The Ariel Helwani Show - Kayla Harrison, Tony Ferguson, Lerone Murphy, Joshua Van, Lamont Roach in studio, massive weekend recap, more

Episode Date: December 1, 2025

Ariel Helwani begins the show by recapping the massive UFC 324 and UFC 325 announcements, including reaction from fighters involved in the fights or fighters passed up for title opportunities (05:25).Joshua Van stops by during UFC 323 fight week to preview his matchup with Alexandre Pantoja, talk about his calmness before the storm and his longer-than-average layoff, react to Kyoji Horiguchi’s return and callout, and more (26:21).WBA super featherweight champion Lamont Roach joins Ariel in-studio ahead of his super lightweight scrap with Isaac 'Pitbull' Cruz to discuss his rivalry with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and a potential rematch, appealing the result of their first fight, whether he believes Davis is retired, his perspective on the Ali Revival Act, and more (46:40).Ariel addresses recent comments by Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejduo (1:16:50), before reuniting with old friend Tony Ferguson, who reflects on his win over Salt Papi in August, previews his return against Warren Spencer in December, discusses his relationship with Dillon Danis, his views on UFC’s recent matchmaking, planning to fight MMA again, his prediction for Paddy Pimblett vs. Justin Gaethje, and more (1:34:55).Lerone Murphy is back to react to the announcement of Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes 2, express his disappointment with not getting the title shot and potentially missing out on fighting Volkanovski before he retires, answer the callouts of Movsar Evloev and Aljamain Sterling, give his prediction for the Volkanovski-Lopes rematch, and more (2:04:16).UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison returns to break down her highly-anticipated fight against Amanda Nunes, reveal a bit about their time as training partners, react to Ronda Rousey’s rumored comeback and potential boxing match with Katie Taylor, respond to Valentina Shevchenko’s callout, and more (2:26:04).Ariel and The Boys in the Back wrap up with some news and notes, including the latest on Tom Aspinall’s eye, and answer your Super Chats (3:08:30).

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Eria-Hawani Show. Back in your life on this Monday, December 1st, 2000. And 25, hello again, everyone. well. It is great to be here on a lovely yet frigid Monday afternoon in New York City, December is here. It's the holiday season. If you celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday, I hope you had a lovely, lovely time with family and friends. I sure did. Thanks for asking. I played in a little football game on Thursday morning with my kids and some neighbors. I got absolutely cooked. I mean, it was embarrassing.

How I got cooked by a 25-year-old or so. Shout out to Ben Weintraub. He cooked me. I mean, he scored six touchdowns on me, and it was quite embarrassing, especially in front of my boys. However, I did get a pick six. I did score a touchdown. And I also scored the game-winning touchdown, NBD, NBD, NBD, NBD,

and so I felt pretty good about myself after the fact. Also, after the fact, I felt like a truck had run over me. I'm not sure why it wasn't tackle football, but I was so sore. I guess this is what happens when you're 43. I guess you just get sore when you do things. Nevertheless, had a great holiday break. Not a lot of MMA fights happened, but golly, a lot of MMA news happened.

And in case you were out and about, you may have seen on the channel. We dropped a special breaking news video and pod. Thanks for Frank. We had to wake him up from his turkey coma to get that one done. But he did get it done in relatively, quick fashion, and we reacted to all the news. And of course, today on the program, we shall react to the news even more so, and we shall also speak to the newsmakers, because that's what we do around these parts. So like I said, not a lot of MMA fights happened this weekend. There was the

Ben Whitaker debut for Matchroom, successful, very successful, first round knockout. There was the boxer debut on BBC 2, Jamie TKV defeating Frazier Clark. Great fight, if you watched it. Shout out. There was Survivor Series, Petco Park, a little com si, comsah, the internet is saying. And then, of course, there was a real American freestyle wrestling, Michael Chandler getting the W over Chad Mendez. Going to talk about all of that and more here on the program. First, let me talk about today's lineup because it is a super duper stacked ones.

The next couple days are just absolutely bonkers. Back into the show, the two-time Olympic gold medalist, the multiple-time PFL champion, the current reigning defending UFC women's bantamweight champion, the one and only judo Kayla Harrison, is going to stop by. To talk about her big fight against Amanda Nunes, you know by now January 24th, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, co-main event, Kayla Harrison, Amanda Nunes,

a fight that is dripping in storylines and drama and all kinds of intrigue. We'll talk to her about that. Prior to that, we'll be joined by Lorone Murphy, who is not fighting on January 31st, AKA February 1st, in Las Vegas, excuse me not

Las Vegas, Sydney, Australia, against one Alex Volcanovsky. It is in fact going to be Diego Lopez against Alex Volcanox for the featherweight title again, less than a year after Volk beat him to become champion in April, in Miami. Lorone Mosar,

odd men out, more on them in a moment. He'll join us at approximately 305 to talk about that. Tony Ferguson going to join us. El Cuckooey, returning to action. December 20th against the mechanic. Big fight, misfits, mania, Dubai. That's the card headline by Andrew Tate versus Chase DeMore. Tony Ferguson returning after the win over Assault Poppy in August. This time against the guy Dylan Dennis beat in the MMA fight. Always great to catch up with El Cucui. He'll join us at 2.30. And prior to that, we'll be joined by Lamont Roach Jr. who returns action this Saturday, PBC on Prime, pay-per-view going up against, actually, you know what? I don't think it is pay-per-view. I might have gone that one wrong, which, to be honest, I don't think it should be pay-per-view.

No, it's on prime. It's on prime. Shout out. It's going down in San Antonio. Frost Bank Center this Saturday. Isak Pitbull Cruz. He's moving up from 135 to 140 is Lamont Roach. After the debacle that happened in Brooklyn against Tank Davis in March, you may recall.

I'm slipping off my chair here. Well, this is his first fight back. He didn't get the rematch, all that and more. Anyway, he's on route to San Antonio, but he's stopping in studio before he heads there, and he'll join us at about 130. Oh, actually, 145, 130. Joshua Van on the show, he's fighting co-main event this Saturday, UFC 323 against Alex Pantoja for the flyway title. Holy shit, there's a lot going on today. Look at that five-packed guess.

Some say it's a stack show, others just call it a Monday, I would be the others. Now, by now you know a lot of news has happened, no time to waste. A lot of things happen on Thursday. In fact, four major things happened on Thursday. You know, usually Thanksgiving, quiet time, everyone's chilling, a little football, a little parade. Not in the world of MMA. It reminded me of December, no, November 2019, Connor McGregor announced that he'd be fighting Donald Soroni, January 2020. this happened. I remember it was around like five, six o'clock Thanksgiving Day because the bills were playing at the Cowboys and I had to miss the second half because I had to do a sports center hit.

Anyway, you don't care about all of that, but it reminded me of it. But in fact, this time around, there was a lot more news attached to it. So what were the four major things that happened on this particular Thanksgiving Day 2025? Well, in the morning, we got a tweet from Ilya to Poria. explaining that he is going to be taking some time off. I won't be fighting in the first quarter of next year. I'm going through a difficult moment in my personal life. I want to focus on my children and resolve this situation as soon as possible. I don't want to hold up the division. The UFC will make the matchups needed.

And as soon as the matters are resolved, I'll let the UFC know I'm ready to begin my return. The initial plan was to have him fight on this January 24th card against Patty Pimbley. That was the hope. And that's what we were alluding to after Armin beat Dan Hooker. Shortly thereafter found out he is not fighting on this date. And that's why I said, well, if he's not fighting on this date, they have to move on and just do Armin versus Ilya, suspected that they'd keep Patty on the card. And they did keep Patty on the card more on that in a moment.

Shortly after that tweet, we got a tweet from the UFC saying there would be a big announcement by Dana White during halftime of the Cowboys Chiefs game, which made all the sense of the world. We had been waiting for a long time. One of the announcements going to start to roll in about the Paramount era, which begins in January. We're sitting here. It's December now. Well, it's late November at the time, and there are no fights being announced. What the hell is going on? By the way, shout out to on-air Jordan. Great detective work. First show back. On-air Jordan is back, everyone. Yeah. There he is. We miss you. You haven't been here for a month. And at one point, I was going to actually announce why you were away and they told me not to.

Who's they? The people in the back, they're like, eh, it's his story. Let's just spell a couple rumors first. I've been getting some messages. No, Frank and I didn't have a fist fight. It was just a verbal altercation. K, K, K, K, K, K. No suspension, though.

K, K, K, K. So, no, I was out. My wife had a baby girl. Wow. Yes, it's been a great month. It's been a lot of fun. But, you know, diapers, I said, you know what? It's time for Ariel to take the front seat again.

Diapers can go to the backseat. Yay. Well, we missed you. We missed you. Baby girl's name? Sabrina. Sabrina. Shares a birthday with her mom.

That's incredible. What a gift. What a gift. Wow. Well, Mazel Tov, hope everyone's feeling good. Hello to Sabrina. Welcome to this world. What a world you have entered into.

You're about to enter into the Paramount era. How lucky are you, Sabrina? You'll never forget this. But we missed you, and we're so happy. happy for you and Jill and the whole family wishing the best, only the best, only the best. But we did miss you, so it's great to have you back. While you were away, it's about to give you some props here. You did some investigative work. Everyone's wondering, what are they going to call these UFC shows, the numbered shows on Paramount Plus? Well, this is what they're

going to call them. Look there to the left. UFC numbered events. I'm disappointed. What is this numbered events? Can we call it PLE? Could we call it something extravagant, something prestigious, not just numbered events. I'm going to hope that that's a placeholder. Like, there's got to be something better than that. Anyway, Jordan found that. So there you go. That's what it's going to be called, at least for now.

And we get the announcement. There's going to be an announcement. There's an announcement about the announcement. And they filmed this thing, halftime. He's eating the chips. He kibbzes with James Brown. Dern and Marab ring the doorbell. You heard the whole thing.

And he announced a bunch of stuff. He announced that Justin Gachie versus Patty Pimblit is going to be the main event for UFC 324, which will be the first show of 2026. So no fight night before. And so the last show of 2025 will be on December 13th. We're going December 13th to January 24th, no UFC. This is the closest we've ever gone to an offseason. I mean, this might be the longest in-between events ever. Someone needs to look into that. Jedi, get on that, ASAP. Someone has to, I mean, it's got to be close. It's got to. to be closed. Six or so weeks, that's pretty significant. I don't recall such a long break.

And so last event of the ESPN era is December 13th. First event is going to be January 24th. It's UFC 324. Headliner is Gaichi Pimblit interim fight because no Teporia. So in gets, you know, Justin Gaichi gets the opportunity. He doesn't have to retire. Peace and love. Peace and love. No retirement for Justin Gaichi. He's getting his interim title fight. By the way, that means that technically there are three titles that are going to be floating around the lightweight division, undisputed, Ilya, interim winner of that fight, and BMF, Max Holloway. More on him in a bit too. Co-main event, Kayla Harrison, Amanda Nunes, women's bantamweight title.

And then, of course, some other big fights announced like Sugar Sean against Sonia Dong, Arnold Allen against John Silva, Waldo Cortez Acosta against Derek Lewis, as first reported by WCA right here on the program on Wednesday before we say goodbye for the break. Some other fights that were announced, Rose, don't call me Nama Yunus, Nama Junis. It's actually the opposite. Here I am mocking Dana White

for how he said her name, and there's a typo on her name there. It's tough. Types are on the brain. The brain of the rust. Davis and Figuero, and Atiba Gotei against Andre Pulev on that card as well. It's a solid eight-pack of fights, if I'm being honest.

Perhaps most exciting of all was that they are now going to start the main cards once again. And I say once again, because they did this for like a cup of coffee in 2011, 9 p.m. Eastern start time. Oh, my dear. That was the most exciting thing. It was so amazing when I heard that. I felt like it was a gift from the M.M.A. God. So 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 in the West. 2 a.m. in the UK, that's the new start time for all these numbered events.

Tremendous news. Then Dana White went on Instagram live, because apparently the second show isn't big enough for a halftime of Cowboys Chiefs to announce that Sydney on January 31st here in America, February 1st over there, they're getting Alex de Great Volcanowski against one Diego Lopez rematch of the fight that happened back in, uh, when was it, in April, in Miami. And no other fights have been announced for that one. I've heard some rumblings about some others, but we'll talk about that later.

And this let off an avalanche, an absolute avalanche of tweets and reaction and whatnot. Here's the thing. I went on the channel and I reacted to it. And by now you've probably seen I was very fired up. The main thing I was fired up about wasn't necessarily that Patty Pimlet is fighting just a Gichi. I don't really mind that at all. In fact, if it can't be Ilya in the main event, I feel like those two guys should be fighting each other.

And once Armin won and they didn't fight before, like Ilya didn't fight before, I felt like it should have been Ilya versus Armin and then Patty versus Justin. I don't even care all that much that it's for the interim belt, even though, I mean, technically, Ilya hasn't fought since June. I don't think an interim belt should be instituted unless it's been a year out. and per his tweet, he doesn't suggest that he's not coming back, you know, for 2026. Like he's going to be out the entire year. So it feels a little bit soon. That fight happened about six months ago by the time this fight will happen, this interim title fight. The main thing that pissed me off was that an interim title fight and especially an interim title fight that doesn't feature the number one contender, which would be Armin, is headlining over an undisputed women's title fight and not just any undisputed women's side.

Let's be honest. There's been some that have been a little bit like lackluster. This is the return of the greatest women's fighter of all time against one of the most accomplished fighters in UFC history, two-time Olympic gold medalist, PFL champ, UFC champion. And you're telling me it's not big enough to headline this event. And you're telling me that a Fugazi interim title fight is bigger than that. And that's going to headline the event and that has more prestige than this.

I think it's insulting. I think it's a slap in the face. if I were them I'd be incredibly upset over it ultimately I think that they're going to be okay and say hey like let me control the controllables all good but to me for the sanctity of those belts

for the sanctity of the sport you have to headline a show with an undisputed title fight over an interim belt especially when if it was like when Connor and Mendez headline 189 Connor was about to fight for the belt

when Tony Ferguson headline, I think it was 2.49, he was about to fight for the belt. He was also a former interim champion. There was no fight on the books, and neither of these guys is the number one contender. Fires me up. Okay, so I've weighed in on this. Let me see what Rick and G.C. have to say about this. Rick, what do you think? I was all fired up. I was all upset. Your reaction. Yeah, I think it's ridiculous. We with the matchmaking. Like you mentioned, you don't have any issue with Patty Pimlet versus Justin Gachi. It's actually a really entertaining fight.

I also think the same thing for Volcanowski versus Diego Lopez. It's just the fact that we're getting the interim title without Armin Saruki and now we're getting a guarantee

that Patty Pimlet versus Justin Gachi winner will fight Ilya come next summer. So how long is the rightful number one contender in Armin Serruki and going to be out at 155?

145, you have undefeated Lorone Murphy, undefeated Movesar Evluev and now Alexander Volkanovsky's last fight was against Diego Lopez. Now he's fighting Diego Lopez again. And then that just leads you to think going down the timeline. It's like, man, at 170 we have all these rightful contenders as well. And there's a chance that they give that. The betting favorite right now, you can get odds on that, is Kamara Usman to fight that. So you're seeing this, you know, we've always known

meritocracy isn't the thing in this. But it's just like, man, there are rightful contenders being passed up in multiple divisions now. And I also just feel like it's lacklustre to to start the paramount era with an interim title fight as your headliner. I agree. I agree.

And look, Patty's a big name and Justin is a relatively big name. I have no problem. Like, I would not even say, I think those eight fights are really good.

You know what I mean? And I'm assuming they'll add a few more. Yeah, 324 is stacked. It is a really great thing. Sean O'Malley's in the third fight. Waldo's on fire. John Silva on there.

It's just these little things. It's like, and I know that some people are like, Ariel, take a chill pill, man, just enjoy the fights. I get it, but these things matter. Like, there's been this video being posted everywhere of like, we used to get announcements like this and it's Connor and Jose Aldo walking in like this elaborate. And now we get the Instagram lives. Like all these things, like it just feels so uninspired. The matchmaking feels uninspired. The promotion feels uninspired.

The announcements feel uninspired. Everything feels uninspired. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I care so much. I'm sorry if I care this much about the product, this much, like, I get accused of being a hater. No, it's because I care. I love it so much. And all of it just feels so ho-hum. All of it feels so like, we just need to put this out there and the people will eat it up and they'll make the videos and they'll make the content and they'll do the interviews and they'll do all the promotion for us. I want you guys to care as much as we care. And it doesn't feel that way. And it doesn't feel like you're giving the people what they want. And I'm not necessarily saying that, oh, everyone wanted Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison to headline the for a show, but there was once a time where they would never do this. Undisputed title has to go on last, especially over an interim belt. It has to go on last. And someone who, Diego Lopez obviously is going to take this title fight. Of course, he would be an idiot not to take the title fight. But in what universe does a guy on a one-fight winning

streak deserve it over a guy on a nine-fight winning streak, especially a guy like Lorone Murphy who's coming off an incredible knockout win? It all feels very uninspired. I actually felt It was brilliant to do the halftime of the Cowboys Cheese Game on CBS. You're getting this massive audience the whole time. They're running all these commercials, but then this is what you lob up to us. You know, it just, they set the scene to put out like these incredible events. And then also to go to the Instagram live. Like, why did we need to go to the Instagram live?

Do the whole thing right there, halftime, capitalize on this massive moment. And it just felt like it fell flat with the announcements that we were given. especially since they're a week apart. Like you could have easily done that and been like, hey, I'm here to announce the first two shows, two number events, back to back, title fights galore, and then you get the like the Rose Namajunus, you know?

Like, come on, man, come on. Yeah, I mean, I just can't get over the fact that we're getting Patty versus Gaichi, but it's foreign interim belt, and now we're going to have arm and weight. And then the same thing is happening at 145. We're passing up rifle contenders, and it could happen at 170 as well.

That was my biggest takeaway from Thursday afternoon. Oh, yeah. I mean, we're living in a time, I put this out there as well. We're living in a time where, you know, it's Diego against Alex with Lorone and Mofsar on the sidelines. It's, it's Patty and Justin fighting when you have, you know, guys like Armin who could easily be fighting. Like a lot of people who said, hey, Armand just fought.

Armand said it very clearly on this show in the case, at the post-fight press conference, I'm ready to go. It's two months away. I'm not hurt. I am ready to go. I just took a year and a half off. Give me that fight.

Why couldn't it have been Patty versus Armin? That to me would have been fine. I would have felt a little bit better because Armin is the true number one contender. This makes no sense. This makes no sense. And then you have Armin saying, I hope they give me a BMF.

Like, what? What are you talking about, man? You should be fighting for the belt. Not the more Fugazi belt? Well, why couldn't it have been Patty Gage he just on this card. As a number one contender fight. It's just a great fight.

It's a number one contender. I guess putting the interim belt on it makes them the number one contender. But yeah, it just feels like these three divisions are sort of... And when I say, by the way, number one contender, it should be number one contender fighting the winner of Armin v. Zillia. Do you remember, we all went Gaga when a reporter asked Dana White, is the winner of Armin versus Hooker going to fight for the belt? And he said yes.

None of that means anything, because it was also remember... Brady and Morales. At MSG, yeah, Brady and Morales. But this one was before. this one was before and we're like oh wow they're actually making like number one contender fights they're actually going to have that label didn't come true word means

nothing brady morales best as we can tell morales ain't fighting for the belt next and people are taking this confusion as if this frustration is against the fighters it's against the matchmaking it's against the UFC like of course like you said Diego lopez is going to take his title shot of course patty and gaitcha are going to sign the dotted line

to do the interim title fight they're going to headline the first card for the for the Paramount era. It's just the UFC. It just, it does feel like it's just lackluster right now. I wonder. It'd be so great to ask for some sort of like, okay, what's, what's your thinking here? What were you thinking? Explain to us. Here's my, like, when I was trying to justify it, I was considering that the matchmaking just didn't work out. Iliate Taboria is dealing with personal problems. Armid Saruqi and just fought. Maybe they hit up Alex Pereira to defend his belt on the Paramount thing. And like, things just were not falling into place. And this is what they were left with. And behind the scenes, they were like, look, Paramount, like, the good fights, the great fights will come. But like, this is the best we can do at the moment due to circumstances.

The fans are going to be mad. We're going to put it out. The show goes on. No, no, I understand. And they're going with the bigger names. Patty's a huge name. I get all of that. But you'd still get Patty on the card if he was fighting in the co-main event for the interim belt.

I just think it's incredibly insulting. Now, like I said, an avalanche of tweets. Let's go through some of the tweets if we can. And I'll follow you guys. You just take me through them if you can. We can start with, we can start with Armine here. Make it make sense. This was his reaction.

Patty St. Armand, you like apples? I believe that's a, what is that, a goodwill hunting reference? Yeah, how about them apples? Yeah, something like that. It's just like, I mean, Armin's Rukkin. He took care of business against Dan Hooker. Yeah, yeah. Okay, what else?

What else? This is back in August, Volkanowski saying, see you in December, Lorone. Shout out to Volk. Volga's the guy who this whole time was saying, give it to Lorone or Mofsar. He's not picking and choosing. Lorone, as you can see,

replying my man. Happy with that. It looked for a moment like he was going to get it. He says now, on Thursday, missing the opportunity to fight one of the featherweight goats is what hurts me the most.

It's not about who's the best anymore. It's about who's most popular. And he's 100% right. And my understanding is this started to go in motion after Diego beat John Silva in September. No, keep going. He says, I'm going to try to fight every month now,

Kevin Holland style. Hashtag New Path. Well, maybe that would get people behind him, or at least in the UFC. March, UK against anyone. Well, it's every month that has to be, you know, January, February, and then March. But yes, that would make a lot of sense.

Now, here's Mofsar weighing in. Leon Murphy. Now, is he talking about Leon Edwards or Lorone? I don't know. I'll give you the opportunity to fight the number one contender, tell your people you're ready to fight, me on the same card as the championship. Mofsar seemed to have known about this a long time ago

because he wasn't calling for any title shot. And by the way, that seems to be the fight to make, in my opinion. That seems to be the fight to make. That should be the number one contender fight. What else is there? What else is there? Here's Diego Lopez saying,

take the risks, accept the fights. They're offering you, do a good job and presentation, and then we'll talk mustache season is coming to you in Australia. And by the way, he's right. Like, of course, take it. And he has been that good soldier, that company man.

he delivers, but I'm sure if he was in Lorone's shoes, he would feel the same. What else is there? Here he is. Diego Lopez, my face when I saw some, when I saw everyone crying sitting around, he won't give you a title fight, get to work, and stop whining on social media. Heel Diego. What else? What else? Here's Al Jermaine Sterling weighing in. It's 110% not what it used to be. I ride for the company, but this shit is beyond frustrating. I get their POV, but stop saying, we give the fans the fights that they want to see and we make the best fight the best it's way more frequent now and extremely hard to ignore especially at your weight class was there more as far as the reaction that is it i had this written down gaichi patty with armin ready

Vogue Diego with Mofsar and Lerone ready And it seems like we're getting Islam Usman With Shafkat, Morales, Prachas, Gary already What is going on? Extremely frustrating Alex Fokinovsky commented on it He's in Thailand right now Getting ready

Doing a little training camp Here's what he had to say courtesy of his YouTube channel We thought you know Lerone Murphy December Then I guess you have and they were waiting for Jean-Silver and Lopez. Then they were saying, Lopez, and we're like, you know, obviously we're like, we just fought that with that guy.

Is there more deserving people, what not? But if I, you know, everybody knows that I'll fight anyone, right? So whoever they put in front of me, I'll do. But, you know, there was them questions there. Obviously, again, I thought, you know, it was a mob czar deserving, Leo Lorone Murphy. I thought that were the two guys. They're the guys I called out.

You obviously really won Lopez. But at least they, you know, for at least the... Evon knows you're in for a trick. It's going to be a very exciting fight. You know, with your mobsars and Lorones, you know, they're probably, you know, they're more deserving. But are they going to bring a fight like Lopez would? I think the fans are going to appreciate the fight that me and Lopez are going to have. but

it is what it is whoever they put in front of me let's go I mean credit to the guy you can tell he's not in favor of this you can tell he keeps talking about Lorone and Moussar

you can tell and he's that kind of guy he's that kind of champion Patty Pimblit's first words came via the UFC social accounts here was his reaction to getting this interim title fight against Justin Gichi

on the 24th of January me engaging now for the world title you know what's into them people are gonna say oh it's the only did interim this and that but I'm fighting for a world title I'd never be ranked people say I'd never do this never do that and the goalposts always get moving for me it's just normal once once I finish Gagie it's gonna be oh he was 37 he was retired anyway he's on his way out he's being handled the title shots all this bullshit but when I first signed with the UFC it was

gonna get knocked out by Benzumini oh he's only beating journeyman Jared Gordon beat him Jordan Leibbitt's going to submit him then it was Bobby Green's going to knock him out and it was Michael Chandler's going to knock him out now it's Justin Gagey's going to knock him out but then once I beat him it'll be already years old, he's this, he's that so I'm used to it

know what I mean? People think I'm still the same fighter who come in for Venzumini back in September 2021 when I'm a whole different animal and first ever time when we've fought in January the earliest I've ever fought it's going to ruin my Christmas dinner and my birthday because I'm 31 like three weeks

before it but it's all going to be be worth it when I lift that real title above my head and Paddy the Baddy is a world champion and 2026 is going to be the biggest year in my life I am coming for that interim title then I'll be making it the undisputed title when I come and beat earlier to pour you up and take the undisputed title and then little posh boy if he manages to fight in that time because he likes sitting out and saying he's got a sore back if little posh boy fights in that time and keeps his ranking I'll punch his head in as well okay so spicy stuff there and again to reiterate There is no part of, like, I want to be very clear about this.

Leading up to the Armand fight, I was saying time and again, we got to do Ilya versus Patty. It's too big. And even him talking, like, it's too big. They had the little run-in in Qatar. It's too big. Once I found out that Ilya wasn't going to be ready and then Armine wins, well, now the deck has been shuffled.

And so ultimately, I have no issue with Patty fighting for the interim belt. You see what I'm saying? This isn't against Patty Pimlet. My issue really is, it should be Patty versus Armin for the interim belt. Why is Gaichi in there, especially when Armin said himself that he was ready to go? It's two months in between fights. We've seen quicker turnarounds. He didn't get hurt against Dan Hooker.

He said it himself. The easiest way to have rectified this if Ilya wasn't going to fight was Patty versus Armin, number one contender fight, winner fights. Ilya because now if you are giving the winner of Patty versus Justin the interim belt, we presume that means they will punch their ticket to fighting Ili Tuporia, unless they have to defend it. God help us if they have to do that. Where does that leave Armin?

Now of a sudden he doesn't get to fight anyone? They have to defend against Armin? But yeah, there's a real possibility that they do this in January. If things go to plan, they fight Ilya in the summer for the undisputed. And then after that, we wait and see when Armin could. potentially fight for the undisputed from there. So, like, we're talking like October, late, 2026. You'd have a guy that fought a UFC 300

and would have only fought one time in two and a half years since then. Also, Patty mentions, like, how active he is. Since December of 2023, they both have three fights. Same amount of activity. Great shout. And his last fight was in April. Is there a silver lining here?

Is the silver lining if Patty wins we're getting Patty versus Ilya at the White House? Which is a gigantic fight? I mean, I guess, yeah, I guess I don't know. I thought we were going to get Patty versus Ilya on this paramount card. Yeah, I know. The venue doesn't really matter to me. Well, you do want the biggest fights possible at the White House, right?

Yeah, I suppose. I can't tell which part bothers me more. The fact that it's Patty versus Gece for the interim and not Patty versus Armin or the fact that they're headlining over Amanda and Kayla. I think ultimately, if I'm being honest, I think it's the latter. Wow. Mine is definitely the ignoring of rifle contenders across the divisions.

What about that 9 p.m. start, though? Oh, my God. You talk about pop, man. I was standing up applauding when that happened. They just snuck that one in there. That should have been the lead story. Actually, can I break the fourth wall? I was at a friend's house for Thanksgiving.

Yes, yes, yes. As the announcement was going on, they had dinner. None of them care about the UFC. I was like, ah, halftime is about to start. They're like, perfect time to go to dinner. Grandma's yapping in my ear and I can hear Dana what's up guys?

I was like, oh God, I'm missing it. I'm missing. I was like, what is that guy? Yeah, yeah, potatoes. There you go. Did he hear what he just said? Justin Gates?

He's fighting for the intern, pal. I mean, it was probably 50 million people watching that. I haven't seen the numbers. Big exposure, hopefully more of that cross-promotion to come. But I don't know if it was, I don't know if it was the announcement that we all hoped for

didn't quite hit like we all thought it was going to hit. All right, a lot more of that chatter to come. Like I said, back in. We'll speak to Lorone. We'll speak to Kayla, who are obviously very much involved for better or worse in these announcements. But, of course, UFC 323, the final UFC on ESPN pay-per-view going down this weekend. The final chapter, it's here.

And then, of course, there's one more show that's a fight night on the 13th. But as far as pay-per-view is concerned, this is the final one. Comeate event, massive one in the flyweight division, Joshua Van, Alex Pan. for the flyweight title, Mr. Van, kind enough to join us for a few minutes as he is getting ready on Fight Week. There he is. Hello, Josh. How are you? I'm doing good. How are you doing? I'm doing great, my man. Here we are. Five days away, your first UFC title fight. What are the emotions? What are the feelings? What are the thoughts? Does it feel like it's actually real? Does it feel like it's happening? It feels normal. It feels like every other fight week.

You know what I mean? But just more immediate for sure. Does it really feel like every other fight week This is your first title fight Massive show, co-main event, title against one of the greatest of all time in this division It just feels like any other fight week Yeah, it just feels like every other fight week, man

Wow Is that something you've told yourself Or is that just how it's all played out? Well, I don't know I just don't get like over-excited for things Like that, you know what I mean? So I'm just living days living day by day, man.

Are you in Vegas yet? No, I'm flying tomorrow. Okay, perhaps it will change a little bit once you get to Vegas. Yeah, yeah. Like, usually I'll feel like, like, around like Wednesday, Thursday, Thursday morning, I'll be like, damn, I really have to fight now, you know what I mean? So you get nervous?

No. But it just kind of sits, it like, it like hits you, right? Yeah, yeah, for sure. Like, you know, you know, it was the worst. worst thing is like in the locker room, you know, just waiting to go out there. But before that, I don't really get nervous like that. What is that feeling like when you're in the locker room waiting for your number to be called? It's, I don't know, it's just the worst feeling, man. Like, you want it, like, the fight to end quick, right? Like, the people that fight before you

to end quick, but then when they end quick, they was like, damn, take your time time. You don't know what you want you know you're in between type of shit um have you have maybe you haven't now but i'm wondering have you allowed yourself a chance to reflect on your journey i thought they did a great job on the countdown of talking about what you've been through you know coming from vietnam with your family and and and your relationship with your mom and and to get to this point like you were a kid who was bullied in school just for being different right now here you are fighting for a ufc title against an incredible fighter have you allowed yourself to reflect on this journey or does that come after the fight?

It come after the fight. Like I said in the countdown video, things, you know, like I don't think I'll accomplish anything until I become a UFC champion, so you know what I mean? Everything is after December 6th. Do you ever hear from people that you went to school with these days,

like now that you're getting more famous? Do you hear from them saying, wow, I can't believe you turn into this guy? Yes, for sure. I mean, they always know I was a fight. fighter, but they didn't think, you know what I mean, we was going to do it to, like, the world level type of shit. Does that make you feel good?

Oh, it's great. Yeah. But even the ones, like, maybe that were bullying you back in the day, do you ever hear from them? Nah. No, you don't hear from those guys. I don't even remember who they is no more, so, yeah. They're relevant.

Yeah. So, and what about your mom? Will she be there? Yes. She's getting there Thursday. And remind me, does she go to most of your fights? Every fight. Every single one.

And she doesn't get nervous, right? Yes. She said she doesn't, but I know for a fact she, you know what I know, she, she's nervous as fuck, but you know what I mean? She just don't want me to feel some type of way. But I know she's nervous as fuck. How is this being covered and received back home in Myanmar? I feel great, man.

Right now, the whole nation is behind me, basically, you know what I mean? I got a couple of church praying for me and stuff like that. You know, they reach out to me. They say, hey, man, it's not just us. It's the whole church praying for you and things like that. So it just gives me, like, motivation, you know what I mean? It just make every suffer that I go through this camp worth it. You know what I mean?

So now we're about to be, we're about to be fight day, man. so I just can't wait. By the way, speaking of motivation, did you happen to see Kiyoji Harguchi winning a guitar and he called out Pantosia and a lot was made of this because they're teammates? And I was wondering how you reacted because you're about to fight the guy

and you can ruin all of these clients. So did you use that as motivation once you heard it? Nah, man, because I mean, I saw the fight. You know, he's cool. But I don't put no mind to that yet because right now everything is just Pintoja. Sure. What did you think of Heroguchi's performance, former title contender champion in Risen and Belator?

What do you think of his re-debut, his second time around here with the UFC? That was the first time I see him fight, and he looked good. He fast on his feet, you know what I mean? So he's good. Maybe me and him can run it one day. You never saw him fight before. In those other promotions, or old UFC fights against DJ, those guys? I don't watch the old fight Really Nothing Yeah

That was a No I heard Like a lot of people talk about him But I never Watch this fight You know what I mean That was the first The first fight that I seen

Okay Do you remember what the And I apologize If I've asked you this already But do you remember The first event You ever saw live It was

UFC Fight Night in San Antonio Okay And that's when Don't tell me it was later Who was it? It was in I think back in 23

And it was when Daniel Panetta fought I forgot The other guy's name But he He won by A guillotine Was Leon Edwards in the main event?

No no It was San Higgan and Oh That was like yesterday Not technically yesterday But it feels like it was yesterday That was my first event Yeah that was my first event

Like life In the UFC Okay No no but as far as on TV When's the first time you saw UFC Oh oh oh Yeah I was like I thought that was the first show you ever saw

Oh it was like what I don't even remember man it probably like, I don't know, Connor Kabeep when he came back. Yeah, 2018. So about 70 years. By the way, that jacket's pretty sweet.

What is that? USC 313. Oh, I like that. It's like a little like NASCAR jacket, right? Yeah, it's nice, huh? It is nice. It is nice. By the way, what about the fact that this is your,

I think your longest layoff in seven fights? Six months in between fights. You had that quick turnaround in June. what's that been like for you? Man, I was enjoying the first two months, you know what I mean? And my coaches, they were like, hey, Judge, it's time to come back. So we came back. But, yeah, this is a long camp, man.

You know what I mean? But I enjoy every moment. When you say you were enjoying the first two months, what do you mean by that? You were like enjoying the time off? Yes. like just enjoying the time off doing my own thing, you know. But you let the body heal, right? I'm sure after those two fights in the month of June,

you probably needed that mental and physical break. Oh, yeah, for sure, man. Yeah, I was taking a break from, I mean, but I was still working out, but I do like, you know, two times a week or something, you know what I mean? Just so I can get, like, active between my break times and things like that. But, yeah, I was taking a break for a whole two months. I heard you say that you don't like this fight being labeled, especially from Pantosha's old school versus new school.

Why is that? Because he's the great, man. You know what I mean? I don't want people to say, oh, he's getting old, because when he fought Kai, he was 35. You know what I mean? And everybody was like, ah, Pantosia is the greatest. And he still is 35.

And, you know, I feel like he still is that guy. So I don't want people to say, like, when I beat him, I don't want people to say, because he's getting old. You say when I beat him, not if you feel very confident. Yeah, when I beat him, I don't want people to say, he's old. You know, I want people to say, ah, he beat one of the great. How about this little stat? You were five years old when Pantosia made his professional MMA debut in 2007.

That's crazy, right? Yeah, that's insane, man. Yeah, that's crazy. I think you would definitely be the first champion board in the 2000s. Yeah. It's unbelievable. Yes. What do you say to people who say that this is happening too soon for you?

Well, they said the same thing when I fought, Royvo, you know, that this is too soon or things like that, and they see what happens. So I think it's going to be the same thing. Damn, why you got to put that picture? I don't know what they're doing. No, that's you punching him. That's a nice one, right? I'm crazy, yeah. Oh, this is a great fight.

Have you re-watched it? Yes. Do you like it or do you feel like there was too much, too much, that's a crazy picture. Holy shit. Look at that one. Yeah. I didn't like it, man. I just got to work on my defense a lot more.

You know what I mean? Getting in a firefight like that is like, you know, when you win the cage, you feel good. You know what I mean? He hit me, I hit him. But then for the long term, man, you know, is hit them and don't get hit, you know what I mean? So I got to work on my defense and counters and things like that. When you game plan for this fight, when you're thinking about it, envisioning it,

what are you feeling? How do you see it playing out on Saturday? I don't have any game plan, to be honest. It's wherever the fight go because, you know what I mean? can make a game plans and things like that, but come fight day. It can be a whole different games, you know what I mean? So whatever he bring, I'll be ready. So if you want to strike, we strike. If you want to go to the ground, I'm ready for that one too. But you've broken him down, right? Like you've studied the film? For sure, yes, yes, yes, for sure. Okay. So when you say

no game plan, there's not a specific way that you would like for this to go or certain things that you want to capitalize on or exploit on his end? Yeah, I, like, I don't want to focus on just one thing, you know what I mean? So I want to like wherever the fight go, like we, because the thing is, you know, what, what I see, what we see on TV and what, what, you know, when we locked in the cage together is, it's different, you know what I mean? So I'm the type of guys like, that like to adjust to their styles when I'm in the cage and things like that.

So whatever I adjust to, uh, what do you bring that day? That's, uh, that's how we're going to go fight day. What about the outcome? What are you feeling as far as the outcome is concerned? Knock him out inside the rebound. That's what you're feeling? Yes, sir. Oh, my dear. Have you allowed yourself to think of what it will feel like with the belt around your waist, how your life will change? Do you let your mind go there at night?

It would look damn good on me. That belt would look good, damn on me. Do you daydream about this? Yeah. And have you thought about what will happen when you're going to be? you become UFC champion how your life will change how your family's life can change do you allow yourself to go there not yet i'm just thinking about how how look that belt would look good on me and how i you know drive around with the belt amazing well uh i wish you the best joshua this is an incredible fight can't wait for it main event is marab against yon do you have a do you have a pick

in that fight by the way man i like them both man may the best man win fair enough uh and and and may the best man win in your fight as well. Thanks for giving us a few minutes, safe travels out there, and good luck in the fight. Can't wait for it. All right. Thank you for having me.

Pleasure. There he is. Joshua Van, fighting for the UFC flyway title on Saturday. His stats are insane. Fight Fight winning streak all in the past 15 months.

Second longest active winning streak in the UFC Flyway Division, five only behind Alex Pantosia 8. and he's the fastest fighter to cross a thousand significant strikes landed. Fastest fighter in UFC history. It's coming off that great win over Brandon Royville.

That was Fight of the Night, his first UFC bonus as well. It came 21 days after his win right here in Newark at UFC 316. They did the face off afterwards and now some six months later, here they are doing their thing, co-main event, final UFC on pay-per-view event.

December 6th is going to be a very busy day in the world of combat sports, because not only do we have UFC 323, there's also a really great fight going down in San Antonio at the Frost Bank Center. It's a big fight in the 140-pound division. It's Lamont Roach moving up from 135. You'll recall what happened in Brooklyn back in March against Hank Davis. Well, now he's moving up to fight the very game, the very explosive, the very active. Isak Pitbull Cruz. This is going down on Saturday, December.

September 6. It is on PBC pay-per-view. It is going down at 8 o'clock Eastern, so it won't necessarily coincide with UFC 323, and it is for the WBC interim super lightweight title that's 140 pounds. He's en route to San Antonio, but kind enough to join us for a few

minutes in studio. Let us say hello to the great Lamont Roach Jr. There he is. Hello, Lamont. How are you, my man? I'm good. How you doing? Nice to meet you. Yes, sir. Thanks for stopping by. Appreciate it. Please have a see thank you so much hello to the team as well you're on route to San Antonio right yes sir you're going right now today like right after we leave okay we're and you're coming

from Florida right yeah so you came well we came from Florida we went home for the holiday and then um you know we shot here and we're going to send home is D.C. right yeah okay so what are you feeling how do you feel I feel good man I feel real good um you know I'm just ready I'm anxious when I'm ready uh is this your first time back in New York since the tank fight? No. Okay. I've been to New York probably like 10 times since March.

Okay. I have to admit, this is a great fight, you versus Pitbull Cruz, and I love the fact that you're going up to 140. By the way, why did you make that decision? Why was this the logical next step for you? Because I feel like at the time it was the best thing that presented itself, and I'm not a small guy, so 40 is not too far out of really. eventually it was going to happen. It's just happening a little quicker and sooner.

Pibble Cruz is a, you know, a spectacle of the sport. And on top of that, he's an intern world champion. So once I beat him, I'll be in line for the world champion at 140 pound limit. So are you done with 135? Not at all. I got a finished business. Yes, you do. And I want to get to that in a moment. But as far as the weight cuts were going, were they getting tougher for you? Is that why this was a move that made sense? No. Honestly, what people don't understand is, like, I never struggled to make 30.

So, you know, it was your normal, like, you know, have to cut weight, but it wasn't like I was killing myself to make 30. That's why I was still campaigning at 130 for so long. And to be a champion, I've been fighting 130 pounds since I was 15. I've pulled 132 in the amateurs. So, like, obviously,

my body is used to that weight. So this is just an opportunity that presented itself an opportunity to win this belt and then fight for the undisputed belt in the WBC at 140. I know there's an issue there with Matthias. Yes, there is an issue. I think they're on the way to like handling it. I think by New York State Athletic Commission that they allow, which is weird. That fight is going to continue?

Yeah, that fight is going to go on. I think they allow a certain, if it's not, even though it's a legal substance that you can't get anywhere else outside of, like, the black market. Okay. They have a level, like a threshold. Yeah. That's weird to me, but hey. How close were you to rematching tank? As close as if he wouldn't have veered off, it would have happened. What do you mean by veered off?

So he activated his rights to the rematch, which contractually binds us to a fight where no event or fight should take place in between. Okay, and then what happened? He did what isn't supposed to happen. He took a fight with Jake Paul. But if he, like, triggers that, doesn't he have to follow through with it? For sure. So how did he, how was he allowed to sort of circumvent that? technically I think he just felt like he was going to be able to bow guard it and just be like all right what are they going to do and either like force my hand or whatever the case it would be I mention arbitration before because that's how business works right um it's nothing against whatever or whoever but that's how business works if you if you uh illegally go about a contract the wrong way then what do you

you think it's going to happen the business has to get handled so that's my old take on it but um at the end of the day i was you know uh pbc and pbc and that side over there that those guys are good guys they uh they make sure that you know that that i was taking care of and they presented me with another opportunity that was very fruitful for you know for my liking okay so so basically they said okay this can't happen but we can offer you esau cruz yes because he's a PBC fighter. Exactly. When you say that they took care of you, what does that mean?

They've righted his wrong. Okay. For lack of words. Huh? With a check? Huh? Okay. So I want to take a step back if I can because I find this story fascinating.

When your fight with Tank was, and I know you're focused on a big fight, but this is a part of your 20, 25. When it was announced at the beginning of the year, your fight with Tank, his demeanor at that press conference, as you may recall in Washington, was very, off like he was talking about retirement he was talking about the sport like not not wanting to talk about the sport anymore when you like were reading him what was your takeaway from him it felt like he was so disengaged from the sport and from your fight i think uh i mean there's obviously there's something mental there um and you know whatever's going on whatever was going on with him uh it was definitely present i think um maybe he was disengaged maybe he wasn't I just, you know, me personally, I felt like I don't bring that energy to the fight with me

because you really kicking yourself in the behind, like having one foot in, one foot out. I don't know if he didn't take the fight. Like, I don't know if he felt like I was going to be a breeze, just like, you know, a lot of other people was going to do. But personally, deep down the side, I knew that he knew he was in for something. and once it was all said and done he could go back and say well I told you guys I was thinking about retirement

you know what I said set itself up yeah yeah yeah planning some seeds for sure okay that's what my little brother told me actually he was I was like you know what that makes sense before the fight yeah why didn't that fight happen in DC because you're both two like you know DMV area guys right he represents Baltimore you're a DC

Like, it made all the sense in the world. Like, we're the Wizards play or something, right? I think, I think, I don't think he would have been, that crowd wouldn't have favored him. Like, he's a superstar. Right. So, like, in Brooklyn, 90% tank fans and 10% my family and other friends that I have. You know what I'm saying?

Like, so, so, so that's how it was, like, in, in that atmosphere. At home in D.C., it would have been, like, 50-50. Okay. Maybe even pushing 60-40 either way in that crowd. So I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have been, you know, taking too much liking to that. It probably plays into a comfort factor or whatever the case may be as well.

Was that on the table and they switched or was that never discussed? No. It was originally supposed to happen in Houston. And then it got switched to New York. Okay. As the fight is going on, you were a big underdog.

You don't need me to tell you. Very disrespectful underdog. Yeah. What are you feeling as far as like how the fight is flowing? Are you starting to feel early on like I got this guy? What are you thinking? What are you saying to yourself? Yeah.

Like even in the early rounds where there wasn't much going on, I was in control. Like, there was less punches thrown and people were saying he was downloading data. I mean, he was just trying to, he was trying to figure it out, but he really couldn't. So I just did my best to control the ring, try to control the narrative. And, you know, I think the first six rounds, I think at least being honest, I think at least we should have at least split those rounds. If you want to be the favorite, then give the champ some of the rounds. But come on now, on two of them score calls, I think I lost five of the first six rounds.

Crazy. That's insane. I'm assuming you've rewatched the fight. Yes. When you watch it, do you get mad? Mad, no. Maybe after the first time I watched it. Yeah.

But mad, no. What is your take on the ninth round? The ninth round was BS. That was BS. That's something I would get mad at a few times after I watched it. I think it was just, I don't know. It's just like, all right, some people get special treatment. Some people were like, we talk about this over and over again.

The referee scene, it was a knockdown, started counting. And then somehow, some way, you let him say something to you to convince you, like, all right, well, you can't do that again. Because if you do it, it looks like a knockdown. Crazy. How do you, verbally, you say that out your mouth, too. Like, it's picked up on the mics and everything. So it's just like you stop your count and tell them it looks like a knockdown. That's crazy.

I mean, it's one of the most, like, egregious things that I've ever seen in boxing a score where a lot of egregious things happen all the time. But, like, it felt like blatant cheating in front of our eyes. For sure. And for those that don't remember, you're hitting him with jabs. He very clearly takes a knee. Then he goes to his corner. His cornerman gets up on the apron, wipes his face, which that in its own right is not allowed. Yes.

And then he walks back. Steve Willis is the referee veteran ref. well respected and he says hey man that looks like a note he's like oh no no no no no he's like i know i know but that looked like a knockdown like what do you mean it's not looks like a knockdown it was a knockdown exactly so and then the fight continues it ends in a draw if that scored a knockdown you beat tank davis for sure first loss of his career and there's a lot different going into life changes right a lot different going into negotiations two-time world champ two division world champ beat the guy that they consider the number one at 135.

I get mad looking at it and talking about it. How are you so calm? Because it's over with it. Like, you know, it happened. That was like a robbery in like broad daylight. It was. But a lot of people know that. And that's the important part.

That doesn't change. You can't take that to the bank. You can't deposit. Even later on after everybody, like, you know, after we're gone and we look at the history books, it's still going to be mocked up as a draw. Right. So, yeah, it's frustrating. But you can't cry out with spill milk.

Got to move forward. Do you believe anything, like, do you think there's any chance that stuff went in his eye? He said it was like stuff from his hair, right? That's what he said. Do you believe that at all? I think the jab got in his eye. Yeah. Yeah.

I think the jab got in his eye. And do you think that was just like a weird reaction on his part? Or do you think that he knew he could get away with it? No, I don't think he necessarily knew he can get away with it. I just think, I just think, like, naturally he kind of like panicked like all right what to do yeah yeah and he's ever kind of been in that position before right exactly not as a professional no right and so afterwards you did appeal right with new york yeah we appealed and what happened they they said that we cannot overturn it

and count it as a knockdown because even though it was a knockdown sure they acknowledged that it was and it should have been called a knockdown but we cannot overturn it because because had it been called a knockdown, they don't know how he would have performed after. So crazy, man. That's insane. Crazy. The fight continued.

Take the point away, you win. For sure. And why did they look at replay? They said it was... Was not working? It wasn't working. Would you ever fight in New York again after all of this? I would.

I would. And let me tell you why. All right. Maybe I should be quiet If I would have If I would take that to a higher court I'd win You know why?

Because of the replay Right They say they didn't get it Right That's it That's all I'm gonna say Okay And so once all that happened

Were you guys in active negotiations To rematch? Because there was talk of like in August Like we were supposed to fight in June Right That's right June 14th or something Or June 21st

That's when we signed our original contract Right We signed like not too long after the fight But it never got officially announced No It was sort of like reported I don't remember It was like reported

But we actually signed on the dotted line For June And did he? Yes And then what happened Then the Jake Paul Then they needed no Then they needed more time

He said that Yeah Okay Then they pushed back Then it got pushed back to August. That was the one that was announced. Okay, yes. And then the whole Jake Paul thing.

Okay. When you started hearing about that, did you think like that? There's no way. No. We knew. That's why this fight is taking place with people. We kind of figured that, like, all right,

after it's heating up on them, after that last fight, we don't know what's going to go on. Like, we know what we're dealing with. Like, we know we're dealing with a wild card when it comes to boxing, when it comes to business, when it comes to his personal life. So we don't know what can't happen.

And my dad, my manager, made sure that he put in the contract no matter what, even if we don't fight Guanté Davis, we're going to fight this year regardless because we don't know what's going to happen with him. And once we started in the Jake Paul talks, we was just like, all right, here we go. And then next thing, you know, it really came out that he was going to fight him. There was some talk about him fighting Jake Paul before your fight in March and that he was going to call him out afterwards and all that.

But then you kind of screwed those plans up. Did you enjoy that? Did that make, because this fight would have happened a lot sooner? I enjoyed being a party pover that day. Yes. Yeah. Did you know about that? No.

I mean, like, when we got there and we kind of like, after the fight, when we actually noticed, well, when I noticed, that Jake Paul was actually there in this locker room. So, yeah, we kind of put two and two together. When you first heard about this, like that 135-pounder, a guy who walks around probably at like 155 max, 160 would fight Jake Paul, what was your reaction? My reaction was, I wasn't too, I didn't care too much for it, only because that was the guy that I was supposed to be fighting.

Sure, sure. But, you know, outside of that, people are going to do what they have to do, especially if it's a good payday, if it's entertaining the fans, I guess. But when it comes down to the sport of boxing, it's just a little, the way it happens, the way it happened. Say if he wasn't supposed to fight me, and he didn't back out of the rematch that he signed for. That would be a different story. All right, he's going to get your bag. That's cool. Have it had it.

What do you think would have happened in the fight? I think it would beat Jake Paul, silly. You think you would have beat him? Yeah, it's too skilled. The experience, everything, it wouldn't have been close. Did they tell you, hey, we're going to do this. We're going to get a huge amount of money. We're going to be a lot more famous and popular because we're fighting on Netflix,

and then we'll come and meet you. Like, was there any sort of promise? No. Nothing? No. Because that was the only thing that I was thinking like, all right, maybe he's saying now the rematch is going to be even bigger because I'm going to call you out after I beat Jake Paul in front of... That's all you had to do from the beginning. Yeah.

Even if we did sign our contract to fight, just have your people call my people or you send me a message and be like, I'm going to fight Jake Paul real quick. We give you XYZ to step aside and we run it back after this easy money grab. that's it that never happened it wouldn't have been a big it wouldn't have been a big thing it really wouldn't have right didn't happen hell no what did you make of the decision to pull the plug on the fight from mvp and jake and netflix uh she happens do you think they made the right call based on everything that was going on yeah i think so i think so for sure um who i mean legal trouble was going to come whenever they come is and ain't no hold up or wait for this or that you know this and you put in a major event in jeopardy you don't want to you don't want to break that

right and so now we've heard nothing from him do you think he ever fights again professionally I don't know uh he said he was going to retire I believe him you do yeah he said he was before your fight he said he was going to retire at the end of 25 right so here we are end of 25 he can't go out like this you think so i believe him he's still so young yeah you think he would go out on a draw he has to if he doesn't fight you he told he told everybody he don't really care about boxing he told people he don't care about championships and he told people he's going to get his money and y'all not going to see him again it looks like he's doing it sure that's what i'm that's why i'm saying like i'm just he's making me a believer

do you think it will be a stain on his legacy if he doesn't at least rematch you no and be it's because he technically didn't lose so right but yeah i mean it was inconclusive i mean he damn sure ain't went yeah exactly exactly but you know uh i don't think that's something that he worries about so well it like do you think you're 50 60 years old looking back do you think this will be something that annoys you that bothers you that you didn't get this win or at least the chance to rematch and write the wrong no no I did what I was supposed to do that night yeah I didn't get I wrongfully got screwed out of it but I did what I was supposed to do that's all that matters to me and um and the fact that I'm going to move on and do

the other things that I'm supposed to do. I'm going to achieve my goals at being a multi-division world champion. I'm going to achieve my goal as being at least somewhere on the top 10 pound for pound. This is, that was like the start. Well, when I beat Hector

for my first world title, that was the start. And then the run after this is going to be, it's going to be crazy. Do you feel like you've at least earned the respect of the community? Do you feel like people who maybe weren't a believer in you

now are for sure okay it's still some doubters but you feel that way i'll turn them to going into this one or do you do you think that they're just not giving you the credit like they're saying oh it's more about what tank didn't do yeah and that's that's exactly what it is and um like i said i'm i'm a turn to tie okay yeah so as of right this moment there's no talk now that the jake fight is off of regardless of what happens on saturday your next fight being against tank oh no i don't even we don't even have conversations of like you're completely moved on yeah completely wow what a disappointment sad to say yeah yeah and the fact that you signed there's nothing you can do about that i mean there could have been but you're not interested not interested really you could technically

like you could pursue this right or do you feel like the fact that pbc made it right as you said all is all is yes forgive me pbc is they i'm like if people don't know like i'm in association with PBC now so I am oh you are okay you're also with pro box though right yeah I'm with Gary yeah Gary Jonas I'm with Gary Jonas right my guy okay um he's got a bit of a feud going with Saudi Arabia huh how do you feel about that man Gary's crazy man Gary's crazy but Gary is is an advocate for what's right for boxing so so you feel good with him by your side oh for sure how do you feel have you paid attention to any of this Ali act stuff that they're trying to change it up?

Yeah, it sucks that they're trying to change it up, that they don't notice that it's for the protection of the boxer. They'll come around to it. I know that boxing as a whole, we won't conform to anything moving forward without the Ali Act. You think so? I think so. Okay.

This idea that the belts don't matter, that they need to clean it up, do you subscribe to that or do you disagree with that? It's the way you go about it. It's how you do it. The way that they're proposing it now, it's like they're trying to monopolize it. You know, the sanctioning bodies, they've been doing a good job.

They've been doing a good job. It's just, it's up to the fighters. It's up to the promoters to make the right matches to, you know, make sure that there's a, like a definite. champion and I think they do a good job with the ring with the ring belt magazine it's just the fights aren't happening to crown that line you champion they just announced a big fight this morning do you see that Shakur against Tiafimo yes sir what are your thoughts on that it's a great fight

I can't wait till it happens um I think Shakur wins um I think that line up a future mega fight for me and Shakur. Okay. At what way would you prefer it to be at? Whatever way he wants it to be at. I think 35 because he said he wants to go back to 35. Yeah. Defend his belts. So this is at 140 this fight, right?

Yeah, his fight is at 140. We're both fighting at 140. Yeah, I know. Weird. So you think that's more you know, that's more advantageous, I would say, for a Tia Fimo. He's more used to fighting. You still think that he wins, though, Shakur? Yeah, I still think that he wins.

Tos have fits with guys who are technical. Yeah. And the only technical guy that he didn't have a problem with is Lomachenko. But Lomichiko had to come forward that fight, too, a little bit. It had to be less technical. So, you know, other than that, he has a fit with guys who are just pure boxers and Shikour probably boxed socks off. How do you feel about Shikor's style?

Sometimes he gets a little flack, you know, all the Tom and Jerry stuff. I mean, he did what he did to win. Did you like his last performance? I did. I like a lot of his performance. Yeah. He's a hit-and-hig-hit guy. Yeah.

And once he seeks the opportunity or has the opportunity to punch on some people, he does. So I don't see nothing wrong with it. I mean, like, if you want to say fan-friendly, sometimes it might not be. But there's very few other than that. He fights pretty good. Right. Did you watch Haney's fight? Yeah. What did you think of that one?

The power surprised me, but I knew that, I figured that the level of, like, the skill gap between him and Brian Norman would be the deciding factor. And on Brian's end, would have been the power. So I think the only way, I was telling people, the only way that he wins is if he cracks Devin and he, you know what I'm saying? He alters his game playing, he didn't at all. Devin knocked him down. Did he? surprising. Did he?

Did he? Did you think he could have stopped them? I think so. Yeah. I think so. But he said that he, at the end of the fight, I think he said Brian Norman made some adjustments and, you know, it was preventing them to like, you know, take some chances or step on the gas or something like that.

Do you think the criticism he receives is fair? As far as what? Eddie Hearn was very, you know, he was very critical afterwards. Eddie Hearn and Devon. Yeah. Yeah, what's going on? Bill Haney had like a hate relationship. Yeah, there's a lot of drama with those guys.

Yeah, there's a lot of drama with them. You got to take things Eddie say against him with a grain of salt. So, um, that one for the pretty good fight. He, it wasn't, it was entertaining. It wasn't like the Jose Ramirez fight. Right. So, you know, he fought a good fight. I saw on social media you were, you were pumped for Abdullah Mason.

that's that that's that is something that I'm excited for it and pumped for you got to think when he was a kid like I seen him fighting you know when I was a pro he was still a kid and he was coming up with my little brother with Ben Johnson they he fought both of them so he used to come to our gym and spa too like when he was a kid and stuff like that so it was just like to see him grow and to be the youngest active world champion amongst you know boxing is crazy yeah no i mean there's a lot of yeah i i get upset when people say that there's no great young american fighters yeah uh i would put you on that list i'd put him on there i still think kishon davis has it he just needs to get back and for sure figure some things out um i'm not convinced tank is done but uh you might feel otherwise can i just ask you before i let you go jake and anthony what do you make of that uh anthony by murder by murder yes golly my knock his head off a little bit like it might be special effect but it might like go out like legit legit first round it depends on if if a j's going out there to knock him out in the first round if he wanted to

he could okay for sure and what about December 6th frost bank center san antonio lamont roach junior pit bull cruise another guy who gave tank a run for his money as well a very close fight what's what's the official prediction uh that i win very convincingly people is a tough cookie everybody's talking about how you know if I make a statement by stopping him and all that he hasn't been stopped for a reason let's put that out there right now

hasn't been stopped for a reason do I think I can stop him yes but if I don't don't be upset with me that's all I'm gonna say all right well much respect to you man especially for the way you've handled this tank thing I think a lot of other people would have you know not taking the high road like you have

so much respect to you good luck safe travels out there and thanks for stopping by. Thank you, man. I appreciate it. Thanks for having. Lamont Roach Jr., PBC pay-per-view on Amazon Prime

this Saturday, 8 p.m. Eastern, big fight at 140 pounds against Pitbull Cruz. We'll say goodbye to him. Come back with Tony Ferguson. Don't go anywhere. Yes, there he is. The inimitable Wing C.

Great to go from Lamont Roach to Wing C. Check that out on the channel. He was something else. Lamont, great guy. He's taking the high road. The tank situation is crazy. Still can't believe it played out that way and still can't believe he didn't get the rematch. Perhaps if he does what he needs to do against Pipple on Saturday, he will get that rematch.

That's the fight. I am more interested in seeing that fight than Tank versus anyone else, Tank versus Jake Paul. Like, that's the fight that has to happen. If Tank fights again, it has to be against him or everything else is a sham. And only adds to the controversy of that night in March in Brooklyn. They have to rectify that. They absolutely do. So I hope it works out for him

and I appreciate the way he's handling it and I appreciate the fact that they stopped by to talk to us before heading out to San Antonio. 230, we're going to be joined by Tony Ferguson, Elkakoui. 305, Lorone Murphy 330, Kala Harrison, much more to go. We have some time, so I wanted to weigh in on something really quickly. I'm there kind of like, you know,

prepping some Thanksgiving stuff. You know, time to chill, family. the news hasn't dropped yet and all of a sudden I get tagged in a little video from my old friends Kamara Usman and Henry Sohudo you see I'm able to say their names

and it's from their podcast which I've heard tremendous things about I hear it's just absolutely killing it these days it's great it's two really captivating electric, likable personalities coming together for some great content and I get tagged in a video where it appears as though

one of the all-time best fighters, former UFC Walterway champion, Kamar Usman, is talking about me, but he's not referencing my name, he's not saying my name, but it's very clear that he's talking about me. Anyway, I wanted to play the video, give them a little bit of attention in the rub, because I know that that's really what they wanted,

deep down inside and react to it, so here it is. a person that will not be named in the show, but I guarantee you they could probably smell us from here. Damn. Well, let's, let's just talk about this. You've got a big nose tomorrow. They could smell us from here. But Henry, listen, why would we, as professional fighters,

why would we go on these shows anymore with people who don't have G14 classification? Like, if you're not great, I don't want you speaking on my greatness. Don't start talking about he's not this and I like, because now it's unauthentic. I have G14 in classification. and say, unless he's averaging 2815, I don't see him as a dominant big man.

I can say that. Why would I be sitting there talking to you? Because you're just a glorified fan. The real journalists that have a conversation with us, Henry, before fights, and then they write about it. That's a different. Not these people who are media personalities basically give their opinion. You talk about me to stay relevant.

I don't talk about you. I don't care about you. You've been in the headlines. And it's a matter of respect to Camaros. I would take it as like, all right, man. I'm the big dog. I'm the sheriff in town. But that's why they're talking about me, Henry, because of that.

I am the big talk. I am the name. That's why they are talking about me. Okay. And he followed that up, that video with a tweet, again, talking about me when he's saying that he doesn't want to talk about me on Thanksgiving, no less. They were never qualified. That's why they're no longer invited to the events. And so this is the same old playbook. This is the same old playbook, especially from the ones who have no creativity, who aren't able to think on their own with any kind of good trash talk. And especially from the Ali crew, it's always two things. It's always big nose and it's always he can't get invited to the events.

When they don't, you know, they've been in the fight game long enough. They would know that you don't get invited to these events as a media member. You apply for a credential and then they say yes or no. But that's, you know, that's a semantic. Obviously we understand. They're trying to hit me below the belt, even though I've tried to explain and prove time and again that I haven't applied for a credential since March 2020 is, Romero pandemic hit. I was supposed to go to the Leon Nate Diaz fight, my last show at ESPN.

Then I decided to leave and on and on it goes. But they always go to those same two things because they feel like that's the best way to hit me. And then there he is, you know, sitting there saying, I don't care about you. I don't care about your thoughts. Why should I care about your thoughts? But he's doing a video. He's clipping it off. He won't say my name, but he's going to tweet about it. He'll make some remark. Clearly, I have struck a nerve. And what is the nerve that I struck, I had the audacity to say that someone who hasn't won a fight, you know, hasn't won more than two fights since 2021. He's one in three since 2021. He won one fight in June. And then his last, his last win prior to that was a win in 2021, had the loss against Hamza, which I gave him all

the props in the world for, and then the two losses against Leon. And I had the audacity to say that this guy doesn't deserve a title shot. I didn't say that he's a bum. I didn't say that he's a bum. I didn't say that he's a never was. I didn't say that he's one of the worst champions of all time. Obviously, I think George St. Pierre, and I don't think this is a hot take, is the greatest welterweight champion of all time. But I didn't make it personal. I didn't hit him below the belt.

You know, he's talking about my nose. By the way, I've been hearing about my nose since I was a kid, and I'm the one who, like, leans into the nose stuff. I don't make, you know, like, you think I get offended about the nose? I make merch with Halwani nose on it. You think that's going to bother me? You think that's going to make me feel sad about myself? But I still, I don't go there.

Like, like, some people would say, say that, you know, Kamaro's hairline is, is afraid of his forehead. I don't say that stuff. I don't, I don't go there. I don't go to the same places that these guys go because they have no, they have no creativity. They have no actual, like, way of coming up with good, creative trash talk. So they hit me with the no stuff, which I already hit myself with. And then they hit me with the, the untruth of the credential stuff, which I've already cleared up time and again. But to them, and the way that they have been programmed by their master Ali, they've been programmed. think that unless you're a part of this group and you have to do everything in your power

to be accepted and to be wanted by this group that is the UFC and Uncle Dana, you are not worth anything. The difference between them and I is, I don't need them. I'm very happy being exactly where I am and I've built something outside of that. They can only be successful. They could only be who they want to be if they are accepted by that. So they think that if you are not accepted by it, it's a knock against you, it's a shot against you. That's the difference in the mentality. And so they'll do everything to suck up and to be like, oh, yes, boss, look at your great shoes and look at your great closet and look at how much money you have and look how much success that you've generated for yourself. And I'll just be here

speaking truth and telling it to you as it is. And I'll tell you what, I can guarantee you that the public would much prefer this than that, than whatever that is. You could call a G14 classification. You could call whatever it is. My G14 classification is a degree from the greatest sports journalism school in the country, look it up Syracuse University. And if that isn't enough for you, 15 times in a row, World MMA Award Journalist of the Year, that to me is enough. I've never said that I could fight. I've never said that I could do what you do. And I would never, ever, ever criticize or critique the way you punch, the way you take someone down, the way you do anything in the cage. I don't do that. But I sure as damn think that I can sit here and

say that someone who has one win since 2021, probably sure. shouldn't be next when you have guys like Michael Morales, 19 and no, you have guys like Shafkat Rahmanab, 19 and no, when you have guys like Ian Garry doing their thing. I don't think that that's a hot take. I don't think that that's out of bounds. I don't think that's crossing the line. And so you can try to take shots at me. You could try to discredit me.

You could try to say, like, hey, why would we go on your shows? Newsflash. I haven't asked either of you guys to come on the show for a very, very long time. I know better. A, I know you're not going to do it. And B, no real interest. I have no real interest Triple C, Henry Sohudo

got his hand slapped when he came on my show after the Marlon Mariah's fight Ali got very, very mad at him because he told him and he knows this and Henry knows this Ali told him

I made a deal with Dana White you can't go on this guy's show you're going to get in trouble how'd that all work out for you Henry? How'd that all work out for you? How did things pan out for you as far as like listening to that advice? Did you get everything that you wanted?

Did you get all the promises that were promised to you for not coming on my little rinky dink show, how did it all work out to you? Because I remember when you were crafting the triple C thing,

when you were trying to do the stuff with the Bella twins, who helped you out, who was backing you, who had your back, who was putting you on the show when you were missing Wade and all that stuff?

Who was putting Camaro on the show? But now that they feel like they're comfortable, they've got their little microphone, they've got their little Zoom set up, they can take shots at us and say that we are not qualified,

that we don't deserve to talk about this. We can't talk about title shots and things like that. Clown shit. Absolute clown shit. And don't worry. The reason why I talk about you

is because you guys, I know very well, you're very accomplished. You've done great things in this sport. And I talk about you out of respect and because you are a part of the sport. I don't need you to talk about me. I didn't ask you to talk about me.

None of this should matter to you. None of this should bother you. But if you're going to try to discredit me, then I'm going to respond. I'm sure as hell going to respond. And so, yes, I don't think that you deserve a title shot. I don't think that you're the greatest welterweight champion of all time. And I don't feel like my responses are all that crazy to those two, you know, those two questions or debates.

George St. Pierre is the greatest fighter ever, not just welterweight champion ever, greatest fighter ever. And Shafkat, Michael Morales, Ian Gary, and I'm probably missing. Oh, Carlos Praches. Yes, I do think those guys deserve him more. And by the way, if you don't believe me, how about Sean Brady who got knocked? out by Michael Morales. Let's hear what he has to say about it. There's no way Ian gets it next.

I don't think so. Well, first of all, the most, the least deserving of it is Kumar Usman. Brother, like, I don't know how they're a finagle in this shit. Like, trying to push him into the... Cahoots? Huh? Between him and Islam? Yeah, for sure.

For sure. Mutual friendship. Same manager. Like, I understand what they're trying to do, but that's bullshit. Yeah. I personally, obviously, he beat me. I think Morales is the most deserving out of everybody. He's undefeated.

Undefeated, 19 and 0, just beat me. I was the number one contender. Beats me. Number two would be, I think Pottis is right there. I think he would deserve it more. Shavcott doesn't deserve a title shot. He got to get back in the race. He's got to get back in the race.

Everyone else, everybody else got to be in the race. Bro, something like that. Everyone's got to be in the race. He's just sitting on the sidelines. The only person I think that they will do before Morales is, no, is Ushman. I think they're trying to do. this. Like, I really do think Would you be disgusted? Discussed. Everyone's

going to be disgusted. He's at least, he lost three fights in a row, beat Buckley. Like, bro, like, come on, you know you. It's a good fight. I under, and I don't think it is. I think Islam's going to run through him. And he's 100% right. I do think that is what's going to happen. I do. I do think it's going to be the same thing

as John Jones v. Stipe. They're going to give him the title shot. It's going to be a lifetime achievement award, and then he's going to retire after he loses to Islam. That's exactly what's going to happen. And all those guys are going to have to wait. The active, young, hungry, successful, victorious as of late fighters are going to have to wait. And this will pause everything because they'll all come together, same management, they'll make a deal. He's, you know, he's cozying up to Dana and talking about his great

shoe collection and all this stuff. We're going to get this main event that no one wants, no one wants, but we are going to get it. Just look at the matchmaking as of late. And then everything will be paused and then everything will resume afterwards. I can guarantee it. You can, you could, I could smell it. I could smell it, guys. I could smell it from right. over here. I could smell it from miles away. Glorified fan. I mean, at what point do I get to say, yeah, I can have a say in matters here? Glorified fan. What does that even mean? All of you guys sit behind microphones. Can I critique the way you speak? Can I critique the way you do your media? I mean, I have a degree. What's your, what's your, you know, classification? What's your

qualification for being a media guy? Just because you fought? Well, then why can't I speak? I have a, I have a degree that says that I'm allowed to speak. So what's the difference? You see what I'm saying? You're saying that I can't speak about a sport that I never competed in. I'm going to say you can't speak about something that you have no qualification in because you don't have a degree that says you're allowed to speak into this thing. You see how stupid that sounds? You see how dumb that sounds? It sounds very fucking dumb. Just like you guys do when you try to make these little jokes and take these pot shots at me. Great fighters, legendary fighters, all the respect, peace and love. I've never said a blessed word about either of you guys, other than I'm talking about the sport.

I'm talking about the sport here. I'm not making it personal. I'm talking about the sport. People deserve it. People don't deserve it. And I don't think that you deserve a title shot. And clearly, way more accomplished people in this sport, guys who actually fight, who, dare I say, have some kind of classification. Maybe not G-14.

And by the way, that's a joke from rush hour. None of it is original. None of it is your own thought. You can't come up with anything on your own, but you take these shots to try to sound cool and hip, and you're thinking about me and making videos and content about me on thanks freaking giving. Have some turkey and some sweet potato pie

and stop thinking about little me, who apparently is so irrelevant that you can't say my name, but you still make content and videos about. Silly. Make it make sense. But anyways, who's to check? Do we have our next guest? Who's to check?

well thank you about that um is he there no he's not there um all right in a matter of moments we're going to be joined by the one and only tony ferguson by the great tweet here from chuck minnenhall about the state of uh of meritocracies in the ufc gaity newsman being put in these spots is enough to render the word meritocracy obsolete yeah you're right that's the man in the hat. Hey, we talked about Ilya some good big news coming from Ilya also on Thursday regarding his wow promotion. He's teaming up with Cristiano Ronaldo. Remember, not that long ago, I think it was our show that asked him about Ronaldo. I think Ronaldo said, if my memory serves me correct, Ronaldo said that he was picking Vogue to beat him. Or no, Max Holloway, I think it was.

And I think he didn't like that. And then he said something about medicine. Well, now they're friends. A new era of fighting is coming. This is the promo that aired. There's Tuporia, there's Rinaldo. Wow, FC. Peace and love.

Peace and love. Yes, doing big things, especially in Espania. I love it. Very exciting. So congratulations to the two of them. and looking forward to seeing what they do together. Also, by the way, congratulations to the great Yeri Prakashka. What about Yeri Pachaska announcing that he is going to be a father?

It gives me, oh, wait, wait, can I read that? Go back? It gives me great honor to announce we will be three next year. Thank you for both this blessing and responsibility. I look forward to it and let's go for it. Finally, I can post it here. Next year, we will be three. How about that?

and what about this great this great photo with the the sonogram pit everyone's having babies these days beautiful everyone well on air Jordan that's everyone in my book

a product of Risen they're announcing their big 10 year anniversary show and they're switching it up what about these gloves yeah look at this gold gloves what do you think better than the

the UFC gold gloves look at that padding there I dig it on par with the UFC gold do you think the like the sticker here do you think it will rub off they fixed that right they did they did

I do think the gold looks better on you know what I thought so too what is it about it Is it just more worn in? It's more like warm. It's not as bright as the other one. There's also a lot more black on these. That's true.

Yeah, these have definitely been used as well. You think so? It looked like it, yeah. Handcrafted by Isami Artisans. I did mention to Lamont Roach Jr., Tiafima Lopez, Shakur Stevenson. January 31st, it was announced this morning. right here in New York City, although, and it's a ring six card, but it is being promoted

by matchroom boxing, it is interesting that they don't say exactly where in New York it's happening, and we did look into it. The Knicks are playing the Lakers that night. It's also the same night as UFC 280. No, not 280. What am I talking about? 325. And then there's like Disney on ice, right? At the Barclays? Yeah, at 11 o'clock, a 3 o'clock and a 7 o'clock show. That's tough. So perhaps they're going back to the tennis stadium. Can they kick

Disney on ice? No. Is there a... Absolutely not. Are you kidding me? No way. That's insane. No one does that. So your theory is Louis Armstrong. Sounds like it. I mean, unless you're going to UBS. Arthur Ash? The big one.

Yeah. UBS, Long Island? Weird spot for it. No. Still New York. theater? The Hulu theater? The theater? Yeah. I don't think it's been the Hulu theater in about two years. No, I know. I know. We need to get a sponsor on there. Anyway, Tiafima Lopez speaking to Uncrowned, that article is up right now on the number one unbiased site in all of combat sports. I mean, talk about not building anything. Talk about not, you know, having any skin in the game. I mean, the website, the YouTube channel of the podcast, it's like, some might call it an empire, dare I see.

Anyway, there it is. Tiafima Lopez vows to expose Shakur Stevenson on January 31st. What he does is the facade. I can't wait for this fight. And more importantly, I can't wait for the, like, the buildup. The trash talk, the press conferences. These two guys are great. They're unique in their own right. I think Shakur is hilarious. I'm looking forward to it very, very much. I'm also looking forward to the return of Tony Ferguson. He returns to action on the 20th of December. Misfits Mania, Dubai. This is the card headlined by Andrew Tate against Chase Damore for their heavyweight title. Tony's on the card. We found out about this a couple weeks ago against the mechanic, Warren Spencer. There it is. The man who fought and lost to Dylan Dennis back in August.

Of course, we remember Tony Ferguson defeating Salt Poppy in one of the all-time best moments of 2025. El Cuckooey now, kind enough to join us to talk about this big return fight. There he is. Hello, Tony. How are you? Boy, cheers. Good morning.

How's everybody doing over there? Everyone's great. How was your Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving was good, dude. I'm going to be real. I owe you kind of an apology, but I'll say that I wanted to come on your show right after my fight.

Yes. Unfortunately, my puppy passed away, knuckles um fatter since 2011 and uh it was kind of hard we flew back and the day um that night that we flew back she passed away that night it was kind of like a bittersweet victory like slash everything but uh yeah so otherwise that's why i disappeared from everybody so it wasn't like i was just trying to hide and shit just trying to deal with family lost no i understand man and my heart breaks for you uh i was never a dog guy myself but we got a dog like seven years ago, and I understand how much it means to the family, how are you guys doing

after that, especially because it seemed like it happened somewhat out of the blue. Yeah, it happened right out of the blue. She lived an awesome life. I mean, she's, I've had knuckles since about 2011, so when I was first over at knuckleheads boxing, to maybe just right before I beat Ramsey Nyjim all the way until, you know, I won the belt for the boxing. So she lived the full circle, man, which is pretty cool. And we ended up buying another dog. We got another dog. And she's a hairy little one. She looks like a little fucking EWalk.

But it's a blessing. And like I said, I mean, life moves on, but it makes you put in perspective of how everything really is, you know, and you can't take anything for granted. You know, we're lucky that, you know, as Thanksgiving was just here, you know, you'll hold those that are around you a little bit closer and you just kind of be thankful for everything a little bit more. I love it. Amen.

And I'm glad to hear that you guys have added a new puppy to the family. So can we talk about that fight and that experience, man? The reaction to your win was so nice. Everyone was so happy for you. Did you feel that as well? Did you feel the love? Did you feel that reaction? Because it just seemed like everyone just wanted to see you get your hand raised.

Yeah, but it wasn't like somebody was going to give it to me, right? So it was really, I had to really earn it. You're talking about all the way from camp, all the way to when we were walking out where the flames. The flames did something to me, which was pretty cool. I mean, Goggins, I'll touch base on this. Goggins is one of the dudes that said, Tony, when the lights turn on, something happens to you. It's just like you're not the same how you were in the octagon. And something happened where when I was in the back preparing for misfits, it wasn't the same walkout. It wasn't the same walkout into the UFC ring. And it wasn't just, it wasn't the same vibe. I had shoes. There was just like

everything that was that I probably could have looked forward to and probably threw me all guard and balance. It did it. It helped me focus on everything that I really. really need to do. I trusted the process in which my coach is, you know, Hoss from Knuckland's Boxing, and Rashad Holley from my team, and then, you know, some of my sparring partners, you know, Tommy, like, I trusted in what we had did. And I made myself really uncomfortable. So that way when I would go out there, I would be comfortable. Um, it really took me maybe, like, maybe a round or two to finally, like, get back into my, my groove of things, how I was over in Mexico City

versus RDA, just kind of hitting the same target and things. And, you know, I was just, It was crazy. Just going back into the corner in between rounds and then making sure, like, you know, listening to my coaches, I knew I was breaking him down. I could tell that his energy level, you know, my experience from wrestling and all these different sports, I could just tell that he wasn't as powerful from before. Like, and I could just tell, like, things were starting to slow down as conditioning, my pressure, everything. And then I could just feel the crowd. I heard the crowd. The crowd was fucking amazing.

You guys are always fucking great. But at that time, when I was going for the finish, everything just went zoom. And it was like tunnel vision and everything just was quiet for just a second. And as soon as I knew that I had him against the ropes, I knew that this was the way to finish him and I threw a bunch of barrage of punches. And then here he comes, comes and stops it in. And the only thing I could think of, man, was absolutely fucking nothing. Like, damn it, what about time?

Like, holy shit, about fucking time. Like, this is, you miss this feeling. Like, this is what it's about. Like, you win for so long. I don't know, I'm not saying, like, you get bored of it. But it's like you stop counting like the fucking, like, the dubs and like in all the other things you just fucking just it just loses touch of itself and this win was like a big huge deal to me man i i got a piece of hardware i heard the crowd

i heard everybody around the world and it was just it was exactly what i needed to be able to help me get back to where i really wanted to be put it that way did you feel like a weight was lifted off your shoulders uh uh man i'll be real with you when when the GFEL remember how like at the beginning of the year like it was just like a whole bunch just stuff going on and nothing was following through that was where the lot of the weight was at it was just like not knowing what's going on like I want to compete it's like what's going on like you know don't take a break don't stop training like you know you have to stay active and I remember my dad he tells me um you know stay close to wait he's like if you're going to compete multiple times a year just stay close to wait it was the best advice I've gotten and then um mother coach is saying uh you know go back to your warm month And I would do that and being real, the more that I kept with my routine, the more structured I was with everything, you know, waking up rather than doing all the things, getting into sparring and then doing the extra credit and not doing too much coaching football and all these other things.

It kept me so damn busy where it's like I didn't even feel like the weight was on my shoulders anymore. It was accepting that this is what I want to do and to be able to accept that there was hardly any weight. Like I'm going to be real with you. But I get what you're saying when you're talking about like with the wind when you feel like the weight was off my shoulder. So yeah, I guess you're actually really right on that one. It was finally being able to add another W, man, to that fucking record.

It was just absolutely needed. So I appreciate that. I appreciate you saying that because some people might dismiss that. But, you know, this was talked about for a while and you're so beloved and people wanted to see you succeed and be happy and have your arm raised. And so I'm wondering in the aftermath if you were able to acknowledge the toll that the streak took on you about the way things ended. And if that moment, if that win, if that arm being raised in August, help wash that all way, and now you can kind of move on and build on that. Did you feel like you really, really needed that and was missing that?

Man, I'll tell you again, like, when things are just so chaotic, you don't really have time to plan or to worry about a lot of things, especially in this kind of sport. I mean, you're talking about when I got the victory and then, you know, obviously, like, you know, my pubs passed away and then thinking about, like, I had zero fucking time to think about like the stuff that I probably should have and I didn't and it didn't hit me until like maybe like a month later about like you know from going from you know the wins to losses to back to where I'm mad and I played so many damn sports in real life I mean I've got a bunch of rings I got medals and a bunch of things and I just I could tell you that that was the most I've

ever lost in my whole entire life at one fucking time like ever I'm not saying that was what I wanted to do because I wanted it I don't want to go and get hurt but I took a look at the people that were around me and how they were affected about how I was going about my camps and how I was, you know, getting outside of the fight. And I was causing more harm to others than I was to myself. And I'm, you know, when you guys see me inside the cage, I can go in there and somebody tries to snap my arm. I'm going to get up. I'm going to beat them with it. So it's like, I don't mind pain.

But I had to start accepting that the fact that is that there's more to life than trying to look and search for that pain type of stuff that there is. real things out there. Sometimes you're just looking in the wrong spot. And it's taken a while for me to be able to have a good direction to where I really want to go and have an idea. And I'm glad that the sport is something that I wanted to do my whole entire life. I get to put shoes on, like I told Lloyd, back in Abu Dhabi against Michael Kiesa. And, you know, I just talked to Warren Spencer just a second ago.

We did our fucking virtual face off. And one thing that we agreed on was the shoes factor. When you're in MMA, like, I grew up playing sports, playing shoes and cleats and all this shit. It's like, when I went into MMA, it was like, damn, I feel naked. Like, this is a part of me that I grew up with. And now, you know, this is a chance for me to be able to go out there and do and move how I want to move, which is fucking awesome. So December 20, if you guys better two went in. What did you make of misfits as an organization, the way they treated you?

How did you feel after that first one? Okay. So I'm glad you asked this question because I didn't know what I was in for. When I go to UFC, I would always give hugs and I do everybody. I've been there for a long time. I just, you know, you kind of know people that are just there behind the scenes. You just know that's the mechanism that works. And it's a real run, really good mechanism that runs.

So I'm kind of biased when it comes into from the UFC and everybody else. But when I went over to London, when I went over to do my mid-interview or my face-offs and stuff, even before the fight, I found that it was one, ran very, very, very, well it wasn't like it was um i don't want to explain like that it just was ran really well i didn't know anybody so it wasn't like i was around giving hugs and knowing everything and so on so forth it was strictly business and how they handled themselves and how the security and how everybody was and just how really well ran it was i was very impressed um not knowing not knowing just not knowing i've been the only other types of fights i've ever been to like not smoker fights but you know

with my up-and-coming fighters that are up and coming, you know, it's not as big as the UFC. UFC's, I always explain it to a lot of people that they're doing it right. And when I walked out in the Misfits realm, it was awesome. It was amazing. It was the coolest shit. I had flames in front of me.

I saw the boxing. It was a whole new aura. You had loud, crazy fans just like the UFC, which is fucking awesome. But it was like a whole different vibe. And I have to tell you, MAMs, and then KSI and all the guys and all the family from Misfits, I have to say, thank you very much for opening the doors.

You know, I'm not sure if you guys do that all the time to people, but, you know, you put the energy out that you want to bring back, and they definitely showed it that they know how to handle business. One fun little byproduct of all of this was like this, I don't know, this, this MMA Avengers squad was formed between you, Dylan Dennis, and Darren Till. What was that like? And did you see that coming? Do you think that that would actually happen?

So I didn't see his interview I didn't see Ariel's or your interviewer with Dylan I didn't really pay attention to too much of the shit What I know is is like sometimes It's just like there's a lot of hype that goes into it And It's not like I hate Dylan or nothing So I saw Dylan right there and we were kind of like

And then I fucking was like fuck it I held up my phone I was like let's get a picture And we got a picture and then Oh boy Darren Till was over there too And I was like hey Derek So we ended up getting our picture and it just fucking ended up working out because we were on one whole side

and the whole side I'm not saying the B side but those guys were on the other side and it ended up working out which was true you know we weren't fighting each other this is how it was and fucking it was cool man I mean I mean that was a great picture

I have some pretty cool pictures with people I got one with Khabib I made that fucker stand there and pose with me for a fucking second when was that I got one with Connor McNugget oh the Khabi from that's back in the day this was at our press conference

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought you meant, like, from that weekend. I thought you meant from that weekend. Yes, yes, yes, yes. No, no, but I just love pictures. I just love pictures. So there's another picture that I got where I've got one with myself. You have Golden Boy, you have Lorenzo Fretta, you have Dana White and Anthony Kitas, all in the same fucking picture right after my Barbosa fight.

Oh, wow. Like the most random, most random type of fighter in pictures. And another one I got is Vanderlea Silva versus, or, and Chuck Ladell. Wow. Another fighter, I forget, and my wife. we were all in the same, like this, I think fighting is just one of those things that just brings people to fucking gather. Like, everybody can agree that it's like when you get inside a ring or a cage and you wobble it, everybody, it just brings fucking people together. And it's like,

some people just don't, I get it, but I mean, shit for a guy like me, hell yeah, that's cool shit. Okay, so then when this was all said and done, how did we end up with Warren Spencer as your next opponent? How did we end up on this card against this guy? Right. So, What I wanted to do was I wanted to keep competing. When I got into the UFC and I was getting higher up in the rankings, it became very scarce. I was competing maybe like once, twice a year rather than when I came out of the ultimate fighter when I was, what, six times that year and then another four of the next and like another. It was, that's, I love to compete. I had told, I had asked Lloyd, and we talked to men as I said, I want to fight again.

I would like to fight again. They had a card coming up. Get patient. I thought we were going to fight Gibb. apparently he's got a lot of things going on and his other stuff and he wanted to relinquish the belt so hell fuck it so Warren stepped up and I remember

he fought ended up fighting Dylan and he didn't have too much of a boxing he kind of hit him a couple times but he put himself in shitsville so I mean it's not a bad opponent I'm one to know Ariel this is the crazy thing Saul Poppy was six and two right I'm one and no as a boxer I'm

gonna go toward to be two and oh so wherever the fuck they put in front of me I know they're going to be preparing because they know who the fuck they're going to be in next to so i mean this guy's got andrew tate in his background you know they're probably throwing absolutely everything they possibly can at them there had salt poppy and you know over there training with them too so this is just like the ultimate fighter again aerial where you had everybody trying to like go against me and it's like fuck and so i'm like i'm excited about it because i'm like fuck i do really well when it comes to things like that or when people talk shit and this dude

says that the misfits boxing ring is for washed up UFC fighters and the only way I'm washed up is I'm very cleaned up now man and I'm ready to fucking rock and roll.

How do you feel about this whole Andrew Tate thing? He's fighting on this card for the heavyweight title in the main event. How do you feel about his inclusion in this now? I mean, look,

when it goes into the fight game and he's a fighter, right? I mean, it's kind of hard to stay away from it. I told the same thing about Connor. I was like, look, you can use the game genie for so long,

but you're going to miss it. So you're going to probably end up coming back. Andrew's probably one of those guys I saw one of his fights where you know he had something with his eyes and that just sucks when you when you have to leave something like that and then it kind of gets at you so I can understand

how he wants to come back and fight and it's cool I think the more the merrier and shit fuck it fuck it everybody wants to see him and fight it anyway so fuck it let's go okay so you have no issues with that why am I going to have an issue with this dude you got you got Anderson Silva fighting t woodley I'm not going to have any issue

with anybody that wants to get out there train, have the balls to fucking go in there and spar like show up, take care of your diet, make weight, do all this other shit. Like, I got a little bit of respect for people that want to do that rather than sit down and bitch and moan and not even pick up a pair of

fucking gloves. To be real, I mean, I think that if fans, fans say that they don't want to see it, they do want to see it. Either way, they're going to fucking watch. So regardless of you say yes or no, you're going to be looking at the highlights on Instagram and wondering who the fuck won. So

In essence, don't be a fucking asshole. Just watch our fucking fight and don't stream it. You don't buy this shit. You know, it's interesting because I remember when your fight was announced against Sal Poppy, you talked about some of the criticism. I don't feel that anymore. I feel like a lot of people are kind of happy with this path. Do you feel a lot more positivity now surrounding your fights?

I believe that I am wasting talent if I'm not out there competing. I am wasting a God-given talent that has been blessed to me and to be able to pay it forward and work with people and to teach and to coach. I'm making my way into coaching now. I've been in football, we were in, we ended up what, was it seven or eight, two and one for football. And so like, we're back on winning schedule. This is a mentality that you have to have.

Like, it's not just about the dub, but it's not about victory, but the work that you put into it in the smart shit that you go into it. I'm not one to have a repeat performance. I'm not trying to go out there and do the same thing that I did with Salt. I really am not. Like, I want to be the best boxer that I could possibly be. I was the best MMA fighter for a longest time feared.

Fucking nobody wanted to fucking step inside that ring. Nobody wanted to talk shit. And now it's like the same thing. It's like, but you have people that are willing to take these fucking chances. They're like, yeah, you know, yeah, you got a couple losses. You're human. Well, fuck it.

Thank God, man, because for a long time there, you guys weren't fucking even trying to compete against me. now it's the fact it's like all right cool now i get to pick and choose like who the fuck i want to go again look just give me somebody right here we'll prepare for him what's his name what's his record is he right hand is he saw paul where's he from all right cool i'm going to go to the drawing boards i'm going to build that dossier like i did for fucking mcnuggets and for tiramisu i'm going to go out there i'm going to get this fucking job done in stylistic fashion too because it's about making it look good in ring presence now mr ariel yes sir um you know it's interesting that we're

talking to on this monday because uh ufc matchmaking is very much in the news guys who think that they should be getting title shots, guys like Lerone Murphy and Mosey Avlov who have won nine fights in a row aren't getting title shots or getting passed over for maybe more popular fighters, things like that. And it's also very reminiscent, Tony, of a guy named El Kukui who had

to scratch and claw's way to get the shots that he wanted, and still in the end, didn't get that undisputed title shot. Do you look at any of this? That is some undisputed fucking belt ever. When I fought and I won that belt and you had McNugget in the company trying to be sold and all the bullshit.

Everybody knows that that's the most undisputed fucking belt. We've had everybody fucking running when it goes into it. My conversations with Hunter are completely different than what everybody else's are. I'm a champ, bro. I'm a world fucking champ. And that's, nobody can ever take that away. I have the fucking hardware. That's fair.

It doesn't matter what anybody fucking says. That doesn't matter what anybody fucking says. It's like after a while, it's like you collect the same fucking over and over. It's like you kind of want a different piece of hardware. It's like, can I go to a different tournament? You know, like a lot of these kids, that are bitching him only. You had Armand Saruki, and I saw him over when I was for hype fighting out there in Thailand. And he's like, hey, let's wrestle. I want to grapple

you. And I was like, you don't want to grapple me. I've been training. Like, I've been healing. I took some time off. I healed. You know, during those times, I was pretty, my feet were fucking broken, like on my shoulder and everything. It was not good. So, like, and I'm telling him. And I was like, look, you don't want to grapple me. I was like, what's your ranking? And it was like, two, one, I'm number one. And I was like, well, you don't want to grapple me because I'm going to kick your ass. I'm going to take your ranking.

I'm going to go back and win. I was like, you have no idea. A lot of these fighters, I was like, look, they might bitch and moan. So listen, if you guys are taking notes, you guys might bitch and moan. You're not, I'm nine and I got nine, five, win street, 10, whatever fucking win street that you have. Dana don't like complainers. Fuck that. You don't like complainers.

You want to go getters. You want people that are clutch. If you got a certain record, you got a certain fight, and you can, you can, and pulling some people numbers by going out and performing to the best of your fucking abilities by making that shit bloody, you're going to get that shot. But if you're sitting there bitching and moaning all the fucking time and whining, nobody's going to pay attention to you? What the fuck you're doing?

Get out there. Show the fuck what's up. Keep practicing. Work your ass off and make it sharper in the time when you're over there inside the octagon. Do the right things inside the cage. Say the right things. As soon as you get out, go to the presser, say another fucking good couple things, and then prove that you really need that shot.

Because if not, then they're going to fucking pass you by. Because if you're not taking the opportunities that they give you, you're saying, no, I want this. And then they're going to say, fuck you. You know what? You didn't want to take this one? We're going to put you back in line. You're going to go three or four back. I've always said, yeah, I've always been the gamest one that's been out there and fucking always showed up.

It doesn't matter who the fuck they put in front of me. If you're like that, you're going to get your chance. It's inevitable. But you're going to have to work your ass off. Bitching and moaning ain't going to do shit. It ain't going to do shit It's like I was little My dad took me to a baseball game

My first game Angels game I thought was Dodgers Angels game A ball ball was hit We're there a couple hours early The batting practice You have all these annoying kids Like they're trying to get the security guard

They're hanging their gloves over And they're like Hey throw it to me Throw it to me! I don't come out. My dad was like Hey don't see you see those kids He's like don't say anything Hang your glove over the edge

And maybe you'll get his attention. My dad's a hunter. He always taught me. Sometimes you just got to be quiet and sit still. You won't be able to see anything if you're making too much noise. So a lot of your UFC fighters that are out there bitch in the moment, you can make good noise.

But sometimes you just got to sit down, think a little bit, and go a different route, man, find a different trail. So that way you can get that kill, get that victory and get that title shot that you want, man, because you think you deserve it. You got a hundred million other fucking people that think they deserve it too. So what's the difference between you and them? I couldn't agree more with everything you're saying. The question that I wanted to ask was, though,

was there any part of you saying, I'm happy I don't have to deal with those politics? Because it did get a little tires. Absolutely not. No, no, no. Absolutely not. I mean, I took a break. Once the last time I took a break, Ariel,

I never take a break. Right. I never take a break. I've let my feet heal. Like, I'm telling you, I've fucked my feet. Like, I've, you know, preparing for these fights, and I'm using my kicks, and I'm not conditioning my shins or my feet the way I used to.

like man or like different things like it's like I took time to heal and like where I'm at right now with boxing is my balance is getting a lot better my defense and my counters and I'm listening because usually all the time I'm a freestyle I would just always just be kind of moving and doing this type of things well my coaches they have me in my trainers they have me moving in certain mannerisms where I'm breaking all habits which is fucking dope so when I'm opening up in MMA sparring, I feel a difference, which is pretty fucking cool. I've never had a break and I'm doing this. I'd say I'm going to go and jump back in right away because why not fix something

that's not broken. I love the boxing thing right now. But in essence, it's like I'm getting sharper. You know, we're talking about like weapon training. We're talking about doing like a lot of different things, Ariel, which is just what I've always wanted to do. MMA is one of those things where you have this pie, right? And you have all these cuts in it, but you have to.

realize that out of all those cuts they're filled all those time slots are filled and if you want to add in some shit it's kind of take away from some stuff and where i was at was i was taken away from a lot of family time i was taking away a lot of from my business and so on family like just more than anything family time and after a while i realized that when i had my break i was like fuck man i've been missing a lot this is this is what i've been missing but so when i get it and i feel like everything's right back to normal i'm like fuck all right this isn't so bad this isn't so bad like getting back to the routine how college was you know like in like three hour practices and so on and so and getting this shit done not feeling bad and going home and being able to go to bed

early because you're fucking tired of shit like this feels good man this is a this is a good way to end the year the fight before christmas december 20th versus warren spencer it's a good way to set forth whatever the fuck happens next year because i mean shit who knows i mean you've had what gFL put some fucking thing up and like you had like it's like who gives a fuck man like right now misfits boxing is this shit i fucking love misfits man's just cool as fuck you have you know kiss i was a ceo you have adjutant who's a ceo now and like it's just it's so many different directions where this sport's going to go and i'm excited to be right there knee deep will you be at peace if you never fight an mama again oh i'm fighting an mama again bro okay all right

no idea so i mean this shit's not going away it's just right now i'm enjoying keeping shoes on I grew up playing football, wrestling, and then baseball. And then once in a while I played basketball. I played a lot of sports, dude. But everything was always changing. I live in California. Now, hear me out. We don't have snow.

We have rain. We have fires. We have seasons. Yes. But it's not like how I grew up where it's like when the change of the season happens, the change of the sport happens. It's been the same fucking sport forever for me. And I didn't get a break.

And I'm not telling you I got burned out. But damn, if you had a sea. one athlete get burned out and you had to explain it to somebody you just show my career real quick in the UFC real fast and then you show them what happens when you change sports up and then you can come back and play the game later so like that's that's not even a predicament but that's just like the that's the faith in the direction of what I want to put my talent because damn when I talked about like not even being in my prime you talk about 41 dude and just getting like how is that possible at work that's that's like mental experience like when sometimes you have people that they go to college and they don't know what the fuck they want to do they go and they spend all their money doing getting their gen eds and everything out of there and they're dropping out because they don't know what the fuck they still want to do years later sometimes with the experience or whatever they're working on they get the experience and then go back to the

school because they know what they have now they kind of experienced what they had in the real world they're like okay no this is the direction where I want to take my school in and then they go back and they understand where they needed to go. That's kind of how I feel right now. Can I ask you, and I'll let you go in a moment. You know Patty and Justin very well. They're fighting each other for the interim belts. Who do you think wins that fight?

Patty? Only because Justin doesn't want another intern belt. I mean, like, that's just it. You could tell, like, as soon as I, like, when we were fighting, like, I prepared for a different guy. Like, I'd be real. And it was like, I want to go in there and, like, just that's not a, about me anyways we'll talk about gaichi and patty patty's not bad dude patty's not bad he's very

beatable and gauchy's very beatable as well but when it goes into the passion and how upsetting just in gachi has always been about not getting that real tidal shot and just keep dangling it right there again i mean shit patty's in for a new treat right patty's the one that's never fought for a belt he's he's going in there he's going to be trying to you know get that stuff he's going to feel a little bit more fresher. He's going to have that little bit of excitedness in my opinion. You know, so if I was going to go to the book and I was going to try to place the bed, I mean, shit,

I would go with a new kid that's someone going in there and fucking that's going in there for the new opportunity rather than the old kid that fucking, that fought for the belt, disrespected it, threw it on the fucking ground and didn't give the shit for it. In my mentality, that's how he's going to be again. It's going to go for Patty, in my opinion.

So best luck for both of them. I'll knock each other fucking. Tony, it's great to have you back. It's great to have you back, man. Good luck, December 20th. You seem happy, you seem good, healthy, excited, prepared. We're excited to see you back in action less than a month away, 19 days away, to be exact. So looking forward to a nice little Christmas treat right before they're calling it.

What are they calling it the fight before Christmas, Tony Ferguson versus Warren Spencer for the interim middleweight world title of Misfits Boxing. All the best to you, Tony. So great to hear from you. Good luck. I appreciate that, Ariel. Thank you. Happy holidays, boys. Same to you.

Yes, there he is. The Great El Cuckooey returning to action on the 20th of December. Dylan Danis, also on that card against Anthony Taylor, main event, Andrew Tate against one Chase Damore. I know Andy. I know Andy's locked in on that. Chase DeMore fight. She loves Chase DeMore. Everyone loves Chase DeMore. Looking forward to that. That's the day after, that is the day after Jake Paul versus Anthony Joshua. Also on that day, by the way, just announced Bo Nickel. against Yoel Romero in Real American Freestyle Wrestling. How about that? Bo Nickel against Yoel Romero on December 20th. So usually things quiet down closer to the holidays. Not this year, because I got to say, Bo Nican versus Y'O.R. Romero is, I mean, that's a crazy, that's a crazy, crazy dream matchup

when it comes to freestyle wrestling. So how about that? All right. Earlier in the day and throughout the day, we've been talking about the state of matchmaking and featherweight division and lightweight division and women's bantam weight and all these different. Well, Walter Wade, of course, wanted to check in with the Rome Murphy. He's been active on Twitter.

He is the guy who we all thought should be fighting Alex Volcanovsky next. I mean, if you would have talked to us, and you did, on the Monday after his win, the spinning back elbow win over Aaron Pico, I would have said it's a shoeing. I would have said, this is the one. And oh, by the way, the champion himself was tweeting about it, saying, I'll see you in December. Lorone responded. It felt like they just did the UFC's work for them. A funny thing happened along the way.

And on Thursday, we found out it's going to be Alex Volcanovsky versus Diego Lopez, wanted to check in with Lorone, see how he's feeling about it all. He is kind enough to join us right here and now. There he is. Hello, Lorone. How are you, my friend? I'm good, brother. How are you? I'm doing okay.

You say I'm good. and I wonder if you're actually good because I know you've had some time to digest this but now that it is official and it has sunken in how do you feel about the fact that you are not next for Alex Volcanovsky? Obviously it's disappointing but at the end of the day it is what it is

I've got to do some self off, crack on, get the next fight and then make sure I'm undeniable and that's what I'm going to do. I feel like obviously it hurts, but business is business at the end of the day and I've just got to do another one in it. When did you get word? I know we found that on Thursday,

but when did you get word that this wasn't going to go to you? Do you know what? I kind of caught wind of something maybe a month or something ago, but I still kind of had my hopes in it. I still thought it'll go my way. Something inside me just told me that maybe it's still going to go my way. So I still preparing for that. But obviously, when the news came out,

and it was official, then, yeah, we all do. Were you given a reason as to why they didn't go in your direction or more, sorry, and in Diego's direction, ultimately? I don't have a clue. I don't have a clue. All I can think is don't want a Mexican champion in it. They must have seen the numbers that Marino pulled in or even Lopez pulls in, and it's a business move, and it can only do that, really.

When you saw Diego B. John Silva in September, the Noce UFC card, And it was a fast, frenetic, exciting, action-pack fight. Did you think, did he maybe just steal this? Was there any part of you that was worried as a result of that result that he may have gone the title shot over you? Bro, I was celebrating. I was like, obviously not Silver's demise,

but I was thinking I seen that fight going Silver's way. And I was thinking, if Silver wins, he's going to get this title shot. I didn't think there was any way that Diego was going to get the title shot if you want. but good on him if I was Diego I would have took the opportunity to and so let them two fight

I'll fight whoever the UFC give me and I'll get the next shot that's a wild thing because leading up to it John Silva had all the momentum

and Diego was coming off the loss to Vogue so you thought John just lost this just kind of like stamped my ticket right and so it sounds

like you were kind of blindsided by this yeah I thought I thought obviously Diego was the big draw before that fight he lost to

like it's own Konoskin I feel like I felt like there was cut putting silver into the title

shot and obviously that I think that's what the plan was but silver then lost

so I thought it was like I was undeniable then obviously before the Pico

fight it was a number one contender fight most I was fighting Pico

right everybody said that was a number one contend fight so when I jumped in

I automatically think for when fight and I'll be next in line for the title for sure and to go out there and do it the way I did do it it's like I thought I was undeniable I almost celebrated too early but yeah man like I said it is what it is in the immediate aftermath of this fight in Chicago and August where you or your

team your management ever told yeah like you're in you're in pole position you're going to get it like were you ever given any type of promise that this result punched your ticket I promise is, I promise in it. Yeah. You need deeper in it. I promise the words, the word in it, and the sports forever changing. So I don't think they don't ever tell you you're going to get the tower shot. They say we'll see what happens in it.

And like this fights every weekend nowadays. And it's not been like back in the day where it was like there's two guys at the top battling it out. There's loads of contenders now. And that's why I'm the reason why I think it should be fresh. But yeah, man, I'm not crying. What did you make of the tweets from D.A. once the news came out. There were a couple here.

Here's one. Take the risks. Accept the fights they're offering you. Do a good job and presentation. This is translation, so it probably means promotion there. And then we'll talk, mustache season is coming, see you in Australia. And then I do believe there was another one saying my face when I saw everyone crying, sitting around. He won't give you a title fight.

Get to work and stop whining on social media. Do you think that was directed at you? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. and I don't care either. I'm not crying.

And you can't tell me to get to work. I've got nine fights in a row, one. So no one can tell me to get to work. I thought whoever the UFC is given me, I've not ducked fights, have said yes. And in my opinion, I've done the UFC a favour, taking the PGO fight on three weeks. No, he's a dangerous guy.

I believe he's top five in the division, for sure. I feel like he's one of the best there. And I went out and knocked him out, so no one can tell me to get to work. I'm working, bro, and I'm ready to go again. Do you think if Pico would have beaten you in August that he would have gotten ahead? Bro, you don't need to ask that. You know that and I know that. He was promoting him like he's a champion already.

Yeah. We all know that. And it's like that that's what's unfair. But like I said, I'm ready to fight. I'm here to fight. I'm here to challenge myself. I love fighting. I love challenging myself.

So the next challenge will come. The only thing I'm pissed about, like I said, is not getting the opportunity to fight against Borch-Noscis. I know he's going to retire after this. So I've always wanted to, since I got signed to the UFC in 2019, my goal was Chalko Go, Wokinovsky. That's when he become champion. So the last six years, I know he got beat by Tupori, but the last six years, my aim's been Volcanozky.

I need to get to that level. I think that's my goal. That's been repeating in my head when I'm training, whatever, whatever. But to get that tick, that's the only thing I'm bothered about. I'm not worried about the money and whatnot. I want to fight against Volcanoxia. I would say I beat Volkonoski. That's it.

I wonder how you feel about him in the aftermath because after your win, he tweeted, I'll see you in December. Not a lot of champions do that. We spoke about that. There's the tweet and there's your reaction. And I'm not sure if you've seen, but even on his YouTube channel,

he reacted saying he thought it was going to be you or Mofsar. It seems like even he's kind of struggling with how things, from your perspective, I was like, I know you want to fight him and beat him, but I wonder if your respect grew for him

because I feel like he's really handling this the right way. Bro, of course, a respectful Okunoski. When I say I want to fight him and beat him, that's nothing personal. That's because he's the best. He's the guy at the top of the hill. I've got him, I've got plenty of respect for Volcanovsky. Even him calling me out saying he wants to fight me after I beat Pico,

that just shows the true champion. He wants to fight the best next open court, and he ought to beat Diego. So to call out me on most, I believe they're the hardest fights in the division right now. So, yeah. So since this has come out, Do you have any indication as to what they have planned for you? I don't know. Like I said, I'm waiting for some news.

I thought it was going to be Wokonoski. It's not Wokenowski, so let's see who they'll come with. I feel like the whole division is shouting my name. And for me, it's a kick up the ass because I feel like these guys must think, because I don't know, these guys must think I'm an easy ticket to the title, but they're going to get a rude awakening. I'm telling you, I've got a firelet under me and I'm ready to kill. simple.

I feel like, okay, now that you're not getting it, there's only one fight to make and it has to be you versus Moffstar number one contender fight. How do you feel about that? Like I said,

like I said, I'm willing to fight anybody. Whoever the UFC gave me, I would fight. But, come on. Mosar, he's showed up for 45% of his fights. He's had 20-bought fights

and showed up for, I can't remember what I before if I just said is. So it's like, yeah, like I said, if the UFC booked it, then we'll fight. We'll do a five-rounder. I believe I'm the best in the division right now,

so I've got to go and prove that and I can't fight anybody. Did you see that tweet from him? I wasn't sure if he was talking about Leon Edwards or Lorraine Murphy there because he called you Leon Murphy, but he said I would give you the opportunity to fight the number one contender, tell your people you're ready to find me on the same time. Let me ask you, how is he the number one contender

when he pulled out of the fight? I'm the number one contender. I won his fight. I won his fight that he was scared of. Look at his record, yeah Every tough fight He's pulled out of He's not gone there to fight

Any tough guys Been matched against Toporia, he pulled out of There's plenty more So you can't say He's the number one contender I'm the number one contender And you've got

Aljibis Stirling calling me out You've got guys that have not been fought in the UFC yet calling me out You've got guys that haven't Ranks calling me out It's crazy

But let's go What do you make of Aljo Does that one interest you more I wouldn't say more but it interests me because he was the champion and it shows up he shows up to fight

would it be an exciting fight yeah when I knock him out let's do a five round if we're going to fight any of these guys any name let's do five rounds okay so you don't want to or I guess I was going to say you don't want to be necessarily

on that same card but I guess it could be the co-main event five rounds right would you want to be on that card in Sydney just in case something happened Like I said, I'll do whatever in it But I want the main goals to become champion in it So I've got to do what I've got to do But preferably not really

Who wants to go to all the way to Australia If it's not for the title But yeah, like I said, I'll fight in it I prefer to do the UK I prefer to do the UK if I've got the opportunity to do so Historically that's in March Would you be okay waiting until March at this point? This is another sticky one for me because I come out of the last fight unscathed and was ready to go in October, November, December, whenever it was.

So I've kind of been ticking over, waiting for that, and then to not fight until March, that's a long time. What's that, seven months or something? I want to get active now and I want to fight, I want to fight regularly. I asked you about a couple names there. about a couple of names there. Is there a name that interests you most? Is there a name that you would like to actually fight as opposed to the names that I mention? Anybody in the top five? Anybody in the top five, really? You've got, who've you got in there? You've got Yair in there? I think he's injured. So I heard. Who else is in there?

This is the top five right here. So Mofsar is up there. Diego's two. Yayr is three. What about you under Yaya there? How do you feel about that? under him. Yeah, like you're fourth and he's third. To be honest, the rankings mean nothing. That's true. They mean nothing. All it is is to sell fights.

It means nothing. You've seen guys go from 12 to fight number two when it's over-content. Like, it means nothing, in it? So the only reason I want to fight somebody in the top five is because it's merit in it. And you see the fans say it or you're not being known in the top five, whatever, whatever. And I feel like the fans choose the fights really, isn't it? Mm-hmm. How do you, okay, so how do you actually think the Volcanoz fight goes? We saw it in April. Do you think it goes the same way, Volk winning, or do you think this would be different?

I think it goes exactly the same way. I think Lopez has done it before now, so I think he has to push the pace earlier, but I believe it goes the same way. I want, I don't care who he wins, but I want Volcanox get to win because of the goal. I know, I feel like he's been stuck in. I mean, regardless, it has to be one more and then the belt, right? There's no way that you're going to fight like multiple more before the belt, no? Who knows? Who knows? Who knows? Who knows at this point? I don't know. I don't know. Well, I believe that if I go out there and perform the way I know I can perform. I believe I've not only shown my best yet. I've shown glimpses.

I feel like what I've been working on since the fight is just getting in that zone earlier and I believe I'm going to I believe I'm just getting into my prime now and I believe I'm going to show my best and I'm going to be undeniable

I think that's why Is this at all deflating for you? I know we're catching you now several days after the announcement but did you have a moment where you were kind of down about everything? Yeah, do you know what when I first found out

I didn't even do you know what I thought out of love with it for a bit I'm not going to lie It's like I got into MNB because over boxing because I thought there's no politics here. I thought it's just simply do the work, the best by the best, and that's the way it goes. But that's what hurt me the most of it. But it's like at the end of it, and then I kind of fought it over.

And it's like, get over it is what it is. It's business. Just keep fighting. Keep doing what you do. Keep winning. And we'll get there eventually. And I think it's inevitable that it's going to happen. and I'm not going to be champion

and my role's never been easy from the get-go from being a kid my role's never been easy in it so I'm used to this I've seen you training Andrew Tate as of late he's got his fight on December 20th

how did that come about through Luke my friend Lou Barnett he invited me out before I could help out a bit so I got out there it was good man he enjoyed it

done a bit of sparring held a bit of pads give my little bit my little two pence wear it could and yeah it's good he's good experience how's he looking

he's looking good you know he's looking good he's he's very very awkward he hits hard and he's very he's got good cardio as well I think

I think he's going to stop this kid wow do you think that you know he can actually have a run as a pro boxer or do you think it'll be more of these

types of fights these influencer type of fights I don't know I don't know what he I don't think he has to fight I think he's rich enough to not fight I think he's just doing it for his own himself and just challenging himself

so I don't think he's going to make a career back out of it but I think he's going to go out there beat this guy prove something to himself and the world and whatnot and then I don't know what he's going to do I don't know okay will you be in his corner no I won't be in his corner

I was just there to just help but I've got my own stuff going on. I'm going to get a fight book soon. Hopefully, I'll be in fight camp from this week next week. Okay. Oh, wow. So that soon. You think you'll find out something in the next few days? Bro, I've been waiting for months. And now the championship fights have been made. There's plenty of contenders to be matched with. Like I said, a lot of people are calling me out. So it's time to get ready, time to get ready for another war. And I'm going to show these guys. Trust me, I'm going to show these guys.

I thought maybe because things didn't go your way here, you'd focus on paddle in the Olympic Games, if that was going to be the route for you. I'm not a quitter, bro. I'm not a quitter. And something like this can't hold me back from greatness. I'm destined for it, man. It's my destiny. So, yeah, nah, I'm back on the horse. It is interesting.

It does feel like every few years there's that one guy. You know, we just spoke to Tony Ferguson. He was that guy. Leon Edwards was that guy. Bilal Muhammad was that guy who just has to do a little bit more. but eventually it feels like when they do get that shot they get the belt

they end up winning it do you know what I mean like it does feel like every few years there's that guy who maybe isn't the most you know brash or outspoken

or biggest trash talker has to scratch and clod just a little bit more but when they do get there it does feel like it goes their way maybe I'm that guy yeah like I said I'm not the loud

not the loudest guy in the room but I'm the most dangerous guy in the room always and I'm going to show these guys bro and when the next guy gets in with me they're going to see you're going to see a different beast again I feel like I've leveled up

I've leveled up mentally and I want it more than ever so the next guy is in for a read one trust me one more a fight that was announced in your weight class John Silva the aforementioned against Arnold Allen what do you think of that fight

who do you like in that one bro it's an excellent match of that it's a great fight great great fight and is on time out does that play and does that play a factor? Gene's just been knocked out.

Does that play a factor? There's a lot of factors that are going to fight in. I think Gene Silver is a great fire, great fire, very aggressive. And so it's a hard, also, it's a 50-55 for me, 50-50. Yeah, and your teammate, Atiba Gautier on that card too, the one that was just announced. That guy is an absolute stud as well. All great things happening, it seems, from that area of the UK,

Manchester producing a lot of great fighters. So you're handling this very well. Kudos to you, my friend. Keep your head up. It will all work out. And do you feel deep down inside last thing this time next year, 2020, 2006, December of 2026? Are you the champion of the world? Have you fought for the belt yet?

How do you feel the next 365 go for you? Anything is possible. Anything can happen. But I always think the best outcomes. And I believe I'm going to be champion. And as long as they don't make me fight, five more fights, I'm going to be champion. I beat the next guy, knocked the next guy out. And then I'll fight for the title in the summer, I think.

Like I said, I want to be active. My dream was in the perfect world. It was to fight Volcanowski in December, beat him, and then defend it in the UK in March. But it didn't go my way. So, yeah, we'll fight in February, March, whatever, win then, and then fight for the belt in probably what is it in international fight week or fight for the belt

then or what that's a good plan I look forward to it thank you Lorone appreciate it very much much respect and good luck to you thanks so much for coming on and talking about all this thank you respect bro there he is the great Lorone Murphy the miracle tough spot but other fighters have been here before

and by the way one fighter that I didn't mention who had to scratch and claw and work a little harder Marab Duolishvili who is the man who is now fighting four times in a calendar year, defending his title four times in a calendar year, which is absurd. He actually posted on his threads recently. Look at this. Hard work pays off. This is Marab, not that long ago. Look at this guy. And this is now one of the most popular and best fighters in the world. Look at this guy. Who would have thought you'd have seen this guy working, you know, in construction in New York, a day that kind of looks like today. And now look at him.

look at him look at him four let me tell you something if marab wins on Saturday fight of the year debate over four title defenses

in a calendar year absurd never see that again unbelievable Maraub's cutting weight right now he's hanging with the boys he's got a whole crew

of Georgian fighters living at his house he told us and this is him trying to get like the, I don't know, I wasn't sure if it was a, is that a pineapple green olives? I'm not sure, but he's smelling it while eating cucumber and lettuce. I mean, this is just torture.

Smelling it. And I don't think this is like a gag. I think he's actually smelled. Why would you? His boys are like, yep, yeah, yeah, yeah. Lim's the brakes. Oh, that's not very nice. Look at this.

He's like, ah, let me smell this. Ah, look at that. Nice pizza. Would you do that? I don't know if I could handle it. I don't think I have, I mean, he's way stronger than I am mentally. I don't think that I have the mental fortitude to do something like that. To smell the pizza while eating the cucumber and lettuce?

That's next level. That's why he's one of the greatest of all time. That is strength. That is mental strength. That is discipline. Yeah. That is alpha. That is discipline.

Great job, Mara. Looking forward to his return. also looking for it. Well, I said this a few weeks ago, one of my most anticipated fights of 2026, and we didn't know at the time when, where, all that stuff, Amanda Nunes, Kayla Harrison, Kayla Harrison, Amanda Nunes, women's band to weight title, because you don't, like, this is a promoter's dream. You don't get these types of fights off. You don't just fall in your lap, former teammates, two-time Olympic gold medalists,

goat, teammates, leave 55, 45, 45, 35, win the belt, come out of retirement. this is literally a promoter's dream. And so we are finally getting it January 24th, UFC 324, T-Mobile, Las Vegas, first Paramount Plus card. And I have told you how I feel about the card. And I've told you how I feel about its placement on the card. Ultimately, my opinion does not matter. Ultimately, the most important opinion is that of the champion. And so without further ado, let us speak to the champion who will be defending her title on January 24th. The one and only, Kayla Harrison. There she is. Hello, Kayla. How are you? Oh, I'm good. How are you, Ariel? I'm so happy to see you because I actually, for the first time ever knowing you, I was actually worried you weren't

going to show up, and I'll tell you why. It is easier to get in touch with the President of the United States than it is to get in touch with you these days. I mean, I can't even get a double tap these days on my text. I can't even get a response. I thought, like, I didn't think that you were mad at me or anything. I just thought you were going to forget and do something else and not check your phone. Why are you so elusive these days? I'm just living in the moment. You are? I'm not on my phone.

I'm unplugged. I deleted social media off my phone. Wow. I just, yeah, I'm just living my best life. When did you do that? After I won, the belt. Okay. And why did you do that?

Um, I mean, number one, One, because I think that mental health, like, definitely being on a device, like, locked into a screen all day and, like, checking it constantly and, like, looking at what people say about you who've never met you. And, like, I just think it's not good for your mental health. And number two, like, the real world is so much better than everything online. Like, if you actually just stop and, like, go outside and, like, touch grass. It's way better than watching a video of other people touching grass. 100%. By the way, I feel like you're going to agree with me on this because I have a debate with the guys on the show and whatnot.

How old is your oldest right now? She's 12. 12. Have you given her a cell phone? No. Okay. So my son is 13. Last kid left in his grade without a cell phone.

And he's getting... Go! Stay strong. I'm staying strong, but I got to say I'm barely holding on because he's giving me like the puppy dog. So what age? What age? What age do you believe in? Because I believe, I wish it could be 16. When you can drive a car, then maybe you can have a phone. Wow. Okay, so you're going to go to like 18.

I'm going to go to maybe 16. I'm going to hold out for as long as I can. Okay, okay. Is she giving you issues? Yeah, 100%. Okay. I mean, she's also homeschooled, though, and all of the other homeschool kids don't have phones. So it's like we don't have the peer pressure as much as you guys do for sure. Okay, all right, all right. Well, I knew we'd be on the same. No, she, I mean, every single Christmas birthday, she's always asking for a phone.

And I'm just like, you know, go fly a kite. By the way, speaking of Christmas, I'm noticing, like, you're very spiritual right now. I mean, the necklace is beautiful. Your sweatshirt literally says spiritual gangster. A bunch of crosses, like, have you gone more into the religion? Well, we're just in my room. I love it, by the way. I'm a religious person myself.

I just, I feel like it's, it's, you mean the sweatshirt, it feels like are you leaning more into it? Or is this always? I would say that, I would say that religion is manmade and that's broken, but my faith is very strong. Okay. But what about like your, what about like your observance? Has it become more prevalent in your life? I mean, yeah. I mean, like, yeah, you know, once, yeah.

I think that it is the thing in my life now, you know, like my relationship with God is first and everything else comes second. I love it. Well, second then, I guess, would be your date on January 24th. Well, second would be my kids, but. Well, yeah, geez, I tried to make a good transition there, but, well, I put it all as one, but yes, you're right. That's just your job.

Can I, okay, so I have a lot of thoughts on this, as you may or may not have heard, but can I I just ask, when did you find out that you are fighting on January 24th? I mean, like, it was, you know, it was in talks for a while, but I didn't really know until, you never know until they announce it, I feel like. Like, I don't count my eggs before they're hatched, so. Okay. Did you always know that, like, the card would be like this, to that you guys would be co-main event to the interim title, or did you find out like us?

no i mean i think i knew maybe one day before you okay and uh what was your reaction i'm pumped i'm a i'm a big justin gaichi fan so you didn't feel so so what i said was i felt like it was an insult to you as champion just help it what i don't i believe in the sanctity of the belt i believe in i have a ball okay first of all i have a bone to pick with you oh wow okay Why are you always talking so much shit about Ali? Me. Me. You! I'm the bad guy here. I'm the bad guy in this equation.

You. Wow. First of all. Yes. First of all. I didn't think we're going to talk about this, but all right, go ahead. Number one. Yes.

Number one, Ariel, is always to kill it with kindness. Amen. Amen. My kids, that's what I try to preach. That's how I try to live. Number two, you, like, nobody's even talking about him. Only you. You always talk to me about it.

That's literally the opposite of the truth. No one's talking about him. He is... You know what? Ali did more interviews after Armin, excuse me, after Islam's win than Islam and everyone else on the card combined. He did like a whole media tour. You know in the back where they have the step and repeat and they interview you guys?

He was the one doing the interviews. And I'm the one... He's literally the one doing... I've never seen a manager do more media than him. Oh, my God. So my point is, if you're going to do... do that much media, expect people to talk about you. If you don't want people to talk about you, don't do the media. Just disappear like everyone else. No one else does media except for him.

He wants this. He wants it. What are you talking about when I said that he has main character syndrome when he wants to be the guy to roll with Aidan Ross when he's got like a room for... I just don't understand why you have to even bring it up. Like, just let it... Why can't you guys just leave each other alone? You don't even have to like each other anymore. I've given up on that. Like, you don't have to like come to terms and make amends. But why can't you guys just leave each other alone. By the way, I say it out of love. I say it out of love. If he walked into my studio right now, I would shake his hand. I would say, great to see you. How's life? How's your family? How's everyone? Let's have a chat. There was a guy named Tony Khan, the head of AEW.

I saw Tony, come on. I saw. In a million years, I never would have thought this guy would come on. He hated me. Wait, why? Because you guys had beef? Big beef, yes. Who do you not have beef with? Not that many people, but the point is when it's when it's, when it's beef, it gets, it gets magnified, okay? It gets magnified. More often than not, I mean, look at all the big names that come on this program, including you, and I want this to be about you and not me, but Tony came in. We shook hands, we made amends, we hugged, and all was good. That's what grownups do.

So why can't, you know, why can't he do that? Don't do that. What? Don't do that. What? Say, why can't, why can't, don't use eye statements, not you statements. I would be more than happy to do it. I would love to make amends and have a talk with Ali.

Don't say you or we, why don't. Kayla, now let's be honest. You know that I've said this multiple times. You know I've said this to you. You know that. I've said this to you. I've said, call him. I've said, I would go to Las Vegas and shake everyone's hand and make amends and say that

there's only one life that we get to live and life is too short for all of this nonsense. He doesn't want to. He made a deal with a higher being and it was a non-examined. sense deal and made a promise saying, hey, hey, boss, I won't let my guys go on your show and you give me, you know, you give me good things as a result. This is the truth. So if we want to talk about the truth, that is the truth. I have said repeatedly that I would stop. And then yet he goes on social media and talks about my nose and talks about that I don't get invited to the events, all this nonsense. He makes it personal. I don't talk about it. I haven't, I, okay,

well, I haven't seen anything that he said about you. Okay. So I believe you. I just want you guys to stop. Can you guys just stop talking about each other? I can't promise that. You know why? Because when you are that influential and important in the sport, which he is, he is very influential and important. What do you want me to do? Not talk about him? He is an important, influential person in the sport. And it's my job to talk about important and influential people in the sport. So that's a credit to him, by the way. That's a testament to him. I can't just ignore it because then I'm being a bad journalist.

when I'm letting my personal feelings dictate my coverage, then I'm being biased. I agree. All right. Well, you know what? I'll just keep asking Santa for world peace and we'll see if it ever comes. But have I not said this to you multiple times? No, you've definitely said it to me multiple times that you would happily... On the show and off the show.

We've talked about this off the show, right? I've said this to you... No, we've talked about it off the show. Yeah, me and you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Listen, I just want... Peace and love.

Yeah. I mean, yeah. It's so silly to me. It's so silly. I have also said that I feel like grudges and beefs and all this stuff are like cancers that grow in your body and make you sick. I believe this. I really do believe this. I would love nothing more. I'm not the one making a ceasefire here and saying, oh, we're not going to talk to each other. They establish that, not me. I'm out here trying to live my life and cover the sport, a sport that I care so much about. To the point. that I get fired up on Thanksgiving that you're not fighting in the main event because I care about the sanctity of the sport. I know. You were fired up, weren't you? I was fired up. And so I feel offended on your behalf and Amanda's behalf.

You guys, the undisputed title. I think that it's, I think that the belt. The belt is, it's not about me. It's not about Amanda. I think it's about the belt. Like, that should mean something. This should mean something. thing, too. It's not just about the belt. This, this is a two-time Olympic gold medalist going up

against the greatest of all time. That is, if that's not a main event, I don't know what is. I'm sorry. And what is main eventing is a fake belt that doesn't even feature a number one contender. The number one contender is Armid Surukian. How is that possible? That stuff matters to me. Just like promos matter and posters matter. All these things matter. This is the sport. I agree. Oh, you do. Okay. So do you share. I agree that these things, I agree that these things matter. Does it matter to me?

Not in the way that matters to you. So there was no part where you like pondered for, you're like, oh, that's strange. Like, you're just like, all right, cool, January 24th. I'll see you there. Yeah. I mean, for me, I have been patiently waiting for a date and, like, to confirm that this fight is going to happen. So, like, the bout order is irrelevant to me. Okay.

I'm not going to belabor the point. I mean, I'm just being honest. No, I appreciate that. You know, I make jokes all the time where I'm like, I would fight on the prelims just because it's, like, more conducive to the time I go to bed. Sure. Like, I'm a mom. Like, I'm in bed at 9 p.m. So fighting it.

I mean, although it's going to be in Vegas, so it won't be that late, which is good. Yeah. Did you hear the news? The main cards now start an hour earlier. At nine. Isn't that amazing? No, I'm so happy. By the way, for someone who doesn't have social media, you seem to be really up on the news.

What do you mean? I mean, how did you know that? That it starts at nine? Yeah. I saw it. How? On social media. Wait, I thought you don't have social media.

Yeah, I have it on my laptop. Oh, you go on your laptop? Yeah. Oh, wow. So you just, like, sit down, check it, and then move on. I mean, yeah, literally. I'll check it, I'll look, see if there's anything important. There's never is.

And then back to life. What about your screen time? What about it? How is it? Like, are you under an hour? Probably. Wow. That's incredible.

That's my dream. You'll never get there. No, no, no. I'm like 10 hours. I'm at an hour. I'm at an hour. 17. Wow. That might be your most impressive achievement. Well done. Yeah, you'll never get it. You, dude, I don't even know if you, how many phones do you have?

Pathetic. I only have one. I'm not one of these weirdos with multiple phones, but I'm at like, you know, 11 or so. Oh my gosh. No way. Yeah, yeah. But I have a bone to pick with it because like if I do Google Maps and go on an hour drive, that counts as an hour. yeah so it's not really fair but is that what happened today yeah literally i i use google maps to come to work to know like which route to take so you're at 10 hours yeah and then the way back is nine you know listen to music that's another 30 40 minutes you know you go for i go for my morning run that's another hour run in the morning yeah let's go i don't know if running makes That was bigger, but... I'll send you some of my sparring footage.

I've been sparring lately. No, you have it. I swear. If you ever see my text, I'll send it to you, and there'll be one waiting for you in about like an hour or so when we're done. What do you think? Why, you think that's crazy? I got these guys...

I had Kamar Usman say, I don't have G-14 classification. I can't talk about them. So now I have to talk about it and be about it. You are not sparring. All right, I'll show you. Can we make this about you? You're a father. Yeah, I know, but I need some...

street cred. This is a huge fight. How do we feel about the cut to 135? I feel good. We feel locked in. I mean, this is this is my job, you know, so I'm about 159 pounds. Okay. Is it possible 2026 is your last year competing at this level? Because I could see a scenario. Amanda, Whitehouse,

what else is there to do? Yeah. Hmm. Yeah, we'll see. I mean, I definitely, yeah, I'll know when it's time. I'll know when it's time. But right now the focus is Amanda. January 24th, the goat gets dethroned.

Yeah. Was there any talk about making this on the White House card? I don't think so. Too far away. Yeah. I mean, I just would have fought again before that if we were going to do that, you know. Okay. Is this fight personal?

Not for me. Nothing? Uh... No. I can't, I don't really feel anything personal. It's just like, I mean, we've been talking about, there have been two people who my name has been linked to since before I had an MMMA. fight. And that was Amanda Nunes and Chris Cyborg. So I'm living in my dreams right now. You know, I started MMA eight years ago. The goal was to become the best and to see how high I could

climb, to see if I could get to that level. And I'm here. And I'm making my dreams come true. There's something super peaceful about living in your purpose and using your gifts and walking your path. And I'm just like, I'm living my best life, dude. I love it. I could feel it. By the way, I would add maybe one more name to that list. You were kind of compared or in the conversation with Rhonda as well, right?

Yeah. Actually, a new story came out today from boxing. scene that she's in talks to fight Katie Taylor in boxing next summer. Stop it. Yeah. No. Have you been seeing her trained? It seems like she's like gearing up for a comeback.

Yeah. I saw some videos and then what did she say? Like, I'm the best. Of course, that's why they think I'm kind of, yeah, I saw some stuff. How do you feel about that? I'm the greatest. Would that be a dream for you? What did that be some story, huh?

No? Yeah, that'd be some free money. But yeah. Do you think she's coming back? Have you inquired? No. I mean, we're not friends. No, no, but maybe you ask around like to the brass.

Like, hey, is this a thing? If I was going to ask someone for the scoop for the tea, I would ask you. Yeah. Take that, Ali. Take that. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding.

You can't do it. It's a real thing, by the way. It is a real thing, by the way. She is planning on coming back Shut up, really? 100%. Who's she going to fight? Well, there was actually some talk of her.

He's not going to fight Katie Taylor in boxing. If you said MFA, I'd say, okay. Gina Carrano. Really? No, by the way, the Katie thing is real, too. No, it's not. I'm telling you, it is. Whether it happens, I don't know.

But she is seriously training for a comeback. I love this. Holy shit, dude, really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're in. Sometimes I can't even write. It sounds like you're in, yeah. It's too poetic.

Here she is. Don't fucking play this clip. You, kind of a bitch. Oh, my God. What is this, guys? Who played this? What is happening here? Guess what?

Now you'll never have me on this show. No, by the way, I have no idea. Is that you? That's me on the bottom, yeah. Oh, that's messed up. You think I'm controlling the B-roll? You think I'm controlling this? What a little nugget I was.

What year is that? No, guys, stop with the clips. No, it doesn't bother me. Oh, okay. I actually thought you were offended. No, I don't care. I mean, it's me losing, but I'm like, every time people, so like, obviously when people talk about us fighting,

they bring up, like, Ronda, you know, all the Ronda. like, what are they called simps? You say that what you call it? The kids call it a simp. All the Ronda sims are like, she already beat her twice in judo. And I'm like, I just want to be like, yeah, well, I was 13 and I was being molested, so.

Oh, dear. Are you 13 in that clip? No, I'm probably like 14 or 15. Wow. And how old is she? I don't know, 18 or 19. Oh, that's not fair. It's fair.

I mean, we're in the same way class. I know, but like she's like, she's like almost 20 years. old, you're still a teenager. I mean, she beat me. I have no, like, I'm woman enough to admit when I get beat. She beat me. So this would be a trilogy?

Yes. I could see the promotional poster now. Kayla, Rhonda, three. This time, they're both women. Like, that didn't really work. I just be like, you're a teenager and now you're like a... Now, like, people who say, say I'm a man or not. Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot. Oh, wow. You are slaying today. I can't believe your

mind even went there. You play a clip of me getting my out. Now you're calling me a man. I did not. I would never. I would never. You know I'm your biggest fan and that's why I'm sticking my reputation on this on the disrespect. Yeah. Amanda won't come on my show. I don't know why i think it's yeah huh i think it's because of you me i think she thinks i'm team kela see i'm damned if i do damned if i don't i mean everybody knows your team kela ariel i know and they try to stop it the powers that be try to stop it do you think i should come to the fight do you think i should be there feels like this is the one to go to i mean if you're going to make a comeback this is the one to be at i'm telling you right now the two goats coming back on the same night

Don't make me snores. So, okay, so what about the training? When's the last time you actually trained with Amanda? Years ago. I mean, I think before her first Juliana fight. Oh, that's actually not that long ago. When is it? When was it?

I mean, first Juliana fight, was it UFC, what was it? All I remember was I was in Vegas and she lost, yeah, she lost and Dustin lost in the same night and it was just a bad night for ATT. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you feel like you have any sense of her because of the time you train together? Do you have any sort of knowledge? 2021, by the way, was that fight? um i mean no i think that like we both have

our skill set we both have game plans and and the object of a fight is to go out there and implement your game plan to the best of your ability be the person who makes one less mistake you know it's not rocket science and it's it's also um it's human chess so it's we both got to go out there and try our best. Do you think it's personal for her? Maybe a little bit. I don't know. I mean, I think that she retired and I don't know,

maybe got bored or I don't know what happened, but she said that this excites her. So I'm excited that she's excited. I mean, this is great. It's great for you. It's great for the sport. always know she was coming back? I mean, it couldn't be better. Yeah. Did you always know she was coming back? Like, did you always suspect that she's going to come back at some point? No. I mean, I definitely

didn't know. We don't talk anymore, obviously. Sure, sure. So, yeah, when she said that she was going to come back, I was pumped. Because I thought when she retired, she retired. Did you ever have a relationship where you guys talk, hung out? I mean, we were definitely friendly. Like, we didn't train a ton, but we did train some. And, you know, I always looked up to Amanda, respected her. Um, yeah, we were friends. You know, she came to my son's birthday party. I went to her daughter's birthday party. You know, like it wasn't, um, there was no drama or beef or anything. At least not for on my end like it's not yeah i have nothing but respect for her i don't you know i've spoken publicly about this before but i don't appreciate the way she left at t and the

some of the remarks and insinuations she made about the team um but she's never done anything to me personally so did she just like leave one day or did you see it coming like were there signs I was surprised I think everybody else wasn't surprised but I just also like can't imagine yeah I've never really like I've never like big gym is still in my corner you know all I have have never had a fight outside of ATT my three coaches Mike Anderson and Mako are still the coaches in my corner like I can't imagine leaving or fighting somewhere else um but yeah it just i it just didn't sit well with me like at the end of the day we get in a cage and we like it's it's our dream it's our job it's our it's our fight so like

when things go wrong or whatever it's on us it's not on the team it's not on anybody but us like that's my opinion um those three coaches did they ever corner her okay so they definitely have intel do you feel like that's going to help you amazing yeah for sure how do you feel like this plays out what do you what are you suspecting what are you feeling at this point in time i know we're still a little over two a little less than two months away how does the fight play out Yeah, how are you seeing it playing out? How are you feeling? You know, I think she's going to come out hard.

And I think I'm going to break her. I think one minute a time, one rounder time, one exchange her time, one breath of time. I'm going to go out there and I'm going to be smart, be calm, cool, collected. And I'm going to instill my will. And I'm one take down away, every fight. And what's this talk about about? Valentina Shevchenko. I know. I saw her on your show.

Oh, wow. You still keep up. I mean, sometimes. So do you want to fight her after this one? Is that the hope? Yeah, I would love to. Did you see Amanda weigh in in the comments saying that she'll come down to 125 after she beats you? I did not see that. Oh, you didn't? No. She said that. She said 125?

I think so, right? Unless I... I mean, I'm hoping she makes one... I'm not convinced she makes $1.35. Are you worried about this? I'm not worried, but I've definitely like, you know, we've seen her pull out of main events before. We've seen her have issues and struggles. So I'm mentally preparing for me to be disciplined and do my job and for her to not. Was there any talk of doing this at 45?

No. Okay. Unfortunately. I know that was discussed at the beginning. I actually, I think it was Ali who was trying to campaign for that. Yeah, I would have loved that. Okay. Was it ever presented to them just to make it easier for both of you?

I don't know. Okay. Man, I can't. What about Larissa Pacheco? What about her? Are you surprised she's gone from PFL? dude what happened i don't know you know you know all the team well i what i by the way what i do know is i i heard she's not signing with the ufc oh really well i don't think she can make 135 yeah can she

no so like what's the point yeah but it's surprising that they would part ways it just didn't see why did they what did she get cut or did she ask to be let out of the contract i haven't i haven't I haven't gotten a good answer on that. Interesting. Is that one you want back? No. I mean, I've already beaten her twice. Sure, sure.

It doesn't like, it doesn't excite me, but I would do it. What did you think of a Valentina's win? Beast, bro. Were you expecting that kind of dominance? the legend. Yeah. I mean, I think you have her in the goat talk as well, you know, like, easily. Um, I was surprised, yeah.

I was surprised. Not, not like to discredit her. I just thought, first of all, how old is she? Valentina, I think she's 37 off the top of my head. So, like, father time waits for no woman, you know? I was like, I just didn't know if she was going to start to slow down. I was interested to see how much strength and power Waley would have. I also remember Wayle's fight with Yawanna and I was, you know, that was one of the greatest

fights of all time, maybe the greatest female fight. And so there was just a lot at play and I was very excited to see it. And I mean, this is like, I mean, just an absolute master class. school is in session and like yeah so just so impressive is Kayla Harrison the greatest of all time if she wins on January 24th oh I mean you know it's it's it's so subjective I don't I will I will be happy um I'm already happy and at peace with my career I I have nothing left to prove to anyone I'm doing this because I love it um and the goal is is always like, you know, let's say, let's say that it's not subjective. And I am the greatest

of all time. Like, the goal is not to be the greatest of all time for all time. You know, like, I just, I just want to, I just want to get there. And then maybe it's a month later, maybe it's a week later. Maybe it's a year later. There's going to be some other girl who's, who surpasses all of the things that I did. And now she's standing on top of my shoulders. And now she's greatest of all time. And, you know, like, the goal was never to just be like all about me. I'm the best forever, never, never, never. Amen. Like, it's just a challenge. And it's just to see how high I can go and to continue to pave the way for the future generations. I love that. You once called yourself the uncrown champion. And if you don't get that recognition, I know you did that because of our

new venture on crown. There's the crown right over there. you'd be the uncrowned goat. Yeah. Oh, I'll say that. Yeah. Uncrowned goat. As a little nod. That's what I'll say this camp, yeah.

Yes, yes. By the way, here's the visual proof. It doesn't sound as good as our goat. I know, I know. It doesn't sound as good. I'm in agreement. By the way, this is it. This is the visual proof.

M.A. fighting hat, Dana White gives his immediate reaction to Valentina Schifchenko's dominant win over Zhang Wei Lee at 322. I thought Wei would be much stronger and do better in the fight than she did. Amanda writes, after I beat KH, that's you, I'm going to go down to 125, take this belt for collection

two. You see? There it is. There's the proof. I mean, she's, that's funny. I think, you know, sometimes Amanda just likes to be in the mix. This is what all fighters do. Okay. They say out just things. What's the crazier thought? Her making 125 or her beating you? I mean, I think she's got a better chance to make him 125 than that. Oh, my, what do you think? What's the outcome? What's the finish? Oh, ground and pound.

Damn. Felt that. I'm happy they booked this on the 24th, Kayla, because I'm going to the Olympics in February, just like you. Second time. Really? Second time. Now winter.

Let's go. I mean, I don't even, dude, winter Olympics is like, you know, the step. Wow. Where is it? You don't even know? I'm kidding. Wow. I really don't know where it is, but.

It's in Milano Cortina. Italia. Oh, Italy, Italy. Milano. You have to say it like that. Milano Cortina. I'm going to be there in the mountains for three weeks in Divino, covering the great Canadian athletes.

Oh, my gosh. Are you commentating again? Yes, I have a show, a nightly show, Olympics tonight, on the CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Dude, look at you. Look at us. So for all these people who say I'm not qualified, You think covering the Olympics makes me qualified as a journalist or no?

Top tier. You would think. I mean, still don't get that respect. Oh, you see, but this is, and this is, okay, can I give you some advice? Please, please, please, please. Can I give you some advice? Please, please, please. Step into your power, Ariel.

Oh. No more victim mentality. Okay. No more. Just choose to say, I am qualified. Yes. And I know. But I have people who are trying to...

But you don't, but fuck those people. You don't even need to think about them. Don't even acknowledge it. When you acknowledge it, you give it power. Just... I am qualified. So I can't clap back? No 10-7? I'm the greatest.

I'm the best. I'm the champion. Kayla Harrison. This is my day. This is my purpose. I'm not afraid to win. Kayla Harrison, UFC champion. You want it?

One round at a time. One minute at a time. One exchange their time. One breath at a time. Go get it. Ariel Holwin. wanting, the greatest journalist to ever cover MMA. Combat sports.

We're covering all the combat now. I assume the Olympics. We're doing a lot. We're not trying to pigeonhole ourselves. We're not trying to limit ourselves. We dream bigger. We dream bigger. Okay.

I appreciate that. That was good advice. Don't even give it power. Stop. You don't even need to say it. Because when you say it, you give it power. You're right. You're right.

I am a real. I am a journalist. I am accredited, I am deserving of all the good things that are coming to me, and yeah, fuck the haters. I wish we had this conversation like 90 minutes ago or so. Why? I might have responded some of the eight, you know. Did you? Well, your friend, Camaro, Henry, they were taking shots.

Were they? Yeah. What did they say? Well, now you're asking me to give it even more oxygen. Well, I mean, okay, so let me just clarify. There's a difference between venting to your friends and like, like, not playing, but like being victimized. Like you're only a victim if you allow yourself to be. Yeah, I don't feel like I'm the victim at all.

I just feel like you're not going to strip away my accomplishments just because you say so. Just because I have an opinion, you can't say that I don't deserve to have an opinion, even though, you know, we all know, my opinion is correct. And in doing so, try to tell everyone that I don't deserve to have an opinion, that I don't have the qualifications to have an opinion, that I haven't done anything, that I'm a nobody, that I don't get invited to the events, which is nonsense, that I have a big nose and I can smell them and go low like that. That's not classy, is that? Is that classy? That's what I mean. Why do you even give it breath? Well, yeah, but here I am. I'm not going to let people discredit me. Right. I'm going to stick up for myself.

I think that you don't let people discredit you by continuing to do the good work that you do and continuing to, like, lead by example and be the change in the world that you want to see and, like, let your fucking proof be in your pudding. Like, you don't need to talk about them because you're out here living your life. You're out here living out.

Like, of course people... Listen, of course people are going to talk about you. Yeah, I'm fine. Of course people are going to have opinions on you. Of course people are going to try tear you down you're in a very public role okay and like that would be like me like listening to the people who say that I'm on steroids or that I look like a man or that I have the big nose or I'm triple age or you know like that's like me giving them power when I talk about it and I like like

does it hurt my yeah of course sometimes like I'm a human being but like I just I'm living my life out loud and what a blessing it is for me to be doing what I love and have haters. Oh yeah. I'm not complaining about it. I'm just responding because if you don't respond, I feel like they keep doing it. This is not important. This is not about me. If you don't respond, they stop doing it. The funny thing is they say my opinion doesn't matter, yet they make videos and respond to me. So like if it doesn't matter, then why are you responding? It's a vicious cycle. You guys just keep egging each other on it. You all need to come to. together.

Kumbaya, my Lord, Kumbaya. Peace and love. Kumbaya, Kumbaya, Kumbaya. God is watching us.

Kumbaya. Sing it with me now. Kumbaya. He has risen. Christ is king. Yes. Well, this has been wonderful. Isn't this nice?

This is lovely. Yeah. How was your Thanksgiving, by the way? I mean, it was good. I sparred. Wow. My kids went with my mom for the day to celebrate. I sparred, and I did my cardio, and I trained again.

No dinner. No. I mean, I think I had chicken tacos. Okay. Not even turkey tacos. I'm locked in, bro. Okay. Look at you, man.

I feel. like you're ready to go. You kind of wish it was like next week other than the weight cut part. Yeah. I can't wait. I think it's going to be great. I love the fact that you guys have the honor of being on the first Paramount Plus card. You were announced during half time of Chiefs Cowboys. Let's not get lost in all the negativity online. This is a big freaking deal. Yeah? That's right. You know what I mean? Who cares about where it's placed on the card? Who cares if you're the first fight or the last fight? It's the best fight on the card. It's the most prestigious fight on the card. They don't remember

where you are on the card, they remember the fight. And the history that was made, the history, the goat returning against the greatest combat sports athlete in the history of combat sports. Two-time Olympic gold medalists would have been three if she wanted it to be three. She didn't want it to be three. She had to go win a couple of PFL titles. And then when everyone said she'd have to cut her leg off to make 135, what did she do? She made 135 with ease.

Cut her leg off and made 135. With ease. With relative ease. And now she is the champion, the queen. of the bantam weights soon to fight the other queen of the fly weights moving up to 135 later at the white house in front of our commander-in-chief in front of her former classmate or maybe not jd vans same high school right classmate or no no older he's too older okay but still there's a connection there did you ever meet him by the way middle town middies middle town did you do you ever

meet him? No, I still haven't met him. Wow. Wow. I'll fix that. I'm like kind of bound about that because I just feel like we would really bond over. Hell yeah. That will happen. That will happen around mid-June. In conclusion, any final statement for Amanda Nunes? What would you like to say to Amanda Nunes? Amanda? Thank you. I'm so excited to share the Octagon with you on January 24th, train hard, be safe, stay healthy, and I'll see you soon. Oh boy, that's a great promo. Can I walk you out? Can I be a part of the entourage? Walk me. I was like, you're going to walk me out of my room?

No, could I walk you out, like, be the spit bucket. Yeah. Yeah. Could you imagine? Could you imagine me and the outfit would be incredible? The Harrison on the back, the black and the gold. It would be, you would look really cool. Do you think I'm going to get my own? How many times you have to be champ before they give you your own custom design thing? The ruby. Oh, the shorts?

Like the outfit? I feel like you're there. A little red, white, and blue? Some of America. Yeah, let's go. I know. We'll see what happens. I'm excited.

Well, I appreciate you very much. Good luck in training. Thank you for doing this. You know it means the world. Thank you for the positivity, the light. Thank you for the inspiration. Thank you for the words of wisdom. We share the same to you.

We send it all back to you. Good luck. Can't wait for it. Happy Holidays. Happy Hanukkah, by the way. Oh, thank you. December 14th, yep. All right.

Merry Christmas. Thank you, my friend. I'll talk to you soon. Okay. You're out of trouble. I will. I will. Thank you, Kayla.

I will. Appreciate it. There she is. The one and only. Kayla Harrison, two-time Olympic gold medalist, multiple-time PFL champion, UFC

Women's Bantamway Champion How about that? What a chat. Is there anyone better than Kayla? One of the all-time best. Great job. Could you imagine me

holding the bucket? Holding the bucket. Does anyone really hold a bucket in MMA? No, not really. Yes, they do. They carry out the bucket. It doesn't feel as prestigious.

I mean, that's disrespectful, but yeah, they carry the bucket. Bucket Extraordinary. Is the bucket prestigious anyway? I feel like in boxing there's like the spit bucket, you know? spit in the bucket. Yeah, yeah.

It's not as prevalent in the age, but they usually use it to, like, carry the gloves and other stuff, the water. Man, what an inspirational message. Isn't she the best? Look, she had some words of wisdom for you. For all of us, I think. More for you, but yeah.

I don't know why we're getting loved in there. I just feel like for humanity. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Humanity as a whole. Yes. But you in particular, out of the humanity. You know, initially I was going to save the Camaro talk for a post-Khala. I squeezed it in there.

It would have been very weird. Well, it would have been very weird if I would have done it now, you know? Would you have done it now? I would have thought twice. Your energy might have been a little, you know, different. I would have said, come on. Come here, Camaro. Come here.

Hey, you could still say that if I want to say it. Oh, I just poked myself. Love you. Love you guys, Henry. I know you secretly love me. You're in the DMs. I know, I know. I know, Henry.

Most inspiring thing about all that, though, is our 17 screen. done. Oh my God. Who did I meet recently? She uses social like email. She checks into it and then checks out. I love that. I had a period where I was off and I used to do the same and it actually was brilliant. Yeah. I had like two weeks in the summer where I

only looked at it on my desktop. In fact, I was in Boston for Porier, Holloway Holloway, three, the retirement fight and no social media. And I had to go on my laptop to like follow the tweets and stuff. And there was something like

there was something like I felt like I was winning you know what I mean there was something inspirational about it like I felt like I was beating the system of course that didn't last very long but you know my man

no you know it's all Google Maps don't worry about it you're good it is all Google Maps it's all the maps it is all the maps it is all the hour and 17 was an hour was maps yeah

12 hours knock it down maps all right all right No, that was great. Does Kayla feel like in such a good place? She seems in a very happy, healthy, I can't wait for that fight. Who's the favorite, by the way, in that fight?

Kayla. Ooh, what is it? It's like a minus 200. Wow. Yep. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. H. Vow? I am curious.

I mean, it's just such a good fight. And again, it's not, it's not, like I said, I'm fine with Justin Patty. I just feel like that is, that is not your typical. women's title fight, if you get what I'm saying. What about this Rhonda Katie Taylor stuff? You guys in? No. Yeah, I'm not in.

That is wild, right? Yes, the one-sided affair. Yeah, what could possibly bring somebody to be in? That is, by the way, being reported by Lance Pugmire of boxing scene. This kind of happened in the middle of the show, so I haven't been able to really dig around. But that is, I mean, that is something. I told you guys that she was preparing. And the Gina thing is real, too.

So who knows? Right, but Gina is an MMA fight with an MMA fighter or former MMA fighter. Katie Taylor in boxing is not, like, that's a different thing. That ain't the thing. That's boxing with a boxer. Yeah. One of the best women's boxers ever, one of the best combat sports athletes ever, like, that is a leap. I'm going to ask about it.

I'm going to ask about it. A couple things I wanted to also bring up, speaking of boxing, Jake Paul has been sparring with some very notable boxers. Look at that. That's Jared Anderson on the left. Lawrence O'Cohle in there as well. The last time, you know, you can see the names below. The last time when he was preparing for Tank,

he was sparring with the likes of Shakur Stevenson. So, I mean, those are legit boxers. Oh. sorry asking people um so that is impressive shout out to him rapidly approaching 18 days away by the way this thing is happening pretty damn quick uh Jake Paul weighing in on the the state of the Ali act they want to abolish the Muhammad Ali act because they claim they want to get boxing the best fighting the best so why are all the fans crying foul about these new UFC fights they announced and for sure Harrison Nunes should be its own main event. How about that? Jake agrees

with me. He also weighed in on the odds going into the Ben Whitaker fight this weekend. Whitaker was a 13 to 1 and apparently Jake is a 6.5 to 1 to beat AJ and he said, but my fight is the mismatch that they wouldn't approve over there. Robert Smith of the British boxing border control. In case you missed it, Ben Whitaker did in fact win in his matchroom debut and what a win it was. Look at this. Look at this first round. All it took was less than a round against Gavazzi. As you see, he drops him. Gavazzi only one loss heading into this fight. 19 or so wins. Here's the finishing sequence. Oh, out cold, 45 seconds.

that is just what the doctor ordered for the surgeon oh look at that right hand from hell that's exactly what he needed after the two Liam Cameron fights and that's exactly what he needed in his matchroom debut unfortunately and this has become a thing he gets online afterwards and he announces that someone robbed his house while he was out doing his thing in that ring. Take a look at this. Highs and lows of the sports. Come back. House has been burgled.

But Wednesday, I got a big, big reward. Find these people, let me know. They've even took my IBF belt. What are gonna do with that? So yeah, let me know. Hit me up in the DMs. Big reward. They took his IBF belt.

Some guys just walking around the neighborhood with the fun. What could you do with that? That's the best part. They're going to do with that. But you know, this What are you going to do With this continues to be a thing

Especially in Europe But I think in America too, right? Oh yeah I remember when it happened To Cyril gone I'm trying to think of an American That it happened It has happened

It is a thing that is happening Now to the athletes I mean it makes a lot of sense Right? You know they're high profile people You know they will not be home Awful, awful Imagine you feel good about life

You just won this fight You knock the guy out You come home And your house has been broken into I guess the move is You just have to always Have someone at your house if you're a famous athlete

because everyone knows that you're not home. At least on Fight Day. You get a house sitter. Yeah, or we increase the security systems. You get a guard dog. You get a moat. Oh, yeah.

See, what's what? Back in February. What's that? I'm here for the moat. No, it was a good call out. Sure. Back in February of this past year, ESPN reporting

seven men have been charged by federal prosecutors for their alleged roles in a string of burglaries at homes of prominent professional athletes. According to the complaint, seven men ranging in age from 20 to 38 and all from Chile were members of a South American theft group and are accused of stealing more than $2 million in valuables. They were charged

Tuesday in Florida, federal court with conspiracy commit, interstate transportation of stolen property and can face up to 10 years in prison. They allegedly stole jewelry from Bobby Portis of the Milwaukee Bucks, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey, unnamed players from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Memphis Grizzlies. Three of the men have also been charged by federal grand jury in Cincinnati in connection to the burglary of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

I think his girlfriend or something was at home at the time, but he was playing. It's crazy. Awful. Yeah, I mean, this is a thing for celebrities. There was that famous bling ring where they were stealing from like Paris Hilton

and all these other things as well. Like, you got a lot of stuff, people are coming. also Oh yeah I think it also happened to Cheeto right didn't it happen to Cheeto Chito did say that yeah Yes yes yes On that same card earlier in the night

Our old friend Meatball Molly We miss you Molly Victorious in her second Pro boxing bout Look at Molly doing her thing out there Bang Left hand

Eddie Hearns saying afterwards that he thought that she was upset with her performance. It's just her second pro fight. Meatball Molly doing her thing. Very happy for her. Reinventing herself. I think a lot of people thought that she'd be done. Opened up a gash over there. Swinging away. Composure. She's not, you know, she's not trying to fight for the belt just yet. But good on her. Good on Meatball doing her thing. Getting the dub. Look, I think she's was a little bit upset but I don't think she should be

that's a solid job on her part she's now 2 and 0 her first her first fight I think was in June when she got kicked so much respect to her now speaking of the UK fight scene

what about Tommy Aspinall Frank didn't have that one quite you didn't have that one like being told they were killing up a video. Come on. Tom Aspinall has reemerged. Now, here's what I want to say about all this.

Tom Aspinall has posted a like 12 or so minute video his first words since the surreal gun fight. Okay? You may have seen it by now. I want to play for you guys a snippet of that.

And then I want to tell you some exciting news on the back end of that, all right? So Tom Aspinall yesterday on his YouTube channel they do a great great job over there posted a snippet it was a nice little walk-a-talk actually reminded me of my chat with john jones when we were walking and talking in the park over there way back when some 10 years ago actually november of 2015 here's what tom aspirin had to say this is just a snippet a snippet watch the full thing on his YouTube channel here it is i think that when it initially happened i didn't really think much of it i thought

accident while i poke whatever look when i watched the fight back that's when I really got the gist of what's going on the guy was trying to poke my eyes out all the way through that round multiple exchanges

nearly every exchange that I could put him in danger he had his fingers out pointing towards my eyes have a look at this clip and let me know what you think if you agree because it's hard to disagree when you got footage like this the guy was cheating from the first second and the way that

he wanted to win that fight was to have me compromised by cheating we found a video of basically from that first round with gans sort of finger pokes just wanted to watch it if you can two three four five so what have you just seen there i've just seen that every time his hand comes out it does this and it's wrong Have you heard from Cyrilgan at all or any contact or any thin post fight? Nope. And your thoughts on him at the moment? Thoughts on him, I think he's a big cheater.

I think that even John Jones himself, even the goat himself, said before he fought him that Cyrilgan's a cheater and uses dirty tactics. So those are harsh words for Serulgan calling him a cheater. You saw Andy Aspinall weighing in as well. John Jones also posting on his, on his social media, some of the medical reports following his visit to the doctor. There you see, November 24th, 2025. Mr. Aspenal sustained significant bilateral ocular trauma during a professional sporting event in late October 2025. Immediate visual disturbance resulted in the fight being stopped.

You see a lengthy diagnosis there and a summary of all the clinical findings. It continues with an overall summary, which states this constitutes clinical or clinically significant bilateral ocular trauma requiring ongoing consultant-led management. Mr. Aspinall is not yet medically cleared for combat activity. Overall, the clinical picture remains consistent with the significant trauma, traumatic, bilateral Brown syndrome associated with ongoing diplopia, restricted, ocular motility, reduced visual function, and substantial field loss symptoms remain unresolved as of late November 2025. An ongoing specialist following up is required and ongoing. I can tell you this, Tom Aspinall will break his silence in his first interview since the incident, since the fight, tomorrow, live here on the program at 2 p.m. Eastern time, 7 p.m. in the UK. So tomorrow live on the program, exclusive to us, Tom Aspinall's very first interview, live interview, since that fight.

we have also I do believe did we post it yet or not yet it's up we also have footage exclusive footage to the channel

of Asperol's visit to the doctor with a specialist going to show you a snippet of that there it is we'll show you a snippet of that and you can watch the entire thing after this here program

here's the snippet so how long till I can train properly spa it's a long road ahead but the prognosis is guarded at the moment. I would recommend that you wouldn't fight until your double vision is resolved for two reasons. One, it could potentially make things worse

and set you back even further or that you're training because you're still having double vision looking into the periphery, you wouldn't be at your peak. So that's my two, the main reason. I'm sorry that this has happened and it's not nice to be in this position

with lots of probably pressure coming from inside you because I know you want to fight and I know you want to get back in there but you have obviously noticed something you had the courage to make that decision in a stressful environment and follow through with that decision which has obviously been in my view the correct decision

so there you have it you can watch that full interaction right now on the channel go check it out after this program uh at your leisure there it is right now on the youtube channel and again tomorrow live on the program exclusive live interview with the one and only tom aspinall the reigning defending ufc heavyweight champion cannot wait for that while i'm talking about tomorrow's show i might will also add that in addition to Tom Aspinall, we will have Sugar Sean O'Malley talking about his return fight on January 24th against Song-e-Dong, massive fight for him.

And our old friend Arnold Allen back in the mix, the Almighty One, going up against John Silva, those three guests on tomorrow's show, an absolute banger of a show, if I do say so myself. Shout out to the Booker. Shout out to the Booker. Good shot, Booker. So please. Can't wait.

I want to save my full thoughts after we talk to to talk to Tom tomorrow. He weighed in on his YouTube channel on, on Gan, on what Dana White had to say at the Post-Fight press conference on a bunch of stuff, responded to some mean tweets and whatnot. Actually, I had another clip on his YouTube channel saying that it's no more Mr. Nice Guy. It's heel Tom Aspenol now. Take a look at this. Can we get full-time bully Aspinall after this smear campaign? How are you going to be on the comeback?

Hey, when I come back, there is no more Mr. Nice guy. Nice, Tom. When it comes to me, he's gone. And I'm going full bad guy, I think. I'm not sure if he has it in him. I'm not sure if he's that guy, but interesting stuff there from Tommy Aspinall. So that's tomorrow on the program.

Now, over the weekend, some footage of Alex Pereira training. You know, there was some talk of Pereira fighting on January 24th that came out, but we told you rather quickly that that wasn't the case. I do I do believe... I just want to give myself

the old... I mean, I think I kind of had like the whole like all the top fights. Did you guys happen to see that? It was cheeky. It was cheeky. I said, how would you feel? I didn't want to like... You know, I didn't want to... It's like...

Fucking out. Did you guys see that? Do you see that, Frank? I did. Good stuff, man. I mean, it was in between, like, you know, butternut squash soup servings, you know? Red in the needle.

That was, it's just, like, basically, like, they said I wasn't classified to, you know, G14. You guys are D1 Glazer, right? But don't forget D1. Yeah, yeah. Oh, you think I'm D1 classified?

Well, I'm just saying there's some classification. There is, come on. That is true. Anyway, roblous to spine is fighting Sam Alvey Friday Karate Combat. It's Karate Combat 58 in Miami for the heavyweight title. Well, here he is training with the one and only Alex Pereira, Poiton. Look at this. Look at this.

They're going pretty hard. This is, whoa, that right hand. Oh, hands up, bro. Yo, this is crazy. Round over. And then apparently Alex was going with someone who I guess, was he like a Twitter troll or something? Who is this guy that he knocks out? Look at this.

Boom. Right to the body. Boom. Oh. Chopping the tree. Oh, left hand. Anyone know who that guy is? Is he a training partner?

Who is he? Out. Does anyone know who that is? No, I got no clue. But, like, was it a guy who was talking smack? No clue. Never seen this man in my life. Anyway, Alex posted on social media about all of this training.

Yesterday was a really good training day. I could prove myself what I can do, where I can go. I've not trained since my last fight because I injured my foot. and now before returning to training, I decided to spend Thanksgiving with my children in Orlando, but there was a small change of plans. We went to the gym, did two workouts. Second workout I was sparring day and I couldn't just watch. So after two months, I went through the fire doing eight rounds with eight different people, different weights, maybe one of them lighter than me. Maybe I didn't have the same performance because these were the only two workouts after my last fight. I wasn't

physically prepared. I was a little apprehensive because I didn't go to do this type of training and I didn't even bring a mouth guard. But thank God, nothing happened. I'm coming back to do it. done shama does that mean heavyweight that last line what do you guys think i think so that paired with the uh two plus one equals shama post ah that's a good uh little transition there two plus one equals three shama makes sense now if he fights john jones he's not getting a belt but maybe john jones is just a start at heavyweight maybe he's the the whole holder of the goat belt. They're creating belts like out of thin air these days.

Yeah, I think the pound for pound belt is going to come soon once in, 2.5, Elia versus Islam. Then there's going to be like BMF titles per weight class. So they'll be like lightweight BMF, welterweight BMF. I've been banging the drum for that for a while. Why wait BMF? I'm waiting for the first women's BMF. Women's BMF.

Anyway, Hamza Shamaev weighed in. What do you guys think of this? He said, what is this? No, no, no. He weighed in on that post over there. I think it was, oh, we don't have that one. It was a negative one, negative one aura, he said. So I think he was saying negative one belt, right?

No, I know. But I viewed it as, I viewed it as, oh, do you think he said that or that you don't have it? Don't like count your chickens before they have. No, I'm with you. I think he was saying, hey, Alex, negative one aura. That's what I thought. Yeah, no, that's definitely not it. He was saying he's going to take one of those.

Is it chickens before they hatch or eggs before they hatch? Yes, chicken. Who's to check out your chickens before they have? Don't catch the chickens. It would be redundant, right? Because the chickens are inside the egg. They would have to hatch. It's obvious that it's an egg.

It's implied. You don't really need to say an egg. Why couldn't you count your eggs before they hatch? Because someone earlier in the day said eggs before they hatch. Did you notice that? I don't know. But why couldn't you count them before they hatch? I don't want to count my eggs before they hatch.

But the actual term is chickens before they hatch. Okay, because I was starting to question myself. Yeah, you never know how many are going to hold chickens. Right. well they're all yeah that's what I thought anyway are you counting the chickens before they hatch Frank is that what you just did I didn't realize it was like Schrodinger's egg up in here yeah I mean you literally you were about to imply that you should count the chickens

you're right I'm so sorry for the hatch speaking of Hamzat he did send a message to Naserdin imov saying and I quote see you after Ramadan imov you have time to work on your wrestling Bratishka Is that like, do you think it's like a Russian way of saying like brov or bra? Bratischka? I don't know, but I might add it to the repertoire. Google says it's a Russian word for little brother. Oh, what's up Bratyska?

Yo, Brotum. He little brodom in Russian. That's crazy. Himav wait in. He's all good. He's happy. Everyone was eating this past weekend because it was Thanksgiving and that's what you do, including our good friend Armand Siru Kian.

Look at Armin. Look at this. Look at this guy. What's he eating there? What is that? A little paella? Looks like a camel. It's not a camel.

Look at that is a skull that he's holding in his hand. I see rice. Oh, my God. Look at that. I think that's a sheep or a lamb's skull. I see rice. I see, is that mushroom there? Look at this.

This is unbelievable. Now, are those cashews or are those like shrimp poppers? I'm here for it. Hmm. Oh, you're right. That is. Yeah, I see the cashews. I see tomatoes.

I actually only see one singular tomato. Is there a schnitzel there in the middle? No, I'm thinking no schnitzel. It looks like a hide or like some sort of... It looks like paella to me. He said light dinner tonight with a sheep emoji. Oh, okay, well, there it is. Well...

Or is it lamb? That explains it. This guy, he is unbothered. He is unbothered by all the drama surrounding the weight class, the division. Look at him getting out of his car. What kind of car is this? What do we got here?

It's a Bugatti? What is this? Now, let's break this down. Is he driving without shoes? Yeah. Because he doesn't want to dirty it? Not a bad boy. What is this?

Silk, Satin? What's happening here? He looks like a prince. Looks like a silk shirt. I will say it doesn't look like he gets the slippers fully on. You think he's going half on? I don't know if that left one's fully on. It's got big feet.

Look at the way that door opens. Opp is away. Next level. I'm fascinated by, is he driving without shoes? You don't do that? No, I do not. Grip the clutch better. Also, you know how you know you're a boss?

You don't put your phone in your pocket. You walk around. It used to be like you walk with your keys in your hand, but now you just walk with the phone. That's how you know you're important. That's a look right there. How do we think this plays out, by the way? How does this actually play out?

Wait, what's the significance of walking with your phone? Yeah, you've got, you're so busy, people are calling you, there's deals happening. If you put in your pocket, like, you're going to miss a call or you have to date, like, it's just there. It's just like, okay, do me a favor. Like, go over there and call this guy and let me know when you wrap that up, all right? I want to what Armand's screen time is. Yeah, seriously. Here's the thing, here's the thing.

How does this play out? Patty Justin, does Armand fight someone else? or does Ilya come back and then there's two belts like what the more I think about this the more I think they've just created a massive mess on their hands like this is the heavyweight division all over again where Tom was defending an interim title

and then there's like this other division over here obviously not the same but I just don't know how this actually plays out my guess is that Armand won't take a fight unless it's for the belt but I wouldn't be shocked if it takes Ilya longer to come back and they do a second in the title fight. Okay. The winner versus Armin.

A mess of a situation. Mess. They've created this mess of a situation. Mess of a thing, yeah. I mean, all you have to do was Armand versus Patty, interim title, winner fights Ilya. And now who knows? Maybe Ilya moves up to 170. It's all a mess.

Might not see Armin for a year and I have people saying like, oh, you know, he let the UFC down he had a title shot okay enough already okay he's come back since by the way not only that he made wait for them as a backup fighter in June he's come back like screw the guy like what do we like what are we talking about here there there are people who have tested positive for peds and they've just waltz right back into title fights I'm trying to look if Charles is really going to fight Max, and there was some brouhaha over the fact that the UFC Brazil account posted that they were fighting for the BMF, and then they deleted it. And I saw Charles actually speak to Guillermo Cruz of M.A. fighting, the Brazilian Beast himself. And he said, like,

yeah, this is the fight, but it's not happening in January, because that's what the tweet originally said. And I feel like that that card has enough. Like, what do you need? Could you imagine having the interim lightweight title and the BMF lightweight title on the same card? be crazy. So that seems to be the fight. So Charles and Max, that's two and three. Armin is one. Gauchy Pimbled 4-5.

Hooker, he just beat. Gamrod, he's fought already, and maybe he fights Gamrod again? Gamrod's trying to fight Sean Brady, who's talking about moving down to 155. Then there's BSD. Maybe it's Armin versus BSD. I just don't know if you can take that if you're Armin. The real way it gets super messy is if Ilya does move up to 170. Oh, yeah.

then I guess he just fights the winner of Patty versus Justin for the actual belt. Yeah. I think at this point he just wants to be champion. But that would be crazy. He would have lost that on the Islam fight and I know that was his fault and also now the Ilya fight.

A lot up in the air as it pertains to one Ilya Tuporia. Also, speaking of the Brazilian Beast, he was with Carlos Prachas at the Carinthias match yesterday. Did you guys happen to catch last week? I asked Carlos about who he supports. that clip went crazy on like the Brazilian sites

and here he is pitch side talk about G14 classification if we're not relevant how's this happen huh you think that's a coincidence you think that's a coincidence I asked him

I asked him something about Namar and he's like oh he plays for some team I guess that was shade everyone loved that because he was saying like they're like a small team you know They can't lace their boots. So that was cool.

Anyway, Frankie, do we have any Super Chats? Yes, we do. Oh, wonderful. Hi, Ariel. Hope you're feeling good. I was just at the Jake Joshua Presser in Miami, and I just have to say it was an honor and a blessing to give this to your greatness in person.

Congrats and keep being you. I appreciate that. What did you think of my nose in person? Was it that big? I appreciate it. that thank you what about that bills win yesterday you see that frankie fucking out yeah you didn't see it you were texting me up a storm during that game i was like frankie i'm watching bills i had to work do you observe black friday or boxing day at all in what respect oh uh i didn't say what else

um it was implied i thought you were actually curious yeah i did that um well black friday uh do i observe it. I mean, no, it's not really a holiday, so there's nothing really to observe. Boxing day, as in like the day after Christmas, I mean, there's usually some good Premier League football on and some darts. Other than that, what is there to observe? Like, what are you supposed to do on boxing day? I've been told it's the day you're supposed to return gifts back to the store. I think that's Pizzi's Day where he dresses up in the track suit, right? St. Stephen's Day. That's the day after Christmas, right? Yeah. You're supposed to wear the track suit that you got on Christmas.

Uh-huh. Yeah, okay. Uh, that's, that's pretty much my, my observation. Why, do you guys observe Black Friday? I don't know what that means. I don't know what that means. Yeah, what does, I buy stuff? Yeah, do you guys like wake up at five?

I bought a thing or two. Five a.m.? If it's getting 50 emails from every retailer, then yeah, I guess I observe it. Ooh, Frank's upset. Burn. Did you go to Best Buy, Rick? Uh, I went to Nike, got a few sneakers. I was casually shopping and, uh, and sewo over here.

I walked into a store and they were like 40% off everything. I was like, don't mind if I do. Wow. What's the occasion? Yeah, what is the occasion? It's Black Friday. Was it not crazy? I was like, oh, shit.

Eh, you know, it's New York. Everything's crazy. Yeah. I actually, like, consciously say to myself, this is the one day I'm not going to shop because I don't want to get sucked things. I feel like there's like hidden fees and all this nonsense. The other 364, though, you're shopping? Oh, yeah.

I don't want to. I'm not. I like the logic. I like the logic. I'm not. cheap is that black friday it actually is more expensive lion doesn't concern himself with sheep all right hidden fees yeah yeah yeah they get you to buy something now you're on their mailing list now you get a million different things did you say you're not cheap or you're not cheap sheep sheep lion doesn't concern himself

with sheep i thought you're saying cheap you were like i prefer to pay full price i do think there's some he doesn't want to pay the premium the black friday premium i'm not i'm not doing that shit i want nothing to do with it all right so fuck black friday you are not going to dictate when i'm I shop, all right? Or when you put your cell phone in your pocket. That's right. But I will shop the other 364. No problem.

In fact, I bought something on Saturday. The Black Friday sale was over. I waited for it to be over just to buy it. I'm pretty sure Black Friday extends to the weekend. Well, I didn't get any. It's Cyber Monday. No, you know how I noticed? It's Cyber Monday.

Because I lost my sunglasses on Thursday. I thought to myself, let me buy them on Friday. I waited until Saturday they were the same price as when I bought them two years ago. Was Armand Eat? What price were they fried in? Good on you, man. I didn't look. I didn't want to look.

I didn't want to be sucked in. I didn't want to be, I don't want to have that temptation. Wait, wait. And you bought these online? Hey, this price is less today. But you went to tomorrow. Okay, you went in store? Yeah.

Respect. Yeah. I want to try the phone. B&M, as they call it. Cyber Monday deal, anybody? Yeah, what is Cyber Monday. That's what I'm getting at. Online deals today.

Why all the emails on Friday if we're not, whatever. What's all right? Tech. Keep doing you. We appreciate you guys. Tech deals and online shopping deals today. What's going on. there, Frank. Are you having a conversation by yourself? What's happening?

Oh, you're actually reading things now? You're reading things before Jordan puts it up. Did I say that out loud? I'm sorry. Wow. I was trying to read it in my head to make sure I had it right. Arion team, keep doing you. We appreciate you guys. Your opinion. Oh, thanks. Oh, that's my guy, Sammy. Sammy's the man. I love that, okay. Thank you.

Have you noticed, by the way that they changed the names to the handles now? You used to be able to, like, have a name? Like, I noticed this. It changes day by day. I noticed this on your reaction to the Qatar. You, the post show for Qatar, you, P.T. and Chuck, when you kept whining about the polls and stuff.

Wow. I was replying as myself, which would typically say New York Rick, but now it said my YouTube handle, which is at Eric Jackman, unfortunately. And it'll switch back, Rick. It really does it back and forth. Oh, that sucks. Trash. What else, Frankie?

What else? What's the best side you had from Facebook? Thanksgiving. Hmm. I love stuffing. I'm a huge, um, yeah, sure. I like it both. No, not stuffed top.

I'm fine with it. My favorite is candied yams, but I didn't have any. Oh, man. I didn't have any stuffing this year, heartbreaker. Oh. They didn't serve it? They had stof top. Did you say like, excuse me?

No. Did you guys forget the stuffing? Kept my mouth shut. What did they put inside the cavity on the turkey? Did you guys forget? There's nothing like being at the, at the friend's house for Thanksgiving and you're judging. The conversation kind of falls quiet and like all you can hear is the like the forks

and everything and you're just like, do I say something? Do I let someone else? And they always put you smack middle of the table to. Tough. That is tough. It's tough. It's tough. It's tough.

It's a great coin casserole though. Did you, did you break the seal? Did you say anything or did you let somebody else? I let someone else. Kind of just stay in line, you know? Between that, between that and the, uh, the whole Cowboys. Chief's halftime debacle.

That was tough. I could hear Dana screaming in the other room. Were you thinking like the amount of memes that I could be making

right now and I'm stuck here talking to these guys? Yeah, the grandma was saying nonsense. I can't even remember what

she was saying at this point. Did you have any memes in the holster at least? No, not really. You could fire off like

I kind of had to make some BS on the side. Let me just check something real quick meme, meme, meme. Yeah,

I think my best days might be behind. Wow. Poor grandma. Olden days I'm bringing the laptop and saying... You're bringing the laptop to Thanksgiving?

This one, I couldn't... That's crazy word. That's crazy word. I think you made the right call. Some nonsense from the grand saying something important. She might have been lottery numbers, I couldn't be bothered. By the way... Sean O'Malley's Sonia Dong, and I'm like...

Holy shit. What's going on out there? So what happened to Auntie Sue? Yeah. Who are you? By the way, what about the fact that that was like a pre-record thing, but they kind of made it seem like it was real? Thanks, J.B.

What was the IV thing? Oh, yeah, what was that? I had like a fever dream and Dana was hooked up to an IV. Opening cards. That was a different one. That's what it was. And never actually acknowledged

that he was hooked up to an IV. He didn't mention the IV. Didn't mention the IV. Didn't mention the IV. No, it was like, everyone's excited, this is James Brown, everyone's excited about the UFC coming to Paramount Plus.

Let's send it over to the one and only Dana White, who has a special announcement. Thanks, JP. As you know, Thanksgiving's all about fighting, family, and food. Well, maybe not the fighting, but I've got some fights for all of you. Oh, wait, one sec.

Who's at my door? No, no, that was after. They announced it, and then... And he had, like, the dips all by, like, all around him, and he's sitting by himself. The real way that they should have done it is, back to Dana commercial starts. He's at his dinner table,

eating Thanksgiving. And then, like, they pop in, and he turns around. He's like, oh, what's up, everybody? I got some good fights for you. Choose through it. That's exactly it. I would have liked to see them simocast him on Instagram. That's what I wanted to see.

What we are used to, my preferred method of fights being announced, Dana White solo into his phone on Instagram. Like have like a person there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, you're 100% right. That would have made it. But right afterwards, he did go on Instagram and announce the 325 fights. I don't know why the Namajunis really annoyed me.

I mean, like, she's been in the organization for, over 10 years now. How do you not know how to pronounce her name? Champion multiple times. Crazy, right? Namajunus. Rose Namajunus. Like, what? Is that true? And if it was recorded, I didn't they fixed that. No, no, this one was. That was live. That was live. Yeah, yeah. Unfortunately, that was live. What else, Frankie? What else? Would you eat a slice of pizza that your boy smelled up and down? It is a great question. I was thinking about that. It was very close to his nose. I think they are all like really close and, uh...

I ain't eating that shit. You're right, you're right. It's a good point. It's a good point. I also grabbed it multiple times, too. I'm pretty sure those guys live at his house and like don't have to pay rent, so I think... You don't pay rent, you have to eat the sniffed pizza. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think... Eat it. I don't know. What kind of pizza was it? I was actually very intrigued with the Georgians. Yeah, I think it was green olive and pineapple. Oh, fuck. I knew those guys new ball.

I knew it. I knew it. What else, Frankie? What else? UFC may have wanted to guarantee the first Paramount event ends with a bang. Nunes versus Kayla is significant, but can see a world where it's not exciting. Nah. Nah.

I don't buy that. Read it one more time. I don't buy that. I want it to process it. I wanted to process it. Read it one more. I wanted to process it. I wanted to process it, all right?

He's so tuned to out. By the way, Rick, you agree or not? That Kayla should have been in the main event? Yes. Kayla and Amanda? Yes. Over this, yes, 100%. Okay, yeah.

I mean, not obviously over this. I'm not saying over anything. I'm saying... No, but like if Ilya was coming... Of course not. If it was Ilya versus Patty, of course that's the main event. Are you surprised at this... it's not a little bit. Also, why couldn't this have just been a co-maid? Why couldn't

Ilya and Patty just have, I mean, Patty and Justin just been a co-mate? Yeah, it's exactly what we said. It's crazy. It doesn't make any sense that it has to do. I don't think, I don't think people are tuning in less. I don't think they're not buying tickets, but I think belts matter. I think the belt, the undisputed belt, and not just any undisputed that fight. We're not talking about like some, you know, whatever, you know, contender that no one cares about. This is Amanda Nunes coming back against Kayla Harrison. What? What? Belts matter because of who's holding them.

We have to get rid of this idea. Like, somebody's, I kind of poked fun at how stupid this interim title was, and somebody on Twitter is like talking about like, well, the belt matters because the casual fans are going to care that there's a championship on the line. No, that's not actually true. Like nobody, if you go up to a casual fan and say, guess what, Justin Gaichi and Patty Pimbleer are fighting, and they're like, so, I don't care, or who are those guys? And then you go, but wait.

There's an interim title on the line that they're all of a sudden going to give a shit. Nobody gives a fuck. And flashing it in some kind of promo that they're playing on a commercial does not matter. The belts only matter because the person that's carrying them is the person that's carrying them, right? The belt matters that Iliot Taboria holds it because he came up and beat Charles Alvara and holds it, and Islam Makachev held it before. All the story and the lineage is why these belts matter. It's the reason why Tom Aspinall being interim champion for as long as he did,

didn't matter a lick until he became undisputed. And so the idea that like you just throw a belt on anything and it matters, that is not true. That does not track. Kayla Harrison is the champion and it matters because Amanda Nunes was the champion for so long. That belt matters. Interim spun up bullshit like does not matter and it doesn't work in promos and this idea that like they had to have a belt on it and that it's not true. It's actually not true. No casual fan is being convinced by the idea that like, well, Patty versus Justin is a great fight.

But guess what? It has a belt attached to it, too. Not one casual cares anymore. Not one single one. And this is exactly what they always told us they didn't like about boxing. You know, these belts. Making a belt. You're creating belts.

And by the way, this was what we were told like, okay, we were told that belts needed to headline pay-per-views, right? Well, we're off pay-per-view now. So you don't need to create a belt to headline it. And you have a belt that you can headline it with. And it's the undisputed women's bantamweight title. So there is no other explanation other than the fact that they just don't value the belt. And they don't value the people who are fighting for the belt. That's it.

How you can say anything else. If someone asks Stana White, and I'm sure he'll give some sort of non-answer, why is an interim title fight, which doesn't feature a number one contender, why is this headlining one of the all-time best women's title fights on paper? Why? What's the reason? I'd love to know the answer and I'm sure there's going to be like

shut up who cares they're still fighting five rounds it doesn't matter and yeah I guess you're right but to me undisputed title fights should go last that's it

or not necessarily right like Connor McGregor should supersede an undisputed title fight it's just a way like we just have to be logical we just have to be reasonable about all this I would respect it more if they were just like Ilya is not champion.

These guys are fighting for the title and Ilya can get the next crack. There's no rhyme or reason to what these interim titles mean anymore. They don't mean anything. They are just, again, for this poster, but I'm not convinced that anybody actually even cares about it on the poster.

It makes no sense. It's garbage. It's nonsense. And unless the champions hurt, like there's really no reason to be making this stuff up. Yeah, I kind of just strip them. I kind of just hate the fact

that this new era is starting, you know, with this weirdness. Also, what about the fact of? And Armin's there. And Armin exists. Armin literally exists, and he has to watch two guys fight for an interim title that makes no sense. It's all nonsense. By the way, what are we going to talk about and complain about for, like, the first three weeks of January?

Nothing. It's like literally nothing to do. We should just take the whole month off. I'm down. Seriously, that's a long-ass break. That is a really long break. As you said, we're used to that, like, fight night before they get to the first paper view of the year. It's usually like January 10th fight night, headline by Calvin Cater, and then it's always Calvin.

Was the Max one? Do you know what I mean? No, it was like Calvin Cater like four times. No, I think Cater versus Max was like one of them. And Cater Giga the year after. See? Oh, there you go. See?

And then there's a pay-per-view. There's like on the 17th or 19th. Last year, I think it was Dern. He-Bas that had meant. A nice way to ease into the year. Little did we know. Well, did we know. That was the beginning of the path to Strawaway Champion for

Hansi Dern. Oh, what else, Frank? What else? If you could magically turn a U. UFC fighter back into their prime form. Who would you choose? James Tihuno? The first thing I came to mind was B.J. Penn.

Can I ask you guys a question? This will sound like I'm harping on it, but I'm really not. Uh-oh. Yeah. Who do you consider to be the greatest welterweight champion of all time? George Chimpeer, not even a debate, not a question. We shouldn't even discuss it. Who's number two?

Hmm. I don't know at the top of my head. There's a convincing argument for Camaro. I don't know. Are you suggesting there's another number two? Yes, Matt Hughes. I would buy that. I think Camaro has a great argument against Matt Hughes in that scenario.

But I think number one is not even, it's comical to even question. I think there's an argument for Hughes. I think there's an argument for Camaro. I think there's an argument for Leon. I think there's an argument for Tyron Woodley. I think they're all together. I'll go as far as to say, I think there's an argument for BJ Penn.

Walterway champion. Even I won't go that far. Lightweight, yes. The point is, there's an argument. There's no clear cut number two. I think there's a clear cut number one. I was thinking about this when I was like, I feel like we've kind of forgotten about Matt Hughes

and how good he was. It's GSP, a massive gulf, a massive gap. And then I think Camaro and Matt kind of the next two in line. Yeah. So that's also something I came to mind when this guy asked

about like going back, like Matt Hughes in his prime. Imagine Matt Hughes now with his wrestling, with his strength. I feel like he'd be very, very, very impactful.

And BJ Penn, some of their best wins are Matt Hughes. That is how they became these guys. So yes, Matt Hughes belongs in that combo for sure. And what else, Franklin? Lastly,

your favorite team is playing tonight, leader new bling. Nah, can't even spell their name right. Can't even spell

their name right. Loser. Yeah, big game. I would love for the Giants to win. You know what's crazy? The Pat's still haven't had a buy week

yet. It's December 1st. Their first buy week is next week. That's fucking illegal. Yeah, I think so. Seems like it's cheating in some way, shape, or form.

They're probably going to win. Federal fucking prison. It's very funny when I look at the videos that I do for the CBC or other places, and these lines are popping up in the comments. It actually makes me laugh. So please keep it up. There's like, who's to check? There's, it's tough. There's federal. And they're like, what? They're probably thinking, what the hell does this mean? Anyway, Patriots have a very easy schedule. I still think that the AFC is ripe for the taking. Bill's first half yesterday didn't look great. Second half look phenomenal.

rushing yards at Hinesfield absolutely annihilated the Steelers I mean it wasn't even really close in the second half big game coming up this weekend against Cincinnati

Joe Cool is back yeah let's see let's see I think you guys are gonna win I mean the the Giants have had some big wins this year Eagles you know they've

is Jackson Dart playing I hope so probably not knowing our luck what about that lane Kiffin, huh? Anyone got any thoughts on him? Yeah.

Yeah. I feel like he's kind of doing Ole Miss dirty. You don't like this? No. Not leaving before the season's over. Going to your school's rival. Was it his fault? I mean, by taking the job at LSU, it becomes his fault, yeah.

But do I blame him for taking the job? No. They made an ultimatum, right? They said, take the job now or moving on, right? Essentially, yeah. I mean, I think the biggest beef was him trying to stay and coach through the playoff, which just can't happen. Should Ole Miss have allowed that? No, no, absolutely not. There's too much recruiting going on, and there's too much movement with coaching staffs in college. He's going to poach a lot of the guys from Old Miss as it is.

Why couldn't he have said to LSU, hey, let me just finish this out, and I'll see you in February? Yeah, I would imagine he probably did in the beginning, and LSU was just like, no. Because we want to screw these guys? You want to come coach for us? you come now why can't there be like in the NFL you can't do that yeah I don't think they're going to change it probably not it seems a little

well because this became such a big story yeah I mean maybe like it maybe they will but I can't imagine this is the first time literally in March Maryland's basketball coach was openly flirting with Villanova as they're preparing for Sweet 16 and then he's like no no nothing's happening

they lose by 20 to Florida and the next day he's in Philadelphia signing a contract Okay, so But that guy didn't leave Yeah, but there's been a lot of College football coaches that leave before the bowl games It's just crazy to leave before

It's just a distraction It's such a distraction for all these guys But you're right He took so many coaches already with him They're like Did they all leave? A lot of them are losing it Wow

They had two planes One for family, one for coaches Wow Is it sure he left his dog behind? That's what I saw I imagine they're going to go back For the dog I have to say

I knew nothing about this story like two weeks ago, but I was kind of locked in towards the end. Yeah, man, he really screwed over Marty Smith. He was stuck down in Oxford all week. No, Marty Smith, he got the big exclusive. I'm sure he would have traded that all day. I mean, he killed it. He was the guy. He was right there on the side

of the road. It was unbelievable. Is he the biggest villain in college football now? To Old Miss fans, for sure. Not to LSU fans. But, like, I feel like LSU fans love him. Ole Miss fans despise him and everyone else kind of lost respect. This is who he is, though. This is who he is. He left Tennessee after

He was at Tennessee for a year, you know, did bad at USC. He's had these issues. So why is he so desired? It's like there's a term for, you know, there's like a frame. What an H? You could say about that, but. Why is he so desired then? The track record.

He turned FAU into a, like, a powerhouse in Conference USA for a little bit, and then he turned Ole Miss. I mean, 11-1 is their best season ever. He's taken the blueprint from Sabin. He was with him for like three years. Yeah. And now he's become an incredible coach. I mean, it's, Sabin's coach.

coaching tree is immaculate. And it's 100 million? For 10 years, I believe. The money is fucking crazy these days. That's insane 100 million. They're paying Signetti at Indiana, $90 million. Indiana football. Yeah, that's crazy million to coach.

That's absurd. That's more than NFL coaches. These guys are literal kings in these small towns. And he checked in with the aforementioned Nick Sabin and our very own PC Carol to get. Some advice? Oh, Petsy Carroll, man. I don't get this one.

Oh, Peter Carroll. It said Peter Carroll. It said Peter Carroll, yeah. I was like, what? They wrote Peter Carroll for some reason. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

Yeah. Who calls him Peter Carroll, by the way? Yeah, I can't realize. Nobody. That's actually why I didn't understand that, as you were saying. Nobody has called him Peter Carroll in forever. Oh, my gosh. Shout out.

That is a crazy, crazy story. Yeah, I feel bad for the rebels. So what? They got a new coach now, the defensive coordinator, right? Yeah, we'll see if that holds. Do you think it's interim? I would imagine. Like Gaichi and Pamela.

Yeah. What a story. America, right? And they're in the playoffs. They're in the playoffs. Yeah, 11 and 1. Wow. Could you imagine if they win?

Are they the favorite? No. Who's the favorite? Ohio State. Mm, boring. They're good. They're good. Tom Day.

Ryan. Right, damn it. It didn't sound right as I. I knew there was a day involved there, but... We're going to get you one day. We're going to hook you. Listen. It's everything you like in sports, pageantry, die-hard fan bases.

Hook them horns? Yeah. A big one against Texas A&M? Is Georgia in the playoff? Yeah, but this is where it gets complicated. We punched a ticket to the SEC championship this weekend because Texas beat Texas A&M, but it might not behoove us to be in the SEC championship because now we've got to play Bama and it's just an additional game.

We were already in as it was with the number three team in the country. But yeah. So what happens? So now we've got to play Bama on Saturday. You think they're going to like work the fight? No, no. We need to win because we want to get a first round by. The top five teams get a first round by.

Oh, how many teams make it now? 12? Well, yeah. Damn. But we could maybe bounce Bama, but I think Bama is probably in. Oh, yeah. All right, well, that's your college football report, brought you by Progressive.

One final thing. I did want to bring up the fact that Survivor. So I told you that Whitaker and Jamie TKV won over across the pond. I told you about RAF, had a nice show, Michael Chandler winning. Anyone Catch Survivor Series at Petco Park? This was over the weekend, Petco Park. John Sina lost to Dominic Mysterio, and now he has one match left, and that's December 13th, Saturday night's main event.

in Washington, I mean, a lot of people saying that the, uh, the year-long retirement tour just hasn't been what we wanted. Look, I think Sina had great matches, some of his best. SummerSlam was great. Resoluzza was great. He had a couple other great ones in between. The heel turn was not good. Um, I don't think he necessarily needed to win the belt, but fine, he won it. I don't think necessarily he needed to win the I-C title. Fine, he wanted it. Now he lost it back. There's been a lot of losses. Like he got a night, no, respluses when he got annihilated by Brock Lester. SummerSlam was great and there was another one. Clash was great. Clash was great. I think it was the AJ Stiles match. Anyway, point being, he's lost a lot.

And I think the thinking is they want him to lose on the way. That's the business, right? You lose on the way out, you make stars, you put people over. That's how it works. It seems like a lot of losses, though. And I don't know if people wanted that or asked for. that. It seems to have been very drawn out. It's a tough one because like, do you want him to win all the way to the end and then he like leaves as a dominant force? That's not the way the business goes, but do you want him to lose this much? Feels like he's getting weak. Anyway, the war games thing, it was nice. I enjoy the pageantry. It's cool in the stadium. To me, war games is a little bit weird because the match only officially starts once all the

competitors are in the rings and so it's like what is the point of the first 20 minutes or so feels like it's a little bit slow point being paul haman is a freaking man and i've seen some people coming after paul for pushing a kid and i'm not happy about it here's the video in question paul walking out with logan paul kid comes up and he pushes him here it is again yeah i'm sorry kid This is the biggest heel manager slash character

slash persona in the business Paul freaking Heyman Paul E dangerously What do you think? You want him to like give you a kiss on the cheek as he's out in public That's old school right there

That's exactly what he should be doing in that position That's exactly what he should be doing in that moment Another this breaking K-fabe Left and Right Is nothing sacred anymore That's exactly what Paul Heyman should be doing

and that's why he is the greatest of all time. That moment right there is further proof another example as to why he is the greatest of all time. That's exactly what you do. And I miss that. Brilliant stuff from Paul. So anyone coming after Paul and saying like, oh, this is a low moment, no, it's not.

That's what heels do. That's exactly what heels do. I see a lot of the AEW fans shitting on Paul for it. Do we not remember MJF like throwing a drink in someone's face? That's what heels do. And that's what you sign up for when you're in the vicinity of heels with nuclear heat. Imagine he was like, oh, yeah, hello, kid. Then what is he?

He's just a guy playing a character on TV. So I love that. And it was a reminder that some things are still sacred. So you keep on, keeping on, Paul Heyman. You'll always have a friend and supporter in me. All right. Appreciate it very much. Thank you, everyone.

Tomorrow on the program, Tom Aspinall. Sugarshan, Almighty Allen, ariahawani.substack.com on the nose tomorrow. Send in your questions. I put it on Tuesday this week because I feel like there's a lot

that you want to say. So here's your opportunity. One place where you will never see any Black Friday deals, ariahawani.com, 20% off. Not because of Black Friday, but because we are back.

Back in your life. And we're working on some uncrown merch as well. So stay tuned for that. But it's time to go now. What kinds of activities? Yeah. Business. Yes. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Thank you, Kiyoji Huraguchi. It's all a business. I guess that's the less Listen, the fight business is a business.

It's not a meritocracy. It's not of a what have you done for me lately. It's not a rankings business. It is a prize fighting business. And that's what we have learned over the past week. We have learned that it's also a popularity contest. And look, I get that. I know that.

I'm okay with that. It's also a business where tickets have to be sold and subscriptions have to be sold and all this stuff. I get that. But perhaps I'm crazy. Perhaps I'm biased. I think Amanda Nunes and Kail Harrison is box office. I really do.

I think it's box office. I think it's a big deal. And I think if promoted correctly, if we get some kind of old school promos, if we get old school marketing, get behind it. with some promotional muscle. I think you could tell an incredible story.

Look how captivating that young woman is. And look at who Amanda Nunes is and who she's beaten. You can't tell me you can't. You can't sell that. You just can't. I refuse to believe. Thank you very much. Joshua Van, good luck to him.

Lamont Roach, good luck to him. Tony Ferguson. What a guy. Thank you to Lorone Murphy. Kayla Harrison. Thanks to you. Thanks, that. Back tomorrow.

Same time. This is a piece. I'm out here.