The Ariel Helwani Show - Israel Adesanya, Chris Weidman, Dave Feldman, Darren Owen, WWE Royal Rumble lottery

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

Chris Weidman discusses his GFL signing, expectations for the new MMA organization, the GFL fights he wants most, how much the promotion is paying fighters and more (06:00).BKFC founder Dave Feldman discusses the success of KnuckleMania, Ben Rothwell and Jeremy Stephens' free agency, Conor McGregor, whether Mike Perry vs. Robbie Lawler is next and more (32:11).GFL founder Darren Owen discusses the promotion's inaugural draft, the results leaking early, whether the draft was predetermined, the Rashad Evans situation, pay-per-view and event plans, likely matchups for 2025 and more (01:00:35).Ariel and The Boys In The Back kick off their annual WWE Royal Rumble lottery (01:28:31).Israel Adesanya discusses his UFC Saudi Arabia fight with Nassourdine Imavov, his evolving relationship with Alex Pereira, his new connection with Robert Whittaker, why he handled past beefs poorly, dealing with fame and more (02:04:14).       

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R. And 25. Hello again, everyone. Hi, Sher. Hope you're doing well. Welcome back to the program after a lovely, lovely Monday show. What a show that was with Alex Pereira and Plinio Cruz in studio. Really enjoyed the chat. And what a gent that Alex Pereira is. You know, I gave him the doll, the big shot doll.

And I thought he was going to take it home. McGregor took it home, and I was happy to see McGregor take it home. But Alex said, you know what? Keep it here. Let the people know who the man is. And so, as you can see, it's still here. Now, he did take the trophy. He was actually very, very honored and proud to take the trophy, and that made me very excited.

And we're working on producing the other trophies to send them to take the trophy. And that made me very excited. And we're working on producing the other trophies to send them to all the winners. But enjoyed that chat very much. Nothing like a good in-studio chat with one of the biggest names, one of the most popular fighters in the sport. And so if you missed it, go check it out on the YouTube channel right now.

Jeremy Stephens was fantastic. Holy crap, never seen that side of him. Emotional, fiery, just determined. It's like a whole new guy. It's unbelievable. The confidence. Incredible stuff from Jeremy Stevens last week and this week. Ben Rothwell was great as well. A fantastic show, but now we move on to today's program and very excited about this one. It has been three and a half years since we last had Israel Adesanya on the show via Zoom. In fact, the last time we had him on the show via Zoom was our first episode of the new MMA Hour era.

So August of 2021. How long ago was that? Frank was just Frank. GC hadn't joined the show yet. Who, me? Rick was still working for ESPN. On-air Jordan still working for ESPN, I think in their hockey department. Andy, I'm pretty sure, had not joined us just yet.

No, I'm actually quite certain she hadn't joined us just yet. So to say it has been so long that it was just Frank and I. Yeah. Right? OG. You're such a ride or die, Frank, is what I'm trying to say. Absolutely. You have been the rock.

You have been the constant. And so I'm very excited to have Israel Adesanya on the show at 3 p.m. to talk about, of course, his main event on Saturday in Saudi Arabia. What an opportunity for him. He's excited about fighting over there. First time he's been there, of course, several times for the big boxing fights. But this will be his first non-title fight since 2019. I believe 12 in a row for him.

All main events. Massive, gigantic star. Here he is staring at a two-fight losing streak, has never lost three in a row, and now look at him. Appears to be in tremendous form, and I'm really looking forward to not only talking to him, but I'm looking forward to that fight. That fight is a phenomenal one. It's an important one in the middleweight division, and in fact, this is a huge, huge month coming up February. February 1st, obviously is the fight, but the month of February in the middleweight division is gigantic with this fight. And then the title fight the following week, you've got, of course, DDP versus Sean Strickland, Jared Cannoneer against Gregory Rodriguez. Brandon Allen is fighting later in the month as well. There are some massive names fighting in February in this weight class.

Probably Kyle Bohaglio is the only big name that I can think of right now at 185 who isn't scheduled. I'm sure there are others. But off the top of the dome, it's a big one. So it will be moving month at 185, led, of course, by the great, the last stylebender himself, Israel Adesanya. So he'll join us at 3. At 2.30, the third annual Royal Rumble lottery will take place. Oh, yeah. Myself, oh, number came out.

Myself, GC, Rick, Frank, and for the first time, P.T. Carroll. We'll all choose numbers, you get number 5 That means Royal Rumble on Saturday Your guy is number 5 We'll go through the Rules, we'll go through what's at stake It's for the men and women's Rumble Looking forward to it, it's a fun time

Prior to that we'll be joined by Darren Owen The founder and commissioner of the GFL Talk about the draft, talk about where they're at Remember we had him on about a month and a half, two months ago when they announced everything. Good time to check in with him. Prior to that, we'll be joined by David Feldman, the founder

of BKFC, who had an incredible weekend, once again, in Philly this past weekend at the Wells Fargo Center. And they have a big show this coming weekend, also on Saturday at Mohegan Sun. And so the fun doesn't stop for the good folks over at BKFC. But first, let us kick things off by talking to a man that we have talked to for many, many times over the past decade plus, and the first time we spoke to him, he wasn't quite in the UFC just yet.

And so this will be the first time since 2011 that I talked to him as not a member of the UFC because of course, when we spoke to him in studio many moons ago on this floor, in this building, when we were doing the MMA hour for AOL.com, he was there with his good friend Gianpiero Volante about to corner him in the first round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. And so, of course, that weekend, there I am, sitting on press row.

I find out he has signed to fight Alessio Saccaro on three weeks' notice in Louisville at UFC on Versus 3. And then, of course, the legendary career commences. Two weekends ago, we find out he is leaving the UFC, and I think a lot of people thought he was retiring, but then we found out last week that he is signing up with the GFL, and then we found out on Friday that he is reuniting, if you will, with his longtime head coach, Ray Longo. He's a part of the New York team. Of course, I'm talking about the great Chris Weidman, the All-American, who is kind enough to join us right now. Hello, Chris. How are you? What's going on, Ariel? How are we doing? Great intro. How about that, right? Could you wrap your head around that? 2011 was the last time we spoke where you weren't a UFC fighter. Has that even sunk in yet? I just love that you thought it was UFC versus three. It was actually UFC versus four.

You're so wrong. You're so... I know. I know. Okay. I was actually going to go check. I was actually... versus four. You're so wrong. You're so. I know. I know. Okay. I was actually going to go check. I was actually. Go into the second guess yourself. I actually was offended by that.

I'm blown away. Yeah. Thanks for having me, man. And yeah. Cool to be here. Yeah. Okay. But.

We're doing great, Chris. Thank you. But like, has that sunk in for you yet? Has that sunk in the new chapter, the, the new chapter? You know what I mean? Cause it's a part of your identity, is it not? Yeah, a hundred percent. It was, it was pretty sad. You know, when I did, when I, you know, announced I was retiring from the UFC and when I was thinking about it and realizing, you know, it's been, it was 14 years in the UFC. You know, it was my goal to be in the

UFC as soon as I decided to get into the sport and I made it, I ended up becoming a champion. It just felt like, you know, all those guys are family and I never thought I'd leave. I always thought I'd retire a UFC fighter. So the whole thing was kind of just weird to do, but I'm excited about the next chapter of my life. And I always will feel like I'm a part of the UFC family. They did a great job for me. I was blown away and super grateful for what they did on the weigh-in show. Just a tribute to me.

And my career was completely unexpected. I had no idea what they were going to do. Everything was a surprise. They brought on Longo, my parents, my wife and kids, uh, Volante, uh, Wonderboy, um, Aljo, Aljo. And, uh, I hope I'm not missing anybody, but, um, it was, it really blew me away. I was, I mean, I'm crying. I was crying like crazy. Um, it was super, um, you know, heartwarming and,warming and awesome way to close it. I honestly couldn't have asked for anything better.

It was really cool and I want to just make sure I say that, how thankful I am to them. No, it was amazing. It was well-deserved, well-earned and I love the fact that you did it on The Weigh-In Show because you've become a part of The Weigh-In Show. You are a staple on that show with DC and Dan Helly and Laura Sanko. I think it's one of the best things that they do.

I say this from the heart. It just is fun and must-see TV, and it's so good that I've said to other people, like, don't even bother doing a Wayne show. Theirs is the gold standard. There's no point going head-to-head with it. I did feel for you, and I wonder if you felt the same at all.

You happened to drop this massive career news while a main event goes up in smoke, and there's all this stuff, and Dana's coming on and all this. Any part of you feel like this, oh man, this, this kind of got washed over because of the Arman thing being so immediate and sudden. No, zero, 0%. Um, I was, I was super just grateful that, you know, they, they did anything for me. I didn't expect any of that. So, um, I think it, it probably brought more light to, to my story and the fact that I was, I was leaving the UFC, um,

because, uh, there was more viewerships with Dana White coming on and making a big announcement with Armin, you know, not being able to fight. So probably in retrospect, it probably worked out even better. Um, so I didn't think of it like, Oh, he's, you know, i i was grateful you know that they did anything and um yeah so zero zero percent with that okay so last time we saw you was in december could i ask what led to this why did you decide to make this call well i i lost my last fight um yeah I was thinking maybe do one more fight, put down my gloves in the UFC. You know, the goal, you know, they did.

The way Robbie Lola went out was pretty awesome. But so I kind of was, that's kind of the way I kind of was thinking I would do it. I would announce that I'm retiring and, you know, put down my gloves and, uh, it would be pretty cool. Um, but honestly, the UFC, you know, they're like, you know, Chris, you got, we're going to put you on the prelims again. You know, we can't put you, you know, on, on main cards and it kind of sucks to see, you know, um, you know, a champion like that, you know, being put on prelims all the time. And like, what am I doing? Um, you know, all theseand-comers guys who were in my position like i was you know years and years ago coming up they got to make you know new stars out

of these guys and uh you know these you know former champions like myself um that are not doing great losing fights um they're not going to have the you know you you go from you know riches to rags basically inside the UFC. And it's a tough pill to swallow, but it's just business. And I think they feel bad with it, but it's kind of the way business goes. And I think at the end of the day, you know, even Robbie Lawler, you know, he puts down his gloves. I think he probably still wants to fight again. You know, I don't think it ever just goes away.

So I'm happy the way everything planned played out. Um, and, uh, you know, they gave me opportunity to, you know, retire on the way and show and, uh, they were super supportive and everything, uh, you know, I, I always, you know, I'm a loyal dude and, um, I never wanted to like burn a bridge with the UFC. I love those guys. I mean, they changed my life in so many ways. I, you know, I, I, you know, I was a kid living in my parents' basement, you know, with a kid on the way. And all of a sudden this thing, the UFC became this dream of mine. And I pursued it with no real hopes to make money and be able to, you know, do anything like I really did. That's so, it's so farfetched. So, um, the fact that the UFC exists and, uh, they gave me all the opportunities that they gave me, I'm just super grateful to them. And, uh, yeah, it's just, it was time to time to move on. And, and to be honest, the GFL thing came out of nowhere. I wasn't sure if I was going to fight MMA again. I didn't think there would be, I heard the GFL,

like that there was no more money left. Like they already had older guys and, you know, there was spending a lot of money on these guys guys and i knew other fighters that were trying to get in the gfl and i don't think there was any money available so it wasn't like i'm i was thinking okay this is what i'm gonna do it really came out of nowhere i mean the right the day before the draft is when i signed the contract to go to gfl i was thinking i didn't think i was done i thought i didn't think there was i didn't i didn't imagine myself going to like the pfl or anything like that um so i thought maybe mma is done like there's not that many options and uh i was but i didn't want to be done i i still had that competitive juice inside of me and i know there's some nice paydays and

and i love the box so i was thinking i'll get into some of these boxing matches you know eventually get the point of trying to fight a guy like jake pole like everybody's goal is um and so uh that's kind of where my head was at and the cool thing with the gfl is that they'll they'll they're allowing me if i'm able to get a big boxing match whatever it's it's no problem with them so uh that that's still out there as an opportunity as well so and they're working it worked out great and then like the gfl you know to be honest like in the ufc all my all the guys i've fought in the last bunch of fights are like guys i'm such a bigger name than uh you know i'm fighting on prelims it's you know it's hard to get super motivated and excited about it you know especially for with everything i've done all the big cards I've main evented.

And all of a sudden, you know, you're on the prelims and trying to get excited for, you know, these guys that nobody even knows who they are when, you know, people are asking me who I'm fighting and they're like, Oh, who's that? You know, they have no idea. Um, and then in the GFL, it's all these OGs of the middleweight division, these guys I have history with and it's actually fun, exciting fights. And I get to make a lot of money to fight them, and I'm going to be more excited doing that than,

you know, fighting these other guys, so it actually, thank God, it worked out perfect. So when you were sitting there on the weigh-in show two Fridays ago, was the GFL thing even in the works, or was, like, in that moment, you thought, maybe that's it for MMAma and i'm going to pursue these other things it was i think it was right around the time where my manager was telling me that there was it's probably not a thing he was calling them and like they were talking but i i didn't think it was going anywhere to be honest um and i was cool with it either way. And it was really after that that things started moving fast, which is weird. I mean, it's not like the fans, everybody thought I was retiring.

I did leave it open that I'm open to other opportunities. I'm closing the chapter with the UFC. I'm retiring from the UFC. But I understand a lot of people thought I was just retiring from MMA, which I didn't know if I was. I thought I probably was retiring from MMA. But now I'm excited about it. I didn't realize I'd have all these different matchups. A guy like Luke Rockhold, that's a matchup that not only I always wanted back, but the fans really always wanted to see for a long time.

We were supposed to rematch twice, and it didn't happen. So that's a cool opportunity. You got Musashi, you got Rye Hall, Yoel Romero. There's some fun fights that's really going to make me get into the gym and want to really train hard for. Have you been given any type of schedule, any type of roadmap at what you're looking at with GFL in 2025? Because I'll be 100% honest, I want them to succeed so much, but I'm worried. So many names, so much money. I have my concerns about the format.

There's Team New York that you're a part of. Like, these are some big names, and it's not cheap to have names like this. I mean, Dylan Dennis alone probably cost them, you know, a few million just by himself. It's crazy that they got him. Why do you do that? I'm sorry.

No, I was just... That's i'm sorry no i was just that's so messed up i was just but uh but like have they given you okay you're gonna get x amount of fights this is who we want you to fight first x y and z no um i i i think the first card i don't want i don't know what they're they announced so i'm not trying to you know break news but i i think they were trying to get their first fight in the end of apr, but I don't know if that's a card that New York's fighting on or not. Um, and then I think they're going to be, you know, having an event. I don't know. I think it's like every month. I really don't know much at all. I'm with you, man. I'm hoping this thing plays out. I hope they're successful. It's a very tough business. Um, you know, I, I would think that you don't want to

really compete with the UFC. That shouldn't be the goal. You know? Um,. I would think that you don't want to really compete with the UFC. That shouldn't be the goal. I don't think that's something that really can be done at this point. I think there's a lot of room to make a lot of money to put on great fights. I don't really know. The business side of it, it's amazing for the fighters. They're doing the right thing for the fighters. I just don't know. business side of it. It sounds, it sounds, it's amazing for the fighters. They're doing the right thing for the fighters. Um,

I just don't know. I'm hoping it's sustainable. I hope that, you know, they're able to hope they're just really good business guys. And, and they've looked at the numbers and they see how they could be profitable with this.

And it's something that continues, not just for me, but for the, you know, the future for MMA fighters, I think it's always, always good to have um you know other promotions that fighters have the opportunity to fight in and you can make good

money and they're doing a lot of cool things man they're trying to set up retirement for the fighters medical for i think the the fighters and their families uh 50 50 profit profit sharing um i mean they're really they uh, you know, putting their money where their mouth is and, and trying to do the, you know, the best for the fighters that possibly can. And, um, we'll see if it's something that is sustainable and some that really, um, could, could make it. Far be it for me to, uh, try to stir the pot, Chris, but I couldn't help but wonder, uh, what you thought when, say, your own head coach didn't pick you

first overall. I mean, there's Ray Longo, and he's not picking his guy. He made him into a talent. There you are, and he's picking Kevin Lee before you. I mean, what's up with that? I think I pissed off Longo. I don't know, man. He picked Kevin Lee. What do you think? Let me turn it on you. What do you think happened there? Well, the first thought was, is he trying to stick

it to Al Iaquinta, you know, because this is awkward, right? Al and Kevin have... His favorite is, there's one guy that Longo likes better than me. It might be Al. Yeah. Everyone loves Al. I don't see that as a possibility. Okay, can I be a thousand percent honest with you? A thousand percent. Well, that's why I'm asking.

Okay. A thousand percent, and I'll say to Darren Owen, who's going to join us in an hour. I think the draft was not a draft. I think it was all predetermined. I think they knew exactly where everyone was going. I think the order got leaked, unfortunately, because of some glitch on the stream or whatever. And I think they called an audible and recognized that and moved some things around so that people weren't exactly going on this roadmap that was released before they went live, which I really felt for them.

Because I know as someone who pours everything into a show and you try to make everything perfect and then something happens, now everyone's having a laugh on Twitter. It sucks. And so I don't actually think he, quote unquote, picked him over you. And I don't think that there was any intention or bad intention or anything. I think they were

just trying to change things around so that it wasn't exactly as it appeared in that picture that came out before the show went live. That's like, that's the real answer that I, that I think happened. What do you think of this? And my honest answer is that I'm going to just keep imagining that Longo picked him first just so I can bust his balls and I have something over him for the rest of his life. That is amazing. Did you give him shit? And especially publicly. Did you give him shit? Well, privately it doesn't work as good

for reasons, but publicly it works out great for me. So does this mean, do you have to, because I know you obviously live in the Carolinas, do you have to go home I know you obviously live in the Carolinas, do you have to go home? Do you now want, like, what does that even mean that you're, obviously he's in your corner,

he's in your corner regardless, but are you going to now be training with Kevin Lee at his gym? Like, what does this all mean? Like I said, I'm very, I really don't know much about it yet. But from my understanding, really from talking to Longo is that, uh, the guys have the option to train with him and train at the gym and stuff like that, but they don't have to. And then I am actually still not sure if he is definitely in their corners or not for the fight day, but they have the option for him to be in the corner. Okay. But so that's a good question for him. I'm not sure how that actually works uh because obviously a lot

of these guys they're vets they have their coaches so i i i can't imagine them all just dropping their coaches and going over to longo um but i think that option's there for them if they choose and i'm not sure if he's definitely in all their corners or not but i think he's prepared to to do to do it uh long goes the type dude, man, he doesn't like just to, you know, I mean, he's making good money being a coach, but he likes to train these guys. He likes to get to know them, and

he would love to have them all in the gym and be able to train them, but I don't know if that's how it's really going to work. Okay. And can I ask, I feel like I know the answer to this. It would be crazy if not, but are you going to remain on the weigh-in show, the UFC weigh-in show, even though you're fighting for GFL? Yeah, yeah, which is really cool. They're keeping me on, they're actually booking me for other shows already, analyst work as well. Ooh.

Yeah, they were trying to get me to do this Connecticut show this next week coming up for the next pay-per-view down in Bristol. Oh, I thought when you said analyst, by the way, that we're going to see you cage side, like Dominic Cruz, Felder. Is that of interest or you're talking more like the desk and all that? No, that was the desk. I don't know what's going to happen, man. I mean, that would be the goal, right? It Is to be like a commentator. It's very, it's, you know, a lot of guys put a lot of work in to get there. We'll see where it all ends up. Okay.

But you're still a part of the family. You're still working on TV. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank God. That's what I'm saying. There was no bad blood or anything.

They're super supportive of me being able to go somewhere else and be able to make, you know, good money. And they're, I think they're going supportive of me being able to go somewhere else and be able to make, you know, good money. And they're, uh, they, I think they're going to have my back all the way through the, you know, through the whole thing, which is, which is awesome. I don't think, uh, and I don't take that for granted either because, you know, you, it could go the other way. You have history with Uriah Hall. You have history with Rockhold. You have history with Romero, history with Musasi. If you could pick one for the debut do you want one of those guys back or do you want a fresh a fresh name no i would i would love uh luke rocko would be my my first first fight we just we have the most history i know i lost to those other guys um but the the rockhold one was my first loss. I lost my belt against him.

And, you know, we had animosity and all that stuff. There's buildup. And we were supposed to rematch twice. And I think it's a fun fight for the fans that people would be super interested in watching. I mean, when fans come up to me, it's one of the things that come up pretty regularly is that they want me to

you know you never got the rematch with rockwell you know they want me to they want me to get that one back and uh i'm with them um don't go into specifics but my understanding is they're taking care of everyone like this is good this is not like you taking is that the case with you that these guys are are putting their money where their mouth is they're taking care of you guys oh yeah yes yeah very much so okay very good yeah yeah yeah um we need more players in the mma space right bellator has gone pfl a little bit unclear at this moment one championship kind of getting further and further away from the MMA game, if I'm being honest, this is good for all the fighters. And, uh, I'm delighted to see it happen. I'm delighted to see it come to fruition. I want them to succeed more than anything so that you guys have opportunities and it doesn't just have to be one place because that's, that's not sustainable. And that's,

that's not really fair for you guys. Uh, so I, I love everything about it. And I hope that you get the opportunity to, uh, to do both with, with UFC, the work that you're doing with UFC and with GFL as well. Are other people reaching out to you and asking you like, Hey, can you get me in this and that? Is this, is this something that you're fielding a lot of that, you know, cause I feel like there's a lot of people who now want to get in now that it's becoming more and more real.

Yeah. Yeah. There's a, I wouldn't say it's like insane i'm not getting hit by a thousand people i would say like two or three people have reached out and and asking a lot of questions and uh you know is it still possible to get in and i tell you i'd love especially with kevin lee being there you know i'd love to see ally quinta in the mix you know it's it's great it's great money um and i think he could bring a lot of fun to the GFL. Yeah, and there's a couple others that are just, you know, very interested. John Volante, perhaps. Yeah, I would love to get Volante in there, you know,

get him out of kindergarten class and, you know, make some money and throw down a little bit. He's been itching to get to do at least one more fight. He wants to do it. You know what he wants to do? He wants to do bare knuckle. He thinks he was built for bare knuckle. I feel like we can make that happen. Yeah.

I just want to make sure he gets paid a lot of money to do that. He's such a savage. He's the type of dude I've had three hand surgeries and that dude never has injuries. He's the type of dude, you know, I've had three hand surgeries and that dude never has injuries. He's built different. He's very durable.

He doesn't get cut very easily. He's a beast. So I can see him doing a fight there. Do you like bare knuckle? It's definitely grown on me. Yeah.

At first it was too much for me to watch, to be honest. I'm like, then this is crazy. Everybody it's like, everyone's got broken hands and, you know, everyone's cut up, you know, bad, but now I'm starting to really like it. You start to see really a lot of technical guys in there and, uh, you could see how they have to change up their game a little bit and figure out ways to fight a little bit different with the bare knuckle. So it's been pretty cool. It's not just guys slugging out.

I think there's a lot of technique going on there, and that's what I'm interested in. Okay, last thing. Anderson was great. I mean, that's an obvious one. But can you tell us, when you think back on your time in the UFC, other than the title win, what's the high moment? What's the apex?

What's the one that gives you chills? What's the one that you'll never forget? What's the one that means the most to you? Is there something that sticks out other than the obvious, you know, the victory in 2013? And is it perhaps the flight that we shared to Brazil in coach, you know, from JFK? Is that maybe on the list? UFC 150, of course. Eating acai with you.

My first acai bowls were with you, Ariel. Yes, what a time. That was a great time, man. I got to know you good on that trip. And I realize you're not a nice guy in person. Actually, I wouldn't say one stands out. I would say three just quickly is the the mark munoz fight for me i felt like i never felt better and more relaxed and in the zone um

out of all my fights i ever had including the wins over aniston silva um i felt best in that mark munoz fight uh because he was uh on paper a way better wrestler he had very heavy hands on the feet and i was expecting you expecting a really tough matchup, and everything just went my way that night. I felt great from the wrestling to jiu-jitsu to the striking, and then finishing with that elbow, well-timed elbow that I never really imagined doing. I just felt it.

I was really in that flow state, so that fight stands out. Then the Leroy Machida fight was my first five-round fight, and I thought I had him broke, uh, in the third rounds. I remember taking them down towards the end. I was kind of battering him and, uh, I thought I had them done. So I figured fourth round, I'm going to finish them. And then all of a sudden that, that his championship heart, you know, his, his, he, he just, he came at me like a, like a bat out of hell.

And I realized, Holy shit. And he hit me with some monster punches and, um, it became a really fun fight, really just like a testament of will and, uh, just a great five round fight. The fifth round was awesome. Um, so it was just a real nice, real fun war against a really good guy, you know, who had a lot of confidence at that time, you know, he wanted to win the belt down at middleweight. He was undefeated down there. So that win felt really good. And then I go to the Long Island when it was a sold-out crowd where I grew up going at Nassau Coliseum in front of, you know,

all my friends and family and fans from Long Island. That was amazing. I felt like I won the championship belt. I had just lost to Rockhold. Then I lost to Yoel. And then I lost to Musassi, and I fought, maybe. Then I went against Gastelum in front of all those people, and the pressure was on, and I felt great in that fight. To be able to get a submission win, the place went crazy. I really felt like I won, you know, a championship that night. So those are, those are the, those are the big ones for me. I was hoping you would say that one. I'll

never forget that walkout and I'll never forget your reaction on the cage afterwards. Like it just felt like this 10,000 pound gorilla had, had, had come off your shoulders and to have that moment. Uh, and and and the people i like it was amazing because the kids that i grew up like boxing with in like fifth and sixth grade that we would just beat the hell out of each other as soon as i jump off the cage i haven't seen them since like high school wow they're all there you know just cheering for me having my back it was amazing it was i could tear up just thinking about it was that was an amazing feeling uh underrated one jesse bongfeld that that may have been my favorite submission years bongfeld and lawler I could tear up just thinking about it. That was an amazing feeling. Underrated one, Jesse Bongfeld.

That may have been my favorite submission of yours. Bongfeld and Lawler, the back-to-back, those two. That's when everyone was like, holy shit, this guy is really good. This guy is legit. Yeah. The Bongfeld one for me, both were great, and they had their challenges. Bongfeld was my first opportunity to have a full training camp inside the UFC.

I had that, it was two and a half week notice fight against Celestia Saqqara. I won. It was a dominant fight, but it wasn't like, oh, this kid's super impressive. And so I really wanted to make a statement in that next fight. And I was able to do that against Bonfeld with that standing guillotine. And so that one felt really good.

You're the man, Chris. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Congrats, again, on a Hall of Fame career, an incredible legend, the kind of career people dream of. You took down a legend, you had a title run,

main event shows, sold out shows, incredible stuff. You go out on your terms and now you have this new chapter. So well done. Congrats. Looking forward to the next chapter. And thanks for always making some time for us. And bring back the podcast, too. All right. Bring back the podcast.

I know. I know. I just need to do it. I just need to do it. Yeah. Much love, Chris. All right. All right, the Global Fight League. We'll get more on the GFL in about 30 minutes time when their founder and commissioner Darren Owen joins us. Looking forward to that chat. Let's go back to Saturday night now and let's go to Wells Fargo Center and let's go to Philly and what a week it was for BKFC. They've had some moments. They've had these kind of checkmark moments where it feels like, okay, they've leveled up. Saturday feels like one of those moments and maybe the biggest one to date. Around a month or so ago, we had David Feldman, their founder in studio, an unbelievable chat where we really got to learn more about him. And I think you guys did as well. And so thought it would be, thought it would be fun to check back in with him,

see how the show went and see where they go from here. He is kind enough to join us once again to talk all things BKFC. Hello, David, how are you? And congratulations on an incredible night. Thank you, man.

I'm doing fantastic. Thank you so much. Just curious when you, you kind of opened your soul to us and the world, uh, in our studio, I had a lot of people reach out to me being like, Holy crap. Like I want this guy to succeed. I want this company to succeed. I didn't know anything about anything that he's been through. Did you get that kind of feedback as well? Yeah, man. Um, like unbelievable amount of

it. It, you know, it was great to see that people listened, they cared, and a lot of people were inspired. That's the whole point of opening it up and talking about it a little bit. You look back on Saturday, do you agree with what I just said? Was Saturday maybe the highest moment? Was that a leveling up moment for you and the company? Yes, certainly it was. We broke the combat sports attendance record in the city of Philadelphia, which is an amazing feat. Mike Tyson fought there. Bernard Hopkins fought there. The UFC was there. And we did more attendance than anybody else in history of Pennsylvania, actually in Pennsylvania. But certainly what I'm worried about is the city of Philadelphia because that's where I'm from.

And it was the outpouring of support that we got from everybody around. It was amazing. I think it was the most amazing show that we've ever done. People are telling me that it was the best event that they've ever been to, not just best combat sporting event. So very, very proud of my team. You know, I always praise my team. My team, they came together.

They had each other's back, and it was unbelievable. And the production I thought was, was on fire. It was a second to none. And I was very, very happy for my son, David Jr. Who, uh, was the executive producer for that show. So, um, just, I couldn't be any more happy. I couldn't be any more pleased of the position that we're in right now and all the opportunities that are coming our way. Yeah. What I loved about the broadcast, it, it went so fast. It was no filler, no BS, uh, no, let's throw it to the desk for 30 minutes of talking. I mean, honestly, when I was, when I was going to the boxing on DAZN and then I would come back, it felt like I had missed two fights. So much was happening. And if I'm being a

thousand percent honest, the difference in energy between the two events, the Matchroom event in Vegas and your event was just astronomical. And so that's why I feel like if someone was tuning in for the first time, I mean, it was like an adrenaline rush just watching from afar on TV and my guys were there and couldn't stop glowing about it,

couldn't stop saying such great things. This is some of their own footage that they took and they were just saying how incredible it all was. So again, kudos to you and the team. I want to go back to Thursday, if I can. That press conference, I thought, was perfect for who you guys are and what you're all about. It reminded me of an old school UFC press conference where the fans got to talk. When you have these fans walk up there and just berate Jeremy Stevens with all kinds of insults, what are you thinking internally? Are you liking this? Are you thinking it's going too far? Are you worried that there's going to be a brawl?

What are you thinking as this is transpiring? Yeah, I mean, definitely not thinking there's going to be a brawl. It just was like, it was at a point I was like, all right, enough's enough. Like, let's get on with this thing. Like, I get two or three people want to come up there and talk about the guy for what he said. You know, I get that and I understand that. But come on, man, let's get on with the show.

But, you know, Philadelphia is just different, and I've said it all along. The fans, the energy there. You know, even Ben, what he said, the energy in Philadelphia was like none other he's ever had in his whole career. It's amazing energy here in Philadelphia, and it's not all good energy,

but there's amazing, amazing energy there. Jeremy was on the show yesterday. He was outstanding, emotional. I've never seen him in this state. He did say to us that he signed his contract on Thursday and that he wanted more money. And that was part of the reason why he was so fired up in the post-fight saying, give me my money and all this stuff. Can I ask you your side of the story? Why was one half of your headlining act signing his contract on Thursday?

And was he asking for more money no he wasn't asking for more money um they knew what the money was his team knew what the money was since day one um I don't know what happened with why he got his contract so late but the end of the day it was all agreed upon coming off a victory like that he's looking back and saying maybe I should have got more money but you, you know, I I love the fighters. As you know, I always take care of fighters. But, you know, some fighters do forget conversations. They forget where they were.

They forget things that you've said and done for them. And, you know, it's one of those one of those cases. I think that Jeremy put himself in a good position to to make more money now and to build himself even better. But, you know, nothing was, there was nothing that wasn't talked about prior to the fight. Okay, so he wasn't holding up the show or anything like that? No, no, no, not at all, not at all. He did say that he spoke to you yesterday

and that you said to him that you guys were banking on Eddie winning. Is that true? No. He said, I heard that he said that the promotion was against him. So I wanted to call him and tell him, look, promotion is not against you. Look, obviously I'm a Philly guy. I was rooting for Eddie a little bit, but I have to be unbiased. I wasn't like, wow, I hope Eddie wins. It was, it was, it was a great story. Philly story, right? He came out to the Rocky theme. It was awesome. But Jeremy Stevens won, put up a hell of a fight. And I, I told him we're going to do some things. So we make some good money together and he was happy about it.

So look, fighters, they get emotional, they talk, they say, they say certain things, but I think Jeremy Stevens is very, very happy where he is. Is he a free agent now? Yeah, he's a free agent. But, you know, we're going to work on that this week with his management team. But he is a free agent. I know you also talked to Ben, and I know you're probably talking about that.

Yes, go ahead. And we have a deal, a verbal deal. And we've had a deal, and we just said we're going to tie it up after the fight. Yes, go ahead. And, you know, he won the championship. So I don't think that's any issue there at all. Ben loves it here at BKFC, and he wants to continue to fight here, and we're going to make that work in the next couple days. But there was a deal agreed upon. It's not like I went into this thing blind and said, oh, no, what am I doing now? We had everything worked out. We just didn't paper it up in time.

So are you confident that both those guys will be fighting, you know, in their next fights for you, that they have a future with BKFC? A hundred percent. You could imagine my surprise. These guys come across like superstars on your show, and then all of a sudden I'm like, wait a second, they're not tied up? This could be a potential disaster. Look, not really. Not really.

Because look, let's say they went to a different organization. Maybe they're going to make more money there, but no one's going to talk about them. So they have to add up what do they want. Do they want people talking about them so then they can bargain for more money in the future? Are they just fighting for money? What are they fighting for? Because some of these promotions aren't going to be around very long. They're spending a lot of money.

They're not going to be around very long. And they have to add up what you know what means a lot to them ben said that he had like all this stuff running through his veins because he couldn't believe the atmosphere that he fought under and you're not getting that anywhere else right now so i think it's there's a few levels there and and and a few different things that add up to to the complete situation there but he's definitely going to make more money i i really really really truly really, truly like Ben Rothwell as a person. I like what he stands for and I want him to continue with us. And, and we're going to wrap that up. Like I said, in the next two days, I feel like, uh, correct me if I'm wrong. I feel like the, the, the big fight next could be Jeremy

Stevens versus Mike Perry. They're, they are perfect for this world and thriving. They're around the same weight. Is this of interest to you? I mean, it is. It definitely is. We're working on that other thing with Mike Perry now. We're going to know in the next day or two. I have a call to try to make that thing work. Which thing are you talking about?

Possibly with Robbie Lawler. Okay. Okay. So is that looking good? It's getting there. They said that the team called me right before the fight, actually, and said we had some news to share. They called me, and they said everything's looking good. Wow. I just said we'll follow up this week, and we'll try to make that happen.

I think that's potentially a super fight for us. I know that knuckle mania was unbelievable, but I think that we have three or four more of those unbelievable moments this year for 2025. We just started the year. And I'm excited about where we're going to go. I'm excited about where we're going to go. I'm excited about now taking a guy, Jeremy Stevens, who everybody kind of wrote off. Now we can do a star. And I'm really excited about those kinds of things. I love being able to do that with the platform that we have. And we've done that in the past and we're going

to continue to do that. And Jeremy Stevens, he played along with the whole entire thing. He came in there, he fought his ass off and he ended up, you know, with the opportunity to really change his life for the better right now. By the way, when I think of knuckle mania, I think of WrestleMania, and WrestleMania is always once a year, and it's always around the same time, April. Is that the plan with knucklemania? Because I know in the past it was in April and stuff like that,

not usually January, and I know it's only been five, but could we see multiple knucklemanias in a year, or are you going to keep it around the same time every year now? No, I think we started off with February for the first three, I believe, and then we went to April because that was when the venue was available. Then this one, just the venue opened up for January 25th, and we booked it, not knowing we were going to do Knucklemania.

And then I said to everybody, I said, we have to do Knucklemania here in Philadelphia. It's going to sell. And a lot of the team was with us, but they doubted that we were going to sell. And, you know, a lot of the team was with us, but they, they doubted that we were going to sell, sell out, you know, everybody, the consensus among the team was we're going to sell 10,000 tickets. And I said, no, we're going to break the combat sports record. And they all looked at me like I was crazy, like they always do. And we were all just crazy enough to make it happen. But will it be a once a year thing? Just maybe a different, okay. Once a year thing. And then we're going to come up with other things too. Like I'm not going to

have 20 different things, but we're going to have two or three different things that are going to be spectacles every year. Okay. Uh, any update on Eddie Alvarez? Yeah. Um, he's, uh, we've been talking, it was funny. He, he, he did break his jaw. That's not funny. He broke his jaw and he had to get it he had to get a surgery to to repair that but i what the funny part was is we were texting yesterday and i said let's meet up in the next day or two and he said just find me a place that has soup so he's in good spirits listen man a legend and what he what he did saturday night for us really took us to another level um without eddie everhouse on that card,

it doesn't draw 17,000 at all. We will in the future, but it wouldn't have done it for that night. So I take my hat off to Eddie. Eddie will be involved with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship moving forward in some way, shape, or form, 100%. He talks very eloquently about the company. He knows how to talk about the sport.

He understands it. He gets it. And he wants to be a part of of this and we want him to be a part of this. Would you like to see him fight again? I don't think so. Okay. I mean, would I like to? Yes. But I think that his body is not reacting the way he wants it to react anymore. I think that he's getting damaged a little easier than he did in the prime of his career. And we're not in this to make people take unnecessary injuries. Now, if he wants to and we have a good talk, a possibility. But I don't know if he's going to want to.

And I'm certainly not even going to ask him. If he comes to me with it, then we can have a good conversation. You have a situation after the fight where Conor McGregor, who's obviously very involved in the company, we've talked about this, gets in Jeremy's face and says, David, set the date. And on paper, you're like, holy shit, like this would be gigantic. But then you're reminded of the fact that he has two fights with the UFC left. And so what does that even mean, set the date at this point? And I mean, look, you know, it's awesome, right? I mean, anytime you get those kind of moments, it's look, look at that. It's awesome. But I mean, I can't do it, obviously, unless the UFC wanted to do something with fight and i think he's going to fight uh soon i think he's getting in shape he looks he looks better when i saw him he looks different he looks

like he's really taking him more seriously now and i think that um i think you're going to see connor back this year um probably not in bare knuckles but right that would be amazing is it worth and i don't need to tell you how to do things but just like to throw it like hey guys he clearly wants to do this. He's a part of like, can we get him for one? You could keep your two. Like, can he do it? Is it worth even having that conversation?

Do you think that they would just laugh it off? I think we're we're growing at a really great pace right now that I not that they're concerned about us. They're not. But if something like that happens, it just moves us up like, you know, five or 10 more pegs. And I don't think that they want to help us grow. And I think that helps us grow tremendously. But who knows, right? It is worth a shot. And maybe we'll take that shot in the next week or two. Do you, you know, you get the impression, at least I do, he really wants, this isn't just talk, he really wants to, it's almost like he's a caged animal and he just is dying to do this at least once. Do you, do you have those conversations

with him? Does he say the same? Yeah, he wants it. I mean, you know, he, he says, I have two fights left and then we're going to do it. I'm definitely fighting here. He says it all the time. And he's, he's like, look what he said, Dave, make, make, make the date, make the date. I mean, it was awesome, but look, he's, and I don't date, make the date. I mean, it was awesome. But look, he's, and I don't ever want to say the wrong thing because I don't need any letters sent to me either. So I have to tiptoe around the way I say things, but he did tell me to make the date. And obviously there's a lot that would go into making that date, but I mean, wow. Right. Him versus Jeremy Stevens, him versus Mike Perry.

Wow. It would be amazing. Could I ask, just from an ego perspective, you built BKFC, you founded it, all this stuff. And then he comes and he has such a big ego. And even like in the face-offs, you know, it's not common where you have two guys standing there and stuff like that. And I'm just wondering how Dave Feldman reacts in those moments. You know, a lot of people come up to me and they say,

why are you letting Conor in the middle? Why are you doing that? And I said, why did we bring him in? We didn't bring him in to sit in the background. We brought him in to get in the middle of the fighters. We brought him in to talk. We brought him in to create viral moments. And that's what he does. So no, look, I want the company to grow. I want everybody in the company to make a lot of money. And that's why, that's what I'm doing. I don't need to be up there, you know when he's not there obviously I will but I don't need to be the center of attention Let him do that because he does a lot better job, but then I do okay Ben Rothwell Mark Hunt. Do you have interest in that? I Mean possibly but you know, you got Mark Hunt who never Fought BKFC before how how is that fair to any of the fighters and organizations that just let them jump into a championship fight right so so it wouldn't be off the bat

yeah I think that I'd have to get more Mark Hunt a fight first and then a Ben Rolfo fight and actually I know some people overseas are talking about that now. What do you mean by that? Talking about getting hard on a fight, possibly in Australia and New Zealand, and then getting him a win and then bringing him over here. But that would be outside of the BKFC? No. Okay. Got it.

Yeah, we're going to go to... We're talking to a very strong potential partner right now in Australia. Okay. So who would be top of mind for you for Ben's first title defense? I don't know. I mean, some of our guys that were former champions, maybe Arnold Adams. Mick Terrell wants a rematch. I mean, he got knocked out.

And I said this earlier. I really love Mick Terrell for this. He said he made a post, and I don out. And I said this earlier. I really love McTorrell for this. He said he made a post, and I don't know if you saw it, but he said, when I get knocked out, I get knocked out in front of 17,762 people. So he took it the right way, but I don't think that he warrants a rematch right now. We also have a couple more heavyweights up and coming that are calling out for the championship as well. So, you know, we really need, we need more heavyweights, to be honest with you. And we have a lot with this new tournament that we're going to do that we're going to bring over. But,

you know, Ben could also be a part of that tournament. When you're sitting there ringside and, you know, like you watch these knockouts and they're spectacular and they're viral and you send them to your friends and you're like, holy crap. But I'll be honest, some of them are downright scary, the way they fall, know, like you watch these knockouts and they're spectacular and they're viral and you send them to your friends and you're like, holy crap. But I'll be honest, some of them are downright scary the way they fall, you know, head falling on the ropes and just, does your heart stop? Because, you know, that's the last thing that a promoter wants. You want it to be great, but you don't want it to be life-threatening, right? These are scary knockouts and they're not common that you don't see these types of knockouts

in boxing, even in MMA to a certain degree. Sometimes you do, but not like this. You don't see like four or five in a row like you saw on Saturday. Tremendous highlight reel stuff, but it is scary stuff. What are you thinking as you're watching some of this? I mean, most of the time I'm like, okay, let's get up, let's get up. This one I was a little scared with right here, Pat Sullivan, great kid.

Really, really nice guy, man. And I saw that happen and I saw that he didn't really move. But then I did see that he was actually talking a little bit. So I wasn't as nervous because I knew that the doc just kept kept him down. But I mean, look, it's a fight game. And I always get nervous because, you know, I don't want to see anyone get seriously injured at all. And if they do, it's also detrimental for the company as well. So but the doctor actually calms me down because he tells me, he said, Dave, I'd much rather have this guy get knocked out with one punch than take a thousand punches and then, you know, fall into some kind of coma or something like that. I don't want to see that.

I'd much rather. And that helped ease my mind because now I kind of coma or something like that. I don't want to see that. And that helped ease my mind because now I kind of get it more. A one-punch knockout for us is a lot better than someone taking hundreds and hundreds of punches. You had this massive show on Saturday. You're back at it this weekend at Mohegan Sun. I think you're expecting around 7,000 or so people, which is a great crowd. And then you've got February 8th and you've got a litany of events, not only in February, but March, April as well. Do you need to expand the team? This is a lot for you guys. There's no time to breathe. Is it time to bring in, do you need more people or do you think that you're set right now in terms of like who's actually running the show?

Yeah. So I actually just took a trip to Taiwan about two weeks ago, and I met with the principal of Triller. He's actually been the guy that's been back in Triller for a long time. Great guy, really awesome human being. And I had some great conversations with him, and I told him exactly what I needed, and he already started delivering on it. So, yes, the answer is yes. We have about four key, key positions. We need to fill top-level positions, and then we need another 18 to 20 hires underneath that. And, you know, he gave me the ability to do that, so that's going to happen here in the next four weeks. You may not want to say, but I love this stuff. I'm fascinated by it. Those key positions, what are they? We have a—we need some more help with social media.

We need some more help with marketing. We got a great marketer, great digital marketer, but we need to go outside the scope a little bit more on that. We have a sales, someone in charge of the sales. We just need to make sure that we have that honed in more and just more, just kind of like everything's a little bit too much fragmented now. We need to bring everything in and solidify. We're running so fast that it's hard to do that. So now after February 8th, we actually have about four weeks off. So we have a little bit of time to do what we need to do.

And we're going to do that. I mean, we're working on it all the time. Look, Ariel, I don't think any company has ever grown as fast as we've grown and as big as we've grown in that time frame with very, very limited resources. And now that we have the resources to really do what we need to do, I think, you know, I think, you know, the sky is the limit and maybe even beyond the sky. I think that we put ourselves in an unbelievable position, position, all of combat sports, and we were only money away. And we've said that for a long time. We're just money away. We're just somebody believing in us enough to give us the funding to do what we need to do.

And here we are. We have it. You most certainly have it, and I think that you remind me a lot of kind of early days UFC and the magic that they had, and I say this all the time. I don't know why other people don't try to emulate this playbook. We talked about having local guys on and whatnot. Do you look at some of these other companies that pop up and look at the,

it seems like they're making mistakes right in front of our eyes and say, like, how do these guys not get it? Why are they making these mistakes? And it's great for you. It's to your benefit. Honestly, I don't even have time to, man. There's so many different promotions out there. Like, you know, I don't even know when some of the other fights are on.

And I know you're talking to someone in a little bit with the new company, GFL. Wish them all the success in the world. Heard some really great things about them. But it's just tough to start this thing up. People just don't understand. It's not just putting on fights. It's not just having the backing. It's actually getting people that really give a shit about it and want to watch it.

And that's the hard part. And I think we broke through that hard part. And we turned our cult following into a more mainstream following now because we do have a mixture now of boxers and MMA fighters. And it's, I mean, I don't know what you think, but I think I heard your guys that were at the fight said that there's nothing more exciting out there. Oh, yeah. No, they were 100% into it. They were jazzed up texting me. I was having FOMO, Dave.

I was having FOMO, Dave. I was having FOMO at home. I was the one saying like, gosh, I wish I went. It's a bucket list thing for me. This is at the top of the list. I would love to experience it and see what it's all about because it's unbelievable on TV. So I can't imagine what it's like in person. Yeah, man. It's really just unbelievable.

I mean, you hear the sounds. You see it like the virality of it is unbelievable. The fans are energized the whole entire time. We don't give them a chance to lull. And it's just, it's an unbelievable product live. You know, it truly, truly is. And I think everybody's starting to see it. One of the guys that doesn't really love BKFC, one of the broadcasters, not broadcasters, podcasters, Luke Thomas, he put something out yesterday with his team.

And I don't know if you want me talking about him, but I'm sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead. His co-host asked him, he said, would it be fair to say that BKFC is the number two promotion in the world right now? And Luke Thomas reluctantly said, and I mean reluctantly. Yeah. Yeah. So that doesn't matter to me. I'm glad that I'm able to change people's minds that doesn't matter to me what matters to me is let us be as successful as we can let us turn into profitability in 25 which we're definitely projecting and I think that um I think the sky's the limit so many great conversations coming up so many fighters

reaching out sponsorships I mean off the hook the amount of sponsorships that reach out to us since Saturday's event. The arenas that are reaching out to us now all over the country. This was another big step for us, as you said, another page that we turned. on here a lot and I I talk about my team I love my team I love the fighters I really do and if you if you ever see behind the scenes you'll see like I treat these guys really like their family all of them but you know I'm I'm almost apologized for being successful and I'm just tired of doing that man I think that we're in a great spot I think that we just need a little bit more um people on our team and we need that funding that's coming in now and man I I tell you I think that we just need a little bit more people on our team, and we need that funding that's coming in now. And, man, I tell you, I think we're going to take off like a rocket ship now. I bet there's a lot of fighters reaching out, right? Like we just had Weidman on saying his buddy John Valante wants to do bare knuckle,

and I can't imagine how many people are saying now, like, let me in. I want in. Is that what's happening? So many, so many. And we're going to start doing those bigger signings again now. We're also growing these guys. Look, there's so many guys like the Hard Rock shows that have a 6,000 capacity. We're selling the place out with all BKFC guys. We're selling places out in Albuquerque with 6,000 people, all BKFC guys. We're growing the sport and I want to continue to do that. The big,

big, big focus on 2025 for the remainder of 2025 is telling stories. It's getting why do you want to follow John Garbarino, for instance, on the show. He smashed a canola in someone's face. He then proposed to his fiance after the fight, scored a first round

knockout, has a great story, has the ability to sell. Let's build him and let's let's let the fans let's tell the story so the fans want to see him fight from this fight to that fight to that fight i think that's really truly probably the only thing we're really really lacking because we didn't put a lot of focus on that we just have time or or the the finance to do it and now we do and and some of the great partners that are coming on board, like DAZN, wants to get into some unscripted stuff with us right now. And I think that's going to change the game for us.

Last thing, when you were here a month ago, we talked about the $25 million tournament. Are there any updates on that, when it may start, names, et cetera? There will be in two weeks. We'll have the whole thing mapped out. I thought we were going to get it done sooner. too many delays with with what we had to do we're we're uh going to complete the whole entire thing next week and and the following week and then announce at the end of the following week so we'll have everything everything tied up um some some great um things have happened since

then we've uh got some really good territories that want to host these events that are going to help fund it for us so it just it just really took it over the top but um having great conversations with the zone as uh possibly being the home of this thing and and i think i think that's going to truly truly change the whole entire game for us but i just want to say man i'm really really happy where we are. I mean, not a lot of companies could have survived on the funding that we had and made it through six years. And now some people are saying we're the second biggest thing in the world. It's just tremendous to even be mentioned in the same sentence. But I think there's no stopping us now. And we're just going to keep putting on great shows, great atmospheres, and building this sport all over the world.

It's really fun to watch. It really is. And I'm not talking about the events, just the growth. It's a lot of fun. So continued success. Congratulations on a great night, and I can't wait to see what you guys continue to do. Thanks so much for the time, Dave. Really appreciate it.

Thank you. Appreciate it. Bye-bye. There he is, Dave Feldman, joining us, the founder of BKFC. And like I said, they continue to rock and roll. They've got an event on Saturday, not too far from here at Mohegan Sun. They're expecting around 7,000 for that event. Then on the 8th of February, they are in the United Kingdom, in Newcastle to be exact. That's going to be their 11 they are in the United Kingdom, in Newcastle to be exact. That's going to be their 11th show in the United Kingdom.

And of course, their first show was back in August of 2022. That was Mike Perry versus Michael Venom Page, which felt like another turning point for them. Late February, February 28th to be exact, they're back in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They've sold already 9,000 tickets, I'm told, for that event. Late March, March 27th, they're at the Hard Rock, expecting around 7,300 or so.

And then they've got back-to-back in Dubai in April, April 4th and 5th. And then they're going to have an event in Italy. So they've got a ton going on. It's really cool to watch. Wish them nothing but the best and excited to see where they go from here. I could say the same about the Global Fight League.

It's an interesting time now for the entire combat sports world with obviously the old dogs doing their thing and thriving. UFC and boxing is in a fascinating spot and now seeing some new players in BKFC and the GFL as well. We've had Darren Owen on the program twice before, once about three or so years ago to talk about the embryonic stages of the GFL. And then of course, around two months ago to really break this open. On Friday, we had the draft

and it seems like we are inching closer now to their very first event. We know where all the fighters are going to be located, who they'll be fighting for. It's just a matter of the schedule rolling out and the events actually happening. So wanted to touch base with Darren Owen once again to see how it's all

going and how Friday went according to him. And so he is kind enough to join us right here now on the program. There he is. Hey, Darren, how are you? Doing well. Thanks, Ariel. How are you? I'm doing great. Thanks for coming back on. Obviously a lot to discuss. You guys have been very much in the news. Let's talk Friday. What did you think of the draft? Were you happy with how it all went down? Yeah, overall, the numbers were phenomenal. The feedback, the response, the, you know, everything that kind of came out of it, you know, obviously a couple of hiccups, which is somewhat understandable for our first kind of going live. But I think overall, you know, over 1.1 billion in impressions globally,

the numbers were, you know, a couple hundred thousand people tuned in to watch the live event itself. So, you know, this is before we even have any fights. So, you know, feedback's been phenomenal. Happy with it all. So, you know, you mentioned Hiccup. I really felt for you guys, because like I said earlier, we do a show, you put so much into it, you try to keep some things, you want it to all be all well and good. And I didn't even see that something had kind of come out early. And so I was just tweeting like, who's watching? And then people are posting this picture underneath. I was like, I didn't know if it was Photoshop fake, but clearly that wasn't the case. And so when you realized what happened there what's going through

your mind well it was hard to know exactly what happened and why and and what it was and we obviously had a lot going on as right before we were about to go live so i guess one of the streams went live early about five minutes early than than they should have and they were still kind of testing and kind of going through some different things so yeah one of the graphics that got showed was you know theoretically the draft board um i don't know ultimately if it was a bad thing because based on that like we were we were trending on on x the number one topic in the united states that evening. We trended on Google for over the weekend. So, you know, was it a blessing in disguise that maybe, hey, this got leaked? It wasn't the plan, but it happened.

And, you know, you just deal with it and move forward. It did sort of suggest that the draft had already happened or it was kind of predetermined. What is your response to that? Yeah, absolutely. It was, you know, there's a lot that went into that production of it. So the reality is I consulted with the coaches, the managers, who they wanted on their team, you know, what made sense based on, you know, we're stacking the deck, Ariel.

Like that's the reality of this thing. You know, you said it, everyone said it. We all want to make sure we get the fights we want to see. So, you know, due to the fact too, we also own and operate all the teams ourselves. So, you know, making trades, doing the logical thing to, to create the matchups that people want to see, you know, we'll get creative with it. We did get the coaches. So like any of the fighters who are upset about, Oh,

why didn't you pick me coach or manager? You can blame me. Ultimately, I kind of had final say. We did get all the feedback and, you know, we had planned on going live picks one through 120. The duration that that would have taken was significantly longer than I think anyone wanted to kind of tune in for. So we kind of accelerated things. But yeah, ultimately, you know, we wanted to put the

right fighters on the right teams to also create the logical matchups. And, you know, ATT fighters wanted to be in Miami, you know, fighters based in California wanted to be on that team. And obviously, you know, Sao Paulo is mostly Brazilians and South Americans. So there was that aspect that came into it too, you know,. Let's let logic prevail on how these teams should come to fruition. Also getting the feedback, but we need needle movers. We need fighters that have the biggest fan base as possible. And that was more the determining factor was which athletes are actually going to generate the most revenues for us and, you know, and, and which fighters are going to be future global superstars. Um, and also bringing in athletes from all around the world. So we have representation from, you know,

some major countries around the world. And so, uh, for example, cause I've been asked this question a bunch and you're the best person to then ask the question to like a guy like Kevin Lee, does he have to go train in New York? Does he have to train with Longo? Does he have to have Longo in his corner? What does him being on New York, for example, and this could be for anyone, but just to zero in, what does that actually mean? Yeah, so he represents the New York team. So whatever performance he has is generating points for that New York team. He doesn't have to go train with Ray Longo if he wants to. That is an option and available to him. So any of the fighters on any of these teams have an open door to go into any of the gyms where the coaches are, train, get advice,

get strategy. If they want to stay with their own coaches that they've been with for years and years, for sure, we're not looking to break that bond this is more look at the long term look at the big picture where does this go where does this lead uh and essentially where it leads to is is billionaire team owners who are going to pay handsomely you would hope for coaches to make sure that they have any legal advantage of uh you know against the other thing you see in every major sport, whether it's Kyle Shanahan with the 49ers or, you know, Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs, like the best coaches get paid. And that's kind of what we're just setting up that format. The general managers, same thing, you know, they're in this to represent the team, to obviously strategize.

And, you know, we consult with all the coaches, all the managers. So, you know, it is a collective effort, but the reality is we need the athletes that are going to drive the league first and foremost. And then the team success is secondary to, you know, ensuring that it works for all of us. Considering that, is it possible that some of the cards will just be a hodgepodge of fighters representing different teams and then just their their victories their results contribute to the standings or will it always be new york versus la and and no one else so yeah the the format structure so we're looking to kind of replace the void of the the nfl's off season so we're looking to do two events on sunday a midday sunday event and then a nighttime Sunday event, and then a Monday night event. So midday Sunday might be Miami versus Dubai.

The nighttime Sunday, New York versus London. And then the Monday nighter, Los Angeles versus Sao Paulo. So each of those, but like if there's a matchup we want to make, like people are about dylan dennis versus tony ferguson for example um maybe we maybe we trade tony to the london team so that that fight can line up and and people get what they want so due to the fact that we we kind of control and operate all of it ourselves um we can do creative things like that we actually have a first trade if you want if you want me to announce it right now happy to do it let. Let's do it. Sao Paulo and Miami trading light heavyweights. Carlos Antonio and Felipe Lins are switching teams. Both coaches were, you know, wanting to make that shift based on where those guys are already currently trained.

So, you know, we're letting logic prevail in everything we're doing. Okay. I was wondering if you would do, you know, like a super card, if you will, where it's not New York versus LA and just your biggest and best fights. Is that a possibility or will it always be the city versus city format? City versus city format.

But within that same thing, like we can manipulate it. Yeah. Trade fighters here, trade fighters there. And like over a weekend, look at the value we're going to bring. 30 fights over a weekend. We'll bundle it all together.

If you want to buy the bundle, watch it all. And, you know, you can see eight former UFC champions fighting this weekend, you know, big stars, big names, up and comers. So half of our roster will compete once a month every weekend or during that weekend. So if a fighter fights in April, their teammate will fight in May. And then the first individual fought in April fights again in June. So that, you know, they just flip back and forth. Um, obviously if they're healthy and able to compete that much, but yeah, that's, that's the plan. Is there an update on how people will be able to

watch? We're literally in negotiations with all the big players and there's definite interest making significant progress on that front. So we'll probably be able to announce something in the next couple of weeks, I imagine. And then the announcements will just kind of keep rolling in. Are you confident that it will be with a sort of, you know, a third party, if you will, broadcaster and not your own app or your own platform, basically a place to make money, right? It's a huge revenue stream. Are you confident that you will strike a deal before the first event? Yeah. And I think it's just how many deals and with who and for how much. We're literally in the thick of it with all those major guys right now.

Okay. And is there a pay-per-view? Yep. Yeah. And obviously these, these athletes, we have our proven pay-per-view draws and have a giant fan base. I'll say this. If someone really comes to the table with, with the deal that makes all the sense for us that we don't need to do pay-per-view, then we won't do pay-per-view. They also kind of like the idea of pay-per-view, then we won't do pay-per-view. They also kind of like the idea of pay-per-view based on, you know, the metrics, the volume of talent we have, their following that is involved in this. So, you know, we aren't getting so much pushback on, hey, we don't like the pay-per-view model. They're like, hey, you know, we kind of like this model, let's put it behind the paywall. Let's price it accordingly based on the different countries around the world.

So it'll probably be a bit of a hybrid based on where we go and who with and who has what rights and what territories. So there might be some sort of non-pay-per-view and then some behind the paywall. Potentially, yeah. Okay. I asked you this question and we talked about it yesterday, but I've been asked it a bunch as well. So I just wanted to clear it up with you. It sounded like you had maybe commitment from around 400 or so fighters, 420.

And then in the end, I think it was around like 300 that were scooped up. And so that leaves maybe 120 or so. What does that mean for those that didn't get drafted? Are they now free agents? Yeah, they're free agents. And the reality is anyone who we announced as of right now, we put this in to literally be equitable partners with our athletes.

We don't want to hold them hostage if they don't want to be here. So they can even, you know, they still have a few days to terminate their contract if they choose to do so. No one has actually done that. We had a few athletes that were in the draft based on their managers saying, yes, 100%, put them in the draft. And then I don't know if the

miscommunication was on that side. We obviously don't talk to all the fighters ourselves. It's typically done through the management, but there was a couple that hadn't physically signed their agreements yet, whether they had other competitions that they were scheduled for that prevented them from physically signing. But anyone who we entered into the draft pool was, you know, I would say 99% were actually physically signed. And then, you know, a couple of the outliers that, you know, wanted to test the waters and see how it went. And, you know, based on their managers saying, yeah, go ahead, we did that. And we're dealing with, I'd say, like two or three of the 120 that we're working through.

So we'll see how that all pans out. I think the most famous one right now is Rashad Evans because he was public about it. Is he one of those? Yeah, yeah. Is he going to remain? We'll see. Ali was like the literally the day before the draft i'm like ali we're good to put him in he's like yes brother yes brother we're good to put him in so so you know we put him in and uh rashad obviously

came out afterwards and said like hey i didn't sign but like you know i think if you look at the history of of drafts and are there are any of those athletes signed before they get drafted to the team? No. Eric Lindros, Stevie Franchise, you know, there's Eli Manning. There's a lot of examples of, you know, things that happen post-draft and, you know, this is just similar format to that. By the way, you're so Canadian. Your first two examples were Lindros and Steve Francis, two guys who didn't want to play for Canadian teams. So I appreciate those and remember those stories very, very well. Could I ask though,

because my read on the Rashad situation was, I think someone was saying, oh, you're supposed to fight Rampage in April. He doesn't have to fight in April, right? So why does he have to be out of the whole thing? Not everyone is fighting in April. No, and I think, you know, there's obviously a lot of speculation

as to how does this all work, there's obviously a lot of speculation as to how does this all work? What's going on? The reality is at the end of the day, we, we want the biggest and the best, and, you know, we want the most popular fighters that can generate the most global revenues. So those are the fighters we're bringing in. Those are the fighters we're most interested in. And, you know, Rashad, obviously having the incredible, phenomenal career he has had. You know, there's interest there for sure. But, you know, if he's not interested, and I think people don't really realize that, like, this is different. We'll work with you.

If you want to go do something else, like if you're involved in the whole ecosystem of combat sports, great. You know, I think this is a we all work together and it benefits all of us. What happens if someone gets released in a month, who's a big name or becomes a free agent and is a massive name and you want to, are you locked in now or can you release someone to add someone? How does, how does the movement of the rosters work? Yeah, we're pretty much in control of how it all works. You know, we have guarantees for a lot of the fighters. So whether it's three fights guarantees, some, some only wanted two fights. So there's, there's flexibility. Also, the reality is there's going to be injuries. We're going to have to make sure that, you know,

when we go to the free agency market, same thing, like, well, we'll always do the most logical thing, whether it's make a, make an amazing fight between, you know, someone who's currently a free agent an amazing fight between, you know, someone who's currently a free agent and someone we have on roster. Um, so again, you know, timing always kind of plays a big factor in where things are at, but yeah, we're, we're here to just make the fights that people want to see and then just do it in a different, unique way, bring in the team aspect, which we all kind of know as, as sports fans, at least that, uh, that, that formula works

very well. And that's, that formula works very well and that's that's what this is it's just something different and a different way to do the sport of mma like i don't think most people watch a football game and then check the standings immediately afterwards and see you know where we position depending on when it is in the season it's obviously the the competition itself which is what people tune in for in for, the results are just a byproduct of that competition and something else to follow along with. Whether it's betting, we have different betting lines that we'll be able to create. Whether it's fantasy MMA you want to get interactive with, our format works really well for creating a legitimate fantasy league.

So there's just different interactive things that we're looking to do with fans. We also want fans to determine our fight card order. So if they think, Hey, we want to see Paige Van Zandt is the main event and, and they more votes come in for her to be the main event should be the main event.

You know, the fact that men and women are sharing from the same revenue pool for the first time in any sport, you know, we're, we're kind of just doing things that traditionally may not have been done, but, but logically makes sense to do. Do you have your first date locked in? We're really close. So what's kind of happened is now we're getting different groups from

different places around the world interested in wanting to bring events to their location. So instead of maybe just renting a venue ourselves and doing it all, we may have a site fee for millions of dollars to go to somewhere else and do it. So that's kind of something we were looking at doing for our playoffs. Potentially, it might even be happening sooner than that. But we're kind of targeting the last weekend of April. And we're looking theoretically LA or New York are the two locations we're looking at for the first event. I think there's eight cities, right? Do the events have to be in those cities? Or six, sorry, six.

Do the events have to be in those cities? Or could there be a Saudi Arabia? Could there be a Montrealreal you know what i mean yeah the plan was each of those six cities will host one event in the regular season and that's our regular season so 18 total events three at each location um but now with kind of this this new interest we might be foolish to turn something away that wouldn't make a lot of sense. And by the way, how does a proud Canadian

not have a Canadian team in there? Honestly, Ariel, we tried to put a Montreal team in. And? The UFC is, oh, I don't know if I should say this. There's something going into the Bell Centre, Bell Place, and it's blocked out three months before and three months after. So the reality is there's no

venues in Montreal. You could have still had a team, no? Maybe. Maybe. We kind of had to just go with what we had. I get it. I get it. You know, there was Toronto, Vancouver, but there's a lot of places

that you could say the same for... Great opportunities to expand. Right, right. Great opportunities to expand. So those are kind of some wild conversations we're having too. Former NFL team owners, current NBA team owners, MLS team owners. There's a lot of groups, private equities, family offices are reaching out. You know, they see the potential and the value of whatever other sports

team they own is in the billions of dollars. So, you know, an MMA organization that's set up in the exact same format, exact same business model, you know, why would our franchise team's locations be worth hundreds of millions and then eventually billions of dollars? That's the same format formula we're looking to implement. No question that your theme song and the video, much talked about as well, shared all over the place. Here's a snippet of it. Can I ask what went into making this? And how did you get everyone to come together under one roof to do all this in these snazzy outfits? Oh, we took them out to Mars and had a plan built there. No, AI, obviously. You know, you talk about everyone coming to the table,

and I think that's the most important thing. Basically, every free agent came to the table. You know, they see what we're doing. They see the changes we're making. You know, obviously, the revenue share is resonating really well. The insurance, the retirement fund. And just the overall vibe of this is, there's been a lot of greed, manipulation, bullying tactics. This is a league built on love and respect and honor. And I think they you know, I think they just feel that vibe and they,

you know, I think everyone wants another option for athletes to have a place where they can go and compete and earn well. So this is just, uh, something different that, that they can get involved in, uh, something that's looking to solve problems, something that's looking to kind of just follow a more traditional sports route than, um, than, than what has been kind of following that boxing route. How did, how did Tyron Woodley score getting a first pick overall? Um, it was a lot of figuring out like, Hey, who makes sense to be the first overall, who do you want to, you know, have, and Tyron's been phenomenal to work with. You know, like the weird ones is when like Kevin Lee goes above Chris Weidman. Yes. And Chris Weidman can't get mad at.

So Weidman sent his contract in literally like the day before the draft. Same with Uriah. Same with Tony Ferguson. Like it was all kind of lining up. But like, hey, like, can we can we fully like go all in? Like Rashad didn't have a promo video. You didn't see him in any of the promo stuff. Um, so, you know, there was an element to it of, you know, who's really with us and who gets it and who's backing us even on their own accord. And, and, and Tyron is one of those guys for sure. That's kind of leading the charge

and, and has been working closely with us and he gets it right. Like he understands that, Hey, like, yeah, I've got a guarantee, but if we can actually do well with this, he can make a lot more money than whatever his guarantee is. So I think the guys that really understand the big picture, obviously, you know, the fighters that, that have a big voice, a big following, a big name, those were some of the ones that we put up near the first round to just bring in the fans. That's essentially what it was. I'm going to put you on the spot here.

Just curious. You have all these big names. Can you tell us any matchups that we'll see early on? There's so many different permutations. Are there any? You don't have to give us the date, the location but just like this guy versus this guy that we that we see faber and baral they want to run that back they they both want to do it um you know weidman's talking earlier today about about luke rockhold we think that fight's great the nice thing is is they don't have the ability

to decline so we can make the fights that people want to see. And we're listening to everybody, right? Like, you know, Tony Ferguson, Dylan Danis, that, that may be something that will come to fruition. So we're, we're down to make the fights like air, you know, I'm a, I'm a diehard MMA fan. Like I love the sport more than anything. Um, you know, I've always kind of prided myself on, on making exciting matchups, but also making matchups but also making

matchups that that people actually want to see so that's that's first and foremost what we're going to do is is deliver the the real the real fights that that people want dylan dennis is is off it's it's interesting because he generates so much interest and yet his resume isn't what those other guys are but that's to his credit that he generates this interest. And so you secured him. Others haven't been able to. A, was that a tough thing to do? And B, do you think, is it looking likely

that his first fight would be against Tony Ferguson? He was one of the harder ones to get over the finish line. There was a few kind of that took a little bit more effort. It wasn't like he was asking for anything weird or wild or anything like that. You know, overall good to deal with. So, so no real hiccups or issues there. You know, some, some people you just sent, sent the agreement over and within an hour that signed and returned back to you. Others have, you know, Hey, we just want to make sure the language on this or that, um, you know, obviously he rides the line pretty hard in, in his promotion, promoting and, you know, the things he doesn't say. So we had to kind of take out some language

that allowed him to be who he is. And, you know, we're fine with doing that. You know, there's, there's obviously a line we don't want crossed and, you know, we're not expecting him to cross any lines, but, you know, some of the the the language in the contracts makes it you know very respectable and his promoting style maybe isn't that exact way so no we want dylan to be dylan and do his thing and and work with him and give him the support he needs to to blow this up so um yeah everyone's been pretty phenomenal man like the the behind the scenes the vibe the feel the energy of of the managers and and the and the fighters and their coaches and everything like it's been a very you know inspiring time to see everyone coming together

and and having the same mindset the same attitude and and just getting on the same page together and you're thinking dylan versus ferguson not Not saying it's set in stone, but is that where you're leaning towards? I think that's what sounds like fans want to see the most. Yeah. So technically, Tony's in as a lightweight. I don't think he'll care if we say, hey, you're going to be a welterweight for maybe this fight or maybe the rest of the season um but yeah like any anybody who's on our roster can fight anybody else on our roster so i think people are scared

that oh if the schedules don't line up and you know la doesn't fight sao paulo at this time then we're not going to see the fight no no we no, we'll figure it out. We'll make it all work. Like there is an element of like, you know, professional wrestling behind this where yes, the fights are real, but we will stack the deck in our favor. Okay. Well, can't wait to see how this all goes down and looking forward to monitoring

every single step along the way. So congrats on the draft. It was fun to watch and to see how that all unfolded and looking forward to the next steps. Thanks for coming on, Darren. Appreciate it. Thanks, Aaron. All right. There he is. Darren Owen, the founder and commissioner of the Global Fight League coming on. Yeah, Ferguson versus Dylan Dennis. That would be interesting. Rockhold Weidman, Burau Faber, and many others as well

so let's see let's see how this all plays out talking to some I really do think they need a a broadcast partner that would be great he

he implied that they're talking to some big ones obviously it was it was on DAZN's YouTube channel I think

ppv.com as well so let's see how this all plays out end of April that's three months away so owns a YouTube channel, I think ppv.com as well. So let's see how this all plays out. End of April, that's three months away. So news is probably going to be coming fast and furious. Now, in 30 minutes, we're going to go all the way to Saudi Arabia and be joined by Israel Adesanya, one half of the main event for the Fight Night event that is happening in Riyadh on Saturday in what is being called Uncrowned Day.

Yes, all the promoters, all the broadcasters, they're all coming together is being called Uncrowned Day. Yes, all the promoters, all the broadcasters, they're all coming together to label this Uncrowned Day because we'll start with the UFC in Saudi Arabia. We'll do a post show, by the way. It'll be GC Rick and I do believe Pete C. He may not know about this just yet, but that's the plan on the

channel. Yeah, so look out for that. That will roll into Royal Rumble. That will roll into David Benavidez versus Dave Morrell on Amazon Prime pay-per-view. So it's a fantastic day touching all three major combat sports. Yes, I said combat sports. Oh my God. He called wrestling combat sports. And speaking of Saturday, so in 30 minutes, Izzy's going to join us from Saudi Arabia. I can't wait for that chat. And by the way, we play two on Tuesdays. I didn't mention this.

Five o'clock on the DAZN Boxing YouTube channel. Myself, Adi Oladipo. The Boxing Hour, as I've been calling it. Ariel and Adi, even though we go well over an hour, but that's why I call it the Boxing Hour. Two guests on this week's episode, beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern. Clarissa Shields, who's in action this Sunday, February 2nd, a rare Sunday show, and Skye Nicholson will also be joining us. So the current Undisputed and the future Undisputed on the program as well. So a lot more to come. For now,

though, we do have to get into perhaps everyone's favorite segment of the year, and that is the third annual Royal Rumble Lottery. What the hell is the Royal Rumble Lottery? Well, I'm very happy that you asked. I love this, and it really makes watching the Royal Rumble on Saturday a lot more fun. And I do suggest, if you're watching it with friends to make your own lottery because it just makes it a hell of a lot more fun. For more on what exactly this is and why it makes it so much more fun, even if you aren't a wrestling fan, the most casual of casual wrestling fans,

GC, can you explain what this all is? Yes. You got your cranker there. What do we even call that? Drum of Balls? Tumblr? Tumblr of What do we even call that? Drum of Balls? Tumbler? Tumbler of Balls? By the way, Drum of Balls is a fantastic name. Shout out. Alright, so you got the

Drum of Balls there with 30 balls in it. We got me, PT, 31 balls. Me, PT, Frank, Rick, Ariel. There's 30 contestants in both the Men's and Women's Royal Rumble. We'll each get five numbers. We'll each get six numbers. I was doing's Royal Rumble. We'll each get five numbers. We'll each get six numbers. I was doing the math

incorrectly there. We'll each get six numbers and then once we have that, we have the rule sheet here. The numbers apply to both the men's and women's Rumble. The winner of the Royal Rumble will get 15 points for your team. If your contestant comes

in second, third, fourth, or fifth, you'll also get points. 10 for second, 7 points for third, 5 points for fourth, 3 points for fifth. If there's any tiebreakers between any of the competitors, i.e. us, that will go most eliminations combined between all of your wrestlers and combined time that your wrestlers stay in the ring. So you really want the winner, and you also want the Iron Man. You want the guy that's going to stay in it the longest or the girl that's going to stay in it the longest and get the most eliminations.

So that way, you have the tiebreakers just in case if you tie. Okay, now these are some really interesting numbers to keep in mind. And this is courtesy of the very reliable smartoutmoment.com. Shout out smartout. Number 30. And I hope this has been updated since the last time we read from this exact website. Number 30 has won five times. This is all updated.

All updated. Fantastic. site number 30 has won five times this is all updated all updated fantastic number one number 27 and number 28 has won four times number three and 24 has won three times 2 19 22 23 25 29 two times and then 5 8 10 13 14 15 16 17 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 38, and 41. Those two don't really count. Those were for like the Riyadh ones. It's 30. And so, you know, 30 is a big one.

27, 28, 29, big ones. Wait, those last ones had won one time or no times? One time, but my point is 38 and 41 is when they did supersized ones in Riyadh. But those aren't the traditional Royal Rumbles. Has anything ever not won?

So every number is one then, it sounds like. Number four. I've already isolated number four. Oh, wow. Four has never won. It looks like six. I want number four. Looks like six has never won.

Seven has never won. I want all of them. Nine has never won. The odds are in your favor, Pete. Eleven has never won. Twelve has never won. Okay, so there's quite a Pete. Eleven has never won. Twelve has never won. So there's quite a few. I hope I get five ones that I've never won before.

And I do want to take this time to send a very special hello to old friend, and maybe I should even say former friend, because he never reaches out anymore, Daniel Cormier, who texted me to say that he's watching and enjoying the lottery and is locked in.

So, you know, Daniel, you're always welcome, and this could have been all yours. This could have been all yours. This entire kingdom could have been yours. He could have joined in, and then we could have had six contestants and we each get five numbers. No, we don't have time for that, okay? Did he move up or down on the funeral list? Oh, yeah. In case he's...

I didn't tell him this, but in case he's still listening, he may have just taken a picture and shut it off. Daniel, I just want to let you know, breaking news Oh my god, I just heard Andy say, Frank, breaking news. What is he? Is he on a cigarette break? He's trying to do something. He's trying to explain something about the

bills? I'm like, what's going on? He's making sure he lets you down one more time. Yeah, 100%. DC, I want to let you know that you have actually been bestowed with the honor of being one of my pallbearers when I die. You are going to be one of the select few who will actually put my casket into the ground because I wanted to make sure that you can let me down one last time while I'm still on the surface of Earth. You'll be joined by

Mysterious Frank. You'll be joined by who else? Who's the other list? The Buffalo James Dolan. No, no James Dolan. Just the Knicks and then you said you weren't going to add the Bills. Turns out we're adding the Bills.

We're adding the Bills. Josh Allen can be there. No, Josh Allen won't be there. Dalton Kincaid might be in there. Wow, wow, wow. Pre-show yesterday. I don't blame Dalton Kincaid. McDermott might be in there as well.

Oh, wow. French coffee. Yeah, I just— Owners of the Montreal Expos. The Montreal Expos. Mainly, it's Frank, it's DC, and a hodgepodge of sports teams that have let me down over the years. So, yeah, I just wanted to let him know in case he was wondering where we were at.

DC and Frankie leading the way with the cash. Yeah, I mean, it just feels fitting. That'll be good scenes. It'll be good scenes. It just feels fitting. There's a new show coming out, Boys at the Funeral. Yes. We're all getting together.

Nah, me and GC won't be there. No, I know. Yeah, it's the rest of us. We won't be there No, I know, it's the rest of us We won't be at the funeral? Sorry man No, we're not carrying the casket, we'll be at the funeral I'll be dead by then DC, first he texted, what an honor

And then he texted, wow, this is actually an insult LOL It sure is It's my freaking funeral, what do you think it is? Alright, shall we guys? Here we go. I'm so excited. Before we...

I waited all year to hear those balls clanging around. Yes? Frank said 31. Why is it 31? No, it's because I counted the balls yesterday, and I think there's 31, but no big deal. We don't have a lot of time to waste here, guys. Okay, okay. Let's go, let's go, let's go.

Okay. The draft order has been determined by the honorable... What is it? Simon and Schuster or Schuster and Schuster? It's like GFL all over again here. Yeah. No, no, no. Just the order.

There it is. Ernst Young. Ernst Young. Oh, lost. Lost. Thanks. Yeah. Cheers. It's a snake draft.

It's a snake draft. And PT, you're the new kid on the block. I mean, that was the one law. I should go first. I should go first. No, aren't I first? Yeah, Rick's first. Okay. With the number one pick, I am selecting Tyron Woodley lock. I should go first. I should go first. No, aren't I first? Yeah, Rick's first. Okay, with the number one pick,

I am selecting Tyron Woodley. No, no, no. Yeah! Wow, we were synced up there. Oh my God. This is now the Royal Rumble lottery song as well. We just adopted it. You were perfectly at six feet.

I know. We both started fist bumping at the same time. Okay. Oh, fuck. I just dropped the ball. I'm laughing so much. Now we have 29 balls. 10.

10 for Rick. Okay. 10 has won one time. 10 has won one time. Okay. Let's go, baby. So we're just going to go. Yeah, keep those factoids coming.

Can we get a camera over his hands, please? I'm just trying to do my best here in the short amount of time. I mean, for what it's worth, PT Ariel's never won, so you can't be rigging it. 26? He'd say never won. 26 for me. Oh, wow.

That's a nice one for GC. Who's up next? 26 has never won. Who's up next? Who's up next? 26 has never won? Oh, that's a great never won. That's a great one. That's a nice one for GC. Who's up next? 26 has never won. Who's up next? Who's up next? 26 has never won? Oh, that's a great never won. That's a great one.

That's a great one. Frank is up next. Thank you, Andy. By the way, doesn't Frank win this every year? I don't like it. We're going to have to keep the commentary to a minimum here, okay? We've got time. 15.

15 for Frankie. Woo-hoo! No, we're not holding you up. You just roll. Keep rolling. Okay, all right, all right. Thank you, Andy. I am next, and I am proud to say

that I am 24. 24, I do believe, is one. Three times. Nice number. Yes, there it is. What a cool spot. Here's your spot. Here's your spot, PT. This is all you, baby. Here we go, PT. PT Carroll, his first pick. I love this number for you, PT. I love this number. Number three. Number three

is a tremendous number. That's what I want, right? Never had one. Three times. No, three times. Three's good, man. Yeah. Three's a good one. Love this number. And a reminder Number three is a tremendous number. That's what I want, right? Never had one. Three times. Three's good, man. Yeah. Three's a good one. Love this number. And a reminder, by the way, there's the first round already in the book. This is going way quicker than the GFL draft. A reminder, this is for the men's and women's rumble. We did not talk about what is

at stake. I just want to let you guys know. Are we all putting in some money? I'm down for the money. Historically, that's been a bit of an issue. No, it has not been an issue. I say $100 each. What do you guys say? I never got paid last time. Not $100 each, but winner take all. $20 each, winner take all.

$100 pot. And this time everyone pays the $20. Did we do a men's and women's winner, or was it combined? I think we combine it, winner take all. Combine it, okay. I don't understand it, winner take all. Combine it. Okay. I don't understand that.

You get points. You get points from men's and you get points from the women's. I say we do two separate. Nah, boo. Winner take all. For real? Yeah. That's how I say we do it.

$20 each then, right? Yeah, $20 each, $100 off. Ariel, keep rolling and we'll think about this. PT, you're up next because it's Snake Draft. Love this for you. Number two. Number two is- Wow. I do. Every time he says I love this for you, it's a shit number. I love this for you. Number two. Number two is... Wow.

Every time he says, I love this for you, it's a shit number. That's a great number, man. What you don't want is like a random 14 or 13. A 26. This is bullshit. I hope I get one in the next fucking round. No, one's great. I mean, you're a good spot to get the front end, though. See, this is what you don't want.

I just got a number seven. Number seven is never one. That's what I want. I just got a number seven. Number seven is never want. Yeah, it's tough. But unlike you, I'm not throwing the baby out with the pram. When are we interviewing Ray Longo? That's what I want to know. Is he coming in after the third round? Well, that's the first interview, then we'll have him again after the fourth round. Who is

up next? I do believe it is Frankie, yes? Frankie is lucky or unlucky number 13. Wow. What I don't want is Frank's number 13. Can I just ask, what are we doing about the 31st ball? So what happens when... He's just going to say, we've already said this one and get rid of it.

Yeah, we'll figure that out once we get there. Feel free as I'm doing this to throw out some more factoids. I think it's nice for the broadcast. 13 has not won. Okay. Actually, it has won one time. I'm sorry. There it is.

Frank has won twice. Up next is GC, I do believe. Yes. Number six. Number six. Why is it PT's the only one that you love the numbers for? I'm feeling like a 29 or 30 here. I'm feeling like a 29 or 30.

It's me up. I got two. I got two back to back. No, what about GC? GC's six. I got six. Okay, yes, yes. That was rough.

Are you putting them to the side or are you putting them back in there? Number 16 is the first one. Once. Bit of an odd number. The teens never seem to win. They like the front or the back. It's true because if I'm looking here, a teen has never won more than once.

Yeah, I don't like it. If you factor in all Core 46 Royal Rumble And you know Them's the breaks Number 18 Jesus Number 18 for Rick

That is actually tough This is rough right here This is not good Okay Me and Frank You're in the dirt Someone's about to hit A beautiful stretch

Okay This is a really interesting one And we spoke about this number earlier This is who GC Yeah This is number four. Surprisingly, never won before.

Never won before number four. I'm actually surprised by that. I'm not loving this lottery for me so far. Frankie is next. Two and three are great. Frank, I do have to say, absolutely love this for you. Absolutely adore this for you. This is number one.

Hell yeah. Go ahead and just send the money straight to my Venmo. We don't even need to put it in a pool. Number one has won four times. That's nice, right? Go ahead and count. Five. Okay.

Mick Terrell's not on the card, right? It's a Moitre now. I do believe I am next. And don't love this one for me. This is number 11, which has never won before. Better than my fucking two numbers. You don't want teens. No me. This is number 11, which has never won before. Better than my fucking team numbers. You don't want teens. No, your numbers are good. Your numbers are incredible.

What are you talking about? Stop your bitching. Alright, here we go. I'll do what I want. Oh, P.T., I absolutely mid-tier like this for you. Number 22. Number 22 has actually won twice. No, that's my best number, boy. I actually highly disagree, but there it is, number 22. No, that's my best number, boy. I actually highly disagree,

but there it is, number 22. He just thinks the bigger the number, the better. Yeah, why is that? Well, I know the industry. That's why. I do want to remind you that last year's winner, here I am going on and on about the teens, was number 15 Cody Rhodes. That's right.

Back-to-back winner. I'm just saying, this is already in the bag. Okay, so if he was the fourth superstar to go back-to-back. I'm not just saying this is already in the bag. Okay, so if he's the fourth superstar to go back-to-back. I'm not in terrible shape if they do the middle again. And I also do want to remind you that number three, Bailey, won the women's Rumble. So it was a real mix. Who is next? PT gets another one on the back.

PT again. Oh, this is fantastic for you, PT, just based off this information. Number 17. Number 17 for PT. I like 17. Won once before Are you writing down your numbers as if we're not Going to have this later

I'll forget keep my notebook on me Who is next I'm shitting the bed number 21 Never won before Never won before Who's got that 30 I like this 27 through 30 Have not left the board yet.

I do want to pause now for our theme song for station identification. Frank, if you would. I missed it. The song. The song. Hit the song, please. The song. I swear to God.

There's like a technical issue going on. You're like, let's go to the audio. I mean, you played this music. Just picture a dog walking out gay guard musashi this is it we could literally play the video then we have to find it okay no it's too much i'm just happy that we're able to show the lottery as we're putting the numbers in earlier we almost showed it completely filled out yeah no that would be a little yeah uh who is that i think frank uh frank you are next uh unlucky number 12 for frank i just you call that right in the whole middle of this i got this in the bag uh you have 12 and 13 i think frank right and 15 okay so you say you like 15 someone mentioned 15 uh only twice in history has the same number one in

succession it was both number 30. And who were they? I don't have names. That's too much. That's too much. Too much. Actually, I do have names. The Great Kali and Triple H in 07-08.

Oh, wow. Yeah, but Kali was not a real one. It was not? And AJ Styles, Cody Rhodes in 22-23. Who had the most cumulative eliminations in men's rumble history? Is it McCain? Yes. Well, 45 in his entire career.

Anyway, we continue. Alright, this is Connor Speck. Glenn Jacobs. Oh, one of my Glenn Jacobs, former boss. One of my favorite numbers, number 8. Aye, aye, aye. You don't love it? This is a disaster. Give me like a 30 or 29. Who got that? Who got 8?

I did Once before Connor for you It's weird how we haven't gotten the double number These are two of my last three Any rumble parties planned? We getting together? Buffalo dip? Nothing like that? Especially not after this lottery

My lord Who's next? I got two Might be the best number so far Number 28 Especially not after this lottery. My Lord. Okay. Who's next? Me. I got two. Okay. You've got two. Might be the best number so far. Number 28. Yeah, man. Let's go.

Let's go. Here comes a 30. 29-30 right here. We're going to go back to back. 28-30. Oh, you won a 29-30. Back to back. 19 for Rick.

19 for Rick. 19. Damn it. Who's going now? 19 has won never. Yeah, of course it's won never. It's a shit number. Here's Connor. 19. Damn it. Who's going up? 19 has won never. Yeah, of course it's won never. It's a shit number. Here's Connor.

Yep. Okay, I found number 31. You found the double. No. There is a 31. It's 70, so this is clearly their stake. I don't even know how that comes into play. Write it down.

We're fair. But there it is. We found it. Okay, this is Connor's once again. Oh, Connor, your day has now turned into gold lucky number 3-0 let's go that is huge

that's huge baby 5 times lucky number 30 has won and there she is what a turn of events I say we give him the 70 that you drew and I get the 30 there's just randomly a 70 in there? It must have been like a pack of hundreds

that I bought. Sorry, that wasn't for air. Oh, yes. I said we talk to people. You're just screaming at people. That was him and his EP voice. It doesn't matter. Frank, this is a tremendous number for you.

Number 14. Frank, 14, 13, 15. 12, 13, he's next. Protect your neck. Frank, this is a tremendous number for you. Number 14. Oh, man. Frank, 14, 13, 15. 12, 13, 14, 15. Soak it up. Soak it up. You guys are all like, oh, those are shitty numbers. I love it.

And then you're like, oh, who do I have to Venmo again? Frank's got 12, 13, 14, 15. Then I've got 16, skip 17, 18, 19. It's me and Frank are just in the show. Frank, that middle part of the rumble, you're going to be locked in. Yeah. Me too. I'm ready for you.

And I got number one, so. Okay, Helwani is next. I need something good here. I feel like I need something terrible. No, I love this number. Number 27. Love 27. Oh, damn it.

27 is a great number. So, like, 29 is the only good one left, really. 29 is the only decent number. 27 has won four times, by the way. Yeah, 29, not as good as you think. Only won twice. I know, but like... I'll do. This is who?

Can we trade numbers? Absolutely. Trades are allowed, and actually, we can manipulate the trades, okay? So, you know, we can... What does that mean? I was just playing off of what Darren Owen was talking about. That was pretty good. Who was traded? Felipe Lins and Carlos

Antonio Jr. Oh, yeah, Shoe Face. Yeah, who are you up with to bang out the article for our own grounder? But here's the problem. The thing that I'm worried about is, like, if fighters can just be, like, put on different teams, then what the hell is the point of the teams? Yeah, it did really forge more questions. Why don't you ask the camaraderie of the New York team where it's Kevin Lee and Chris Weidman. Anyway, who is next?

PT's got two. Oh, so this is your second. His final two. No, you're doing his first one. Oh, wow, PT. I mean, it is the luck of the Irish smiling down upon you. Number 29. Oh!

Yes! Come on! Come on! Yes, there it is. Play it. Play it. Yes. I mean, we needed the celebration.

Can we get the celebration? Yes. There. Yeah. I've never seen needed the celebration. Can we get the celebration? I've never seen him this happy. There it is. Now what he's going to do? He has books. You know, by the way, what the Royal Rumble is, Pete C. Are you familiar with it? He called it Rumble Mania earlier.

He was like, I'm here for the Rumble Mania. The beauty for you, by the way, over in the land of the Irish era, it's that it's now on Netflix. No paywall, no nothing. That's fantastic. Did you know that? Yeah. Do you know they had to send me an email?

I was subscribed to WWE for two years because of one event you made me watch. And then last month, I just got an email saying, your subscription has ended. I was like, well, I've been paying these fuckers $20 for two years. Sorry about that. What were you paying for? Subscription to what? It was a WWE network.

Oh, the network. Oh, that's why I didn't ever watch it. It's on Netflix. I watched it when Sami Zayn fought your man with the hair. Oh, in the Montreal. So the move to Netflix was actually a great thing for you, VT. Now you're saving $20 a month. $20 that I can put into the kitty.

Yeah. No, I love it. Okay, so this is the final round, right? This is the final round. Wow, we're last pick, right? We're last pick, right? I have a good feeling about 29. Cena's coming out with 29.

This thing, by the way, where do we get this? Amazon? Yeah. It's so good. Still holding up after all these years. All the moves. So random.

People stealing our black belt. I mean, it made it through everything. Who's next? Who's next? Who's next? You are. You got one more. Wait, no. Oh, sorry.

I got two. I got two. Wow. PT's. What has he got? 25 for PT. Come on! Yeah.

Yeah. These are the numbers you want. These are the numbers you want. 30 is all I got to my name. These are the numbers you want. Who's up next? That's still a good one. Now you're going to be Ariel Helani.

Not bad. 23. That's kind of an unlucky number. Pretty good. Two wins. Oh yeah, I'm fucking... 24 is a good one. Who's next? Frank. Oh, Frank, I absolutely love this for you.

20. 20 for Frank. I'm actually confirming now 20 has never won before. 20 is the year for 20 to win. No, 22 is off. Why are you trying to guess? And this would be who?

Yeah, there's nothing. GC. This is GC number nine. Nice. Don't hate it. And that means. Four, six, eight, nine is tough. Each time those guys come out,

it's going to be some dude I've never heard of. And they're going to be like, oh, they're in the ring. Oh, and they're eliminated. The fastest elimination in Royal Rumble history. And the final number is number five jesus christ and five has won once nine has never won and so uh did we get all the numbers we did we got all the numbers i think four of them talk about that like the last four and the draw for me insane take that let's see okay so just taking a look at this three of my six numbers have never won before. It's not even a question

that Pizzi has the best. 3-2 are amazing. 22 is great. 29-25 are phenomenal. And last year Rhodes got 15. He's 17. Looking at Helwani, 24 not bad. 11 not great.

I could live with 21, 27, and 23. Frank, by far the worst. No, I'm the worst, but me and Frank are at the bottom. 15, 13, 1. I like 1. 12, 14, tough. 20, not bad. Connor, 26, I love.

6 and 4, I like a lot. I don't even hate 8 as well. Why do you like 6 and 4? Because they're always in the... 1 through 5 and 25 through 30 I think are the best. 1 through 5 and 25 through 30 historically are the best. Okay, so just I'm stacked in that section. Stacked.

And then is the 30-70 a joke? Yeah, I was going to tell Jordan to remove the 70. Poor poker human by Jordan. Yeah, I appreciate that. Thanks for highlighting it. Jordan, I thought it was a really good idea. I thought it was a great idea.

And nine. And then here's Rick who says he has the worst. 10, 16, I mean, 15 won last year. I'm in the Frank boat. The 28 has to save me. That's all I got.

Five is great. Five is a great one. Five shit. 28's good. Now, do we do another one for the women? No, this is the same one i'm kidding i'm kidding so what is it what is the final determination as to what is at stake it

it's 100 bucks no what do you mean is it 100 bucks so explain to me what you're saying books ahead what do you say can it not be like hey you lost out on the women now you got another chance what do you mean when you say you get points so like if, like, if you won the men's, you get 15 points. But you didn't win the women's, so you didn't get any points for that. But if you got an elimination – So, it'll all work out if you're just trying to amass as many points as possible. Okay. So, cumulative.

Cumulative. Between the two. Do we like that? Yes. Yes. $20 in the pot? Do we like that? I'm just asking.

Winner take all. Now, is it $20 or €20? What is it? So that's the thing. It's got to be 20 USD, PT. I could see him doing the math. We just trade mostly potatoes. Isn't the euro and the dollar

like the same right now? PT, we had a nightmare with exchanging currency. I'm not naming any names. By the way, you have a Revolut line. You have a Revolut line set up. Yeah, I'm on Revolut now, so if I win, PT can send me.

But can we send the money now? Why not just send you the money? Yeah, I'm on Revolut now, so if I win, Pete's going to send me his. Can we send the money now? Send it to me. I'll be escrow. Guys, one euro is equal to $1.04, so there's nothing to really worry about. Except for the four cents. That.04.

It's 87 cents. 80 pence, as they say. Am I sending you the squids now GC yeah Frank's had a problem with collecting I can't wait for this by the way GC can we get some odds what are the odds

so right now actually you can get John Cena plus 100 Seth freaking Rollins plus 125 CM Punk plus 150 The Rock plus 800 Roman Reigns plus 1200 wow and then down the list that's a lot Sammy Zanfall Jake Paul plus 20,000

if you're interested Brock Lesnar plus 10,000 Stone Cold Steve Austin plus 10,000 you know if you just want to throw a dart on one of those for the women Charlotte Flair minus 200 Bianca Belair plus 175 EO Sky plus 325 sneaky, plus 175. EO Sky, plus 325. Sneaky don't mind EO Sky there.

Becky Lynch, plus 500. Alexa Bliss, plus 1,000. Liv Morgan, plus 1,600. And down the list it goes. You can get Roxanne Perez for plus 10,000 if that fancies you. Defending champion Bailey, plus 10,000 as well. A couple props I wanted to throw out to you that kind of interest me. Anyone eliminated under 10 seconds in both men's and women's is minus 200 on each.

Wow. Yeah, I think I might take that on both. I think there's only, I could be wrong, but I think there's only two matches other than the Rumble. And the Rumble takes very long. Ladder match, Cody Rhodes champion versus Kevin Owens, and then women's Rumble, men's Rumble.

I think that's it. Oh no, there's a tag team match as well. So it's really all about those two. I think a lot of people are thinking John Cena's going to win and then go up against... That's my pick. That's my pick. That's what you're feeling? I know the industry. Yeah. I think Pop's of people are thinking John Cena is going to win and then go up against... That's my pick. That's my pick. That's what you're feeling? I know the industry.

I think Paul's got this one. Oh, yeah. There it is. There it is. Guys, the internet is all a Twitter over this Jake Paul, Logan Paul promo poster that's been posted. And so there it is. Yeah. Jake Paul posted this. There was a video as well. That is some kind of poster.

American flag in the background. March 27th on Max. What day is March 27th? It's a Thursday. Yeah. Is it? Yeah, it's a Thursday. And so can I break the fourth wall? Break it. It's a Thursday Yeah it's a Thursday And so Can I break the fourth wall It's already broken

Is it broken I'm struggling with this one What are you struggling with I thought about starting the show Talking about this Because this kind of came out Right before we went to air And I see everyone texting me about it and talking about it. I know what's being talked about and what's being announced, But I'm not quite in the position

To discuss it Now no one hates the I know something you don't know guy More than me No doubt But I feel like I'm in a tough spot here So I was just looking for some guidance To me

I think we can all decipher that it isn't a fight. The fact that it's on a Thursday, the fact that all it says is HBO Max, there's no information on where it would take place. You're just going to drop a poster and that's how we're going to announce that a boxing match is happening. They're not fighting. I just want everyone to know

this is being said by GC, Connor Burks, PO Box 14653. So you know. No, but they aren't fighting. They're not fighting. Come on. At least not right now. This is not a fight announcement.

The dogs in the street know they're not fighting in Helwani. Come on. What are you doing? Tell us. I just. You laid it out perfectly there. You laid it out perfectly there, Connor. No one drops something like that.

It's tremendous promotion. It's tremendous promotion for something. It does suggest, though, you know what's my takeaway from this? My takeaway is there is an appetite to see these two guys fight. Oh, for sure. People were blowing up about it. I've said it all along. This is the best fight for Jake.

You don't think so, PT? I just... I don't know. I can remember once I saw them and I was like, I really don't think they like each other, but I also think they're too smart to actually fight each other. If they do fight, I don't think people would be very happy with the result of that.

I think people would love to see it. I think whether you have an appetite or people would love to see it. I think whether you have an appetite or whether you want to watch it or not it's indifferent in this situation. I think people would tune in and watch it. Oh, I think they'd definitely watch it.

Also, just with how successful they are at drumming interest in anything they do, imagine their combined powers geared toward making this uh a thing it would be massive like also just like the post that they made they made like all the shared instagram posts with max uh logan and jake and the caption is just the moment you've waited a decade for march 27th on max they didn't mention yeah anything about what they're doing

and the thursday i mean the the Thursday is in the weirdest thing. Fights have happened on weird dates. But yes, I would say smart people can understand that there's something going on. But I do maintain, it kind of reminds me of Stone Cold Steve Austin versus Vince McMahon back in the day. Everyone can relate to the idea of beating up their boss. That's what everyone used to say, right? Everyone wants to, you know, kick the boss in the stomach and flip him off and stun them and all this stuff. And I think a lot of people can relate to the idea of some sort of fight against your brother if, you know, it's good natured. They've done a great job of planting

seeds throughout the year, throughout the years, excuse me, that I think this would be a mega event. And I hope they don't take this the wrong way. I think they would do it. Remember Ken Shamrock and Frank Shamrock back in the day, they weren't even actually like fraternal brothers, right? And people were like, yeah, this is a little uncomfortable. And they acknowledge that too. And there was once a time where it seemed like it was going to happen, but then it never happened. I think Jake and Logan would actually do it.

I really do. They're too good of businessmen not to do it. Before it's all said and done, they will have to do it because there's too much fun. You think before it's all said and done, they fight each other? Yes.

Wow. Now, will they try to actually maim each other? Probably not. That's going to be the problem. That's what I'm saying. It can't be a sparring. It's going to be Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen. No, it won't be that because I think you could still box somebody without trying to

take their head off, but... Oh my god. It can't be. No way. It won't be Chael Sonnen versus Sonnen. I know. I'm not saying it's that bad That would be a disaster How much of a showman Logan is in WWE They would I think they'd make it

Entertaining but You know what I'd rather see If I'm being honest I'd rather see them do MMA Cause I feel like Even if you're not Really I don't know what they're doing

What do you mean They'd wrestle They'd do something I'm into that The wrestling thing They wrestled in high school That's like me saying I picked soccer. I'd rather see boxing, but... No, I don't want to see boxing.

Whatever the line is on... I'd rather see boxing. That's what they're best at. That's their thing. Nah. Because boxing is too many places you can kind of just... It is a fascinating... Jake is the better boxer. Jake is 100%. Oh, yeah. 100%. At this point, I mean, he has more fights.

Doesn't that even the playing field too I think MMA is more interesting Not for me There's a weird thing like that whole scene with Connor In the bus and Jake's like oh you wanted The easier fight and then remember I did the sit down with Logan and he implied That Nate wanted the easier fight

Like you're sitting right next to your brother and saying That he's the easier fight how could that not be Insulting unless they're all in on it I have to imagine saying that he's the easier fight. How could that not be insulting? Unless they're all in on it. I have to imagine he knows he's not as good a fighter. I don't think he thinks that. I think he probably thinks that. He seems pretty self-aware. What draws bigger numbers, Jake McGregor or Logan Jake?

Jake. Jake and McGregor. Jake was in both options, Frank. How could it be? Jake. Jake. What? Just Jake.

Oh, just Jake, period. Conor is still a bigger fight star than both of them. Yeah. He's not a bigger global name, potentially, than these guys, just because of what their fan base is and their global presence. Logan, significantly helped by the WWE aspect of it. But Conor, when it comes to a fight, is still a much bigger name than both of them.

Yeah, I agree. But I think this would be massive. I think it would be big enough for a Netflix. This is my number two. Maybe like a Canelo, but this is like, it's up there. It's up there. It's a top three fight for Jake Paul.

Is Logan. Yeah. Logan, I don't even think of in the equation as much because he's not the boxer, right? Like he's kind of like out of the scene. He pops in for a big one, potentially against Conor as that rumored kind of thing was, or even against Jake.

Jake, I think of as having legitimate options, like a boxing fight with Conor, a boxing fight with Canelo, a boxing fight, Mike Tyson, he's already knocked off, a boxing fight with Canelo, a boxing fight Mike Tyson, he's already knocked off, a boxing fight with Logan. Those are massive. Those are truly massive spectacle global events. Bigger fight,

Jake Logan, Dennis Ferguson. Stop. What teams? I tell you what, I enjoy more. Does Dennis Ferguson get the most attention of any of the fights possible for GFL?

Like, it's going to be like the song by a million. You know what I mean? Probably, yeah. It's great. Think about like the hero opportunity

for Tony Ferguson there. It is. Get back in the win column and to do it against Dylan Dennis? I mean, Logan beat up Dylan Dennis and it didn't necessarily

make him into a hero. Yeah, but Dylan's performance in that one. Tony Ferguson is a a hero. Yeah, but Dylan's performance in that one. Tony Ferguson is a baby face. But also Dylan's performance in that one kind of really like, you know, soured people up. Yeah. Man.

After Darren's appearance, you guys more into the GFL? Need to see events. Need a schedule. I screwed up. I screwed up, Connor. What? I should have asked about the merch. Aye, and the mascots

We need the logos That's when we're going to get really involved Alright 16 times in a row The streak is over It ain't happening You forgot to ask that question What's 16 times?

What are you talking about? 16 time journalist of the year Oh, right, right You're out of the running It's over, brother Damn it, damn it Yeah, weren't you afraid to ask the hard questions, Elwani? Come on, man. What's the thing about you and me?

I thought we had something at one point. New York Empire? Yeah. Oh, I forgot to ask about the team names, too. That's what I'm saying. We need team names. What did you ask this person? Yeah, I really didn't ask anything. By the way, he did kind of drop a little nugget about the Montreal event, if you heard that one. Yeah,

Bell Santa, what? By the way, it would be great. Roadshow? Is that the one where Turkey, Dana, and I break bread? Is that the one? Yeah. That might be the one. Breaking.

Turkey, LL Sheik, Dana White, and Ariel Helwani break bread at GFL Montreal. No, no. UFC Montreal. Yes. What? What are you talking about? I thought you were talking about A GFL Montreal event I'm sorry Oh my gosh

No that would be How confident How confident percentage wise Are both you lads On the first event happening? I'm pretty damn confident I'm pretty damn confident And we shall leave it at that

Because we have Very important things to get to But I'm sorry No Let us move along now This is this is a huge deal this is a huge honor it's a huge privilege uh we've been trying to make this happen for quite some time and so let's not waste any time let us go all the way down to riyadh saudi arabia would it

be down i'm not quite sure according to carl froch it would just be here it would probably be to the east i think it is anyway flying fuck about Carl Froch that's right Frank that's right in any event massive deal massive opportunity so very excited to say hello for the first time in a very long time

to the one and only Mr. Adesanya is he there yes sir we are here. We are live. Fuck, man. Wow. I love it.

I never hear you cuss. Yo, this is awkward, Izzy. Izzy, how are you? But this is shit. It's not awkward. We're still connecting. We're still connecting. We're just connecting over Zoom.

No, it's awkward because I was hitting up Tim and incessantly bothering him. But I asked for David Adesanya, not... Oh, okay. I'll get him. I'll get him. That's who I wanted. The uncrowned 145-pound champ. I'll get him real quick.

I'll go get him. I'll go get him. Fuck, I screwed up. I just kept saying Adesanya, and I meant David Adesanya. It's good to see you my friend This is great, what a treat I know you don't like the Zooms But it's a big deal The world's moving in a different way now

So you kind of have to Get with the times And I do like it more personal In person because I feel like it's better connection, but Hey, we still connect. Yes. Um, so this means a lot. Thank you so much. You're over there in Riyadh. Uh, it seems like anytime there's a big event, especially the headliner, they treat you well. I had the opportunity to go one time you get off the plane, they give you those dates, they give you the tea, the flowers. Did you get the whole treatment? Uh, yes, I got the treatment.

A little bit this time. Not as much as other times, but a little bit. It was quite low-key. Okay. The haircut is nice. I did get a sneak peek at the haircut last week. I want to let the people know, and I hope that you don't mind me saying this. You did a very nice...

Oh, yeah, what we're talking about. Yeah. Are you okay with me saying this? Yeah, man. It's cool. My nephew, unfortunately, who's a gigantic fan of yours, he came in studio when you came we're talking about yeah are you okay with me saying this yeah man that's cool oh my nephew unfortunately who's a gigantic fan of yours he came in studio when uh when you came a couple years ago you were kind enough on his birthday to give him a hundred dollar bill he still has it in

a case in his room jared he'll be embarrassed about me saying this he tore his acl recently skiing and i asked if you could send him a video to uplift him. And you were kind enough to do so. You did say that he was on the bunny slopes, you heard through the grapevine when he got the injury. But I noticed that your haircut was a little longer than usual. And the example that you gave me, the symbolism that you gave me was really interesting. Where were you at with that type of haircut? I call it like um album or like when a rapper's in the studio you know fucking just dropping bars on tracks and stuff and you don't really have time it was good for me though because to be honest when i get a haircut i kind of get horny a little bit so i start to like venture outside

so it was nice to just stay inside and not try and be slick and just just work so yeah i've been working man and the haircut was uh or lack of a haircut was a show of it can i ask about that sensation you get the haircut and you get uh you get frisky what is that you look so good in the mirror that you just want to go out there on the town i was just, man. Ah, fuck. I was just saying as it is, but every man knows when you get a haircut, you start looking different. You start feeling different. You start walking different. A-Tip, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah, you just start... Yes. I love it. You just get a little horny and then you just start to find yourself in situations. Yeah. And the great GSP once said, you know, you can't, you have to abstain if you're about to have a big fight. So it's part of the process.

You don't have to. I mean, but to be honest, this camp would be the most I have actually. Really? There might be something with semen retention today. It might be. I don't know. I'll have to look into it but um yeah uh i've just been working there i've just been working i don't know um i'm happy with the work i'm happy with the progression and i can't wait till this weekend i'm quietly confident in my skills by the way can i ask, was that a conscious decision on your part, the abstaining? Yeah, it was.

Look, it's always there. Always horny. But it's like you just, you know, put it this way. I like the freedom of thought. I like the freedom of choice. So I like to know I can do something, but I choose not to. And yeah, it's a readily available option, but I just chose not to as much as I can. Okay.

I like to, you know, you bring us into your world through your YouTube channel, Freestyle Bender. It's tremendous. And then through a couple of interviews here and there, and I try to find these little nuggets because I don't want to ask you the same thing as everyone else. And I know you did a bunch of interviews last week through steak and whatnot and and they're great as well and one channel that i always love to go to kind of off the beaten path is combat tv the og uh who comes to your gym yeah he's an og who's been covering you guys for a very long time and he did an interview kind of like you i appreciate that he did an interview with uh with eugene who has really you know, Eugene used to be readily available. Now it's harder, you know, it's harder to get Eugene than the President of the United States on this program.

He just doesn't want to do anything anymore, which I like. I respect. I call him Big Affairs. That's what I call him. Big Affairs Eugene. He's a big deal. He's a big deal now. Big Affairs.

Call him that next time you see him. Big Affairs Eugene. I need to get him to respond to a WhatsApp text first. But next time you see him. Big Affairs, Eugene. I need to get him to respond to a WhatsApp text first, but next time I see him, I will say that. Bro, you know, that guy, he's harder to get a hold of than me. Interesting. He's a fucking ninja. He said to Combat TV, what's the gentleman's name, by the way?

Tony. Tony. Shout out to Tony. He said that at the beginning of this camp, he set some criteria. He had a frank talk with you. And he said that if this training camp is going to be like the last couple of ones, I'm not interested. I'm not interested in being a part of it. I'm not interested in training you. He said that he wanted to set some challenges for you, make some demands.

Otherwise, he didn't want to be a part of it. He wanted to go back he said and i quote i want to turn back the clock to the izzy who would ask me for 20 when i only had 20 because you had nothing else to your name is this accurate and if so can you tell me about those conversations because those seem like tough conversations to have with someone like him uh no really no me and him butt heads a lot so it's not really hard to talk honestly with each other um but yeah uh after the last fight you know i just said uh because i was well the last fight i had with drickers was the most active i've ever been in any fight and we've just discovered that we didn't have enough gas in the in the fuel tank um so the output the work rate wasn't able to sustain it. And unfortunately,

I made a mistake and got, you know, subbed. But I told him and I made a promise. I was like, yeah, I'll fix it. So I did wind back the clock and kind of just, to be honest, yeah, in the sense of borrowing 20 bucks, I just kind of lived like I was broke again. Like I didn't really have millions in the bank. And so he was really being serious? Like if you're not going to take this seriously, I don't want to be a part of it? Yeah, because, you know, you have to realize Eugene has lost people in this game, in the ring. Like he looks at this differently.

And Lolo had to bring him back through a series of questions and phrases. So he takes us very seriously and I can definitely say he, you know, we had an agreement and yeah, we are where we need to be right now. If he's not a part of the training camp, are you interested in being a fighter? Like, can you go into battle without him? I don't want to think about that. Okay. But he did say that to you, right?

Yeah. And more so where it's pretty much just like something has to change. So I was like, yep, something has to change. And a few things have, yeah. Can I ask what changed? Just perspective and let me think how I'm going to flesh this out. Just the perspective. Like, look, when I came in the game, the way I approached the game was different.

I did what I set out to do because I had a rough plan. Now I don't need to approach the game the same way I did when I got in the game. I've established myself. I'm going to be in the record books or whatever in the history and I can approach the game differently. So I'm in a good place in the game and fighting right now. I'm in a good place in the game and fighting right now i'm in a good place in life where i don't need anything i'll just do what i want to do and i want to keep fighting i want to keep doing this at a high level so yeah it kind of frees you up a lot in a sense so yeah i hope i hope that made sense no it makes it makes total sense i i also heard you say that you're on a better track now than you were maybe for the last two fights so what is the difference in in track

because like there you were against drick is tremendous fight you're in a title fight your main event etc so you hear a lot of people say that but what does it actually mean oh it's a new me or i've turned back the clock these are things that often people say before fights. What does it actually mean when you say them? Oh, when I'm, when I say this time and the other times they're true as well, but there's levels, there's always new levels you can hit. So I've hit a new level now. I've hit a new level where it's like, again, I don't need anything. I just do what I want to do. And for this camp, for example, like I told you, I was just, you know, in album mode. I was working. And even in my personal life, I just not cut out, but just stayed away from places or people that don't serve me in my ultimate goal yeah and i just kind of looked you know at my surroundings looked at what i'm consuming you know and just yeah made a few changes just to align more with what i want

to really get done in this game and for this camp i can definitely say i i achieved that immense you love the y'all must have forgot line i love it as well always saying that about different people at the very beginning of this fight camp you told your brother on your channel that you forgot how good you were that you needed to be reminded how good you were and and so was that guy that we saw in august and and a year prior against strickland like were you having confidence issues like to say i forgot how good i was were you having a crisis of confidence no i wasn't i was very confident but it was just um then it's hard to say without getting too personal as in like get personal my person it's okay no this is the

internet man okay sorry sorry some people know some shit about you personally and then they'll think that's how it is for life when things can change i get it um yeah uh for me i just had to look at myself example don't take things too personally like none of these motherfuckers know you so that was one thing i definitely came away with in my last two contests. And, yeah, I just know how to approach the game now. Like this fight is going to be a boring lead up for people because, you know, there's no really beef between me and him. But, I mean, next time I have beef with someone, I know how to approach that.

I know how to handle that very well. I've done it in the past very, very well. Trust me, I have. You guys have seen. But the last two, I just didn the past very very well trust me I have you guys have seen but the last two I just didn't I didn't approach it very well do you regret that because it was very personal with those two no no no

it was personal but I don't regret it I just did things I would have changed in my understanding approach to those beefs. This is warfare. This is warfare.

And you got, if you look, I took two L's, I pull back and I'm like, okay, address what am I, what did I do wrong? And I,

as a general, I addressed it and I was like, cool. I fucked up there. I fucked up there. Okay. I could have done that better. And then that's how you get better.

You have to really take a look at yourself and get better in all aspects. So yeah, I don't need to share that with everyone, but i know what i have done better this camp a lot better this camp whatever those feelings were have you completely shed them uh you know we saw you and drichus in the back share great moment with your families and then the jackets and all that is there any animosity there because of what was said beforehand or how it played out with either guy? That doesn't serve me at all. That's gone. That doesn't serve me. To that point, I'm not sure if you saw it. I think you were asked about it today by Oscar

Willis, but we had Alex Pereira in studio yesterday. And it was a great answer to a question about his relationship and his stance towards you. I just wanted to play it for you real quick and get your reaction. Is that okay? Mm-hmm. All right, here's Alex yesterday. Do you have love for Israel? Like when you watch him compete, if you're watching on Saturday, because of the time you spent together, do you hope for the best for him?

Do you want him to win? Yeah, I do. I don't see myself cheering against Israel Desania. I wish him the best. And I think that maybe without him, without him, I would not be where I am today. I would have not gotten the U.S.U. the good contract that I did due to the history that we have.

What's your reaction to that? Nah, man. I'll say, like, same, same. I feel the same way. I think God blessed me with a great opponent like Alex Pineda. He blessed me with that challenge to be able to rise to the occasion and I'm glad we can kind of share even the way we ran into each other at the airport um like what two years ago three years ago we were still kind of like beefing but there was a little we had a this is before we fought Jan we had a little, we had, this is before he fought Jan. We had a little conversation after the TSA LAX or whatever,

and then went our own ways. And it was a cordial, civil conversation with a limited language barrier, I guess. But yeah, I respect the guy and I want the best for him. I like what he's doing. I like the fact that he's running through everyone because, again, it just shows how good he is i asked him about you training with rob and all that and if he would be open to training with you and i thought his answer was phenomenal he essentially said like who better than me to tell him what works and doesn't work we've been in there together twice

in mma twice he was really into it um and so i'm wondering like is this of interest to you would you ever be interested in doing what you did with rob with him yeah definitely again these things happen organically you can't like you know now kith yeah it just it happens organically um so when it happens and the the stars align it'll happen but it hasn't yet so yeah i'll be open to it because again he's a guy and look i have you know one of my boys lost you know looking to come for his belt as well so when that happens i'm gonna do my best to help the bro become a world champ and yeah uh after that we look we're all on the same journey trying to do our best for our families and achieve our dreams and just set ourselves up for life. So I can't hate on someone who's on, I guess, the same journey as me. I could, so I won't ask you about how it all got made and all that stuff. But he did say on the show last week, Rob, that back in 2019, he would have bumped you with his car.

That's how deep it was, right? And it's a great honest answer. It's so lovely to see you guys on good terms and the stuff with the matchas. It's just amazing. It's just amazing. Could I ask, did you feel the same way about him? Did those thoughts cross through your mind back then as well? I don't know if I would have hit him with a car,

but I definitely would have hit him. But like, just, I'm just happy he pulled up. I'm happy he came through. I'm happy he just shared his energy with the gym, his skills. And we're just two chill guys, eh? Like, we sat down at my house and we were doing the breakdown. But it was like we're kind of just chilling with David and my boy Matt. And we were just talking shit, you know?

And even after the cameras were off, we had a little bit of just chin wag and it was just cool. Again, it's, why would I hate someone who's on the same journey as me or similar, similar journey as me? Cause I understand what he's trying to do or what he's done. Cause he has done it. Um, one of the first to do it from the anzacs you know so yeah i always have respect for him but now i have so much love for the guy and i can't wait till we work together more in the future it has to be incredibly freeing and uh oh no you see me yeah it was uh it was lagging yeah yep we're good it has to feel incredible to to to be in a good place to have peace to have some sort of kinship friendship with these guys who are once

foes rivals that you dreamed about that you prepared for like that has to be an amazing weight off your shoulders no no wait no but um definitely like what i said about if it doesn't serve me, because if I'm holding on to some, some shit that doesn't serve me, it's just going to poison me. So why hold onto it? And I've seen Rob, like last time I saw him before he pulled up was, um, when Alex fought, uh, Islam and Rob was in the crowd, but I saw it backstage. We talked and then shared a little joke. So I't gonna like me more than they're silly so um yeah if the the energy or the feeling doesn't serve me release it let it go and i've let it go like elsa right hey let it go let us go good call back your your your top pinned um post on instagram is a is a 20

slide carousel that is a hodgepodge of many different things in many different places and it's an incredible collection and maybe like some sort of insight into your mind it's from october of this past year a little little bit, a little bit. Can I ask about one particular thing? One particular thing is a video of you on the couch where you alluded to something earlier in this chat where you're saying like, I want to let people in. I want to show people a different side of me.

I want to talk about personal things, but it all gets mixed into one, this whole MMA pot, this professional life, and it could affect my professional life. It's a tease there that you want to say something, want to share something you want to get stuff off your chest but you're being held back like i want to like my real fans my my real fans the ones that really love me the ones that fuck me they're right with me no matter what i want to show them parts of my life that i've never really shown. Well, maybe the documentary I showed a little bit more of that side.

But, you know, for me, I just feel like I'd rather not because if you let, you can't just let certain people in. Because, look, the thing is with this game or fame, once you let people into the house, when it's time to leave, they ain't leaving. They're like, no, ain't leaving. They're like, no, squatters rights. They're staying. So yeah, I like to keep those doors closed, but there's things I just kind of feel like sometimes I want to share with people, things that are good in my life, things that I'm like, fuck, this is dope. This is a cool milestone in my personal life. I want to share with my fans because they fuck with me, but I'd just rather keep

it to myself because again in this game you share a little bit and they want more and they'll take it all away from you so i'd rather keep what i value my private life private does it get to the point where it's like you you wish that you could be izzy the non-fighter where you can just be viewed as the non-fighter the non-celebrity do you long for those days are you so far removed from those days that you wish that it could be like that now i i appreciate the position i'm in and again i love the perks of being famous um fuck if i could do it again if i could go back in time i'd find it would be a tech billionaire or some kind of stupid rich investor so i can be just stupid rich and just anonymous and just walk

around the street i still do it though like you see me in auckland i'm outside you know i'll be on the streets with the with the people um no security no nothing. But then there's times when if I'm going to a concert or if I'm going to go to an event, then I have to have security because I'm not stupid. But yeah, I don't long for those days. I just have really strong boundaries now. I tell people no. And I tell people, people think I hate even taking photos with them. They're like, oh, I know you hate taking photos. I'm like, no, no, I don't hate taking photos. I'm like, I tell people no. People think I hate even taking photos with them. They're like, oh, I know you hate taking photos. I'm like, no, no, I don't hate taking photos. I'm like, I appreciate you being respectful.

That's it. It's just manners and respect gets you a long way. I don't like people pulling up and just, oh, my God, stop filming you. Or, you know, oh, bro. Those kind of things I fucking hate. I'm like, fuck you. Don't just put a camera in my face. I don't know you. Or someone running up on you and being too extra.

Oh, I'm just a fan. I don't give a fuck. It's manners and respect. That's what people have to get through their head. And yeah, I'm happy to be in this position. So yeah, I'm not going to complain because God gave me a lot to eat and I was hungry. You were the first one to introduce, at least to me, the term tall poppy syndrome. I never heard that before.

It was in that speech that you gave where you talked about that. That's definitely an Anzac thing. Tall poppy syndrome. It's a thing that happens worldwide, but I don't know how we came up with that name. I just... Tall poppies? Oh, really? Okay. It happens worldwide, but I don't know how we came up with that name. I just... Tall puppies? It's like the tallest flower they trim the top. Oh, really?

Okay. Apparently, the tallest flower they trim the top. Yep. I remember when you said it, and I looked into it, and it makes total sense. I'm just wondering now, maybe you're not champion, you're not on the winning streak. Is the relationship with the people, because maybe you're not the tallest poppy if you will is the relationship with the people of new zealand different do you feel like they treat you differently now i'm still the tallest puppy in new zealand okay nah yeah um it doesn't doesn't feel different yeah i'm still they call me champ

bro like everywhere worldwide hey champ what's up champ. What's up, champ? So that's never going to change. I don't, you know... They called me champ if I was champ. Like, you know, I'm still Israel. I'm just going to be me for life. And that just comes with what it comes with.

Do they appreciate you more now? Do you feel like you get more love from them? Because there was once a time where you said you would never fight there again, right? Oh, that was not. That was the government. That wasn't the people. That wasn't at the people. That was the government, the bureaucrats.

Again, because they were trying to move the goalposts during COVID. And then they were stifling Dan from fighting, but letting other athletes for traditional sports compete and lockdown and stuff. And they were trying to halt us coming to our gym, stopping us from quarantining, things like that. And I don't think I need to fight in New Zealand anyway. I think there's new guys coming up that are going to headline, you know, that'll be better suited for the country. Okay.

Just a couple more and then I'll let you go. Thank you. I know it's late over there, so I don't want to keep you too long. The other one that I love from the world of boxing, it's Y'all Must Have Forgot and Marvin Hagler's Silk Pajamas line

that it's hard to wake up in the morning when you're sleeping in silk pajamas, right? That's the legendary one. Is that a feeling that you can relate to now? Not now, no.

I've been there before, but I still got up, still got up, still dominated. Um, but now, I mean, I sleep very well.

I sleep naked to be honest. I don't know how people wear clothes to sleep. It's weird to me. Wow. Do you, Tim? No. Yeah.

I don't understand. Like, I think it's a, yeah, I don't know what's wrong with people. Hey, like I don't understand. Like, I think it's a... Yeah, I don't know what's wrong with people, eh? Like, don't you feel... Like, it feels weird if you wear clothes to sleep, yeah. But yeah, anyway, apart from that, like I said, now I just do what I want to do.

I don't need anything. I don't need anything from anyone. I don't need anything really from this game. It's do what I want to do. I don't need anything. I don't need anything from anyone. I don't need anything really from this game. It's just what I want to do. And I want to compete at the highest level because I still feel like I am the best, you know? Um, and I'll prove that again, I'm quietly confident with my skills and the work i've put in for this fight so i can't wait to just go in there and just do the work and then people are going to be on my dick again like oh my god he's this he's that he's amazing because that's the game we're in you know uh you have one loss and i should retire he's done he's washed and then you go in there smoke someone and this is not the first time this

has happened in the ufc you know they said it to me a couple of times before in the past. Oh, no, he's done. He should retire. But I don't listen. I just, again, do what I want to do. You told your brother that you had several goals left. One that you've mentioned before is to get a sub. And I thought the belt doesn't really matter.

But it sounds to me like there is a part of you that would like to be champion again um it's not not like the main thing but i just know it'll it'll spin back it'll spin the block but uh for me i'm enjoying this i'm enjoying even this fight week it's a fight night it's chill uh tim's trimmed down my media obligations so i just i'm just chilling man i like this this flow and i do like the feel of a big fight as well like who you know i think it's because i did too many back to back to back to back and like now when they come i'll handle it differently and I'll handle it well with my newfound perspective. It's a crazy thing. This will be your first non-title fight since UFC 234 against Anderson Silva in February of 2019. You fought in an incredible 12 straight title fights.

And I mean, that's like champion or not, spotlight, target on your back for 12 straight times. And it's, once again, Imavov wants to beat you to become the man, title on the line or not. So there is a difference, but in reality, you're still the main event. It's not like you're on the prelims

fighting some no-namer. It kind of feels the same. That's why I'm still Israel at this point. So it's my job to send them back down the ladder. Can I ask of those goals, the sub maybe getting back to, is there one that we may not know of that you haven't shared? That's a goal for you,

a career goal that's left to accomplish. Career goal. Let me think. What's a career goal. I've done a lot in this game, in and out of the cage. What's a career goal that I want to, I definitely want to get a sub, but apart from that, fuck, I don't really know. Like I said, I don't really need anything. I just do what I want to do. When it comes to me, I decide if I want it and I'll go get it. But yeah, a sub is definitely one of them. And I will be hunting for it. There's not many guys left at 85 that you haven't fought, but it sounds like Kaio is one that's of interest at some point.

Why him? Yes. Good style. I like his style. And he's been, you know, our interactions have been respectful, cordial. And it's just fucking hands, bro. Like, you're good. I'm good.

Let's throw hands. Let's see what's up. No bad blood, nothing. I want to test myself against these young up-and-coming guys like Nasruddin Imamov. Yeah, it's not even about them. It's about me. up-and-coming guys like Nasruddin Imamov. It's not even about them. It's about me. I know the answer.

I know the answer, but I want to prove it to myself. I want to find out myself. So yeah, we're going to find out. One of the things I love about Eugene and why I always love talking to him is that he doesn't mince words. He doesn't say BS just to say BS. He always says things. And I remember before the New York fight, he said some stuff and you're like wow

and and this fight too he says the thing about your conversation when he says it's the best training camp when frank hickman says best training camp it means something because they don't say this often they will sometimes say it's the worst training camp and you're like holy shit i can't believe they said that before the fight. You know what I mean? And so when, do you hear that from them? Yes, yes, he did.

I think it was before one of the New York fights. So do you, do you agree with that as well? They say it's the best training camp. Do you feel, I, I've never asked someone by the way, how's training camp?

It's, it's my least favorite question, but I kept hearing them say it and all the stuff that I watched beforehand, that it struck a chord. And so do you agree with them with their assessment? Yeah, I'll say it's the most efficient training camp I've had or we've had probably ever or in a long time. Again, 16 weeks, I just did everything I had to do to make sure i can prove it to myself so again quietly confident patiently waiting because this weekend i really want to just go in there and

just just style out can't wait last thing most important don't you think it's some kind of bs that like all these people have just turned their back on Drake I mean like Kendrick Lamar this guy's playing at the I know right isn't it

please back me up on this my boys are telling me in the back over there that I'm being a hater I can relate cause when you're great they're gonna hate

and it gets to a point you so cause even I've seen it I've felt it in myself for other people when and it's just human nature when they're so high you just want to see them fall you know and it's happened to me you know i'll just be on top dominating dominating dominating even before the ufc and then people just because of maybe their own inadequacies or whatever they

want to see you fall and look kendrick is a fucking fantastic artist i'm a big fan of kendrick as well what he's done in the last you know run crazy in that battle as well but kendrick could have said anything and they would have been like yeah it's better than what drake did because they just want to see drake fall and not saying kendrick didn't fucking do work he did work but it is what it is and again drake's still drake bro he just has to do what he does i think he's going to australia now he's going to do a tour and you're going to see worldwide people still love him the world's bigger than america way bigger than america so yeah worldwide still the you know still the Okay. I'm happy you didn't. You know, I've seen a lot of people switch sides here, and it's broken my heart.

But we stick by our own. I don't do that. For me, again, I'll say things as it is. And I've said, you know, I'm a fan of the art. I'm a fan of when there's beef, it makes things interesting. And, yeah, now it's settled. The dust has settled, you know. Go back and re-up.

Go back and do what you do best. Show them why you're great. Sounds like a good mantra for you heading into Saturday as well. So Izzy, you're the man. I appreciate it. Thank you so much for the time. Really appreciate you doing this, especially so late over there in Saudi Arabia. Thank you to the newlywed Tim. Big shot, Tim, over there, having weddings in

Colombia with all the superstars in attendance. It's amazing, this guy. It was Colombia as advertised. Colombia as advertised. I implore everybody, go to Colombia. Medellin, Catayana, Chateau Marasa. I'll see you guys in, it's almost nine months, isn't it? Thank you, Izzy. Good luck to you on Saturday. Can't wait.

Appreciate the time. Peace. Shokran. And I'll see you later, Ariel. You're the man. There he is. The great Israel Adesanya,

the style bender, the last style bender. Tremendous stuff. Did that not make you guys excited for Saturday? I mean, you hear that stuff from a legend like him. That's got to make you excited. I was already pretty excited. I said to Rick as soon as we got in today, I was like,

man, it's Israel Adesanya fight week. This is pretty exciting. It's a big freaking fight. It's a big freaking card, by the way. For a fight night, the one-two punch of Izzy, Imovov, and MVP, Shara Bullitt. It kind of like crept up on us, right? Because I feel like they just announced this. What was it, like in early December?

Something like that. Yeah, you got Pavlovich, Rosenstreich on there too. Lockdog, Mike Davis going as well. You love that one. I love the Mike Davis fight fights yeah uh versus uh ziam that one's gonna be incredible yeah mike davis always makes it exciting but i think it's lock dog saeed nirmaga met off whole main card's great yeah i can't wait plus daytime card we'll be done like 3 p.m it's gonna be fantastic love izzy fights they're special they won't last forever.

Love Izzy chats because he's always very thoughtful and you can tell he ponders questions. He ponders his answers. So I hope you guys enjoyed that as much as I did. That was a lot of fun and you don't get to talk to him often these days so appreciate his time very much.

Tomorrow on the program we'll have Michael Venom Page join us from Saudi Arabia. So looking forward to that one. The legendary broadcaster, the one and only Jim Lampley will join us to talk about the massive David Benavidez versus David

Morrell fight, which is happening this Saturday in Las Vegas. Remember, was it last week or two weeks ago? I think it's now two weeks ago that we had the face-to-face on the program and that drew a lot of interest. So looking forward to that. Paul Hughes, big news, is going to join us as well to talk about his incredible fight against Usman Armagomedov, and Pete, he wrote a great article on uncrowned.com about why that rematch needs to be made now, now, not tomorrow, now, yesterday, has to happen. So I'm looking forward to that as well.

Like I said, at five o'clock, we'll be live on the DAZN Boxing YouTube channel. Myself, Adi Oladipo, talking to the quote, Clarissa Shields and Sky Nicholson, current undisputed and future undisputed. Going to be joining us on the program, talking about everything else going on in the world of boxing tomorrow.

We'll answer your questions. So hit up the sub stack, arielhelwani.substack.com. I'm trying to go through all the lower thirds here for Jordan, trying to empty the tank. Is there any left that I didn't get to? I think I got to all of them. I may have gone to the vast majority of them.

And so that will be tomorrow. There'll be plenty more. Yes, thumbs up to the chat. There it is. Thumbs up to the vast majority of them. And so that will be tomorrow. There'll be plenty more. Yes, thumbs up to the chat. There it is. Thumbs up to the chat. There'll be plenty more Saudi Arabia coverage as far as this weekend's event is concerned on the boys in the back on Thursday.

And of course, the crack on Friday. I told everyone back there, hard out 340. Hard out 340. Look what time it is. Yeah, 15 seconds. Are you a fan of punctuality, Frank? Yes, as demonstrated by my punctual arrival to work every day. Yeah, that's interesting.

Frank, a little to work for sure. Now, I'll be honest. I'm the last one to come in, so I don't know the comings and goings. Well, you beat Frank by seconds every day, to be honest. The cooler you are, the later you can be, from what I understand. Okay, so what's the, like, give me the breakdown. No, we're not going to talk out of school. We're just going to acknowledge that Frank is getting last.

Who's first? Can I know first? No. Wow, you opened the door. You're talking to number one. Nobody opened the door. Frank is last. That's all you need to know. That's the info.

That's not even true. He's just admitted to being last. I'm definitely second to last, though, because everyone's here, and then Frank gets here after me every time. Wow. Frank, you get here after? It's not a competition, is it? Because if it is, I've won. Is that surprising? You were going to say, Frank, you get here after Connor? Here's the worst. No, I'm just surprised that Frank's last.

It's not about Frank being late in the morning. It's Frank being last, surprised that Frank's last. It's not about Frank being so late in the morning. Well, Frank's last and then he eats a salad. It's Frank being last and then there's demands. Oh, we have to do this at this time. Hey, Frank, why don't you get here? Why don't you get here earlier? He did get a little testy. Frank was like, can we test Zooms?

And Rick was like, yeah, I'm happy to test Zooms with you at 9 a.m. We can do it whenever you want it to. Oh. Wow. I wasn't going to say all that, but yes. I am curious because you say this, and then yesterday I'm listening to the podcast on Spotify, and there's a 10-minute chunk of dead air.

So I'm wondering what's happening. In any event, thank you very much to Israel Adesanya, Chris Weidman, Dave Feldman, Darren Hohn. Thanks to all of you. Thanks to all of them, including Frank. Back on Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday. Peace. I'm out of here.