The Ariel Helwani Show - Inside the Yahoo! talks, Marcelo Garcia breaks news, Wade Plemons, Henri Hooft, On the Nose

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

Ariel Helwani answers your On The Nose questions about Syracuse alumni, Islam Makhachev's future, the state of Uncrowned's Yahoo partnership two months in, Carl Froch's offer, the gang's reactions to Ariel's beefs, Ian Machado Garry's self-belief, Dubai chocolate, Ariel's compost saga and more (11:30).Wade Plemons previews his Misfits Boxing debut against HSTikkyTokky on Jan. 18 and discusses his damaged relationship with KSI, how the opportunity came together, his fight night swerve for the announcement, his bet proposal to KSI for the Misfits fight and more (35:07).Marcelo Garcia announces his ONE Championship comeback against Masakazu Imanari and discusses his battle with stomach cancer, Dillon Danis' departure from the gym, steroid culture in jiu-jitsu and more (01:30:35).Henri Hooft, head coach of Kill Cliff FC, discusses Shavkat Rakhmonov's fight against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 310, the viral sparring footage Rakhmonov and Garry, the two's relationship in the gym and more (01:58:37).

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Ariel Helwani Show! The Ariel Helwani Show is back in your life on this Wednesday, December 4th, 2000. And 24. Hello again, everyone. I sure hope you're doing well. And you know, as I say December 4th, as I actually say it, I'm reminded of a very famous date in MMA history. This always happens to me.

I don't even think of these things in advance. I think of December 4th, and always happens to me. I don't even think of these things in advance. I think of December 4th and then it hits me. Was Strikeforce Heavy Artillery on December 4th, 2010? Strikeforce? No, that's May 15th. But there was a Strikeforce in St. Louis, 2010. It was the one where Mauro Ranallo said, who wants a KO for Christmas? Am I right? I should have looked at this beforehand. No, no, no. We need to get it right, Frank. We need to get it right. Robbie Lawler was on it. He had an incredible knockout. Am I right?

Am I? December 4, 2010. Henderson Babalu 2. Robbie Lawler knocked out Matt Linlin on that card. There were four straight knockouts. Lawler, Linlin, Bigfoot, Mike Kyle, Paul Daly, Scott Smith. Who remembers Paul Daly versus Scott Smith? The left hand from hell, Semtex, and then Hendo Sobral.

I remember it like it was yesterday at the Scott Trade Center. Anyone of note on the prelims? OSP was also on the card. Anyway, December 4th. Hello, everyone. Good to be back on a lovely Wednesday. You know we love Wednesdays around these parts. We answer questions. We shoot. We have a grand old time. We also have a super stacked program. And I feel like we were just here because late late night last night we were doing our DAZN program ariel and ade the boxing show exclusive on DAZN in fact i just noticed that i didn't remove the DAZN boxing gloves from the spot right over there so i guess they're getting a free plug

today how about that isn't that nice guys yeah there it is. Yeah, you know what? I'm giving them some love. But you said you did it by accident. You know, sometimes you say things, but you don't really mean them. You see, sometimes when you win, you really lose. And sometimes when you lose, you really win. And sometimes... Beep. Well, that individual That individual joined us

Did you guys see this? Well, the guys in the back saw it Because they were there But I was doing the show with Adiola Depot And we were talking about the February 22nd card In Riyadh Saudi Arabia The big one

The last crescendo they're calling it Better be a Bivol 2, etc, etc And all of a sudden I looked down, this is a shoot. This really happened and it happened this way. I did not, this is not some kind of a wrestling angle. I looked down and I have multiple missed calls from Saudi Arabia and multiple missed, what's that messages. And the crux of it all is I want to come on the show.

There's some things I want to talk about. And so just like that, arguably, or maybe not arguably, I don't even know how you can argue against this, the most powerful man in combat sports, Turkey Al-Sheikh of Saudi Arabia, of GIA, joined us to talk about a whole host of things. Now, a lot of those things were about the world of boxing and the plans coming up for 2025, but he did drop some very interesting MMA-related news, and specifically as it pertains to one Francis Ngannou, and even more specifically as it pertains to a fight that we have been talking about for quite some time. Anyway, in case you missed it, and you can watch

it on the DAZN Boxing Show YouTube channel and the app as well, here is what Turkey had to say about a potential super fight in 2025. I have in the table two options for Francis, one in MMA and one in boxing I want to discuss with. Can I ask you what those options are? The MMA, you know, all the times my answer is all the time we want to do the biggest things. Would that be Jon Jones? Has to be Jon Jones.

Beep. Wow. I mean, let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. You've pulled off a lot of things, my friend, you've pulled off a lot of great things. If you could somehow figure that one out, if you can get that one done, that might be your greatest, your greatest move of all.

If you can figure out Francis versus John Jones, PFL versus UFC, I will eternally tip my cap to you. That, that would be the one. We, we, we, we, we need, I will eternally tip my cap to you. That would be the one, if you ask me. We need to send Dana White to the moon. Can I come with him? Maybe we could sit together. You said you were going to have us sit together. Maybe we could do it together and we make peace on Earth. See, I like him, brother brother but I think

he prefer to go alone fair enough great zinger there from the big man and you know I had to shoot my shot and it would be nice to travel to the moon with one Dana White but how about that he mentioned two options on the table

for Francis Ngannou in MMA and in boxing, one each, it appears. The MMA one, very clearly, he is insinuating, at the very least, a Jon Jones fight. He does go with the beep and take that how you want to. And then prior to that,

also talked about a potential fight against one Deontay Wilder in boxing. And so now everyone is talking about this. And we have said in the past that he is the one guy who could probably make this happen. We know about the complications. We know about the roadblocks. We know about, I mean, talk about roadblocks. The Empire State Building isn't a big enough roadblock to put into that. But that equation. But if there's one guy who can maybe pull it off, it's him. And so this has gotten a lot of people very excited talking. There are some people who are saying, thanks, but no thanks. We prefer the Tom fight. Now, I'm not saying that this has to happen next per se, but just to me, the idea of saying, hey, PFL, we have a relationship with you. Hey, UFC, we have a relationship with you. Come together. Let's start doing to a degree what

I'm doing in boxing. Now, the card that he has put together in February features the six biggest, six biggest promotions in boxing coming together. That's Matchroom, Queensberry, Golden Boy, Boxer, Top Rank, all coming together, right? And PBC, of course. And so that's six.

We don't have that dynamic. And let's be honest, as far as super fights go, cross promotional fights, it's really just one that we're really clamoring for at the moment. And that's Francis versus, you know, the heavyweight champion in the UFC. If he could

pull it off, massive coup. Since then, in fact, I do believe a couple of minutes ago, some aggregator site, shout out to them, much love, I think it was Nasher MMA posted about this and Dana White himself commented on it and said, there it is, absolutely not true, John versus Tom. Now, what's so interesting about this is, what is not true? Again, if you look at the clip, if you look at what he said, if you listen to what he said, he's not actually saying it's Francis versus John, but it seems to be insinuated. Number one, he's also not saying that it's a done deal. He's just saying this is what he wants. Okay?

But what's fascinating about this is for the first time ever, for the first time in the Dana White UFC era, which now spans some 24 plus years, there is someone out there who can talk about making fights, and it's not Dana White. UFC fights. And I can't imagine that is something that he loves. And so here he is talking about a UFC fighter, UFC property, if you will. I want to make this fight. No one's ever been able to say that. No one's had that luxury.

No one's had that power. And so that's why I think you see him rushing to say, no, no, no, no. This ain't happening. John versus Tom. Now, again, that may be the fight that the world wants to see come 2025, but I just think this dynamic is fascinating. And I can't wait to see how it continues to play out. Anyway, fascinating stuff there from Turkey Alshake. He dropped a boatload of nuggets. There's a portion of that interview up on our YouTube page right now, full thing on the DAZN page and app.

Do check it out because it was very impromptu, and Adi and I were just kind of rifling off questions, as many that we can squeeze into about 20 to 25 minutes. Also a great interview with Liam Powell. Now let's talk about today's program. Today's program, back end of the show, we are going to be joined by Henry Hooft, who is one of the best coaches in MMA.

Henry Hooft, of course, down there at Kill Cliff MMA. He will be in Shavkat Rachmanov's corner come Saturday at UFC 310. He has also cornered Ian Machado Gary. He knows the two of them quite well at this point. Wanted to talk to him about that dynamic. One of the greatest BJJ practitioners currently living on this planet Earth and arguably of all time, the great Marcelo Garcia, who resides here in New York City, announced that he is returning to action next year for one championship in a grappling match.

We have yet to find out who he will be facing. We are going to find out who he will be facing. We are going to find out. He will reveal that on today's program. Some breaking news courtesy of the great Marcelo Garcia, who has battled and overcome stomach cancer recently. Shout out to him. Much love. That's an incredible, incredible feat, and it's a great honor to have him on the program. Tank Davis, Gervonta Davis, is going to join us first time ever, I do believe, on this show. He is joining us this show. I talk about the history of the show. One of the faces of boxing, top three, top four, at the very worst top five most famous boxers on

the planet. He's returning to action on March 1st in Brooklyn against Lamont Roach. They had the press conference yesterday. He was four and a half hours late. God help us if he is four and a half hours late on this particular day. We don't know what we'll do. Probably stick around. I'm not sure. Hopefully he's on time.

Hopefully he'll join us. I am excited to have him on the show for the first time. And our old pal, Wade Plemons, is going to join us. We've been talking about him all week long. He showed up on the Qatar Supercard on Thursday of last week to announce that he will be

competing in boxing next year on a Misfits card against the legend H.S. Tiki Taki. He's going to come on to talk about how he got this done,

why he's doing this, and how he mended the fences with Mams Taylor of Misfits. Somewhat of a baby face, if you will, a media darling. There they are, the quartet. We also love to answer questions on a Wednesday,

and we got a plethora of them. So let's not waste any time. Let's squeeze in some 20 minutes or so of questions, and then we'll get to our interviews, and then we'll conclude with more questions before I head off to Viva Las Vegas to hopefully, potentially, maybe, if the stars align for us, pick up number 15. How about that? I'm alpha. Yeah, you know yourself, Frank. Dominic Cassier. Hello, Ariel.

It was fun getting to see you brag about Syracuse's upset win over Miami this past weekend in football. It made me wonder, have you gone to interview any famous SU alumni in the past? Or who are some famous SU alumni slash athletes you'd love to meet or interview? Have I interviewed any famous SU? That's a great question. I mean, Bob Costas. That was a huge huge huge deal for me Any other I mean Bob Costas and Marv Albert Are the reason why I wanted to go to SU So probably it would have to be Another journalist slash broadcaster But he's the main one and the biggest one That comes to mind as far as athletes are concerned Mello would be incredible

I was there when they won in 2003 He was one of my favorite players. Obviously played for the Knicks. Shout out to his son, Keon. Is it Kion or Keon? I'm not sure. I think it's Kion. Might be Keon.

Frank, any idea? No clue. Yeah. Maybe GC knows. Kion or Keon? Yeah, it's definitely one of those. Yeah. Okay.

Well, I figure you have your finger on the pulse of the high school sort of collegiate scene. Anyway, we'll circle back. Very excited about him committing to SU. Others, I mean, I was a big Jerry McNamara fan. I was a big John Wallace fan as well back in the day. That team that made it to the championship game, I think, in 1996. I think that Mike Rotunda went to SU, or at least hails from Syracuse, also known as Erwin R. Scheister.

So those are a few that come to mind. Connor. um Connor hey lads for quick fire 2025 true or false questions true or false in 2025

Islam will challenge for double champ status challenge I say false anyone agree disagree I agree with you challenge. I say false. Anyone agree? Disagree? I agree with you.

Yeah, I say false as well. Yeah. In 2025, we will get a much awaited Fury versus AJ showdown. I'm going to say true. I think so too. I think maybe Fury loses to Usyk and then they make Fury AJ and everyone will belly ache that it's, you know, five years too late, but they'll still watch it. And perhaps that's the fight that he was talking about yesterday that will happen outside.

Now it's all coming together. You'd have to do it in the UK. There's no way you can do it in Saudi. Has to be in Wembley or Hotspur Stadium. That's it. In 2025, will we get a UFC pay-per-view in Saudi? Yes. You think so?

I say no. Hamza Chamoyev got a fight for the belt, right? Oh, that's a good point. That's a good point. I mean, it could either be Saudi, it could be Abu Dhabi. Yeah, we'll see. I mean, very, very possible. They're going to have a show there.

You can't say we'll see It's yes or no Oh no no Okay so it said no I said no You say yes Alright They have a show already

Scheduled for Saudi right Isn't it the February 1st card That's alright They did 200,000 this year Alright fine fine fine In 2025 And by the way Is Rick just like

Abstaining from this game Or is there like Some sort of Protest that he's Like why My best quality is I only speak when I have there like some sort of protest that he's like, why? My best quality is I only speak when I have something to say. Okay,

fine. I mean, it's just like, you're just there, but I haven't heard a peep. Um, maybe this one. You guys got it. You guys have been cruising.

All right, fine. Uh, 2025. Something I care about and I'll jump in and say it. Uh, will we see Francis lace the boxing gloves again in 2025? Yeah.

Yes. I mean, Turkey said he's got a boxing fight for him. He's got an MMA fight for him. Yeah, I say so as well. Travis Borker, and shout out to my good friend, Travis Barker. Big fan of the show. Very, very, very supportive of us. And hopefully he's listening to us while

in bed. He likes to go to... He said he likes to go to bed listening to the program which is Maybe the greatest honor that I've ever received In my entire life career or not Career that's just You put him to sleep You could look at it that way

I could say you want to be in your Happiest state possible what do you do You turn on me you go to bed What's better than that Can you please give us the behind the current story regarding your various poses on your new YouTube thumbnails? Did you do a photo shoot for those all at once? Did you change clothes to have images in different outfits? Also, did you have someone coach you in your unique looking facial expressions?

Shout out to Josh P. who also wrote, this is one of the most highly anticipated news developments in recent memory. If you must know, we do have a brilliant young man named Ovin who has been a huge, huge, huge part of the team. He makes our thumbnails. He's a legend. And he was telling us that like screen grabs just aren't going to cut it so then we had our friend one lens in china at one lens in china uh she came on and uh stopped by the studio and took some photos of me in action and if you must know i brought like 10 different shirts and i had to sit there and talk to no one while wearing these different shirts so that we can roll through these photos. And I do believe Oven has also taken the liberty of changing the colors of the shirts to make them look even more, you know, fresh and unique. Do you like them? Do

you not like them? Let me know your thoughts in the chat and by the way thumbs up to the chat but there is the full story there it is uh ryan bruez hey guys uh any chance you could give us some more insight into the negotiations and signing with yahoo like what separated them from the other big players and what was the toughest thing to negotiate on um it was actually quite you know it was quite easy and I say easy obviously you know there's a whole process but there weren't any big hangups for me the biggest thing was

ownership it being on my YouTube channel and owning the library and owning the content I will say as I've said before it came down to four major players everyone was offering those same stipulations, if you will, like it was all good. With some, we had to work to get there, but at the very end, all of that was equally on the table. Two things I think kind of put us over the edge in Yahoo's favor.

Number one, the website component was huge. Wanted that as well. I would say two of them didn't really offer that and one did. And then the other one was just everything that they're building here. And as I've said, Ryan Spoon, the newish president at this point, it's not really new. I mean, it's been a year and a half, but at the time, newish president of Yahoo Sports,

Sam Farber, the whole team here. I was very, very impressed with the direction that they were going, with the freedom, with the ownership, with the partnership. And it just felt like the right fit. And I feel like we have been, you know, it's two months in. You could still say a honeymoon phase, but we have been, you know, it's two months in, you could still say a

honeymoon phase, but we have been validated. Like there are so many people that are here to help us make this show as good as possible. And I always talk about working through the kinks and all that stuff, but there is a plethora of people. They do a Yahoo Finance show, which you guys got a glimpse of during the Rampage interview. Like it's a high level production and people come here and they see that and they feel that and we see it and feel it as well. And then you couple that with the website and everything that they're doing and building over there and everything that we have done over there as well. There's incredible, I mean, every day I just go on that website and I look at all the content

that is up there and I'm so proud of it and how it's all flowing so nicely between the different forms of combat sports. There's a great story up right now by Chuck Mendenhall on that turkey bit of news. Another great column from Keith Idek on Tank Davis's day yesterday and on and on and on it goes. So I'm just over the moon. I sit back and look at it. We're doing a lot. We're here a lot. I don't think like we're oversaturating. I think we're pumping out a lot of good content. I think that we're doing stuff with partners like DAZN. We're doing Helwani Vision.

We have other things in the work as well. This is quite literally the dream. This is exactly all I wanted to do. I don't really want to do much else. Coming in here, doing the show, interviewing the biggest names in sports, combat sports, whatever you want to say, and talking to people, interacting live, live, live, live, live, live is really all that I ever wanted to do. And, and, and there's, there's great, you know, there's great little mini trips, byproducts,

opportunities, things of that nature. There's, there's great stuff like that that pop up. You know, the in-ring stuff, the on-the-road stuff, but that's kind of the Olympic stuff. Like those are kind of one-offs, if you will, as far as the bread and butter, the meat and potatoes of my life. Nothing I really wanted to do more than this. And getting to do with this team back here in the control room, seeing what they're doing on Thursdays, what PT does on Fridays, to watch it. Like, it's just, I feel like it's all just kind of humming together,

and I feel, again, like we're only scratching the surface. That does remind me, as we're talking about live and shows and content and whatnot, couldn't help but notice, couldn't help but notice that my good friend flat earth frotch responded once again to me carl good to see you yes and that was my um reaction when i see him continue to go low with the clown mask and you know digging up the old hits the 199 crying video the same old shit that everyone brings up each and every time they try to hit me below the belt. Like I haven't heard this a gazillion times over the past

eight and a half years. I have, I have pulled the control room. I have pulled the members. They all say, let it go. You 10-7'd him a couple of times. Let it go. Let it go. Don't stoop. Don't stoop. Don't stoop. And so I had a whole bunch of things that I wanted to reply. I wanted to talk about how he continues to not answer, you know, which charity and what percentage goes to charity. And, you know, why do you keep talking about Jake Paul if you feel like he's making the sport of boxing a joke? And can you at least acknowledge that you don't really talk about anything other than the top-level stuff? You don't even talk about Katie Taylor versus Amanda Serrano, for God's sakes, and that you are just kind of annoyed by the fact that someone is pushing back because everyone keeps telling me,

don't respond. He's the Cobra. He's the Cobra. You don't want to respond. You don't want to get in his way, feel his wrath. Well, one thing I know about Cobras, they are snakes, and we are seeing this from Mr. Flat Earth Frotch. And so I'm not going to respond. I'm not, I promise. They told me not to respond. Everyone told me not to respond. So I will just say this. I accept, I accept your invitation.

You ignored my DM. You saw it. You ignored me reaching out. You ignored my trip to New York. You ignored coming on the show. You ignored coming on the show and simulcasting it on your program. And so I accept with one stipulation attached, if I may.

I will come on your show gladly, but I want it to be simulcast on my show. But you can conduct it. You can lead the dance, but I want it on my show for one reason and one reason only. Because we here, we shoot. We're live. We don't do the cutting up editing Shit that you guys do They were live as well They were live as well

We don't do those editing little tricks that you and your Your knobhead producer Do and so we come on here We come on here and we shoot live We don't hide behind anything And so do it live and we get to simulcast it here and i'll talk about whatever you want to talk about my pay you want to talk about who i work for you want to talk about my ethics i will never talk about a fighter and

critique their punching skills critique their technique i will never talk about that and i will never insult a legend in the hall of fame but right now I'm not talking about your boxing skills. I'm talking about your work as a media member. And just like you like to boast that you sold out 80,000, I have a degree from the number one school those times was in a nightclub called the Avalon in Los Angeles. The biggest venue that you ever fought in was Boardwalk Hall. Point is, learn a thing or two about journalism when you start talking about my journalism. And so I accept, I accept, I accept, I accept your invitation. It must be live. Otherwise, stop talking about me. Stop putting my face on your thumbnails to get clicks and piss off mate piss off cobra no one knows who you are and no one cares about you anymore we move along now to our next question all right james portland oh did i did was that too much i know everyone back there is mad at me

no nobody's mad at you they're mad they're mad you're trying to make this like a we're picking aside and we're riding with the Pobres. I'm just glad to see that you heeded our advice and you didn't respond. Yeah. That's just what you would have said if you would have. No, I had much more. If you would have responded, you would have responded. That is what you would have said. No, no, no.

I had more. Do you want me to get into it? No, no, no. No, it's all right. I think you made your point. I think you made your point. I had more. No, no, no, no.

I like the stipulation. I like the stipulation I like the stipulation Let's go live Let's go live Let's do a live Let's do a live I'm sure this is gonna happen For sure

Well then Stop I've made multiple offers Enough What's up team And I will keep going Despite You know

The advice of my team My first question is for Ariel How did your son do At his basketball tryout He said it was L He said it was an L tryout. Those were his words specifically, but he's very hard on himself.

I think he did just fine. We'll see. We'll see. He felt like he wasn't at his best. He didn't know what a triple threat was. And I tried to explain to him that you don't have to know all the lingo. You don't have to know everything.

You don't have to know what, you know, even a full court presses. He knows. But my son is the spitting image of me in so many ways. I'm not even talking about like looks, but I'm talking about like internally, his anxiety, how hard he is on himself, the way he builds things up in his head, all this stuff, how emotional he is. He is exactly me. So I feel like I know it is an amazing thing to kind of understand what someone is thinking and feeling without them even saying it. And I try to tell this to my wife all the time, who is the complete opposite of me in the best way, because she doesn't get this type of anxiety. She doesn't overthink these things, et cetera,

et cetera. And I know exactly what he's feeling and how he's feeling. And that's an incredible, you know, that's an incredible feeling for me as a parent. And so I know everything that he's thinking. I know he wants to do it and we'll see what happens, but I do appreciate it, TJ. Thank you. Thank you very much for asking. This is actually very apropos. Question for the rest of the crew and do not be scared to answer because of Ariel 10, seven Helwani. When Ariel gets in his beefs or back and forths with people like Dana Bilal or more recently Carl Flat Earth Frotch, do y'all ever find yourselves? Was that editorialized or does it actually say that? I can't confirm nor deny.

You can go look that up on the sub stack. Uh, do y'all ever find yourselves agreeing more with Ariel's opponents? Wow. Let's hear this. No, not really. I actually never have. Oh, sorry. I can't speak for all of us.

No, I never have. I can't speak for all of us. No, often not. Most of the time it's more of a do we need to engage in this battle, right? We know that it's- That's my thing. No need for the drama. No need for it. I felt like Brin and Chav had some good points.

I don't know if it's like no need for drama. It's more just like sometimes it's worth the battle, sometimes it's not. In this case, I just feel like Carl Farage is not worth the battle. It's not worth the battle. Ultimately. We're the opposite then, Rick. I send them messages pouring fuel on them. Yeah, that's why I love you, PT.

What about this? That's why I love you. Did you see that? Did you see that clip? I think, PT, you were the one that sent me the infamous Patty clip. I had no idea. You know, the infamous one. The one with the Dana interview. That was exactly, I think, almost two years ago.

Oh, yeah, it was. I was like, sorry about that, man. You're like, what are you talking about? That's after he advised Patty on what to say. So, actually, everybody's ire. all your opponents actually should be blaming Pizzi. That's the one they should be going after for stoking the flames of all. If you want to blame someone. Peter should disturb Pizzi Carol. Yeah.

By the way, we are about an hour away from the big kickoff at Etihad Stadium, Forest versus City. And I know we're big in Nottingham. I know they love us in Nottingham I believe some have said that we are the new Kings of Nottingham And so I want to let you know That you don't have to pick and choose

You can watch us and follow along Right? We're all ready, right guys? Yeah, I mean We're, yeah I don't know if follow along Is necessarily We have a bug right We'll show the score when it's prompted

Can I just see how the bug looks Yeah let's take a look 0-0 Kickoff hasn't started There it is Can we get an Arsenal one there Nah you can piss off Piss off mate

Honestly you might never get invited back to a Forest game. AGC, you're picking that side of Manchester today, is it? You're blue today. No, I'm a Forest guy today. Oh, Jesus. All right, fair enough. I'm a Manc when I'm Manc. No, no, no.

He's a Red till he dies. Do you know where? I'm just a Manchester guy I support both Against Forrest I'm going to have to cheer for them Forrest is a great sort of this year In fairness I told you when you started supporting them

We changed everything They should be thanking us Have they put out a statement on their side of the cobra nose beef Yeah I know I understand that Nottingham is By the way I'm trying to move on You're bringing it back The cobra knows beef. Yeah, I know. I understand that Nottingham is... You see, by the way, I'm trying to move on. You're bringing it back.

You opened up the can of worms. It's already open. Good to see you. Nottingham is divided right now. They are divided. 90% in favor of Helwani, 10% in favor of Flat Earth Frotch. I mean, 10 years past his prime. Couldn't sell more than, I don't know,

a couple thousand tickets when he was in his prime. And what was the quote? What was the quote, GC? Everyone's going to know that it's huge. They're going to be hyped up because they're going to say, fucking hell, Jake Paul's about to get ironed out by the Cobra.

Yeah, they're going to say. That is one of my favorite quotes of all time. Ironed out like the flat earth we live on. Oh. Frank. All right. Frank. By the way.

Now we've talked about Kyle O'Rourke. Don't steal jokes now, Frank. That's a good one. Breaking news coming into SportsCenter. I don't know if you guys heard, but the Cobra is coming out of retirement, everyone. Yep. Stephen A. Smith. Oh, they're going to be breaking it down. The Cobra is about out of retirement, everyone. Yep. Stephen A. Smith. Oh, they're going to be breaking it down.

The Cobra is about to iron out Jake Paul. I love the iron out. That's incredible. What's bigger than Netflix? Is there a bigger platform? This has to be bigger than Netflix. What's bigger than Netflix? It'll be like Netflix plus Apple TV plus Prime.

It'll be... TikTok. If it was just sent directly iphones that would be the biggest uh way to reach it by the way they'll have to broadcast this from the moon is the moon flat too what is a good point what do flat earthers think about the moon never actually wondered that before i think the sun is flat too i've never. Some serious questions. By the way, Andy Koufax for the G-splitting sicko of Blanchardstown. Oh, thank you.

Ian Gary's a man who generally offends my tastes and sensibilities. The lead-ups to his fights with Magdy and Neil were especially dreadful, and he quickly made my list of most loathed fighters. On Monday's show, however, I thought he comported himself beautifully. Was this more like the Ian Gary

you witnessed rise up the ranks pre-UFC? I will say, Ian's always been that guy who was crazy belief in himself. I believe in what he's saying when he says, this is what I'm like

all the time. I do believe that. He was that like he he was always like you know he hadn't even fought pro and he was like i could beat most of these guys in the ufc like he was he was that good as well you know i've seen um i've seen some people in irish mma putting out his old amateur clips and he just looks leaps and bounds better than the vast majority of guys that he fired now andreas binder um i think it was a split decision when he got over him obviously that was a competitive fighting obviously thought he won that fight but like that's that's a that's a thing that's been there since day one like that is the

kind of that's what it's like being around him like he is he is like that all the time he is a very um jovial person like he is very extroverted like he he will probably let you know within five minutes of talking to him that he's the best fighter in the world that he thinks he's you know gonna change the game all that kind of stuff like that that is who he was all the time um so when he says like if you look back on your first interview with him he was saying the same stuff like he thought he could like he would give these guys as a top of the division and go straight away people were guffawing at him saying he beat hams up back then like he he definitely believes that whether you believe it or not ian gary definitely believes that and that that has remained true in every interview he's done for you would

you say he's just a chill guy definitely not no i wouldn't say he's a chill guy it's chill guy versus extroverted guy in this point, I'm going to say. There's something about the way you say chill guy that I just really enjoy. It actually, like when you say it, I think immediately of the chill dog guy. He sent me the picture after the show last

one. I was like, I've genuinely never seen that before in my life. Ah, come on. It's a great thing going around the internet. All right, more questions to be answered later in the program. But for now, let us speak to a chill guy. He surely knows all about the chill guy meme.

And he made some news about six days ago. There we were sitting watching the Misfits Supercard in Qatar. And all of a sudden, our old friend, Wade Plemons shows up very pro-wrestling-esque in that him and Mams Taylor, we have talked about it on this show and with him and on different platforms as well. They just needed to get along. They just needed to get on the same page

because they were both helping each other up through the ranks as this influencer boxing scene was making some noise. And no one was covering it, in my opinion, better than Wade. And then there he is showing up in Qatar, of all places, and also announcing that he is going to be fighting for misfits. There's the scene right over there. Big Wade, mask and all, pointing, puffing, snarling. Yeah, warming up the hands

Yeah let me hear ya Hulkamania Esk Waitamania Running wild Without further ado Let us say hello To the great

Wade Plemons Hello Wade There he is Sun's out Sun's out Hey come on now A little something here Damn homie

Yeah man Well done Well done, well done We have a plethora of questions, and I weighed in on this I don't know if you saw on Monday, I weighed in on the execution Of the angle, and we'll talk about that In a moment, or the story, if you will I don't want to discredit what you're doing Because I know it's 100% legit

But, first Embryonic stages I know the issue between you and Misfits and Mams, and good luck on Kingpin and all that, I know the issue between you and Misfits and Mams and good luck on Kingpin and all that. I know that was all very, very legit. And let's be honest, perhaps painful at times. How do we get from that to you showing up in Qatar to you agreeing to fight for the promotion, not just broadcast, but fight? Well, okay. So I guess if we're doing the whole thing, yeah obviously the the half on

kingpin was uh my exit from misfits and um you know my i would say entrance into the rest of what i was doing um i i really took that time to to grow as a commentator to grow as a youtuber as someone that wanted to be more knowledgeable and gain more experience in the scene and honestly i gotta thank a lot of people for that time because I didn't really know what I was going to do next. The two biggest people I got to thank are Jake Paul and Nikita Bidarian because they obviously started Most Valuable Prospects and I was able to really gain a lot of experience and still am.

I'm going to prospects in a week on that show. And yeah, I've just been able to grow. And during that time, yeah, it was difficult for sure. Obviously, I have so many friends over at Misfits, so many people there that I enjoy working with and being around and just love the environment while I was there. It's one of those things, business happens. It is what it is, I guess. Um, a little more personal than I would like to demand, but it is, it is what it is. Um, and then, you know, over the last couple of months, I had started to get this idea, you know, what's next for me, what do I want to do to push myself? And that's really this whole thing, Ariel is just, I want to push myself. I want to do stuff that I'm uncomfortable with stuff that makes me uncomfortable.

Um, but pushes me into a new light, helps me grow. And that's why I'm back. And so I actually made the call. I hit up the Misfits people and Mams and said, hey, I'm thinking about taking a fight. How real could this be? And then talks went on from there. Wow. And so did you have to get over some personal stuff first? Did you and Mams actually talk on the phone, sit in a room? Yeah. It's business, man. So all this personal stuff, you know, you can save it for your friends at home and stuff. I'm here to do business and that's how I'm treating it. What about you and KSI? What about us?

I mean, there were some things said between you two on social media as well. Yeah. I mean, there's no anything different now. So no fences have been mended. There's no handshake. We're cool now. We're boys. You're kind of going in there as a bit of an outsider, if you will.

Yeah, for sure. Everything you guys saw when I walked down that ramp, everything I said in that ring, I meant. It was no promo for me. We shoot from the hip over here. I like that. One fight deal? Yeah. Is this something you want to do more of or you just kind of want to cross it off the bucket list? We'll see, man. I'm just excited for this one. I'm pumped. Like I said, it's new for me. I played sports all my life and did all that, but this is something brand new. And again, it's me challenging myself. So whatever happens after, we'll deal with it after. But for now, I'm focused on HS and I'm excited, man percent honest, was not familiar with him before all of this. And we've kind of cracked jokes about his name and all that. Who is he? And what are his, you know, name, I think. But that's really it. I know he's a bit of a wild man, kind of flies by the seat of his pants. I don't exactly know what's made him popular, but he seems to be that. And a big, strong guy, athletic. They say he's the boogeyman of this thing. So when I was looking at doing it, i didn't want to come in and take an easy fight because i'm here for a good time not a long time so i i want to take the guy they say is the best

in the scene we'll see uh what weight it'll be at 200 200 how many rounds uh five five rounds uh 10 ounce gloves oh yeah okay pro bout three-minute rounds, all that. Yep. Is this on the January 18th card? I will know for sure today. Oh. And why is that? I'm not sure on their, on HS's side, if they're going to be locked in on that.

I'm not sure yet. Okay. Do you want it to be? I am. I am. Okay okay i'm ready to go january 18th what is the potential hang-up i don't again i don't know that's on their side i'm just i walked into this thing said when is it what's the way that it up okay yes yes yes yes i haven't really said no to much here so i'm ready to go i'm bumped and they got to figure out

whatever's going on with them. The thing, you know, I don't, again, I don't know too much about HS, but I know about the influencer boxing scene. I've seen him be a little bit tough to wrangle when it comes to these fights. You know, he's had a fight before that I think, you know, ended up pulling out of, and then recently he pulled out of one. I think he was supposed to fight on guitar a little bit of a, you know, we'll just call him a flight risk on these fights so you're you're going all in you're a pro this is a big deal for you i guess the question is why sign up to fight a dance partner who is flaky who may not show up like well what if you get the fight week and all

of a sudden you have no opponent you just went through all this we'll have a backup in place for that for sure okay. Okay. All right. Yeah. But yeah, again, it's more about me. You know, HS is the face. He's the person in front of me, but it's more about me. I want to show what I can do. I want to show I can challenge myself. And I want to show that, again,

I think I'm going to surprise a lot of people here. Does he have a criminal record? I don't actually know. I mean, I've heard this online. It seems to be something they keep talking about. Yeah. You saw this. I have no idea if this is real or not. If he does, that's going to be an issue, obviously, but I will see. Surely I'll get word on that, but I don't think it'll be that big an issue. I hope not. Obviously I know a lot of your fans were disappointed when you weren't on the broadcast anymore.

Does this mean that you will now be working those shows as well? Oh no, man. We may, we may have to amend the contract a little bit. How fun would that be? You know, how about we do this era? We'll do a little, a little bet skis here. If I win, I get to be back on Misfits commentary. Okay. What about that? I'm not asking for a lot here.

You know what I mean? I'm not asking for anything crazy. I'm just saying if I win, put me back on the table. And if you lose? I don't know. I'll have to figure that out. Okay. Yeah.

Maybe that's a ma'am's question. I'll never come back. I don't know. The follow-up though is, as you said, you're a big part of the mvp plans yeah you know well the thing the thing there is not a it's never been an issue okay um on mvp side there's never been an issue i i've told people this before i again i'm not putting anybody's business out there but i don't think they operate or they feel they operate in the same lane. So I don't think that'd be an issue.

There is a bit of a rivalry there. We all know that. Yeah. He's a man, KSI and Jake, whatnot, but I would hope that would be the case. Now, the thing is, here's what I appreciate about you. You do this all legit, you're a pro, but let's be honest, bit of a worker as well

because you worked us on Thursday. You did the whole gimmick about the live chat going down and the outage and then there you were showing up okay so we were actually talking about this you did a video that i think lasted like eight minutes or so and then it cut off and then you put up the the screen grab was that video there it is for everyone watching the stream my internet went out completely i don't know why my provider goes to crap now of all times. I'm trying to fix it, stand by. You followed that up with a text conversation here about Cox Internet saying that there's an outage and whatnot.

All this very calculated, all a work. Brilliant stuff, by the way, just tremendous stuff. But the video, was that pre-taped as well? Yeah, yeah, I pre-taped it about two or three days before. Shout out to my editor, Leo. He sprinkled in some things to make it look like I was actually experiencing some network issues right at the end when it cut off there. And essentially, I had him run the stream from a remote location and then just end the

stream because I couldn't really do much while I was in Qatar. The flight to Qatar was 16 hours there. I land, you know, we got like one day to we're live. And so I was just wondering, how did you get it? Because that to me was the brilliance of it. You got it in the live tab, which we are kind of programmed to think is actually live, live. So did he have to like stream it even though it's not actually live? You can do that? You could pull that off? So what you can do is, again, let's get in the weeds, right? There's a program called OBS.

And what you can do is use one of the scenes to just import a video as the scene. So as soon as you click that scene, it just runs the video or whatever it is that you've made it for that scene. Wow. So essentially he started the live stream and we used a black screen to kind of like start the live stream for like five seconds. And then I re I prerecorded the intro with music. And then just like I would during my normal live streams, just click myself on there, started talking about some random BS and then we went forward. Brilliant. You have a whole control room of people right now captivated by this because we were all debating how you pulled it off. I would imagine 99% of the audience has no idea.

Two man show, two man show, Eric. Come on, man. Brilliant. I love it. I love it. And congratulations, by the way, you were, you had a, you had a, like a fight companion, if you will, ringside from Jake Paul, Mike Tyson with your dad, insane numbers. You had Shaquille O'Neal and others stopping by as well. That had to have been a career highlight. It was nuts. Had your boy, Eddie Hearn on as well for a short period. You could tell he was looking around.

He was like, I don't know if I'm in. Yeah. Look at that, man. Shaq with my pops pops how dope is that that's incredible um it was just a great week man we had amber rose on uh heard you're familiar with her work um yeah we had her on no we had it was it was a fun time man and shack was was a massive highlight but obviously you know watching the fights my dad was so intrigued with the co-main event. He was so pumped about Amanda Serrano, Katie Taylor. And he was just a goofball.

He was trying to Netflix people are walking around the production stuff. And he's getting mad because they're bumping into our table. It was so funny. Is that going to be a thing that you'll be doing more of? I want to, yeah. I mean, again, whenever the opportunity arises, I would love to. It was just great chemistry, and I did not know how my dad would be on camera. I mean, he's just a Southern guy, and he's never been on camera for anything, and I was like, oh gosh, what's he going to say? Is he going to be okay? But he did well,

and the cowboy hats, the fits, everything worked, man. So at this juncture for you, is there any thought like, all right, you were kind of known as the authority when it comes to this particular scene. And I know that you know a lot about regular pro boxing, about MMA, about pro wrestling as well. To now be a part of the show, if you will, to be an active competitor in the show, was there any worry that maybe it's blurring the lines? Like, okay, I could be on the outside, I could comment, but now I'm actually working the show was there was there any worry that maybe it's blurring the lines like okay i could be on

the outside i could comment but now i'm actually you know working the show i'm i'm competing on the show and now you're like one of the boys if you will that changes things to some degree does it not i don't look at it that way i think it gives me an experience to speak better about the sport outside of the ring which is kind of why i'm doing it you know uh another part outside of the ring, which is kind of why I'm doing it. You know, uh, another part outside of just challenging myself outside of the, the great Ben, the Bain Davis, who, you know, well, um, there's not many guys that, that do that play by play spot and then go in and fight. And I just think it, it helps, you know, speak so much more knowledgeably to the sport. Understand sometimes when I have a, you know, a polymelanogy or an Onito Donair or kind

of a big announcement, by the way. All right. Yeah. You teach something. I was going to say I'm in Arizona right now. OK. So I've moved camp to Arizona to train with the great DJ Flores. Wow. Yeah. So we're down here locked in for the next, you know, five, six weeks. This morning, BJ got me out of bed. We're watching Larry Holmes footage.

We're doing we're doing all kinds of crazy stuff where it's, he is one of the highest level minds that I've come across in this scene or, or like in boxing in general. So when I wanted the best training, I came down here and, um, to understand guys like that, that have been in this game, that have fought at the highest level to have some of the best minds for the sport. That's another reason I want to step in and do it. Okay, so he's going to be your head trainer? Yes, sir. Wow, and you're going to stay there hopefully until the week of the 18th?

All the way through. If it's not the 18th, when would it be? When's the next show? You got me. I don't know. Like I said, I'm locked in regardless. This is the cool thing about my job, Ariel. I can pick up and move and go and do whatever. So I'm going to take full advantage

of it. Like I said, I am so locked in. I'm so excited. I literally got in the car, drove down here and we're full camp, full steam ahead. Do you have to cut weight, gain weight to make 200? No, I'm actually, this is actually perfect for me. I don't have to really do much. I'm right around. I'm not going to say what weight I am or, you know, how close I am, but I don't have, I don't have to get myself down there, kill myself to get to 200. I'm right there. No one knows the scene better than you, in my opinion.

And so let me ask you this, the state of influencer boxing, if you will, what is it? How is it as Has we headed to a 2025? It's tough to really like gauge what is influencer boxing now, because we've, we've added so many, you know, people in so many different lanes to this that I don't, I mean, I think the state of it is it's on a resurgence on the influencer side, but it's growing outside of it. Right. We just saw, I saw somebody put up a picture of the Jake Paul, Mike Tyson, you know, ESPN video logs, and it's the number one video on ESPN's fight, like history for 34 million views in two weeks, you know, like these things are still bringing massive eyes. It's just a matter of right place, right opponent, right situation, and ultimately right performance.

That's the one thing that I think sometimes in influencer boxing gives us the big letdown, right? It's because we're not pro boxing. But when you have those, you know, I'll give a big shout to Salt Poppy style performances, you see what the actual like build of this thing can be. And then the payoff, right? The payoff is everything. And I think it's at this point, it had a little bit of a low in 2023, I would say,

or maybe the end of it. And I think we're on a resurgence. Glad to hear that. I think the Tommy Fury, Darren Till fight is very fun. The Qatar supercard, great. Curious about your reaction. I don't put it in the influencer boxing bucket. I don't know what buckets it is in, but it is in some kind of bucket.

The post-event reaction to Tyson Paul and all the hot takes and the accusations and MVP having to put out a statement and all this madness that is still a thing that is not dying. And the fight was almost a month ago now. We're approaching a month. What has been your reaction to everyone going crazy over this fight? So people are, you know, that fight opened Jake up to a lot more of the former casual boxing fan, right? That maybe hadn't watched boxing in a very long time. So I've seen the accusations of just goofy stuff, you know, for Jake fights throughout his career. Uh, so I've dealt with it and I've seen it and I've made videos on it.

And I'm like, this is the stupidest stuff I've ever heard. So when it came out again, I was like, Oh, here's another one of these. But yeah, a lot of people taking that stuff seriously. TikTok running with that. It's all just nonsense. Jake and Mike had a great night of business. There were some fantastic fights on that card. Obviously, you know, the Mike we got was not the Mike that was around 20, 30 years ago. And I tried to warn people that was going to be the case.

But Jake didn't, you know, go in there and just absolutely floor him. And he got out of there, both guys relatively healthy. They got a crap ton of money for the sport and got a ton of eyes on new talent. So I would say no harm, no foul. I obviously don't want to see Mike fight again. And outside of that, yeah, I don't think there is a, people are going to make a big deal anytime Jake fights. All right, uh, outside of that. Yeah. I don't think there was a, uh, people are going to make a big deal anytime Jake fights. All right. Look into the, uh, the crystal ball.

Who, who does Jake fight next? I don't know, man. They, I, I, you, you have to plan something big for him. So, I mean, the Canelo talk while people think, you know, Jake's crazy for it, I'll tell you this, when they start talking about stuff, they don't do it just to talk. You know, when Jake starts talking about who he wants to fight in the future and where he wants to go, I know enough about the guy to know he's serious. So, as much as it may seem far-fetched to a lot of people, I wouldn't put it past it to some point for jake to fight canelo does that mean it's next probably not but i don't know

i don't know where he goes because i was gonna say tommy fury was the perfect matchup the rematch but you know tommy's books now so i don't know i mean you could fight the winner of that fight yeah i mean i think tommy himself, you know, just because of he got to get that one back. And I think that would quell a lot of the things that people are saying about him. You know, oh, you're not fighting active people. You're not, even though, you know, Jake has done that. I think the Tommy rematch would really be something something that and i think he wants to pursue it too it's just a matter of you know getting business done um do you have any interest in seeing him

go down the path of just fighting you know regular boxers en route to let's say some kind of cruiser weight title or do you want him to just occupy this lane of fun kind of out of the box like he's a draw it's tough to just like give your draw away and like i understand because what he says he wants to do is be a world champion you gotta build that for sure and you need experience you need you know tough guys and you have to go in with with a mindset of like i've got to take tough fights sometimes regardless of the name but it's like he is a big draw for boxing one One of the biggest in boxing. I know people hate when, when, you know, especially people like me say that, but it's just the truth.

You know, boxing doesn't have a ton of massive draws right now. And Jake is one of the biggest ones. So it's such a weird kind of fine line. He has to walk where he can't just constantly fight people that just aren't going to bring business but he also does have to push himself and test himself against young tough fighters that are going to build him to a world championship true or false that's what he wants to do right before it's all said and done we see jake versus ksi what's your feeling right now i like to hold out hope i'd say yeah what about jake versus logan because you know there's there's that seems more likely right now man i'm saying that seems even more likely than just because

the weight the weight is so much different with with jake and in ksi and how people like both sides are like we're sticking to our guns on this. That's fine. There's just some weird, it's not even weird, but they're so high level with their content. Logan and Jake's a little rivalry. I wouldn't put it past them. I could see it happening. Yeah, there's definitely seeds being dropped

left and right every time they do one of their interviews. Are you a nervous guy, by the way? Like, do you think, let's say it's January 18th, here's hoping. Do you think you'll be super super anxious will you be throwing up in the locker room how do you think you'll handle all this i mean well i don't think i'll be throwing up i think that preparation is key for this kind of stuff right and i'm an analytical guy i think you are too if you're not prepared for a show if you're not prepared for a show, if you're not prepared for, you know, open workout hosting or press conference hosting, yeah, you're going to be super nervous.

And I'm sure there'll be nerves, of course. Like, that's impossible to not have. But the preparation, the work quells all that. Anxiety and it is nervous. Like, the work will prove to be the reason that the confidence is built. The reason I'm here with BJ, the reason I'm training with guys like Big Shouts, Tristan Hamm, Josh Bruckner, other guys in the scene that quite frankly have a lot more experience than this HS guy, have a lot more

talent than this HS guy. That's the reason I came down here. If I wasn't prepared, if I wasn't doing the things to prepare myself, sure, I'd be a nervous wreck. But being here, getting the work in, that's all it's about. And again, to me, it's about me. HS can show up, bring somebody else, doesn't matter. I'm going to be there. I'm going to be ready. He slapped you. Did that make things personal?

Did he cross the line there? No, I actually liked it a little bit. Why? And I also liked when I saw him i was like you're not as big as i thought you were ah there it also yeah take it look at what are you guys saying beautiful veneers there um i was telling him that he better be ready for me to commentate and knock him out on the same night and then they came in with a little slap that was cute you know it felt good actually i was like wow i thought you big, strong guy having all those muscle picks.

I thought you'd be a little stronger, you know? I love Ben in the middle there. Yeah. Ben was, Ben was doing like the craziest, like separation. He, you know, what's funny about Ben is he is always locked in, but, uh, yeah, man, listen, I'm just the commentator guy. If you can't beat the commentator, if you can't beat the guy that sits on the outside and eats junk food and doesn't really train or anything and just talks about the sport, then I don't know how much of the boogeyman you really are. So you better be able to beat the guy that talks for a living.

Well, the stage has been set. I appreciate you coming on and telling us how this all went down. I hope that this continues down a path of you and Mams and that whole scene just kind of coming together. We have enough riffs and friction in this world. Let's send you off. I mean, listen, Ariel, they're bringing me in to get knocked out. You think so? You think they want you to be embarrassed?

Yeah, of course. You know what you should do? You should come out like wearing full MVP gear and just be the outsider. Like that is like- I actually do. I actually have a shirt being made. So yeah, we have some plans for that. Okay.

This is going to be fun. But yeah, like, I mean, I get what this is. I know that business for them means shutting me up, even though that's never going to happen. But that's the problem is they think they've set the trap and i've actually walked in the trap took over the trap that's the plan like the great roddy piper once said just when you think you have all the answers i change the questions and that appears to be what you are doing uh good luck to you my friend and and good luck next friday as you call uh the prospect show on DAZN.

I'm in particular very excited about the pro debut of Tamara Thibault, who everyone had predicted was going to win gold at the Olympics in Paris and lost in the first round. It was a huge, huge, huge disappointment for the Canadian boxing scene. And this is a bit of a Canadian clash, if you will. Her opponent Natasha Spence also hailing from Canada. So I'm looking forward to that. You, Dan, the whole crew over there, you do a great job. Looking forward to that.

And to the debut, we shall be watching and supporting. Great shit, my friend. Well done and good luck. Thanks, Ariel. Appreciate you, man. All right, there he is. Wade Plemons. And you can catch him on his YouTube channel, The Wade Concept.

He does a tremendous job of covering that scene, but also covering just the regular, you know, the regular fight scene, the regular boxing scene, MMA, pro wrestling. He does it all. A guy who's out there grinding, working hard, doing his thing, and now stepping in to the ring. I feel like we're getting close. I mean, far be it for me, but I feel like we're getting close to a GC fight. I feel like we're working towards that. He just hasn't told us.

He's getting into crazy shape. He's working out at 5 a.m. It's tough. Is this what we're moving towards? He stepped out of the room, so I'm not going to speak for him. It's a fight, but I feel like I've been in the position where you kind of tried to... No, I'm not going to speak for him but I feel like I've been in the position where you

kind of tried to I'm not pushing anyone by the way we were a bit ahead of our time influencer boxing wasn't really a thing you would have killed it on that scene a few years ago when you were doing UFC I wouldn't have I've always been too scrawny

I wouldn't have done so hot what did you get down to? it was insane. I was like 145 maybe. But like no muscle on me. Not an ounce. Shred it. Yeah, I was in good shape, but not an ounce of muscle.

Would you say that was that 10 years ago? Holy shit, what was it? It was like 14. In an ironic twist. Not quite 10. I think it was 10. Yeah, maybe actually. Ant Evans, who is our YouTube guru, I think was the one who put you on that.

He was, yeah. He sent out the packages initially. That's right. It was a good program. UFC fit. Mike Dolce. Mike Dolce, yeah. The man. I don't know.

I just see him. He's out there. He's on that grind. He's doing his thing. Just getting in shape doesn't necessarily mean fight. I feel like the, but we'll see. Look, I'll let him, when he comes back, we'll let him speak on it. Here's the thing, here's the thing regarding GC.

People may not know this because they've not seen him in person. Tall, got the length, got the reach. Lanky, yeah. Tall, lanky. Big shoulders. Looks Dagestani. I mean, he's got... All right.

I don't know about that. He's got the... Oh, because of the beard? Yeah, yeah. He's got to shave the mustache. We're working on it. I don't know. I feel like...

It would be pretty sick if GC just shaved the mustache. Oh, my God. Imagine one day. He just came in with the full Abe Lincoln. It's tough because, well, do you say that as well? I say that as well and then I pause. Yeah, and then I think about it.

And I hear Frank pushing the button. There it is. There it is. Alright, well, great stuff there from Wade. Still to come we'll have the legend Marcelo Garcia on the program. By the way, take a listen to Marcelo Garcia's resume, all right? Here it is.

Four-time ADCC gold medalist, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011. Five-time world BJJ gold medalist, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, one-time Pan American champion, three-time Brazilian national champion, member of the IBJJF and ADCC Hall of Fame, referred to as the GOAT by many in the grappling world, with wins over Henzo Gracie, Krohn Gracie, Victor Estima, Pablo Popovich, Hollis Gracie, Robert Drysdale, Jake Shields, Andre Galvao, Damian Maia, Shinya Aoki, Rico Rodriguez, Babalu Sobral, Gabriel Gonzaga, Talis Ladies, Mike Van Arsdale, just to name a few. I mean, that is goat status. And has a school here in New York, opened up a school in Hawaii as well. And it was announced back in November that he signed an exclusive contract with one championship that he never actually retired.

He's turning 42. He is coming off a battle that he won against stomach cancer in 2023 In June of last year, he announced that he had beaten it and he was cancer-free And now this is a really big deal This is a really big deal in the world of jiu-jitsu Going to celebrate his 42nd birthday in January So I presume by the time he competes, he will be 42. This is an individual who you may have heard in the whole Dylan Danis saga, where we found out that he left the gym and all this stuff. So he will be joining us in about 25 minutes to talk about who he will be competing against when he goes over to one championship in 2025. More questions, more questions. Let's

answer some more questions. This is from Jordan Saucer. Hey, Ariel, you have lived in three different cities in your life, Montreal, Syracuse, and New York. Do you have many good friends from all those stops? And do you find it difficult to keep up with everyone, especially as all of your lives diverge and go in many different places? Syracuse, I mean, people that I went to school with, but I wouldn't say that's a big one. Montreal, it's easy because both my wife and I are from Montreal. We went to the same school, so we have a lot of the same friends. I will admit I probably don't do the best job, but I do, I do, I think I do a pretty good job. I'm just not a big phone caller. Now, let me ask

you guys this. One of my absolute best friends is Daniel Wolfe. I adore him like a brother. We've been best friends since ninth grade, probably like three, four of my closest friends. He's on the list. It was his birthday last week, and my wife got mad at me that I didn't actually call him. I sent him a video message. I sent him a voice note. I sent him text. We were talking about it. That's kind of how we talk.

We don't really talk on the phone. I don't really like to talk to anyone on the phone. She said that wasn't enough. True or false? Who's right here? You didn't attempt to call him? No, I didn't. I didn't want to bother him.

I didn't want to bother him. I didn't attempt to call him? No I didn't I didn't want to bother him I didn't want to bother him I didn't want to bother him Bad news? I say like if you try calling him once And he doesn't respond Then you do the voice note Or the video note Or something like that I felt like I was

What friends can't talk on the phone? I felt like I was doing him a favor Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah Come on Who doesn't have 5-10 minutes? I talked to my friends on the phone for like an hour. I mean, we're in a bit of a different place in the sense that like I don't really have, like the three kids take up a lot of time.

How do you have an hour to talk to friends? Five minutes. You can't give five minutes? So you're saying I screwed up? I think you at least try to call them, yeah? Yeah. It's tough. Are you fighting, by the way way We were just talking about you

Yeah I was actually I was on the phone With my doctor He was clearing me To fight or not Are you gonna do it No I'm just kidding But I was on the phone

Oh Is everything okay I was talking with my friend Oh Just catching up I was just wishing him A happy birthday No I was actually

You know It was my dentist New dentist They needed some Insurance information Wow okay Really important stuff Live Yeah it was very pressing i was like can we do this another time they were just like no no no i was like the area hawaii shows on they were like

we know but would you be interested in like a white collar type of boxing match or something like that uh dive deeper on white collar white collar you know it's just business people they have these events they're usually like in a nice venue, a church or something like that. Charity, that type of thing. And, you know, there's headgear involved. It's all very safe. Oh, headgear? Yeah, yeah, usually, usually.

Amateur stuff. Yeah, I mean, I would do that. But like I would actually like lean more towards the like back of a bar in Thailand. Like Michael once over, I was very inspirational in that. I'm not saying I'm going to go do that, but like if I were to do it. Wow. One thing I can say I'll never do, which like props to, you know, guys like Ben the Man Davis and Oscar Willis and everyone like that. Like I don't ever see myself taking place in like an MMA fight.

There's just like too many skills. Like boxing, I feel like I could train for several months and be like, all right, I can at least like handle myself. And like, I'm also not doing like three minute rounds for eight rounds. Like I'm talking, like you said, white collar, you know, like two minute rounds, five rounds. Something like Dr. Mike does. Dr. Mike legend. Someone asking, by the way, a super chatter, Derek the Dead, would GC ever do a Wimped Warrior-like program? It's now known as ALTA. Like Casey Lydon. Yeah. gc ever do a wimp to warrior like program it's now known as like uh like casey lyden yeah would you ever do that man everyone that does it yeah it's a huge commitment

um and then just like also like the stress of the looming fight at the end of it like not only are you training five days a week and like your entire life changes it really comes down to convenience right now i have a huge commute that I have to do every day. Like, if I can't, if I got close to the office, the three stipulations, if I got close to the office, if we could, like, have fun with it

and make content out of it, like, make it a series. And three and most important that would, like, really make me want to do it is if someone did it with me. Like, if Rick did it too, or Frankie, or just, like, anyone did it with me, if rick did it too or frankie or just like

anyone did it with me i would be much more inclined frankie you in there's no chance no chance i thought you were that was a perfect uh opportunity for a who me oh um not too late too late can't do it can't do it uh i feel i feel like we're working towards something what it is what it is i don't know what are we all gonna do do a charity boxing match? No, no, no. It has to be we're all in on someone. You versus the Cobra? He would kick my ass. Hey! Carl! Good to see you! Again, you bring him up

again. That is the funny, this is the guy before the show. Don't bring him up! Don't bring him up! And I can't help myself. I can't help myself. You know I can't help myself. People think that I want to fight this guy. Are you out of your mind? Are you out of your fucking mind? Hey, Ariel.

Yeah. Thanks for the Dubai chocolate today. It was really good. Did you guys like it? Yeah. I had to keep it away because we'll just eat the whole thing. Really good. Nice crunch.

Can we get a review? Yeah. Nice crunch. Very milky. I was surprised by that. Okay. Do they make a dark chocolate chocolate very I like the fact that you are going with this voice now yeah I just thought maybe I could distract you from the from

this again Carl talk oh no it's fine yeah I think I think GC was was was champing at the bit to try the the the latest craze on the internet the Dubai chocolate it's unreal and I finally remember to bring it in it It's actually unreal. Two thumbs up. Can we get a shot of you trying it right now? Yeah, someone hand me some. Yeah, here it is. It's really the best thing. What is in it? Tell us what's in it.

Alright, we got Dubai chocolate filled with catafy and pistachio. Pistachios are just right up my alley. I mean, this is what the people come for. They come for the interviews.

They stay to watch us try. I mean, it's a little bit messy. I mean, it looks like... Oh, yeah. I don't know what it looks like on the inside, you know? Like the ground up pistachio. I do, yeah.

Oh, that's... Wait, was that legit? Or is that fake? No, this is actually real. Yeah, we're not air frying That is quite It is like the texture is great Love the pistachio High quality chocolate

How much did a bar this size cost I think like 8 bucks Oh wow I bought one when it was 12 Where do you find it besides Dubai We actually my son and I went to Dubai on Saturday. It's so good. I can house an entire bar in one sitting. I would walk off the edge of the earth to find this.

Wow. Speaking of which. Oh, thanks for the Dubai chocolate. We're trying to distract you. And then you bring up something. Yeah, all of you. You can all suck an egg. Here's one from Abay.

Hello, Ariel. I know you've been told to stick to MMA, but quick boxing two-parter. I don't mean to be a Carl Froch and just moan about such an amazing card, but as a Brit, I'm disappointed we're not getting the domestic dust-up of Callum Smith versus Joshua Buozzi. Was that fight always due to be in Riyadh?

Secondly, if Fury and Parker both win, do you see the good friends fighting each other? Yes. P.S. I'd honestly love JP to call Froch's bluff and present him with a contract where Froch uses one hand and Froch's purse goes to charity. Much love, your boy. Can you imagine if MVP actually gives him a contract and it states your full purse and all your earnings must go to charity as you continue to claim? We have to state the charity as well none of this

human fund by george costanza nonsense and you must fight with one hand tied behind your back which you also claim do you not realize the nonsense be spouted off here uh that i don't think would ever be agreed to but it would be funny um count smith versus boazzi kind of came out of nowhere um and i and i just think that it's one of those, like, you know, this is the gift and the curse. You're going to get the fight. And these are guys who, you know, maybe you wouldn't have fought,

but you're also, you know, you're going to get it in Riyadh and not in the UK. And perhaps that could have been a fight that maybe would have headlined a smaller matchroom show or boxer show. But nevertheless. Here's Jimmy. Hi, Ariel. I'm back from my trip from the DMZ in Korea, if you remember. Thank God. He's all good. By the way, yesterday on the show, Pete C broke the news that they had declared martial law, but then afterwards he said that that had been cleared up just in case you were following

it um i got out of there two days before south korea went mad back in new jersey now currently close to getting an internship at nasa as part of their engineering program have any tips from you and the boys on standing out for a position that's filled with competition i mean go in there confident know your stuff firm handshake look in their eyes present yourself in a professional way get dressed up you know do your thing be be a be a pro be a mensch did he say nasa yeah impressive guy right that's super impressive yeah Yeah. Never mind. Why? Why are you laughing? I'm just saying, you know, NASA, that's just pretty intense. You'll probably need to have a lot of knowledge about science and the shape of planets and that sort of thing.

So you want to just brush up on that and then you'll be good to go. I mean, I'm assuming that he kind of lives and breathes this world. But nevertheless, I think if you're confident, if you're up to speed, if you're professional, if you show up and you're put together nicely and you shake hands, you know, you believe in yourself, good things will happen. Perhaps it doesn't work out this time, but you keep that grind. You don't get too down on yourself. You don't lick your wounds and feel sorry for yourself. There are going to be roadblocks There are going to be people who doubt you Who want to dismiss you You keep fighting

You keep showing up 80% of success is just showing up in my opinion Great things will happen HG Spike Yo Ariel and crew This next question is just for Rick for absolutely no reason Rick would you rather have a realistic tattoo of your own face on your forehead Or 15 tattoos

Of Shrek all over your body You have to choose one thank you in advance for taking this seriously Seems like another easy one if you ask me Yeah give me the body all day People love Shrek too Not just Shrek 2 Also Shrek 1 and 3 But people just love Shrek period

He's a fan favorite and also Forehead I mean Remember back in the day when KD Only had tattoos like where the jersey was Do you remember that whole thing Kevin Durant Kevin Durant didn't have tattoos on his arm And he only had the tattoos like

Where his jersey would be Yeah Seems like kind of the same thing Yeah plus like the Shrek's a great conversation starter the forehead is like what are you doing man that's two in a row that were just way too easy from this guy yeah you gotta be i mean if you're gonna go this route would you rather have arms with no elbows so they're just straight and you can't do anything about it or legs with no knees legs with no knees but like what do you mean it does it cut off at the knees no no no No knees.

Legs with no knees. But like, what do you mean? Does it cut off at the knees? No, no, no. You just can't bend like where your knees are to bend. You just have straight legs. You can't bend your legs. You're walking like you have stilts on. I'm going legs with no knees because then I would just go in a wheelchair.

Yeah, I guess so. If you couldn't bend your arms, like you couldn't eat, you couldn't drink. Yeah, that's annoying. But in the wheelchair, like your legs would just be extended out yeah yeah it's annoying yeah legs with no knees um here's one from yfg94 hello gents i would love your input i grew up mainly and primarily watching european football 13 minutes away from kickoff manchester united fan due to the fact that my older brother was a fan as well and me looking up to him I became a fan and yes I know what you're thinking they are definitely beating Forrest on Saturday we'll see now in the past I've never really kept up with any other sports

basketball football baseball until recently the thing is I haven't chosen a football team American football team to root for so I present to you the following root for the 49ers as it was my older brother's team growing up I mean did you see Sunday night game root for the 49ers, as it was my older brother's team growing up. I mean, did you see Sunday Night Game? Root for the Cowboys, because when I was young, young child, my dad had bought me a cowboy beanie and had my name engraved in the back, and it's something I low-key cherish. Plus, it's my wife's favorite team. I mean, I get the sentimental feelings, but Cowboys suck. The Buffalo Bills, partly because of me following the show and the other part they're pretty damn good you know yourself yfg 94 the chargers because that's

why loki rooted for when i was in eighth grade but really only choose them to have a response from my friends would ask me but i did know antonio gates philip rivers and ladanian tomlinson from playing nfl street and street 2 on ps2 days played NBA Street as well. Fun, fun times. Any input? I mean, it's right there. There's your answer, bro. You have a generational quarterback with a generational arm, an incredible fan base, the apple of the NFL's eye. Everyone loves Bill's Mafia. It's easy come on um ian from wigan so sorry to hear about rick's varicose veins hope he feels better can we get ariel rick gc frank and pz's desert island fights one fight you can watch whilst is it wilst or whilst? I think it's actually whilst. Stuck on a desert island forever.

It can be boxing or MMA. Cheers, Ian from Wigan. Two guys and you can only watch this fight over and over again? And we've already seen it? Maybe not. Who's magic? Who are two people? I mean, give me Taylor Serrano.

Figgy and Moreno forever. Run it infinite times. Jones and Gano. I mean, it's a good answer. Conor and Nate. Conor and Nate. That is magic. That is magic.

All right, there you go. I'll take Conor and Chandler at this point. Yeah. Another question about the Spotify situation, but we've already addressed that, getting the video up. While we're on that subject, though, there was a super chat where someone wanted to point out, I think we actually have it up here on the screen. Okay.

Spotify Wra wrapped is out this year and what i could say ah and the gang are in three of my top five pods for 2024 here's the being number one in 2025 love a good uh spotify wrapped page or picture and uh shout out to volvo as well his logo was a volvo you ever owned one uh currently do sick uh don't own lease that's the best way to do it yeah all right thanks then you get tired of it after three years i'm very excited about the volkswagen id have you guys seen this the new version of that have you seen it i haven't no they're bringing it back it's a little modernized it doesn't quite have the old school charm of this guy right here fully electric i'm intrigued i like it same color scheme like the

white on top and the color on the bottom funky colors very intrigued more aerodynamic i'm sure yeah it's just a little more like this it's like a little rounder a little more modernized but it's probably the closest i can get to it so i'm I'm intrigued. I'm intrigued, Frank. That is not a Volvo. That is a Volkswagen, but I am intrigued. Alana, hey Ariel,

as a Raptors fan from Toronto, OG was my favorite player and I was so sad to see. By the way, how about the lack of MMA questions this week? I thought we're supposed to just stick to MMA. I love it, by the way,

just for the record. With RJ playing so well, I'm not mad at the trade anymore. Now that the time has passed, I wanted to know what your current thoughts on that RJ and IQ trade are, and if you're happy with the trade for Cat as well. Did you see the game last night, fellas? I mean, the Knicks of New York are playing spectacularly. Some home cooking the last two days, 40 plus points. They beat the, or maybe it was like 35 Pelicans on Sunday and then just absolutely demolished the Magic yesterday. And they were vibing. They were rolling. Mikkel Bridges on fire, Cat on fire. They may have three, they may have three all-stars by the time February rolls around. JB, OG, who's been phenomenal, and Cat.

So yes, over the moon. Was sad to see RJ and IQ go. Love the OG trade. Love Precious. Hopefully he comes back soon. Cat trade has been phenomenal. Sad to see Dante go. Julius, I think it was time.

IQ I thought would be better, if I'm being honest, in Toronto, but RJ's killing it. Fellow Canadian, much love. I can't hate. All right, where's, let me get a... Here's a fun one. Yonan, Yonan. Ariel, I'm a massive fan, but bro, why are you so sensitive? That's an interesting one. Am I sensitive? I mean, I do admit that I am somewhat sensitive when it comes to like, you know, watching movies and crying and seeing photos that make me emotional and all that stuff.

But, you know, when I used to subscribe to a theory when someone takes shots at you and tries to discredit you that you just kind of take the high road. And then I was like, you know, I'm kind of tired of that. And so why is it when someone takes shots and makes it personal and calls you names, which I've never done, about flat earth fraud. Why is it that when I respond, I'm the sensitive one? Why is that? That feels like a double standard, no? I don't think you were being sensitive to me.

Thank you, Frank. Appreciate that. Patrick, favorite segment of the week. Ariel, when you go on these quick trips to Vegas or Dallas for Tyson vs. Paul, why not bring GC with you to document your travels, your run-ins with fighters, other luminaries, fan interactions? GC seems like the ultimate

Road dog to have with you And could generate Some great content For Uncrowned What do you say GC? You want in? Yeah let's do it Road dog

That's a high praise That's a big compliment You could be my My Evan Fox Yeah I have to be Behind you Always filming and stuff I don't know if you want

That job if I'm being honest Yeah I don't know If I do either Yeah so I think you may have I'm down to be a road dog whatever that means you just want to go on the road but you want to do the actual filming um yeah i'm not a cameraman yeah i i think you're a pretty is it that's that's frankie no that's

that's a quote that frank lives by oh cameraman you do a great job yeah he does frank that is he does okay um you could always get another cameraman Yeah let's get another cameraman You know who I'd love to have as the Cameraman road dog is our boy Spence Yeah that would be great Can we get a Spence in NYC Me and Spence

Roll around together the road dog I'm in let's get a sponsor Celsius Perhaps NordVPN Spence roll around together. The road dog. I'm in. Let's get a sponsor. Celsius, perhaps. NordVPN. NordVPN. Yeah, we'll just stream a bunch of shit while we're gone on NordVPN. Averon.

Do you have any gum with you right now? Neurogum. I don't have at the moment, but I do love my Neurogum. Zico. Hello, Ariel and the boys in the back. I hope you're all doing well. I'll just get right to it. I've been a fan of Ariel's for so many years that I even remember and used to listen intently when Ariel covered the weigh-ins for the big pay-per-views and I loved them plus all the other tidbits that

came with it. That was a fun time. We revolutionized that, by the way. They used to do the closed off weigh-ins in the morning, the official weigh-ins. No one would broadcast them, not even the UFC. Now they've got a whole show. Just another thing. Urban Dictionary, People's Main Event, just another thing we don't get the credit that we deserve for. But it's okay. When the book is written, it shall be noted. Anyway, is there any chance these will ever make a return?

I miss them so much. And it's clear the upcoming card could be bigger. But I wanted to see if this will ever come back. Probably not. I mean, that's a big thing. You have to get all the factoids and you have to be on the air for two plus hours. You know, why doesn't someone else try to do it? It was fun while it lasted, but we evolve and my duties are a little bit different now. How did the resolution go between the two goats Oliver and Walter after the Thanksgiving kerfuffle? Will we get an Ariel Hawani individual interview?

A face-to-face, a split-screen interview? We need to know what is next in the Hawani bloodline story The beautiful thing about my kids And, you know, sometimes I used to lament the fact That they share a room But I think it has actually made them a lot closer The boys as they have grown up They fight and then they get over it within a second

and they only started fighting recently like they're they're really we've been very lucky as far as the fighting is concerned um they're very different personalities but they don't like they'll fight and then like three minutes later it's over. I asked them, by the way, about... I said... I said I was ethering this guy, Flattery Frotch, and I called him... I said, bro thinks he's the main character. And I said, he's just an NPC in this world.

And I was like, what did you guys think? Did I nail it? Did I nail it? They're like, why'd you have to say in this world? You ruined it. It's not in this world. You just say he's just NPC. You know, so. Have they told you what NPC stands for? Yes. What is it?

Non-playable character. Come on, bro. Proud of them. Yeah. Oh, they know all this stuff. Them's my boys. Grab his Rick and twist it. Shout out to Ariel, the boys, and all the people who make the show great.

That was quite the professional smackdown on Carl Frotch. Mate, it could have been a 10-7 of colonial proportions, 1776 all over again, but I applaud how you dealt with the facts and the facts alone. In any case, my question, DJ Frankie Mysterio, can you please make the Red Hawk Roundup remix for the Boys in the Back outro? That's a good question, yeah. Perhaps if we could get the license we can do that oh okay are we are we just gonna blow by

grab his rick and twist it that is i mean a great one that's incredible um there he is i just wanted to hear it i'm sorry no it's great. Andrew, what is your head shaving routine? Is it every day? Do you do it yourself? If yes, how do you avoid streaks? As a man with a full head of hair, what prompted you to go full head shave? Do you ever get glares from bald men in the street giving you a hair decision? My kids say I should grow it out.

They're actually like really pushing this lately. I usually do it on Sundays. And actually, last week, my razor fell. And I didn't realize that anything happened to it. And then all of a sudden on Sunday, I was cutting and it was like scraping my head. I was like, why does this hurt so much? And it was because the razor was loose. So I ended up like cutting my neck and cutting my top of my head and stuff because I was trying to go so delicately because the razor was loose. So I had to buy a new one this week. In any event, I do it every Sunday. I used to do it every Tuesday. I used to go to a barber. I just, during COVID, couldn't and got used to doing it

myself at any random hour as opposed to making an appointment. And I just kind of hated sitting in the chair and having to talk and then being like, oh, you missed a spot and this and that. They probably could do, you know, I don't do the beard that great i think i do it good enough um hey and it's just it's just a once a week thing that's all since you were drawing so much attention to your head with your hand i noticed you got some schmutz on the right hand side well i want to update on the finger on your right-hand side. Okay. We'll offline about left and right later. Yeah.

Is that it? Yeah, thanks. I figured if I didn't say something, I would never. I did kind of ask you guys. I did ask you guys before the show. Okay, well, we don't always have the right answers. My sweatshirt sometimes gives me schmutz. Oh, Samuel, could we get a moderator back?

We are given the opportunity to ask someone who has so much insight and behind-the-scenes information surrounding MMA, but on the nose has now become a place where people have ridiculous, unrelated questions. Who cares if New York Rick would rather be an invisible dog or whatever? Anyway, any news on Dominic Cruz coming back? But does anyone want to be a moderator? I would be more.

I'm just going blind here and i've answered 20 questions already i'm just totally going blind i think this is the person that's been asking those questions and they're just yeah setting themselves up um anyway i'd be if someone wants to raise their hand like spencer did back in the day for the social stuff i would be happy like we had moderator lewis back in the day but i'm just going blind everyone back there is uh is very busy so i'm trying my best here i I'm trying my best. Dominic, I did reach out to, I did speak to him. Nothing's set yet. Let's see. I'm totally down with the, the idea of him fighting Henry Cejudo. I love that. All right. We'll put a pin in it. Maybe answer a few more.

I'm literally just going in order and I appreciate all the, I have a fun time doing it, but I can understand if you want the nitty gritty stuff open to all of that as well. For now, let us say hello to Jiu Jitsu royalty. What a huge honor. What a great privilege. This is again, four time ADCC gold medalist, five time world BJJ gold medalist, one time Pan champion, three-time Brazilian national champion, member of the IBJJF and ADCC Hall of Fame, wins over the likes of Henzo Gracie and Krohn Gracie, who's, of course, coming back this weekend to the UFC, Jake Shields, Robert Drysdale, Babalu Sobral, Gabriel Gonzaga, Damian Maia, Shinya Aoki, on and on and on it goes. The one and only Marcelo Garcia, who is returning to action in 2025 for one championship. There he is, kind enough to join us. Hello, sir. Great to have you on the show.

I'm so happy to be here. It's a great pleasure and honor and nice to speak to a fellow New Yorker, if you will, an adopted New Yorker. You've done such great things for the community here in New Yorker, if you will, an adopted New Yorker. You've done such great things for the community here in New York. And I know you recently, I think you either opened or are opening a gym in Hawaii, right? Yes, I'm living in Hawaii for the last two years. Okay. Well, there you are. And I don't blame you. It's a much better life out there. The weather is tremendous. So well done. You announced in November that you are going to be competing for one. You're turning 42 in January. Why come back to active competition?

Oh, I don't know if people know, but I never retired. So I just took a time off. I was competing. I felt I want to focus on my gym, focus on my students. And I did that. And in that meantime, I have my kids. And then I felt like life went upside down, you know what I mean? Once my kids was born and I took so much time, like, be around them. And now they're getting old. I feel like they're going to be happy to

see their dad go compete. And I don't want to miss the opportunity. I don't know where to get any older. So obviously, I will not get any younger, you know? So I feel like the time is now since I'm still have that feeling, you know? How old are your kids? Nine and 11. Okay. So they, they know who you are. They know what you've done and they've never seen you. Like they don't have any recollection of you competing, right?

Yeah. But that's, that's why it's fun. And I mean, like now they understand what I'm doing. They understand that I'm not just like a dad making the dish. You know what I mean? Clean their stuff. You know what I mean? And I feel like,

uh, that's a lot that they can learn. Watch me compete, you know, because you know, win or lose. I feel like, uh,

they, they can learn based on like, uh, how it might behave, you know what I mean? Sure. On those, on those circumstances.

Do they train in jujitsu? They just started, yo. Since I just opened the gym over here, and we didn't have kids program before in New York. Now we have like a beautiful kids program over there. So they just started in New York, and then we moved to Hawaii. And now, since I just opened the gym over here,

they just started over here. So they're brand new, white belt. And by the way, why did you move to Hawaii? Obviously, it was during the pandemic. You know, New York was shut down. My gym was completely shut down over a year. And I felt like that was the best thing I could do. My kids have a little bit of like a normal life during the pandemic since the numbers of, you know, COVID was so low.

And then when everything started to open up, I was like, okay, I need to go back to New York. That was always my plan. Things started to open up. I need to go back there to try to save the gym. And we did that. And we kept our space. And obviously, I bring my kids with me. And then after a year, they didn't get used to the city.

They didn't get used to the school. And they were like, okay, we're going back. And then we came back to Hawaii, you know. Wow. Long story short. Yeah, no, I totally understand. Was that a scary time for you to be in the heart of New York and the business close with no end in sight? Oh, yeah.

It was a lot. It was a lot to process. I mean, like my kids, especially my daughter, she was considered like a high risk, you know what I mean, for the virus that nobody know what's going on so that was pretty scared and they always like the business why you know to make a leave of something that like i couldn't even get close to each other you know it was really scared but nothing much scared now this stuff that we kind of go through life you know sure and you would know uh you you beat stomach cancer in 2023. How was that experience? How scary was that? And how are you feeling now?

Oh, I'm feeling great. When people ask me about like, I almost forgot all the symptoms, you know what I mean, from the treatment. I pretty much almost forget. And I try hard to just don't remember that, you know, but it feels like a pretty, like a much like a heal. I know we can only say we cure after five years,

but my first three years is very important to hit that mark. I'm really looking for that. But I got to say, you know, it's kind of like weird to face like a death, you know what I mean? That's kind of what I felt, you know what I mean? And now you're in the clear, cancer-free.

Yes, cancer-free for a year and a half. Amazing. Congratulations. That's incredible. And I hope it remains that way and you live a very long and healthy life. How did the deal with One Championship come about? Did they reach out to you

or did you reach out to them? Oh, yeah. People reach out for me a lot. And I felt like every grappling organization had reached out. And some people that I know, some friends, you know and i felt like every grappling organization i have reached out and some some people that i know some friends you know me and and lucky like uh uh is a very close friend of mine who organized like the uh managed the grappling you know who is lauvier so he was able to just kind of like get close to me and then i felt like a catch of it by their probe they proposed I

felt like They understand my situation that I'm coming back and I mean so I feel like a very happy with the one simple ship You know everything like just match and I feel I was the right time. I don't think there's a perfect time I feel like if I was keep looking waiting for the perfect time it would be like Too late, so I feel like it was just the right time, you know what I mean? Okay. And so as of right now, neither one nor yourself have announced who you'll be competing against. And I do believe that you are ready to make that announcement, right? I believe.

I thought you already know. I know in advance, but I want to give the floor to you. I'm going to compete against Imanari you know. Yes. The MMA legend. Yes, Masakazu Imanari, the creator of the Imanari role. Yes, yes. Leg lock attacks. Yes and when is this going down? January 24 in Thailand you know one of the places that I would wish to be, you know, to visit. And what will be the rules? Will it be gi or no gi? No gi

for sure, you know, just grappling. Just grappling, and what kind of time? 10 minutes round, I believe. Just one round? Yes. And how did we, because I saw one was asking, you know, will it be this person, will it be that, you know, Shinya Aoki, Cade Rotolo, other names like that.

How did we end up with the legend Imanari? It was definitely supposed to be Shinya Aoki, you know what I mean? But I guess we took a long time to organize the contract, to go over all the stuff. And he ended up signing up with another opponent. So I ended up now facing Imanari. So I believe it's going to be a good fight. And so how do you feel about that? When it ended up being Imanari,

how did you feel about that? I don't know. Just from the name that I guess you mentioned before, that I competed before, I never really choose opponent. I never like a base to go compete before, I never really chose opponent. I never based to go compete on who I was going to compete. Even my training was never based

on my opponent. I just based my training to go compete against the best one. So I never really thought about my opponent. Now, obviously, I have a name, so now I know who I can focus to, but it was never really much about the opponent. I just feel like I just want to have that feeling to just be out there again.

That was something that I've been missing for the last, like, a good 10 years. I've been missing a lot. But obviously, I was so busy at home with my family. So I feel like now is the time. And to have that feeling to not know what's going to happen and when I say no I know what's going to happen like I have I have a plan I I really know something happening I really plan to like to get a submission uh get like a a dominant performance I hope people I hope I can display like a very exciting match but at the same time like you just never know

what could happen I And I feel like that's what was missing the most in my life going compete, you know. Your last competitive match, when was that? How long ago?

Uh, it was in 2011. Wow. It feels like a long time ago. But it was a very good year. So, it was a very good memory because that year

I won the Mundial with the Gi. And a couple months later, I won the Abu Dhabi, who's the biggest, like, no-gi tournament in the world, like, in no-gi, you know. Yes, and so here we are, some 13 or 14 years later, you will be competing again, and you say that you don't really prepare for an opponent, but considering Imanari is known for the leg locks, will you work a little bit more on defending those um just so people know

are you i'm pretty open about that like uh i don't like to exchange like a foot ankle lock attack i feel like uh uh it's almost like a fifth fifth percent chance i mean like uh i feel like it's one of the only moves that like when you attack someone the person can attack you back with the same move different than guillotine different than like a real neck choke you know i mean when you attack somebody with the guillotine or real neck choke like you have to do just with defend yourself you cannot really attack back so it is a part of the game that i don't like to risk i want to have like a the odds on my favor so my whole point is like i'm just not getting into his game i i believe i have a good defense i believe like i have trained there for my entire life because i don't want to be on that

on that gamble scenario on that game with that like i have less chance than my opponent i feel like i want to go where i have most of the chance where it's like uh on on my game on my attack and that's that's what i was planning to to. As you prepare and train for this, do you pause your teaching? Are you fully just investing in yourself or are you still doing both? Ariel, that's one of those reasons why I feel like I want to come back

because I still feel like I have a lot to teach to my students, to people who follow my career, to people that enjoy to see my techniques. I always did most of the training by myself. I have my coach, Fabio Gugel, but he's in Brazil. And since I moved to the U.S. in 2006, I've been training with only my students. And people know that. My students will witness that. And I feel like it's not going to be now that I'm going to change that.

And my point is, I believe you're able to train with your students. I believe you're able to continue to teach. Because a big part of my learning, my techniques, I believe those results that you mentioned before, they came because I was always like exposed to teach every day i feel like it's a big part of my of my learn process if i'm teaching i'm teaching because like i'm constantly discussing with my students like uh doing class before class after class so that makes me think that makes me like a better competitor i'm not saying it's easy but i feel like that's what I did my entire life, preparing for those big tournaments.

Are you coming back for one last match or do you think you'll have several more now? No last match. I mean, I don't have those plans. I believe to do a lot more after this one. Are there plans to compete in any of the big tournaments? As you mentioned, ADCC, and there's a lot of them popping up now. Do you want to compete for those or just one championship?

Obviously, now I'm one, and I'm exclusive fighter for G1. But I know I have a freedom to go to IBJJF, Abu Dhabi, those tournaments, I believe. As long as there's no, like, a conflict with dates. And, you know, this is my first match back. I don't want to think too far ahead. Sure, sure. I just think, like, this is not going to be my last one. I'm not planning to do that because I miss that too much.

And since it's been, like, 13 years since I don't compete, and reality, like, I have a very strong mind. I can stay a good time without compete and I go compete just how I left the last time. You know what I mean? I feel like that's how I like to go to this match. What's fascinating about this is you're a legend coming back to active competition

and the landscape is very different from when you last competed some 13 years ago different characters and then like i said different players involved um could i ask what is your take on the state of competitive jiu-jitsu you know with craig jones and his invitational going up against adcc and ibjjf and and and and the ufc now signing people exclusive like mikey musumechi won championship doing it. What is your take on the state of it right now? I just want to be part of this.

I just don't want to leave that behind. I see how much the sport is growing. I just want to enjoy this. I think I did a lot of the sport to see how far they went. And I still feel like I have age. I have desire. I feel good in my body. I was a long time stuck with that treatment,

with that cancer treatment. I just want to enjoy everything that you just mentioned. I can see the sport growing. And I feel like I can be part of that. I feel like, for example, where jiu-jitsu are today, it just feels better. It feels more appreciated

to go compete to this level of event. There is a hot topic, I think, in jiu-jitsu, the use of performance-enhancing drugs. People speak openly about it, and others say they don't want anything to do with it. A person who's very much against it is Mikey Musumechi. We have others who talk about using it freely.

How do you feel about the use of PEDs in jiu-jitsu and the way it may be abused? Oh, I love to talk about that. I don't know. Maybe you feel like a hard topic. Maybe that's why all the people doesn't ask me that too much. You know what I mean? But I wish to talk a lot about that.

And with all the like conca that you mentioned before that I did, I believe for myself, I'm the only one that can prove for myself that I never have to use any of those things. And to feel that like probably a lot of people was using at that time, they are competing against me.

And to feel that, you know, a lot of like young people today, they need to use that. And to feel that I never have to, you know, it's a big accomplishment for myself. I want to say for myself, like, because I cannot, I cannot make other people believe in me, but to know that I never have to do that. And to, to remember like everything I did with the opponents that probably they're using that, you know,

uh, feels good. But that's one of those reasons. Like, I feel like, uh, I still want to be involved to the sport because I feel like you don't need that.

I feel like, uh, you just need to have like a desire to be there. just need to have, like, a desire to be there. When I say desire, like, I'm there to prove, like, I'm better than my opponent. I'm there to prove, like, that I work really hard, that I'm going to just play, like, the best technique possible. I want to go there to prove that, like,

I have developed, like, a better technique. I'm there to prove, to show to the, to, to people that watch, they're like, I have a very refined technique. So I don't need like those, people it's been quite like a years, you know what I mean?

They just like, you know, they put extra gears and I mean, I never need that. So I'm still here to prove that I don't need that now. Do you think it is a problem in the sport? Do you think it is being used too much? I'm sorry, but I think it's a problem.

I don't think, like, for example, look how frustrated I am, you know. I grew up with a lot of people use around me. I see people use that around me. And I was lucky to nobody ever told me I need to use that. What I'm trying to say, like my coach, everybody knew that I was big, I was strong. Nobody never told me to even use that. So I was lucky that. And I never felt like I need that either because I thought I was a big kid. Today, I'm not a big kid anymore. Today, I'm a small adult.

And based on all my results, I feel like I don't need that. But at the same time, growing up, I was in the gym all day. I was not much in school. But people tell me, oh, you got to be careful with that because you can't...

I remember clear, you can get cancer you know i mean if you use like uh uh hormone stuff like that that's something that somebody mentioned to me and that also like scared me you know i mean because i lost my mom by cancer i always felt like oh i just don't want to do that like why are you gonna gamble with my life you know i feel like i have a beautiful life i just don't want to risk that and look what happened like i i believe i never use uh um i don't think like no one will never gonna know for sure i'm the only one that i know for myself and look i'm end up like a dealing with like a uh with having dealing with cancer you know i mean and i wish like nobody have to go through what i went through but if it if it's

steroids like there's any chance to mess with your health like just don't do it you know i mean and i'm here to just to prove and to share the word that like uh you don't need that to to be a champ you don't need that to go there and like i have like the best performance you don't need to go there to you don't need to do a steroid to go there like uh uh to be able to submit your opponent you know i what I mean? And you can still, like, go down and put a very exciting match and people want to see you, you know? Could I ask, who do you think is the number one right now in jiu-jitsu? Who is the top dog?

Who is the best in the world at the moment? Oh, I think, I believe, like, God or I have proved that, you know what I mean? He's on top of everything, like, his size, his technique, he has everything, you know what I mean? size, his technique, he has everything. Yeah, and I'm assuming the answer is yes. Any interest in competing against him? I know you met him recently, right? You know, I have a very good experience meeting Gordon.

It was very good to talk to him. We had a lunch together here in Hawaii. It was great to get to know him a little bit better. Ariel, he's a big guy. I don't feel like Hawaii. I need to go back now to face Gordon. But I'm a lover of today's sport. I'm a lover of today's sport.

And when I say today's sport, I like to feel. I like to train. I like to go compete. I like to feel all the people like technique. When I say technique, I want to feel their games. You know, I love to be able to just kind of like see how can I go against Gordon. It doesn't matter if it's competing or training. You know what I mean?

Like it would be a pleasure just to feel another high-level jiu-jitsu. Okay, so here's one that I'm dying to ask you as well. Some seven years ago, we were introduced to a young man named Dylan Dannis. And all I knew about Dylan Dannis

was that he was a product of your school and a product of yours. It's like, oh, this is a Marcelo Garcia student who is helping Conor McGregor. Since then,

we all know what's happened with him and we know that he is no longer a part of your school and left the gym. Could I ask, first things first, what is your side of the story? I've never had the opportunity to ask you about this. I've talked to him about it, but never asked you about it. What happened between you and your gym and Dylan Danis?

It was a lot of little things. Little things that when you put together becomes a big thing. And like I mentioned to you, I was dealing with a lot of like a little things little things that like when you put together becomes like a big thing and like i mentioned to you guys uh yeah like uh i was dealing with a lot at home you know i mean uh with my kids uh being born i end up losing like my four months old you know i mean um and what was a lot to me to handle i mean like uh dealing with my family and at the same time i was in the gym every day, teaching every day. And I saw like Dylan was just not being respectful of the situation. Every day I was dealing with like a problem over problem. And I knew they're getting prepared to go compete.

And I just told them like, oh, I don't want you guys trained here right now. You guys need to take a break you you and much you have to just like uh take the time to think about what you guys doing on your on your on your behavior you know and i i give them like a time off from the gym you know but always like uh at the same time that i give time i'm off uh they are definitely free to leave if they have to you know me and they end up leaving and never come back but i i always left the door open to come back as long leave if they have to, you know what I mean? And they end up leaving and never come back. But I always left the door open to come back as long like they have a different like a behave based on like on the rules in our gym, you know,

because look, we train really hard, but in my gym, but we always have like a good like environment people feel good about. And people just complain a lot about like that was not going their way when they're around you know i mean people was having a hard time to to deal with the like uh they behave they're doing and imagine like uh be a young father and deal with all those things that like uh i was dealing at home and try to run a business at the same time and people being mature around you just so you have idea at time, the last thing that they're doing, they just start to prank call my instructor.

But seriously, like every day, it becomes like, and my instructor didn't know what it was. It was like a thread with stuff like that. And it's just like causing chaos, a problem in the gym too much. And what has become of him now? When you see him, you knew him very well as a young man.

What do you make of what has become of Dylan Danis? Oh, yeah. I like to say that I just don't follow him. I just don't know what's going on with him. The very little thing that I hear from him, like he's done a lot. I just don't know too much about him now, what's going on. I. The very little thing that I hear from him, like he's done a lot. I just don't know too much about him now, what's going on. I hope he's doing better.

I hope like, I know he went through like some tough time. You know what I mean? I don't know if you know what's going on, but I felt like he has a little bit difficult, you know, to deal with like a situations that their life throw on us.

You know what I mean? I just, I just hope he's doing better. Does it make you sad? Would you like to reconnect with him and help him get on the right path again? I like to reconnect with everyone. Everyone that is being part of

my life and for some reason I would just disconnect. He sent me a good message after I announced that I have cancer and I thought that was going to be a good way to reconnect. But then after that, things just went down again, I felt. So we never really reconnected. But I feel like I like to help people around me.

But sometimes if they don't want to be around me, I cannot just reach too far. If I reach too far, I feel like i lose control from what is around me you know well uh i think that would be very nice but obviously i understand that it's a very uh complicated situation this is very cool that you are coming back i'm i'm really excited about this and i love what's happening with jujitsu uh right now with all the characters and and and all the different promotions popping up and shining a light on it i would love one day to see it in the olympic games do you think we ever see jiu-jitsu make it to the olympics i feel like it's long overdue i believe could happen i mean but i don't know i don't know if maybe maybe maybe it's gonna be even bigger than

olympic and i mean when i say the olympic maybe the jiu-jitsu doesn't need to go to the olympic you know i mean it's gonna be such like a professional sport, like MMA. You don't have MMA today in the Olympics. You know what I mean? I just want the jiu-jitsu to keep growing just because I feel like we need jiu-jitsu in our life. And the reason why,

because we get connected to people deeply and that's my whole goal in jiu-jitsu. You know what I mean? I love it. Well, again, welcome back. Good luck. Thank you for in it. I love it. Well, again, welcome back. Good luck. Thank you for coming on and breaking the news. And we will be watching, looking forward to it very much.

And again, congratulations on beating cancer. There's the poster right there. Friday, January 24th. Garcia against Imanari. Legends. What a pleasure. 1-170 going down in Thailand. The legend Marcelo Garcia, joining us.

Thank you so much for the time and good luck to you next month. Thank you, Ayo. All right, there he is, the great Marcelo Garcia. I mean, that is royalty, my friends. Absolute royalty and beautiful stuff. Really appreciate him coming on and breaking that news. Again, it's 1.170 on Friday, January 24th at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

It starts at 7.30 a.m. Eastern Time, available on watch.onefc.com and the One YouTube channel. It is Mazakazu Imanari in an open weight submission grappling bout. Marcelo Garcia cannot exceed over 175 pounds. He is returning, as he said, for the first time since 2011. Superlek on the card, Fabricio Andrade on the card as well, Superbon on the card as well. Friday, December 6th, that's this Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern on Prime Video. One is back, Christian Lee returning to defend his lightweight MMA title. Danielle Kelly looking to reclaim her Atomweight submission grappling title. And interim strawweight MMA champ Jared Brooks moving up to flyweight to face Reese McLaren

with his eyes on the second belt now that DJ has retired. So that's this Friday. Of course, we know about UFC 310 this Saturday. In addition to UFC 310, we also have a huge glory event this Saturday as well, December 7th. The king of kickboxing, Rico Verhoeven, is returning, and they put out a great promo for that event. I love it. I love this promo. We do have it for you guys. Take a look at this. This is for Glory's massive event this Saturday.

Rico! Рекомендую! Melvin. This is great stuff. Collision 7. The King versus the Prince. Glory Collision 7. This Saturday from the Geroldom, the football stadium. 25,000 fans expected the face of Glory kickboxing Rico Verhoeven anytime he fights. I am watching.

It's available for free on Bally Live and Stadium across the United States and Canada. Prelims at 11 a.m. Eastern. Main card at 1 p.m. Eastern. The king of kickboxing, Rico Verhoeven, 64-10, 21 knockouts, defending his Glory heavyweight title against the prince, Levi Rikers. And there's a history there. Levi almost defeated Rico back in March, almost Kato'd him in the heavyweight Grand Prix final,

but Rico came back and was able to survive. It was a great scene. It was great drama. And now they're running it back, obviously not part of a Grand Prix. It's just Rico defending his title. 25 fights in glory. This will be his 12th title defense. That's this Saturday, glory seven.

So you've got one on Friday. You've got glory on Saturday afternoon. And then of course the big one, UFC 310 on Saturday as well. And you've got Shavkat Rachmanov versus Ian Machado Gary, which in my opinion is the people's main event. The most intriguing fight on this card. The one that is stealing all the headlines, creating all the buzz, two former teammates going toe-to-toe with a number one contender ticket on the line.

Shavkat had it. Bilal got hurt. He's taking this fight, five-round co-main event. The man who will be guiding him, who's been in his corner, the head man over at Kill Cliff FC in South Florida is Henry Hooft. Speaking of Dutch kickboxers, we've got the great Coach Henry Hooft

joining us right now to talk about it all. And he's in Las Vegas. Thank you so much, Coach. How are you, sir? How are you, Ariel? Everything good here, man. Vegas is Vegas. You know that. Yes. Well, I appreciate you joining us. I know it's very busy over there as you're preparing for this massive showdown.

There's a few things that I want to talk to you as it pertains to this fight. First, can I ask, as Shafkat's coach, he had the title fight, and he chose to take the risk of, hey, I'm not going to wait for the injured champion to come back. I'm going to fight, co-main event, five rounds against a very tough

up-and-comer a rising star undefeated were you in favor of this or would you have preferred that he wait for the title shot well i mean shavkat is a fighter um it's hard for these guys too he's from kazakhstan he's in america for uh like six weeks to train and also uh i have a family back home so the training was going really well he was prepared for for the title fight and uh when that when Bella got hurt and all these other names and all the other fights came up um yeah we talked about it of course but uh he just wants to fight he don't want to go back home Kazakhstan without a fight um he hasn't been fine he hasn't fought for a long

time already so there's been a while so for him he just wanted to get a fight in and um and i think we got a great fight here two great fighters you know i was thinking about you as the whole situation was playing out because it was shafkat kamar usman shafkat ian gary and you've trained both of those guys as well you know them you have relationships with them and so how do you feel when you're put in these positions when when you have your guy but also you're cornering him and preparing him to fight someone that you have cornered and trained in the past yeah i i mean you know the funny thing is i was thinking about that myself sometimes you got into this situation i think we're doing something really good at the gym if we have all these good fighters in the same weight classes but you know you hear these things about people saying like, oh, they got too many people.

It's a factory and it's this and that. But the funny thing is the UFC can have 700 athletes. The managers, they can have 300 athletes in every weight class and every gym. But if we have a couple of guys in the same weight class and they fight each other, it's a problem when people talk about it. And, I mean, we're also in the business. I mean, owning a team and paying the bills is not so easy so the more good fighters we have in the gym on the big cards

the better it is you know so the fact is of course that you have a relationship with people you know but you sometimes have to take the personal stuff out of it they're all great guys Kamaru of course the champion our champion Ian trained came around the same time as Shafkat trained there for six fights I think They're all great guys. Kamaru, of course, the champion, our champion.

Ian trained, came around the same time as Shafkat, trained there for six fights, I think, UFC fights. Did really, really well. And Shafkat is here now. We have Vicente Luque in the same weight class, Gilbert Burns in the same weight class. We got so many people in the weight class. So yeah, they're about to fight each other. And I don't think as a trainer, of course, you'd rather fight somebody you don't have in your gym.

But if the level is so high, you have so many good fighters, then let these guys fight. You know, they have to make a living. And there's only one champion in their weight class. So that's really the way I think about it, you know.

And no personal feelings that we're going to have a really, really good fight Saturday. I know Ian very well, of course, but people know me a little bit now I'm not a game plan kind of guy I'm a trainer, I like to train skills so these guys are going to fight

and they're going to fight really well Can I ask, what was your relationship like with Ian when he was at the gym? Very, very good I mean, if you go like six you win six fights together and he's a very young fighter very talented

a lot of energy you know, he's a good kid you know very talented, a lot of energy. Good kid. He was really, really good. It was very nice to see all these guys. Also, another Jason Jackson, Logan Story, Robbie Lawler, all these guys in the weight class training with each other. It was a great time.

High-level sparring, high-level drills, learning from each other. I had a really good relationship with him. Corner work was always very good. Yeah, nothing bad. We also separate our ways on normal terms, you know. We both go different ways. And people probably always try to find a way why and what and never. There's not always drama when people separate, you know. Some people just go their own way for their own goods and it works for him and it works for us you know so there's nothing personal there he's a really really talented guy i always

said that he's championship material for sure but so is Shafkat you know so that's the the cool thing about it were you disappointed when he left no i mean i'm not disappointed really because of course it's nice when you have these people like like ian shafkat now but also gilbert all these guys as a trainer again like i train like to train skills it's nice to see how easy these guys pick things up and also how easy if you see them train together how they'll translate with each other so it's nice when you have a whole group of these good fighters together but i also understand that some people want to do more personal things on a personal level. And our business model that we created in our gym is that we want to train a lot of guys.

It's not always easy for a trainer to do personal stuff outside of the whole group. We like to do our practices twice a day with the whole group. And of course, for certain kind of fights, we do something on the side. But mainly we do it like professional teams in other sports, which all train together. And Ian had a little different thoughts about that. But again, like I said, I feel the talent. I always want to train people that is talented like these guys.

So that's what I feel. But there's no hard feelings. Nothing is going to stay forever. We're all going to disappear one day. like these guys so that's what i feel but uh there's no hard feelings it's just uh nothing is going to stay forever you know we're all going to disappear one day um when that footage came out the one that we just played of them training how did you feel about that i mean i don't know uh nowadays you know i'm already an old man yeah but i'm old uh yeah people put stuff on some things sometimes in my gym even i've told these guys hey take that off the that is not good footage you know you don't you don't do that you don't need to do that you know so but it's training it's sparring and like shafkat also

said the same thing you can't really uh go off that that is just moving around there wasn't even sparring it was just yeah uh like light movement so i don't really it's not a bad bad thing but i prefer people just to keep it like uh to themselves and keep these videos if you're smart you keep the video to yourself and you study on it if you want that's all i say to my guys you can film but only if it's for your own purpose if these videos come out i mean like i said the new generation they do a lot of stuff for the Instagram. So, uh, yeah. So, so the way I was always kind of, uh,

taught, if you will. And, and what I subscribe to as, as an outsider was like everything that happens in the gym stays in the gym, unless it's like promotional stuff. The UFC comes in films for a countdown, et cetera.

People don't talk about sparring. They don't talk about those things. I remember when Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold had a thing where, you know, they were talking about, oh, I'm the Strikeforce champion now because of our sparring. And so now that it's become this big story leading up to the fight, who got the better of who in sparring? Yesterday, Shafkat Sanktas, he tapped him. Ian having his take on it and whatnot. It's hard to ignore. And it does make for excitement because they were

in the gym together could i ask and you could say whatever you want about it what could you tell us about their sparring sessions the the limited ones that they had what were those like i mean like i just said before they're so high level guys not only these two guys but at least 10 of these high level guys at the same level uh that's high level sparring you know and uh but with a lot of respect what you just saw the clip is just moving around and sometimes someday one guy gets the better uh someday the other i i always prefer to see sparring as training of course uh like um i don't mind as a fighter i i never mind to lose a sparring round or round to another guy if i I train certain kinds of things, uh,

maybe defensive stuff. Yeah. A guy gets the better hand out of me, but I need to train on the certain circumstances. So sparring is, you can look at that different ways, you know? So,

you know, there's, there are people, there's people that are getting tapped out in the gym. There's people that are getting knocked out in the gym. And that's not, that's not always a good thing, you know?

But, uh, again, sparring is sparring is mimicking the fight you know so um yeah i again i'm not a big fan of all putting that all out there but again like everybody nowadays everywhere is a telephone you know you can do nothing outside on the streets or in the gym it's on the phone and the more followers the guests the more clicks and another thing is they also need to sell a fight you know because at the end of the day, they work for promotion, but fighters promote themselves nowadays. They do a very good job at that. So they put everything out there just to make sure that they get seen. And, yeah, you know, it's not always the best fighters that get chances.

It's also the people that have a lot of followers and everything. And I'm not saying that about Ian or Shafi. Sure, sure. They deserve it, but there's a lot of talented guys that don't get chances just because they don't have enough following or because they won three fights on points. They're not attractive for the fans, but I think that's a little crappy.

So everybody puts their life on the line. All these fighters, they pay with their health. So I think we need to respect that a little bit more. Can I ask, Ian has said that Shafkat once told you that Ian would be a future champion. Do you remember this? Yeah, we talked about it in the greatest sense of like championship material, you know, because I think Shavkat told you too, and you must be an idiot not to see that Ian has a lot of talent, you know, he's a talented fighter

but again, in the 170 division, well to wait, I'm not saying I'm 155 by the way, but there's so many talented guys you know, but we talked about it and he not said, okay, he's going to be champion in 2024, 2025 but for sure he has championship material

he is championship material but he says, I'm a step further, you know? There was a dead time. And it was, again, all friendly. There's never really any beef between these guys. But it was nice to see that you saw these two guys looking at each other like, oh, maybe one day. It was the same before with Gilbert and Osman

and with Fesent and these guys. They see each other and they see, oh, shit, we're getting close now, you know? So they saw that. And it's Vicente and these guys, they see each other and they see, oh shit, we're getting close now. So they saw that and it's only cool that these guys, again, take the risk to take a fight like this. Both of these guys take the fight and I just think that's the nice thing about MMA

compared to a lot of other sports, that the best guys just go and fight each other at the end of the day. And the fans, whatever happened, whatever fans from which they uh they scored a big ticket because again it's 33 and all these two guys you know so it's really cool to see how do you envision this playing out well i mean like there's sometimes i mean i've been doing this for 40 years sometimes you get surprised but they're very technical. It can be a very technical fight where it will be difficult to...

I think the guy who gets the first hands on the guy, he will dictate the tempo of the fight. Both of them have good distance control. Ian is very good footwork-wise. Both of them have good distance control. Ian is very good footwork-wise. Both of them have very good eyes. They have a good fight IQ, you know. I know a lot of people said about Shavka, but Jov knew, oh, he got hurt a lot,

he got hit a lot. Yeah, he got hit, but he wanted to fight differently. And people also, some people don't know, that fight he fought with a big knee injury. And also, Jov knew he didn't make weight. He was three pounds overweight.

So, that fight was a little different. But he wanted to show a little bit the different side of him. So, it can be that Shafkat gets the hands on him. It can also be that Ian is very smart on the outside. But Ian can fight everywhere. Shafkat can fight anywhere. I think Shafkat is, of course, I think a little bit better on the floor, but Ian can fight everywhere. Shavkat can fight anywhere. I think Shavkat is, of course, I think a little bit better

on the floor with his grappling, wrestling grappling. But again, this is really, really high level guys, you know, so five rounds.

I can't go over all the rounds, but if there's a stoppage, it can go also both ways, you know. So one thing we know that Shavkat is 18-0 with all finishes. So he finishes everybody.

So that's the thing that we have to think about. And Ian is just a really, really technically really, really good distance control guy. So I'm sitting front row again. I just came from Michael Sandler's fight. I'm just sitting there. And for me, the pressure is already off because I know Shafqat trained well. I know Ian will train well. I will sit there and see a high-level fight. I'm just sitting there and for me the pressure is already off because I know Shafkat trained well. I know Ian will train well. I will sit there

and see a high level fight and hopefully I can help my guy win the fight. But no hard feelings to Ian and to his crew. That's normal of course. You mentioned Michael Chandler. So many big names, so many big fights attached to your gym. Can I ask your assessment of that fight against Charles Oliveira a couple weeks

ago? Well, at least he started a little different, right? Because that's what we wanted, really. Because he goes so crazy and then the second and third round he made a little mistake. But this time he waited a little longer. Michael's Michael. He's an entertainer.

You can say whatever you want to say. As a trainer, you want to see some different things sometimes. This time he did a little bit better. know but but he's entertaining he goes for entertainment um you can't take that away from him you know the last one was a crazy ass round don't don't forget charles olivera is a really really high level guy also a former champion good everywhere from a good gym too uh so uh I was just five rounds was very loud the atmosphere was crazy there inside and after the fight I I spoke with Anthony Kiedis from the red chili peppers that was kind of cool and he remember and he

called me by my name so there was a kind of wow yeah he said Henry of course are you doing and I was like what I listen I listen to your music. Because everybody wanted to go to Trump, but I went to Anthony Kiedis. I think that was very cool, you know, because I like that guy a lot. So, yeah, excitement, that's Michael Chandler. You're always going to see that. And he was close again.

I've heard you say, and I've heard you post this as well, that you're not a coach, you're a trainer. And I just heard you also say, you don't game plan it's it's more about skill and whatnot can you tell us what is the difference yeah well first of all when i say that people think that uh that's the word coach is that i don't like the weather that is better i just i and then in the netherlands we use the word coach not so much really yeah in soccer or something but yeah we have a sensei or we have a trainer i think i think a coach i think a trainer is more skill-based like

um coaching coaching is more uh more more more like a bigger thing you know like uh talking game planning some of them make themselves very important i was a fighter myself i know a coach or a trainer is important in the training room as a trainer to teach you the skills i believe that if you teach your your fighters uh the skills they can win in any situation against any opponent and if you coach too much towards towards like uh one fight or game plan too much for one fight in mma fights get scrambled every time. Stuff can go wrong right before the fight. They get a different opponent.

So that's why I think the trainer is a better word for that. Coaching in general, you see people that are more verbally good, setting a plan up and then have the trainers do the work. I like to see myself as a guy that i if i could i would just be in the gym and teaching instead of going to uh to fights i mean of course it's good to be there with the fighter that's of course very important but i just like to teach and that's why i still do my seminars that's why i still teach people that are not at the highest level um we have a very big group of people uh ariel we at this moment we have 72 professional fighters

or something we have alone we have like 24 27 ufc guys but we have a lot of talent coming up now and and i and i like to train guys like that you know i like to be on the floor with these guys so uh that's my assessment a little bit i see the difference between a trainer and a coach a guy that can also show the skills not only talk it, showed it and went through it and know how it feels to get knocked out and know how it feels to quit to yourself and everything. That's a guy that I call a trainer. And a coach, he can also do it from YouTube

and he can do it from all kinds of other stuff and he can get far if you have talented fighters. But a trainer, he can let people grow from scratch, you know, and that's what I like, you know. I saw not that long ago you and, you and, and the great trainer, the great mind, Freddie Roach. What, what was that like? Yeah, that was really, that was really cool. Um, that was really, really cool because I saw him at the MMA UFC event in, uh,

Florida before, like a couple of years before. He said, when I come to LA, I want to see you at the gym. I want to spend some time with you. And he says, yeah, yeah so I had time to go I was seeing my my other friend in California and I hit him up I said Freddy I'm here and I want to really want to see you and and I thought I would just come to the gym and he will be around there and everything but it was really cool he waited for me there we spent hours talking about like like all of stuff, like boxing related stuff, but also many people don't know that I also run the gym. I'm also part owner of my team and the gym.

It's not only I'm coaching or teaching the fighters or be the trainer. I'm also the owner of a business. So it was really cool to listen to him, to listen to the way he talks, things about structuring the gym and training and professional fighters. And also the cool stories, of course, about the fighters that we all have.

He trained so many champions, but I have not even have 10% of his champions, but we had really good champions and fighters in that gym too. So it was, uh, time well spent really down to earth guy and, uh, simple things about how to throw a hook after so many years,

still cool to listen to the different minds and, uh, also also cool that he knows about MMA that he knows about our fighters that he knows about our sport that he respects it also I like that because a lot of other coaches from other combat sports always look down on different kind of sports but he's not like that you know he's he's a really really cool dude you know and uh yeah i want to spend some more time with him when i'm when i'm over there because he's a cool guy you know there's an absolute legend as are you and and there's there's a lot of um a lot of great stories attached to 310 one of them is maybe we'll see the first japanese-born ufc champion kai sakura um have you been spending some time in Japan,

and are you trying to bring some Japanese fighters over to America? Yeah. Yeah, I spent the last two years, every December, this year again, I go to Japan. We have, of course, already a couple of Japanese guys in our gym not so long ago. Of course, we have Sato, who's there for a long time already, and Yusaku, who's a 170 guy but yeah I went also to Japan because I think some of the Japanese fighters that especially

Sato these guys after a couple of fights they fight so many high level guys I think the the level of fighting in Japan is a little different than in America you know I think uh that it's good for them to come to America to train in the rooms that we have also fight the level the the the local fights here in America are higher level for now than in Japan local level so it's good for them and so I have a cooperation there with some of the gyms one of the gyms is the gym of Okami who everybody really knows also a legend in the sport. So I have two of his fighters now in my gym, very talented young fighters.

I have a heavyweight guy who's going to fight on Rising, who is a former sumo guy, young guy still. He's going to fight there. So, yeah, I really, I've been to Japan so many times with kickboxing, with the K-1, with Peter Art, with Ernesto. I fought them myself. I really like to do something back. I like to do my workshops with the guys there and spend time with these trainers. As I get a little older, I need to make sure that that's going to

be the future for me when I decide to go retire or not retire, but get away from what I'm doing now in a couple of years. I want to be in asia and spend time there because as you know my wife's from thailand you know she's been with me through my whole the whole the whole trip here all everything i do she's always so i want to give her some time back there and i think i have a lot of uh things that i can do over there in a

couple of years from now and maybe build something there and help give back for what they all give give to me you know because martial arts really gave me a lot of good things you know and japan is there's so much talent there but it's just uh the mentality is so different there they're so polite and they're so respectful that sometimes uh you yeah then they need to get angry before they really get like into a fight mode you know that's like a mental thing that that's Japanese people. They're so respectful that they forget that sometimes that they're in a fight, that the respect in the fight sometimes have to leave a little bit and get back after the fight.

But great country, great people, a lot of talent, and we're going to see a lot more Japanese fighters coming in the next couple of years. I really think that. And I couldn't agree more. Adore the culture and love that you're doing that and trying to give back and to cultivate talent. You have so much, like I said, international talent in your gym.

One fight that I'm very much looking forward to in January is Paul Hughes against Usman Nurmagomedov. Are you going to be working with Paul? I know he spent some time with you guys as well as he prepares for that fight. Yeah, he's in the gym now. Amazing. Yeah, he's going to be in total he was probably three

four weeks but paul is another amazing young talented fighter and island man these the guys i don't know what's in the water there but they're good fighters you know i would like to fight and he is a really talented guy also really really humble kid also a good teammate you know so he comes a couple of times a year for a couple of weeks to train with our guys. And everybody loves him in the gym. All the guys that train with him, so respectful and hard worker, quiet guy, doesn't really, you don't need to hold his hands. Really, really cool guy.

And, yeah, and, of course, he has a really good coaching system back home. Last time when we were in Ireland with Jason and he was there and met the coaches over there. They're really good people, you know last time when we were in Ireland with Jason and there and he was there I met the coaches over there they're really good people you know so they're doing great work so uh it's good for him to be in the gym we learn a lot from him he bring a lot of stuff to our fighters and uh we bring a lot of knowledge that we can help him with over and I think it will be an interesting fight because again high level guys uh of course his opponent is a big champion from a big big uh big family uh and uh very skilled too so uh that's a really really interesting fight you know because paul's uh is not to be underestimated he's really really talented love that fight but of course adore

ian gary versus shavkat rachmanov what a fight what a freaking fight on saturday i really appreciate the insight and um i know i'll let you get back to training uh not coaching i'll let you get back to training i know it's busy over there you also have vicente luque um this uh this weekend as well we forgot that yes yes we got to send the fight and everybody knows if we send the fight you need to stay on the tv something's gonna happen so uh we hope for a for a good fight now he's looking good robocop and gilbert burns will be in his corner so it's very nice too he'll be joining me there so that's kind of cool so yeah we're gonna have a great night said that i and this year really really good with

these guys and then 2025 my friend we keep charging i love it thank you henry great to catch up with you really appreciate the time and and good luck to you and the team on Saturday. Thank you, my friend. Take care. All right. There he is, Henry Hooft. It's great to have him on. One of the legends of the game as far as training is concerned and love those conversations, love those personalities, love the insight. Insight and yeah I'm sure it's not easy But you know he's got his guy now he's Working with him and and and to be honest You know we've seen this and I know that He wasn't you know he wasn't with Ian for His entire career he didn't build him up He said six fights he he was training out

Of the gym for but you know there was a Time where we saw where some coaches Would say or trainers oh you know I used To train this guy so I'm going to stay out of this one. And not every situation is exactly the same, but I think this is fine. You know, someone moves on, you've got your guy there, you've got to help your guy prepare to be a champion. And there's a lot at stake here for Shafqat. He's taking a big risk.

If only because he had the title shot, he loses this fight, he's not getting a title shot. He may get the title shot eventually down the line. This isn't the end for him, but he loses this fight. He is not fighting for the belt next, unless it's some controversial loss and they run it back right away. He is not fighting for the belt next, most likely. once where Alexander Gustafson got knocked out by the late great Rumble Johnson, another guy that Henry was by his side for so many years, and he ended up getting a title shot. I think it was UFC 192. But other than that, it's extremely rare for someone to lose a number one contender fight and get a title shot. So credit to Shavkat. I know he didn't want to go home without a fight. I don't blame him at all. Ultimately, this is the prize fighting business. You talk about Dakota DeCheva. Why should she stay in the PFL? We get caught up on belts and all this other stuff and notoriety. Ultimately, it's about money. Get in, get paid, get out. And that's why Shotcut's taking this fight. And I think that's why Dakota stays with the PFL. And that's why people fight.

In fact, yesterday at the Tank Davis Lamont Roach press conference, Tank was talked about being a unified champ and fighting this guy and fighting this WBC guy and all this stuff. And he was just like, I don't care about any of that. In fact, his vibe yesterday was fascinating because he essentially was saying, I'm done. After 2025, I'm done. Now we hear this a lot from boxers. A lot of boxers have said, I'm going to be done, or a lot of boxers walk away and then come back. It happens all the time. This is not unique. we ever heard it from tank davis uh who is just 30 just turned 30 um earlier in november november 7th to be exact and he just said after 2025 i'm done and and and also called boxing like he was tired of it and wanted a break um had a fascinating chat with dan canobio who does a tremendous job i'm a huge fan of the inside boxing live podcast podcast. And he said, essentially, like, I'd like to talk to a therapist, but I don't want to do it now because I feel like I'll lose that fire inside. I thought that was fascinating. He has a history

with Lamont Roach. They fought a couple of times on the amateur scene, but it's obviously not the fight that people wanted to see Tank in. They wanted to see him potentially against the Shakur Stevenson. He got very fired up when talking about Shakur and saying like, what did he do? You know, what, what, what has he proven to be in there with the likes of me,

arguably top two, top three best boxers or most famous boxers, I should say in America and arguably in the world. So fascinating stuff from Gervonta. Yes, he was four and a half hours late. And this one's 100% on me in that I asked to have him on. They said yes. My text back was, what is the actual likelihood of him coming on?

Everyone said they felt good about it. I was asking the guys in the back like what's the line what do we what are we putting this at you know plus 300 plus 250 uh long shot you shoot for the moon you land among the stars and it appears as though i mean probably silly my my inclination guys was to just not promote it that probably should have been gotta trust your gut yeah well, well thanks for the... Okay, so which way do you want this? It sounds like he's not showing up.

Is that the case? We're still efforting. We're not giving up. Okay. Nobody ever said we're giving up. No, we never give up. We don't give up, but? No, there's no but. We don't give up. Okay, we're still holding out hope. Not looking great at the moment, I would say. didn't say it was

looking good you said we're not giving up no one's gonna lie to you uh speaking of speaking of not looking good um i keep looking at my phone because i get this these these apple sports notifications i don't know how to turn it off yeah you've seen the score well they keep popping up i think yeah i at one it comes in twos, I'm sorry. Golly. Yeah, halftime. What happened? What's the vibe?

What's going on? The vibe's definitely not good. I'd say it's very similar to the tank situation. Oh, God, thanks. Down 2-0, halftime. Kevin De Bruyne, 31st minute. I think they scored in the seventh as well. Yeah, yeah, they jumped out early.

Bernardo Silva in the eighth. We might be trying harder to get tank than... Wow. Pep revenge game, I suppose, you know? Yeah, they were saying he was going to get sacked, and then he put up the six. I have talked so much smack to my older son about this game. I'm going to hear it.

Doesn't he not care about it? It's going to be even worse than you think. It'm going to hear it. Doesn't he not care about Man City? It's going to be even worse than you think. It's going to be worse than you think, Ariel, because Liverpool are losing. So that would mean Man City. They're losing to who? Who are they losing to? Newcastle, Isaac's guard.

Away or home? Newcastle. They're playing Newcastle. Of course, we all know that Liverpool has only lost once at Anfield this year. And of course, that was to the tricky trees How's United doing? They're all off, but this is a low goal already

How do you feel about these Wednesday fixtures? A little Christmas man Yeah, a little midweek action I want to give a big shout out And a lot of love to our guy Ade Oladipo who is presenting on Prime Video The Chelsea Southampton match.

How's that one looking? 3-1 Chelsea. All right. I told me... Southampton too. Pretty incredible. Ade told me that he is the first black presenter for Premier League football in the UK on any network. And so he has made history.

He did this last year for them as well. Presenter being host for the non-European crowd. That's a huge, huge... Shout out to him. Yeah, that's a huge, huge deal. He's killing it. Yeah, and very worthy of it. He is extremely knowledgeable.

I don't know if they say to him, you know, stick to boxing over there. How dare you speak of boxing? He certainly deserves it And does a great job And I wish I could be watching him He's a Liverpool fan isn't he He's a big Liverpool guy

He's a red Nevertheless It's halftime though And we all remember of course When I went to Etihad Stadium To watch Forrest vs. Man City 5-0 6 I believe.

Oh, yeah. Holland had a hat trick in the first half. He hasn't even got going yet tonight, mate. Different days. Different days, all right? Different days, different formations, different players, different personnel, different manager. It's tough with the manager stuff, right?

You say manager, you say coach, you say trainer. In football, you say coach, you say trainer. I say, in football, you say manager, yeah? Yeah. In boxing, you say trainer. In MMA, we say coach. Well, you can say coach in boxing as well, no? I feel like they say head trainer. Hmm.

Yeah. In basketball, you say coach. In baseball, you say coach In baseball you say manager In football you say coach Meaning NFL football In hockey you say coach It's hard to keep up I wonder why in

Baseball and soccer do they say manager I wonder why Is it because you're managing things It's a little more tactical Why is that I don't know I never thought about it Ariel And PT managing things it's a little more tactical why is that I don't know I never thought about it Ariel and PT what do you call like a running shoe oh yeah yeah a runner okay how about like a sneaker um a runner wouldn't you call them trainers just what is the

never yeah what are trains that more of like a british thing they're all just runners like so i'm running runners i'm not the only one i thought they called them trainers right yeah i thought he was gonna say trainers still i think he's avoiding saying i never say it says it sounds weird coming out my mouth trainer i think i think in the uk they say trying it all for sure but in ireland everything's just runners you have runners and you have shoes shoes are leather ones uh runners are the non-leathers anyway back to the questions i mean that was a riveting stuff right there thank you for that frank you want to hear a couple of these super chats oh yeah i would love that and um you know we'll we'll uh we'll stick around a little bit and uh see a if force can come back but more importantly if tank davis shows up a Great article, by the way, on his tardiness on uncrowned.com by the great Keith Idick.

I suggest you check it out. Not that I'm saying that he's big-timing us here, but we're at the two and a half hours, so we still have two hours to go. Anyway, Frank, what do you got? So Derek the Dad, who has asked 10 Super Chat questions, that's of note. Will New York Rick and GC ever get to ask the fighter questions during the A8 show interviews, sort of like the Pat McAfee show and his crew?

Oh, yeah. I'm totally down with that. And there have been some times where I've, like, thrown it to the guys. But my feeling is, and correct me if I'm wrong guys i feel like you don't really want to do this i do not okay yeah it just feels like it's gonna lead to the fighter being like who the fuck is this guy you mean like jorge masvidal yesterday yeah where did you guys um he didn't say who the fuck are these guys he said where did you find these dorks or whatever yeah that wasn't nice

I had your back though I'd call us dorks This is like when we're talking about the frotch thing You guys don't have my back You don't have my back You go on a public domain and you're like I would literally walk In front of a speeding train

Correct you had an opportunity to be like They're not doors To push us onto the tracks And yeah you threw us as far as you could Under the bus You have no idea what was said I said Jorge Nah we don't need all that

Now were you talking to Jorge or Abe Or who was like actually tweeting No I believe that would probably be his new manager Oh who is that That would be my my old friend ali oh you oh i mean i don't know actually you're trying to walk me into that one or does it compliment no i mean then yeah you know what what more needs to be said um the answer to the to the actual question is like you're the best in the business what what could i

possibly contribute to that interview that would be additive if there was ever a rare scenario where i felt like that i guess i'd i'd feel empowered to do it but it really there's not a scenario where i feel like it would be additive it just doesn't really make sense i do believe in and this will sound very pretentious i've talked about this a little bit i do believe in the art of the interview and i i there's a sort of like a roadmap and actually this is the the challenge fun challenge of doing a show without a where we're interviewing fighters or personalities or managers or promoters whatever um because like you don't share the same brain. And so we actually will speak to each other during the interview to break the fourth wall.

You go, I go, so that we're not stepping on top of each other. We're not talking about what we're going to ask, but you try to follow a map, right? As opposed to like asking a question about this and then skipping to that and then coming back to this. I see it all the time

when it's a two-on-one interview. And so that makes it tricky. I think McAfee does it in a good way. And I think he does it in a way where he'll have a long conversation and then he'll throw it to the guys for some sort of offbeat question. And I'm certainly not against that

in any way, shape, or form. But I think if the guys had something to say, and sometimes they've been included. We just had GC yesterday say something to Shavkat. So I'm not sure. Hey, Shavkat's stamped. He loved it. On the hat and the Beshbomar.

Also, let's be real. Like, this is not the role, right? Yeah, I mean, you guys are doing a million other things. No, well, there's that part, but there's also if I had something that I thought should be asked, why would I not just give it to you? Like, why would I not say, hey, this is that part, but there's also, if I had something that I thought should be asked, why would I not just give it to you? Like, why would I not say,

hey, this is something to potentially ask about? Yeah, great point. That's what the producer is supposed to do. This is just not the role. You're in that chair for the reason.

I'm here to chat shit. It doesn't really make sense. I'm not here to ask questions. Yeah. Other than for us to get, you know, publicly shamed by Jorge Masvidal.

That is what we're here for. Here's an interesting one. Shooter McGavin. Hello, Ariel and the boys in the back. Thinking about potential matchups for the London card, would it be crazy to book Arnold Allen versus Lerone Murphy as the co-main, or should they keep them separate

to have as many England versus the world matchups as possible? What do you think, PT? I think those kind of fights are great just based on like irish mma over the years the ones that elicit the most passion are you know two guys from the same place fighting each other so i think that would be really cool um they're obviously in the same kind of proximity a better way too i'm not opposed to like the the thing is like you can make compelling matchups for both like it's not a situation where these guys need to fight each other. But I do feel like that always elicits the most emotion

when you're forcing the fan base to basically pick a side. It's always magic. Leon, main event, Arnold. I mean, there's a lot of options there. I feel like it would be a little bit too soon for that fight. Don't hate it, but I don't know. I don't feel like the English crowd would love it. Agreed?

We'll have to wait and see. I mean, book it and let's see how they react. Oh, okay. Wow, geez. P.S. GC, great shout with the Brooklyn Ren pick yesterday, my brother, he says. We'll have to wait and see I mean book it and let's see how they react PSGC Great shout with the Brooklyn Ren pick yesterday My brother he says I appreciate that

Ball knower out here Guy knows ball I know ball Civil rhyme Ariel any insight into the UFC's Deal with TNT sports here in the UK Does it expire anytime soon and do you think we could see the move To another platform in the future They just re-signed it like a year or so ago TNT Sports here in the UK? Does it expire anytime soon? And do you think we could see the move to another platform in the future? They just re-signed it like a year or so ago.

TNT is about to lose WWE in a month. WWE is going to Netflix. So it'll be interesting to see if they pick up AEW because it's part of Warner Brothers discovery, but they're not losing UFC anytime soon. That is for certain. I think it's like two more years, maybe three. Edwin, what's up, Ariel and Co?

This question is more for Frank. Anyway, can we get Brian Battles' I Love It from his iconic post-fight interview on the sideboard? I love that one. I love it. I love it. Ask and you shall receive. Have we reached our max with those?

We hit the max. So what do we do? Well, I just have to get craftier. Okay. All right. Well, please, get crafty. FTMMA. Ariel, it's a cold winter afternoon in New York.

Yes, it is. You've just completed another enthralling episode of the Ariel Helwani Show, and you're making the drive home. What is the choice of audio content coming out of the car speakers is it music podcasts or do you just sit in silence contemplating all the minor mistakes that happened on the show and how you can inevitably blame them on frank and of course same question to the team wow uh that is a great great question um a quick call home How was school? How's everything?

Maybe a call to Jerry We like to recap things Jerry my agent Perhaps if someone called me During the show Or before the show And I didn't get to it I'll get that call

Out of the way as well But as it pertains to podcasts These days What are we listening to These days? Currently right now I'm listening to the Athletic FC As you can see right over there

A great chat with David Ornstein The The insider if you will About how he breaks news and all that stuff Talk about knowing ball Hey PT Were you impressed with that one Fantastic I'm more of a second captain's man though

You get your Spotify wrapped Because Rick put some absolutely insane numbers I put up some crazy numbers on podcasts Should I open it up right now? With you guys right here Your 2024 wrapped is here Find out what ruled your listening this year Skip the music, I don't care about the music

Let me hear the podcast I'm curious about the music Can I be honest? I'm an Apple music guy, believe it or not. Me too. I worked for Spotify for three years. Yeah, we're Apple music. Oh, so your music, but it's your podcast on Spotify. Podcast for Spotify. Okay, alright. Spotify is

the absolute best podcast player. Okay, life moves fast. This is really cool. Luckily, we took some notes. Wow, I'm getting a little nostalgic nostalgic Look at this You listened for 10,296 minutes this year That puts you in the top 32% of listeners worldwide Wait how many?

10,000 936 Your biggest listening day was May 6th With 168 minutes Where do you find the time? It says You played 231 songs this year Those are 100% my kids for some reason

they think um that spotify is way cooler and one song again and again and again and your top song was doja by central c oh so this is the music part she don't listen to no what is it uk yeah this is the music how many minutes do you spend listening to podcasts, Rick? You streamed it 43 times. 10,000 is like the rookiest shit I've ever heard. I got 33,000 on podcast listens this year. I've got 113,000. Wow.

You've got an issue there, man. An issue. That's 78 days of the year. That's like 1,883 hours and 78 days.'s 20 percent of the year you spent listening to podcasts and you work on a podcast i was gonna say he doesn't even listen to this podcast that'll work so add in another four hours three times a week you do the math on that so you listen to me it's funny you ask i did a spotify rap i actually know which podcast

i mean i'm literally in the in the middle of my Spotify rap. Yeah, you're putting up 10K. This conversation is over. Ariel, we're very curious about the podcast. And then you're like, I listen to Central City 10,000 times. I'm going in the order here. All right, all right. Get to the podcast.

No, no, no. But actually, I'm actually fascinated by this. 100,000 seems absurd. 113 000 so he's 103 000 more than you okay but here's the thing are you doing like the 2x thing i don't ever change the speed never i feel like you used to be that guy not ever once you're listening tried it one time and said this will never happen again all right let's hear it let's hear it i know it's gonna be some like five yeah it's gonna's going to be some like... Top five? Yeah, it's going to be some movie shit, some comedy shit.

What's wrong with movies? The Big Picture. There it is. Number one, a movie podcast from The Ringer. Legit never heard of it. Number two, yeah, you wouldn't have. It's like hardcore movie shit. All right. Number two, BS, Bill Simmons podcast.

Heard of it. Number three, Comedy Bang Bang, an improv comedy podcast. Oh, nice. Absolutely incredible. Number four, The Ringerverse. That's The Ringer's like pop culture, nerd culture. Yep. And number five, nice. Absolutely incredible. Number four, The Ringerverse. That's The Ringer's like pop culture, nerd culture.

Yep. And number five, Rewatchables, another Ringer movie. Big Ringer. Wow. Earlier you told me four out of five.

Four out of five. You mentioned the last podcast on the left. Did that not make the list anymore? No, that was not mine. Oh, okay. Bro, you should have come with me to The Ringer

when I was there for three years. I wish. You're such a big fan. Would have been a nice little collaboration there. Anyway, back to my list. Yeah, okay. Bro, you should have come with me to the ringer when I was there for three years. I wish. You're such a big fan. Would have been a nice little collaboration there. Anyway, back to my list. Yeah, yeah. Let's hear your list. Top songs, Doja, Sicko Mode, Goosebumps, Run It Up, and IDGAF.

Goosebumps with Travis Scott, the last I heard, is it? Okay, here. Wait. You spent 5,542 minutes listening to podcasts this year. That's it? How did I go down? That's not even, like, you spent 5,542 minutes listening to podcasts this year. That's it? How did I go down? Not even, like, you should be ashamed. Your top podcast topic was sports.

That's a good episode of your show. I text this guy, Ariel, about podcasts all the time, thinking that this is kinship. Like, he's listening to podcasts. This guy listens to three seconds and then turns it off. Yeah. He doesn't have time to call his best friend for five minutes. You think he has time to listen to a podcast you call yourself a podcaster what is this five thousand

if you do send if you do send ariel podcast to listen did you ever notice he just says whatever they say in the first minute so clearly five thousand crazy this is crazy you know i'm 20x i'm 20x exactly what it says in the title. All right. Well, here it is. Top five. Number one, Bill Simmons podcast. Number two, The Ringer MMA Show.

Shout out. Big Ringer fans over here. I mean, it was my show. Let's see if there's some applications. Literally my show. Number three, The Ringer Wrestling Show. Number four, The Ariel Helwani Show. And number five, Call Me Back.

Three of the top five. Or two of the top five you host yourself. And number five, Call Me Back. Three of the top five. Or two of the top five you host yourself. You're just listening back to yourself. Why isn't the MMA hour on there? That's weird. Sounds like you didn't put the hour in. What is Call Me Back? Call Me Back is more of a political podcast.

I wonder. I don't know it. I thought you used to listen to Men in Coats, right? ET33. I'm impressed. Men in Blazers. You're doing some work. Yeah, I thought it was Gordon numbers there until I heard yours.

It's crazy. Make his top five. I'm ashamed of myself after hearing Richard. By the way, can I tell you the God's honest truth? I have noticed, and I don't know when I got it. I don't know if it was last year or two years ago. But ever since I got youtube premium i've noticed that i choose to just listen to it on youtube so yeah whatever that breakdown is i bet like there are times where i'm like oh this is up let me i don't know why i don't know if it's it's

it's less clunky wait so you don't watch the visual but i just put it in my pocket yeah but you can like you can with youtube premium you can like go and do other things. You know? What do you mean? Oh, oh. You can minimize. I feel like you relate to our fans more now. YouTube Premium.

Shout out. I'm just saying. Yeah, shout out to YouTube Premium. This is not taking it into account. There's so much. I still haven't got YouTube Premium. Oh, you're missing out. Behind the time.

Every time an ad comes on, I hear it. Tell me Spotify's not counting YouTube's number. What are you doing? You're living in the stone age i'm like no it's it's it's worth it it's so worth it yeah it's actually yeah you really it's nearly a necessity at this point the way the ads are the downloading the downloading is the big feature uh horrible news what what three now three now jeremy doku how am i updating

you guys you guys? You guys were supposed to be updating me. There it is. Thanks. Are you watching it live? No, the Apple. It's on YouTube. For some reason, I get this Apple thing now, which is.

And it's like. You see this? Your notifications are ahead of ours. Oh, Liverpool dropped. Liverpool got one back. Liverpool got one back. So, anyway. We do have some more super chatters to get to.

Oh, yeah. Okay. Okay. anyway um we do have some more super chatters to get to oh yeah um okay so james fallon cote i hope i'm pronouncing that correctly ariel i'm dying for an update on your wife's composting saga oh it seemed like it was a fairly aimless process at the start and i'd love to see if it has evolved love from the pacific northwest message me for tips. Oh, wow. I paid $22.22 for that. $22? Legend. I'm going to take a guess and say that they're just like an avid composter and really wants to help. JFC.

By the way, that $22 can help us get a proper composting bin. The city just gives those to you if you ask. I had no idea, and neither did she apparently. We are growing tomatoes back there. During the pandemic, we bought this like little thing where you can put sand. And this was like early days of the pandemic. Like no one was on the street. And we went to a hardware shop and we went back and we got these massive bags of sand.

Like these are the heaviest freaking bags. And then we made this little sand pit for my kids who at the time were, you know, eight, six and four. That sand pit in the backyard has now turned into the compost area. And now we're like growing tomatoes and stuff out of there. And she's like, look at these tomatoes. I'm like, this is coming out of the sand pit? I'm so sorry. This visual in my head.

Hey, kids, check this out. It's a scene. It's a scene, all a scene all right it's exposed to the to the outside right it's not encased in anything like there's a small enclosure but uh i don't know what like you guys built like a greenhouse around your i would love to build i would love to build a greenhouse uh i don't know like our our our backyard and lawn has become it has become almost like the Starbucks for deer. And they all just hang out there.

It's like there's eight of them. And they're just eating everything. And it's very annoying. Pictures or it didn't happen? I could take some photos. There was also a fox back there. There was, of course, we all remember the incident with the groundhog who was playing possum, as you may recall, and then scurried off. So there's all kinds of things happening where we live.

It's pretty exciting, though. Yeah, yeah. I appreciate it. Matt Borgeson writes, hey, Ariel, do you plan to have everyone from the February 22nd card on before the date? And will there be fights? Will there be for the fights in saudi including december 21st um uh hopefully on the ariel and ade show we can have a lot of those guys on um i think there was some talk of having virgil ortiz in the future uh we got to have my guy

my big oos my man joseph parker i'm i'm his wise man by the way he has anointed me as his wise man the the paul heyman this is confirmed oh 100 it's a thousand percent i'm all in on big joseph I'm his wise man, by the way. He has anointed me as his wise man. The Paul Heyman to his Roman reigns. Oh, 100%. It's 1,000%. I'm all in on Big Joseph. And I love Daniel Dubois. I mean, I was the one who was backing Daniel Dubois when the entire country turned their backs on him

and called him a quitter when he broke his orbital against Joe Joyce. I was watching that fight. It was at some hall, not York Hall, but another one named Escaping Me on BT Sport in November of 2020. I mean, would I be able to rifle off these little nuggets if I wasn't such a big boxing guy? Probably not. But I love Joseph Parker. I love his story. I love what he has done as of late and I love that he's getting this opportunity. Yes, the answer is yes. We will get a lot of those guys on, including

maybe Big Turkey once again. Anything else? Slido would love to know where to order the Dubai chocolate. Oh, I got that from a place called Nuts Factory. Nuts Factory.

Nuts Factory. Shout out to Salido. Legend. Scale of one to 10, what are you giving it? A 10, actually. It is actually incredible. In addition to that, they also had s'mores. So I gave you guys the original.

S'mores Dubai chocolate. S'mores Dubai chocolate. I was skeptical. You're going to bring it tomorrow? Finished it. Can buy more, obviously. Ske obviously skeptical but uh pretty good not as good as the original we also got peanut butter and jelly solid not as good as the original i would go um original s'mores peanut butter and jelly and they had birthday cake which i just said no you know i

do have to say i don't fucks with that when you bring treats they've always been 10 out of 10 like you've talked about this on the show you're like i like to bring treats but you did the wine gummies you did all the wine gummies were good now the dubai chocolate bagels the other damn are you trying to say that like i'm i'm missing out on a lot i know yeah frankie i'm just glazing you know it's getting close to the holidays stop the glaze stop the glaze as the kids would say anything else yeah so um cloud is lawn their first super chat when the refs step in between a downed and standing opponent instead of letting

the fighters catch each other coming up is there a rule about that? Wait, let me read it again. Cloudus Lawn. Cloudies. Cloudies Lawn. Is there a rule about that? When the ref steps in between the downsides. So when one fighter's on the ground

and let's say somebody's standing there just like kicking their legs and doing things like that, that's what he's referring to because what you'll often see is the referee goes in and. Whoa. Wow. Right.

Where did that come from? No context either. Was that just like. It's been raining. Is it a weather update? I was frantically typing yes and I hit the soundboard. The cloudy lawn got him thinking of rain. Yeah.

Cloudy's lawn. God, I'm thinking of rain. Yeah, cloudy's lawn. And you see the referee step in and then stop the fighter from kicking their legs and then moving to the side. I actually don't know per the rule book because I haven't really dove into it in that capacity. I have to imagine that there's some kind of thing that when the referee is trying to change

the plane of the action, right? Because now the action is happening on the ground and he's standing that other fighter up. That's when you're not allowed to strike them in that time that the referee is intervening. If the referee is not intervening, then they could. If that opponent was, if that fighter was trying to stand up while the referee was not intervening, I imagine that other fighter could take a free shot at them if they wanted. But oftentimes what you'll see is because the action has either stalled out or they're feeling like this is not an engaging combat scenario, the referee is in the middle there and that's why you can't do the strike. I don't think it has to do

with necessarily like them not wanting fighters to get struck in certain positions. I think it's just the referee is now here trying to change where this fight is happening from the ground and moving them back to their feet. So I think it's more about the, the referee stepping in than it is about the position of the action. PT, back me up.

That makes sense, right? Yeah. Yeah. And usually the ref will actually look at the standing fighter to the point where they're like, do you want this person? Yeah. Do you want to be on the ground with them or

do you want to be standing? They're giving that fighter the be on the ground with them or do you want to be standing? They're giving that fighter the opportunity. Make up your mind. We'll take a brief pause to get them both standing and back to action. That was phenomenal. Yeah, it's not necessarily, I think, about them not wanting somebody to get hit.

It's more about, are you guys going to be on the ground or are you going to be standing? That's the decision. Anything else? Just one more here from Dave. When we get an Ant Evans interview on the show, that's what the people really want. That is a thousand percent

from Ant Evans. Ant's burner account asks when it's good to know. I want to know how he came up with the name Dave Sandeen. Yeah. He also needs to respond to the various steroid allegations that have been levied at him for Ant Evans. Wow. That have been levied at him. Wow. For Ant Evans. Wow.

That have been levied at Ant? Yeah, I mean, he's a big dude. Actually, I don't know if there is any allegation. Wow. I know, it's just... You're the one that's levying the steroid allegations, and I think he was just like, yeah, I'm on steroids. Ant did just say that there is no relation between the two.

Between him and Dave Sandin? Correct. Correct, yeah, because he made up the name. It's not a real person. Nobody believes me that he's seven foot tall and 320 pounds. Oh, he's a beast. He's a tank, dare I say.

He is a tank. We don't have the other tank, but he is a tank. A couple more. James Portland. Hola, Ariel. I've been watching these silly blind ranking videos on YouTube and thought of one.

Can you ask NYR to blindly rank these people that have Jack in their name? If you're not familiar, you say one person at a time and have in place a one through five next to it. So like I say a name and then you just, you have to slot them. You get it? I missed the first half of this. Sorry. Okay. So I'm going to.

It's a blind ranking. It's a blind ranking. Oh, yeah, yeah. I love those. People with Jack in their name. I've seen those on TikTok. Okay. Wait, who's doing the ranking? You are or I am? I'm giving you the name. You do the ranking. I, yeah, yeah. I love those. People with Jack in their name. I've seen those on TikTok. Okay. Wait, who's doing the ranking?

You or I? I'm giving you the name. You do the ranking. I'm doing it. Let's go. Jack Harlow. Five. Bojack Horseman.

Four. Jack de la Maddalena. Two. Hugh Jackman. One. Eric Jackman. Three. Yeah, that makes sense.

That's perfect. Damn, I knew. You're not higher than Bojack Horseman You're on fire We found his That was sick Flip Eric Jackman and Bojack Horseman That was sick Can I say something?

Killed that Who's Bojack Horseman? It's a cartoon Netflix series Voiced by the great Will Arnett My voice doppelganger As some have said Yeah

Wow that's a good I hear that I can hear it Deep but soft too Like there's like a Sexy Sexy Sexy for sure

Sure I had to do one of those For boxing Pound for pound With DAZN And people got so mad They're like This fucking guy

It's impossible To get it right A blind ranking is fun though Because nobody's gonna blame you Oh you did a blind ranking and people got pissed. Not that you mentioned you did a voiceover and people got pissed. By the way, can you do like GMC? Can you just say like, can you do like a fake commercial right now,

GC? I want to hear the... Oh, yeah. No, GMC. I need a script. I can't go off the bat. Ah, right. Maybe on Boys in the Back. Exactly. Yeah, Boys in the Back. Hand me a script and we'll do something. My old friend Abhisik. Namaste from India, Ariel There's a big rumor going around and I'm hoping you can

Enlighten us and clear it once and for all When Turkey Al Sheikh Brings you to the same room as Dana Word on the street is that you'll point to the ground Like Max and both of you will start swinging This way you can finally bury the hatchet Is there any truth to this? Absolutely not I don't know who's making up these rumors

I would never do such a thing i am here uh peace and love peace and love peace and love so it's gonna get awkward on the spaceship when you're on your way to the moon like it's what about that zinger huh he really got me with that one my dad loved it by the way my dad was cracking up at that uh my dad uh really enjoys those chats and uh chats And he thought it was good to make light You see, I'm not that sensitive I can make light of my issues But one day, one day we will all come together And sing Kumbaya

Last one Matt Mo Sup Ariel, question for you and the crew What was the worst punishment you got as a kid From your parents growing up? I'll give you one My mom used to hit me with the peak peak she's gonna be so mad at me for bringing this up but it was it was a peak peak and it was uh it was um a sewing uh a sewing needle and she would peak our our hands right here wow like to get when you got in trouble, they would do this. Yeah, legit. Legit. This is like

old school Lebanon torture. I got the wooden spoon. You got the wooden spoon? I got the spoon. 100%. I got the clothes hanger. I got actually like my mouth washed out with soap one time. I've also had that. What did you say? Was it a bar of soap or

liquid? It was a bar of soap. Rubbed it on my tongue and stuff. I don't know. I probably said the F word at, like, six years old or something. I had older brothers. It's tough. Six while you're late. There's some spankings and stuff like that, but that was never the, like, the physical stuff was never the worst.

It was like, you can't go to this place. Yes, I agree. You can't go to this park. You can't go to this party. That was the shit I could not abide by. I would lose my mind. It was the, I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. The spanking. You can't go to this party. That was the shit I could not abide by. I would lose my mind. It was the... I'm not mad.

I'm just disappointed. The spanking. Yeah, my parents were never disappointed. There's nothing worse than when the mom was like, all right, I'm not going to do the spanking. Just wait till your father gets home. And then you just have to dread it all day. Also, I would get the sandal like my dad wears.

Oh, yeah. Throw it at you? No, like... to the to the back of the hide yeah i don't know what it is but yeah and he says my ma my ma could take like say if you're running from her say if you've you've done something you're like shit i'm gonna get out of here my ma could take off a slipper she did this once i was running up the stairs and she threw the slipper and it caught in between my legs and I fell on the stairs. Wow.

I went all the way. God, that's good. Your mom is Batman. That is good. I'm going down the stairs and I'm just going, oh, fuck, you know, like I'm just rolling down the stairs. She didn't have to tell you twice.

She bolo'd you. She hit you with a little trip up. My mom would actually do a thing like in public, like when she wouldn't yell at us and she would just scream me and like squeeze me in my brother's arms, arms so tight to get us to stop misbehaving. Those are the days.

I mean, don't do anything like that, to be honest, but those are fun times. We can now look back with great fondness and nostalgia at those days. All right, two more Super Chats. What do we got? What do we got? Alec in the Slice asks, Question for Frank and the rest of the crew is anyone still drinking balls wow the answer is yes they will drink balls until i die is that true

when you get a heart issue when you get the news that i died i want the first thought to be i wonder if it was the balls that did it i i i won't wonder that actually i'll know that it's the balls i think uh carl refer to these as the flats. I think he's bullshitting. I can't remember the last time I saw you with balls in your mouth. I cannot remember the last time I saw you with balls in your mouth.

Well, you should come by tonight. Oh my. I think Frank was the only consumer. I had it one time and my heart started beating funny. What is it? What the fuck is BULF? It's just like an energy drink. It's B-A-W-L-F.

It's Guarana Soda. Like, come on, guys. Terrence Leverett writes, Have you ever thought of doing a referee minute segment where you ask former or current refs on controversial calls for MMA b-ball. We've had some refs on the show in the past, but they don't love to come on, and there's not a ton of them that are willing to do interviews and whatnot. It's not a bad idea, to be honest, but hard to get them, hard to get them hard to get them hard to get officials judges uh those cats hard to get those

cats to come on but it's good idea i think that is a fun one i like those segments like the the doctor segment that we had or uh you know talking to coaches or trainers etc i like that stuff a lot appreciate everyone who has has sent us some super chats, some love. Appreciate all the questions as well. Yesterday, by the way, I mentioned the Eddie Alvarez versus Jeremy Stevens face-off, and I was sort of talking about what was

being said between them. We have the audio and the video right here. It was pretty good stuff. Take a look. I love that You ain't never been a champion You ain't never gonna beat a champion You've lost way too much Spicy stuff right there From Eddie Alvarez.

That was phenomenal. That's January 25th. We are spoiled. There's a lot of fun fights coming up. March 1st is Tank Davis, Lamont, and Roach. This was the face-off yesterday in Brooklyn, New York. I was going to say just like Tank We don't have any face off

But Tank showing up Like a lone wolf up there No trainer No real promoter up there by his side Some intense stuff He is must see TV There's no doubt about it One of the hardest hitting fighters in the world. Packs a punch. Reminiscent in some ways of Tyson in that he typically is the shorter good news is that fight is on March the 1st. So there's still some time to get a chat in with Mr. Tank Davis. I feel like

we've crossed it all off. Yeah. We talked about glory. We talked about one, a reminder that there's a great boxing main event on DAZN this Saturday as well. If you're looking to double screen it, Liam Parrow defending his super lightweight title, the one that he won in a pretty big shocker against Sabriel Matias just a few months ago in Puerto Rico. He is Australian, but he's back in Puerto Rico and he will be defending his fight, excuse me, his title in a fight against Richardson Hitchens. These two have been going back and forth. There's a great face-off on the Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel between the two of them. Very entertaining

stuff, and they had a very entertaining face-off earlier today as well. 3-10, of course, in Las Vegas going down this Saturday. I will be in Las Vegas. Look at that go. As of tomorrow, God willing, and the boys in the back take over

as of tomorrow as well. Thursdays is their day. Anything to plug? Anything we should look out for as far as tomorrow's episode? Ooh, there's something right there. 310 Deep Dive. Yeah.

Kazakh food fight feasts. Ooh, can't wait for that. Pound for pound rankings. Best headwear in MMA history. Feasts. Ooh, can't wait for that. Pound for Pound rankings. Best headwear in MMA history. Related to the head. I love that. I absolutely love that.

And then it's The Crack, live on Friday here on the YouTube channel. Anything to plug, PC? No, it's a secret. Okay, perfect. Perfect. But it is live. We don't do this tape-ed tape edited shit i forgot to do the newspaper thing they asked me oh yeah please newspaper and clock i think they believe us though i think they do believe us yeah wouldn't be so sure of that

i do want to say uh i i see a lot of the spotify rap stuff What really impresses me is When I see the Ariel Helwani show on there We're less than two months old And that's pretty damn impressive So thank you very much To everyone sending those It really does warm my heart And it's pretty damn amazing to see You know the support

And the people backing what we're doing here And I know it's more days and more content But I think we're finding a groove And there It's more days and more content But I think We're finding a groove and there's a little Something for everyone and you're getting jiu-jitsu interviews And you're getting boxing interviews and you're getting pro wrestling Interviews and you're getting MMA interviews And you're getting a little bit of this and a little

Bit of that and you're getting great Bands every Weekday at 1pm now Eastern that is this weekend you'll also Get watch party on Saturday for 310 beginning at 9.45 p.m. Eastern time, and then a post-fight wrap-up following the conclusion of UFC 310. Will it be the first Japanese-born champion in UFC history, the great Kaya Sikora, who was kind of, I'm seeing trolling Pantoja at his media day today. He's a chill guy, but he looks to be a bit of an instigator as well, which we do

appreciate. Or will it be Pantoja reigning supreme? And will it be the pride of Eda in Machado Gary getting the biggest win by far of his career against the undefeated Shavkat Rachmanov. Will it be Shavkat punching that ticket once again to a number one contender fight? And in addition to that,

all the great fights on the card, Cyril Gann, Aljamain Sterling, the return of Krohn Gracie, Chris Weidman, Clay Guida, Brian Battle,

on and on it goes. All right, we are out of time. Thank you very much to all of you. I always get bummed when we promise things and people don't show up. I shouldn't get so bummed. I think our track record speaks for itself. But I do want to apologize for that because I should have known better.

Should have known better. But that's what happens when you do a live show and we're one of the very few live ones that have guests back to back to back everyone showing up on time these are going to happen from time to time especially as we are establishing ourselves in other worlds you swing you connect

you swing you miss you dust yourself off, you come right back and play again. That's what you do. That's what a real fighter does. Sort of like force. They're going to come back. There's 11 minutes left, and they're going to score three goals

and beat Man City. That's what I'm feeling. Did you happen to see the Buffalo Sabers use after they had a four point lead four point lead in hockey there's no such thing for goal lead thank you uh no is that recent yeah i think yeah just yesterday oh wow are you a big sabers guy no oh for that reason you just saw it through the wire yeah i just thought it was an interesting, like, can you imagine being down for... Yeah, that's insane. That reminds me of, I think it was Bournemouth and Everton

a few months back. I mean, the football knowledge runs deep. We're very versatile here. We can talk about a lot of things. Alas, I digress. Thank you very much to our guest, Marcelo Garcia, the great Henry Hooft, Wade Plemons.

Thanks to all of you. Thanks to all the back on Thursday, same time, same place. Peace. I'm out of here. Beep.