The Ariel Helwani Show - Exclusive Paul Hughes sit-down, UFC Kansas City, Cage Warriors Dublin & more | The Craic

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

Petesy opens the show by teeing up the biggest stories of the week, then dives into an exclusive sitdown interview with rising Irish star Paul Hughes (06:17).Hughes kicks things off by sharing how it feels to headline his homecoming fight at the SSE Arena in Belfast. He and Petesy take a trip down memory lane, reminiscing about Paul’s roots in the local amateur scene.The Irishman gets real about his hopes for a rematch with Usman Nurmagomedov, and lays out how he thinks that fight would play out (16:36).Next, Hughes gives his take on the rising talents of Europe. He breaks down the upcoming bout between fellow Irishman Ian Garry and Carlos Prates (32:02), reacts to Paddy Pimblett’s shocking win over Michael Chandler (36:16), and talks sparring sessions with Ilia Topuria (37:36).To wrap things up, Hughes gets candid about the fallout from Conor McGregor’s comments on his moment of respect with Khabib Nurmagomedov (43:03). He highlights how much his Northern Irish roots mean to him and how he stays focused on the positives, despite the noise.On the back end of the show, Petesy is joined by Andy Stevenson of Severe MMA (50:18). The two break down the importance of Paul Hughes’s rise, Ian Garry’s short-notice fight against Carlos Prates, and much more.Join us on the bike: avironactive.com/uncrowned

Welcome crackheads. It is a big, big weekend for combat sports and it is a big day for this little old podcast, the crackhead. Do the crackheads. I mean, you said the crack. I mean, we have an exclusive interview with one of the most talked about fighters on this beautiful Island of Ireland, Mr. Paul Hughes, who will be fighting in front of a sold out SSE arena. But looks of things on May 10th, when he faces Bruno Miranda. Obviously Paul has just shot to fame since that January fight with Usman

Nomagor-Madoff. Many people, including myself, think it is the greatest fight in PFL history. He obviously had a bit of a back and forth with Conor McGregor after that situation because of a respectful exchange he had with Habib Nomagor-Madoff, which has only bigged him up more in the country. We're going to be talking about all of that in just a matter of minutes. But as you know, it is quite a busy week. We have Ian Gary v. Carlos Pratches.

Oh, here they are weighing in the wonderful on air Jordan. Here he is looking good. Ian Gary here is Pratches, the cigarette smoking psycho himself. I love my joking. It's just alliteration. You know what I'm saying? the cigarette smoking psycho himself. I love my joke and it just alliteration. You know what I'm saying?

And we also have Anthony Smith weighing in for what we believe will be his final fight. What a man. I met him with Ariel Hauwani and Chuck Mendenhall one night in catch in Las Vegas. A wonderful guy. Fantastic. I still remember his big fight against Shogun in Germany, where he came in and upset the apple carton short notice. Fantastic guy. What a career. And I'm looking forward to seeing that. And of course, it's not just the UFC this weekend. It is a massive, massive boxing bout in the UK. It is Chris Eubank

v Connor Ben. And it has gone even madder than we thought it would today at the weigh-in where Chris Eubank has been fined 500k for weighing in 0.05 overweight. That's one 20th of a pound and he will be fined 500k for that. There has been a bit of controversy about the glove situation on a, on a video, matchroom put out earlier, we have Frank Smith of matchroom and Mr. Majeed, um, you banks advisor getting into it over the gloves. Um, I believe on air Jordan might have a clip of this as well. Um, he does not have that, sorry, but I go over to matchroom and check that out. It is quite a crazy exchange. Everyone's buzzing for this.

We are getting to the Paul Hughes interview. Don't worry. I will be joined by Andy Stevenson after the interview to talk about Cage Warriors 188 in Dublin. A massive card full of Irish talent. A big one over here. As we've been saying on the Ariel Awani show, there's a big feeling in Irish MMA at the moment that, you know, we could get this thing going again. We've been searching for a golden era ever since McGregor's run back in 2015. And honestly, with Gary fighting Pratchett, with Paul using this big moment in Belfast and this card, this Cage Warriors card is full of Irish talent. We think this might be it. We might be on the full of Irish talent. We think this might be it.

We might be on the verge of something special. We've had false dawns before, so let's wait and see what happens. But it's a very exciting time over here. Listen, it's not just the boxing. It's not just the UFC. We also have Pudzianowski v. Eddie Hall taking place this weekend. A crazy fight, an absolute freak show.

But that is what they embrace at KSW. I was just speaking to Chisanga Malata, a man we know and love. He's over there for Sunsport covering it. He said it's in quite a rural area, but it's going to do lots and lots of traffic. That's why the big journals are heading over there. Before we get into the Paul Hughes interview, and I have lots of people to thank afterwards because including on air Jordan, who has been editing this so diligently since his arrival

home from another vacation, I mean, who's surprised this and he just told me when I got on to do the show, he's like, Oh, by the way, next week vacation, it's unbelievable. He's lucky. He's incredibly talented and incredibly handsome. That's where we keep him around here. But he did amazing work on this. Before we get to Paul Hughes, I need to hit you with a little message from my good friends over at Averon.

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It's the world's first gamified treadmill. You can get back into fitness for the new year with introductory pricing. Plus, head over to AveronActive.com forward slash Uncrowned and get an extra fifty dollars off that go to a V I R O N active dot com slash on crowned to end boring workouts. Who I mean, I nailed it as usual. Avron, we love you now without further ado, let's get over to the big feature on the crack today. It is Paul Hughes, a man we believe could be the new face of Irish MMA. A man who this year competed in the best fight in PFL history, reduced

man to Maga Madoff, an incredibly close fight. We are all waiting with bated breath for the rematch. We talk about that in this interview. Um, he obviously had a big exchange with Conor McGregor afterwards, where McGregor questioned his Irish identity. We talk about that in this interview. It's all there. So without further ado, here is the crack special with Paul Hughes. We'll be back afterwards with Andy to talk about all the other things. But for now, enjoy. Last year, he was one of the hottest free agents in MMA.

In January, he had one of the greatest fights probably the greatest fight in PFL history against Usman or Maga Madoff on May 10th he's coming back home to Belfast in the SSE arena when he takes on Bruno Miranda I am joined by the great Paul Big News Hughes Paul what's the crack man? All good brother thanks for having me. Very fancy isn't it? Very very nice. I don't think they knew was, you know, and they were planning this we're like we're gonna send a production team I was like, whoa your choice lad. Oh, you're the man comes European MMA journalism. You're the guy like this is it I needed I needed to hear that, you know, I need to affirm where I'm coming from here but man, this is crazy because I don't think it was I

Think it was just a year ago, right, when PFL were in Belfast. It was a champion series. Karl Moore was fighting Corey Anderson. It was a decent card. Patricio Pippels on the card, everything like that. And I saw Jamie and Mick Conlon, and they were the Monterex lads,

and I said, I better go over and say hello. They were in the VIP area. It was a bit of a hassle for me. You wouldn't understand this, but people like me, we don't just walk into these areas. But I got over to Mick and Jamie, and I had been saying for a long time, if you could add a lad like Paul Hughes in here,

it would make a big deal. I didn't even have to open my mouth, and Irish boxing great Mick Collins says, could you imagine what it would be like if Paul Hughes was on this card? Of course it's gonna happen now. And all we've been seeing is additional seats added,

additional seats added. Is this everything you thought it would be, this homecoming for you? Well, so far so good, yeah. Just over three weeks until I get to experience it, you know, in the flesh. So it's went really well so far. It kinda, I don't know if it feels real yet to be honest like I actually don't know. Maybe it'll hit me before the fight or maybe

it won't hit me until the night of but like it's crazy to me that I've made this happen like in such a short period of time like it literally was my dream to do this. Number one in my MMA bucket list always was to sell out the SSE and to fight there and I didn't know if that would ever happen to be honest because it's not that often that worldwide MMA comes to Belfast but to have basically dragged PFL back here single-handedly and to now have the opportunity to take that off the bucket list is like literally dreams coming true. Yeah it's going to be huge because even wherever you fight,

obviously we remember the chariot fight in London where, like, you know, it was just, it felt like hundreds of people had gone to London that time. This one's just right on the doorstep. You know, I was told by PFL, I was interviewing you that day. I interviewed you when you were outside the SSE doing a photo shoot. And before we talked, someone from PFL, I was interviewing you that day, I interviewed you when you were outside the SSC doing a photo shoot, and before we talked, someone from PFL was like,

I think it's only been saying 10 minutes, we've sold out beyond what it was last time. I know tickets are barely still available at this point, but has that shocked you? The fact that, they had it in mind, I think, for about $5,000 to start, and they're like, we need more space like we need more Space we need more space this keeps happening, but is that a shock to you?

Do you know what if you had asked me Maybe a month or a couple of months before it was announced like even Definitely before the Usman fight if you had asked me Could you sell out Belfast? I would say like, no way. Like I'm not like, yeah, my name's getting out there a bit, but I'm not that popular. Like I haven't broke through to that level where I could sell out an arena.

But since the Usman fight, I guess I could believe it a little bit more because of how that blew up. But when the tickets went on sale that day I mean over half I think it was nearly 4,000 tickets went within like six hours so like then I was like holy shit I did not expect that for it to be straight up with you and as you mentioned like there's just been more and more tickets going on sale it's at its capacity now they're on their last few hopefully Hopefully it sells out, I don't know, that's obviously a big nice week tech to have that have sold it out, but yeah, it's interesting.

It's crazy that I was at your debut in the SSE and that was a great fight, that was Norman Park, Paul Redmond, one of the great all Irish fights, honestly. I wasn't really following the amateur scene. That kind of golden era was in full swing and I was very much focused on the pro scene. And someone had just said to me the week of that fight, like, this kid's gonna blow your mind. I was like, I remember looking at the card

and I think you were fighting Gustav, right? Gustav was the guy you fought. And I was like, nah, this is a hard fight for a kid of his age to come in and look good. And then you went on, you had one of the most sensational, well, I think the best debut in Irish MMA history in terms of electricity, in terms of performance. What do you remember about that? This is 2017 2017 right? February? Yeah, yeah crazy. Just over eight years ago. It was wild to do that in 19. It's bonkers like and the fact and also an interesting thing about that I only took that fight like maybe a week and a half two weeks before like I

was still fighting amateur. I guess I wanted to fight pro at some point but I remember at that time it was February I remember thinking oh I want to do the IMAF's like the World Championships in amateur in the summertime so that was kind of my plan was to stay amateur but then the opportunity came up and my coach of the time David Patterson said look there's a fight here you're away in Bama in a couple of weeks against this guy he is good but I think you can beat him and that was enough for me I was like okay I didn't think I was going to fight pro this early but let's do it still 19 like and to go out and have the performance to have the performance against someone who actually was a really tough test for a pro debut like a really tough individual, big time.

And to go out and just do what I done within 90 seconds, like a real viral KO. How good I looked, I just looked so good doing it. Are you talking about physical appearance here? Yeah, of course. Do you want to remember, you scream and land in the combo. I was like, I was sitting in front row going, what? I said I wouldn't curse, but I was thinking, what the fuck is this guy? Because you're like, ah! And I was like, he's 19?

Like, what is this? It was so- It was bonkers. Furious. And then I was like, I bet you that guy's crazy. And then I talked to you, I was like, no, he's really normal. This is insane.

Just a competitor. Just a competitor. Look, like I've always had that killer instinct when I smell blood. And to do it in that fashion, then the fight kind of blew up. I remember putting it on my, I created like an athlete page on Facebook at the time and

remember putting it on there and it blew up. It done like 4 million views. Back then it was actually a lot of views and I think my page like immediately went to like 15k followers or something. As a 19 year old kid and I was like holy shit like I'm a professional fighter. This is mad. And then obviously, as you know, everything that happened after that, it's kind of crazy how it went from one end of the spectrum to the other. Of course, man.

I've asked you way too much about the hand race. We don't need to go. I saw you had to do that recently in an interview, and I was like, I'm promising myself. I was like, I've asked him too many times. Well, look, it's part of the story, isn't it? It absolutely is. But we were talented.

When we did that feature with your family and we spoke to them, I always remember you saying to me, there was a point where all your friends were going to college in Belfast. You were from Lavi. And it's like a rite of passage, right? You're like, everyone kind of goes to Belfast for their college years

and goes to have a great time. And you were well capable of this. You could have went to college, you could have done all that stuff, but you got the bug at that stage. You're just leaving school, you've already had the exit from GAA, which upset your family and community for quite some time. And now you're like, you know what, I'm not going to go to college with these people. That obviously was in Belfast.

You told me the story about pulling up outside the house where they're all gonna live, and they're like, we have an extra room, and you're like, I know if I go in there, I'm not gonna be able to pursue the dream I wanna do, and lead athlete. But now I feel like, what about a reward like this? You know, this is you going to Belfast.

You are going to the SSE, headlining it, that surely must give you, I made the right choice. It was a long road. We've mentioned the handbrakes, everything like that. It was a long road to get here, but you did get there. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, even just you kinda saying that to me there, I kinda just took a breath and went,

holy shit, you're doing this. Maybe it is starting to sink in a little bit. Like, I just can't, I can believe that I've dragged them back to Belfast and I get to literally live my dream out. But it's funny, I was just having flashbacks as you were saying that to just that whole experience of doing that. And I think it's probably, it might be the best decision

I've ever made in my life. The hardest probably as well. You could only imagine all your closest friends, they're all moving to Belfast, I drive them up the road. It's like, oh we've got a seven person house, there's only six of them and they're like, oh we need to find somebody else. And I'm like, oh my God, it was so hard at the time,

you could imagine. And I was like, this is what I have to do, this is what I want to do with myself what I want to do myself I want to be a professional fighter I want to be one of the best fighters in the world and if I go up and do that and get into a different routine and into a different lifestyle it's not gonna happen for me and now reflecting on that with the SSE you know coming up in three weeks it's actually kind of mad like it is crazy to think about. It's Bruno Miranda this time around. When I spoke to you outside the UFC that day,

I was like, this is a sneaky, tough fight. Because, of course, you put anything on the internet these days, there's gonna be a thousand people screaming abuse about whatever it is. You could be petting a puppy and they'd be like, I don't like the way you did that, whatever it is. It's a very tough fight, right? Miranda is a guy who is a bit of a berserker.

He's a mauler. He reminds me like he's got an axe murderer style like Vandalei Silver. He's going to come in and try and take your head off. Everybody saw that you were waiting in the wings for this Usman and the Maga Madoff fight. As soon as I saw the date, I was like, he won't be able to get in a full camp. You know, Usman and Amaga Maida fight. As soon as I saw the date I was like he won't be able to get in a full camp. You know Usman can't, like before the fight was announced with Miranda I was like he's not going to get a full camp in. Ramadan also happened during these times. What was communicated to you when this fight came along? Like did you know as well when you saw that May date it's in

Belfast I'm going to be fighting but Usman man? Well, I don't think it wasn't initially supposed to be in Belfast I think they had another date and another city booked. I think they changed it for me. In fact, I'm almost certain you know They did don't you? What was your city? I can't recall. All right, you're gonna break some people's hearts here I can't recall but I think that they granted my wish as a reward to how I've been delivering for the company. And at the end of the day, it's good business putting me in Belfast, have a huge event in the SSE.

That day in Belfast is not going to be the fight. Big News Korea, we always have big pre-parties, big post-parties. This is going to be on another level. It's going to be like a festival that day and I'm not joking. Belfast, as you know know fighting city like we love the scraps in Belfast when there's a big show in the SSE it's a big day and people love going down now we've got a whole event throughout the entire day we've got bands on we've got fan zones like it's a proper event for the city so

I think it's a smart business we're from PFL and it's good for all parties at the end of the day and whenever I deliver it just sets up an even bigger rematch obviously for Usman. Yeah it's obviously the one right, Usman and tell me how you're feeling about that now because obviously in the direct aftermath of the fight it's the only fight everybody wanted to watch in the world. We're after witnessing the greatest fight in PFL history. It is if the AJ Mckee fight wasn't a big enough coming out party for you. This is like, holy, like most most people thought you won the fight, right?

Like a lot of people. It was polarizing. There was two sides, but there was a huge volume of people that thought you won it. This is the only way they can do next. I wrote an article, I think two weeks later, PFL, if you don't book this fight next for Paul Hughes, this is a disgrace. We haven't got that fight, but how confident are you

that Uusman will eventually take this rematch? Because he was very negative with the outlook after being so kind of respectable to you. Yeah, well, he has no choice in the matter. He can try to lay it as long as he wants, but at the end of the day, like his time is coming and I will get that rematch. it's the fight that everybody in the world wants to see it's it's the best fight that PFL can make it will happen he will

have no choice in the matter now he may say I have to fight X amount of people but at the end of the day whenever I smash Brutal in Belfast I don't think he'll have a choice but to fight me next. It is a realistic banana skin though you know like sports this is what sports are to fight me next. It is a realistic banana skin though. You know like sports, this is what sports are. Yeah, especially Bruno. Like this is the thing, as you put it really well, a sneaky hard fight.

Like Bruno's last few, three or four fights have all been against either former world champions or world champions at the time in the PFL. And he's just coming off a win against a former world champion in Patrick E. Pitbull. He's a dangerous guy. Like he is really, really high level and someone that can spoil the party so I have to be absolutely on my game like I've had to treat this like another

world title fight I have to there's too much to there's too much on the line and this guy's too dangerous so as much as yeah all the Usman chat is great because that is going to be my future because I wholeheartedly know that I will beat Bruno. I have to be all in to beat him if I'm going to do that because he is dangerous. I think you've made a great move by going with PFL. I think there was initial hesitation. We know that UFC is the biggest brand in this sport and I think a lot of people who would follow your career in cage warriors just expected you to go that way, that was the natural thing to do. PFL came in with a giant offer and I think you've proven since then from the debut just

yards away from where we are here in the three arena to AJ McKee where you basically put everyone on notice like I'm coming and they do a small amount of fight, incredibly close, I scored it for you, very close fight though, I'm not going to claim robbery. I have talked to some fighters who aren't the champions in the division and there has been some champions quite vocal, Bellator this is, which Usman was as well before. I think your fight with him was supposed to be the last Bellator championship fight. And you know, there's concern. Say a middleweight was saying to me, Johnny Eblen, he doesn't seem to want to fight here.

It was Patchy Mick's situation. I'm worried that Usman is going to start with this kind of stuff now. And I'll be like, well, as much as I'd love to see you fighting anyone for a title, I'm like, that is the fight. This is a fight sport. Fights are what we want to see. Is there any kind of hesitation for you or any worry, should I say concern, that things could start going that way with Ousmane and suddenly this fight is obscured?

Good question. As far as I'm aware, he's contracted to PFL for some more time. My understanding, I think I read about it before that we fought, he had another two years left in his deal or thereabouts, so he can't duck me for two years. He can't duck me for two years. I believe the fight's going to happen. He would be very wise to make the fight happen because there's so much questions surrounding it, he would have to make it clear cut the next time if he's going to make the fight happen because there's so much questions surrounding it he would have to make it clear-cut the next time if he's gonna make sure that like he's the guy so no I don't really worry about that at the end of the day it is out of my control something like that does begin to happen but if he goes running then yeah what do you do he's going he went wrong

what do you do? He'd be robbing the fan base though. It would be, absolutely. Look, I don't think that'll happen. We will fight. I will 100% fight Usman again and beat him. And not for nothing, I thought that was a massive moment for him too. You know, I think more people were talking about

Usman and Michael Madoff because of his fight with Paul Hughes than ever before. So I think it's from a brand point of view, I don't know if the Dagestani Laza too worried about the whole brand thing, but you know, it was very big for them. You're not in the tournament and initially when you signed, you wanted to have three fights and fight in the tournament. You've had your three fights, tournament started. I've got to say, I like this, I like the tournament, I like the way it's quicker into it, there's no kind of the equivalent of a group stage you'd see in football anymore, you're straight

into the knockout. But on that soundstage, I don't think that suits you. Because when we see you fight, it's usually this massive moment. And I think you'd agree with me that having watched them as great as the fights were, you want those moments in front of fans, you want those moments to show the world this is how much I mean to these people, this is how much these people mean to me. Yeah, absolutely. Look, when you have somebody that can create these atmospheres and these events such as myself, then you've got to do that from a brand perspective, from PFL

and a business perspective. It's good to do that. You know, put me in a tournament. Now, let me, like, my initial thought sign of the PFL was, let's do the tournament and win a million dollars. But then I just skyrocketed after beating AJ McKee to title position for the Bellator belt. So then, like, you got to weigh up what's the best scenario for me, what's best for my career,

and it's by far selling out arenas and making really good money doing that. Obviously the million would be nice, like everybody wants to win a million dollars, but I think for me and the value that I bring to the company and then also for building myself, I think it's just better for me to put on, to sell out events, to sell out arenas and put on big fights that fans want to see. I think that's better for building the brand and I think I proved that in my last fight. Absolutely. When was that decision made? Obviously you're in the title situation where you're fighting for the title and there's kind of a distinction being made here.

If you're the champion, you're going to be in these champion series events. Obviously you come up short in an incredibly close fight with Usman and Maga Madoff, never been defeated before from one of the most famous wrestling families of all time in the sport and you look very equal to all of his wrestling advances that night. Is that decision made before then, like Paul, you're not going to be in this tournament or is it after the fact when they're like we have a real rivalry here, I don't want to put this guy in a tournament and then sacrifice the rematch that everybody wants to see. Can you remember when that decision was made? Well look, I mean, it's obviously a no-brainer after the Usman fight happens that we're going to rematch.

And that has to happen. Like, nobody wants to see me go into a tournament and not fight Usman. People just want to see me rematch him and it's just that simple. You've got to give the fans what they want, number one. You've got to give them what they want as a brand, from an organization. You have to keep the fans happy and this is what people want to see. Yeah, no, absolutely. There was a lot of criticism for many years when Bellator were coming to the three arena.

It got awkward for me as a guy covering the sport because every other gym in the country would ring me and be like, what are you saying? This is a big night for us? There's no other gyms on this card, it's just John Cavanaugh's guys and blah blah blah so I'd have to talk about it like that, you know I'd have to reflect what I'm hearing from people and now with this event I'm seeing a lot of FAO guys pop up on the card and it's refreshing to see and not to say that the Bellator cards previously didn't have guys on them but it got to a stage where there was a lot of SPG guys and less and less of the other gyms. You've got a couple of guys on this card and I know it's hard so PFL probably had to work

very hard to get them because a lot of these guys are getting snapped up very young here in terms of contracts. How good is that for you to be kind of kicking open the door for them? Yeah that means a lot to be able to share this experience now with the lads from my gym like it just makes it so much more special obviously for me but for my coaches as well who like they're putting the same time and effort into all the other athletes in the gym like yes I'm at further on in my career but these lads are doing the same work they're getting the same coaches attention so for us all now to be doing it together like just makes the event so much more special like it would be a shame if it was just me the

only one fighting out of Belfast that would be a real shame you know so it's great that I've been able to break down that that door and to get my guys on a worldwide organization you know what a what a honor that is so long may it continue. The gym must be buzzing with the cage warriors coming up. You're coming up. These lads are making their PFL debuts. I know that's what you when I visited the gym previously,

you and Liam had always said to me, this is when it's at its best, when everyone's just on the same boards, you're all dieting, you're all trying to get the same rounds in. It must be crazy down there. The atmosphere in the gym is absolutely incredible at the minute. It has been for some time, especially just when that period as you mentioned Cage Warriors coming up in two weeks, PFL will be two weeks after that. All the pro guys are fighting. We by far get the best amateur team in the country, maybe even UK,

Europe. It's a great time for Belfast, great time for Belfast MMA, great time for MMA and the whole island. It's popping off as I mentioned a couple of times. for Belfast, great time for Belfast MMA, great time for MMA and the whole island. It's popping off as I mentioned a couple times. Like Belfast obviously being a fighting city like boxing was always our thing. But I think MMA is starting to take over that. Our gym every single class is packed out. We need triple the mat space from kids classes all the way from five years old all the way to professionals like myself. every class is packed. We can't get any more people on the mat. We need a bigger gym.

It's just, that's just amazing. I love to see it as someone like MMA is obviously my life. It's changed my life. I think it's such a good vehicle for kids to be in early in martial arts. I think it's just so life changing. Changed my life. And to see that, especially like kids, like they don't have much options growing up and most of the time they just go to the streets.

Like I'm sure it's obviously here, the same here in Dublin. If we can just keep making MMA bigger and bigger, more gyms, easier access, like that's good for the community, you know, and that's all I care about. So you make such a good point about Belfast being a boxing city. Yeah. I know you read a book, Don McCrae in Sunshine and Shadow, and it's about Jerry Storey, a boxing coach at the time, and his gym, it served like during the trouble of serving both sides of the this

ward that's happening and he's able to kind of effortlessly travel through all these checkpoints. Like, oh like Jerry yeah because that's that's how important is you're talking about people needing outlets and I do feel like this is the moment where the North stands up I think for the the initial golden era I think it was very focused on the South and I always used to feel sorry for Norman because he was kind of othered in that situation you know and not even by himself like that was just the way it was there was the press in the south there was a press in the north of course like me being a digital guy I could talk to all of them but I did feel like when the event came to

Dublin that time they didn't know where to put him yeah it felt a bit awkward but now I feel like this kind of pushing through FAO on the rise is spreading a bigger awareness and people people down south are just as proud as you and love you guys representing and I don't think anything exemplified that more than Reese McKee yeah his recent win yeah and I've said it to you many times like Reese is a legend of this scene. Bama champion, Cage Warriors champion did it all but for whatever reason he just couldn't get that UFC win and it became like a like the Rory McIlroy thing right? Yeah. Him going to the Masters. You're watching Reese McKee go to the

octagon going oh man how can he not win and then suddenly he just pulls out the most Reese McKee fight of all time. Like this lad's dropping every time he's fainting. He's absolutely milling and we get to performance bonus and I think Everybody the whole scene just we felt that relief for him. Tell me what I felt like for you I saw him on the big news podcast, which is absolutely tremendous He did a brilliant interview with him all of your interviews have been fantastic and Tell me what that meant for you to see yeah get through that moment so much honestly When race fights fights I'm

always very nervous but for this one, I'm nervous for any of my teammates that fight, for this one when he was walking I was nervous I was like he because I seen the change in him I've seen the work that he's been putting in the gym there has been just a significant difference in him in the last period of time since like fully joining the FII and just the switch that he's flipped in the last maybe six months I just knew this was his time he was finally going to put it all together so I knew he was going to win so seeing him see to be honest like I didn't think it would get very emotional like when he just had his hand raised I'm seeing him point up and I think he said thank you dad

it got me so emotional like to be honest and obviously so happy for Reese, he's such a good friend of mine but also so happy for Pat and Shando too because as mentioned like everyone gets the same output from them. Them boys are all in like they live and breathe us that's why the gym's doing so well obviously but like for Reese they put so much time into him, they care so much about him, like we all really are close in the gym. So just it was so good to see him win, it was so good. It's a great time, like I mean, it seems to happen from nowhere, right? Like I feel like last year we were like, well, it's never going to happen again. Then Shauna wins. Like you

come off this amazing fight. Ian comes off an amazing fight with Shavkat, Kaelin's winning. You know, waiting for Keith right now, if he gets a win it will feel like it's all going, but it does feel like a bit of a magic moment we've hit again, right? I hope so. Yeah, I think Ian's probably not, should be fighting for the belt next, probably should be fighting for the belt now, realistically. You've got that, you've got myself probably fighting for the belt next, and then you've

got everyone else coming up and they're all coming off wins. I certainly hope this is the second golden generation, I really hope so. It's so funny that you and Ian, the parallels, because it was always in cage where he was like, who's going to be the new face version? And you're both like, holy shit, you're both at the top of the food chain now in your divisions. It's amazing and you've always got on so well of course. What do you think of that fight with Prates? It's got to be Ian all day, like Ian's a sniper. See to be honest, like I've seen Prates, like his finishes and all. I haven't actually extensively studied him and all of his fights.

How many fights in the UFC he's had? I think he has I think he had four I think five out of four. He's relatively new I haven't deeply studied him. Southpaw? Yes. Ian's so good against Southpaw. So good against him yeah. Like Ian's a sniper. I don't think I've ever heard of him. He's fought so many of them like a lot of his fights in the UFC were Southpaw's. I think a lot of lads in fields was Jim as well I say. Really? So I think I think that helped as well. Used to. He's so used to. Yeah I mean Ian's gonna start him isn't he? And you gotta put some respect in Ian's name. You really, really do. Some people may not like Ian,

but you have to put respect in his name for the opportunities and the short notice and the changing card, fight this opponent on a week's notice, fighting Shavkat, almost beating him. Then he's having to fight up the rankings again. You gotta respect him. In terms of him, then he's having to fight up the rankings again, you gotta respect him. In terms of sport, the guy's unbelievable. His IQ is really shown now, I think in the last few fights, just finding ways to deal

guys. I think that's what I look at when I look at the Pratchett's fight. This guy's been in bigger spots, he's more dynamic, he can change the fight, so I really like it in that regard. And I like what it's brought out in him. He's pissed off because he has to fight back. You can tell he's like, oh you're coming from my spot? I love it, come and try and take this off me.

So really interested to see how that goes. But I wanted to ask about this face of Irish MMA thing, because I was talking about this a lot before he fought with us, man. And then in the aftermath, and we'll talk about that later, and, Dona Corby said to me, Dona Corby from Bloody Elbow said, why do you always put pressure on guys like this? Like you're always like, why don't you just let them fight? Like, why does it always have to be,

this is, you know, he's becoming this guy. But I'm like, I know Paul, he was a very long time. And he didn't just come into this sport to tip away and get a few wins like he wants to affect people he wants he wants to turn Ireland back onto this sport he wants people to be say look raw again sorry Macroya now it's fresh in my mind but my uncles are texting me while this is happening yeah my dad's texting me that used to be what MMA was yeah call of pendants fighting in Mexico my dad's texting me. That used to be what MMA was. Call of Hendricks fighting in Mexico, my dad's up watching it. My uncle like, oh how do you think

this is getting on? And I'm thinking about when I talk about the face of Irish MMA, that's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people, like a national conversation happening when they fight. Am I putting too much pressure on you talking about you like that? Not at all. Not at all. Not one bit. In fact it's a real privilege and honor to even for someone to say that to me. It's obviously not something that I choose. It's not something that I tell people. If people want to...

You can't force yourself into that situation. You can't tell people. Look, if people want to call me that, what a tremendous honor. I'm gonna carry myself like I always do, try to do my best, might not be perfect, but if people say that I'm going to take it very seriously and I'm going to try to represent with pride.

Tell me this, you've trained with Chandler, you have great respect for each other, I've heard him talk about you, he had the fight with Paddy and I know you and Paddy have had back and forth in the past, I don't want to ask you about that because you've done enough of that. But what I what I wonder about is as an athlete watching Paddy in there, were you impressed by what he did against Chandler? Well, I mean, you got to give him credit. He beat Michael Chandler. Chandler's a beast. I actually did. When the fight was announced, I was like, do you know what?

Chandler's my guy, great guy, and he's a beast. I actually did, when the fight was announced I was like, do you know what? Chandler's my guy, great guy and he's obviously amazing. But stylistically I knew it would actually be quite difficult for him because Paddy's a lot ranger but he also kicks a lot Paddy. That's good, he's very good in that way. He kicks a lot and Chandler's obviously a shorter guy that throws a lot of hands. When you can spam good kicks out there, it's difficult and I know that Paddy is an elite grappler. Chandler is an elite grappler in his own right, but it's a different kind of style that Patti has. He is more jujitsu, like take the back, which is the positions that he ended up in.

So I actually knew it was going to be a really close fight, but here, I mean, you got to give credit to Pimmel. He's in the top 10 of the UFC. Or is it, is it top 10 or maybe top 15? He'll be top 10. I think Chandler was seven. So he should go. Yeah, now don't get me wrong. He's got a, they've given him a nice pathway to get up there but here, respect and credit to him. Yeah, he's a very big, like when he, I know

Chandler's not the biggest but when you saw him in there I was like, holy shit, like Paddy is a big guy and of course he moved up on Fedaway, you boys both had the same title in Cage Warriors. I can remember when you moved up and there were people saying, Oh, Paul's not big enough for lightweight. Then you go in against the champion, of course, how you have that fight. And not many people saying that anymore. But I wondered, Ilja Toporia, you're a bigger man than Ilja Toporia.

You have a longer range than Ilja Toporia. There's obviously so much conversation about him going to lightweight, the size of Islam Akhosef, the size of just the general guys and the total mix there. What do you think of that? I think, I mean, as you just mentioned about me moving up, like it's, I really don't think it's that big of a thing in MMA, moving up a weight class because I think so many guys are so malnourished and depleted that when they go up to a more natural weight class they actually perform better. I think I've probably performed better, I did obviously perform well at featherweight but

in terms of like you know I've just done a five rounder, not depleting your body so much in camps is so important. And not only that for fighting out, but the longevity and the activity that you can have fighting up away class. This is my fifth fight in 13 months. But I would never in a million years been able to do that at Featherweight.

But I've been able to do it because I'm up away class. I'm healthier, I can train more. I don't get injured as much. I've become a better fighter because I'm not depleting myself. To Puri is the injured as much. I've become a better fighter because I'm not the plate myself. Tapuri is the guy like I've trained with him like I really have trained with Tapuri. I've sparred him in America in Kilcliffe. Yeah we've done quite a number of rounds. There's clips of us go sparring. They go like semi viral all the time. I always see them on social media but he's

the type of guy where like at the end of the day, my philosophy on it all, but he's the type of guy Where like skill at the end of the day and my philosophy on it all the skills pay the bills It's that simple like skills pay the bills in this sport Someone like to prayer is so good that a little bit extra weight is not gonna affect them if anything like my philosophy on it again Islam's gonna deplete himself to get to that weight so much. You've seen him against Volk. There's only so much weight you can cut. Whenever both fighters rehydrate, they're always around the same weight anyway. So I think there's just so much talk around weight classes and that having been someone that's moved up and done it myself, it gave me even more

proof and evidence that like it's not that big of a deal if you're good enough because skills pay the bills so I think to Tipperary I think he's gonna smash the lightweight to you I don't think it's gonna be an issue for him. What were them spurs like? When you mentioned the footage I can remember seeing this pop up before but like I mean you're not a man who goes out throwing out compliments all that much and you seem fairly like this guy. I'm a big fan of Tipperary yeah I like to me he was very sound and person. I like his attitude. I really like his attitude. I can relate a lot to his attitude. Same age as me, fellow European. I really think he's

fantastic. Yeah. What did you ask me there? Sorry, did you ask me how the sport? Yeah like I mean you're in there like you're very complimentary of him. Like you must have, did you learn something there? Sorry, did you ask me how the sparring? It was just, yeah, like, I mean, you're in there, like, you're very complimentary of him. Like, you must have, did you learn something from that experience as well? Like, were you like, wow, this is, immediately, like, this guy is an elite level fighter. Yeah, absolutely. He's fantastic to spar. Like, he's such a, such an elite guy. It was a really good experience. It was very even sparring. We had great rounds.

He invited me to come back and be part of his last camp there against Holloway, but I was preparing for AJ McKee at the time so I didn't have the opportunity to go over. I think you're going to get a call if this fight with Islam, it would make sense after you come. Because I got to think about the future as well, you know, like, but if you're preparing for Islam and he's preparing. like me and Tappare won't fight in five years, like there's nothing to say that me and Tipperary won't fight in five years? Like there's nothing to say that. So now I'm kind of in the position where now we're in the same weight class.

We're like, maybe like, you know, he was a great training partner. So maybe I will go over if asked again. We'll see. I don't know. I'm a fan. Yeah, he's really, really good. That's interesting what you said about why cutting because the ultimate four came up. And I think you were in that dilemma at that time. You're like, I need to go up. If they maybe got you a year before,

you end up in the ultimate four, one of the hardest roads you can go down. But you're then in a weight cluster you're completely uncomfortable in. This is all kind of feels like divine fate what's happening with you and PFL. Yeah, absolutely. It's all happened the way I kind of believed it would.

So many things in my life are happening right now. Things that I planned six, eight years ago that have come to fruition. There's one in particular that people will see on Fight Night. That's something I planned six years ago and it's going to happen. I can't say exactly what it is. I hear, but like, are you serious? No, I can't say exactly what I hear like are you serious? No, I can't I'm leaving it for the fight. I hope something very special is going to happen that night and It's just mad it's mad I always first seen myself fighting in the SSC after making my debut there

I was like I have to do this sometime my career didn't know when or how How that would happen but I knew that it had to happen because for me to do it in my home city, that had to be number one. For me that's before MSG, that's before anything. I have to take that off the bucket list and unfortunately it probably will be a one and done for me. You know when I become champion next year, unless they do maybe a PFL champion series card in Belfast, I can't see them actively being there. So it could be a one and done, so what a privilege. That's honestly what I said when you were making your debut

in Three Arena. I was a bit critical of PFL for not ramming that down people's throats. I was like, this is not gonna happen that many times. You are not gonna be readily available to Irish people to go and see you fight. I've got to ask you, that night you had been telling me for ages like I saw that event in 2014 at 3 Arena and I

decided like I want to be one of these guys I want to be a hero to the Irish people all this kind of stuff. You go out there you have your debut you have a moment with a guy who inspired you so much and a guy you've you've heaped praise on. Even when it wasn't the popular thing to do, maybe when he was facing some stuff, you were always like, as an athlete, this guy inspired me to get to this point.

It was like, I always saw it as like a passing of the torch moment between you and McGregor that night. You have the Usman fight, and he's online saying like, I think Paul won this fight. He's all for it. And then it seems to be a moment of respect you shared with Habib that makes him

have this outburst online. And the people up north, their reaction struck me because I felt it was uniquely, a unique reaction for the people up there. I don't wanna say I knew what they're talking about, I have an idea, but it seemed to really upset them. And I don't want to ask you how you felt about it because you've already answered that question on Ariel.

What I want to know is what was it like when you went home and you went to Derry? Because I could see people reacting, there was pictures being put up online, you went back to the gym, that assault on your identity as an Irishman, and in general for people in that part of the world, what were people saying to you about that when you came home? People weren't happy. I'm sure. People were not happy. It really is...

It's probably the most insulting thing that you could say to an Irishman from the north that you're not Irish. That you're basically, if you're from up there, you're British or whatever, after everything the north has been through, in particular Derry, obviously where Bloody Sunday happened, to say that you're not Irish up there is like, it's war, like it is one of the worst things you could say. people did not take that well now I addressed the situation I tried to do it with like class and respect and I was asked like would you forgive him and I said like maybe me personally could see that in the future but not right now because for my people because if someone see me

going I know it's alright I forgive you like it's it's just it's a deeply insulting thing to say to anyone where I come from like yeah yeah put it lightly you know I met two lads from Derry we were at the the Shane Gillis gig here a few months back or whatever and I met some lads afterwards from Derry and the way they spoke about you man, like it's I know it was a very bad thing to happen I can only imagine how that feels to wake up and you see your hero essentially saying something like that about you it's horrific but the way you reacted to it I think they're just they're even more proud right so they're already on this high of pride after the Usman fight. But then after that, the way these lads are

speaking about you, they're about the same age as you, they were in awe of you. And is it weird that like this highly controversial moment and stressful thing has again pushed you towards this face of Irish MMA situation? Yeah, it's just funny how these things play out because it started so negative and I didn't like it. You know, I'm not out here trying to start these beefs and all like that was just a clip that went out there like half out of context, still saying the truth, I'm saying I'm my own man, I'm doing my own thing and then just this blow up online with obviously his tweets and everything went down.

It was so negative. And like, you know, I didn't take it too personally because I know like the Connor that we're talking about now is obviously a different person than we would, we grew up idolizing and the one that changed the sport. It's a different person. It's a different thing. But the way it just like then turned into like almost the best thing to happen in my career because number one it kind of distanced me from him after obviously everything that's come out recently against him is like absolutely

indefensible like it's it's horrific what happened here in Dublin. It's distanced not only myself from that which is important because I was getting painted as the same brush as him across the world, which initially wasn't a bad thing, but it became, or wasn't a bad thing, it became a bad thing. You're talking about the Ireland v Dagestan kind of promotion? Yeah, absolutely, which I initially started before everything, before obviously things happened.

But it's also separated the sport of MMA from who Connor is now. And I think that people find it hard to get behind MMA and to get behind athletes because of that stigma that was attached to it, because they personally didn't like him for whatever reason. I think it was harder for them to get behind other MMA athletes in the country. And I think that's why you've seen such like a suppression of MMA here to a degree, especially in, like, I guess, the public sphere. Mainstream media.

In the mainstream now. It's not a national conversation anymore. Exactly, but now it's coming back. You know, now it's coming back and I don't know, maybe I have something to do with it. Like at the end of the day, as I've always said, like, like he did change the game for all of us and I've always said that he is the goat

and I'll always pay him that, like, that respect, but I think things are changing again. Yeah, absolutely. Would you accept that apology now? As you said, you didn't quite know. For the sake of my people, no. Not yet, anyway.

It's not that I hate him. I don't care if I hate him or not. If it really affected me, I would have clapped back and started this whole frigging worldwide frigging beef with Colin McGregor and would have been memes and this and that. I could have went back at him at Twitter, but I decided no, that's not me.

And that's not who I'm trying to be. Could have easily played. Look, our industry, as you know, it's incentivized for the beefs and the clicks and this. I could have done that so easily. Could have, it would have been so easy. Millions more people in the world would know my name if I had played into that. But I'm just going to try and just be me throughout this because people aren't stupid. They see if it's a character. They see if it's fake.

I'm going to do me. Carve myself how I always do. People like it. Amazing. If they don't, doesn't affect me. And same thing, like when he said that, it didn't like personally let it affect me too much. So, yeah. That That was brilliant Paul and that's all I got for you man. I'm looking forward to May 10th this festival about I want to be driven around you're getting driven around Dublin somewhere pick me up you know I mean take me to these gigs can you look after that? It's been a pleasure thank you so much to everyone at Yahoo Sports and the people at the XO building here it's been a pleasure. Thank you so much to everyone at Yahoo Sports and the people at the XO building here. It's been incredible, absolutely brilliant.

This is my first time in it. When this thing was being built, I was like, this is gonna be savage. And now we're here, as I said, the star pool bag in the background, the Aviva Stadium, beautiful Dublin all around me. I couldn't be happier. Thank you to great Paul Hughes.

This is gonna be the last time I ever get to speak to him like this. He's gonna be a big celebrity now. He's getting driven around in a Maybach. It's absolutely ridiculous what's happening here. I mean, what's happened to this guy? He used to be like a little bull going next door. Now he's a big celebrity.

But Paul, you know, I love you. Great speaking to you. Thank you, bro. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. Well, there he was, Mr. Paul Hughes, a fantastic young man, very excited about this Belfast card. It's happened on the same weekend as Bilal v JDM, but the gaffer, Mr.

Ariel Owani has told me that I wouldn't be fully doing my job as a Pizzi Carol if I didn't go to Belfast. So that's where I will be. You can enjoy Chuck and Ariel that night for the post show. I'll be looking at the various celebrations from a journalism point of view, of course, that are happening around Belfast. Well, let's hope it's celebrations. Bruno Miranda can pack a punch. Look, haven't done a lot of things like that. And it was an absolute joy to do. Thank you so much to everyone who helped us. Carl and Tom on the

production end from Yahoo, we had Dan and Alan, the camera guys who are absolutely brilliant Neil, who led us into the space initially and Keith who showed us around on the day, made sure everyone could get in New York, Rick, um, I don't know how to do these things. So luckily Rick has done a lot of these things and he was able to quarterback the whole thing for me. I wouldn't have been able to do these things. So luckily Rick has done a lot of these things and he was able to quarterback the whole thing for me. I wouldn't have been able to do it without him. And look, of course I've said it already, but the brilliant on air Jordan

just hit the ground and we hit him with a bomb of stress to get this out today. On Friday, I think it went great at top Paul handled very difficult questions really, really well. And the really poignant thing here and the reason why I want to talk to Orleans best Andy Stevenson of severe MMA and the ultra angle is because there is this sudden talk of like, we need to move the story on from McGregor. And I feel like the embodiment of that situation really happened with McGregor coming after Paul's Irish identity and the outpouring of emotion that came from Ireland because of that and a lot of people backed Paul during

that situation. Obviously we have Ian Gary fighting this weekend in a massive fight that can propel him right back into the title mix. So it's only right that I bring in the savior of the Southside, Mr. Andy Stevenson, Severo Ma's finest, The L Triangle, one of my favorite podcasts. Andy, let's just put aside the abuse here for a second. What did you think of the Paul Hughes interview there? PC, how are you? Great to be back. I thought that was brilliant. I mean, what a guy Paul Hughes is watching that. I mean, fair play to you too. I mean, you're, you're, you're coming into your own. I feel like you're finally getting the these big production

setups that you've been you've you've earned your keep here to get to this point, PC. But I just thought what a classy guy he is. Like to the way he handled himself specifically when talking about that whole situation with McGregor, his approach, he truly cares immensely about how he carries not only himself, but his teammates and his people and really the sport in Ireland. When you ask him about, are you putting too much pressure on him by essentially handing this mantle of the new face of Irish MMA, he wants it, but he wants it for the right reasons. He wants to be able to raise this sport up to a place where it's no longer tarnished

with a certain brush that it has been for many a year, where the people who may be turned away from the sport five plus years ago return. Because I have conversations in my personal life with people about MMA usually initiated by me because most of them don't want to talk about it, but I think when you have people like Paul and like others who are rising up in the sport at the moment, it's a lot easier to sell it to the average Joe who may be held held and holds a certain opinion of us today. Yeah, no, very well said.

Very well said. And look, it's tricky stuff to talk about. Like even, even me as a guy from the South who hasn't been around the kind of stuff that, you know, the people of North have and the struggles they went through. You know, it's very hard for me to be like, this is how they feel and this is what it is. So it's important to ask the likes of Paul and stuff about this. And Paul is, is, is but one man and another man, of course, fighting this weekend, another guy that we had long hopes for, like, I'm not joking when I

said that to, to Paul during that interview and Andy will vote for this. Ever since those guys like first step foot into cage warriors. So Paul was probably what, four and O? Ian was O and0. He made his debut there against James G and the man who headlines the cage warriors 1-88 card that we will be talking about later. But from the very early goes, we were kind of like, these two guys are special and they are proving to be special. Ian Gary has a very special fight this weekend. A short notice call up to fight one of the guys.

I would think a lot of people in that welterweight division are like, get me the hell away from this cigarette smoking knockout machine, Carlos Pratchett. We saw them weigh in earlier. And both guys look in an immense shape as expected. But how big is this for Ian? I know you spoke to him in the lead up to this, Andy. What's the vibe you're getting off him? And I know you spoke to him in the lead up to this, Andy, what's the vibe you're getting off him? I mean, it's obviously a huge fight for him firstly, because it's the first main event

that he's participated in. You know, there's a lot more spotlight and a lot more, I suppose, pressure on him to carry the card and also to deliver. When the fight was originally booked, it received a brilliant reaction from the fan base because it's two of the hot prospects that are rising up through the rankings going head to head where, you know, for the longest time, the welterweight division has been stagnant to an extent. Ian talked about this with me where, you know, he feels like the new generation are finally starting to overthrow the older generation where we're seeing a turning of the, you know,

a new chapter, I suppose, for the 170 pound division. But it's a high pressure situation for Ian because he will be the first to tell you how great he is and the heights that he will reach. And to be fair to him, he's looked phenomenal in the UFC and his fight, albeit a loss with or versus Hamsat, sorry, not Hams, versus, um, Shavkat, sorry, versus Shavkat. Similar to Hughes with, uh, with Usman. They're coming off losses, but really their stock has risen in defeat.

Um, but you need to go out here and back up the words now, because there's a huge difference between being O and two in your last two fights in that division. And Ian is so used to being the guy who was winning, the guy who is pushing his finger in the chest of someone above him, whereas now he's having to do what he has said that he didn't want to do, which is fight down the rankings. And you have an absolute killer in Carlos Proches, who has been knocking out people for fun. Uh, and who has been, whose Brazilian identity has been questioned coming into this fight as well. So he's clearly not a fan of Ian Machado Gary, uh, coming into this main event.

So Ian's got to back up the words now and he's got to take out an out and out killer in Carlos Pratchett. Yeah. I feel like Ian's really kind of, he's just let the heel thing happen this time. He's like, you know what? I'm going to go after this guy. He's a quitter. I'm more Brazilian than he is. All this kind of stuff. He is talking in a way, which I feel is great to sell the fight, but I do feel like if he wins this fight, and I've said this plenty on the show, I think I've said it to you and done it as well.

Shout out to Dona, couldn't be with us tonight, but we always love him. I kind of feel as though to win this fight, he has to be very dynamic and take Pratchett to the ground. Like do not stand with this guy, Carlos Pratchett. And I think unfortunately, the way the fan base is and they're obviously very, they have their backs up with Ian for a long time now. I feel like they're going to use this against him. If he goes out and he beats this incredibly dangerous guy, they're going to be like, Oh, well, you didn't do it the way you said you do it and blah, blah, blah. Do you feel like he's kind of set himself up

for one of those situations? Yeah. But I mean, like that's kind of where he has been with the fan base for a long time because like he's doing, he's doing these amazing things in the sense of gaining a lot of respect for taking these types of challenges and especially, you know, the short notice nature of them too. But yeah, you're right. I do think like I saw, I think it was Andy Hickey a long time Irish MMA fan and kind of personality on Twitter.

Um, one of Ian's biggest strengths is ability is his ability to take his ego out of the way when the cage closes. So, you know, he can, he can say, I'm going to go out here and, you know, run through him and punch a hole in his head. But then he does a smart thing against the likes of an MVP where it's like, okay, yeah, you could go out and strike with him or you could grapple. So, and you know, you can get the win. So I, I absolutely think Ian will go out here and fight the fight that makes the most sense for him, which I think is a very tactical game plan. You know, he's well aware that the, the power is practices, practice main

advantage here or, or, or main threat. So he's going to avoid that at all costs. And I believe, you know, especially considering the amount we've seen him grapple in more recent fights, I do think he tries to take the fight to the ground and look for that submission. And, you know, when you're a guy like Ian Machado-Garry, that's not getting the submission, the last fight and also in the fight against MVP, that's got to be gnawing at him.

So I reckon that he'll be looking to, you know, in his own mind, right or wrong there, albeit against a different opponent here. Yeah. What he's saying there is Ian is a competitive psychopath is basically what he was trying to say there. Yeah. I mean, he is, I said this to him, but he used to, like, when he was an amateur and when he was like just turning pro, he used to like be sending media

messages being like, what are you doing talking about this guy? Like I'm way better than him. I'd kick the shit out of this guy. Like he is always, and it's from a purely competitive standpoint. I don't think like he was saying it to be a dick, or maybe he was. I don't think he was saying it to be a dick, but like he's just as a pure competitor. And anytime you see someone who is considered greater than him, he has an axe to grind and he wants to prove to the world that no, no, no, it's me. You should be talking about me, me, me.

Yeah, no, absolutely. You're 100% nail on the head. One thing Ian's saying about this fight, and I don't know if this is PR, if it is well played, but if this is his genuine opinion, I do disagree with him on this. I don't think a win over Pratchett, even though Pratchett is a hot guy in this division, everybody loves the dude. I don't think it will immediately put him into the title stakes due to Sean Brady being there, due to Shavkat, the guy who beat Ian to essentially fight for this title being there. Do you disagree with that? Or do you think he could potentially leapfrog

those guys and be the next in line for either Bilal or JDM or Islam Makashef, whatever the hell's happening there, If he wins this fight. I think it's very hard to say, but I do agree that it's, it's not, it's very much not clear cut, like, especially when you factor in Islam, which is now a talking point that, you know, does he move up if, if, um, if Bilal is no longer the champion, um, which I heard you guys talk about it, that it, that is kind of a bizarre thing in itself, but, um But I'd probably lean towards where your head's at. I'd probably say he probably doesn't get the title shot off of this

unless he comes out and has an absolutely spectacular performance. But additionally, it also could be through circumstance. So often now we see it's not necessarily the appropriate guy or the logical guy who gets the next shot. It's whoever is ready. It's whoever is willing to step in on short notice when something inevitably goes wrong with a card or the logical guy who gets the next shot. It's whoever's ready. It's whoever's willing to step in on short notice when something inevitably goes wrong with a card or the matchup. So he's, I believe he said at immediate day that he's already booked his

flights up to for the next title fight. So, you know, stranger things have happened. I absolutely think it puts him right back in the conversation though, because, you know, he can then go back to that framing though, because, you know, he can then go back to that framing of, well, you know, I think, you know, in a street fight, I won that fight against Shavkat, you know, albeit I lost the athletic contest. Yeah. Yeah.

It's interesting. Um, Ian has a situation here in Ireland where like, you know, we've kind of talked about it, it hasn't quite caught on. I think Hughes, when I said to him in the interview, the situation with Gregor has basically catapulted him into a level of kind of media coverage that even the Usman fight couldn't probably have got him by itself. Right? Like unless this thing happens with Connor and there's this massive kind of

Irish angle to explore with for the media, they probably wouldn't have got into it. But I have kind of two sides to this question because I heard New York Rick say earlier in the week that like, no, this is where Ian should be whatever he's doing now and it's irritating people or whatever. It doesn't matter. People care. People tune into this guy, whether it's the hate on him or whatever else, this is working for him.

Or do you see a fight here like against Pratchett's a really hot open comer who's, who's dispatching guys with KOs. Do you think a win there could turn that sentiment and maybe get the Irish people more on board with them? Um, I think it's, I think it's quite nuanced. I think that some people will just not like Ian. I think that some people will just not like Ian. But I think that the winning helps. I think the way, especially the way that Ian has approached the inside the cage or even just the accepting of fights, like the actual sport elements, you can't not respect it.

I don't understand how someone can look at what he's been doing in the cage and the challenges that he's been willingly taking, taking when others are not doing this and how you can't respect that at least. So I do think like if he continues to do that and continues to, to win, um, I think he will win over some fans, but it's, it's just not to say, I mean, I feel like, you know, when we're kind of talking about Hughes and Ian, and I was gonna say not to compare them, but I will compare them. Let me immediately compare them. Yeah. And I, you know, it's not to tear it down, Ian, but I just think there's a different

sentiment, like from what I see on the ground, Paul, there's a huge attachment from Irish fans to Paul Hughes and partly, that could be partly due to the fact that he is training and living and breathing Ireland and constantly, you know, you know, not just taking himself on this journey, but bringing his, his friends, bringing his teammates, bringing, you know, with his podcast, trying to elevate members of his community in other fields. That it's a very unselfish approach by Hughes. And that's not to say that the approach that Ian is taking is incorrect because it has got him to the heights that he has risen to in the UFC and it may take him to becoming a UFC champion in time.

But I just think there's a different sentiment from the fan base to the likes of a Paul Hughes versus an Ian McChdicari right now. But I do think like, Ena's not, he has done nothing like painlessly wrong to, to drive away. Like I understand there are certain, uh, maybe actions that along the way and maybe personality that has driven some fans away, but you know, in the grand scheme of things, it's not like he is, he's not committed any crimes. You know, he's a really nice guy to be fair. Like, you know, he the grand scheme of things, it's not like he's, he's not committed any crimes. He's a really nice guy to be fair. Like, you know, he's a very affable guy. You meet him.

He's a very social guy. He's very friendly. It's just he rubs people up the wrong way. He does, but he does. We can't just like say that he does it because he does. He rubs people the wrong way. But I do think that he can, he can get more fans on board. Will it move the needle from the overall fan base in Ireland to a massive degree?

I think that would take time. Yeah. What is your official prediction for this fight? Because you've been saying madness in the message group. I want to know if you're really going to say this out loud. I think Ian Gary via submission. Oh, okay. Okay.

So that was not what he was saying. All right. I thought he was going to say something outlandish. I'm actually with you on that one. And I think decision or submission. I think he's just too dynamic. I've said it over and over again. I just think he has too many tools. And if not, that like, I just haven't seen that element of practice. Like he could go out there and surprise me. He's like Damien Meyer once he hits the ground, who knows? But he seems to me a guy with Muay Thai tattooed across his chest. You can usually, you know, I think it's a fair estimation to say, I think this guy wants

to keep it striking, you know? Yeah, 100%. Right, right, right. Look, Cage Warriors has definitely been the most proven path to the UFC in the UK and Ireland for many, many years. Endless list of people. Right now, like Reese McKee, Auban Elliott, Tom Aspinall, Paddy Pimblitt, you know, Molly McCann, Paul Hughes was in there as well. He went to PFL, but there's an endless list of people. Ian Gary, of course. Look, we could do

this all day. There's about 50 of them on the UFC roster at the moment. Just keep naming cage warriors champions or? Yeah. There's a big cage warriors card in Dublin at the RDS this weekend. It is headlined by team Ryan O's. Team Ryan O of Paul Redmond and Neil Siri fame, of Andy Ryan fame, the head coach, one of the legends of the RSC, one of the founding fathers, his boy James Sheehan, who I said made his debut against Ian Gary on cage warriors way back in the day. He is fighting Justin Burlinson, a man who a victory over Reese McKee propelled him back to the day. He is fighting Justin Borlinson, a man who a victory over Reese McKee propelled him back to the UFC. We also have James Webb, Team KF, Chris Fields, another Irish legend. James Webb being his protege, former middleweight champion of Cage

Warriors. He is now defending the Cage Warriors light heavyweight champion against John Allen of Brazil. A very interesting card. Paddy McCorry of tough fame. Jer Harris, one of the most talked about floor weights from the country in a very long time. Max Lally, a guy who has been heralded as the second coming since his amateur days. Solomon Simon, Dona Corby's favorite guy. Adam Darby, another great prospect. Keke O, shout out Blanche. There is lots of good people. Eimer Darcy, you spoke to this week. Conor McCarthy, I could keep naming them. There is a lot of Irish talent here. These cards are always very exciting. I believe it's sold out already.

So a few thousand people going to be in the RDS to watch this. Andy, tell me. James Sheehan, a win here. Is he the next Irish fighter in the UFC? I'd love to say yes. And I'm going to say yes. Yeah, I think James Sheehan, if he goes in here and gets it, I do, I think he'll get the call up.

But it's, you know, if you'd asked me this two years ago, I'd have said yes in a heartbeat. The reason why I'm pausing there is just there's a change in landscape right now where we're not seeing, you know, I think Harry Hardwick has defended the belt twice now and it's still unclear as to whether he's gone to the UFC, you know, the featherweight title. It's not as straightforward as just you go and win a cage wearers belt, you defend it and that's your golden ticket anymore. I just think that is the reality on the ground. Is it a case that he gets an opportunity for the Contender series? Which is kind of crazy to say that that is perhaps the route. And the same could go for the likes of

James Webb, who's well into his 30s, has won a belt already previously in Cage, where he has revitalized completely, resurrected his career from a really, really bad spot where multiple knockout losses has gone up in weight, won a title. And the same could be said for him. What does this mean for him? Will it be a crack at the UFC or is it okay? You're the next contender on the contender series in August.

And then you get to fight if you, you know, if it's up to the standard of the UFC matchmakers to get in. So yeah, like I'd love to sit here and say, yeah, definitely James Sheen getting in, but I just, I'm very pessimistic about the overall landscape of that route, that entry, I guess, at the moment. Yeah. Like, I mean, I did say at the top, like, this is the proven part. I do think Contender Series has really thrown a spanner in the works there in terms of what we used to see, right?

Like it used to be, get the belt. You're the wanted man. Like if, if you have to defend it again, things are getting shaky then because the fighters used to be like, the UFC want me, could want me next week and you want have to defend it again, things are getting shaky then because the four years he was like, do you have to see what me could want me next week? And you want me to defend this thing? Um, so yeah, look, it's not just a cage worries issue. It's an issue across all the regional MMA landscapes. Um, is my boy Ryan Shelley not on this card?

I thought he was and I can't find him on topology. What the hell is going on? His fight has been, has fallen off his opponent injured, unable to find a replacement for poor Ryan Shelley. So he, he'll James will be the lone team KF representative. Oh, I mean, if he wants to do a catch weight of one 90, I'm here all day. Jeremy, no, actually don't you kick the shit out of me. I don't want to hear that. Um, do you know what the issue is with this one, Andy, and I've been going to these guys for a very long time,

right back to the old, um, Conor McGregor. Don't know if you heard of him. Used to fight in cage where he's pretty big deal. And recovered him with these. These fight cards have always been electric, but there was always usually like a few guys that you're like, oh, these are the guys to watch. The problem is here. There are too many. The problem is right there.

They're so early on their careers that anything could happen. It, you haven't seen enough for some, from some to know if they're of this ill, but there's so many like, look, we talked about two, two main events and two title fights. McCorry could go, Harris would go, Larry, Lally could go, Simon could go, Darby could go. Kikyo has been heralded for years around here in Blanche. He's following another Irish man, Joe Doyle. Connor McCarthy from Peter Quoyote's gym.

They've been singing from the high heaven. Eimer Darcy, who you interviewed this week, seems like a fantastic person. I watched her once in Dublin, but this is where it becomes difficult for a guy who is covering the sport. Can you zoom in on any of these? Or do you just have to go right cover every single fight, hope for the best. Let me tell you, it's going to be an absolute nightmare tomorrow. And I trying to keep up with all this and, and cover it all.

Here's where we're at. We've got 18 fighters representing, I think 10 gyms across 16 fights for tomorrow night. So the way I kind of categorize it, like there's three tiers here. So you've got the two lads at the top, James Sheen and James Webb fighting for titles. They're obviously, you know, the main stories here. However, then you have the likes of Pattydy McCarrey and Solomon Simon, who both of those guys are, I see them in the breakout category of Paddy McCarrey has fought on tough. He's been starching lads since his return to cage wars. And I think if he gets another big win here tomorrow night, he's got two options.

There's one, they stick him in a headline fight in Belfast. I think that'd be a great move for them. Or two, I think he's back into contender series or straight into the UFC. I think he very much impressed on his tour phone. Get emotional Andy. And Solomon Simon has looked absolutely phenomenal and has continued to rise with the level of competition. I think there's a, you know, the unknown of, I mentioned Harry Hardwick earlier on. I think there's two lads, Solomon Simon and Nick Bagley in the cage where his featherweight division either put them against each other.

If you want to go head to head prospects or else you're talking about one of them fighting for the belt, so they're ready to make that next jump. But as you said, we've got about seven, I think, undefeated pro prospects at the moment, Max Lally, Keith Kyo, Connor McCarthy, Amar Darcy, Alexander O'Sullivan, who's just come back from a stroke. Alex O'Sullivan. His heart is the most tenured amateur in the history of Irish MMA. O'Connor McCarthy, Eimer Darcy, Alexander O'Sullivan, who's just come back from a stroke to a hole in his heart. He's the most tenured amateur

in the history of Irish MMA. Oh, that's great. The submission finishes when he went pro and now he's back after suffering a very unfortunate stroke due to a hole in his heart. Eimer Darcy, you mentioned there, you know, if I give you the sell,

the overall, if we take a step back on this card, I said on the L triangle there with this week, I feel like we are entering a new era. And you talked with Paul about this in the interview a little bit too. I think we're entering the post-McGregor era of Irish MMA where everything is kind of starting to be turned on its head, where everything was geared towards a single gym being, you know, SBG.

And both in Cage Warriors and PFL now we're starting to see a level playing field where the big story for this cage warriors card also, there's too many stories, there's a lot to go through, but it's SPG are back in cage warriors. They were gone for many years as you're aware, as you've covered for, for many, many years, but they return now. And what I remember seeing in the early Bellator days when it, when there were more gyms represented in those Irish shows is there was a feeling on the ground that typically the fighters that weren't in SPG were brought in basically to fight SPG guys as the B site. Whereas now

you're seeing the likes of Kenny Mukunwana being brought in here in cage warriors and he's fighting a guy against like called who is represented. Beast. Yeah. Judo wrestling. So, you know, he's getting the hard draw here. And similarly, when you look at the PFL card coming up in a few weeks, it's, it's the guys in the North that are being represented. Um, I'll be, you know, a few SBG fighters on the card. So we're entering a new era where it's no longer tying everything back. I think it is anyway, no longer tying everything back to Conor McGregor.

And where we have a real opportunity, as Paul mentioned, as you mentioned to him, to bring the sport back where the likes of Paul Hughes can be incredible ambassadors for the sport, where the likes of Ima Darcy, you know, a woman who is working as a social care worker with the youth of Dublin. And really, these are people who we can elevate, who not only are fantastic competitors in the cage and, you know, can rise to championship level in the regional scene and beyond, but can really represent the sport with class and dignity. So I feel like this these next few weeks in Irish MMA are a real changing

of the guard and a changing of of the year for the sport. It's almost like what I've been saying over the last couple of years. Suddenly, you know, it's time to make a bit of sense. Isn't it, Andy? Fucking telling me I was talking shy for years. This is great. No, I love to see it. Um, it's, it's, it's definitely needed as far as I'm concerned, especially if we

want to be part of a national conversation again, have these athletes become household names and just been, you know, down the pub. Oh, you're watching the Hughes fight. You're watching the Gary fight. Like that's the stuff I miss. And I'm starting to see a creep in a bit more and I think it's absolutely fantastic. We got some rather shocking news. Um, it was earlier this week, I believe it was, um, from a certain Twitter site

that tells us when people have been removed from the roster. Mr. Cailan Loughran, a guy, UFC roster watch shout out. Fighter removed Cailan Loughran coming off this big win over Nathan Fletcher, a win against a rival, a win that was kind of preempted by this back and forth he had with Paddy Pimblitt on the bus during UFC London where Paul Hughes' name was used in vain, of course, seemed very where Paul Hughes's name was used in vain. Of course, seemed very juicy. I thought it was an incredible fight.

Cailan Locker and one of these guys that is part of this movement we're talking about in Ireland where people are excited about this guy. They like the way he puts himself across. I can remember when he fought in Atlanta city, Reese McKee was also on the card. I have a lot of friends in New York, Irish people who descended on Atlantic city to watch this guy fight. He's like the first fight of night and you can hear a big roar. There's about a hundred Irish people there to see him. Um, his personality has come across really well.

Let's not forget him walking out in France. He lost that fight, but he had this amazing moment with the French crowd booing him, just a real personality, a guy that Irish people can relate to suddenly taken off the roster. I'm absolutely shocked by it. And I think it's actually, it's worrying to me, Andy, that from a sports point of view, like, are we not bringing this guy back after a win against Nathan Fletcher? A fight that was like very intriguing for people who are in the diehard element

of the UK and Irish fan base. Are you shocked by this? And do you think this is a bad move from the UFC to let a guy go like Cailin? With everyone talking about, Oh, is UFC Dublin coming? I was caught completely on the hop by this news. I'm absolutely shocked for all the reasons that you've kind've outlined there where he came in and his UFC debut and did the UFC as solid and took a really difficult late notice change of opponent in Taylor Lapidus and albeit he lost that fight. He rebounds in his next one, he takes another tough loss against Jake Hadley, his former cage where his champion, a really solid

fighter. And then I thought his fights have, like his fights, I thought his fights have been quite entertaining. I thought the Nathan Fletcher fight was very entertaining to watch and a very, very difficult puzzle. You know, he, this is also going in against the guy who he's already lost to back in the amateur scene. So, uh, yeah, like I feel like he's caused waves in the right way since coming into the UFC.

Cause you know, okay, if you're not getting knockouts, well, at least you're making, you know, you're creating talking points. You're bringing attention with the likes of the interaction with Paddy, with, you know, goading the French crowd. And it's just a very bizarre decision because, like, what is this now? I guess I'd like to understand the reasoning behind it firstly, but we may not get that, but like, it just seems to me a bit, yeah, a bit, a bit of a rash decision. Now, I suppose the other thing as well, it was at a weird time where like, I felt like there was a lot of momentum starting to build. Yeah.

And even like for people who are not from Ireland, like he's after signing a sponsorship deal with O'Neill's who are this like institution, this clothing apparel who are synonymous with the GAA, which is our national sport over here. They've never done this. They've never bought stock, let's say in, in an MMA fighter before. And now you have them sponsoring Cailan and his younger brother Tiren and for, you know, the JGI style jerseys that they wear to their fights just came at a very weird time. Like you could maybe understand it after the Hadley loss, but now after the Fletcher one, I just don't really understand it. But I suppose it gives a great opportunity for the likes of the

PFL to strike while the iron's hot with Cailan. And there are plenty of fights. I mean, you imagine him against Lewis McGrealin or rematches versus Hadley or, or Lapolis. Um, there's a lot of options there for them. Like, and, and when you can factor in the fact that, and look, Dona said this, uh, to, to ourselves in, uh, in a chat earlier this week, you gotta have them front and center, you know, if you're PFL, you gotta be swooping in quick and, and putting them front and center in Belfast. I couldn't agree with you more. And, um, just before we move on here, I just want to say sources sources are telling me that his phone has been very active over the last couple of days.

That's what sources are telling me. And sources are telling me that many promotions have been in touch, which which I'm not surprised by at all. But sources saying outlook is very, very good for Cailan Loughran. So don't worry. Of course, we text you. Listen, I can say no, it's not. It's not done. I can I can definitely say it wasn't done about sources.

Kaylin Loughran, I think it's going to be OK, guys. On Air Jordan has just garnished me with some news. And Andy is like an Irish, I'm a freak, so he's probably just going to roll his eyes as I announce this, but Justin Poirier, who was announced on a pot, who is appearing on Pat McAfee's show as he is drawing a pick for the saints, I believe, according to New York Rick's text, um, he will be having his retirement fight on July 19th against Max Holloway. Um, there it is. It's in New Orleans, I believe.

Holy shit. It's happening. It is a hell of a fight. We it's a rematch, of course. Who will be the baddest of them all? Tweets to UFC. The hometown kid, Dustin Poirier challenges. Blessed MMA.

That's Max Holloway, guys, for the BMF belt in his final trip to the Octagon. UFC 318. Damn, that is going to be a hell of a fight. I'm wondering, we're kind of saying on Ariel's show, like, will it be a BMFer? We have seen, I see no hashtags BMF there, Jordan. You're going to have to tell me if it is, in fact, a BMF fight. But absolutely huge. I don't know, but it's a it's a great fight.

I mean, what a send off that is like that. That's great matchmaking, isn't it? I know poor he's already beat him I remember max Holloway stepping up to to fight him at 55 all those years ago And he just didn't seem to have enough for him Holloway has evolved into an unbelievable Well, he was already already was an unbelievable for but an unbelievable Striker is striking as some of the best in the UFC. This is gonna be an absolute barn burner I know the trilogy fight or they've bought is it twice before they thought is it? Because he fought Poirier in his debut, I believe into the into the right.

Sorry, excuse me. It wasn't as bad. I think it was a second fight because he set up on short notice for certain. Yes, it is three. But this is arguably the best fight of the three of them. And like when you come into it, I feel like it's an absolute bang. And like both have grown so much in their careers. And if I recall correctly, when they remashed Holloway, it was his first trip up to one 55. And it was around the time where he had all

that, the weight cut issues and he was looking all kind of sketchy on the way. Are you okay? Are you on you need to sit down. But like now you see what he's done to the likes of Justin Gagey at one 55. I mean, this is a banger. This is a, this is BMF. This has to be. Yeah. Even if it isn't, I mean, do we even care if it's not BMF? That's why it's BMF.

Cause like who gives like commandly. Oh, it's BMF. Oh, there Jordan. Oh, there Jordan has come. You're welcome people. Breaking news. Can we get, where's Frank when you need him? It is a BMF.

Yes. Well, that is a BFF. Yes. Well, that is very exciting stuff. And speaking of exciting stuff, Andy, I don't know if you heard the news of BFL of signed former Manchester United captain, former former world cup winner, premier league, all time left back, Patrice Evera. Here it is, a tweet from Patrice Evera. Breaking! I'm officially training for my first fight with PFL Europe. They will pick my opponent. They asked who I want to face.

I said, Luis Suarez. Massive road from Liverpool. There was all types of allegations put against Luis Suarez. Ever accused him of racist joys back in the day. I'll pay out of pocket. He can even bite me. My God, Patrice Everett, trying his hand at fighting, trying his hand at selling. I mean, this is absolutely fantastic. Well, I'm not trying to put words in anyone's mouth there.

I've seen mixed reaction from it, but I do think like with those French shows, which you may have heard, Andy, I I do think like with those French shows, which you may have heard Andy, I've been to one of these French shows with Cedric Dubey, a friend, a friend of Patrice Evers I hear, it's going to be big for there. Like, I mean, the guy is an icon in France. He is fighting. We don't know who, but in terms of a European story to get the mainstream media on board, in terms of a story to get casual fans into this arena in France, do you think this is a good move by PFL or

are you against it completely? No, if you ask me maybe five years ago, I'd have been like, this is a lot of bullshit. But no, I think it's to be honest, quite smart by them for the reasons he pointed out there. Patrice Evera is a superstar, both from his football days, but also, I mean, his media personality, his social media game. I love this game. He's everywhere. I think he's a feature or he's usually featured on every now and then at least on that overlap podcast as well with Keane and Neville and Carragher and the lads. So I think, you know, the random Joe So in the pub on a Saturday night who doesn't watch MMA, they'll probably tune in for this. And if they can, I'd be very interested to see what they do with the opponent because like obviously there's a whole CM Punk thing in the UFC and they brought in Mike Jackson, but like if they

can, if I think they should go full crossover, I mean, it's a, it's a real shame. Don't a Corby's not here for this right now. Cause this is his bread and butter. Or something. Yeah. You got to get someone in. I'd say Joey Barton would be ideal.

Someone who's just absolutely hated. It's just get someone who is despised in football and I feel like Patrice Everett is pretty, you know, university liked for the most part, maybe for now, you fan or something. You might not like him, but yeah, I mean like a bit of crack. Joey Barton, let's go. I've called it. Joey Barton is always talking about a fucking hard bastard. You know, I'm a hard fucker. A lot of people disagree. He wouldn't sign the contract, I'd say. No, no. But yeah, it should be a bit of fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do. Bizarre. Like did not expect to see that today. It's crazy.

I'm actually, I'm actually less shocked for some reason by Patrice Everett. I'm more shocked by the, the announcement here of the Poirier thing. And not, not that we didn't see it coming, but man, do some Poirier walking away. Finally. What a man. I mean, one of the best, one of the, one of the mentions of all mentions as Ari would say, right? Yeah. But like, I don't know. He'll be back in something like, come on. Wow. I mean, are you trying to tell me you don't think Anthony Smith is going to retire

after tomorrow night? I'd say he'd be booked in the apex in about two months. It was on with Ariel and he's like, so you're telling me you're complete zone. He's like, I'm not saying I'm completely. It's unbelievable. Who's talking about retirement with this retirement? It's crazy. Um, I believe we have hit everything that we needed to hit today. Andy, you have been an encyclopedia of Irish knowledge as always.

Um, I love what you're doing at Severo. I love what you're doing at the ultra angle. Um, you have a big day tomorrow. How long, how long are you going to be in the RDS for tomorrow, would you say? I'd say what, eight hours maybe? First fight's half four. I'll probably get out of there about 1am. You'll be waiting for that James Sheehan interview? Maybe grab a little hot dog at some point. Ooh, naughty. Listen, tickets are already sold out for that. I don't know what to tell you, you can't go to that one. Uh, less than 10% of the tickets for the PFL Belfast card are left remaining.

I think they're the ones that are available about 200 quid or so. Um, it will be one of the last times you will get to see Paul use in Ireland though. Like I have no doubt about that. Regardless of what happens with this guy's career, you are going to have a finite amount of times where you can go and watch him. He was fighting on that RDS card the last time they were here and look what's happened to him. If you are interested in grassroots and regional MMA, make sure you check out that cage where he's got it.

We will have eyes on Ian Gary against Carlos Pratchett tomorrow night. We will be watching the Chris Eubank and Nigel, sorry, Nigel Ben, Connor Benfoy. It is an absolute pound to my mind at this stage from the gloves to the way into everything else, but it's going to be a great weekend of sports. Don't forget Pudds and Eddie Hall as well. Lots of things to watch. Thank you so much for joining me on the crack as always. Thank you to, Oh, stay here Andy. Don't go anywhere. Thank God. Oh, stay here. And he don't go anywhere. Wild.

Is this Shane Gillis sending a text in or maybe, maybe who knows? Oh, it's Sean plant. Another one of my great friends. That's showing the beers. Chicken jockey Bosch. Fuck. What was chicken key? Is that, is that, is someone taking the piss on me? What is going on chicken? Oh chicken jockey is That's what it is It's a jack black has a Aligning in minecraft. I believe I've seen it online. I'm pretty cool. Yeah, you've watched it You watched it you went you're way way younger than pts. How did you know that Jordan Jordan can't speak? So I mean you can't hear Jordan on this. So he's not going to tell me anymore.

Super chats, Jordan. Oh, they can't. They couldn't hear that. Jordan's just speaking to us. Yeah, I'm just discovering what technology is for the first time. Listen, I don't know what's happening here. Most crack. Are you speaking on the air, though? Can they hear you, Jordan?

Oh, that's. This is great. I want to treat for the crackheads. Thumbs up in the chat crackheads. I mean, we got on our Jordan here. On our Jordan. I love him. He edited that Paul Hughes thing.

Absolutely delighted. I went out. Big love to Paul Hughes. Big love to Andy Stevenson. Big love to the crackheads. I mean, what a week of combat sports we have. I mean, where would you rather be this weekend than on your couch watching 16 hours of uninterrupted violence. Nowhere else. We love yous. We'll be back.

Enjoy yourselves. Jordan I love you. Oscar Lozeff I love you. Andy Stevenson I love you.