The Ariel Helwani Show - Is Islam Makhachev the lightweight GOAT? Ilia Topuria sounds off again, UFC Vegas 106 preview | The Boys in the Back

Episode Date: May 15, 2025

The Boys in the Back begin the show by breaking down the various cases for MMA's lightweight GOAT, including where Islam Makhachev falls in that conversation after vacating his title (01:40).Then, they discuss the ongoing war of words between Makhachev and Ilia Topuria (32:31), before looking ahead to this weekend's UFC Vegas 106 (49:36).Finally, the Boys make picks (1:09:26), give their P4P lists of Chicago's best (1:22:31), listen to your voicemails (1:42:19), and answer Super Chats (2:00:42).Leave us a voicemail: [phone]

B-b-b-boys in the back. B-b-b-boys, boys, boys, boys, boys, boys in the back. B-b-b-boys, boys, boys, boys, boys in the back. Cut! ...addition of The Boys in the Back, this time on a beautiful May afternoon here in New York City. It is foggy, it is rainy, it is a little bit cold, but we're in for a good show. Inside I am one third of The Boys in the back, Connor Burks joined alongside me as always. Is this your highlight of the week right here? This show is my highlight of the week, I love this. I was gonna say, is getting to do the-

Just the intro? It's become iconic. No, it's not, but this show I adore. When your wife says something to you at home, and it's obvious, so you're just like, eh. Hello. No, this is exclusively for this show. And so soccer celebrations have been spawned from this.

Maybe when somebody has a child, they will do that in the delivery room upon the birth of the future king. Sir, it's a boy. But no, it is not my favorite thing. This show as a whole is my favorite thing. I have come to love these Thursdays like nothing else. It's really great, man.

We just get to sit here and yap to finish our week out. Just yapping it up. Is there anything better? No, it's the best. And boy, do we have a lot to yap about today. Yes, we do. Ilya Toporya, been doing some yapping. Isma Makashev has been doing some responding,

he said yapping. We obviously got the announcement earlier this week, if you've been living under a rock and you didn't see it on Tuesday evening, Dana White went live on Instagram and announced that International Fight Week will be headlined by Ilya Toporya and Charles Olivera for the vacant, lightweight title.

But if it's vacant, that means. I was gonna say, which means Islam Makashev is moving up to the welterweight division 170 to take on Jack Delamatta-Lanin to become a two division champion. Unfortunately, it won't be. Double champ. Double champ because it is vacated.

So the way we wanted to kick off the show today is with the conversation Islam Akhachev leaving 155 going up to 170 does he leave his mark? Does he leave the division he could come back who knows you never know he could come back does he leave the division as The lightweight go it's an interesting debate. It's a very interesting debate So let's take a path to kind of there's been a lot of great lightweights in the history of the UFC, in the history of mixed martial arts. Yes. So let's just go ahead and let's quickly narrow it down. Yes. I think you needed to be an undisputed UFC champion to be considered the lightweight goat in this division, in 155? The only pushback I would have against that is

there's an early era where UFC, Pride, other organizations, somebody in that space could have had a claim to it like a Takenori Gomi or somebody along those lines. But I believe that we've advanced so far in history that the wealth of talent that has come through the UFC's lightweight divisions and the names that we will inevitably narrow this down to had to have all been undisputed UFC champions.

So there might have been a time in the past where that would not have been true, but I do believe now the pool only includes undisputed UFC champions. That quickly narrows it down to 12 names. Gens Pulver, Sean Shirt, BJ Penn, Frankie Edgar, Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis, RDA, Eddie Alvarez, Conor McGregor, Khabib Nomagomedov,

Charles Olvera, Islam Akhacheff. I believe that those, nobody will have a goat that is not from that list. I agree. Unless I'm overlooking something, but I don't believe so. Everybody who participates in this debate, their goat will probably come from that list. I agree.

Now, let's narrow it down even more to names that defended their belt multiple times. Not just, like Conor McGregor has no title defenses, there's a couple guys in there that only have one. That narrows us down to seven, technically six. It narrows us down to Jens Pulver, BJ Penn, Frankie Eger, Benson Henderson, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Akhachev, and then I'm technically counting

Charles Oliveira because of the gachy missing weight by a half pound. Didn't count as a title win for him, but he was the lightweight champion. It was in his reign. And he won a title fight. So technically we're adding Charles Olivera in there. And then I think from that list of seven,

you can then narrow it down to three names that people are going to strongly consider that I think the vast majority of people are going to have as their lightweight goat, and it's going to come from BJ Penn, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Islam Akhichev. I think those are the three names. Yeah, and amongst those seven,

I think there's some fantastic, notable lightweights we're talking about who maybe could have entered the conversation, but because of what Islam, Khabib, and even BJ were able to do during their time, have kind of like pushed them out of it. Like, because as an example, right, BJ Penn would potentially be in this conversation as one of the top three, but

has two losses to Frankie Edgar, no, three losses to Frankie Edgar, one came at Featherweight, but two losses to Frankie Edgar at Lightweight, and so losses to Frankie Yeager at lightweight. And so the logic would dictate, well, actually, how is Frankie not in the conversation if BJ is? Then we get into the whole conversation we had when we were debating Volk versus Aldo about,

like, do the losses mean that you can't be in the combo? Ultimately, though, I do believe that most people will have one of those three. At the end of this, we'll do our lightweight Mount Rushmore, which I think is a very interesting conversation. Who you have as that fourth guy, or maybe there's some people out there who only have two of the dudes

we just listed on Mount Rushmore and two other ones in there. Let's start with the man that just left the division for 170, Islam Makashev. I think something that is most interesting about Islam Makashev going back through his resume is he has fought his entire career at lightweight. He has, I believe, 30 fights now, 29-1,

two catchweight bouts, one at 160, I believe, against Bobby Green, and then one earlier on in his career, and then accolades that go with that, most lightweight title defenses, 15-fight win streak, which is good for longest win streak in lightweight history in the UFC. And he has 10 finishes at lightweight as well.

Like he's not just winning by decision, he is finishing his opponents. Highlight victories, Volk twice, Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier, Anato Moicano counts as a title defense, Dan Hooker, Armand Tsarukyan earlier in his career, but still a valiant win. It is an incredible resume. Yes, and I don't want to give up anything too soon, but it's a pretty impressive resume compared

to even the competition that is in this conversation. Khabib Nomagomenov, the man in Islam Makashev's corner throughout his UFC career, one of his best friends, a brother I think he would call him. Not by blood but just by how close of a bond they have. Undefeated. Did he ever compete outside of lightweight? He did. Ten fights at welterweight. So almost his entire career leading up to his UFC career was at welterweight. And then I believe he had one catchweight bout in the UFC but everything else in his UFC career was at lightweight 13 and 0 in the UFC three title defenses wins over just like Islam Aghash of over Poirier but

then he also has Gaethje, McGregor, RDA, Alaa Iquinta, Edson Barboza, seven finishes six decisions for Habibib Nemagomedov. The biggest point being the three touted offenses, some of those names are incredible that he has wins over, but he is also undefeated, never lost, you know, the whole thing, we never saw Habib bleed, barely lost a round, like it's a sterling, sterling record. It's, to me, one of the, we talked about, I forget what the context was,

we were talking about records that would never be broken. It's not a record, but I do not believe that anybody who reaches the championship level, the status that Habib has reached, will ever walk away undefeated. Will ever, because as we get into Habib's resume, the biggest fights for Habib were the last three, were the back end of his career. And what inevitably happens when you're in those fights, now you're making more money and more money and more money and more money. And so the next fight after Justin Gaethje could

have potentially been his biggest payday. And the one after that could have been an even bigger payday. And he inevitably, he, he walked away from what was inevitably going to be the most prime earning potential period of his entire career and I just don't see anybody else doing that same thing so that 29 and oh is vaunted in my mind is going to be like something that nobody will ever quite do exactly the same way

yeah and you make a great point with the money. I mean, imagine what a 30 and O, him going for the clean 30 and O record, fulfilling dad's promise, everything like that, would go for, and then imagine, if they could have made it happen, a rematch with Conor. A rematch with Conor. The money that would have come from that.

All these other guys that Charles Ola verified near the end of Habib's career, people were talking about Charles, and it was starting to pick up some steam. Yeah, I mean the timeline was aligning. I mean, I think Charles fought for the vacant title. On the next fight, yeah. The one that Habib vacated.

And so that could have made tons of money. There would have been, now what if Habib was- Him going up to welterweight? Or what if Habib was in that position when Volkanovsky inevitably starts to come up. Like all these fights could have been huge money and huge for Khabib's resume, he cut it off before that opportunity.

And so that's why I don't think this will ever be replicated in quite that same way. Also, on top of everything we're saying, who knows where Islam Makashev is at? If Khabib holds onto that belt and sees how long he can run with it. Maybe he jumps to 170. Maybe he goes up sooner rather than later.

Or maybe Khabib goes up to 170. There's a lot of his. There's a lot of ifs but we have 29 and 0, we have the Sterling record, we have what happened. There's a lot of ifs. The end of his career opened a lot of doors that may have potentially gone different ways. There was a butterfly effect. It completely changed the course of history but we can only look at what we actually have. We can only look at what's on paper when we make this determination. Okay, then the third guy that we mentioned.

BJ Penn. Earlier, one of your favorites. My favorite. The man that sort of like really birthed your diehard fandom. 100%. 14 fights outside of the lightweight division. Several being in featherweight,

several being at welterweight. He moved throughout the divisions. He did some against Leodo several being at welterweight. He moved throughout the divisions. He did some against Leodo Machida at light heavyweight. Yeah, I saw that. Because he's a sick person. On the records. 10-5-1 at lightweight in the UFC. He does have wins over Henzo Gracie

and the aforementioned Takanori Gomi outside of the promotion. Three title defenses, wins over Joe Stevenson, Sean Shirk that we mentioned was a champion as well. Kenny Florian, Diego Sanchez, Jens Pulver, who was also one of these lightweight champions. I just think, you know, this is a overall resume, greatest lightweight of all time,

not like who was the best at their peak, who was like the unbeatable guy. I think the fact that he has five losses within the division, he is 0-2 at lightweight against Frankie Edgar, another guy that we mentioned in this, who is on that short list of goats. I just feel like he's got the same amount of title wins as Habib, he has less than Islam. I feel like it's just hard to make the case for him being over them. In our featherweight

discussion when we were talking about Jose Aldo and Alexander Volkonovsky and trying to determine the go to that division, I said that I believe Aldo is still the greatest, but Volk is the best. I feel that there are some who would make the case for BJ Penn, Ariel Hawani famously has long said it, like he thinks BJ might have been the best lightweight at his peak.

And I think there's people who are old enough to remember that, that would potentially make that case. I think I'm a little bit off that corner now. I think it's a conversation. I would have liked to to watch the BJ Penn highlights, go back on like on y'all's recommendations and watch the ones, you know, where he's licking the blood, everything like that, the Sean Shirk fights. So yeah, I'm really just a highlight watcher when it comes to BJ Penn. He did himself no favors in his career. Never really, there was a, you know how they have the mythical fighters,

like the TRTV tour and all these, motivated pen, motivated BJ was one of the mythical fighters because there were times that it seemed like he just came in disinterested or not in great shape and he did himself no favors. But when he was motivated, when he was in his prime, when he was tearing through lightweights, even with that little departure up to go fight GSP

who completely blanked him. BJ was special, man. The combination of the hands, the combination of the boxing with the other worldly balance and take down defense, like he was just a freak. Like people would get in on his legs and he's one leg like bouncing to the back, to the cage,

to the point that it just looked, it looked like something we've never seen before. That guy might have been the best, but I think at this point I would potentially have another best. And so ultimately I agree with you on the greatest conversation. I think he has to be number three and off to the side.

Some other guys that we mentioned, if you just wanted to make the case for him, if you just wanted to make the case, Frankie Edgar, three title defenses. One was a draw to Gray Maynard but he retained the belt. 2-0 against Penn at lightweight but he was 0-2 against one Benson Henderson and he spent literally half his career at featherweight and bantamweight. There were some dicey ones in there but we'll continue. On the record. Benson Henderson, WEC champ, UFC champ,

three title defenses, two and O against Frankie. O and two in his career against Anthony Pettis. We're doing a little bit of a round robin situation. Yeah, it's kind of turning out like the featherweight division with these guys. Yes, exactly. RDA, losses to Habib. Yeah, Charles Olivera obviously started

his career featherweight. Tied for the third most lightweight wins with 16, second most finishes in the history of the division with 14, second most subs with 10. Do you want to know who he's behind in all of these? Habib Islah. Jim Miller. Jim Miller. The longevity of Jim Miller, shout out, legend.

Is he the lightweight goat? I was gonna say, do we throw Jim Miller out there? Do we throw Jim Miller out there? Three title fight wins and 11 fight win streak. When he went on that run from like, is Charles Olivera a quitter? Like what is this guy's career? He's 10 and 10 or whatever he was in the UFC.

When he strung off from like 2019, I believe it was, all the way through the Gatchi win was 11 straight wins for the guy but does have a loss to Islam. Got a title shot against Islam Makashev, went head-to-head with him, lost and he does have five losses in the UFC at lightweight. So I think for like the round robin of losses and everything with with Frankie Edgar Benson Henderson Charles Olivera I still feel like the three we came up with is Solid and I would go Islam one

Habib to zero Islam one. Yeah, I think I'm ultimately there as well and it's for the fact that I think his top wins are better than Habib's top wins. And that's ultimately, like, because we're just, we're just splitting hairs here when it comes to Habib and Islam, right?

There's paths are similar. Outside of the Adriana Martins, shout out Davy Ramos, loss, we're looking at two guys who are just unstoppable in the UFC. Like they got to the top level and they showed that they could not be beaten by anybody up there. I think Islam had the most vulnerable moment after becoming like championship level, and that's against Volk in that first fight, right? Like Volk, for all intents and purposes,

could have potentially won that fight on the scorecards. Some people scored it for him. I did not, but it would have been a reasonable case. I don't think we ever saw Habib look that vulnerable. Now, certainly there will be people who will point to the Gleason-Tibao fight where it was close and Tibao was landing some solid shots. I'm talking once we kind of get beyond that, if we're going back that early,

then you go back to Islam's loss and you can kind of point to that there. But, Habib looked less vulnerable in my mind, but when you compare the strength of schedule, Habib's resume after, so Gachi, Poirier, McGregor, those are the last three wins for him. That's as solid as it gets. Conor McGregor, champion, Dustin Poirier, title contender,

like one of the best who's ever done it in that division. Justin Gaethje, extremely tough guy. Seemingly like that might've been Gaethje's peak at that level where he was heading into the fight. Like finished them, looked very impressive. But when you get beyond that, it's like Alia Quinta on very, very short notice, right? Who, and he stood in like box with him

to a kind of ho-hum decision. Edson Barbosa, unanimous decision. The Michael Johnson Camorra. And then it's like, Darrell Horcher again. Now, no fault of Habib's, right? This is a Tony, like the Tony Ferguson thing has thrown this all into whack.

Because if he gets that Tony Ferguson win, I think his resume looks significantly better. Tony was the guy at the time that everybody was like, he's the one to push him. He never got that opportunity. Again, not by Habib's fault. There were times that it was Tony and not Habib that fell out of that fight.

A solid win over RDA, but then it's like Pat Healy, Abel Trujillo, it falls apart near the bottom. Whereas with Islam, Hanato Moekano, again, not his fault, right? This is a short notice. Could you compare the Hanato Moekano to the Ali Akwintah one? That seems similar to me, right? But then you start to... But also Islam just ran through Hanato Moekano. Destroyed him. Destroyed him. Now, again, Habib wanted to strike that fight. Who knows what that looks like if he wants to grapple more? But shout out to Ali Akwintah, the best real estate agent in the business an amazing fighter an awesome dude who knows what that fight looks like if he does we don't know but ultimately he wanted to box that fight

justin porier same they both have a win over dustin porier a great fight islam also finishes finishes late uh habib was able to get it done a little bit earlier but then alexander volkonovsky alexander volkonovsky now i get it he's coming up from featherweight i I understand that completely I'm with I'm with everybody who would make the case here But that is the number two or number one pound-for-pound guy in anybody's eyes at that time Those are very significant wins for the resume of Islam Makachev

Before that you go to Charles Olivera who at the time was looking like an absolute killer somebody that Habib never did face and everybody was clamoring for that fight. Ended the win streak. Ended the win streak began this incredible kind of run before that King Green was not supposed to be King Green was supposed to be Benio I think or was supposed to be some other matchup that was going to propel him. It wasn't supposed to be when Benio stepped in on short notice in February of 2022. Bobby Green stepped in. It was there. It was. Okay, so then there you go. So it was supposed to be him. A hooker win that, you know, hooker has now hung around the top of this division for a long time. Also ran through him like shit through a ten horn. And Thiago Moises, Drew Dober. Some of these like lower

lower fights on his resume are names that I think are above. And then you get to Davi Ramos, who did not beat him by the way. And you get to Armin Sarukian and you go, okay, so that's a name that's earlier in the career that all of a sudden looks a little bit better now in hindsight for how good we know Armin Sarukian to have been. Again, he might have gotten a title defense against Armin Sarukian instead of against

Hinata Moekano, if that event had gone off as planned, you got Cajun Johnson. He has a dominant win over Glason Tebow, who, as I said, pushed Habib a little bit in his early fights. So Habib, I will say, Habib was an underdog in that fight, plus 135. Yeah, Glason was the man at that time.

Like, Glason, maybe not the man, but Glason was like somebody who had established himself. Yeah, established himself. And Habib was coming in as this wrestler that people didn't quite know much about. But either way, just if you look top to bottom, I give the edge to Islam in terms of strength of schedule. And I really, I just discount the loss. Like, I just think it was a right, it was a lightning in a bottle, right moment, right time, guy got caught. The argument against Habib in terms, if you ask me to argue against Habib in an all time greatness conversation,

to me, leaving before your prime is over hurts you in that conversation in my mind, and here's why. Every single time you step out there, it gets harder and harder as you get slower and slower and older and older to maintain that undefeated record. The next time out might have been the time Habib loses. The next time out after that

might have been the time Habib loses. And so him leaving before it was all said and done, to me, hurts your all-time legacy as opposed to helps it because we didn't see you fight the guys that were starting to line up and go through the new crop the younger up-and-coming generation as an example right why I think there it's an inarguable case for John Jones is John Jones is fighting the Dominic Reyes now some will say he lost that fight but is fighting the Dominic Reyes and is fighting those top-light

heavyweights at the as the new generation and the and the older generation that he ran through. It gets harder and harder and harder. And so if John Jones just retired after one of these fights that we just recently had, we'd be like, he's undefeated, Matt Hamill loss excluded, and he can't be touched. By cutting it off before you've had a chance to lose, I think it hurts your case rather than helps your case, actually. Either way, I say all that to say, Habib could have racked up 10 more wins against elite,

crazy level competition and what if it made him maybe the solidified number one in the goat overall conversation, not just the lightweight goat conversation, but to me, Issam Makachev continuing to do it and getting to this point put him slightly ahead. And now, does he ever come back to lightweight? Does he ever extend on this? Issam Makachev continuing to do it and getting to this point put him slightly ahead and now Does he ever come back to lightweight does he ever extend on this who knows but for now? I do believe that he surpassed. I'll be yeah, so let's say that the stories are written that it's done He never comes back to 155 you still have Islam

Yeah, I've got this I think I do too just because of everything that we went through I think that the Martins fight was he just got caught or lightning in a bar It was a decade ago at this point. He has since racked up 15 straight wins, the most consecutive wins in lightweight history, the level of competition, like you mentioned it, Volkanovsky, I understand he's a featherweight, but like pound for pound guy who had not lost in an eternity before going up against Islam Makashev.

So yeah, man, I think it's very close. I think it's between them two. I think you're kind of picking your poison with them just because of the lack of blemishes on their record. The one loss for Islam Makashev and the zero losses for Khabib Nurmagomedov and the dominance with which they won. Like even when Islam is going to wars, like he's finishing these guys. Yeah. Like it's very rare that you see him like sneak by on a split decision. You're like, I'm not so sure about that one. Like it's like he is like the the the Poirier fight was was one of the best fights of 2024. Incredible fight.

The Volk first fight, one of the best fights of 2023. Like this guy is going out, putting on wars, finishing people, doing it at the highest level as a champion, fighting whoever steps up and doing it for an extended period of time now. There will be somebody who will, in the comments, and I know this to be true, will be crying, well, he didn't step up against everybody because he's running and ducking Ilya.

I guarantee somebody will say that by the way, because I've seen a lot of that online. I promise you the guy who has it painted above the mirror in his gym that's like what does the belt signify? The belt signifies that you're willing to fight anybody on any day whenever wherever the dude who has 28 professional fights against the best in the world that was trained by Habib with this killer mentality. No, Doc. I promise you he is not afraid to fight Elia Topori. He is going up to 170 to chase greatness to get a second belt in a second division and honestly I don't

think the Ilya fight is completely dead also. No, neither do I. I think there is a chance that that Islam still has more to write at 155. I want to circle back to that because I think that's important as we get to the Ilya stuff. I have one final question and we're gonna end it the same way we ended the featherweight one. Who is the best lightweight of all time? I, again, I think I'm gonna go with Islam Akhachev just because I wasn't there for the BJ Penn run. I can only see highlights

and I can only see the full scope of his career of bouncing between featherweight up to welterweight, back to lightweight, ending his career like 16 and 14, like the horrible losing streak to end it all. I can only see the complete picture. I can't see the peak and the belief of, oh my gosh, this guy was untouchable. So I have a different answer.

I think Habib is the best lightweight of all time. Okay, but we didn't get to see the resume get built out. Not the greatest. I've got Islam as the greatest. For my money, I don't think anybody beats Hab greatest. I've got Islam as the greatest. For my money, I don't think anybody beats Habib. And now I'll say this. I think Islam is more well-rounded. I think Islam is better suited for multiple title defenses because I think with strikers, he can strike. With grapplers, he can grapple. And he's probably better than you in both of

those realms, right? The striking is fantastic. The grappling is fantastic, he's so well-rounded. But for my money, the dominance with which Habib Nurmagomedov wrestled, the dominance with which he was able to put people in situations where they had no answers and were just drowning. He just drowned every single person that he stepped in there with, except Alai Akwinti, he wanted to box a little bit.

Again, if he if he got a hold of you if you were in any kind of position for him to grab you it was pretty much a wrap and I don't think I've seen anybody who was able to do it quite like him especially with by the end the level of competition he's facing and then he's grappling with Justin Gaethje and subbing him with subs that he says he's gonna do and all the crazy like storytelling that's around that. To me, I think Habib was the best I've seen. But I will say.

Yeah, I mean, you may have changed my mind. I feel like I didn't prep enough going into the best lightweight of all time. Islam may have some better performances ahead of him, which is crazy to think about. Again, we didn't see Habib against more guys that I wanted to see him face. I wanted to see Charles Oliveira.

I would have loved to see Dustin get another crack. How good he looked against Islam. I would have loved to see Dustin get another crack at Habib Nurmagomedov. The first one, he completely folded. He admitted it, he learned from it. I would have loved to see that. I would have loved to see a guy like Justin Gagee potentially get another crack down the line or Michael

Chan or any of these guys that have now come up that have been in the title conversation. I would have liked to see it. Or Volk would have been the one facing Habib. Ultimately we didn't get it but for my money on a given night if you put Habib in a cage with another lightweight my money is always going to be on Habib. Even Islam Makachev, although I don't believe we would ever have seen that matchup. All right, yeah, that's what I was gonna say. Let's throw out the Ilya matchup. Like, what are we, Dana, how much is it gonna cost?

30 million for John Jones? How much is it gonna cost Habib to come back? There is not enough money in the world. Habib versus Islam, 155 title, 155 go to Malan. So you have to imagine that the number that Dana White told Habib to come back was astronomical, right? We're talking about what kind of money John Jones versus Tom Aspinall is demanding.

The amount of money that Dana White probably offered to Habib to come back would have blown people's minds, and he turned that down. There's not an amount of money that it seems like can get him back in the cage. And then you further that with fight your brother, Islam Makachev, like there's just no amount of money that it seems like can get him back in the cage. And then you further that with fight your brother, Islam Makacheb, like there's just no chance in hell. I don't think there would have been a price.

If Islam won't fight Balaam Mohammed. Yeah, exactly. Well, do we buy that though? There's no world on earth that he's fighting Habib and Mahmoud. We actually believe that. All right, I think the thing like between these two best, greatest, whatever, I think Islam and Habib are right there,

but I really think that they are the one too. When you just look at the resume, the way in which they were able to do it, the dominance that they have shown, and honestly, you could make a case, an even stronger case for Habib, because it's just like, is there an Islam Makashev without Habib and Magomedov?

And certainly without Abdulmanap, right? Abdulmanap being able to create the lineage of these incredible fighters. We even have, obviously, we're not even talking in the conversation about Umar. Usman, another lightweight, not just like, like lightweight division, another lightweight who is in PFL and might eventually find his way to the UFC. It's another win over Paul Hughes, comes to the UFC, becomes a lightweight champion, starts putting his resume back.

You just never know. It's crazy. Yeah, the camp that they have out there is insane. All right, before we move on from this, we are in agreeance, like the one, two, however you flip it, Islam, Khabib. We're going with Islam. I think BJ sneaks into the best for some people, but-

I think BJ Penn is three. How do you finish out the Oh, who's number four? The Mount Rushmore. Who is your fourth? Oh boy. Give me Frankie. I was thinking you were gonna go that one. I'm gonna put Frankie. I think Frankie deserves it.

Who, me? Yeah, there are Frankie. Shout out, how you doing, Frank? I'm doing great, man. Thanks for asking. You had no problem, man. I was launched today. Quite tasty. I'm going Frankie Edgar. For the hell of it, I'm gonna great, man. Thanks for asking. Yeah, no problem, man. I was launched today. Quite tasty. I'm- I'm going Frankie Edgar.

For the hell of it, I'm gonna go Benson Henderson. Ah, you troll. You fucking troll. Speaking of trolls, what do you say to people that comment on Islam's resume and say, can we bring it back up? Can we bring up the topology? Yeah, let's see if they're present. The run to the title, just like,

I mean, who even are these guys? Can you even name any of them? I mean we got Thiago Moises, who is that? Davi Ramos, who is that? And then we get to the title run and it's like all right Charles Loveri you're getting like a featherweight quitter, Volk twice, I mean what is that? The smallest featherweight you have to offer, Poirier like 20 years past his prime and then like Hanato Mwakano on one day's notice. Kano, I like how you did that. I've actually seen real conversations like that on the internet.

Yeah, I'm sure that happens and I have nothing to say to those people. I think our producer on air, Jordan, is a diehard Anthony Pretty Boy Taylor fan and I think Anthony Taylor was just like, oh yeah, everyone Islam's fighting is 34 year old or none of these wins are impressive. Yeah, I believe that to be true for sure. I agree with him.

Which part? Me being a pretty boy fan or? Well, we know that you're an Anthony. You also skipped over my other favorite fighter, Raging Cajun Johnson, you know? Yeah, shout out Cajun. It was a tough loss to Islam, but you know, 23 wins in his career, like how can you just be like,

he's just a nobody, Islam beat him, no big deal, how can you just be like, he's just a nobody, Islam beat him, no big deal. Well, your boy Anthony Taylor feels like he's a nobody, so you have to reckon with that. I think Islam has done enough. And I also think, unlike Habib, I don't think the book is fully written. And I'll tell you why I don't think the book

is fully written, because I think we're gonna get an Iliya-Taporia fight. All right, we're gonna get to the map of how we get there in a second, but if you haven't gotten on social media this morning, Ilya Toporya and Islam Makashev have exchanged words back and forth. Ilya Toporya is just doing a press conference every other day. It feels like it's just like... Who are these press conferences for? I don't know, but like they just line them up. Or maybe it's just anytime Ilya Taporia gets on a mic,

he's just cutting promos on anyone and everyone. He's always at the desk, he's always in front of people, and he's doing a press conference. It's like, how many things does this guy have to announce? He announced the name change, now he's back to the other name, they announced the street after him. He's got 16 different things.

I was wearing the Ilya T Emporia El Matador shirt yesterday. It arrived to me like six days before he changed his name to La Leyenda. I was just like, God damn it. And it was like massive, just like Matador on it. I'm very glad that he went back to Matador. It's so much cooler than La Leyenda. It goes perfectly with the Spain theme.

That's besides the point. Yeah, he named a, he had a press conference because he got a street named after him. Yeah, he's just always doing press conference. So let's take you back to last week. Okay. Islam Makashev goes onto Twitter and he says that Saturday's main event will define what my next move is. Bilal wins. He's probably going to stay at 155. JDM wins. He's going up to 170, JDM obviously won. But regardless of the outcome of that fight, I am not going to vacate my lightweight title. We might get a real contender there.

I think maybe what he was insinuating is if JDM wins, Ilya and Charles would fight for the interim belt, and then that would become the real contender to take him on, him trying to defend that 155 pound title. Then Islam said on Saturday night, after the championship, time to become a double champion, hashtag inshallah, let's go. And then I believe he tweeted one more time,

no, the fight got announced between Ilya and Charles, and Ilya went on Twitter and said on June 28th, another dream will come true. I'll be the champion of the lightweight division. Charles, my apologies in advance. I am just fighting for my dreams. It's unfortunate that Makashev had to run away. 17 and O with the rose emoji.

First of all, that is just like, that's cold just being like, I'm sorry, Charles. I hate that I have to do this to you. I really like the I'm sorry, Charles. This Islam running away thing, it's giving me an aneurysm. I think my brain is gonna explode if I hear this. Okay, but in Ilya's defense, what else do you expect him to say?

He's the fighter that was calling for the fight. He was like, it's always been us. We should be fighting each other. I'm the champion from 145 coming up to fight the 155 champ. Of course, he's going to say that. I get him saying that, but at the same time, the way he's talking about Islam being a hypocrite you are being a hypocrite you are getting to come up and try to get that title. He's doing the same thing. Why is Islam not

allowed to do it? This idea that like everybody seems to be swirling around this idea that Islam Makachev owes Ilya Tuporiya this fight that he is the one who owes him this fight. I don't agree with that at all. I could not agree with that less. Islam is the one who has done this. Islam is the one who has racked up title defenses. Islam is the one that gave the featherweight champion two cracks at the belt.

He doesn't owe anybody shit. If he wants to go up to 170 and chase that, he should be allowed to, as should Ilya Toporia. Unfortunately for him, Islam has kind of had his time at lightweight and it's now moving on. But like this idea that he owes Ilya Toporya this, I don't understand it, nor do I understand this idea that like everybody's like, the fight was right there. It had to be made. It had to be made. Unfortunately, this is just the way this works. Like the timing

doesn't work. And Islam Makachev wants to solidify himself at 170. I have no problem with it. I have no problem with either guy doing what they're doing. I actually do agree with you because all it would take is Volk getting on Twitter, a Mosar Avloyev getting on Twitter, or a Diego getting on Twitter before UFC 314, and just saying the same thing. 100%.

Just making the same claims. I don't blame Ilya for doing it. Of course he's gonna do it. He's talking shit as a fighter that was looking to get that fight. But like in reality that we live in, I am in agreeance with you that like Islam Makashev has talked about going up to 174

quite a bit of time now. And now he's doing it. He was waiting for Balal to not be champion anymore. And then he was going to come up. I assure you if Bilal had won I think Islam Akhashif would be fighting Ilya Tupor. And they have said as much, his team has said as much, he has said as much. The weeks of Islam being like of all the reports coming out about Islam moving up if

Bilal loses wasn't enough for anybody to realize that this was the plan the whole time. Alright that was my biggest thing coming out of it is everyone's like oh how are we really losing this fight? It's just like Islam made it clear that if Bilal wins, he'll fight Ilya 155. If Bilal loses, he's going to go up to 170 to fight JDM. Dana White at the press conference last week was just like, yep, if Bilal wins, Islam will fight Ilya 155. If Bilal loses, he'll go up to 170 and fight JDM. Like it was all clear. And then JDM and Bilal fought and JDM won. And now Islam is like, I'm going up to 170 and fight JDM. Like it was all clear and then JDM and Bilal fought and JDM won and now Islam is like I'm going up to 170. Exactly the plan that I laid out. I am with you on that one. Uh, Ilya Toporya though went to a press conference this morning for some reason,

suiting and booted, get a microphone in front of him, start cutting some promos, and he had this to say, on Islam Makashev and his manager, one Ali Abdulaziz, he should thank me for not beating up his star and that he still has value thanks to me because they have taken him out through the back door. Yeah, for sure. Islam Makashev took to Twitter in response to this and said, the difference between me and you, I've cleaned out the top list in my division. I moved to the next, but you ran away from two contenders who had consecutive five to nine wins in the featherweight division.

You are nobody in the lightweight division, just a big mouth from Spain with a nice haircut. Go get one W and then we can talk, boy. Do love that he said, you're just a big mouth from Spain with a nice haircut. He's like, listen, you punk ass bitch, you got a nice haircut.

By the way, some good smack by Islam there. Ilya then responded to that tweet, this all taking place this morning, he said, the difference between you and me is that I'm a man and you're a coward. I speak and fight, you talk and hide. Run away far, leaving no trace. And then a Russian term that I believe via my Google Translate means you are a little boy. Okay,

so Islam called him son, so maybe he's giving it back to him. Okay, let's talk about a few things here. There's a lot to talk about. In Islam's tweet where he's like you ran away from, essentially he's saying Diego Lopez and Mavsar Evo. That's what he's saying. Like you ducked the smoke from them. I don't believe that either. Again, Ilya has made his intentions clear that he wanted to go up to lightweight and face that challenge. This idea that they're back and forth continues to hinge around like, you're running from me, you're running from me. When they're doing the same thing. When they're doing the same thing. They're doing the same exact thing. Okay, now I tweeted this earlier today.

I believe that Islam Makachev is in a better position than Ilya Toporia on the basis of this. And let me explain why. Islam Makachev is now getting a crack at the 170 pound belt. If he wins that, he's in great position. He's now got his second belt in a second weight class. If Ilya Toporia wins, Islam Makachev now has a mega, mega fight because I do think if Ilya Toporia wins against Charles Oliveira, that fight becomes bigger than just if Ilya

had come up to lightweight and fought Islam. I believe that actually becomes bigger because one, Islam will be holding 170 pound gold and two, now Ilya Toporia is the lightweight champion in the division that Islam left and so if you make a fight between those two on the heels of those two wins it's massive and bigger in my opinion I think bigger than if you had done it right now this June. If Ilya Toporia loses Islam gets to

go well fuck this guy sucks he couldn't even hang at lightweight. He couldn't even beat the dude that I took the belt from in two rounds. Smoked him like he couldn't even hang with a guy I smoked. What's this guy talking about? I don't want to hear yapping about him anymore and then he continues his 170 pound run. So he's in a great position no matter as long as he gets his work done against Jack Delamadalena no matter what happens with Ilya Taporje I think he's in a good position. He's sitting pretty. With Ilya it's a little it's a

it's good but it's not as good. Because if Ilya, if Ilya wins and Islam wins, now he potentially does have that fight against Islam. But there's no guarantee, right? He needs Islam more than Islam needs him. Islam was the champion. As long as Islam doesn't lose at lightweight, there will be many people who are like, Islam's still the best, Islam's still the best, Islam's still the best. So there's kind of this shadow cast over Ilia. If he wins and Islam loses, now Islam gets to come down and go, all right, I'm ready.

Okay, okay, all right. I saw this tweet while I was on the train this morning. I read it, I think it is a great point by you. I am in agreeance for the most part with it. I was like, oh wow, this is gonna be a great show today. I actually think Ilia Tupori is in a fantastic situation as well because the one you just laid out, if he beats Charles, which he is heavily favored to do so,

I do believe that he is going to come out of that victorious, become the lightweight champion of the world. And Islam loses, you do lose shine when you lose. When your 15 fight winning streak gets snapped, and like if it's the Jack Delamatta-Lena, people are going to be like, okay, he was not cut out for 170, he didn't have it for 170.

Now, Ilya Tuporiya, who's already talking shit being like, you ran from me, now he gets to be like, now there's only one place to go. You gotta come fight me for the belt, and now I'm the champion. He's still in a great situation, he still gets a massive fight. Here's the problem.

Islam has the leverage there. Because now Islam comes down and goes, I'm here, it's time to do our fight. Ilya has no choice now because Ilya's been talking all that shit. I think Ilya wants the fight. Maybe, but now he's coming off a loss. That fight is diminished. As you said, you've now lost and that fight is diminished compared to what it would have been if you were the first one to snatch that. I still think Ilio will just be like, I will now... The way that he talks shit will just be like, I will now lay you to rest. JDM put the arrow in your heart. Now it's time for me, look at this,

I've already dug the grave six feet deep, it's time for you to get in Islam and I'm going to end your career. I feel like it's diminished a little bit though. That's the difference in the positions. Okay, I do agree, but I think that hurts both guys in the sense that it's diminished. Sure, well Islam's lost now. Of course, now you're really hurt. But I do agree with you on the flip side of it. If they both come out victorious,

I do not think this, when it first happened, like when these fights were announced, I was like, I think it's dead. I actually think there is a world that this fight still happens, and you're playing a risk, but not really, because if Ilya loses, then it's like, okay, he wasn't really suited for lightweight.

He was never the guy. If Islam loses, then it's just like, all right, well, he wasn't really suited for 170, and he just comes back down. But if both of them win, then it's just like, Ilya now holds the belt, and he gets a win over Charles his star power just continues to grow and he just continues to get bigger he's now a two division champion and if Islam wins now he is a two division champion as well the star power grows even more and then

welcome to my side and then you have to think I would pray I would just pray that the UFC would allow him to retain the 170 belt and be like, go try and get your 155 belt back. I love this outcome. I think it's realistic. This is why there's a lot of outrage. I had a take when we did our reaction show that I think this is the better fight. I would rather see Charles versus Ilya because I think it's a better gauge of can you compete at lightweight. I think Islam is a bit of in his own category and so I still love that fight. Here's why this makes more sense. We need to know can Ilya compete at lightweight. If you go in there with Islam Makachev and he wins, I guarantee

I guarantee it. Please write this down. I guarantee it. We're not we're never going to know but I promise you this to be true. If Ilya Toporya came up and fought Islam Makachev in his first fight and Islam blew the doors off him, submitted him in a round, submitted him in two rounds, I guarantee the same people were like, we needed this fight to happen. We'll be saying Ilya Toporya was shit and was never going to be a good lightweight and just completely shitting on it. Ah, it doesn't mean that much. Islam continues to beat up on featherweights. I guarantee you, the same people, the exact same people. And so, to avoid this outcome,

we're now getting Ilya Toporya against a former champion who is still conceivably in his prime, a very dangerous opponent on the ground, dangerous, has become a dangerous striker. Who's going to make an incredibly exciting fight. Who's gonna bring it to him. Who is a mega star that is going to get a ton of eyes on the fight.

And we get to learn, can Ilya Toporya hang with a lightweight of that caliber before. Jai Herbert, not that caliber. Before we get to potentially see him against an Islam Makachev. To me, that is the best outcome. That is the best version of this that we get. Because I don't think, I don't, this is my,

now this is my opinion, I don't believe that Ilya Toporia would be competitive with Islam Makachev. I just don't believe that to be true and so if that fight fell apart that way if Islam if he comes in and Islam smokes him everybody's gonna be like ah he wasn't they're gonna they're gonna shit on both of them they're gonna shit on Islam because he's beating up another feather weight and they're gonna shit on Ilya Toporia because he was never good enough to be a lightweight and it just ruins it it just ruins it we're gonna shit on Islam because he's beating up another featherweight and they're gonna shit on Ilya Taporyev because he was never good enough to be a lightweight. And it just ruins it. It just ruins it.

We're gonna find out something different about Ilya Taporyev in this fight against Charles Oliveira, and I love that potential. And then we get to decide if we do Islam. Then we also get to find out about Islam Makashev. Everyone with the 145 allegations against Islam Makashev. Now he's going against the true 170 JDM. I was standing right next to JDM a few days ago. I was like, this man's kind of thick. Like we're around the same height and his forearms are as big as my thigh. I was like, man, I would not want to scrap with this dude.

He's a big boy. This dude is a, he is a full on welterweight. So that's going to be fascinating to see. I still disagree with you. I wish we were seeing Ilya Islam, but I think the fact that the fight is not dead and now you have the potential of like super duper fight, two two division champions going against each other, all the shit talk, man we lost it now we're getting it, the potential which is a dangerous thing to have in

the sport of mixed martial arts, hope of things working out is a very dangerous thing to have in the sport of mixed martial arts, hope of things working out is a very dangerous thing to have in this sport because the best laid plans can get ruined very quickly in this sport. But like, I think the potential is there for down the road in 2026, maybe International Fight Week. No, no, no, no, no, no. Come with me. Come along. So this is, we were talking about, oh, we're going to get Islam versus Ilya International Fight Week in June. It's the biggest spectacle. Oh my god, International Fight Week's here.

That's great. Fuck that. Ilya Toporya wins June. Issam Makachev wins, let's call it October. Let's say Abu Dhabi October. Abu Dhabi October. Beach Jack Al-Aman Alena. What could you do with a guy like Issam Makachev

and Ilya Toporya? Where could you put that? Oh, I don't know, a fucking arena in Spain in the middle of February or March, and now you've got the biggest fight in UFC history between two guys who are reigning champions in weight classes up and now clashing for Islam Makachev, former champion of 55, Ilya Taporyev,

the new man sitting in his seat, and you get that in Spain. That's the fucking fight. April, Spain, a little spring in Spain. Well, April, we're getting into Ramadan territory, and it gets harder. March, Spain. So you gotta do it earlier in the year. Early March, Spain, give both guys,

you give Issam Makhachov about five months post- Ready. Post JDM fight, now he's welterweight champion of the world. Come right back down. Even if it's just an arena in Spain, could you imagine that? Anywhere in Spain. Could you imagine that guitar hitting, in Spain, the whole crowd goes wild? And I can assure you, I've said it once, I'll say it again, if they announce an Iliot Emporia fight in Spain with a belt on the line, flight's getting booked at that point.

I will be in attendance. There is no question about it. Important question. Does a belt have to be on the line? Would you accept Ilya Toporia versus Issam Makachev, 160 pound catch weight, nobody's belt on the line just fighting because these are the two that need to fight? Introduction of the 165 pound division. 160, 160, Ilya, Islam. No belts on the line?

No belts. No. The champ versus the champ, but no belts on the line. No. It needs to be for the Islam belt. If Ilya has the 155, Islam has the 170. It needs to be for that one. It's gotta be 155, give Islam the double champ status.

I kinda would dig the 160, but I'm not Also thinking about this more Islam goes up gets the 170 belt and then in his attempt goes back down now He's taking the he was giving Ilya the opportunity to become the two division double champion now Ilya is would be giving Islam the double champion. Then who's running? See, this is the thing. Islam kind of can back Ilia into making him the next title fight. If he comes back down, he says to Ilia,

okay, I'm calling your bluff. You wanted me, now you've got me. Ilia doesn't really have a choice. Now it has to be Islam. Now- All the while. All the while. Jack Delamattalena can play spoiler, fucking clean Islam's clock and just be like, nope. Don't get me started on that.

All the while, Paddy Pemblut is picking up one more victory in the lightweight division, setting up another monster title fight at 155, no matter who wins, whether it's Islam Makashev or Ilya Toporia. International fight with August, September of next year, Patty Pembley title shot. But then what happens if Islam wins the 55 pound belts,

then like, all right, peace, I just want to beat up Ilya Toporia, I'm going back to 70. Then Patty versus- No, then it's a very competitive fight between Ilya and Islam. Islam then vacates the 155, he's like, yep, double champ, you're gonna have this back. Toporia, Patty, vacant title.

Yeah, love it. I like the position Islam's in. I like the position Ilya's in, just a little bit less. I do think this fight can still happen, and I think it could be bigger than it was if it had happened in June. I'm with you, man. I'm excited for this summer.

God, I am excited for this summer. There got a lot lined up. Look, man, card this weekend, no need to beat around the bush. You ain't writing home about it. Interesting main bush. You ain't writing home about it. Interesting main event, you ain't writing home about it. Apex 107, Barbara Blanchfield, I think it's on the last day, yeah, it's on the last day of May,

ain't writing home about it, but once that's over, June kicks off. We're rolling. We are fucking rolling, baby. We got Sugar Marab, we got UFC Atlanta, Usman Buckley, you got UFC Baku, Jamal Hill, Khalil Roundtree, you got International Fight Week, then in July you got Poirier versus Holloway,

you got UFC Nashville, you've got UFC Chicago. That main event's a little... Main event's bullshit, just throw Derek Lewis into a main event against anyone. Like, Taliesin D'Shara, whatever, but still. It's a fight night in a city that isn't the apex, and then Chicago gets the return. That's the one for me.

D.P., Hamza Shumayev. We keep talking about there's a lack of star power. We're starved for stars. Yars. There is real potential over the next calendar year for some really massive stars to like I don't want to say be born because I already think Ilya Tupori is a star, I already think Islam Makashev is a star, I already think Hamza Shamiah is a star, but like to really start

getting into that next that next echelon of like superstar power is starting to really penetrate into the casual fandom. People are appointment viewing this guy, even if they're not really into the UFC. If Ilja emerges from it, or Islam solidifies himself and reestablishes himself, if Hamzah is able to finally become a champion, if DDP turns back Hamsad on the run he's on, and then the one, the elephant in the room that needs to be addressed is the, if Tom Aspinall can beat John Jones,

or John Jones stops Tom Aspinall. Like, this is a very important stretch for the UFC, and to your point, I think, this could, from this could emerge one of the UFC's biggest stars, or re-solidify one of the UFC's biggest stars with one of their biggest wins. Interesting times, interesting times ahead for us. We'll we'll see what happens, we'll see how it shakes down throughout the whole course

of the summer. Should be some good fights, should be some good fights. We'll be in Vegas for International Fight Week. We'll be just a couple blocks away from old T-Mobile. We'll be in Vegas for International Flight Week. We'll be just a couple blocks away from old T-Mobile. We'll be doing a watch party that night to see how it all shakes out. It's gonna be tremendous stuff. Exciting times. Do you believe that one of the UFC's biggest stars

could emerge from UFC Vegas 106? You know? No. Yeah, let's talk. Asked and answered. Let's talk about UFC Apex 106. To me, this is like a, from a stakes, from a interesting standpoint,

this is essentially like a one fight card for me. Like I- I'm the same boat. I don't really know how you could make the argument otherwise, I think there's some solid scraps on there, but like in terms terms of very interesting implications within the division, it's the main event and the main event only.

Gilbert Burns taking on Michael Morales, Michael Morales undefeated. Welterweight's still a very young guy, ranked number 12th into the division. They're obviously trying to push him into the top 10 here. And if he wins, if he comes out victorious, he is now in line with this stacked, congested contendership at 170.

Obviously we were just talking about it. Islam's probably gonna get the next shot against JDM. Then you've got Sean Brady, Ian Gehry, Shavkat Rachmanov, Joaquin Buckley's fighting Usman. Michael Morales is going to have to get into this line of like, how far away am I from a title shot? He's going to be an undefeated dude at, I believe, just 25 years of age. Starting to rack up some big wins, doing it in an exciting fashion, could be, I believe, the first

Ecuadorian UFC champion, if I'm not mistaken. It's interesting, man, and to, this is his toughest test to date. It is 100% his toughest test. He is 25. He'll be 26 in June. He looks like the real deal to me. And you mentioned like kind of passing this test and entering that upper echelon. The last three fights for Gilbert Burns, Malal Mohammed, Jack Della, Sean Brady. No, no, no, no. You say last three fights, let's go last 10 fights. Gilbert Burns. It is an absolutely insane run. Okay. Before we do that, I do want to do that, but I mentioned those, who are those three? The champ who just lost his belt on Saturday. The champ who just took the belt on Saturday,

the number one contender in the division. So like this is the guy that you cross this threshold You are the guy you become the guy and so Michael Morales has an opportunity to do that. But yes, I mean, please let's talk about that I hate to call Gilbert Burns that just because He takes on anyone and he is a badass and he's obviously wildly skilled But like it is almost like he is that sort of gatekeeper right now, he is sort of that line to the upper echelon of the division, and that kind of shocks me to see that, like Michael Morales is a minus 850.

That's hefty. I'm seeing as big as a minus 1000 against the guy in Gilbert Burns who his last 10 fights. Yeah. You mentioned it, Sean Brady, JDM Balal, before that, Jorge Masvidal dub, Neil Magni dub, and then Hamza Chamayev, Steven Wonderboy Thompson, Kamaru Usman, Tyrone Woodley, Damien Maia. Yeah pretty good. Those guys are all pretty good. That is the last 10 fights for this dude.

I think maybe Jorge Masvidal passed his prime once they fought, but like Neil Magny might be the lowest level of competition out of those 10. And that is the best competition that Michael Morales has ever faced. It's a great point. Granted, got rid of him in one round. Koper Burns did the same thing. Looked great doing it, but like the differential

in competition they have faced is is a wide wide margin now the last time we talked about that Ian Machado Gary versus Carlos Prochess the last time we talked about this where we go look at the level of guys this guy's faced and look at the level of guys this guy's faced it was Carlos Prochess versus Ian Machado Gary and what we saw in that one was yeah when you're fighting those guys at the highest level, it's a lot harder to look good, it's a lot harder to put on those spectacles.

And then what happens when you face off against somebody who's not there yet. And I actually think this level of competition is wider. Oh, bigger, yeah, way bigger. Than the Prochis and Gair's one. Now the one thing against it is the age gap. 38. It's much wider. 38 to 25. Yeah.

13 year age difference. And wider. 38 to 25. 13 year age difference. And then in addition to that, Michael Morales, the reach, he has like eight inches of reach. He's a long and rangy striker. I think he's going to use that to his advantage. If he can avoid going to the mat with Gilbert Burns, I think he's going to have a ton of success. Ultimately, I think Michael Morales gets it done here, but at a minus 1,000 clip, I don't think it's that high.

I think it's going to be competitive. I think people are gonna be surprised at what Gilbert Burns has to offer. I believe that Michael Morales is one of the best prospects in the sport and the real deal to every, like every ounce of me believes that Michael Morales could be a UFC champion one day. But there are times where the curve is going up for him

and the curve is going down for Gilbert, but Gilbert's coming from here. Gilbert's coming from the top, and so maybe there's still enough in that body of Gilbert to still get past the Michael Morales, and he wasn't quite at that peak yet. It happens, and there might be a world in a year from now, two years from now, where we go,

Carlos Prochez is the gem of the division, and it wasn't Ian Gary, right? He might have just gotten him at the right time. I think there's a world where Gilbert might be getting Michael at the time right before he's ready to just give it up, but I also think there's a chance that at 38 years old, the best years have been behind. It's so impossible to tell because the guys he's been facing that you laid out, he has not had an easy fight in 10 fights, and even before that, it wasn't easy fights.

The guy has just faced a murderer's row, possible to tell because the guys he's been facing that you laid out he has not had an easy fight in ten fights and even before that it wasn't easy fights the guy has just faced a murderer's row you can't really gauge somebody if every single time out they're facing the top of the top of the top of the top and Michael Morales has just not ultimately I think Morales is gonna win this fight but would I be shocked if it was too soon for him I would not because Gilbert Burns is good and we saw in that fight with Jack Della. Some people had him winning that fight. The judges, I think, had it one-one.

He was in control of that third round. He might have been the last guy to defeat who is now the UFC champion if the third round had gone his way. If JDM doesn't Derrick Lewis it, I'm just gonna get up. Yeah, Gilbert wins that fight. Gilbert wins that fight for sure. Yeah, and so I don't know if he's cooked yet.

Like I'm not ready to like put the fork in Gilbert Burns. I am not man. I mean, yes, he's on a three fight winning streak. He hasn't won since April of 2023. But like you said, the three fight winning streak is to the champ that just lost his belt, the champ that just won the belt, and the number one contender in the sport.

And he's five and five in his last 10, but his other two losses on top of the three fight winning streak are to Hamza Tshemayev and Kamaru Usman Yeah, former champion one of the hottest prospects Undefeated in the entire sport. I just I just I just think I betting wise This is one that I stay away from like I'm just like because I think Michael Morales is gonna win I think I feel like minus 300 maybe minus minus minus like 270 So do you almost have to make a dog play on burns just for the fuck like no cuz I think Michael Morales

Like I don't know. It's like the odds. It's like dog pass or really pass. I believe I'll say again, though I think Michael Morales is like future champ like I really believe in Michael Morales the skill set that he has is ridiculous And this could be the start of that kind of run. I'm a in Michael Morales. The skillset that he has is ridiculous. And this could be the start of that kind of run. I'm a big Michael Morales believer. 17 and 0, 12 wins by knockout. He's a freak man, he's a freak. Got the look, the unique country behind him. Oh yeah.

Like being the first champion from a country can do a lot for you. It's gonna be interesting to see man, and this is one of those fights that if he comes out victorious, it's just like, all right man. You this is one of those fights that if he comes out victorious, it's just like, all right, man. You're it. Throw him into the fire.

Like how many more does he have? Two more until he's getting a title shot? And this division probably like four or five now because of the queue that's forming. Or just like four or five years. He's just gonna have to wait that long. Yeah. That one's gonna be fascinating.

I can't wait for that one. Beautiful apex, unique, like apex, the typical apex, 4 p.m. Eastern start. Love that. Which I just absolutely love. Co-main event, Paul Craig versus Adolfo Bellotto. Yeah, this is kind of where we see the drop off in the card. It's just like-

Right to the co-main. Paul Craig, something that is interesting here, he has noted that this is the last fighter in his UFC contract. Yep likely I would imagine I don't know if he's gonna continue in him MMA if he doesn't get the win here and he ends up retiring But feels like this is you were done. This is do or die for Paul Craig and we've seen him be sort of You know Inactive in these fights sort of timid doesn't doesn't really push the pace or anything like that. I imagine that will change on Saturday.

He knows he's gonna have to do something. I wonder though, even with a win, is he guaranteed to resign if you're the UFC? I don't know how much he's making contract. Paul Craig's an interesting character and somebody that I think is very easy to root for. He's super affable, he's funny, people like his fighting style when he is

in those crazy wars or pulling off the last minute submissions. I just think he's he's got a he's got to put it all out there and go to battle and then see what happens and live with the results but if it's last one I mean incredible run if it's not get comes back with the UFC I think there's still fun fights out there for him and this could be that perfect like test to see if he can still do it is it not pronounced Paul Craig? mmm I see what you did there. That's how I usually hear it. From the broadcast team?

yeah mm-hmm from the broadcast team and and also the man who normally sits here one that one. Featured bout of the evening, Sadiq Youssef taking on Marion Santos. I do like this one. Yeah I mean it's a solid fight they're both moving up to lightweight Marion Santos 15 and 1 A lot of people a lot of people did not think that he beat Francis Farr Marshall in his last fight won by split decision That's right. That was a controversial one. There were a lot of people on UFC 313 that felt like He he should not have gotten the nod. I Was I think I was in that camp we were watching it early before we went live

Sadik Sadik Yousef is a, like, he's a hard dude to get past and I think this is gonna really like, we're gonna have a referendum on that last win from this one. Like, it's gonna tell us whether that was legit or whether it was not. Sadiq Yousef is a load for anybody. I'm interested to see how he looks because he needed a little bit of a change of scenery,

but he's super talented, and I think he has a real opportunity here. Very closely line fight, minus 135 Marion Santos, Sadik Yusuf plus 115. There's a world where you're looking back on it, where it's just like, that was probably a by low spot on Marion Santos. Oh, I was thinking, what if it's a...

If he has a, if Marion Santos, because he's 15 and one, he's obviously a very skilled fighter You look great. I'm tough and and the Francis fire martial fight was sort of just like oh man He just like didn't come to fight that night and he ends up having a great performance against Sadik You if it you said that's what I mean in terms of a by low spot But it could be a by low spot on Sadik Yousef honestly like man Marion Santos really ain't built like that Yeah, and you said just had a rough go toward the end

But he was in some crazy fights, and all of a sudden, this guy has a new coat of paint. So I think it could be one of those where the winner comes out looking like, oh, I should have known that was going to happen with that guy. Nersetin Ruzabayev taking on Dustin Stolzfus. Stolzfus has kind of been win-loss, win-loss, win-loss for his last six fights coming off a win.

So I guess that means he's Dustin's loser. Nasty one. Yeah, man. I mean always I feel like Stoltzfist like he's killer be killed and it's just like when he's doing the killing it's exciting when he's getting killed it's it's also exciting I mean his last four fights he won by finish or he lost by finish early on in the fights. This is that one where everybody guarantees fireworks and a banger and then it becomes a decision. This is the one that I bet under two and a half on and I'm just like, lock and then there's like

four and a half minutes left in the third round and you're just like, God damn it, no one's gotten even close to a finish. I'm fucked. Been there many times. Been there many, many times. I think the best one was Palo Costa Luke Rockhold in 2022. I've been there many times. Been there many, many times. I think the best one was Paulo Costa, Luke Rockhold in 2022.

I bit the under in that one and I was just like, God, why did I bet this? He's like bleeding all over Luke Rockhold. They're like licking each other's blood. I'm just like, finish him, God. Last one on the main card, Julian Arosa versus Malky Kosta. Malky Kosta, uh, an impressive win last time out and he's already back in there, uh, just a couple months later. I think both these guys have wins over Searod. Yeah, yeah they do. Um, yeah, I mean like Julian Arosa, three-fight win streak. Juicy J's on a little run. He's, he's,

the one thing you can say about Juicy J, he's down for a scrap. Scrapper, foreign scrapper. He is down to scrap. And Milky Kastas look good, man. Three fight, one streak himself. I feel like this is gonna be a fun fight to watch. Yeah, there's a few like that on this card. All the ones we've rattled off so far, they're compelling in a certain way,

but also there's no stakes. There's nothing on the line in nearly anything here other than in the main event. But I don't think it's gonna be a bad fight night. They've put a lot of names on here that I know are gonna bring a fight. Yeah, to me this is one that you kinda have it on, you sorta like, as the card is crescendoing

into the main event and everything, you're checking in and you sorta just have one eye on it. And you're like, damn, that was actually a sick fight. Yeah, or you're sitting there going, why the fuck did I bet this under? And you're like, damn, that was actually like a sick fight. Yeah. Or you're sitting there going, why the fuck did I bet this under? And you're dying. You're sweating it out. Or it's just a complete snooze.

And you're like, what am I doing with my life? Why am I watching these people point fight to a decision in a warehouse on my Saturday evening? Shout out to the world famous apex. Yeah, I mean, Connor Matthews versus Yadier Del Valle. That one is one that is just like... Sure. Yeah. Yeah.

I will actually be out on Saturday evening. This is going to be one where I'm with all my friends, and you got it on the phone, like, tilted up at the restaurant. Are you able to divulge your plans? Like, where are you going to be out? No. Oh, secret. Okay. Fair enough. No need to divulge into any of that.

Hewensong Park, Carlos Fernandez, that should be, decent T-shirt Pennington taking on Luana Pinero. Denise Gomes, Elise Reed. Yep. I'm not saying it, but some people are saying people's main event. Okay. Yeah.

I'm ready. Some people. Some people are saying that. Jared Gordon, Thiago Moises, Gabe Greenback from a pretty long layoff, Mateus Camillo. So yeah, it's not that great of a car. Main event's good though. Main event's good.

I'm not gonna sit here and lie to the people and be like, this is the one. No, this is definitely not the one. We got fights on Saturday. We got fights and the main event. Betting odds will be available for them. Gilbert Burns is either gonna be like, oh shit, shout out Gilbert Burns for getting it done or.

I'm so cool with either outcome. Damn, that Michael Morales. Yeah, yeah. Gilbert's a good guy. I think he... Yeah, for sure. I'm down to see him win and be like, damn, Gilbert's still got it. Yeah. Only fights killers, that was badass.

Took Michael Morales as well. He did that short notice against Bilal and he was hurt and the whole thing. Like, it's just been like, he's too game. He's too game. He really is. He hasn't tried to navigate the waters. He's just been like, yeah, craziest guy I could face, let's too game. He's too game. He really has it like he hasn't like tried to navigate the the the waters He's just been like yeah craziest guy I could face. Let's fight him Well, if you remember in that one, he fought Neil Magni

Yeah in January of 2023 comes back three months later fights Horham Oswald all in April of 2023 comes back a month later and fights below in May of 2023 Yeah, and like what was the injury injury he had a bad injury in that fight. I think it was his arm. Yeah his arm and so like it just led to like Balal just like striking. Yeah Balal just beat him up. Shout out Gilbert. I'm a fan of Gilbert but it's Michael Morales time I think. Yeah because on the flip side of that I was like I'm cool with either outcome. Michael Morales gets an impressive victory then it's just like damn another guy. to wait.

170 just becomes that much more interesting. Now you have an 18 and 0, 25 year old, who's a long rangy striker that can cause problems for people. And somewhat this carpet, it's sort of like, the grain of it goes a weird way. What's wrong with the carpet, man? It like forces the chair in like certain directions.

Like I can't, I feel like I don't have full control over here, like I feel like the carpet controls me. Speaking of directions, do you mind tilting your mic back a little bit and more towards your face? I'm like in the middle of like a flaming hot take and Frank gets in my ear and he's just like, hey man, this is in your ear, could you tilt the mic? More, more, more, more, tilt the mic more.

So now I need to tilt it the other way. Make it look like Riggs. This knob. Yeah. Don't touch that. Loosen that one and then. no don't no don't listen don't listen to him. He's gone rogue. No no Oh, it's been loosened Helani is sitting at home. Is this good man? He's pointing at the This is cool Please just do it cuz he's been talking about this for 20 minutes. Oh, yeah, it's been insufferable for me I can only imagine how insufferable it's been for you guys back there.

No, I told him to fix it. I love the behind the scenes that the fans just got here into the Frank. I know, it looks like I'm just chilling here yapping with my boy. I got this IFB in so Frank can yell in my ear whenever he wants to. It's really, sometimes like,

if you ever see me rip it out, that means that Frank is just incessantly talking in it. What does IFB stand for? Internal Frank Banter. Oh, yeah, right on. Yeah, yeah. For those at home, it's interruptible foldback.

It's Infernal Frank Banter because we don't need it. All right, let's go to, let's do some picks. Let's do some picks. Let's do some picks let's do Parlay Pals. No you know what let's recap last week. Yes. Because I need to brag on myself. Shout out UFC 315. Then let's brag on you guys big hitters. Then let's do Parlay Pals and Vets. All right let's start with the recap. You know the old Barry H as they say in the business. What do we got? UFC 315. Nailed all my money lines. Nailed every single one of them. Boom. Right across the board. If only someone could have told you that both the

dogs were gonna win in the co-main and main event. Oh wait, I did. Shout out to some of the Canadians. Mike Malott, Marc-Andre Berriot, unfortunately Brad Katona. Shout him out for losing. But shout out to the Moneylines and then the props. Not as good, you know, that long shot. I had Jasmine Jasdavicis over one and a half in that one that went six of seven legs. She gets that finished a little bit later. We're really talking about a generational week here. That one was plus 760. Oh wow. Fortunately doesn't come through.

And then the Benoit Saint-Denis, same game parlay. BSD under one and a half rounds. I miss it by four seconds. If you're watching the watch party, you got to experience that with me live. That was very unfortunate. But yeah, a nice week up 6.75 units. It feels good.

It felt like we needed to win, man. Not only did I need to win, the Parlay pals needed a win and we delivered. Shout out Navajo Sterling. Shout out Jasmine, Jasmine Vicious. Shout out Mike Malott. And then Frankie with the minus 700, Chyfchenko Fiora over two and a half. Did the check clear or did the check clear?

The check cleared, brother. I ain't hatin'. I ain't hatin'. Felt like a little bit of hate there. Nah, you hit it, man. That brings us to seven and 16. Shout out, that's my birthday, July 16th. Written in the stars, we were always gonna be seven and 16.

And the profit loss, we're still down, we're still in the red, but we'll get there. This week. We could get there this week. Yeah, yeah, we're gonna go green this week. We're gonna go green this week. All right, now let's shout you guys out, a couple big hitters. Pay-per-view cards, always deliver for this.

Let's start. I feel like I have to shout these guys out weekly. It kind of gets tiresome, but I'm a man of the people. Mr. Electrocute, one of the sharpest guys in the game. Shout out to Art. I actually tailed these on the side, so I hit these, you couldn't even track them. He went, Jasmine, that's Jazdavicious most strikes, she wins. Mike Malan most strikes, he wins. Natalia Silva most

strikes, she wins. Parlayed them all up $500 into $3,926 and then he did it again for $1,500 so two grand on the line returns almost $10,000 like $9,800. One of the sharpest in the game gives out a ton of great information on his Twitter. I highly recommend following him. He is one of the best out there. Shout out to Mr. Electrocute. And then the weekly Jay Singh shout out. Happens every week. Dude is just money. Gives out free picks on his Twitter. Jay Sing. Real ones now. Four pick parlay. Natalia Silva to win by decision. Over two and a half. Aldo Zahavi. Valentina Shevchenko plus nine and a half. Jack Della to win by decision. Oh wow. Yeah, grand win, 21,000 on that one.

And then he also hit, Eamon Zahabi decision, Shevchenko decision, Jack Della plus nine and a half points. Another 100, 1100 on that to win 16,000. And then he hit one more for ya, five picks, Natalia Silva by decision, over two and a half in Zahabi Aldo. Over four and a half in the co-main. Jack Della to win and Benoit Saint-Denis, Kyle Prapilec, fight to start round two. Yes,

that's another seven fifty into ten thousand. I believe he totaled up in terms of profit like forty eight thousand dollars on the night. So yeah, gives out free free picks only posted slips One of the real ones in the game shouts Jay Singh We move along to another very sharp man on Twitter Mike couch warrior pod I believe you can just follow him at couch warrior pod He hits a plus 13,000 131 Navajo sterling by points Jasmine jazz the vicious by finish Navajo Sterling by points, Jasmine Jazzdivisius by finish, Natalia Silva by points, Valentina Shevchenko by points, and JDM Moneyline $10 into $1,323

and then he followed it up with another one Navajo Sterling by points, Eamonn Zahabi by points, and Valentina Shevchenko by points $25 into $1,226. So he turned $35 into like $2,500. Not bad. That ain't bad. That ain't bad. We roll along to a couple one offers here. MMA, the problem is 291 to one. He turned $2 into 580 bucks.

Brad Katona by points or Bexot Almacom by KO. Jasmine Jazzdivisius by finish. Eamon Zahabi Moneyline. Shevchenko by KO or points. Jack Della by points. Parlayed them all up. $2 into $582. Damn.

Unbelievable stuff. We keep rolling to another guy. FartSniffer46. $253 to $1. Shout out to Mason Pringle. We keep rolling to another guy. FartSniffer46, 253 to one. Shout out to Mason Pringle. The smallest ticket of all time because of how long it is. He goes, I'll read it off for you.

He goes, Eamon Zahabi, Valentina Shevchenko, Jack Della, Natalia Silva, BSD, Mike Malott, Jazda Vicious, Bukowskis, Sterling, Mark Andre Berriolt. Unbelievable stuff. $360, $3.60 into $912. And staying stuffed by him. A couple more here, Marky Nude, Marcus Allen. He just parlayed up the Co-Main and Main Event dogs.

Threw $950 on it to win $5,087. Next up, Refused To Lose, Cello Mello, Eamon Zahavi by decision, Valentina Shevchenko by decision, Jack Delamatta, Laina by decision, $5 into $316. Shout out to Cello Mello. And two more here for you, Ruth Dogg, 17.

Shout out to my guy Tyler. He goes M-A-B by K-O. Jasmine by Sub. Mike Malop by Finish. Plus $4029. Turns $25 into over a grand. That little profit boost. Shout out to the profit boost, man. Using it wisely. Turned a plus $3099 into a plus $4029 and hit it. So shout out to him and then I think I have one more. Richard Reyna. 33 cents into $211.

Imagine if you threw five on this one, Rich. 12 pick parlay, whole card. Got every single winner correct. You picked the whole card. Plus $63,981. God damn. If he had thrown $5. Yeah, what does that pay out?

What's 211 by 15? Three grand instead of 211? Throw a fiver next time, Rich. You know he's kicking himself in the ass right now. Don't hit him once down. Good. Nah. I'm kicking him in the ass while he's down. Imagine if you just threw a fiver on that bad boy.

Shout out Richard. Shout out to Richard. Nice pick. Shout out to all the that bad boy. Shout out Richard. Shout out to Richard. Nice pick. Shout out to all the winners, man. Shout out to all the big hitters. Impressive stuff, especially on these pay-per-view weeks. It truly is incredible. All right. UFC Apex 106, we're still making picks. Let's do the Parlay Pals. We're about to get into the green, baby. Frankie, throwing into the randomizer. We're about to put together a winning parlay to

move the Parlay P pals back into the green. We already got Pizzi Carol's pick. Rick will go first, Frank second, I'll go third. Easy, give me Ruzabayev. Give me Ruzabayev, I think he's gonna get it. It's Dulsvys. We're believing in the man from Tajikistan? We sure are.

Is that what it is? I think he is, yeah. Pizzi already picked Melki Costa minus 175 by the way nice Maybe do Jared Gordon. Oh, I like it. Tiago Moises over two and a half. Oh my god Ruzabayev Uzbek Uzbekistan remember when we we saw him in Atlantic City and like there was a massive contingent of- That's right, that's right. Of Uzbekistan fighters.

All right, I will go to the co-main event and I will go, Adolfo Bolado, Paul Craig, under two and a half. Yeah, because you were saying you expect the action. You expect them to bring it. I think there's gonna be action here. I think Paul Craig is gonna have to force it. Bolado, 13 of his 15 fights have gone under two and a half.. Bellotto 13 of his 15 fights have gone under two and a half. Paul Craig 8 of

his last 10 have gone under two and a half. Could be his last fight. I think we see some fireworks here. I think someone someone gets finished. Nobody wanted to take Michael Morales a minus 15,000. Minus 950 Michael Morales he could have. We said minus a thousand or below. That gives us the plus 251 which if you look at the at the units there, we get a dub. Oh, I love that. We get a dub. Oh, yeah.

Love it. This is here for the taking. And now that the Juliana Pena curse has been lifted, she is back in good graces with us. She has allowed us to now win these again. The Vixen curse is off of us. We are free from the Venezuelan Vixen curse. It feels good. It feels good.

It feels good. You know what, it felt bad just to be not, you know, on the same page with Juliana. Now we get that and we get to have our parley's hit again. It's fantastic. All right, let me run through my picks. Don't have a ton this weekend just because of the card, but I do have four bets that I want to hit on.

Did I send those to you, Gordon? You wait your turn. Okay all right I can wait I can wait. Sorry sorry there's something going on in the chat. No worries. Crazy shit going on in the chat. Should I hop in? Well it's good guys. Everyone stop saying shit. Oh shit I'm seeing a lot of deleted clips. Must be hating on her ass or something. Alright right, Carlos Hernandez. I'm going to take him as an underdog against Hyun Sung Park Yes, Hyun Sung Park is undefeated. Yes. He is 9-0, but I just don't really rate his wins he's 2-0 in the UFC but Shannon Ross and Seung Guk Choi Don't really rate them and on the road to UFC, Topnoi Karam and Jeremiah Saragar, those four guys between the road to UFC

and his two UFC fights, 38 and 26 combined record. I think Carlos Hernandez has fought the better brand of competition. I like his boxing. I'm gonna go with him to get his hand raised as an underdog here. We roll along. Gabe Green Moneyline. Same thing. We roll along. Gabe Green money line.

Same thing. Long layoff for Gabe Green, but I trust that he's in good health at this point. But he's going against the dude who is making his debut in the UFC, has not fought good competition before the UFC. This is a massive step up. He's only 24, he's inexperienced.

Gabe Green, yes, two and three in the UFC, but he's going against guys like Ian Gary, Daniel Rodriguez, Phil Rowe, Brian Battle, albeit that was very short, but like that's who he was prepping for. He has that experience at the highest level, and I think that is going to pay off for him. Next up, Arosa Costa.

Over the one and a half, Melky, eight of his last 11 have gone over one and a half. Yes, I understand Julian Arosa is a major concern here, getting five fights ending in the first round in a row, but I just don't think his grappling is going to give him the opportunity to finish Costa. I think Costa is going to be able to initiate the grappling and I don't really rate Costa as a guy that's going to

knock out Julian Arosa. I think this one goes longer. We've seen Julien Arosa obviously go to decision before, same with Malky Costa. So yeah, I think with the recent first round finishes for Julien Arosa, we're getting a decent price on the over one and a half here, and then a parlay, the Bellotto Craig, under two and a half I just mentioned,

and I'm taking the over one and a half in Burns Morales. I think it's gonna be more competitive than people think. I think this is a solid parlay piece. Burns, eight of his last nine have gone over the one and a half, 12 of his last 14 have done the same. Dude went to a decision with Hamzat when Hamzat was the scariest dude in the division. He is game as they come.

I know Morales finished Magny in the first round last time out, but five of his last seven have gone over the one and a half and this is his toughest test today I think this one goes over the seven and a half minute mark and those the bets for UFC Apex 106 some good bets shout out damn Frankie likes them they must be good hopefully hopefully there's some damn good bets all right so at the beginning of the show we talked about Islam Makashev, Ilya Toporia, Charles Olivaera, the International Fight Week announcements. With that came the announcement of Trigas Du Plessis taking on Hamza Tchermayev at UFC

319 in Chicago, Illinois. Why is that relevant? Why is that interesting? For years, I swear it's been like four or five years now of Chicago fans weekly tweeting, asking on On The Nose, Instagram DMing. Voicemails. Voicemails. When is the UFC coming back to Chicago?

When's the UFC coming back to Chicago? Chicago, Chicago, Chicago. We've gotta get back to Chicago. They're coming. They're coming. And with the main event of a lifetime. You guys are getting an unbelievable main event. I hope the United Center, is that what it's called?

Yes. I hope the United Center is fully packed out for that one. And you guys show why you guys wanted a pay-per-view back so badly. But for that reason, the pound for pound ranking this week will be Chicago things. Chicago stuff. The best of Chicago.

The pizzas, the athletes, the sports teams, the beam, whatever you wanna do. Chicago things, pound for pound lists. Frankie, what's the order? So I thought in honor of the great American rock band, 311, we'd mix things up. It'll start with Frank, then we'll go to Connor and we'll have Rick finish us off okay I don't understand the tee up but I'm

gonna just roll with it they have a song called all mixed up uh-huh greatest all right so Chicago starting at number five okay I have chosen wax tracks records so this is a little record store that started in the 80s in Chicago and then had such a cult following and they were able to do some presses for local acts that they actually became a full record label that exists to this day. We have acts like KMFDM, Frontline Assembly, Front 242. The list goes on. In fact I'm going to a show tonight tonight at King's Theater, band called Underworld from England. They also release things from Wax Trax.

I can't think of Chicago without thinking of Wax Trax. Coming in at number four. Can I just ask, it said New York in Chicago. Do they now have a New York as well? That happens a lot, man, with record labels. Like they'll put an office in New York just to like make it easier for people to visit and sort of thing.

But it's usually just like an office, maybe even just a address got it. Are you fact-checking me right now? Yeah, I was curious. I said New York above it. I mean come on come on. You saw the picture. Can we show the picture? Max tracks oh yeah, I saw on that fucking New York I thought you were like with like a little Frank tried to fact to fact check you and then got fact checked by his own image. His own image that he selected that says fucking New York above Chicago in it. Speaking of, above. Wow. Whoa, what was that? I missed it.

Whoa! I missed it. What was that? I missed it. This is my number four, the Chicago dog. Amazing. They just showed this picture early. It's gotta have it all. It's gotta have. Actually, this picture is. It's got to have it all it's got to have actually this picture That looks two things that I think are essential which is the poppy seeds on the outside of the bun I'm a fan and then the relish needs to be that sickly lime green relish that yeah I don't even want to know it's a neon like yeah toxic looking But you got the hot peppers you got the tomatoes a fresh onion the mustard

You can't beat it. The best place to have it, honestly, like I had looked this up before I visited Chicago for the first time, you got to get the hot dog at the Chicago O'Hare airport. That's actually the best place. Huh? For real?

You think so? I mean, I saw a whole documentary about the hot dog. That's what they said. So as soon as I got off the plane, I'm like, find me a hot dog cart. Only had to take three steps. I ran into the cart. The guy's like, hey, what are you doing? I'm like, I want a hot dog. And I got this thing plane. I'm like find me a hot dog cart only had to take three steps I ran into the heart the guys like hey, what are you doing? I'm like I want a hot dog And I got this thing it was amazing. I see Jordans finger on the pulse over here. What you got Jordan?

I thought you'd be the person to explain why the relish is so That seems like you're laying Thanks Thanks, so we're not doing that though right. I don't know why it's green. Like I think it's some chemical probably. Seems like it's green. Good, good, good, good, good. Number three, The Smashing Pumpkins. Oh shit! Don't even get me started. Fucking amazing.

I know the chat knows what I'm talking about. The Smashing Pumpkins hailed from Chicago. Their first show was at the Metro, famous venue, 1988. Billy Corgan still lives there his wife and him actually run like a gluten-free bakery I can't remember the exact neighborhood that they're in but they they still hail from their own Ariel Hoani has interviewed Billy Corgan because he's also the owner of the NWA Wrestling organization. Yes. So if those of you who did not know that get to know it go watch the interview. It's my favorite coming in at number two

Chicago the musical but more specifically the film Richard gear, but he's no leger Interesting so the music oh, but the film of the music I've only actually ever seen the film But I watched it when it came out like 2004 I think and those songs get stuck in my head. It's probably my favorite musical that has been turned into a film I should go you know the three steps to Broadway and actually watch it for real Yeah, but I'm like as soon as there's no Richard Gere no Catharine Zeta Jones I'm like what am I doing here, and why am I out $600 yeah fuck those? theater people who have worked their whole lives to get onto Broadway and

You took the words right out of my mouth and just fuck them too, yeah, for sure Amen, brother, you got it Next My number one biggest contribution that Chicago has done to the world at large is house music Okay Need a moment of silence for the appreciation of house music

So Chicago is the birthing place of everything place not only that there was a venue known as the warehouse and Individuals like Frankie knuckles Larry heard these people would come and play they would DJ entire sets using a style of music that was starting To form and people would go to record stores and say like I want to hear music that I heard at the warehouse So they were like, okay, okay, yeah, we got that. Here's a copy. And then they started getting these questions so often that they went and actually labeled a bin

and the records just called warehouse. So then people just started colloquially calling it house music, like, oh, I just want that house music. So that's where it got its name. We're talking like, those of us that live in New York, there's a huge house music scene out here But it owes all of its origins to Chicago so you can go to the other pictures. We got people like cashmere green velvet We cut the picture of the warehouse, which is the venue that I was talking about

I'm now being told by on-air Jordan that that didn't get loaded into the boat But um you can't have a list of top pound for pound things from Chicago and not mention house music. So I expect to see it on your guys list. Okay. I might be in trouble then. Yeah, I am absolutely in trouble. I liked that list, Frankie. That was solid.

It was solid. It was very frank, but also understood the assignment. It was very frank. I like what you did there. It was very frank. That was very frank of you, Frank. All right, who's up next, me or Rick? It's you.

Okay, great. I'm looking forward to this one. We'll get into it after the list, my thoughts on Chicago. Never been to the city. Oh, okay. So here's my list of pound or pound things. Wait, by the way, we talked about that last week when people were talking about Chicago.

Frank, have you ever been to Chicago? Yes, I described how I got a hot dog from the Chicago. Oh, that's right, you went to the airport. We don't have to listen to me, it's fine. Thought it might have been a layover. No, it's totally cool. Yeah, it could have been a layover. Yeah, you know what, I'm how I got a hot dog from the Chicago. Oh, that's right. You went to the airport All right, I'm gonna number five Frank you just mentioned it Richard Greer Catherine Zeta Jones or nays l wigger

Rob Marshall directing best picture six Oscars and 12 nominations, I believe it was 13 13 nominations. Coming in at number five, Chicago. Also the movie and not the play. All-timer, love it. Sorry, the musical. Shout out, great stuff, all-timer. Number four, can't have Chicago without Chicago. Tony award-winning, Grammy award-winning,

Olivier award-winning, New Worth, James Naughton. I'm talking about Chicago, baby. Number four, I have got Chicago. Chicago the musical. Legendary, shout out to it. Look at that, Chicago, baby. Chicago. All right.

Number three. No. What would. Have you been? Number three. No. What would my week be without? Chicago Wednesdays. Nothing better. Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire. Chicago Fire, obviously the best, the OG. Chicago PD, a great competitor,

but came along second than Chicago Med. More like Chicago Mid, am I right? For people who know, Chicago Mid is by far the worst. What's your favorite? Chicago Fire, the OG. Is this the sequel to Chicago Hope? They named it an MLS theme after it. And then we got that unbelievable crossover episode

back in January, the marathon, the three episodes where different characters go into different things. We gotta get the Fire involved, the PD involved, the Med involved. Med. Everything, the med involved, everything. Med. Shout out, more like the mid, am I right? Number two. Saturday in the park.

Make me smile, hard to say I'm sorry, you're the inspiration. I'm talking about five time Grammy award winning, Grammy Hall of Famer, Chicago. It doesn't get any better than that. All time shit, look at him. Legends, baby, legends. Are you poking fun at us? Shout out to Chicago.

Yeah, that's a look. Look at that, man, absolutely killer. And then coming in at number one, Robert Francis Priebus. I mean, you got the Pope coming from your city. You're gonna have to represent. Look at that guy, legend. Legend this guy.

That's not his name anymore. He's not from Chicago? Well, when he was in Chicago, that was his name. Okay. Let's get a look. Let's get, duh Pope. Duh Pope. Shout out, shout out, Chicago Sun Times.

Legend of the game. Look at him, that's him at a White Sox game, World Series game back in 05 US Cellular yeah, shout out man look at him up there in the corner kids I feel like we should have showed the last picture first in this one look at him on the broadcast against the Astros The Pope on the broadcast yeah back when the Astros were in the NL good times man good times So your list was Chicago Chicago Chicago Pope Chicago Chicago Chicago Wednesday Chicago Chicago the Chicago Wednesday Yeah, it's all go on Wednesdays. Yeah, never been to Chicago. So, Chicago, Pope. Chicago, Chicago, Chicago, Wednesday, Chicago, Pope. I forgot about the Chicago Wednesdays. It's all Chicago on Wednesdays. Yeah, never been to Chicago, so you know, shout out.

Fantastic list. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to top that one. There's no topping that one. Chicago mid, I mean, you just, you just. Real ones no, my Chicago Wednesday, real ones that no ball, real ones no. Okay, this is an important list to me because I have some friends in Chicago

and so I've got to kiss some babies and shake some hands. Dicca? And make sure, shout out Mike Dicca, he's not my friend, but I love him. One of the best mustaches ever. When you go to Chicago, pizza becomes a huge topic of conversation, right? You have your Giordano's, Lumalnati's, P-Quads.

My favorite, the one that I go to, Home Run In. Shout out to our friends. Oh wow. Someone tweeted at me, it was like, you cannot go Home Run In. No, you must go Home Run In. I love Home Run In. Because frozen pizzas are my favorite frozen pizzas.

They have great frozen pizzas, but you can also go to Chicago and get Home Run In. Let's, let's go to our next picture. I'm a fan of the Illuminati's or whatever it's called. Luma, Nadis, Lou Malnati's is great But you know where I go. I go to home run in because they're friends And I love them dearly shout out to our friends. How hot do you think that pizza pan is up? They're just holding listen pretty hot especially if you see how gooey that pizza is

Home run in if you're in Chicago, that's where to go number four The MMA diehards that live in Chicago to go. Number four, the MMA diehards that live in Chicago. Dude. Our fans that write in as you said comment every week on On The Nose. Send us voicemails, tweet us, DM us, send letters by snail mail. We're opening up letters. Oh this is nice. Somebody sent us mail from Chicago. When the fuck is the UFC coming back to Chicago? This be sold out so fast this better be the biggest gate United Center history like this is I mean Homs out in DDP and sold out heartbeat congrats search UFC Chicago on Twitter yeah you want to call it like everyone is just like finally and like yeah one of them I saw you've seen coming to Chicago I'll sell my left kidney

yeah yeah I'm not kidding how diehard these people were to get an event back. Like, no other city was like, oh yeah, like maybe is Kansas City gonna get one? What about Portland, Oregon? Are we maybe in LA or Sacramento? Like, you get those maybe once in a blue moon. I swear to God, it's weekly.

People are like, when are we getting an event in Chicago? Well, we've got an answer, and it's in August, and you got a great one. So shout out to all you. Shout out to everybody who has asked us. Now you have your answer. Number three, we're going the Second City. Do you know what the Second City is?

No. So the Second City is an improv, like comedy house, but has also been responsible for, I'm gonna just list some names from people that came out of Second City. Second City alumni. Okay. Fred Willard, John Belushi, Bill Murray,

John Candy, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Mike Myers of movie fame and SNL, Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Bob Odenkirk, Steve Carell, Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Adam McKay, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Tim Robinson, Tawny Newsome, that's a Morgan Preparation. Just wanna go back to that. Were you clarifying it was Mike Myers, the comedian, and not the serial killer in the fictional movie?

In case there was another Mike Myers that you were confusing, but yes. I appreciate that. Not the serial killer. Not the serial killer. I know you're a big Shrek fan, so I just wanted to... It's that one, it's that one. I appreciate that, I appreciate you clarifying. Not the serial killer. I know you're a big Shrek fan, so I just wanted to... It's that one. It's that one.

I appreciate that. I appreciate you clarifying. Not that one. Yes? Do you remember the movie Baby Driver? Yes. Do you know how they wear the Mike Myers masks? It was not them.

It was not them. It's Mike Myers, creator of Austin Powers, Wayne's World, you know, that Mike Myers. Isn't in Baby Driver, don't they get Mike Myers masks? I love the finger wagging. They get the Mike Myers actor mask instead of the series. Oh, the truth is, on the production, they screwed that up. And then they actually had to call Mike Myers the actor and ask him, like, are you cool with this? He's like, oh, I think that's brilliant.

Like, you guys screwed up and you're going to play it into the movie. I just thought you would appreciate I thought the sausage was me I think we talked about this before but you know that who you know who the mask for the Mike Myers from Halloween yeah William Shatner yeah, I was gonna say Captain Kirk, but Captain Kirk But anyway suffice it to say improv comedy Home of some of the most brilliant minds we've produced in comedy It is like it was it has been a funnel for improv comedy for years I I listed some of the like super notables. There's tons of people still come continuing to come out of it

There's now multiple locations. They got Toronto. They got New York But it is an institution of comedy as an improv comedy fan It means a lot to me and has produced some of my favorite people So the second city and called the second city because Chicago was called the second city after. You a fan of Taskmaster? This one right here. Haven't seen it yet, but might get around to that. Okay, number two.

Had to be, these next two are in, there's an elevation here. There's a gap. These next two mean a lot to me. They have been formative in my development in my life. Number two, Garrett popcorn. Oh, hell yeah. If you don't know about Garrett.

I don't know about any of these things that I've been to Chicago. Oh my friend. I mean, you will know about this, but you will not know about Garrett. You will know about the combination of the cheddar and the caramel popcorn. Love it.

Which I'm sure you've had many times. Many times. If you have had it many times, you have not seen Nirvana. You have not reached heaven. Can we order this? Yes you can. None of us put this on our matches made in heaven, pound for pound.

Garrett Popcorn is the elevation of the medium, is the elevation of the form. Okay. Their caramel and cheddar together is unmatched. And now I have a friend who lives in Chicago, shout out to her, she gets a lot of shout outs from me She I would often like as a as an insult to her I'd be like any fucking caramel popcorn and any cheddar popcorn together is as good as Garrett's It's just caramel popcorn and cheddar popcorn. I had it a few more times and I was proven incorrect

Garrett is a special level. All right, so that's getting ordered the week of USC 319. It's a must. It's a must. It is known as the Garrett mix. It's the Garrett mix. It is the OG. You'll see off-brands like just call it Chicago mix. Gotta get the Garrett. Gotta get the Garrett. Okay, shout out. Number one, His airness. Yeah. Black Jesus. Uh-huh. Michael Jordan. No, Frank, he played for the Chicago Bulls for a long time. That's a football team right? Yes that is a football team. Duh Bulls. Duh Bulls. This man is one of the reasons I fell in love with basketball at the time that I was growing up and my fandom was starting. He was dominating the 90s alongside the 90s bulls. If you watched The Last Dance, you know this man, even if you had missed the prime of his career. He is the second best basketball player to ever play. I stand firmly on that corner, but an inspiration to many. Be like Mike, the

spawning of Jordan sneakers that has now become what he's almost more known for in the popular culture, the second best basketball player ever, somebody who inspired me to play basketball and love basketball, Michael Jordan. Who's number one? Lebron James, Lebron James the best basketball player who's ever lived. Not Kobe? No, not even in the conversation for me. Copy. We can have that debate for another time. On an all-week it'll be true goat and the thumbnail will be basketball players instead of lightweights in the We can have that debate for another time. On an off week, it'll be true goat, and the thumbnail will be basketball players

instead of lightweights in the UFC. All right, I love that list. I think that was great. I think that was great. I think we all brought our A game, and yeah. Some honorables. Tough to beat by. Wrigley Field.

I know you've never been, but if you do go, you must go. Wrigley Field, OG. Wrigley Field, you gotta expand it out. All the bars. Shout out. There's a bar that actually has a batting cage in it, which is kind of cool. No look for us cellular I Was told to avoid that Wow Wow Wow no look for this. That's the white socks. Yeah La la Palooza La la Palooza Coolers day off There's a Millennium Park where the bean is that be like Michigan Chicago River st. Patrick's Day off? Ferris Bueller's Day off. Millennium Park, where the bean is at. The bean.

Lake Michigan, Chicago River, St. Patrick's Day celebration, Dying the River Green. Italian beef. Titus Pizza, Italian beef. Bill Murray? Bill Murray. He kinda got like a secondary shout out for my second city.

Barack Obama. Wow, no pop. Will Ferrell's Harry, Will Ferrell's Harry Carrey impression. Will, I wanna apologize. He Therrell's Harry impression. Will, I want to apologize. He doesn't speak on our behalf. Will Ferrie. The Home Alone House.

Shout out. Shout out, shout out, shout out. You're looking at a list right now? Yeah, my honorable mentions, Frank. Honorable mentions. Wait, so you don't make a list? Honorable mentions are the Rolodex in my mind. Lollapalooza peri-fero

So now we understand why your lists are always so trash Chicago architecture architecture River tour sounds kind of lame wasn't really into it before I went Why don't I get information you learn a lot about the Chicago fire also not mention on every Wednesday? How about this? I was talking about the soccer team Oh It's at the Chicago O'Hare airport. I don't know if you remember these. They have plastic wrap around the toilet seat with this motorized thing that when you are done flushing,

it rotates so you have a fresh piece of plastic on the toilet seat. I've never seen that anywhere else. I don't actually think Frank went to Chicago. I just went to the airport. This is, wow. It was formative to see that. Chicago. I just went to the airport. Wow, it was formative to see that. I only think he went to the airport.

Just read a book set in Chicago called Dark Matter. The Bear, famous TV show. Oh, shut up. Mike and Molly. That's Melissa McCarthy, right? Yeah, yeah, oh gee, Melissa McCarthy. Shameless. Shameless.

I feel like Ferris Bueller though. That's a big one. Above all else, UFC 319. Oh. Tom Zachariah versus. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Drikis. Put a bow on it.

Do plus C. That's how it's done, Frankie. That's how it's done, which leads me to my next question. Did we get any voicemails this week, my brother? Voicemails! No, we didn't. Oh. Hey, is this Janine from the bar last night? It's Glenn. I don't know if you remember from last week but I was at Palomino's and brought you a couple Long Island

spritzers and I don't know you know I feel like we hit it off I feel like we had a good connection Janine so if you want to go grab a slice of jar sometime feel free to always hit up the Glenster all right Janine have a good one. Hit up the Glenster. What the fuck? I think you got the wrong number. I think I have a guess at who that was. Yeah, but.

When he said hit up the Glenster, I know who that was. Oh, it's not Glen? Did I say it? I thought it was Glen. I think that was Ben the Bane Davis. I can hear his voice when he said hit up the Glenster. Plus he loves Long Island ice teas. It sounded like Glen, who was trying to do a misconnection with a young lady.

Glenn and Janine can't be a real couple in 2025. Go out for some za. Boys, Eric from Detroit. What's up, Eric? I think Edible left a message the other day, but you can disregard that. I wasn't fully there and to be honest, I forgot what I asked. Question for all of you. Yeah.

Dream blunt rotation with three fighters. Dream blunt rotation. I'm personally going with Black Beast and Rampage for the humor and Sandhagen for the introspection. Love the show. Okay, that's great. That's great. Black Beast, Rampage, and Sandy is pretty good. Really throwing us on a, throwing us here.

Okay, all right. My first one. I got a great one. No doubt about it is Volk, because he's gonna cook us up something gnarly. Oh, for the munchies after? Okay. Post rotation. You go with yours while I think of my other two. Nick Diaz.

Nick Diaz would be fun. George St. Pierre. GSP, wow. Because I think him high would be absolutely incredible experience. I was gonna say, Zootogsp would be something. And... GSP because I think him high would be absolutely incredible experience. He would be something and The ATS do I just do the Diaz brothers in GSP I Give me Darren till no Darren till until fun. Who you going with Frank? Who you going with Frank

Darren till Give me someone original. Give me one of your... Mike Tyson. Not a UFC fighter. Since when? This is bullshit, they keep teeing me up for... I'm struggling to think of a third one right now.

Neither is Darren Till, you know, but that was okay. Former. Wasn't Mike Tyson in UFC 1? Mm-hmm. No. I? No, I Need I need longer like San Hagan San Hagan would be cool. Yes, and it would be cool. Oh Jack Della Jack Della almost like he's so chill. Okay, he might be too chill. I just go Vasa would not be a bad

Taisui Vasa would not be a bad one. No, James Tahunno would be pretty incredible. Shout out to James Tahunno, but Taisui Vasa would not be a bad one. I feel like my, here's what I would want to do. I'd want to be out of the blunt rotation and just watching and observing. So I'd put like a GSP and then I'd put like Habib. Like I'd want to put like people who I would just

want to observe them high and see how they act. Yeah, I guess that's true. Like everyone asks the smoke. So like I would, Habib would not be a bad one. It'd be funny to just see Habib high. Just like, yeah, I don, Habib would not be a bad one. It'd be funny to just see Habib high. Just like, yeah, I don't think Habib would be a bad one. Ty would not be a bad one. My cemented one is Volk so he can cook afterwards.

From there I knew- You want the munchies out. You gotta cook first. I need to figure it out. Smoke up and then eat. This is a great question though, that's a great question. Shout out to Eric from Detroit.

Yo, what's up boys in the back? It's the new Pope I just landed here in Italy and I just ran into a huge problem I need to stream the fights if you know what I'm saying. So if you and Ariel can get a VPN deal And send that right over to me. That'd be huge No, I'm just kidding. This is the manager at Connors Getting your money back. Oh my god. That's a deep cut. So I thought it was the Pope, but it's the manager. That is fantastic on so many levels. That was tremendous.

What's up boys? It's Kevin from Springfield Maths here again. Simply shout out Frank just cause you skipped my answer last time. Hell yeah. So I guess just shout out to you man. Yeah, shout out Frank. You're the best one on the show. Nothing without you.

It is. Wow, he skipped him and then he says he's the best one on the show. Right, best one on the show, nothing without him. You remember, it doesn't matter. Yeah, shout out man, thank you. Much love. Hey police. I can't get on. You guys never let me do it.

My voice never get on, but it's all right. Here it is. All right. You're on. It's your day. Uh, I'm going to propose to my lady. Yes. Coming up soon. Congratulations. It's going to be the, uh, couple of days after the show airs. So wish me luck. So we're finding out before everybody what's already over Frank out of the lady you know maybe get somebody's somebody's get all these girlfriends are talking on the smack on you guys maybe a lot of shit about

we were just like every time Jamie. Jamie, South Jersey. Jamie, South Jersey. Shout out to you, brother. Best of luck this weekend, man. They're probably engaged by now already. Yeah, if not, best of luck. If so, congratulations, man, yeah. Jamie, call us back, let us know how it went. Yeah, have an-

Oh, and if she's a fan. If your fiancee likes us. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let us know what she had to say. Have her call in. Man, those guys are just so fucking average looking. Yeah, that's what it was. It was like they're just,

it's like I expected like cooler looking dudes. Look at them with their plain shirts and their average faces. And what is with that guy and his takes? They're just horrible. So much conviction. They're just like nothing people. I won't remember them at all.

They're just so mad. What if he's watching the show right now and she's sitting next to him and expecting us not to play the voicemail and just ruin the no no we played it i mean he did what he did he opened the can of worms there let's fucking go boys hell yeah i think this is him hit the drop frank you fucking already know he just fucking finished just being dropped i'm fucking hyped up it's jimmer frank's not gonna hit the drop Frank you fucking already know he just fucking finished just being dropped I'm fucking hyped up it's him Frank's not gonna hit the drop Jasmine Jasmine vicious championship run it's the best he's gonna be the fucking

goal of the sport she's a goat well said it not me I'm praying that that was at like 9 37 p.m. on Saturday night I have a feeling it was that was that was fiery. Who was that? Wow The win over Jessica and Josh cemented her over the goat the goat no over Amanda Nunes oversight Boys in the back This is Thomas from Jackson Heights, Queens. What's up Thomas? I don't mean just finished watching UFC 315 Sam yesterday and it was the first time I've ever watched What's up Thomas? What's up, Vince? Just finished watching UFC 315 Same.

Yesterday. And it was the first time I've ever watched your guys basically play by play. Oh nice. Watch party, whatever you want to call it. Thanks man. And just want to say, it was freaking awesome. Oh sick.

Before I knew you guys were doing it. And I was like, I'm not watching that. But the first time I watched it, I was like wow these guys are good must see TV played by play Commentary how you guys just chill guys Just chill guys with man. So just giving you some props and Was wondering would you guys ever be down to do some commentary for some UFC? It's given the chance because I feel like you guys be great for it appreciate you boys you're great appreciate you Connor Frank James Tihuno

Wow his impression was pretty good. Shout out James Tihuno, shout out Thomas from Queens appreciate you watching brother I thought he was gonna be like, yeah, I watched it. It was terrible. Why do you guys wish that? My girlfriend fucking hated it. My girlfriend hated that shit. I'm not gonna lie, like, if you haven't seen a watch party, you may not know what you're in for,

but like, when it comes to getting that guiding hand to walk you through the card that can get kinda long, like, we do it better than anyone. Sure. I appreciate that, Frank. I mean, it takes a village. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You, without you, it doesn't run, you know, Frank? Absolutely. Without you, yeah. That mean it takes a village. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Without you it doesn't run.

Absolutely. Without you, yeah. That was, yeah, it wasn't quite done. Shout out Brady. You know, after I got off the horn with you guys, I started thinking about it. And my main thing for you, Connor, you sold me some Bonk perp 30s, dude.

I know you got the wicked black market car going on but like i met you behind the wall all the five eras and like the movie sore and you're like yo dude get my nissan um so like i got in there and then they were bunk turk duties you think it's really worth my time to get on a bicycle you did. Damn. Fucked up, Connor. Fucked up. Sean Brady's mad at you, man. Get on your TurboGrafx-16, baby. I'm taking you to town. Damn.

Shout out to TurboGrafx-16. I love how Philly Sean Brady got recently. Sorry, man. You gotta know that you're getting good cards before before you buy a man oh that's great also the Frank video game stuff always this person knows it was Sean Brady yeah hey guys Mitch from Perth I'm gonna tell you if you was fucking good to be from Perth. I'm gonna tell you if you're as fucking good to be from Perth right about now. GC, just wondering, if the UFC bring a Perth, I'm sorry, I'm talking to you to Perth for JDM's first title defense, what are the chances of you taking a trip down to Perth this year?

Fuck man. Yeah thanks, love you all, cheers. Alright, first of all, shout out to Mitch from Perth. Yep. Dream place to go to is Australia. That is like number one. Like I know I've talked with P.T. and maybe even lied directly to his face

and been like Ireland's number one. Ireland is number two behind Australia. Australia is being incredible. Any specific city or just anywhere? I'm not gonna lie. I'm Melbourne, Sydney, Perth. I'm not like a thousand percent familiar with everything. I just know I wanna go to Australia. I said to you guys earlier this week, Perth, I'm not like a thousand percent familiar with everything. I just know I want to go to Australia.

I said to you guys earlier this week my dream, I enjoy tennis, love going to the US Open here, shout out. Dream would be to go out to the Australian Open, go to the men's final and then chill in Australia all week and then like last week, last year it lined up or this year, earlier this year, it lined up Australian Open Final on the Sunday and then UFC Australia pay-per-view. I think it was the, who was it, DDP maybe? Who was it, 312?

Yeah, DDP and Strickland. Yeah, that one lined up perfectly, chill all week in Australia and then you go to the pay-per-view. What is the chance that I'm going? I would say 30% because God, it would be incredible to go down there but for the city from New York City it is literally the other side of the planet for us to get there obviously not cheap but man it would be incredible to go.

It also doesn't seem like Jack Della's title defense is gonna be in Perth but yeah it doesn't mean you can't go to a Jack Delafay, but that'll probably next to Australia card Starting to rack up the old miles, you know, yeah Shout out on air Jordan New York Rick shout out GC. Shut up. Shout out mysterious Frank. We got Massimo from Long Island here. Massimo. Just wondering if you guys have any advice for somebody just starting out trying to cover the sport. You know just any kind of little bits of information or anything like that. You know I want to keep this one short. I know you guys told us not to ramble on too much so

yeah love the show and keep up the good work, boys. I feel like that was probably Jordan's favorite caller because one, they shouted him out first, and two, they were like, I'm not gonna ramble and I know you guys said not to ramble. Jordan's been on my ass about cutting them down. As he rambles. Yeah, see, again, you can't make him happy.

They guys be nice, shout it out on him. Mossimo's a strong name, love the name Mossimo, by the way. Incredible name. More of a Stoozy guy it out on, you know what? Massimo is a strong name, love the name Massimo, by the way. Incredible name. More of a Stoozy guy myself. Yeah, I know Jordan loved that one. In terms of advice, yeah, I mean, just study the sport, learn as much as you can about it, and then just start creating.

If you're trying to get into coverage, whether it's writing, podcasting, social media, you just have to start creating now, and you'll just get better as you go along. Yeah, definitely start creating content. My biggest tip I bet, I've been telling people lately, especially like college kids and things like that, reaching out, anticipate where the sport is gonna be

in the next three to five years and try to tune your talent set toward that. Try to make your skills match with where the sport is going, right? Don't necessarily look at what people are already doing, because there's people already doing that, the spots are limited. Think about what the sport is going to look like in a few years from now and start working toward building skills that will help you get there.

Don Davis, what's up, boys? This week's a big one for the PSL. We just launched our 24- seven free channel on Samsung TV, PFL fast. So you have a us fans can now like fence Williams and classic fights. Anytime. No subscription needed. And we're not stopping there. We announced PFL Pacific, our fourth international league, launching in 2026,

the spotlight talent from Australia and New Zealand. We're building the most accessible global MMA league in the world and we're just getting started Frank Ever played this game steel battalion. I know you're a big Xbox guy. It was a crazy game You know came with a big extra controller and that's all I got this week Nothing on the last on this call. that's as long as it took for big news Paul Hughes to get it done shout out shout out Paul Hughes could watch the clip on YouTube or LinkedIn wherever you get your videos what did he say YouTube or LinkedIn all right I actually actually saw a podcast with Double D on it,

as I'm trying to frantically look for it to call out the name of the podcast, but I saw Double D on it mentioning us. Mentioning me. Mention us? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, it was, Frank, you shared the clip with us. It was, here it is right here. He was asked about his

beef with him and how wanting not coming on the show the the bodkin show we saw okay Davis come on very similar he sounds just like he does when he calls in here no video or anything like that shout out to double D man it turns out that they do have a fast channel 24-7 channel showcasing video content from the leaks fight event library vault episodes and other I car Archival original programming and if you can't watch Paul Hughes you can get it on LinkedIn or YouTube So yeah, we have a 24 hour also you can watch Paul Hughes Don Davis knows it shit Don Davis knows ball still battalion on the original Xbox It's a mech game right for those at home. They don't know like you're driving a giant robot

Right for those at home that don't know like you're driving a giant robot Keys to my heart, but when you buy the game it came with this full controller double joysticks You got all the switches to turn on the ignition every just amazing Don Davis Can you add Don Davis on Xbox already for fuck's sake now like you this is the original Xbox So I know but he just wants to play with you. All right His Robert from El Paso to saying first time caller? Longtime listener y'all are awesome, but Frank though Oh shit, I thought he was gonna say Frank's the best Sean Brady would you be willing to take on in a bike race anyone?

Anyone anytime you probably destroy anyone. Oh, thanks. I agree Felder you up DS brothers you up whatever's good I believe you Brady seems to be like Non-committal yes, and you sold him the perks and doesn't go so hot What up boys back Matt from Chicago To say the most population dense MMA fan walkers in the world. Okay, right finally got it

We finally got an event in Chicago. You're see 319 Drikas versus homes up. Let's go. Let's go. He's like in like a locker room. Yeah He's in the United States. He's like in like a locker room. He's in the United Center. He's waiting for US397 to start. New York Rick for this week for giving one of the worst takes I've ever heard of all time. Well, he's just consistent.

Ilya versus Charles is not a bigger fight than Islam versus Ilya. It's not a more entertaining fight. It's not a more exciting fight. I'm sorry, that's just the way it is. But yeah, other than that, super hyped. hope I can get tickets and yeah I was I was so excited for him that he got the Chicago event then he criticized my take without even actually quite also how about that shout out yeah shout out shout out nice was that the

one before no that was before congratulations like in the Chicago card man I think the actual phrases Frank sucks no first he said fuck Frank or was that the one before? No that was the one before. Congratulations on getting the Chicago Card man. I think the actual phrase is Frank sucks. No first he said fuck you and then he said you suck. Go hand in hand, you're right. Well well well, 24 inch dubs calling after game five. Don't let the Southpicks get hot. JT may be done, but we still got Jalen Brown We got Chris Staps for his niggas and we got my boy Luke Cornette

Don't let us get hot New York I feel bad this is You got a little itchy over there Little itchy Nah, they finished it in six. Yeah, it's over in six poor guy poor 24 inch dubs It's a little slur at the bottom there at the end there I didn't hear what he said. He's like slurring his words. Oh Maybe he had a few he said yeah, I thought you were saying he used a slur. No

You know, that's all the voicemails we have he's drawn in his everyone. Don't forget call us 415 sup BITB Any super chats for me put that up? Yeah, we got a couple Benny Avina says happy birthday Frank hey happy birthday Frank coming up soon man coming up so to say it's not your birthday though apparently how Wani was in the chat earlier saying happy birthday to me I think how long he's confused yeah wouldn't

be the first time it is your birthday month and you've made that very clear. Yeah, so I respect it. Doing anything special? Yeah, I was gonna go with the boys to a steakhouse in a couple weeks. Did you really make that reservation? Absolutely. Okay. Love it. Jacob Garcia guessing that he still wants to fight their who does Bilal now fight in Chicago. Also, I think JDM is a harder matchup for Islam than Ilya was.

Totally agree on the last part. I agree with that just because of the size differential. You're talking about a 145 or a 172. Both obviously wildly skilled. Jack Delahun, Jack Delahun is on an 18 fight win streak. Bilal on the Chicago card makes a lot of sense, but who's gonna turn around? Actually, it makes like a ton. It makes a ton of sense.

Give them, give them three months off, three and a half months off. Do you do like Ian? If Ian and Brady don't want to do it. Do you do Brady? Do you give them the Brady rematch? He, yeah. I mean, you're doing Brady more of a favor there, but I guess like. It's not going to be Shavkat, it's not going to be Leon.

Winner of Buckley-Usman? Winner of Buckley-Usman, or yeah, maybe you do Brady or Ian, one of those guys. It's not bad. He should probably fight on that. Diet Picasso, why does Charles get a pass for missing weight? A fighter's ability to consistently make weight should factor into the GOAT rankings. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't really matter, right? He's far from the combo. Yeah, yeah. I guess if you're mentioning me counting his win against

Justin Gaethje because he missed it by half a pound and 155.5 and beat Justin Gagey when the belt was on the line for Justin Gagey so I mean incredible performance. Domi asks is Eric an Islam fan? I can't tell. Kinda I like Islam. Charger casted. I like Ilya too by the way. Are you done? Yes. Oh what the fuck you? What the fuck was that? I just wondered if you were done. I didn't want to cut you off again. Are you still? Yes? Are you oh what the fuck you? Wonder if you're done. I didn't want to cut you off again Are you still pissed about that guy that told you to fuck route it he said Frank sucks

No first he said fuck you go hand in hand charger castee 21 I don't know if Rick is reaching on his list or just know Chicago's better than anyone here MJ should have been one on everyone's know the UFC fans in Chicago should have been one on everyone's list. No, the UFC fans in Chicago should have been one on everybody's list. Not having the Pope on anybody's list, just me, is blasphemy. No joke, like, is he actually from Chicago? Where else would he be from? I don't know, I mean, like,

don't people come in from other cities? He is from Chicago, no, am I crazy? I just didn't know, I was just wondering. Wow, so here's how much you know about Chicago. I mean, honestly, like, I would have put Nine Inch Nails, they were based out of Chicago, no, am I crazy? I just didn't know, I was just wondering. Wow, so here's how much you know about Chicago. I mean, honestly, like I would have put Nine Inch Nails, they were based out of Chicago, but they were from Cleveland. Not having Chicago.

Hey, grew up in Chicago. If you didn't have Chicago or Chicago, no one else having Chicago on their list was crazy. Which Chicago, the band? Not having them is crazy, but also not having Chicago is also crazy. So the only one that had the Chicago dog? You are, but to Connor's point,

he had Chicago and Chicago and Chicago. And one more Chicago. Hey, that's all of the Super Chats today. We did it. 68, shout out. No one say it anymore. No more, no more. Cannot say it.

Let's go. Perfect day in my books. Perfect day in my books. Perfect day in my books. We did it. Frank's list was God Tier from Liam Devine. Anything else? I think that's it. UFC Apex 106 this weekend. There's an Octagon card as well.

Been looking forward to watching them fight lately. I think we settled the lightweight debate. I'm sure there will be no further discourse. No one will disagree with us. I'm sure the... Everybody's happy about how Ilya and Islam shook out. Everything's good. Oh yeah, everyone's happy.

Everyone's super content. Enjoy your weekend. Just a couple more weeks till June starts. And then folks, we are hitting the ground running for a UFC summer that is sure to deliver. Watch the crack tomorrow with Pizzi Carol and then we'll be back here on Monday with an Ariel Huanio show. But for now that's it for us. See you next time.