone asked him about fighting Shemaiev and he was like shaking. He was so fired up about it all. By now you know about the whole history between them, the the DMs, Kosta saying Shemaiev had DMed his his partner Tamara. Shemaiev now saying that she DMed him first. There it is. It was she of course, Shamayev's next assignment is August 16th in Chicago against Drikis Duplasi, one of the most anticipated fights of the summer season in mixed martial arts. There seems to be a lot of people who think that if DDP can get by, maybe the second, third round of the tournament, they'll be able to win the tournament. But I think that's a good question.

And I think that's a good question. And I think that's a good question. fights of the summer season in mixed martial arts. There seems to be a lot of people who think that if DDP can get by maybe the second, third round, if it goes into the championship rounds, that he's got this in the bag, if he could survive the early onslaught, he'll be all right. I don't know what to expect from that fight, but I'm done doubting I don't know what to expect from that fight, but I'm done doubting Drikus Duplessis. Time and again, he shocks us. Time and again, he surprises us. Time and again, it may not look like highlight reel stuff or, you know, the type of stuff, textbook stuff, the type of stuff that you would show a young fighter who wants to be great, but it works.

It's effective. It's dominant. And so if I was Paulo Costa, I would go to Chicago and I would sit in the front row and I would make myself a part of that conversation. Heck, maybe even be the backup fighter. It doesn't hurt. It's helped a lot of people. Backup fighter. Sit in the front row. Look at what it did for Patty. Look at what it did for Josh van.

Manda Nunes. Earlier in June. It's just good to be in the mix. Look at Joseph Parker this weekend. Wembley Stadium. He's sitting in the front row. He's now in the mix. He's now in the conversation. Jake Paul as well in the mix conversation. So if I were Paula, Paolo, I would go there and I would make myself a part of the conversation. But it was really great to see him get back on track.

It was great to see him get the win. One of the funny characters in this game. This was the social media post that he had right after the win. One of the funny characters in this game. This was the social media post that he had right after the fight. I'm back motherfuckers. Hey Gumei Chichen. You can hide as much as you want on your cave. I will bring you from there. Classicorma Chichen he brought us the hat in the old days I think it was the hat that he put in his pants so I'm not really sure what happened to it he also did a video with this bodybuilder guy named Mike O'Hern did you guys see this look at this look at these guys. Lookers.

Well, yes. Who is Michael Hearn? I think he's like a bodybuilder. I just know him as the baby don't hurt me guy. Baby don't hurt me? Uh, what is love? He's in that? Baby, no, it's the song that always plays

when he like stares at the camera. Wow. He's a very good looking guy. He's huge. No, but I mean like he's good looking. Yeah, he's huge, yeah, we get it. He's also huge, man. Yeah, I know, but he's just like.

We get it, man, he's a good looking guy. Larger than life, yeah. Move on. You know, he was a gladiator on American Gladiator. Oh! In 2008. Oh, okay. Move on. You know, he was a gladiator on American Gladiator. Oh! In 2008. Oh, okay. This is where I know him from.

Oh, I did not know him from there. I literally know him from the videos where he like walks and then he just does like the, like the look, the stare. And it's like the slow motion. Yes. You've never seen this? Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. Yeah, but it's in slow-mo and like it's him modeling.

No. Oh, that's like his whole shtick. What was his name on American Gladiators? Let me see here. Peered as the Gladiator Titan. I don't know how you guys don't remember this. Titan, no, I remember, I remember. I knew he looked familiar.

Wow. Also has appeared on Days of Our Lives. Oh, shout out. An episode of Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Okay. And I'm dumbing him down to- Played high school football at Juanita High School and was coached under Chuck Tarbox.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you, thank you. No problem. Bodybuilder, actor, personal trainer, model, which you knew. Yes, no, I knew that, I knew that, but the gladiators, actor, personal trainer, model, which you knew. Yes, no, I knew that. I knew that, but the gladiators, that was the one. That was the one that I was missing. He looked very familiar.

The hair is lovely. The facial features. It's all good stuff. Reminder, Dustin Poirier gonna join us at 5.15 today. It's a super duper long post-pay-per-view Monday. Daniel Rodriguez coming up in our third hour. Eric Bischoff, AJ Francis. Without further ado though, let us say hello to the man

who got back on track on Saturday, who snapped his two-fight losing streak, who told the world, not only am I back, but it's vintage Paolo back. It's old Paolo back. It's old Paolo back. It might even be the best version of Boa Chini, the racer back. He's the one and only Paolo Costa, kind enough to join us.

There he is. He's back. He's back, Paolo. Delighted. I'm happy to be here now with the victory. Thank you for having me here, bro. It's a pleasure. You know, you are my big brother from the bottom of my heart

thank you for this space. Parabens parabens welcome back. Parabens motherfucker you got it. Does it feel does it feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders? Oh yeah a lot a lot weight uh yes I feel lighter. Were you feeling very nervous going into the fight? No, not very nervous. I could be very calm, keep the pace, you know. Control the stress, the old negativities that people used to throw on me. I was, you know, focused on my goal and calm, calm at that point, but still aggressive. That's my feelings on that moment. I just avoid everything out, you know, the crowd, the amazing show, the lights, the whole structure, the whole

stuff. I just erased all these things from my mind, just focused on my opponent and performed. I was focused on my performance and be a good performer. And that was my goal, you know. I try to clean my mind and I could do that. That's why I performed very well. In the past, were you too focused on all that stuff? Did that affect you in the past? Yes, man. I think I have some kind of TGAs. This is kind of a moment to sickness, you know, everybody has TGA, but I don't know. I, something happened. I was so focused because I don't know.

I guess I love this kind of show, MMA, you know? When I went to fight, I was like, okay, this is part of the show. I will try to enjoy the show, but I was not there. I'm not there to enjoy. That was work. I'm there to work. I'm there to perform. I'm there to be a worker. By the way, I think it's ADD. Ah, okay. ADD.

You got the right letters, just a different order. Okay, thank you. Yes, yes, yes. Portuguese is different, the name. So maybe, maybe. I need to figure it out. It's so hard for me to concentrate, to be focused. You know, Paul, go just to work. Go to do your work.

It's just 15 minutes, focus on this shit and perform. Because I perform very, very well in my gym, in the training, in sparring. You know? Like I did yesterday or even better. But in the fight sometimes I was like not, yeah, I will be distracted, Tamayo help me, I will be distracted, you know, thinking about because this is a big show and too many things going on at the same time and it's so easy to lose your focus, you know? And be kind of away. So this time I could perform very well.

Because I was focused in the backstage. Okay, I will not pay attention. I will not enjoy the entertainment. I'll be a worker. I go to work and just this. And I think this helped me a lot. I will not enjoy the entertainment. I will be worker. I go to work and just this. And I think this helped me a lot. Did someone tell you about this?

Did you just figure it out on your own or did you work with someone on trying to focus and block everything out? Kind of both. Okay. When I fought these two guys, Strickland and I, more, more, it's having more against Whitaker. I finished the fight and I was very fresh.

I felt, okay, this is not right. I lost to him. I lost to him. And I still fresh here because I didn't deliver 100%. I could do more, you know. If he beat me on the techniques, I could dirt this fight, make this dirt. Cling, you know, try put him down, make this fight dirt.

Because I let it go so easy. It's kind of. And this guy, Johnny, this new coach, and my physical trainer, he said, Paul, you are the kind of guy you need to do your first round in the backstage and get there more than one you need to do your first round in the backstage you need that you don't need you don't can go there. You know, in Portuguese you say, mais or menos, what should be. So, so, come see closer.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You need to be. 100%. 100%. And this time this helped me out as well. I did like a three times more workout in the backstage than normally I do.

So I feel the same energy since I didn't feel many, many years ago. You feel like your confidence is all the way back now? Not all the way, not all the way yet. Not all the way yet. I still getting this confidence. I need more fights. I need one more, two more to get 100% of my confidence back. Because I could finish this fight against Cope Love sometimes that first drop, the first threshold that he fall, When he get up, when he get up on his feet, I was, I don't know

if I go, I will keep him the pace. I will maybe, you know, maybe, maybe it's not the right moment to go. But there was a good moment to go because he was grog, still grog, still figuring out what happened because it was a clean shot, a clean straight in his mouth and he felt that. He was in a kind of survive mode. I didn't take too many advantage of that. I could, but my confidence was not so good to do that. You understand? Yes, I understand.

Did you see your old foe, Israel Desanye, he had a lot of nice things to say about your performance. No, I didn't see. He said basically that the old you was back, that it looked like vintage Paulo, that maybe it was the best version of you. So I thought that you'd be very happy to hear that. I don't know.

So yeah, he is true. He said the true, but I don't like him. Did you see Marvin throughout fight week? Another old opponent was on the card. Did you see him? I saw him the whole time. Yeah, did you speak to him? No, no, I prefer to keep this wall between us. Okay. And on Thursday, what was going on at the press conference when you were asked about Khamzad? You were shaking a lot. What was happening there? Too many energy. Too many energy, you know, too many energy. What was going on at the press conference when you were asked about Khamzad? You were shaking a lot. What was happening there? Too many energy. Too many energy. You know, too many will, power, will, desire to win, you know, was trusting on this victory,

you know. And I think, uh, N A G. N A D. The vitamin. Okay. Okay. Any D. N A G plus.

Okay. Okay. On what the name the company sponsor UFC. I don't know how pronounce is regular eight. Regan eight is a company. They sponsor FC. They send me some, some vitamins. I, I, how to pronounce it. Regnerate? Regnerate is a company they sponsor. They send me some vitamins. I, it's injection.

Okay. Okay. It's all legal. Legal. I put some effects on this, make me so energy. Yes. So energizer. Have you ever felt this way about another man? The way you do about Hamza?

Cause I see a different side of you when you talk about him. To be honest, I don't think so. I think I just felt that way when mentioned his name. And yeah. Did you see his tweet about the DM? He said, it was she who wrote to me Habib. Yeah, I saw that.

This is not true because I saw the whole storyline. I'd like to ask him why you erase all the messages. Okay. What was the first thing that he wrote? What did he write? Was he trying to be friendly or was he trying to be aggressive? No, no. Look, look.

To everybody understand the context, I will say the contest. We were in Abu Dhabi one month before the fight. Something like that. One month, three weeks before the fight. The fight was on. I was there to fight him. I was training, everything normal. But he felt stressed. He felt stressed because we had a fight come up. And I was there. I was there in Abu Dhabi to fight him, to beat him, and to hit him, to beat him badly. I was prepared for that. So, for some reason, I would say say I don't know why but I presume because he's not confident. He's not confident enough, you know, I think for lack of confidence, he says, I'm going to send a message for his woman. I will threaten her. I will try to express my frustration, my lack of confidence to her. This is a kind of coward action.

I'm going to attack her." He texts Tamaya. He say, you may is not a man enough. you may not have man enough. He's a, what did he say? Kind of, yeah, he likes men. He sent me a decent picture. He sent her a decent picture. He said, look, he loves to a decent, he likes black men. He's the kind of not man enough. You should look for a better man than him. Something like that, something no sense. This guy, I think he was very stressed.

He was in a stressed situation. He tried to express all his frustration on her. So he sent this message. Of course, she sent some message back, but I... What did she say? What did she say back to him? I'd love to know. What did you say? What do you say? I say that children don't involve our family because we never involve his family in anything.

You say, don't involve my family in this business, it's not about us, because we never involve your family in this, it's between you and Paulo. This is disrespectful. This is yeah, it is not the kind of thing that a man should do. Right. You want to talk to Paulo and it's not about me. It's not my business. This is this is only business. You know, take care of your problems. You and Paul, if you say something like that. Okay.

She said something like that. Okay. This man, I hate this motherfucker. I hate this guy. I want fight him. I want fight him. I want take everything that he had. He has. I want to take.

I want to take because I believe, I truly believe I'm one of the worst opponents for him because I'm strong, I never go back, I never regret. I have strong hips, strong legs, I can defend, take down very well and I'm going to make a hell of a fight for him. I think me and Drikus is a kind of perfect fight to beat him. I think me and Rikus has a kind of same style, same boy shape that is going to compromise his works. Shimaev is still very immature. Even on his actions, he acts like an immature guy and he fights like an immature guy. Nobody rushes for a title fight or five rounds against a very strong man like Drikos and me,

and he's going to do that because he's immature. He cannot compose himself and keep his pace because he's emotional. He's a kind of kid. He acts like a kid. I don't know what his problem. You remember when he got COVID? He got emotional. He just took a picture of his ugly face in the mirror and said, guys, I'm done.

Because he got emotional. He's an emotional fighter. Emotional fighter is okay. Sometimes it's cool, it's fun, but it's not a real one. To be a real one, to fight for 25 minutes against a real middleweight, strong and dangerous guy, you need to be resilient, You need to be smart. You need to be... You don't need to rush. You cannot rush. You need to... I don't know the exact word. Let me see. In Portuguese. You need to be patient. You need to be patient. You need to be patient. You need to be patient. You need to finish the fight in the right moment,

but not never rush because one hand, one kick and everything is over. Are you gonna go to Chicago? Yes, I'm gonna be there and after that if you want I'm gonna go or you show. Oh amazing amazing. Yes, please, please. You're more than welcome. But can I ask, are you gonna go just to watch or are you gonna be the backup fighter? What is your plan? I'm still thinking about that.

Okay. I still thinking about that. Everything is open, is on the table. I need to have a talk with Hunter, something about that, or Mick, and figure it out. Are you hoping he loses? Do you think you have a better chance

of getting him if he loses or if he wins? To be honest, I'm not getting this so emotional that I want him to lose to fight him very next. Because I know this is going to happen one way or the other. This is going to happen sooner or later. And I'm not emotional enough to, I want this now, now, now, now. This is going to happen. And I have a patient.

I can wait for the right moment. But I truly believe he's gonna lose this one. Okay. Because that, because his emotion, you know, because this is going to put him in trouble against Drikos. How do you think he loses? I think he's gonna get out. Okay. And then Drikos will stop him. And Drikos will take advantage of that. Dricus is something else on this guy. It's an unbelievable run that he's on. Man, this is something. He's very good.

He's very good. He's not orthodox at all. He's so weird. I'm not being disrespectful to him, but he's weird. His way of his fight is so weird he jumped in the middle of the fight he he do something but for some reason that works and he's super strong I have a two friends who have fought him one is your you to peregrine in Brazil another one is so dick the Robocop. He fought in one championship, I think.

KSW. KSW, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And the both guys say Drikus is super strong. So I don't think Shumayev gonna prosper against him. So, but if it isn't Shumayev next, do you know who you want to fight?

Do you have an idea? If they don't give him, if it doesn't work out that way. I don't have idea yet. Okay. There's a lot of names. A lot names, yes. Everybody can be a potential fight for me. Everybody, everybody in the list, yeah. Even Whitaker's fighting RDR. If RDR wins this weekend maybe you fight him.

Yes, of course. I'm able for everyone. When do you want to return? I want to return when FC wants me. I think I'm going to take two weeks off and I'll be back to the grind. Okay, do you want to fight again this year? Of course, of course yes. Before, before I will be able before November, between November and October. Did you like New Orleans?

Oh, uh-uh. To be honest, I like New Orleans, but not this region over here because this is so busy too many people is a kind of carnival street Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah, so I like a lot of America. No, I like more traditional America This is a little bit different. Okay. Did you have the doughnuts? No, you don't eat doughnuts you I Can it I can eat but Because why they have some some different donuts over here. Yeah there's a famous place called Café du Monde. Café du Monde. Café of the World.

D-U-M-O-N-D-E. Very very famous. It's a French word. Café du Monde. Very very famous. That's where they have the most famous, they call them beignets, but it's like a donut. It's a French word for donut. They have it there with the hot chocolate. Very, very popular. Oh, sweet, sweet, right? Maybe you go there.

Palo, maybe you go there. You have the hot chocolate. This year, this year, this year, this year gonna happen. This is it? This year, this year gonna happen, man. Oh my gosh. Will I be invited? Will I be invited? Oh yes! I wasn't even thought about that. Of course I will invite you.

You are, you're gonna be something very special. You're okay with having a Jewish person at your wedding? Of course, man. We give good, we give good presents. We give good money, presents. Of course! Yes. I'm a little bit Jewish. You are? Yes. Really? I'm like 5%. Okay, you're one of us. Yes. Part of the family. Yeah, yeah. I love it. Well, congratulations, Paolo. Thank you. What were you going to say? What were you going to say? I interrupted you. Yeah, they say mazal tov, right? Mazal tov. Mazal tov. Yes, that means good luck or congratulations. It means both.

You're the man. So mazal tov to you on the win. Congratulations, Parabens. So nice to see you back. And what a performance. You were very smart, composed. It was beautiful to watch. So I'm very, very, very happy for you. And please come visit us. Thank you, brother. Yes, this is something that really makes my heart happy, you know, to deliver a good performance for you guys, the watchers. I am a super fan of MMA as well. I have great big names that I am fan of, fighters, and I know how good these watchers are, good fights for who you like. So, yes, I was all

I wanted this for you guys, you guys, a great performance. And I'll make sure the next ones gonna be as good as this. Amen. Well, can't wait for that. For now, enjoy the victory, enjoy your time over there in America and your time off, and we'll see you soon.

Thank you so much, Paulo. Thank you, Tamara. Thank you, Ariel. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Ciao ciao. Ciao ciao. Thank you guys. There they are, Paulo much, Paulo. Thank you, Tamara. Thank you, Ariel. Obrigado. Thank you. Chao chao. Chao chao. Thank you, guys. There they are.

Paulo Costa, Tamara, great stuff there. And appreciate his time very, very much. In a matter of seconds, we're going to be joined by another big winner from UFC 318 from the main card. Should have won the fight of the night, if you ask me. Daniel Rodriguez looked amazing in his win over one Kevin Holland. And I thought it was either going to be that fight or the main event, Dustin Poirier against Max Holloway. A bit of a surprising one, but hopefully he is taken care of. A huge win for him over a guy who had been looking very good as of late.

He has now won three in a row and putting it all together, it would imagine. He was once on a three-fight losing streak, now on a three-fight winning streak. He has won 10 fights inside the octagon, dropped Kevin Holland in the second round, got dropped himself in the third, but got the victory in the end.

It was a very, very, very fun fight. By the way, on some sports books, it was plus 900, a D-Rod win via decision. That was a very, very, very fun fight. By the way, on some sportsbooks, it was plus 900 a D-Rod win via decision. That's what happened. He's kind enough to join us. Let us talk to the man himself, Daniel Rodriguez, who is kind enough to be here with us after a big win on Saturday. Hello, Daniel. How are you? Congrats on the win. Thank you. Thank you, man. Thanks for having me again.

No, it's great to have you as always. And what a performance. I thought it was either you and Kevin or you and Dustin and Max as far as the fight of the night. And neither of you got it. Were you surprised by that? Yeah, man. I was real surprised we didn't get it actually. You know, that was a back and forth war. It was everything I expected it was gonna be. You know, but even though we didn't get it, there's been times where like we don't get the bonus, but you know, we'll still get taken care of.

So hoping for that, you know, we put it all out there that night. Were you happy with your performance in the fight? Like I said, you dropped him once, he dropped you. It was a back and forth. It was very entertaining, all action. Were you happy with the body of work? Man, I couldn't be any happier.

That fight is honestly, man, that fight is exactly how I imagined it would be. Kevin Holland, tough, tough, tough opponent, dangerous in so many ways, slick grappling, dangerous striking, he's got knockout power, he's got knockout power. He's got some cool highlights, you know? And I went in there on three weeks notice, man. Went out there and just, you know,

prep myself as much as possible. You know, I wasn't really like getting ready for hauling himself. It was really more of, you know, those three and a half weeks were were really just getting myself getting my cardio up and and man we went out there and we put it all out in the line man uh if you guys for I'm sure we looked completely exhausted but you know for everyone around uh and anyone in near the the cage tell we were, we were exhausted and left it all out there. So your last fight was on May 3rd against Santiago Ponsonibio in Iowa.

Um, and then you said three weeks notice, how did this all come about for you to take this fight? Um, yeah, the UFC had approached me. Um, I had already been kind of staying in shape after my last fight. One of my teammates actually had a fight, you know, like a few weeks later. So I jumped right back into camp, didn't get no, really no time off. And, you know, I did pack on a little bit of weight, but my weight was good coming into it. So we were like, you know what, let's just take this fight.

I wanted this fight for a long time. And it was a great opportunity. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, you know what, let's just take this fight. I wanted this fight for a long time. And it was a great opportunity. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, you know, and, and, and given, you know, 318 dust employers, retirement fight, BMF title fight on the main card, pay-per-view in, in, in New Orleans, I was like, man, this is one of those opportunities. I just can't, I cannot pass up. And, um, you know, going in, I knew it was going to be I knew it was going to be a war and it was everything I expected

to be. Some of us might remember that you guys were supposed to fight in September of 2022, that crazy day where everything got mixed up. So it was nice to see some sort of conclusion to the fight that we thought we were going to get some three years ago, you said that you always wanted to fight him. Was it because of that because you had already prepared for him? Or is it because of something else? No, it's actually the third time. I remember my second fight in the UFC was supposed to be Kevin Holland and I had taken that one on two weeks notice. I remember in the beginning of my career, my first five, six fights in the UFC, a majority of the fights were on short notice.

And I ended up fighting Gabe Green last minute. Gabe Green stepped up fight week actually to fight me. And then also with that fight where he ended up fighting Chumayev and I ended up fighting Jingli Yang. That fight in particular, I trained and I was locked in to fight Kevin Hall and then last minute ended up fighting Jing Liang. That fight in particular, I trained and I was locked in to fight Kevin Holland and then last minute I ended up fighting someone completely else. And yeah, it was one of those things

where the fans wanted it. The fans always called me and telling me, man, I want you to fight Kevin Holland, Kevin Holland. You know, and he's been, you know, I wanna fight the big names, you know? So they asked me, you want to fight Kevin Hollen on three weeks? I'm like, let's do this, bro.

I think you mentioned in the post-fight press conference that you may have hurt your left hand in the fight. Any idea how it's feeling? Man, right now, currently I'm at the UFCPI. I just been doing, I did a full therapy session. I did a red light I'm about to hop in the cold plunge after this I did some some some some physical therapy and Man, I'm in a phase. I got a boot on right now my foot. Yeah

What happened that you can get that checked out? Oh, I'm just I'm just gonna swimming out. He probably checked some kicks. So we're just gonna I'm just gonna assume that he probably checked some kicks. So we're just gonna Wait for the medical team to follow up with me and then probably get it checked out tomorrow on my knees from a little funny I'm just I'm just all banged up. Yes that third round that third round You can see like my face is like, you know a little bit And you know, we left it all out there man Kevin Holland himself I already went to the hospital after, you know, to get himself a CT scan or, I'm really not 100% sure on the details of why he went,

but I know he took some heavy, heavy shots after I had knocked him down in the second round and I was raining down some hard, hard punches. Third round, how, you know, how kind of messed up were you in that third round? Man, I said it in the interviews. I don't remember getting knocked down. I was like, wait, that happened?

So it wasn't until I went back and watched it and I was like, yeah, oh damn, he caught me with a little short uppercut and it didn't look like he even hit me hard, but it just, you know, those shots that you don't see are the ones that get you. So, yeah, I was able to work myself, work myself back up and, and, and, and yeah,

he sensed that, you know, I was, I was, you know, he went for the kill and then ended up catching me with a whole bunch of other punches. I did my best to fight back. He caught me with another really hard uppercut. It really stunned me. I think it was just an accumulation of just... It has a lot to do with being just completely exhausted because I was able to fight my way out of that and we ended up in a scramble

and then I ended up back on top And and who'd have thought that Kevin Holley would be shooting for takedowns, huh? That's crazy He tweeted something after the fight that I was wondering what you thought of it He tweeted that boy was like a soap bar, but good boxing. Sorry for all the parlays we effed up What do you think he means by the the soap bar? Yeah, he said I was like slippery. I was hard to grab, you know, but that's sweat, bro. You know, like I... I think he was accused,

because sometimes when people say that they're accusing someone of greasing, is that what he's implying? I'm assuming that's what he's trying to say, but you know, there wasn't really too many exchanges other than in the third round when he went for the choke. He didn't even have it at the right angle and I was able to just turn my body, get my

shoulder out and ended up back on top. I think that that's what might be what he's referring to. But yeah, like I said, I was just sweating. Everybody, one thing I did do though, it's kind of like a strategy, I shaved my head. My head was like fresh shaved, so I knew if you tried to get me in a dark spot, I'd be able to slip my head out real slick, you know?

I thought you just wanted to show off the new head tattoo. Yo, hey, that too, that too, man. Look at this thing, man. Holy smokes, this thing's incredible. The most painful experience I've ever been through in my life, man. I remember when I was doing it, I was like squeezing my face.

And after I had to like, after the tattoo, I couldn't drive. So I had fallen asleep on the tattoo artist on his couch for like three hours. Wow. How long did that take? So far, this whole process has been about 16 hours and and you're not done No, he wants to I got like four more hours of like touch-up stuff

But oh it was it was it was cutting it too soon too soon to the fight. I like, you know, let's just wait man How long ago did you get that? When I when when I How long did that? When they asked me to fight, I was still in the healing process, so I was like, all right, cool. So I had some time to heal up. So I gave myself a few days,

but it's been about a month or so, I want to say. Okay, okay, wow. So it's pretty fresh. Yeah. Did it hurt in the fight? No, not at all. Okay, it's all good? Yeah, no, at this point it's pretty fresh. Yeah. Did it hurt in the fight? No, not at all. Okay, it's all good? Yeah, no, at this point it's completely healed up. I'm ready to get some more.

When do you think you'll be done with the tats? Whenever, I'm out of space, man. And you haven't? This is the back right here, it's crazy, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I need a, I got some space on my thighs, you know? So I'll probably work on that next. Top of that, so that was the worst by far.

Yeah, man. I can't even imagine. It's true what they say. It's true what they say, man. Tattoos are addicting, man. And I love how it looks. You know, it's definitely representation of myself from where I come from.

And you know, it's LA culture, you know? And I love representing Los Angeles and to its entirety in the UFC. Yo, I saw a video of you on stage with a comedian where you choked out the comedian. Is that legit? Yeah, yeah. I was at a comedy show with one of my buddies,

Rene Vaca, and he called me up on stage and he offered anyone in the crowd $500 to come out and get choked out on stage. To my surprise, to my surprise though, so many people were willing to go on stage and it was 100% real. Luckily, luckily, you know, I mean, I'm no, I'm no jujitsu wizard, but I do know how to choke a motherfucker out, you know?

Yeah. So how many did you do? Just one? Yeah, it was just one. And he went out for a couple of seconds. I was a little worried like, oh my God, please let go. So he got back up and it was all fun. It was a great night. Wow. All right. Yeah. Be careful with that stuff.

Cause then someone falls and then they sue you and then it's a whole thing, you know? Well, we made sure to ask, do you have consent for D-Rod to choke you out here on stage? I guess that was good enough. All right, I guess so. By the way-

It's more than $500 though. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, hey. By the way, last month, you marked 10 years in the sport of MMA. You made your MMA debut June of 2015. Just curious, that first fight, what did you get for that? My first fight, I wanna say, I wanna say it was like $1,000.

Okay. Plus tickets, plus a little bit of money from tickets at the time I believe it was I fought for King of the cage my first profile Okay, so Yeah, by the way, that's actually better than some other people some other people got like zero for their first profile Yeah. Yeah. Well going into my pro career. I had already built myself, built like kind of a name for myself in the amateurs

here on the regional circuit in Los Angeles. So going in, I already had, I had a hundred feet, I was 7-0 amateur, number one in the state, you know, so I had a kind of a little bit of hype going into it. So I were able to get a little bit of money at least, but, but you know, everybody knows in the beginning stages of their career, sponsors is really what helps, you know, so I was able to get a little bit of money at least, but everybody knows in the beginning stages of their career, sponsors is really what helps. So I was able to make majority of the money that I did make in the beginning of my career was came through sponsors.

The first one was via Armbar, and then second one via ArmTriangle. So you were like a Jiu-Jitsu whiz. Yeah, yeah, I had everybody on alert, like, oh man, this guy's a jujitsu guy, you know? But like, yeah, man, I just, wherever the fight goes, I'm not like, wherever the fight goes, I almost caught Kevin and, you know, a couple, I could put him in a couple dangerous spots too. I got him in a standing little guillotine that was pretty tight, but I let it go.

I just didn't want to... At that point, I was so exhausted. I didn't want to try to burn my arms out. This guy kept coming at me, especially in the third round. I was like, okay. I feel like I had two rounds up, especially that second round could have possibly been a 10-8 round. And I was really looking to just stay sharp and don't do nothing too crazy,

but still go out there and be dominant and not stop pushing forward and keep putting the pressure. Yeah, it was just accumulation of this exhaustion exhaustion and yeah, he clipped me and it was just, it was like an amazing fight, man. When I train, I see myself, I picture these situations and while I'm training, I'm imagining this war, you know, and I can honestly say this is probably one of my favorite fights out of my whole career is like back and forth, big name, big stage.

And the fans just are, they're like, man, I'm still getting messages. And everyone here at the PI fighters, you know, probably prior to the fight, one of the highlight was one of the highlights is Max Holloway when I ran into Max Holloway after Weigns. And he came up, shook my hand, and he's like, man, I'm excited for your fight. He's like, I love watching you fight, bro. He's like, you always bring it. And for me, I was like, wow, I do like Max Holloway telling me that he likes my fight

style, and that I'm always bringing it and I'm a dog, man. It just meant everything to me. So it was like, there was like a lot of good energy coming into this fight. I love it. And a year ago, almost exactly a year ago, you had just dropped your third in a row.

A year later, you're on a three fight winning streak. And so the difference in a year is amazing. Biggest difference between that guy and this guy right now, other than the confidence I would imagine of being on a three fight winning streak. What's the biggest difference? Momentum, man. Right now, it's all momentum.

I got a ton of momentum. Coming out, like my last fight, the fight before this one, I knocked out Ponsonibio. And, you know, he's also a big name, you know, and it was just like a momentum energy thing, right? When I was on that three fight win streak, you know, I was kinda, it was some tough losses, you know, the Neo Magni fight, amazing fight.

I was winning the fight till I got choked out in the third uh gasoline i fought you know it's pretty much a welterweight versus a a middleweight you know ended up being a great fight you know lost but still won a ton of fan recognition a ton of respect in the in among the community and and you know shit tough. A three fight losing streak after being ranked number 13 in the world is pretty rough you know but I kept my head in the game you know fans teammates family are really just kept me solid and yeah yeah, I feel like, you know, these past, like being on 35 Wind Street now is like a revival.

I feel like a resurgence in my career. You know, I'm 38 years old and I'm out here performing like that is, you know, I feel great. And yeah, I'm 10 years in and to be where I'm at in that timeframe is crazy, you know, I'm blessed. I'm truly blessed. But it's always been a ton of hard work and nonstop hard work, man. And I just been all in these past few years and, and even some of my best, my favorite fighters, they've all taken losses, you know?

For sure. And yeah, and that's the beauty of MMA, man. Like you could come back, you could bounce back. I haven't checked the rankings, but I'm looking, I'm assuming a fight like that, I would be back in the rankings. And it's a great feeling, man. It's like I said, I feel like a resurgence in my career.

And I feel like this is like a whole new other chapter, you know, like I feel great. And I've been putting on great fight after great fight after great fight. And I just love the recognition that I'm starting to get. I love to hear it. And it's well deserved and well earned. So enjoy your your cold plunge and the therapy and everything that you're doing over there at the PI. Another great victory. You deserve a bonus one of these days,

but you're delivering each and every time out there and that kind of speaks for itself. So congrats, D-Rod, appreciate you very much. Enjoy the victory and looking forward to your next one. Thank you, bro. Thanks for having me. I love being on the show, man. My pleasure, anytime.

There he is, the one and only Daniel Rodriguez. now three in a row for him. What a great performance What a great fight and yeah, hopefully Holland and Rodriguez got taken care of by the way, if you look at the chat right now pinned at the top We've got our poker felt table All proceeds going to Ben Askren's family. We're at 1425 70 bids currently not 99 cents. Come on family. We're at 1425, 70 bids currently. Not 99 cents, come on guys! We can do better than that. No, it's an eBay auction. The link is in the chat if you're watching this live in the chat.

Come on, let's go. Everyone out there, if you're watching, five bucks, just put five bucks, all the money going to Ben Askren. Izzy, Aspinal, Vogue, bucks, all the money going to Ben Askren, Izzy, Aspenal, Vogue, DJ, the whole crew. Alright, still to come Dustin Poirier is gonna join us at about 5.15 extra long post pay-per-view Monday. Eric Bischoff gonna join us as well, but for now let us not waste any more time, let us say hello to the pride of the University of Maryland, the one and only AJ Francis. There he is. How are you my man? Great to see you. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for coming in. Appreciate you, man. You know, I've met you once before. Do you remember where it was? I do know we met. I do not remember where. It was backstage in Montreal. Ah.

Right before Elimination Chamber. Okay. Yeah, that was a... The one and only time that I was backstage. You only been backstage once? Just once, like, actually backstage doing stuff. Oh, wow. Oh, yeah, I gotcha. I had kind of been back and forth, this and that backstage doing stuff. Oh wow. Oh yeah. I kind of been back and forth and that, but I got to see the whole weekend.

That was when Sammy fought Roman. And so that's where I met you. That was cool. Back there. And look at you now. TNA, Slammiversary, UBS Arena, did the freaking moonsault off the ladder. Absolutely. How are you feeling?

I feel good. Yeah, look at this thing right here. Isn't that crazy? Look at you. This might be the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. You gotta understand, 10 years old I'm watching the Hardys as a part of you know TLC and I'm a huge Hardy fan and in my mind I'm thinking I want to be a wrestler and also I want to wrestle the Hardys in a ladder match. Oh my gosh, right and that's at 10 years old both of those thoughts are equally as unlikely You know I'm saying just the fact that to become a wrestler a or that the Hardys would still be wrestling when I became a

Racer you know I'm saying and the fact that I got an opportunity to do it and I'm in this ladder match with Jeff Hardy I gotta do something crazy off the ladder. I just have to, that's just law. Are you happy with the match? Oh, absolutely. I think we went out there and put on a spectacle for the fans. That's what slam's about, man. I mean, I'm not gonna do that on every TNA Impact, but at Slammiversary for the World Tag Team titles

with the Nimmets and the Rascals and the Hardys, absolutely, you gotta, it's high risk, but it's high reward. What was the vibe yesterday? Because biggest crowd ever, right? 7,600 or so. Yeah, yeah, yeah. UBS Arena, massive arena, Islanders play there. Yes.

Felt like a big moment in the company's history. This is a big show. This is like sort of, I don't know if it's their WrestleMania, Bound for Glory is a big one for them, but it's one of their tent pole events, right? Absolutely. What was the vibe like? For me personally, I've always felt that Slam is TNA's WrestleMania. People within TNA think Bound for Glory is, but me personally, I've always thought Slam was more like WrestleMania to me. And it was awesome, man. I mean, you gotta understand when I first joined T&A

a little bit over a year and a half ago, this was the vision that we had backstage. This was the vision that we had in the company in general. But to actually see it come to fruition in such a relatively short amount of time, just to bring T&A back, change it from Impact to TNA and for it to be where it is now a year and a half later man, it's amazing not just for me but for everybody in the back and it's a team effort we are in it together and we feel like we are a team.

Like one of the things I love most about TNA is after the shows, 90% of the roster is in the hotel lobby, drinking, smoking cigars, playing UNO, just talking, telling stories. The 2 a.m. Matt Hardy comes back from the Hardy Boy signings, road stories, and some of the best times of my life. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, that's what I love about TNA, the camaraderie, the teamwork, the fact that we are all in it together, and we're in the trenches together, and we're at a point now where now we're finally getting the recognition we know that we deserve.

And last night was a testament to that, man. I couldn't be more grateful to be a part of this team. Amazing. That's not common, everyone hanging out? No, I mean, for lack of a better term, there's cliques in not just WWE, but every wrestling company. And TNA is the first one I've ever been to that like everybody gets up, hangs out together all the time. We're always doing events together. We're going to karaoke

together. We're going to random cowboy bars in Missouri together, you know, say like we do a lot of fun stuff together as a group. And yes, like when I was in WWE, I would hang out with the members of Hit Row. You know, I would hang out with BFab, I would hang out with Tahootie, Miles, like I would hang out with them because we would be on the road together, we would get an Airbnb together, we would get a rental together. So we would hang out together and every once in a while other people would join us too. But for the most part, it was the three of us, right?

So like, when I get the TNA and my first show, everybody's in the lobby. I'm like, oh, this is cool. Like I'm sitting here just drinking beers and smoking cigars with Frankie Kazarian and Eric Young. And they're telling stories from before I was even, you know, conceived the thought of being a wrestler. So it's like, it's cool to be in that environment for him.

Is there like sort of maybe, I don't know, an underdog mentality right now? Because there's the two top dogs. Absolutely. You guys are scratching and clawing your way up. So everyone's doing it together. Yeah, I mean, we do feel like underdogs. Like we do have the mentality where like,

we understand that WWE is the top dog. And also, they just did 45,000 people at the Texas Ranger Stadium. They are doing well as well. So we understand that we aren't either one of those companies, but that's kind of what makes us special. That's kind of what makes shows like last night so special is because there's a lot of people like myself that are castaways and you know unwanted toys that come to TNA and then they're like oh actually you're really dope. Oh actually you're

incredible. Like last night I've seen I thought it was so funny I've seen so much on social media like man AJ Francis has grown so much Since he left WWE and I'm like, bro. I wear the same style gear. I cut the same style promos I have the same character last night I came out with three battle rappers and another rapper that wraps my song 3o black who's on my song with me Like I haven't changed anything like I didn't just learn how to do a moonsaw yesterday I've been doing backflips since I was eight years old but people see me doing moonsaw off a ladder and

they say wow he's improved so much nah bro I just I never got a ladder match okay you know say like that's why you're seeing these things like I'm getting the opportunities in TNA that I felt like I deserved deserved my entire career and I'm actually getting an opportunity to show how good I am. That's how me and Mike Santana go out and have matches a year on a random TNA Impact, on a storyline that we built without having matches for a month and a half.

You know what I'm saying? Like real pro wrestling stuff. You know what I'm saying? So like, it feels good to be able to be able to back up my big talk I've had for years. So this dream, you talked about talked about the Hardys and whatnot. You wouldn't even dream of being a wrestler, at least wrestling them.

Yes. When did it start? Because you had the football career. You were at University of Maryland. By the way, one of our producers was at Maryland at the same time as you. Oh yeah? So when I told him that you were coming in,

he popped big for it. He was excited about that. Did he used to hang out with me at Cornerstone? Jordan, did you hang out with AJ at Cornerstone? Yeah, I've been to Cornerstone, Bentley's, Thirsty Turtle back in the day, if you know. Terrapin Turf, talking about it. Well, I knew it as Santa Fe. Santa Fe, yeah. Oh, that's right. It was Santa Fe at first. So anyway, at that point, it's the NFL. That's the dream. Yeah, well actually, to be completely honest with you, yes, it was always a dream to be a professional athlete.

But I wanted to be a wrestler before I wanted to play the NFL. Really? Yeah, like I like wrestling since I, I've loved wrestling since I was one years old. Like my dad used to, I don't know if he still has the footage, but it was like, before I would go to bed every night,

I would have to wrestle him. Like he would, I'd be like, no, you gotta wrestle me if you want before I would go to bed every night, I would have to wrestle him. Like he would, I'd be like, no, you gotta wrestle me if you want me to go to bed. And like, I'd have to kick out. You know what I'm saying? And like that was since I was a little kid, before I could even form the thoughts, I just fell in love with wrestling.

My father loved wrestling as a kid. He got away from it as an adult, but as a kid, he loved it. So he just was like, maybe this is something that I like. And it was something I immediately gravitated to. So like I was I started playing sports when I was like five. But I had already been watching wrestling for years at that point, and I already loved wrestling. So like, yes, obviously, between the opportunities that the NFL opens up,

as well as the money that it brings in, when I realized I had an actual opportunity to play in the NFL, that was like, yes, this is my dream right now. But the first dream I ever had was to be a wrestler. Who was your guy back, like who was your first favorite? When I first started watching wrestling, I mean, I just gotta be honest, everybody in the early nineties was Hulk Hogan. Okay, all right.

And then, you know. Why do you look around when you say that? Because the times have changed. Yeah, I know, I know. You still, you don't feel the same? No, absolutely not. I mean, let's just be real. No, I don't.

And I would say that to his face too. Like I per, Is there anything that he can do to get back in your good- If you were like a hulka maniac back in the days, is there anything he can do to- I mean, he could actually have a thorough apology. Yeah. That would be nice. And also like the fact is that, you know, he is, whether you like him or not, one of the top performers in the history of this business, he's one of the cornerstones of this business. But I am personally disrespected by some of the things that he's said. Of course, of course. And I don't feel like I've ever said anything that should personally disrespect him.

You see what I'm saying? Yeah. There's a difference there. Were you there when he made the apology? No. You weren't in WWE. From what I heard from everybody in there, it wasn't much of one. Right, right, right.

So that's another thing. It's like the people that were actually actively involved at the time don't buy it so why should I? I wasn't even there. But then after you know Hogan it was Bret Hart. My guy. Love Bret. That's my guy right there right there always. The excellence of execution. I actually got to meet Bret for the first time when I was in the NFL. Oh wow. I was he's a Seattle Seahawks fan and I was on the Seahawks. And randomly, it's crazy how life works.

But my buddy John owns Jimmy's Famous Seafood. I'm sure you've been there. Yeah, of course. Of course. And shout out to John. And when we were playing the Ravens, my first game on the Seahawks, which is just dumb luck, because I'm from Maryland, right?

And we were playing in Baltimore. And it just so happened the night before our game, Bret Hart was doing like a signing or something at Jimmy's. So John set it all up. Wow. And like, I brought Bret like to the team hotel. Oh, man. He said it was me.

It's the crazy. This is the craziest story ever. Imagine this table. Imagine this dinner table. It's me, Bret Hart, Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson, Pete Carroll, Cam Chancellor, Marshawn Lynch, you know what I'm saying? And then a bunch of other guys that were on the team too, but this is just us listening to Bret tell stories.

You know what I'm saying? Because he was just, he was so happy to be there. And then I felt cool because I facilitated the whole thing. Because Brett was like my hero as a kid. You know what I'm saying? So the first you know how you say, man, when you're a little kid, you want something real bad, but you know you'll probably never get it. The one thing I wanted more than anything was to get the glasses from.

Yeah, of course. Everyone wanted those. I wanted those glasses, right? And then after Brett, that's when I really first started watching WCW, was because of Rey Mysterio. Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero, their match at Halloween Havoc, made me start watching WCW. My friend brought over a VHS tape and was like, yo, you gotta watch this.

And we watched that match, I was like, yo, I don't know who this is, he's my favorite wrestler, you know what I'm saying? I told him this too at his Hall of Fame induction. I was there when he went to Hall of Fame, I was still on SmackDown at the time. And then after Rey, it was like stone cold for a brief amount of time, and then it was The Rock. And then after it became The Rock, it was never anybody else. You know, The Rock was my guy still to this day.

That picture where you say like 10 years later, the first one, obviously the second one is when you're on the roster right here. Yes, absolutely. What's the context for the first one? The first one, shout out Torrey Smith, two time Super Bowl champion with the Baltimore Ravens, my college teammate also at Maryland. He had just won the Super Bowl, so you know the world is his oyster, right? And he had just won the Super Bowl and SmackDown was coming to Hershey, Pennsylvania. And we all lived in

Maryland at the time. And his grandmother was a huge wrestling fan. So he was like, I gotta go to the show. So he brought her and then he hit me up. It was like, yo, I know you love wrestling. You want to come to the show? And I was like, absolutely. I had just finished my career in Maryland and was training for the NFL. Right?

It was this is before in between the end of my senior year and before my rookie year and We're back and he gets us backstage and I'm there to see the Rock like this the first time I met big shows first time I met Randy Ordon's first time. I met Triple H They were cool, too And they're still cool, but like the I was there to meet the Rock that was the reason I was going so It's about ten minutes before we got to leave backstage and go to our seats And they're like yeah, we don't think Rock's going to make it. And we're like, damn. And then we're literally walking back to our seats and

the production guy comes running up to us, he just got here. You can meet him real quick. And we're like, all right, cool. So we go and him and Tory talked for a while about Tory just winning the Super Bowl and whatnot and they had a good conversation. And then Tory was like, and my boy AJ here, he's about to go into the NFL. He's a big fan of yours, he'd like to talk to you too. And then me and like, oh, and my boy AJ here, he's about to go into the NFL. He's a big fan of yours.

He'd like to talk to you too. And then me and Rock talked for like, I don't know, maybe 30 seconds, but it could have been 20 hours. You know how I felt. You know what I'm saying? It was the first time in my life, and still to this day, I've never ever been starstruck meeting anyone else ever in my life.

I've met so many crazy people. But when I met The Rock, I was like, whoa, this is crazy. Right? So, but yeah, that was backstage at a random Smackdown in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which you wouldn't even think The Rock would be at. Yeah, yeah, of course, of course. You know what I'm saying? So when you became like his colleague all those years later and now you're in the locker room, did he say anything to you?

No, I'm sure, I'm positive he didn't remember it. He didn't remember meeting me then. He knew me from, obviously, just watching the product. And this was right before it was official. He was back on the board and all those things. But he was watching the product. And we talked for that second pitcher, we probably talked for five minutes just in the back, right behind Gorilla. And he was giving me free game.

And I was pitching him ideas of things that I was thinking About trying and I mean he he genuine as funny, but it's a fact He said himself there's a room for witnesses the Rock loved hit row so I knew I was doing some right, okay So so when you leave the NFL, yeah, is it right away? I'm gonna go for wrestling the NFL. Is it right away I'm gonna go for wrestling? Absolutely. No ifs, ands, or buts? Even when I was in the NFL there's a reporter in Miami named Omar Kelly who follows the Dolphins. He's still a good friend to this day, but he would ask people, he found an interest in me because I wasn't like every football player. I had other interests. Like a lot of football

players don't have a personality, let alone one that can shine through in this form, right? So he would interview me about the most random things. And one of the times he was interviewing me, he was like, how does it feel to be living your dream? And I was like, well, you know, this is one of my dreams. My real dream is to be in WWE. He was like, what? I was like, yeah, like ever since I was a little kid,

that's all I ever wanted was to be in WWE and He was like wait, so you're in the NFL and you're telling me you you have another dream you want to live I was like, yeah, I do and I was like and I was honest I was like man, I'm an undrafted free agent, right? Like the fact that I'm still in the NFL is You know percentage wise very unbelievable so the fact that I was an undrafted free agent and I was able to be in the NFL for six years

like that's a hell of a career but at this point I'm only a year and a half in so like I don't know if I'm gone tomorrow you know what I'm saying like I do that whole six years I've never had job security like Like, I had a bunch of jobs. You know, I kept a job. You know, I always say I got- Uber as well. Yeah, Uber as well. I always say I got cut nine times, but I got signed 10. You know what I'm saying? So, like, I kept a job, but I'd never had job security in the NFL. So, I was, whenever my football career ended, I knew I was going to go to wrestling. So

much so that after four years in the NFL, and I was, whenever my football career ended, I knew I was going to go to wrestling. So much so that after four years in the NFL and I actually had some money that I could get a nice house with, I bought a house in Orlando. I ain't know nobody in Orlando. I knew one person in Orlando actually, Dean Matadi, who played with me at the University of Maryland, who was Mojo Raleigh. He was a wrestler in WWE. He's the only person I knew that lived in Orlando. I bought a house in Orlando because I knew whenever my football career ends, whether it's in a day or in 10 years, I'm gonna have to go to Orlando to go to the PC. I knew it already.

So I lived in Orlando for two years before my football career ended. When you got signed, what was that? Where were you when you realized that dream? When I was to WWE, it's funny. I was at the mall in Florida because I had had my, I don't even remember what mall funny. I was at the mall in Florida because I had had my, I don't even remember what mall, but I was at the mall.

And I had had my tryout in April. And they told me at the end of the tryout, if we're going to sign you, we'll let you know in the next couple months. And I was like, all right, cool. So I didn't hear nothing until like July. But I forgot that I had actually left the tryout early a day early I had to leave for some family stuff. So I left a day early and

Because I didn't have like the exit meeting with them or whatever So in the exit meeting they told they they had already decided they was gonna sign me But I didn't know that so they didn't tell me anything for like two months. And I finally reached out to, I think it was Paul Fair at the time. And I was like, yo, just reaching out, seeing what's good, da da da. And he calls me as soon as,

like maybe 10 minutes after I send the email. He's like, hey, nobody told you anything? I was like, nah. He's like, oh yeah, we'll bring you in in six months in January. I'm like, oh, all right, thanks. But for the last two months I've been sweating. So I had no idea. They were all like, yeah, we got him locked in.

Everything's cool with me. On the other hand, I have no idea. You know what I'm saying? Damn. So when you start to realize your dream, when you're in NXT, when you're in the PC, all that stuff, is it everything you had dreamed of? Is it like, I can't believe?

It was very different. It was very different. See, I come from, and I talked about this in the interview recently, and people were shocked. But it's true. It was like, coming's true is like coming from Real sports coming from the NFL like does the best guy always play in the NFL? No, right? That's just a fact There's contracts that we have to talk about like there was many times I was better than guys that were playing in front of me in the NFL

But they were owed millions of dollars and I was owed nothing right? You know, like that's just business of sports,. And I learned that through my time in the NFL. But when I got to the PC, I got hired because of my promo. I'm a promo. I'm the best promo in the world. And I'll tell anybody that listens. And I dare somebody to tell me I'm wrong. You're number one in the world.

In the world. If, answer, but. And if somebody feels that I'm lying, and they're willing to, they can can stand six feet away from me on camera with a mic and we'll see who wins I love it period in the discussion period but um Like I know that about myself. I know that's why I got hired But if you look at look at the match we did last night. Yeah, I can do everything. I just did a moonsault of a ladder Nobody 330 pounds ever done anything crazy like that, at least not on TV, maybe at a random indie show.

But like, I'm different, and I know that. My moveset that I have now is the same moveset I had in 2019 when I started wrestling. Like, I don't have to do much, cause I'm the big man. Clothesline, shoulder tackle, big boot, choke slam, spear. Like, five moves right there and I got way more than that but you know I'm saying but that's five right I don't

need to do all that so I was actually shocked how long it took for me to even get on TV which I understood how long did it take like a year and a half why just because of COVID that's what happened the real reason I wasn't is because COVID. Because COVID happened and they really went like honed in on what they were working with already, you know what I'm saying? And it was hard to get into that bubble, for lack of a better term. And also at the time, Adam Cole's still in NXT. It's not like they were hurting for stars, you know what I'm saying? So you have to wage your opportunity.

And I felt I was ready. But then I got the TV show, Most Wanted Treasures, which I to wage your opportunity. And I felt I was ready. But then I got the TV show, Most Wanted Treasures, which I got on my own. People think that I was like- You got that on your own? Yeah, I got- Love that show. People think that I was handpicked for that show by WWE,

when in fact, like, what actually happened was that I'd been told by numerous people that a lot of people in WWE didn't want me to get the job because I hadn't been on TV yet. So you're giving an establishment spot to someone who hasn't been on TV, which makes sense. I don't even have a problem with them saying that. That makes sense.

But I got the job on my own because a homeboy of mine that I went to high school with is an actor in Hollywood. His name's Tommy. And he knew one of the producers on the show. And because of COVID, they couldn't bring in hosts to interview people. So they were just trying to find a host for this show. And he was COVID, they couldn't bring in hosts to interview people. So they were just trying to find a host for this show. And he was like, yo, you should check my boy out.

He just signed with WWE. He's done a lot of TV stuff in the past. I did TV for 10 years before I got the A&E show. But people don't know that because it was DC Sports Talk. It was New York Sports Talk. It was not actual hosting. I was a Talk. It was not like actual hosting. I was a host on a show, but it's different to host a television show.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, of course. You know what I'm saying? As you're very well aware. So, like, a lot of people didn't know that I was already doing that. So, when they sent, I'm sorry, when my boy Tommy told the producer, her name's Kate, to check my stuff out

She checked all my stuff out. She's like oh, he's great pitched me to the production team production team was like yes That's our guy pitched me to A&E and he was like yes That's our guy, but at the end of the day hunter has last say and obviously he end up saying yes But at the time there was a little bit trepidation because I wasn't on TV. You know what I'm saying? So it was cool though, and I got the gig. How many seasons was that? Well, I only did one season. Okay.

But I think they have three seasons. Okay. And I will say this, this is just a fact. This is just a fact. Yeah, yeah. The most watched thing that has ever been WWE and A&E produced ever is my show. For real. All nine of them episodes, ten I think episodes. been WWE and A&E produced ever is my show. The season. All nine of them episodes, 10 I think episodes, because we shot nine but one was a two-parter.

Okay. So all them episodes are the most watched thing that they've done on A&E. Because of you. I'm not saying it's because of me. I ain't say that. It's a team game. Yeah. Just like I won't say how look at the difference between TNA before I got there and TNA after.

It's not just me, but hey, when the Chiefs win, Patrick Mahomes had a lot to do it. You know what I'm saying? You're a part of the concoction. Who comes up with Hit Row? Me. All you? Yeah. You pitched it? Yeah, because when I was on the Indies before that, I did the Indies for a year. After I left the NFL was 2018. And then I started wrestling on Indy's 2019. And

that was during 2019 is when I got my tryout, when I got signed and all that. And when I was wrestling there, I had a crew called the row, because I look like shook night. Yes, yes, yes. I'm saying, yeah, and I'm still luckily O'Shea Jackson Jr is pitching for me to get shook night and you know, yeah, actively pitching for me. So I love Knight in the movie. Oh, for real? Yeah. Actively pitching for me. I love that. I'm down to play.

You know what I'm saying? Can you do the Source Awards speech? For all you artists, want to remain artists and don't want to worry about the executive producer being all in the videos. Oh my God. All on the record. Come to Death Row. Oh, that's death row. Oh, that's amazing. Yeah, you nailed that. Yeah, I mean I did to me like that's Some people are born to play roles. Yeah, I feel like I'm born to play that role Oh my god good bad or indifferent. Yeah, I feel like I'm born to play that role, but

So my crew was called the row, right? So it was me It was 3o black who just wrapped me to the ring last night. He was part of it. See, at the time, and I had the idea of this record label wrestling faction. I already had that idea. But in this faction, I had wrestlers and I had rappers. But I was the only one that was a wrestler and a rapper. So when I first got to the Performance Center, a guy that still works at WWE,

his name's Katz. Katz had this idea of putting me with Tahootie Miles, A'Shantay D'Odonis, and B-Fab, Breonna Brandy, and the three of us together. And he didn't say like, yo, y'all should do a hip hop thing. It was just after the three of us started talking, I was like, yo, I was doing this thing on the Indies where we're just a hip hop record label, right?

And Breonna made music, so it was perfect. And then, you know, Tahootie didn't do nothing with music, but I was the producer anyway, so I was like, yo, we'll just say you're the producer, you know what I'm saying? And he was like, cool, so he's the producer, and we're the two artists, right? But in actuality, we're in the studio like this,

and I'm like, yo, say this. He's like, yeah, man, and if you did know, now you know. You know what I'm saying? So like, he got into say this he's like yeah man and if you did know now you know you know say it so like he got into because he's an actor so he got into the role and we were behind the scenes at the time we weren't called hit row we were called the hit makers right backstage at the Performance Center doing Performance Center shows for other people and it wasn't until my show debuted the most wanted treasures debut it was such a big hit, right? That they were like, all right,

we gotta get you guys on TV. So after that point, you know, it was crazy because like we wrote, I wrote the Hit Row entrance song. Like we recorded it in my house, in my studio, in my house. You know what I'm saying? So like, that's my baby. You know what I'm saying? And I'm sad that it didn't get to live out how it should have.

And hey, never say never. But the thing is, is like, at that time, we were the hottest thing on NXT. I mean, this is another fact people don't like to talk about. And actually, this might not even be true no more, cuz Stephanie Vicar might have just, she might have just broke this. I don't know how long she was on NXT. But I know when we got called up, we had the fastest call up ever. We debuted May the 4th and we got called up in October.

You know what I'm saying? To the main roster. To the main roster. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you were with Swerve at the beginning. Yeah, he was- What's going on there with you guys? Man, ask him. What's happening?

When you have him here, ask him. Listen, I don't bring, just another perfect example. You will not find one interview of me bringing him up first. Yeah, I know. You won't find one. And that's like, to me. You were cool, right? Yeah, we was cool till like a couple months ago,

apparently, you know what I'm saying? Like we was cool a week before his interview came out. I saw him at Chris Bay, shout out Chris Bay, I saw him at Chris Bay's benefit show, and everything was cool. This was like April or so, WrestleMania. Yeah, and everything was cool. No problems, everything was cool.

And then the interview came out, and I'm like, oh, I'm just gonna clear the record. I'm gonna just say what actually happened. We're not just gonna talk in the new windows, let's talk about what actually happened. And I ain't talked about them since, unless somebody else bring them up. That's just me.

Which I did, which I did. It's okay. We'll figure that out. I knew that you would. Well, I saw you did a interview with Adrian Hernandez. Shout out to him. And I didn't know if anything had changed since then. Oh no, I mean, we haven't talked.

I mean, we don't talk. Like, even when we were in Hit Row, there was the three of us. Okay. And then he was part of that. You know what I'm saying? So like, that's why when we came back, we called ourselves the OG3 because we were Hit Row, you know what I'm saying? And it made all the sense for him to be added to Hit Row.

He was already on TV. He had TV equity. He's a really good wrestler. Like I've never said that he's a great wrestler. As far as in-ring wrestling, he's incredible. He's one of the best probably to ever do it. But everything we was doing in Hit Row, we already had. You understand?

So I didn't even want to be the leader of Hit Row. In fact, you can even find promos where we say, there is no leader in Hit Row. We're all equals. But people just decided that they wanted him to be the leader. So then when we get called up to the main roster off of something they completely made up about, something the fans completely made up about him being the leader, when we all

said, including him, all said there's no leaders, we got called up and some report was like, oh, Swerving to Shontay are going to be the tag team guys and AJ's going to be the leader. People are like, oh, is gonna be the leader. People are like, oh, why is AJ the leader? And we're like, we never said none of this. Like none of this ever happened. Y'all made this whole thing up, you know what I'm saying? But that's just the way the wrestling works.

You mentioned like, hey, you know, it's like a thing. It's still kind of bugs me that we didn't get to see it. Yeah. Can you move on though? Cause I remember when you got released the first time then you got brought back and I felt on social media like it was still like a wound. Like you felt like the rug was pulled under.

Yeah, for sure. Right? Do you feel like you can move on? Or is it- What do you mean move on? Like not do it again or? No, not move, like you're in a good place. It seems like you're happy with TNA.

Yeah. But is it still an open wound? Oh, I mean- How it all ended. What I love an opportunity to down the line at any point and it don't gotta be in WWE. Let's just be real. If I could get the old band back together, that would be great. Why not in TNA?

I didn't say that. No, I'm saying why isn't the old band back together in TNA? Oh, because they are signed to WWE. Until WWE lets them come. Trust me, people don't know this, but A'Shanté the Adonis was almost my tag team partner last night at Slammiversary. We had the whole thing mapped out.

If you look at my gear from tomorrow, if you wanna pull a picture up, my gear has Tahuti and Breonna's faces on it, just like it has Rich Swans and KC's faces on it, because KC was dealing with an injury, and we didn't know if he was going to be able to go. So the option was, maybe I have Ashante replace him, or I bring back Rich Swann to,

who was the original first class member to replace him. So I didn't know who my tag team partner was going to be, so my gear has everybody on it. Until when? Probably like a week and a half ago. Okay. Like about a week and a half ago is when it was confirmed it was KC was gonna be able to do it.

Okay. But like, before then we didn't know. Like me and Tommy Dreamer were literally actively like coming up with ideas of how we could, you know, bring in Ashante or bring in, bring back Rich. You know what I'm saying? I actually had the idea if he couldn't go, I was gonna do my own version of the

Could've Been Records, Drewski skits, and I was gonna have me sitting at the table with like KC sitting over here, and like two security guards behind me with like the first class logo behind me, and I'm like auditioning people, but they're all wrestlers, to like, to join first class for Slaveiversary,

just to then end up picking Ashanti or Rich, you know what I'm saying? So I had this whole plan of stuff I wanted to do like even if it wasn't gonna be on TV just for social media purposes just to build buzz but then KC said he could go so we went. What was it like being backstage at NXT? What was it like being back there? Oh that was cool, like the thing is is like- Kind of wild though right? That would never happen in a previous era where you're working. What was it like being back there? Oh, that was cool. Like, the thing is, is like... Kind of wild though, right?

That would never happen in a previous era where you're working. I don't say never because the previous era brought me back. You know what I'm saying? No, but I'm not saying you specifically like a TNA guy. Like this whole thing is very unique. And so for you to be under the TNA umbrella but on WWE programming and backstage with some of the same people I would imagine. Was that weird for you?

I mean, no, not really, cuz they're all my friends. I'm still friends with a lot of them. And even a lot of the younger people, cuz they're in NXT, they end up coming to reality wrestling. And obviously I'm working there with Booker T. And I'm the character development coach at reality wrestling. So a lot of them I've worked with, even though I wasn't in WWE when they were there, I've still worked with them since or they just came off the Indies and

I worked with them on the Indies. A lot of the WWID people that are backstage, I've been on shows with them in the Indies, so I know a lot of people there. So it was like a homecoming. Plus, for the most part, all the coaches are the same since I was in NXT. The only difference is Shawn Michaels is there. But he came around every once in a while when I was there, so it's not like we don't know each other. And he follows the product anyway, so it's not like we don't know each other.

So it was cool because to me, yes, I was there under the TNA umbrella. The only thing that was cool is when you go to NXT, I don't know if this happened on purpose or not, but when you go back to NXT from TNA we got our own little like special locker room which is cool it's nice okay it's not really a locker room it's like an office space but it's ours it was like me Elias and so you guys are separate yeah like I mean I could have went in the locker room but like everybody got lockers up there I'm not even trying to deal with that when I could just be in this nice air-conditioned room with the couple of people I actually work with.

Is there any sort of divide or are you guys brought in? No, no, we're welcome to open arms. No, it's like, and the thing is, is like, like I said, a lot of people still work there, that it was there. Like Johnny Russo was working there when I was there. So like, I text him, you know what I'm saying? Like, and you know, the person who produced our match was Steve Corrito, who was one of my coaches when I was in the PC, you know what I'm saying? And the person who produced our match was Steve Corito, who was one of my coaches when I was in the PC,

you know what I'm saying? And the head coach is still Matt Bloom. So there's a lot. When I came back, it was more like a welcome home kind of thing. A reunion. Yeah, for me. For KC, it was crazy because he had never been there.

So he was like, well, he was there for a tryout, but he had never been there as part of the show. So he was like, yo, this is crazy for a trial, but he had never been there as part of like the show. So he was like, yo, it's crazy. It's awesome. Um, and obviously Elijah had been there. So it was cool for us to just to, you know, be put in a big spot like that. Like I don't take for granted how big a spot it is to be the guy that is the muscle for the guy who is coming from WWE as TNA world champion. Like that's a big spot to be in, right?

Especially when like you're, the reason I'm in that spot is cuz I get heat, right? They want Trick to get heat, so that's why they put him with me, right? And like, I get heat for everybody. Like if you go look at the introductions last night from our match, everybody else got cheered, even the Nimeths. You know what I'm saying? Even though they're heels because Nick has built up such a fandom in his career, right? And he's so accomplished and he's so good.

You like this though, right? I love it. Because I see you going back and forth with people on- Oh yeah, it builds everything. You love it. See, the thing people don't understand is that when you're a wrestler, your whole life's a gimmick, right? Like, I online, my persona online,

and one of the reasons why I'm in TNA doing so well is because Tommy Dreamer understood this. Me and Tommy had this conversation where like, who I am online is literally intentionally trying to aggravate people, because that's what gets you views online, like I wish that wasn't the case. I wish, now let me look down the barrel I wish that when I post a flyer about my ninth annual canned food drive where I feed homeless

Children in my hometown got as much views as me saying I'm better than ex wrestler I wish that was the case, but that's not the case. So don't be mad at me. Don't hate the play the game I wish that was the case, but that's not the case. So don't be mad at me. Don't hate to play the game All right, and it doesn't get exhausting ever. No, cuz this is not real. It's not real. No, I'm sorry I didn't know how I shouldn't cuss but no no no you can cuss all you want. Okay Yeah, that's just not real like the Internet's not a real place Like whether someone thinks I'm a bad wrestler on the Internet or not doesn't matter the check cleared and I stole the show I've been on two slam adversaries. I stole the show both times. Let's talk about it. Shout out Trey. Did you talk to AEW? I mean I went yeah I went backstage

towards the end of when my TNA contract was gonna run out. Yeah. I went backstage I talked to Tony. That's another thing I saw Swerve there. Everything was cool there. I talked to Nana. Nana was like yo we need you here. We want to get you here. I'm like cool sounds good to me. I ain't got no problem with that, you know what I'm saying? He was like, you need to be here. Like, that's Nana saying that, you know what I'm saying? Jeff Jarrett's there, Jeff Jarrett obviously is still vested in TNA, like has a vested interest

in watching TNA, right? So I get there and I've never met Jeff Jarrett, right? So I go up to introduce myself, it's like, hey Jeff, nice to meet you. And before I can even say a word, he goes, AJ, love your work in TNA. You do great heel work. That's how he said hi to me.

You see what I'm saying? So like, it was cool. I got a lot of friends that work at AEW now. Did they make an offer? No, they couldn't, because I resigned on the last day of my TNA deal. Why did you just wait to see? Because I liked where I was at.

Like, what I'm doing now in TNA, nobody else saw it a year and a half ago. I did. Tommy Dreamer did. But nobody else saw this a year and a half ago from me. I know what's coming down the bar. I feel like I can see the future. Everything I've ever wanted to do, I've done that.

From going to the NFL to getting to WWE, I told you I bought a house in Orlando two years before my football career ended because I knew knew I was gonna be in NXT. I can see things happening and I felt at that time that I was making enough money from TNA and they end up giving me more money too. I was like, I was gonna be making enough money from TNA where, yes, I could have probably got more money elsewhere. But I'm in a good spot, I'm in a good spot on the card, I'm probably, I could have probably got more money elsewhere. But I'm in a good spot.

I'm in a good spot on the card. I'm actually treated with respect. I'm not used as a joke. I'm used in big opportunities when they need to get somebody over. Before I got to TNA, Joe Hendry was on the pre-show with me. Right? Now, he's the biggest star in wrestling. Now, you can pretend that I had

no effect on that if you would like, but look at where he is in January of last year and look where he is in April of last year and tell me who is the one person he feuded with that entire time. And he had wrestled 10 years before that. He didn't change his song, he didn't change his look, he just did what he did well which is he's a hell of a performer, one of the best to do it. When it comes to entertaining, Joe Hendry is one of the best to do it, without a doubt. But the thing that changed was our feud and he will tell you that himself. If you ask Joe Hendry, he might have said it on the record because he likes to keep K-Fave, but if you ask him off the record, I guarantee

you he will tell you the one person he wishes he could feud with more in TNA would be AJ Francis. I know he would say that to you. Do you get the respect that you deserve? Do you feel- No, you mean online? No, just from the community, from- As they say on the TikTok, the girls that know,

I'm sorry, the girls that get it, get it. Okay. And the girls that don't, don't. You know what I'm saying? Everybody who is in the know of the wrestling business knows how good I am. Booker of business knows how good I am Booker T knows how good I am you understand like the people Tommy Dreamer knows how good I am Gail Kim knows how good I am like why'd she leave I don't know nothing about that I wish I knew but I really can't call it

Scott the more were you there when he was there? For one loop, yes. Okay. So I thought he did brilliant things. Two loops actually. Brilliant things for TNA. Yeah, I'm sure he did, but I mean, look where TNA was then, where it is now. And I still am cool with Scott.

But like, to be completely honest with you, cause I read the emails, because they've been sent to me from the people that were involved in the negotiation of bringing me to TNA is the fact that Tommy Dreamer was very adamant about bringing me into TNA. Scott DeMore was like, yeah, okay, yeah, we can bring him in. Tommy Dreamer was like, we need to bring him in. You see what I'm saying? So like, Tommy's still there. So like, do I, are me and Scott cool? Yes.

Will I do his wrestling promotion? Was it Maple Leaf Pro, right? And will I do that if he brings me in? Absolutely, no problem. Shout out to Scott. But the thing is like, Tommy was the reason I was there. Tommy's still there. So I like where I'm at.

You know what I'm saying? I like how things are going. Clearly it's working. You know what I'm saying? Clearly it is working. Last night we had what? 76,000? Yeah, yeah. 7600, sorry? Yeah, yeah. That's crazy. That's crazy. The new deal that you signed recently, is that a one-year deal as well? Yeah. It's gonna be in the year.

December? December. Oh, wow. Okay. So what are you thinking? Like this time next year, where's AJ Francis? I'm telling you now, I would love to still be in TNA. Why so short? Because... Is that how they do the deals? No, that's just how I do deals. Okay, okay, interesting. You want to keep your options open. It's not even keep my options open, it's just like if we're going to do a long-term deal, then we need to do long-term money. Yes. You know what I'm saying? I feel you. You feel me? I'm just a businessman.

It's called the wrestling business. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So if we want to do a long-term deal, we've got to do long-term money. That's what we have to do. And the thing is, I like what I've been doing at TNA. They listen to me. They give me opportunities.

When I do the first class penthouse, they don't say, AJ, this is what we need you to say. They say, AJ, you got seven minutes. Okay, thanks. What do you wanna do? When O'Shea Jackson Jr. came out on the first class penthouse, he just happened to be there that day.

And I went up to Tommy and Hunter, who are the guys that run the creative. I'm like, yo, what if we did the first class penthouse with O'Shea Jackson Jr.? They're like, oh yeah, that sounds good. Does he want to do it? I was like, yeah, he wants to do it. And then we do it and it blows up, it goes everywhere and people are like, yo, but it was just me coming up with idea. O'Shea will tell you that too. That's why O'Shea literally calls me Mr. Bright Idea. Literally calls me that because he said I always got the brightest ideas, right?

So like that is me. Whenever I had all the influencers come out and I had you know Grammy Award-winning artists on my, on the penthouse and all these other things like it's cuz I made a call like yo I'm in your city pull up for this show and they pull up. Last night, Tay Rock, Chess, 3-0, Zack Pascal. I called them, I talked to them. I said, yo, pull up. They pulled up because they cool with me.

You know what I'm saying? That's another thing is like, not even just in wrestling. Like I say, the girls that get it, get it. Even in rap, you ask rappers? They know I can spit. Yeah, Internet Wrestling Fan X says I can. He's a loser. Bun B says I can rap. Nip Internet Wrestling Fan X says I can. He's a loser. Bun B says I can rap.

Nipsey Hussle still follows me, God Rest His Soul, on Twitter because the first ever music video I dropped was on one of his beats, and he loved it, and we wrote back and forth. Like, Nipsey says I can rap. DJ Who Kid says I can rap. Snoop Dogg says that when I met Snoop Dogg, and B-Fab was there, Tuhudi was there, WrestleMania

in Los Angeles. We're backstage. We go up to Snoop and we're about to introduce ourselves. I'm about to say, hey Snoop, nice to meet you man. Before I can say it, he goes, AJ Francis. Hey man, what's up? Good to see you man. I'm like, well, he didn't even call me Top Dollar.

You know what I'm saying? And I heard it and I was like, there's no way Good to see you, man. I'm like, well, he didn't even call me Top Dollar. Wow. You know what I'm saying? And I heard it, and I was like, there's no way Snoop actually knows who I am. But I had been rapping on so many of his beats for years and posting videos. He never like reshared them, but he saw them, right? So like he knew who I was, and I didn't even believe that that happened. So after we walked away, I was like, yo, did y'all hear what Snoop said? It's who he was like, yo, he knew you.

I was like, that's crazy, right? But like, these people that know what they talking about, know I'm good. That's wrestling, that's rapping, and that's this whole business, man. So where do you want to be a year from now? I would love to be in TNA. I'm not, that's not a company line.

I would love to be in TNA. I love what I'm doing in TNA. I love it. And I don't know if I'll get the same opportunity elsewhere when I get more money Yeah, but I hurting at some point you want to go back to WWE. Do you need to finish that story part of it? Yeah, I would love to go back to WWE and because of the partnership like I'm not choosing one or the other right right like You know I'm saying like by going to TNA. I can still be in WWE right right right so like I'm not really choosing one of the other But I know by staying in TNA. I have a lot more control over what I'm doing. And what I'm doing is working.

So like, why would I flip a coin? Maybe it works this time. You know what I'm saying? Like there's no point in me doing that when I could, especially because we're about to get a new TV deal. Yeah. So with that new TV deal. Yeah. So with that new TV deal. Can you break that news for us? Where is it going to be? I wish. I wish I could. Do you know what it is? I have no idea.

Okay. Shout out Carlos. Yeah, yeah. I have no idea. I wish. If I knew, I would tell you right now. You guys need to be live. I think. Once a week. Here's my thing. I like how TNA does our schedule makes a lot of things more open. Yeah

Would it be cool to be live every week? Absolutely. Well, if a company's like you guys need to be live every week That's not a problem. But I think even cool and this is I just a conversation me and Carlos had what could be like, um We're live every other week. We're like We're live this Thursday and then after the show goes off the air Thursday, we tape next Thursday's show. That's like WWE used to do back in the day. Yeah, exactly. So like, I would love that. That would be cool, because then we get 26 live shows a week, I mean a year, and then we still get a lot more free time to do other things.

And like, if we got to be live every Thursday, then I'm there every Wednesday night, you know what I'm saying? So like it's not a problem. But I would like that idea of that schedule because it would bring a lot of, it would keep a balance of what we're doing now and the whole 52. Which if we go whole 52, we go whole 52, that's not a problem. I like performing live. Last night was live. You know what I'm saying? I like it. It was a great show. It was a great show and you're doing great things, man.

You have so much energy. It's great to see and I appreciate you coming in. No, I appreciate you having me. Thank you so much. Thank you for providing me with this platform and all the people you provide this platform for, man. You really good at what you do and I appreciate you. Thank you and I loved seeing my boy Kaz

as part of the. Yeah, I called Kaz. I said Kaz, yo, pull up. True story. I was trying to, I mean Kaz was always welcome Kaz is my homie, but I was trying to give him the bring Mello too How crazy would that have been if Mello would have came out in New York? Nah, that would have been crazy For the next one, for the next one You're the man. Thank you so much AJ Francis

Shout out to the University of Maryland as well No Terps And all the big things that you're doing. Keep it up my man I appreciate you very much. We're going to take a quick break. Some guy named Eric Bischoff is going to be here. Maybe you can pitch him something. Oh yeah. I mean, he's in the TV production business now.

So I got a bunch of him. He's doing real wrestling now. You know this, right? Nah, that ain't my, that ain't my thing. All right. Well, okay. Anyway, we'll take a quick break. We'll be back with Eric Bischoff.

Do not go anywhere. All right. That was, I guess, Fight Feast NOLA edition. Pizzi, GC, the crew, Pizzi had his own sort of Fight Feast. Are we calling it Fight Feast? He was basically trying out all the Guinnesses in New York. So tremendous content. A little something for everyone over on the channel. That was great stuff with AJ Francis.

Still to come in about 45 to 50 minutes time, Dustin Poirier will end the day with the man of the hour, El Diamante himself. But this is a great pleasure, a great honor for me, a great privilege to have a man who really needs no introduction. He is now the chief media officer of real American freestyle wrestling. They had a very big day here in New York City. Let's not waste any time and let us say hello

to EZE himself, the one and only, the inimitable, the often imitated, never duplicated, there he is, the great Eric Bischoff. Hello, sir. How are you, please? Amazing to have you in studio kind of surreal Usually I'm in my I'm in my tree house or an airport Remember that time you were at a Like a little diner or something. This is great. Thank you so much It's a real honor to have you in studio on a big day for the company You've been doing a lot of big things with Real American. Is that good for you? I know you're a podcast pro now. Well, I don't know about the pro pro.

You and Conrad and Aunt Evans, you guys are doing big things and we'll get to some of that. But big day for you guys, because I remember when we spoke, you, myself, Hulk, Izzy, you were talking about needing a broadcast partner. That's very important. You know all about this. And today you guys, you made your announcement, Fox Nation. Yeah, it's really cool. You know, when one of our partners, Chad Bronstein, had been working with Fox a little bit, he goes, hey, I think, you know, I'm going to have some conversations with Fox and, you know, there's a chance we get, we got a shot. And I thought to myself, great to be optimistic, but the likelihood of that

is pretty slim, but he pulled it off and we put it together. I can't think of a better partner for a startup like us than the Fox team because they're the best. Why? They're just so good at promotion. They're so good across all their platforms. For any producer, whether you're producing scripted, non-scripted, sports, whatever it is,

to be connected with a broadcast partner that is so good at promotion, it's a real blessing. Okay, so this is on Fox Nation, the streaming platform, right? I was wondering about this because they also recently announced a PBR deal that's airing on Fox. Is this part of the sports umbrella or is it a

different team that you fall under because you're not on FS one or Fox sports? This is a whole different platform. This is Fox nation streaming platform. It's not directly associated with Fox sports, although we're going to get the benefit of Fox. You are okay. Or other platforms in terms of promotion, but

it's a Fox nation initiative. Okay. And, uh, first show, August 30, but it's a Fox Nation initiative. Okay. And, uh, first show, August 30th, there's a second show they said in the fall, but that hasn't been announced yet. To be, uh, we're going to announce it soon, but yes, in October. Okay.

Um, how are you feeling about the way things are progressing? August 30th is in a little over a month, getting something like this off the ground. Uh, You had to say a little over a month. Couldn't you just say, wow, you got over a month to go. Make me feel good while I'm here.

There it is, August 30th. That feels like an eternity away. Not for me. It feels like it'll be here tomorrow by noon. Are you stressed? In a positive way, yeah. I mean, look, we're promoting a live event. It's something that's never been done before, the way we're producing it and offering it up. And we're promoting a live event. It's something that's never been done before, the way we're producing it and offering it up. And we're a startup, so everything we're doing is the first time that we're doing it.

And that comes with a lot of stress, but it's fun. I'm having a blast with it. I embrace the stress. Okay, the first time, like, you do all of this, at your age you seem to be having a great life, you've talked about it. Is there any part of you that you're like, why did I do that, why did I bring this upon,

I was living good, life was good, no one was bothering me, I was on the ranch, I'd make appearances here and there, do I need this kind of stress? Do you ever have those moments? No. No. The opposite, I miss that kind of stress. And that's the thing is, you know, when you put it like that, you sit at the ranch and I'd have to

do much, do my podcast, have some fun. And that's nice. A little bit of that is nice, but I love, I love the hunt. I love the chase. I love building things. And I'm probably happier when I'm working 16 or 18 hours a day or thinking about what I'm doing 16 or 18 hours a day than I am with not much to do. It's just not me. Were you itching for something? Were you looking for that thing? I know you were doing stuff here and there,

but like, or would you have been okay in an alternate universe? Oh no, there would be something. There would have been something You know, there's always a project one of the reasons I keep projects in development is really to keep my mind active and keep Opportunities, you know coming up from time to time But you know, I've got a couple film projects that I've been developing and just different things that I do Really just to keep my mind active because I can't just sit around and not do anything.

I mean, that's, that's not happening. What's been the biggest surprise so far as, as you're getting ready to launch this, something that you maybe didn't expect. Fox nation. Fox, yeah. That would definitely be the biggest surprise. The other thing, and I'm not really surprised.

That wouldn't be fair to say, but I'm really, really grateful for the quality of people that we've got to work with so far. I knew, you know, I dabbled in amateur wrestling high school a little bit after college. So I had a, it was a hundred years ago, right? But I got a sense of what amateur wrestlers are about because I kind of hung out with them for a while. And I think amateur wrestling and amateur wrestlers in particular are, they're just wired differently. And I knew that coming into this, I knew there'd be an opportunity

to really find some interesting characters and interesting people. But wow, was I surprised at just how much character and personality and charisma we have in a lot of these athletes we're working with. I can't wait to tell their stories. We've done some of their packages, right? Their bio packages and they're so good because the wrestlers are so good. They're interesting people and when you learn about them you really learn to appreciate freestyle wrestling a whole lot more. I was really surprised and impressed, um, raised eyebrows when you guys, uh, brought Bo Nickel on board because to me this, okay, so it's one thing to have like the Wyatt Hendrixons of the world or got, you know, uh, let's say, uh,

someone who's actively competing in the world of amateur wrestling, but here's a guy who's now making it into UFC. So maybe someone who doesn't follow amateur wrestling as closely as someone else, but is a huge MMA fan. I know who Bo Nicol is and I've heard of what he's done in Penn State, but now he's going to be competing here as well. That to me was brilliant. And there's a litany of guys in that world that you can bring over, right?

There's a litany of wrestlers turned MMA fighters that you could bring over. The Bo Nicol one surprised me, if only because he's such a big deal to the UFC. I was surprised that they were kind of okay with him going over there, but I guess they are all good, right? So far? Yeah.

I don't know if Chad's got a call. No, I don't know. I haven't gotten a call yet. No, it's been long enough to where I think you'd get a call. And I think, you know, I don't want to speak too much about it because I'm not real familiar with his contract, obviously, but I think within Bo's agreement,

he was still able to wrestle, you know, outside of the UFC. But that's, you know, one of the things I am excited about in. Look, I know there's a lot of buzz out there about what we're doing and some people have their opinions about it, but man, MMA, Bo Nichol said it best. I think he said it on your show, you know, freestyle wrestling, amateur wrestling is like the foundation of MMA. And I think there is going to be a lot of crossover. People are going to look at freestyle wrestling as not just that thing they see at the NCAA finals, you know, college wrestling, I should say, not just the thing they see at the NCAA finals or a couple of times a year or a couple, once every four years when it

comes up in the Olympics. But I think because of what we're doing, people start looking at freestyle wrestling as a combat sport. And that's the whole idea because it is the original combat sport. And now I think because of the success of MMA, to a degree the success of WWE and sports entertainment, I think the time is right for freestyle wrestling to get the attention that it really should get, because these people are just amazing athletes. Are you getting any pushback from the hard cores, from the community?

Because you just alluded to like some people have their opinion. Are you getting any sort of... Oh sure, of course really, oh of course. Why wouldn't everyone be happy about this? Because you're now giving guys an opportunity to make money and stick with this. Look, I think the majority of the people out there are very supportive of what we're doing. People in the amateur wrestling community,

obviously very supportive of what we're doing because it's an opportunity for everybody. But you're always going to have your haters. And unfortunately the haters make 90% of the noise, right? 10% of the audience makes 90% of the noise. But you know, you know, really pay attention to those people. And so in 2025, is the Hope 2 events? This one event August 30th and then the one in the fall? We're scaling up to 12 events a year. Wow. 2026 will be 12. That's where we want to be. Once a month. That's where we want to be. Wow. That's a lot.

I know, right? It's fun, right? Oh my gosh. So yeah, the days on the ranch, just chilling. Those are over. Are you going to continue with the Pod walls still doing all this? Oh yeah. I love doing the podcast.

The podcast keeps me connected. It keeps me connected to people like you. I mean, that's how, you and I, for sure, are talking. I really enjoy Conrad Thompson. He's a great human being. And I just get a kick out of doing that podcast once a week. Are you able to keep up with that world, the world of professional wrestling? Cause that's the main topic while you're in the trenches here. Sure. Um, because most of the time what we're talking about on my podcast is kind of uh The outside stuff's the business. Okay. Yeah, it's nostalgia. That's true

I I don't have to keep up with current stuff. Of course, i'll talk about it headline stuff that i'm aware of You know social media you can pretty much stay on top of what's going on in the world of professional rest. Sure But uh for the most part, you know, my show is all about nostalgia. So it doesn't require me doing a lot of prep September 1995 so we're approaching the uh 30th anniversary of the I know right crazy. What are we doing to celebrate? Ah, what is it? It would be labor. It would be Labor Day weekend, right? Yeah, it will be after we're done in Cleveland I'll probably still be kind of coming down off that high. So probably take my wife, go up to Bozeman, Montana, get a steak. So here we are, end of July, July 95,

you would have been ramping up for this, right? Yeah. You would have, like it would have been a green light. You would, how, like the stress that you were dealing with then compared to this one, 30 years later, building something from the ground up. Wow. Wow, that's a good question.

How would I compare them? This one is a little, you know, real American freestyle is a little bit more of a challenge because again, there's no infrastructure. Wait, it was just like four guys sitting around a table 90 days ago. You know, it was just a conversation. And now here we are, you know,

pulling the trigger and executing. So all the little things that usually go fairly smoothly when you've got an infrastructure in place and you've got a team in place and have some experience, we're starting from scratch and we're doing everything from the ground up. So it's a little bit more of a challenge in that respect, but to me it's more fun. I think even with WCW, I took over a company, an existing company, already had infrastructure, already had staff and people. Here we're just, like I said, we're starting from the ground up.

So it's a little, it's a different challenge. But correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe the pressure was greater back then because there you are trying to convince the powers that be, hey, this is a good idea. Let's do this. Not to suggest that you're playing with houses. Money here. You want this to succeed, but there you're, you're in the embryonic stages of your professional career.

You're trying to make a name for yourself. It wasn't like that though. You didn't feel that way. No, it was, it was actually the opposite of that. When I took over WCW, it was a company that had, I think the year before I took it over they grossed 30 million dollars and they lost 10 million dollars in revenue in the process. I was told along with everybody else in WCW when I was hired that if WCW didn't turn a profit Ted Turner was gonna pull the plug. So the first two

years of me taking over WCW was really all about cutting costs. It's why I cut out the house show business. We're doing 180 nights a year, 200 nights a year, but WCW was losing money every time they went out the door. It's like, why are we doing that? So we cut out the live events if it wasn't associated with television. Made a significant reduction in travel costs

for the same reason. Then once we got costs and expenses under control, then we started building and growing. But it was a different kind of pressure. It wasn't easy. It wasn't about convincing people to do the things I wanted to do. It was literally keeping the patient alive on the table long enough to try to come up with a solution. So that would be more pressure than what you're dealing with now. Different kind of pressure. Right, different kind of pressure.

But, and I feel like I've heard you say it was your idea to go live. Yes. So you want to deliver on that. You want to show that this is worth the time, worth the investment, worth the gamble. Well, look, when Ted Turner said, okay, I want you to go head to head with WWE,

it was implied and to win. Right. It wasn't just to show up and say I was competing. And when I looked at what WWE was doing, I looked at their product, they were clearly a teen, pre-teen type of product at the time. If you looked at their business model,

most of their money was in licensing and merchandising and ticket sales and things like that. And I knew I couldn't compete with them. Like, if I was gonna go after teens and pre-teens, they'd been there too long, they were too good at it. So I literally sat in my office, 20 minutes after I left Ted's office, I was in my office with a legal pad,

yellow legal pad and a pen, and I made a list of everything that WWE did well. And on the other side of the paper, I made a list of all the things that I could do differently. Because I knew I couldn't be better than them. I didn't want to be less than them, but I knew if I was different enough, I could get the audience to sample me.

So that was the approach. And it worked pretty well. And the thing that we remember most about it was Lex Luger appearing. What a comeback for him with the Hall of Fame this year and everything he's been doing with DDP. Could you ever have imagined this? I mean, he says it himself, 10 years ago,

he did not think that he would be alive. Did you think that he would enjoy this sort of Renaissance at this stage of his life? No. And I, you know, I had a very complicated relationship with Lex. I didn't think much of Lex. Even from the get go.

From the, well, especially from the get go, cause he was kind of a prick and he just wasn't. Why'd you bring him in? Sting convinced me. Okay. You know, you didn't want to. No, I would, in fact, I don't know if you've heard this story. I'll, I'll keep it short here, but Sting, you know, Lex had gone on to WWE,

did the Lex express thing and I was glad to see him go because he was, he was kind of an arrogant guy. He wasn't the most pleasant person to be around. So I wasn't sad to see him leave. And then Sting came to me one day and said, I'd like to talk to you about Lex. Would you ever be interested in bringing him back? And I flat out said, no, not at all. And zero interest. And Sting kept working at me. And I have a pretty good relationship with Steve. Steve Borden plays the character of Sting. And Sting kept just chipping

away at me, chipping away at me. He said, look, just take a meeting with him. Just hear him out. So I met Lex over at Sting's house. We didn't want anybody seeing us in public. And I will admit, he started winning me over, but I just really wasn't convinced. So when it came down to it, I said, Steve, here's what I'm going to do for you, because you're a friend.

I'm going to offer Lex 150 grand a year. When he left, he was making 750. And if he takes 150, we'll see where it goes from there. And Lex took the 150. He was a pro to work with. He was a joy to work with. Wow. Completely different approach to the business. Three

months later he was back to 750. But I wanted to see what he was all about before I brought him back in. Okay, wow. What was the difference? Did he humbly, like, it didn't work out over there so he felt like... You know, I certainly can't speak for him, but he just came back with a more positive attitude. He was friendlier, not just to me, but I mean the people around him. He treated everybody with more respect. You got this sense that he was excited to be there and he appreciated being there. Whereas before it was kind of like he was doing us a favor to show up every once in a while. Completely different attitude.

And he became a joy to work with. And ironically, We're very good friends to the state. In fact, we just exchanged text this morning. I see you with the DDP How are you so ripped? It's unbelievable. What's going on here? What's the secret? The secret sauce? Were you always this rip? No, no, bro. If you just see me a year and a half ago. I was here in a half. Yeah a year ago. I was I'm about 185 right now, 5'10". I was up around 225, 228, which, and I'm a small bone guy, I have a big frame. So for me, 228's pretty chunky. And I saw a picture of myself with my grandson

on my lap and was like, if I'm gonna be around and be active in my grandson's life and be able to do things physically, what I'm doing now is going to get me there. So I just made up my mind to get in shape. I've never enjoyed lifting weights. I've always been, you know, I did a lot of cardio. I wrestled in high school, as I mentioned, a couple years after that. I was a kickboxer for a while and enjoyed martial arts.

So I always kept myself aerobically in pretty good shape, but I dreaded going to the gym. It was not my thing. But I just somehow fell in love with it. So I went to the gym 70 minutes a day, five, six days a week now. By yourself or with a trainer? By myself.

Wow, you just figured it out. Well, I mean, there's a lot of information, right? Sure, sure, sure. You can learn a lot on the phone when it comes to working out. You find the right people to follow and you try different things. But for me, it's been the carnivore diet first and foremost. Okay. It's a carnivore diet.

It's a half a cc of test twice a week. Okay. Just to be completely honest about self, these people are whack. I've been accused of being on all kinds of things that I don't even know what they are. But half a cc a test, twice a week, carnivore diet, cut out pretty much all my alcohol. I travel on a trip like this, I'll have a couple beers or a glass of wine with dinner or something. But for the most part, no sugar, no carbs, no alcohol. Fasting too.

I always see you talking about the fasting. I fast twice a year. I'll do talking about fasting. I fast twice a year. I'll do a five day water fast twice a year. Five days. Yeah. Just water. No coffee, no nothing. Water and coffee.

Okay, okay. Water and coffee. That's still pretty intense, five days. It sounds harder than it really is. The first day and a half or two days are a little challenging. By the third day, it's easy. Really? Your body goes into a state called autophagy,

where you start burning body fat instead of stored sugars and carbohydrates and all that. And when you do that, your body releases ketones. These ketones get into your bloodstream. They get into your, and they get everywhere. And you get this, it's just a higher sense of well-being and clarity of thought and energy. So, by, you know, the first two days are tough, by the third day it's like, whoa, this is awesome. The last time I did it on the fifth day, I changed my mind. You said you'd go for a sixth day.

Wow. That's how good it felt. Wow. Well, good for you. When you saw, by the way, that that Dynamite had surpassed Nitro for longest wrestling show on TNT, how did that make you feel? I just juggled.

It's like a participation trophy. I guess it matters to somebody. But, you know, if you took all of the viewing audience that we had over whatever run Nitro had, I think it would take AEW another 15 years to deliver that audience at the rate they're going. So I do pretty well now with the show, the 45,000 or so at the Globe Life Stadium. Was that not?

That was a couple of ago, all in? Was it? I don't follow it that much. I heard it was like in the 20,000s. Okay, maybe, okay. Our previous guest just said 45. I mean, 20,000, that's a big number. I mean, hats off to them for that.

I don't want to dismiss that. Sure. With 20,000 people in a building and you're charging them money for it, that's a hell of an accomplishment. You think they're doing better. It seems to be the prevailing thought that they've turned the corner that they're having a great year.

How do you measure a great year? They had one event that did really well. Yeah. Their television ratings are flat. They've been losing an average of 15 to 18 percent of their audience every year for the last five or six years. Last week they did like 580,000 viewers on a major cable platform on a Wednesday night, prime time. I don't know if that's really doing that well. But you know.

Stories, character development. I don't see it. I mean I see them trying, you know. And again, I don't watch the product very much at all anymore, I've kind of given up on it. How long ago? Six months ago. Okay, you just had enough?

I just couldn't take it anymore. You know, they weren't making any good moves. They weren't making any moves creatively that led me to believe that they might be going in the right direction. Just not been a fan of the product or where they're going business-wise. So I just kind of tuned out of it.

Why does it seem like Eric Bischoff is public enemy number one when it comes to the, the AW fans? Why do they get so riled up anytime you talk about them? Because I, I express my opinion and I do it quite candidly. I don't sugarcoat things and that, that drives them crazy. You know, I call it as I do it quite candidly. I don't sugarcoat things. And that drives them crazy. And I call it as I see it. I do the same thing for WWE.

This is not as much to criticize in WWE. I mean, you can if you want to, if that's your gig. But with AEW, I've been pretty clear about the things that I think they were lacking. Have been from day one. Their storylines aren't what they need to be. Their character development hasn't been what it needs to be. And it's missing the mark.

They're appealing to the smallest denominator in the audience. That hardcore internet wrestling fan that just loves that, you know, gory thumbtack, you know, ice pick kind of matches and excessive blood and violence And I mean, that's great. So people like that kind of stuff. God bless you. But is there anything they're doing right now that you like I haven't seen it. Okay, so I couldn't honestly tell you what about WWE. What do you like as far as what they're doing? Same thing. I haven't been watching a lot of WWE mostly because I've been sure sure sure pretty busy Same thing, I haven't been watching a lot of WWE, mostly because I've been pretty busy. But I'm more of a fan of the business,

of the wrestling business, than I am of anything that goes on on television, right? So when I look at WWE and I read about some of the moves that they're making behind the scenes, business-wise, sponsorships, obviously the Netflix deal. When you look at their revenue model and their business model, that to me is exciting.

That I like to follow. But in terms of what goes on inside of the ring, not so much. You used to have, I remember vividly, like a Slim Jim in the middle of the mat. It would be sparingly, it wouldn't be all the time. Or even like a Halloween Havoc logo in the middle. But I would have, Ariel, if they would have said,

we wanna do more, you know, slim gym in the middle of the ring. You're okay with that? I'd take their money over the long run. Sure, some of the fans get riled up over this, but like it just feels like. That's because the fans never ran a business. Right, right, right.

They don't understand how that wheel keeps turning. You know? It's almost shocking that it took this long to do it. Vince just wanted nothing to do with that money. I don't think he had a problem with the money. I think he had a problem with it infringing on his brand. That's the one thing about Vince and I don't want to suggest that I know Vince very well. I mean I worked with him for a few months. Got to know him this much. But he's very, very protective of his brand. And I'm guessing that for Vince,

having a sponsor in the ring with the brand was just a bridge too far for him. Because I'm guessing he felt that that perhaps diluted the brand. Do you feel that way? I'd take the money. Yeah. I'm a whore.

You think we see him pop up? Vince? Yeah. I think we see him pop up? Vince? Yeah. I think he wants to pop up. It would be hard for me to wrap my head around anybody embracing Vince McMahon right now on a business level. It doesn't mean it won't happen. I just think that he's going to have to get this civil suit behind him, let the smoke

clear for a little while, and then perhaps. But I don't think it's gonna happen anytime soon. You know, when we had you and Hulk on, there was a lot of heat afterwards for, you know, some of the questions I asked Hulk regarding the booing in LA and all that stuff. You're very close, you make no bones about that.

He's a good friend and a business partner of yours. Has that been challenging at all? You know, let's be honest, there are some people who just don't like him or who don't want to accept them or offer, you know, any sort of like, Hey, here's an olive branch. You know, all is forgotten. Has it been tricky? Has it been problematic?

The best way to say it is it gets awkward at times because I feel like I, I want to defend him because he's my friend and I know him. I know his heart. I know who he really is. Um, so personally, that's a little challenging from time to time because I'm fairly outspoken person. And I got to check that once in a while, but again, it goes back to that 10% of the people make 90% of the noise.

So many people still react so positively to Hulk. You look at what's going on with his beer. It's just, he's killing it. The brand is killing it. He's got his own sports bar going in across the street from Madison Square Garden. So the brand itself is very, very strong because 90% of the people out there dig him and respect him for what he did. But you've got that 10% of the audience

that are gonna be haters and they're gonna be loud. And you just have to deal with them and not let them bother you too much. So obviously today would be a good example of it not being an issue. Has it been an issue at all with sponsors trying to get this off the ground or with signing guys has it been a roadblock in any way shape or form? It's the opposite. It's the opposite. It's open doors. Wow. I think that Fox. That surprised you Does it surprise me? Yeah, no, okay. I bet on it. Yeah always have

There was the same thing back in 1994 when I brought Hulk to WCW. Right. So, oh, he's never going to work. He's, you know, he's old news. He's too old. He's washed up, steroid this, steroid that. And I'm thinking, nah, I don't think so. And, and, and we were right then. And look, to be honest, do I think Fox Nation would have done a deal with Eric Bischoff and Chad Bronstein and Izzy Martinez? Not without Hulk Hogan attached. It opened doors for us and still does to this day. How involved is he in the day to day?

Day to day, not so much. That was never his intention nor ours. Hulk brings so much awareness in a spotlight, in a megaphone to everything that we do and that's what we really wanted to leverage, to be honest with you, we wanted to leverage that value. But, you know, he's out of all the data today. So in major promotions, you know,

UFC you'll have Dana White up there, back in the day you'll have Don King, Bob Arum, Vince. I think you're a great front man, but he's also Hulk Hogan. So will you guys do press conferences where a guy will be there at the day SMB on August 30th? You need to watch this. Absolutely.

And is that you or is that him? Both. Both of you. It'll be me, it'll be Chad, it'll be Izzy Martinez. Okay. So there's not one singular person who's sort of like the mouthpiece for the company.

Nobody designated at this point. It may, that person may evolve over the next six One singular person who's sort of like the mouthpiece for the company. Nobody designated at this point. It may be that may evolve. You know, over the next six months or a year or two years. But as of right now, we haven't like designated anybody. Do you think there needs to be just one? Is it better if it's just if just one voice? I think eventually it would need to be one voice.

But right now, not so much. OK, we just had we just had someone in studio AJ. Oh, yeah, you saw him, not so much. Okay. We just had someone in studio, AJ. AJ. Oh yeah, you saw him. I know AJ. Okay, yeah, Top Dalla from back in the day. Now in TNA, and you have a history with them as well,

they're enjoying a renaissance. I was just telling Chad, my partner Chad Bronstein, on the way over here, I was texting back and forth with Carlos an hour ago, two hours ago. And I reached out to him and said, hey, congratulations on what you did. You know, they had a big night last night. Great turnout. And they're making a lot of smart decisions.

I remember when Carlos came on, they made an announcement when Carlos came on. And I was like, okay, we'll see what happens. But they're making a lot of, they're growing incrementally, right? And they're doing it almost quietly. Like they're not out there thumping their chests and talking about taking down the competition and all the, you know, the crazy stuff that, for example, AEW did in the very beginning. They're just quietly going about their business, producing great shows, bringing in great talent, and getting involved with great partnerships,

and they're growing their business. And that's the part that excites me, watching a business grow, especially a wrestling business. Got a little bit of an affinity for it. So it's been fun watching TNA grow. It's been shocking somewhat for me because I felt like they were almost dead a few years ago, right?

It just felt like they were going dead a few years ago, right? It just felt like they were going nowhere, that they had no momentum and now all of a sudden 7600 at a big arena last night. The deal with WWE has obviously been beneficial, but it just seems like they have a ton more momentum than maybe three, four years ago. They're one deal away from being a major player. Wow. If they get a broadcast partner, if they get the right, right broadcast situation, if they get the right broadcast situation, because they've got the product, they know what they're doing,

there's a good team of people, they just need a bigger platform. And if they get it, watch them take off. Are you surprised by this? Did you think they were dead? I'm surprised by it. I wrote them off a long time ago. It felt like they had, I mean, there was no sizzle.

It was gone. There was no sizzle, there was no steak, there was no plate, there was no pan. There was no nothing. There was no anything. Could they at some point pass, they'll never get to WW, let's not get crazy, but do you think they could be number two? Do they have what it takes?

By this time next year. You think so? I think so. This time next year, Eric? Really? It depends on the TV deal though, right? Depends on the TV deal. If the TV deal isn't a big one, isn't a great one, that will be tough.

Damn near impossible. Right. But you feel like they could do it this time next year. With the right television partner. They're number two this time. You know, how do you, what's number two? By what revenue, you know, by what measure do we define a number two? But I think in terms of television ratings, popularity, yeah, they could be number two in a minute. What are they

doing right that you think AEW is not doing? They're just doing the basics. They're doing the basics and they're producing a show for the mainstream wrestling audience, not for that 10% hardcore sicko that everybody thinks is a cool demo, because it's not. You know, it's stuck with me. I had Matt Hardy and Jeff in studio a couple weeks ago, and I was kind of on the wrong trajectory.

I was like, hey, why do you think WWE's doing this deal with TNA? Isn't this weird? Isn't this different? He's like, let's be honest. They're trying to hurt AEW. That's what they're trying to do. Let's just call it what it is.

I don't think so. You don't think so? No. I think what they are trying to do is position themselves to not end up in another antitrust lawsuit, another monopoly lawsuit, by supporting being in business with other organizations.

I think it was kind of like a cover your ass kind of legal strategy as much as anything else. But everybody, people want to create a war, right? They wanna make it feel like there's a war between WWE and AEW, because everybody remembers the Monday Night Wars, and it was a fun time. It's one of the things that I think resurrected the wrestling business back in the 90s, and people long for that kind of battle and competition back and forth.

But it doesn't really exist in real life, so they look for ways to try to make it seem like a war. I really don't think WWE spends a lot of time thinking about how to compete with AEW. I really don't. I think they go about their business. And I think the deal with TNA was just another example of them doing the right things so that they don't end up in another MLW type lawsuit.

Them purchasing AAA, what did you think when you heard that? so that they don't end up in another MLW type lawsuit. Them purchasing AAA, what did you think when you heard that? I didn't think too much about it. I haven't been paying much attention to AAA or anything that's been going down in Mexico. Obviously aware of it. It made sense to me. It certainly makes a ton of sense to me. And I think it's a good thing for AAA. You know there's some stability now in AAA, financial stability and as a platform a much much bigger opportunity and a much bigger stage to play on. So it's good for AAA, it's good for WWE, it's great for the talent. It's a win-win-win situation. If someone would have offered you a very similar position to the one you have now but pro wrestling Let's it we're gonna grow. We have the right investor

We've got Fox Nation the same thing, but it's the pro wrestling business as opposed to the freestyle wrestling business Would you be into it or you were you were done with that? Just because I've done it, you know, the thing that excites me about real American freestyle is this is something I've never did It takes all the experience I've had and the things that I've learned, you know, the hard way in some cases and learn from success. And now I get to apply it to a completely different animal, right? Going back to do something that I've already been doing for 30 or 35 years, it's hard to get excited. It didn't, it wouldn't light the same type of fire. No, not at all.

Because I've done it. I've done it. So I've already been there. I like new challenges. This might be a tough one off the top of your head, but is there one that you wish you could do over? One decision? Oh, Ariel.

Welcome to the first 24 hour episode of the Ariel Hauwani Show. That many, huh? That many. Of course, you can't go through life, especially in business, especially running a company like I did, the entertainment business, and not wish you had a couple do-overs. Of course there are.

Is there a glaring one? Is there one at the top of the list? What was I thinking? I think this isn't going to be the answer you're probably looking for. But there was a point in time in August of 1998 when I got called into a meeting with a bunch of executives I'd never met before.

And I got into this meeting, I keep in mind 1998, my division was printing money. We were killing it from a revenue perspective and we were stomping a mud hole, as they would say in the South, in WWE and Vince McMahon. So in that context, I get called to a meeting in a room full of people I'd never met before, executives, who proceeded to go around the table and they introduced themselves and then they would each proceed to tell me how they thought I should run WCW. Now this is pre-merger, these are some of the executives from Time Warner coming over, this is them getting their their hands dirty so to speak in internal broadcasting at the time. And I remember

sitting at that table and thinking to myself, why am I even here? Who are you people? Why am I sitting here? And there was one guy at the end of the table, his name is Joe Yuva, ended up being one of the most powerful ad executives on planet Earth. But back then he was just head of Turner Ad Sales here in New York, and he asked me a bunch of questions. It didn't make any sense to me. So I looked over at him. I said, Joe, what night of the week is Nitro On? Now, the name of the show is Monday Night Nitro On. It was a technical name of the show. So I said, Joe, what night of the week is Nitro On? And he paused just long enough for me to make a point.

Point being that nobody in that room ever watched the product other than maybe had seen it on tape, wanted to evaluate this new property that they have. They didn't understand the business. They didn't understand how WCW got to be number one. And they certainly didn't understand why doing some of the things that they would want me to do would have taken us right back to where we started from. In 1998, Joe Yuva in particular wanted me to be family friendly wrestling.

You mean go back to teen and preteen. That wasn't working. We were at 18 to 49 year old demo. We were killing it. We were smoking that demo, but they wanted me to take my eye off, to take the focus off that demo and let's figure out a way to tell really good stories for the family for wrestling. It's like the dumbest idea in the world. Sorry, Joe, but it was pretty stupid.

I knew right then, I didn't have the experience in terms of mergers and acquisitions and things like that, so I didn't have a frame of reference, but instinctively I knew that we were heading in the wrong direction. And I went home at the end of that day, I told my wife I think I'm gonna resign. Pretty sure I'm gonna resign. And I thought about it overnight, maybe took me two nights, and I decided not to. I wished I would have. Wow. Things would have been much different. Wow, how so? Because I wrote it out. I'm a very loyal person, almost, not almost, to a fault. I was loyal to Ted.

And I didn't understand the machinations of what was going on behind the scenes. So in my mind, I still work for Ted Turner. And I was loyal to Ted. I was loyal to a guy by the name of Bill Shaw who hired me in my position and my immediate superior, Harvey Shiller, was the head of Turner sports at the time. I was very loyal to them.

And the idea of quitting is just, eh, it's a hard thing for me to do. Anyway, I just have a hard time saying, okay, I quit. Um, that was part of it. And the other part of it is I just didn't know the extent to which AOL time Warner was going to go to get WCW off the books. Wow. I didn't expect that, but a fascinating answer.

I'll let you go in a moment, but I did want to ask you, last week we had Bill Goldberg on the program. I know you say you don't watch the product as much, but he seemed very upset about the way his retirement went. I saw that. I saw him on the show, yeah. Do you have any thoughts on that? You know, yes and no. My first thought is I would like to know why because, for example, did they go over in their match? I mean, you have a finite amount of time when

you're doing a live show and you have to get commercials in, right? There are no overruns for the most part. So did Bill's time get cut short because the match went too long or was the match before him? Was it a timing issue? I'd have to know why it happened before I could really pass any kind of judgment on it. Overall though, surface, I was, I was surprised that he was that upset. I can understand why you would be upset. Hey, I wanted to speak for three, four minutes and I got 40 seconds or whatever it was. But I thought the walkout with Doug Dillinger and some of the other characters, his son,

I thought the fact that he got a main event on NBC, I thought he would have been happy. Don't you think it's kind of a big damn deal? I mean, I was shocked that he was upset because to me, without knowing how he felt and going on behind the scenes, I'm thinking, I was shocked that he was upset because to me, without knowing how he felt, sure, sure. Behind the scenes, I'm thinking, wow, they did him a righteous. I mean, they basically served them up on a silver platter for the, for the fans,

you know, the buildup, the Doug Dillinger thing. I mean, they gave them a lot. I understand he didn't get the promo that he wanted at the end. He didn't get to say his goodbyes the way he wanted to. I understand that. But if you look overall at what they did for Bill Goldberg. In Atlanta too. In Atlanta, I think they were pretty generous. Yeah, so that's what I was saying.

I was surprised that he felt that. I had no idea that he was gonna come on and say that. I thought we were just gonna reminisce. It was great. Now I'll move on with my life and expect that tone i didn't expect that feeling was disappointing yeah i mean who are ultimately my thought was who might say to someone else

how they should feel who knows what he had planned or had talked about behind the scenes but i thought overall on nbc not a bad not a lot of guys get a send-off that. I know a couple of hundred of them that would have loved that opportunity. Right. Especially not a homegrown guy, right? He was never a WWE guy per se to get that. I don't know.

I thought it was pretty good. I did too, Ariel. Yes. I did too. Um, all right. So real American freestyle wrestling, August 30th, Cleveland, Ohio, Fox nation, there it is. Look at that.

Love it. I love that graphic by the way. It's brilliant. 799, right? A month, I think it is. Yeah. And, and no, no pay-per-view required. Once you're a subscriber, you'll get this.

And there's a lot of great stuff on Fox Nation. I mean, I got it a long time ago. Okay. A lot of great stuff. If you like documentaries. Yes. They just added PBR as well. Uh, you've got Chael Sonnen, a part of the team.

Kurt Angle, a part of the team. I believe Bubba Jenkins, as far as the broadcast team is concerned. Yep. So you guys are making all the big moves, Bo Nicol, uh, Wyatt Hendrickson. Unfortunately, it seems like Ben, Ben Asgren is a little bit tied up at the moment. Yeah, he's maybe the next, maybe the next one.

Yes, yes, yes. Uh, but what, what a, what a scene it would be if he could show up in some way, shape or form down the line. Cause I know he was very excited about this. Yeah. We, yes, yes. But what a scene it would be if he could show up in some way, shape, or form down the line, because I know he was very excited about this. Yeah, you know, I talked to Ben just a couple weeks before he got sick. OK.

I did an interview with him on my podcast. And he's such a fun guy. He was pumped. Oh, yeah. He was great. I was really looking forward to working with him. And I think we're going to try to do something with Ben. OK, good.

I think we're going to send a crew up and spend some time with Ben and get to know Ben on camera So at least he can have a presence on our show. That would be incredible. Well, I can't wait I wish you guys the best you Chad is he? Terry as they say Hulk am I like to say Terry is that my part of the yeah, I don't know It seems weird for me to say he loves you. Okay. All right. I appreciate that. Thank you for coming in Congrats on the big news. Thank you and looking forward to it We will take a quick break.

We'll be back with Dustin Poirier. That's Eric Bischoff, the legend himself. Do not go anywhere. All right. We're back. Extra long edition of the program. Can I just be honest with you guys for a second? I was this close to saying the MMA hour.

What the hell? This close. First time. You have to focus that. Yeah. What the hell? This close. First time. What the fuck is that? Yeah, first time I think I almost slipped up. What a day.

You'll get one of those by the way. By the way, not too bad, not too bad. 13, 14 hours ago I was yakking away. TMI? I think more information. Okay, well I don't know if you want that well I don't know if you want that. I don't know if you want that. But yeah, we were not in good shape.

We were not in good shape, but I said to myself, I want to be here. It's a big day, easy E in studio. AJ Francis in studio wanted to celebrate what transpired at UFC 318, and I wanted to talk to the man himself. So in a couple of minutes, gather around. We're gonna be joined by the one and only Dustin Poirier.

Some less than 48 hours, 40 hours removed from his final fight in his home state at the Smoothie King Center Main Event for UFC 318 against Max Holloway. What a week it was for him. I would imagine he's emotionally and physically drained at this point. I would imagine that he probably doesn't want to do much talking at the moment or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. But I can't thank him enough for coming on and speaking to us

especially after driving home today. It was such a great scene. It was incredibly emotional. It was incredibly well done. It was so classy. The videos that the UFC did, the one in particular with him sitting and looking at the videos on the big wall with his wife and his daughter and Tim Crater and first coach and his mother.

It was just so well done and so unique to get a scene like that in mixed martial arts in particular. And so what a great honor, what a great privilege it is to speak to the man who kind of stole our hearts over the past week. But if we're being honest, it has almost been two decades of him doing that.

He is the one and only El Diamante, the pride of Lafayette, Louisiana, joining us kind enough to join us on the program. Some 48 hours removed, less than 48 hours removed from his incredible fight on Saturday. Dustin, can't thank you enough, man. I really appreciate this. Of course, of course, man, when you hit me up, I said, I got to do it. That's my boy. This is a special one. I just retired. I got to jump on, man. When you hit me up, I said, I gotta do it. That's my boy. This is a special one.

I just retired. I got to jump on the show, but it was close, bro, because I just made it home. I, okay, well, I appreciate that very, very much. And yes, I said, you know what? This will be the last time I ever bother you, which is a complete lie, by the way. But it is maybe, probably, at least for now,

the last Monday after a fight. And so you just got back home after an incredibly emotional and I would imagine physically taxing weekend. It's a crappy question, but it's an open-ended one. How are you feeling? How are you doing after everything that just happened? Hurtin' a little bit, you know, I got some bumps and bruises from that fight.

I actually, I drove down from New Orleans back to Lafayette. I went straight to the doctor, got some scans done, picked up my daughter and now we're back home. Life is good, man. As far as the scans are concerned, any serious injuries? No, I think, you know, I probably have another crack in my nose, but I was more worried about my hands.

My hands like really, really swollen. I can't make a fist with my right hand. So that and my left wrist, you know, just fight stuff. Did this happen in the middle of the fight? Was this bothering you in the fight? Cause I did notice at one point, it seemed like you were favoring it, but I wasn't sure if that was just me seeing things.

I don't know when it happened. Yeah. So I didn't feel it during the fight. Okay. Okay. I was, you know, as, as I'm watching everything happening over the course of the week and all the videos and the tributes, and I know some were filmed beforehand, the one fear that I had was that you would be so emotionally drained from all the stuff that was being thrown your way, all the tributes, all the love that it would affect you come the fight. Did any of that happen? You know, it definitely was a roller coaster of emotions. And like I've said all fight

week, I never stepped away from my career and looked at it. And really from an outside view or a third person view to tell it, take everything in and appreciate everything I've done. I've always been in the grind and the hunt, living through it. So it did give me like a retrospective look of all the stuff that I accomplished and made me feel like people cared about my journey and my story. Because I've been in the media and been with Fightville. People have been in front of my journey. So they came along the ride with me. So I really felt that from the fans.

But no, I wouldn't say it affected me fight week or fight night, definitely didn't. Okay. How comfortable, uncomfortable did you feel? Like when they're giving you letters and when you're watching things from your family and you're there crying, like it's multiple times that we saw you cry throughout the week. Was it ever getting to be too much?

With the letter stuff, you know, some of the letters they have, I didn't get through them all. I didn't get through them all on camera. Some of the letters they have, I didn't get through them all. So I didn't get them all on camera. Some of the letters they have are people that are like, we have stories and moments through these years of fighting that not only for me, I didn't want to share that on camera, not that it was anything bad, just so it's really personal.

I wanted to after I got through a couple of them, I realized how serious these letters were. So I wanted to keep that for myself. But it was all good. It's all love, man. Yeah, it was incredible. I mean, it was so I said this at the top of the show. It was so unique because I don't need to tell you this. Most guys don't get this. You know, you might get a retirement fight in Vegas on a card on the main card on the prelims. They don't get the whole show built around them in their home state in a in a in Vegas on a card, on the main card, on the prelims, they don't get the whole show built around them in their home state, in a city, in a state

that doesn't usually get pay-per-views. And so I'm putting you in a tough spot by asking this, but why do you think you got it? Why are you literally the only one that got a send-off like this? I'm not sure. I'm not sure, man. You realize how unique it was, right?

I appreciate it. Yeah, it was different. It felt special. It really did. It felt special. And I can say as much possible, I was in the moment as much possible, as much as I could have been with the task at hand,

with everything going on, another man trying to beat me up in front of the world, and the emotions and adrenaline of fight night and stuff I was in the moment as much as I could appreciate everything I did. As far as the training camp were you going through it saying like this is the last time for this this is the last time I'll do this even on the scale we saw I think you got emotional on the scale too when you did the the morning weigh in, was it because it hit you it was the last time? Everything was the last time when I left training camp, you know, like that was my last wrestling session as a professional fighter with the team. Everything was the last time, and it would come in moments. It wouldn't be there throughout the whole camp or anything like that,

but every now and then I'd be driving to the gym and think, wow, you know, this is the last time I'm going to be driving to the gym with my body hurting in the training camp. But it was all good. It was all, it was all positive. Yeah. That, that scene at the, the Wayans was incredible. Why do you think it hit you like that? Um, which one? I'm not sure what you're talking about. When you were on the scale at the official Wayne-in, the morning weigh-ins, it seems like your lip was quivering and you were getting emotional. No, man. You see yourself.

For real? No, I wasn't emotional at the weigh-ins. Wow, that's crazy because the clip went insane because everyone thought you were crying on the scale. Hell no. I was excited to drink some water, bro. That's amazing. That's, you see, we were starting to like manifest things.

We were making you out to be too emotional at this point. It was getting comments and you cried. No, I didn't even see that video, whatever you're talking about, I didn't see it, but I definitely wasn't emotional at the way. And that was emotional earlier during the week when I was reading those letters, you know, because some of the things on the letters

just really hit me in the heart. You know, those are people I love and respect and they were part of this journey since I was a young, young man. So, yeah. You look to be in incredible shape. Was there any point throughout the whole process where you were like, damn man,

I got a couple more left in me here. I don't really wanna stop doing this. I know I have a couple more left in me here. I don't really want to stop doing this. I know I have a couple more left in me for sure. Do you still feel that way after the fight? Physically, yeah, physically I'm fine. I can keep rocking for sure. And so ultimately, why are you not going to? Because I'm not going to leave that much of myself in this sport, in this octagon. I mean, now's the time.

I just feel like I have other things I care about more than fighting. And that never was a thought process or a way of feeling and loving things ever before in my life. When do you think that started that shift? ever before in my life. When do you think that started, that shift? Yeah, finding out my wife was pregnant again, my daughter getting older, just realizing stuff. Yeah. It was a slow process.

You clearly seemed in the moment to feel like the fight was closer than the judges scored it. Have you watched it since? Yeah, I watched it that night with my team. Being in the eye of the storm and the way you're feeling with the adrenaline and the shots you're landing and going back to the stooge round, it felt a lot different than what it looked like from outside when I watched it. So when you watched it, what did you think it was?

I said, okay, I'll see how he won these rounds. Okay. You know, he was busier, throwing more volume, landing good body shots, just adding up scores in the piggy bank, you know, and I watched it back, I can see myself, I wouldn't say hesitant, but not pulling the trigger like I should have been, not being see myself. I wouldn't say hesitant, but not pulling the trigger

like I should have been, not being as offensive as I should have been. And I think that was subliminally done, like just self preservation, trying to get back safe. Knowing this is the last one, like, knowing at the end of the night, the rankings didn't matter, my next fight didn't matter, like, not that I pulled back, I gave him my all, but I could

have put myself in harm's way to maybe make something happen for sure. You regret that? I don't think so, man. I obviously, if I tried to hurt him, if I would have landed a shot that that hurt him when I dropped him, I tried to finish him. But it could have been horrible. You know, I could have tried to land him. But it could have been horrible. I could have tried to land a big shot or gone out the way to put myself in harm's way like I'm saying, and I could have been knocked out.

I could have been, my brain could have got shaken up worse. So it is what it is. I tried to fight a smart fight, be a professional, protect myself at all times and land shots that I thought were good counters or good timing when he was open. And it just, it is what it is, like the man himself says. I was trying to finish him,

but I didn't put myself in harm's way as much as I have in the past. That scene towards the end of the second round, like when I was watching that, I was like, holy shit, if he pulls this off, it will go down as the greatest ending ever. If you would have pulled off the guillotine, the jumping guillotine. And there it is. Like, I mean, you got the picture. The picture is phenomenal. For that brief second, I was like, holy shit, he's actually going to do it.

And then I was like, this is legit. Hollywood would not believe this. Are you thinking that in the moment or is it too quick? No, I'm thinking it in the moment as well. Or is it too quick? No, I'm thinking it in a moment as well. I'm thinking no way Max is grabbing my ankles from his knees, trying to wrestle a head first into me. His neck here, it felt like the skies opened up and the sun was shining on me. And then what did he do to get out?

As soon as I went to grab the grip around his neck, he rolled to his back. And there was only like maybe eight seconds left. As soon as he rolled, he rolled before I even started really locking it in. And I lost gripping with my hands. And maybe if I had like another 20, 30 seconds from the clock, I could have dropped some elbows and done damage from the top position, but the choke was gone. As soon as I started jumping,

he started twisting and his neck was safe. Max is a very intelligent grappler, man. People don't, you know, he's out there hurting people and moving around on the feed and he does that great, but I think he needs to get more credit of just his awareness of grappling. In an alternate universe, if you don't go for that and you just stay and throw down strikes,

what do you think happens? Man, if, if, if, if my grandma had balls, she'd be my grandpa, you know? Yeah, yeah. It's tough to say. He was definitely hurt. I threw one big shot when he went down that missed and then he kind of got on my legs.

So I jumped guillotine. Maybe if I could have sprawled and like I said, it was only 10, eight seconds left when I jumped that guillotine. Maybe I think he was hurt. You know, one more shot would have, when you're in that state where you're rocked like that, small shots hurt you bad.

And one more shot could have put him away, but that's just all what ifs, you know? That's not what happened. I jumped the guillotine like I knew I would. And I would imagine you don't regret that one. No, I don't regret anything I did that night. Yeah. I do, I'm a big proponent of open scoring,

and I was wondering if you knew you were down going into the fifth, if you actually knew, would you have done anything differently? Maybe I would have. It's tough to say, man. It's tough to say looking back, you know, hindsight's 20-20 and looking back in the moment. I thought I was fighting a smart fight. I thought I was keeping myself relatively protected and doing the right things. But if I would have sat on the stool and known for sure like you need to finish or you're losing this fight, I'm sure knowing myself, I'm sure I would've took a little bit more chances, but that's just all, you know, that doesn't matter now.

What happened in the final 10 seconds? It ha what happened was what I thought was going to happen, the point down and we were going to exchange punches, but he was just too fast. He was too fast and I was like, I might have threw one or two punches back at him and I said, we're just going to clinch up. We're going to wrestle a little bit. I'm not doing this. I'm not going out like Gagey, but I could have landed a shot too.

I just didn't. Once I threw one or two, he was throwing off three or four. By the time my two were thrown, you know, it's just like. And I thought it was I just thought it was a lot closer. In the moment, I think we learned a lot about Max coming off the knockout loss as well. You never really know how someone's going to respond, especially at his age and with all the fights under his belt, was he at all better than you expected or took the punches better? Because sometimes when you get that knockout, a lot changes in the next fight,

or at least you fight a different fight. Right. Right. And I was wondering about that going in, if he was going to be gunshot or timid. And he stood in front of me, was down to exchange, and I did hit him with some good shots. The shot that dropped him was kind of like my first fight with Connor. It was kind of around the ear, a little bit on the side behind the ear. When you get hit there, sometimes your legs go, your equilibrium is tough. So that's tough to say. It wasn't like I was hitting him with shots and he was getting rocked by normal shots. Those kind of shots are tough to really call.

The right angle, the right timing, the speed of the punch, like you get hit behind the ear. Sometimes your brain is still fine, but your legs aren't cooperating with you. So that one was tough to say, but I did hit him with some good clean shots and he took them, man, he took them no problem. The walkout with Lil Wayne.

I think some people thought he would wrap you to the cage. Was this always the plan? Yeah, well, at first I thought, like a few weeks before fight week, they told me he was just gonna he was down to support me. He's been watching me for a long time. And I was speaking with him before and he was telling me like he's been watching me fight since my shorts look like NASCAR back in the sponsorship days. So he's been a fan of the sport for a while. So it's just

cool to interact with him and for him to show up and be there. It was special, man. Was that your first time meeting him? First time shaking his hand and meeting him in person. I've been on calls with him before. I did a Zoom call with him before, years ago. But this was my first time meeting him in person.

And as far as the walk out and everything, in that moment, are you thinking this is the last one or are you so locked in at that point? Like it could have been fight number 12 of your career. I wasn't thinking about that in that moment. I wasn't thinking about it. Okay. Great. Great moments with Max's son in the aftermath as well. I loved all that in the cage and even backstage. Yeah, backstage he came up to me and he told me, he told me thank you for giving my dad the opportunity. And I'm like, bro, what are you talking about?

Your dad is the champion. He gave me the opportunity. Pretty cool to see, because obviously I've been knowing Max and this is a, how old is his son? Oh, he's in his teens at this point, probably 13, 14. Right, and me and Max, our first fight was 13 years ago. So I've seen videos and photos of this kid growing up. And then obviously when I fought him in Atlanta,

he was heartbroken. I beat his dad and I spoke to him in the back after that fight as well. I told him, keep his head up, everything's good. So it's just crazy, man. Life is full circle. I see the kid who's telling me thank you for giving his dad the chance.

It was special. The whole thing was special. Yeah, I actually think that Max signed to fight you in his debut, I think he was at the hospital, if my memory serves me correct, when Rush was born. I didn't know that.

Yeah, so that's, I mean, even crazier full circle was your daughter at the fight. And now, and, and now he's, he max went to my, up to my wife in the back too, and told her congratulations on being pregnant and everything. It's just, you know, we're warriors, but guys like max and me, uh, you know, we wish the best for people. So max is a really good guy. What were you, what were you asking? I was asking if your daughter was at the fight.

No, she wanted nothing to do with it, man. Really? Yeah. Because of the last one, because she was at the Islam fight. Yeah, that was the only fight she's been to. I mean, she wished me luck and everything like that, but she knew what I was going to do. But like I've been saying, she was born into this. It's not a glitz and glamour to her. This is like hard work and dangerous stuff.

So she doesn't want to see that and be part of that energy. I get it, very stressful. I can't imagine what it's like seeing a parent do what you do. Right, dude, I just picked her up. Me and my wife got home, I just picked her up. She made me a, what was it?

I should go run and grab it. It's a, you want to see the belt she made me? Yes, I would love it. I would love it. Yeah, hold on, I'll grab it right now. She just gave it to me. I would love it. This is incredible.

The legend Parker, his lovely daughter. He's expecting a second one, a second child coming up later this year, I do believe. And I think it's a boy, I could be wrong about that. Okay, here it is. Oh, I was- There we go, there we go. I love it.

She said, she said you didn't get the BMFL and also she hates curse words and stuff like that. So like she didn't like the BMFL, but she gave me this. She made this for me. Wait, put it a little bit lower, a little lower, best dad. Oh my god. That is incredible, man I got I don't have the bmf, but I got the bde bro. Yeah, that's even better. That's better That's one of one That's incredible

About what where the bmf belt was gonna go. I got this bad boy. This is a one-of-one right here best dad ever belt I love that. Oh man. Yeah, I'm proud of this one, man. So life is good, man, life is good. So you just saw her now for the first time. Yeah, about 30 minutes ago, right before I got home, I picked her up.

I was at the emergency clinic thing. I had some stuff set up to get scans done. Okay. So after I left the doctor, as soon as I drove to Lafayette, left the doctor, because I'm taking off with the family tomorrow, so I had to get the scans done today. I went to pick my daughter up and she had this waiting for me. That is incredible. What did she say to you about the, did she watch it at all or did she want nothing to do with it? No, she was just happy I was home and gave me a big hug. You're finally retired. She's been asking me so long, you know, so she's happy I'm home. She's happy I was home and gave me a big hug. You finally retired. She's been asking me so long

You know, so it's over. She's happy. I'm home. She's happy I'm home when you're out and about in the street when you go to the hospital I'm assuming now everyone's coming up to you, right? Yeah, cuz the fight so so recent, you know Yeah for sure. I went into the back through the back side door Okay at the hospital and stuff like that. So I didn't really get to run into too many people but you know, we were we were looking at a clip from a fight film from 2012

and there's the map of Louisiana on there, on your arm from when you were a kid. You can hardly see it now because of the amount of... I filled it with a Magnolia flower. I mean, Magnolia is the state flower of Louisiana, but I filled it. It's still there. It's just Magnolia is a state flower of Louisiana, but I filled it. It's still there. It's just got so much other tattoos.

Okay. We have it. It's because it's amazing to see, can we show it to him? It's amazing to see how much less tattoos you have back then, but just like to, this is you from back in the day, and you see the tattoo there on your, I think it's your left arm, but you were always repping, you were always repping. And so for you to get this in your home state, it's not like you were just a guy who, you know, who just like,

oh, yeah, let me have this opportunity. It was always a part of who you were. And it struck me when I saw that footage there this morning, and I saw the state map right there on your arm. No one deserved this more than you. Yeah, thank you, man. And I really appreciate it. and I saw the state map right there on your arm. No one deserved this more than you. Thank you, man. And I really appreciate it.

Like I said, it might sound cheesy or sound kind of, but I felt seen, I felt appreciated, and it felt good, it really did. I didn't know what to expect, but it was more than what I could have imagined. I mean, I got little Wayne walking out with me. I grew up listening to Cash Money and no limit. I got Masterpiece sending me messages telling me

how proud he is of me repping the state and I'm always gonna be a legend. And this is crazy, man. When I was a kid, you tell me these guys are gonna be giving me flowers like this is insane. Did you even think like that kid, did he even think he'd make it to the UFC? No, but like I always say,

I didn't know what was gonna happen, but I knew 100% I was gonna find out how good I could be. And I found it out, I found it out. I knew I was gonna drive and push and see what happens, see how far I can really get, see what I can do to be the best fighter I can be. And I can honestly say, a kid lived his do to be the best fighter I can be. And I can honestly say, you know, a kid lived his dream and I found out. I found out. That's what you exactly say in that clip that I

love so much where you say, I will get to find out and you know, you essentially say like you feel bad for people who don't get to find out. You're gonna try to become the best and you'll find out either way. That's a very unique thing for such a young kid to say in that moment, to have that kind of drive and determination and actually see it through. Where did that come from? Who instilled that in you? I'm not sure, but I've always kind of been a realist with this. Even that phrase, I'm going to find out. I wasn't saying I'm going to fuck everybody up or I'm going to be undefeated, undisputed. I knew this was a tough road I was about to go on and I'm going to be undefeated, undisputed. I just, I knew this was a tough road. I was

about to go on and I'm going to find out, you know, I'm going to find out what's going to happen. I'm going to find out how far I can go, how far I can push. And I always, you know, I always believe that. And I'm just happy to have that documentary because I would have been 19, 18 years old when they started filming that. And I got the same, same team for the past few months. We're filming fight bill two, and we're closing this thing out. So this is gonna be a full story. You have the beginning of my WEC UFC career, the entry into that. And now you're going to have the close of this. And I'm just thankful that my son, my daughter, my future grandkids,

whatever the world in general is going to have a piece of my life on film that's gonna last forever in my journey. Maybe it wasn't undefeated, undisputed and all that, but this is my story. And it's a true story of a true working man and that life isn't always sunshine and rainbows, but you work hard and get knocked down, pick yourself back up.

It's a real, honestly dude, it's like a blue collar story, you know, maybe I have some some gifts, God given gifts, but what I do have, they got me this far as work ethic and self discipline and the attitude it takes to be this kind of fighter. And I want to share that with the world. I'm just thankful. You know, next year when this film comes out I think it's gonna be powerful. Oh, I was just gonna ask that do you know when it might be coming out? specifically like I would say mid next year. Okay, I would say mid next year You know all the post production all the stuff has to fall into place and figure out all that stuff But the footage is done. I think maybe over in the next couple weeks

figure out all that stuff. But the footage is done. I think maybe over in the next couple weeks, Michael Tucker and his wife Petra are going to fly back down from Germany. And I'm going to sit down when the when the smoke clears, and I'm a little bit more level headed, and I can really look back on this and speak from a good spot, without emotions, and just talk about how I felt in the moments and stuff. So, you know, we got a bunch of stuff on film these past few weeks we got some stuff on film beginning of camp all fight week and I got some stuff uh

filmed before I left for camp here in Louisiana so it's all going to come together you know I'm sure he has another couple hundred hours of film he's got to dissect and put together but it what it's going to be the end product is going to be a true real story, um, on, on filtered, you know, and you're going to see who I really am behind the scenes and I'm, I'm proud of that. Oh my God. It's still till this day, one of the best documentaries that I've ever seen, combat sports or not.

Um, I get annoyed when people say you're one of the best to never win a title cause you did win a title. And a lot of people thought at the time, including myself, that that should have been the actual title. Do you get annoyed when you hear this? Yeah, I mean, it's like when when fans on the internet and stuff try to not never undisputed, yeah, you chase your dreams. You never undisputed. It's like, dude, like the same thing I said when I was a kid, like, what are you going to do with your life? I lived my dreams to the fullest. I made a beautiful life for my family. And I did what I set out to do and create, find out how far I can go. And now, you know, this isn't bragging, but now a lot of people across the whole world knows who I am. And I'm able to share

I am and I'm able to share my platform with others to raise money with the foundation. And it's a beautiful story, man. It's my story. It's true. It's real. It's life. It's fighting. August 5th, you have your next backpack drive, right? Yes.

Yes. And dude, like I said at the press conference, I just thank everybody in my community. My brother Jimmy, Alan Jobet, his wife, Tim Metcalf, Kyle Kellner, his wife, Karen Metcalf, everybody who came sweat in that warehouse when I was in camp. I'm just proud and happy that it's grown to this where the community gets involved so much because I'm not there to navigate everything and to set up all this stuff and community gets involved so much, because I'm not there to navigate everything and to set up all this stuff and pack these backpacks, break down all these pallets filled with stuff

and school supplies. So to do all this stuff, they did it without me. They did it without me. I'll be there to hand out the backpacks and I'll drive the big box truck and help load up all the backpacks from the warehouse to the pickup point. But like this thing happened without me.

And I'm proud of that. And you'll keep it going, right? Yeah, we'll see. So I'm gonna auction off everything I wore Saturday night. That's gonna be a big help forward for the next goals. Cause you know, we have Thanksgiving coming up. That's a big financial one for the foundation and Christmas gifts for the shelters and all.

You know, we have a few things we do every year, and those are like the decent chunks of money from the foundation those things take. But I don't want this thing to stop when fighting's over. Like, if I'm not going to have these fight kits to sell, I'll figure out a way to keep raising funds and figure out a way to get people's message out. And I'm not going to have the ESPN desk

and the press conferences to talk about things. So I'm losing by walking away from the sport, I'm losing a big platform I have to be for that megaphone for other people. But it doesn't stop here. We're gonna still continue to do it. I'll plan on maybe doing a gala here in Lafayette, Louisiana,

and hopefully raise some funds that way. But this thing isn't, this doesn't stop it. I love it. I love, and by the way, the amount of, the commercials, like the latest one with the mousetrap and all that, like it's incredible how the Toyo tires one, the Bud Light one that plays over and over again

when you watch ESPN Plus. I don't know if anyone has more blue chip sponsors slash commercial than you. It's amazing. You're real natural out there. I'll take it, man. Hit me up. I'm, my acting career is getting started.

I love it. I'll let you go in a moment. Let me just ask you this. Anyone who you didn't fight that you always wish you would have fought? I mean, growing up, I thought BJ Penn was the best lightweight ever. BJ Penn in his prime surprised me, Cowboy never fought.

Nate Diaz obviously got away, he was close a few times. Besides that dude, I fought the best of my era. I can sit back and say I fought the best guys in the world at my weight class. You know, so I, I'm content with everything. I just got off the phone with a buddy of mine. And I told him that I was like, dude, in a weird way, I'm not having any regret. I'm not having like a lost mindset. I really feel content.

I really do. Do that stretch. I mean, the stretch is unbelievable since the Jim Miller fight. Miller, Alvarez, Pettis, Gagee, Alvarez, Holloway, Khabib, Hooker, Connor, Connor, Charles, Chandler, Gagee, BSD, Islam, Max. I mean, that is

halt. Look at that. Look at that stretch. That's an absurd stretch. Yeah, the best guys in the world walking the earth are the best guys walking the earth in my weight class, I went toe to toe with them. So now when you when you when the dust settles, you want to still do media stuff, you always kind of talked about what will you do when you're done? Do you feel like you are set up to be in a good place with your businesses, with the charity, with everything you have going on to where you aren't going to be worried about, you know, when the music stops, so to speak,

when that new chapter starts. Yeah, it's just, like the business stuff and the foundation, I have a lot of things that are gonna keep me really busy. Also my daughter, my son on the way, I have a lot of things that keep me busy. I don't know if anything's ever gonna fill that void of competition, of training to be the best for one night, that circle day on my calendar.

Nothing's ever gonna fill that, but I have a lot of things to keep me busy. And you could say definitively you'll never compete again. I just, I don't see what would, what would, 99% I could say I would never compete again. I don't know. I mean, I, maybe I'll grapple. Maybe I'll do something. I'm still going to be in the gym. I'm still going to be boxing. I'm doing Jiu-Jitsu every week. I'm still having fun. That's a lifestyle. That's not like a job thing or a training camp thing. That's a lifestyle that I adopted when

I started mixed martial arts when I was young. I'm never going to stop that. Um, but to say I'm going to do a combat sport where I'm getting hit in the head or anything like that. But to say I'm gonna do a combat sport where I'm getting hit in the head or anything like that, I don't think so, man. Will you go to ATT to help out any of the guys? 100%, 100%. Okay, okay. Did you speak to Johnny Eblen?

I haven't got to speak to him. I know Mike Brown talked to him maybe right before he came back from South Africa or right after the fight, Mike spoke to him. But I'll talk to him here this next week, let the smoke clear on both of our ends and I'll reach out to him. But Gam, Gam out flew in from Poland,

he was with me all week. And this guy's a savage and trying to get a fight. And as soon as he gets a fight booked, I'll be there to help him. That was amazing to see all your teammates there, your past foes, zombie there, everyone there. Last one for you, Dustin, you say in that clip, you're gonna find out, right?

You're gonna find out. You know, you're gonna see how good you can be, you're gonna find out. Are you content, are you happy with what you found out? Yes, yes, I can look myself in the mirror. I'm happy with the life I built for my family. I'm happy with the performances I had. I'm happy with the things I've learned.

This has been such an experience, man. The things I've learned on this fight journey, I'm really happy with, about myself, about business, about life, about the way things work. I've learned lessons on this path that I could have never learned anywhere else, and that's forever You know, like I said in the press conference Inky Johnson a great a great speaker in mindset who I really admire says

What's more important? Of course, I wanted to have the belt. I wanted all that title undisputed and all that But what's more important what you obtain on? The journey or who or who you become on the journey? You know what you obtain is rented. It comes and goes. It's gonna belong to someone else. Who you become on the journey is forever, man. And I think I made people feel a certain way.

I think I made people have a reason to smile. I think I lifted others up on my journey with me. And I'm proud of all that, man. Nobody can ever take that away from me. Nobody can ever take that away from me. Nobody can ever take that away from me. Perfect way to end it. Thank you so much, Dustin. And again, I don't say goodbye.

You'll be around. We'll be bothering you. We'll see you on TV doing all kinds of things. But thank you so much for this, for everything, for all the years, all the interviews, all the chats, all the fights, all the moments and the memories. I sincerely can't thank you enough. I'm so happy you feel that way.

I'm so happy for you and your family, and I hope that you can enjoy some time off now and just be with everyone because you have earned it, my man. And it was so great to see you have that moment. I don't remember the last time a fight made me that emotional, a scene made me that emotional. No one deserves it more than you. So again, congratulations.

Thank you, man. Thank you for everything all the years and anytime you want I know you're gonna be texting me a lot less now because I'm not a cool guy Fuck no. With a main event coming up. Fuck no. But anytime you want me on the show I'm on here, man. I appreciate you're gonna regret that by the way. I appreciate that. Thank you, Dustin. All the best to you.

Really appreciate it. Take care. Thank you. The freaking man, Dustin Poirier. What can you say about him? He is truly one of a kind and Yeah, he said it he made us feel a certain way he really did he really did make us feel a certain way and and I think it's because of just how real and authentic he was and And yes the the documentary the fight Phil it brought us on a journey and we got to learn more about him at a very early age. And I'm so freaking happy. I'm so happy that they're doing a part two. Shout out to Michael Tucker and the whole team there.

I can't wait for that next year. That is going to be phenomenal viewing. And one more time, if you have not seen it, do yourself a favor. Now more than ever, do yourself a favor. than ever. Do yourself a favor. It's must watch viewing. It's must watch viewing and even if you're not an MMA fan, it's tremendous. And if you're not a combat sports fan, it's tremendous. And if you're not a sports fan, if you just like good storytelling. Frank, you've seen it, right? I actually have not seen it. Oh. Love that guy. What a guy. Do we have anything else to do or are we good to go? Oh, we have some super chats.

Okay. Sammy says new member of the show one week today. Oh wow. Welcome. Where the hell have you been? Um, we've been here for a minute. I for one, welcome you Sammy. Hanashi MMA, Ariel, I know you've seen your boy

up and doing the face-off with Max and DP. The DC era is coming. Long live DC and Hauwani. See you at the White House next year. Oh my gosh. You know yourself. Who has a better chance of being at the White House, me or John Jones?

Yeah, it was cool. John Jones for sure. It was, thanks, thanks, Rick. Appreciate that. It was very cool. Stuff. It was very cool. It was, thanks, thanks, Rick. Appreciate that. It was very cool. It was tough. It was very cool. It was apropos.

It was a nice touch. They kind of nailed it. I know the boys were lamenting the fact that Weezy didn't sing, but- Are you not aligned with us on that bullshit? I was, no, because go look at his WrestleMania walkout. It was awful. I don't care how bad it would have been. It was nice touch.

He was part of the entourage. Where was this pre-fight't care how bad it would have been. It was nice to touch his body on the entourage. Where was this pre-fight? Where was this, uh, oh, Lil Wayne, have you guys seen WrestleMania? It was awful. We don't need this. Well, it was only really confirmed, I think, after. Yeah, it got confirmed pretty late. No, it got confirmed last week. I think it was on the Thursday. Oh, no.

He said it on the show that he wanted it, but it only actually got confirmed on the Wednesday or the Thursday. It got confirmed. And by the way, I'm a positive guy. I ain't gonna poo poo. No graphics coming out. I ain't gonna poo poo. This is this is this is ludicrous. Dustin's the best though. He always drops a few lines. There's just a couple of bars in there right? There's a couple of gems. I even love the you regret jumping Gilly? No. I knew I was gonna do it. Yeah oh my my god. I thought the heavens were opening up. Yes. Honestly, it would have been the greatest finish ever. The

greatest finish ever. Nothing would have ever topped it. You can't even try to top it. The funniest part about the Gilly thing is like, was it ever even like that close? In his whole career? No, no, no, like in his whole career, what was like the closest he got? But that's the story of it. The ghillie was not his in cage move, it was he snatches it up in practice, and it's his thing, and then the fight comes,

and it's like a little harder to get it. So good. The beauty of it all, really, the beauty of it all is that he was so obsessed with it and it became like a thing and most people who are so closely tied to a finishing maneuver it's because they hit it all the time but he never actually hit it. What I love most about it and only a select few would understand this, it's a French word, guillotine. You know, guillotine is a French word. It's not guillotine, it's a French word.

Yeah, only a select few would understand that. He's from Louisiana, French. Oh wow, actually, it's like Charlie's back here with the board. It actually felt apropos. Apropos. Yes, another French word, yes. It's actually so perfect that like,

he also gets on Twitter every time someone like on a big card gets a guillotine. It's like a beautiful guillotine. As if he's like the guillotine master having never finished one in a professional fight. Imagine having a scene like that. It's a, what a life. It would be great if they had the Grammy guy performing music.

Nah, listen. It was also great just, yeah, if man, but I didn't. I jumped guillotine. If my grandma had balls she'd be my grandpa just like so good what else Frankie what else plus 20 MMA Loretta's is much better than demand made hot. Du monde that's a French word of

the world. What is this? Did I ever tell you guys about the time? You're doing like a character here? Mr. France? So there's a place called Cafe du Monde. Yep. Tell us about it. It's in New Orleans. I've actually been there with this guy Mike Breen. Back in 2019, it's week one of the NBA season.

It's the Pelicans hosting the Mavericks. And Mike's just like, hey, let's go get some beignets. And I'm like, are you kidding me? Like that was my wheezy moment. Wheezy walking out Dustin, it's me having beignets and I'm like are you kidding me? Like that was my wheezy moment. Wheezy walking out Dustin, it's me having beignets with Mike Breen. Wouldn't it have been great if he had zero conversation with you and just walked alongside you while you got there? That would have been tremendous. Does anyone know what Loretta's is? Yeah.

I don't know Loretta's. I know Cafe Du Monde. There's only one and it's Cafe Du Monde. What else Frankie? What else can't be here all night? Jason Hagel says Frank if you want a copy of fightville, I have an extra copy on blu-ray We're shaking just to buy prime video or something on blu-ray. Thanks, Jason That is very kind of him, but I'm sure you could find you actually should watch it Frank I went and watched it last year. It's phenomenal for the Islam fighters. It's unbelievable. Yeah, I'll get around to it And then lastly never watching JD realty I went and watched it last year. For the Islam Fight, it's unbelievable. Yeah, I'll get around to it. And then lastly, JD Realty YT.

So AJ Francis bought a house in Orlando without me? One of the most powerful realtors in the Greater Orlando area, JD Realty. Let's get him and I, Quinta, to go toe to toe, like in terms of like, okay, these were my sales in 20, 25. I was gonna crush them. I was gonna smoke them? I don't know, man.

Based on the Jack mansion, Al's got it. Al's got it in the bag, bro. The what mansion? Jack mansion. Oh, the Jack mansion, yes, that's right. It's known as Amityville to most people. Yes, yes, yes. Southern Long Island.

Was there anything else that we needed to get to? How you feeling, man? You know, as I, there was one time, there was one show back in the day where I definitely, this is pre-COVID, so everyone just chill out. Chris Cyborg, I remember, was in studio and I was pretty damn sick. That one was probably the hardest one to get through and then there was one in the ESPN era where I was pretty damn sick. That one was probably the hardest one to get through. And then there was one in the ESPN era where I was so sick,

I couldn't drive to Bristol, which was like a two and a half hour drive. And I said to them, I need someone to drive me because I'm so, I'm feeling so sick. That was a tough one. And then I had to drive two and a half hours back. This wasn't as bad. As I predicted, once the red light went on,

I kind of forgot about it. And maybe it was for the best, you know? But I will tell you, when I was throwing up last night, I wasn't really thinking about the throw up, which I hate, I hate throwing up. I was like, am I gonna have to cancel on Dustin? Cause that would suck. But just like a young DP in his prime.

You're a trooper. We fought through it. Look, we all got our stories. I have Smith and Walensky, and now you got Big Dunk. Now I got, yeah, man. I did like earlier how you were like, yeah, I've narrowed it down to two things. It was either the barbecue, which was great food,

no one got sick from it, or it was the Dunkin' that was just kind of sketchy, and the second I tasted it, it was just really, really off, and then my stomach hurt from there on out. Well, it was barbecue at a kid's camp, although everyone else ate it and no one got sick. Maybe it was the concoction of both. I think it was sketchy. And then the stomach was hurting me so much.

No, it wasn't that because we love the fine folks at Dunkin' Donuts. Oh yeah, sure, we do love, no, it was just bad. It might've been bad milk, but- Just the one coffee. Mr. Beast. Dunkin' is great, yeah. Yeah, Mr. Beast,. No, it's just bad. It might have been bad milk. But just the one coffee. Mr. B's Duncan's great. Yeah. Yeah, Mr. B's. Are they a sponsor of ours or what? I don't know. I don't know what this is.

No, it'd be nice if they would though. So let's not, you know, eliminate the whole category altogether. Please for the best cold forever. Mr. B sent us a box. Clear right out. To do s'mores. He sent us like a creator's box. Did I send this to you guys? Yeah. And there's chocolate and there's the marshmallows and my daughter's been sitting on this thing for weeks waiting for her brothers to arrive.

And so I'm feeling fuzzy, I'm feeling a little bit like weird and we do the s'mores in the backyard because she was so excited about it and that probably didn't help as well. Oh so you were like already feeling pretty bad and then you threw, you piled on top. I thought I would be able to weather the storm. Mm, I, uh. Did you have any fruit?

No fruit, Frank. It's tough. And quite frankly, I don't appreciate the insinuation. It's tough. All right, gents, we gotta go. Insinuation that you ate fruit after 6 p.m.? We do have Robert Whitaker on the program tomorrow, gents. Oh!

Live from Abu Dhabi. Wow! Ahead of his big fight against René Derridault. French? Yes. As I said, Atiba Gautier is going to be joining us as well. And Shushu Carrington, the pride of Brownsville, Brooklyn, who's competing on the final top rank on ESPN card, which is this weekend, July 26th at the theater next door

to the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. He'll join us in studio and maybe one more that I'm working on. Wednesday is going to be a fun day but I'll tell you about that tomorrow. And of course we play two on Tuesdays but today has been one for the scrapbook my friends one for the scrapbooks W's in the chat W's in the chat I'm gonna put a W right here just to show everyone that we're live W's in the chat W's in the chat W's in the chat Let's see how's our eBay auction going? Oh? Yeah, two thousand Yeah, not Jordan's always a step behind yeah wrong 2,000. Yeah. Jordan's always a step behind.

Yeah, wrong amount bro. Free USPS ground shipping. So 61 people are watching it. What does that mean? So you can like, it's like you're essentially setting a tab on it. You'll have like your watch list one by one a bit on it. Do you think someone's just watching?

Yeah, okay. And then they're gonna come in with a big freaking 10k. Right. It's not like actively watching it. Got it, got it, got it, got it. Uh, thank you very much to everyone who joined us today. The great Dustin Poirier, Paulo Costa, Daniel Rodriguez, AJ Francis, Eric Rischoff, Costello van Stinas.

Thanks to them, thanks to you, back tomorrow. Peace out right here. Peace out.