The Ariel Helwani Show - Malcolm Wellmaker in studio Muhammad Mokaev, Chris Padilla, Is Dana White political?

Episode Date: November 11, 2025

Ariel Helwani is joined by The Boys in the Back and Petesy Carroll to discuss some news and notes, including the first faceoff between Islam Makhachev and Jack Della Maddalena, Adin Ross spending time with Makhachev, Khabib, and their team, and more (06:06).Muhammad Mokaev joins on the heels of his head-kick knockout at BRAVE CF 101, talking about the foot injury he suffered in the fight, his desire to return to the UFC and the potential path back, how he would do against UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja, his recent communication with the UFC, wanting to face Sergio Pettis, being offered a fight against Patchy Mix, and more (33:23).Chris ‘Taco’ Padilla makes his debut on the show, breaking down his big win over Ismael Bonfim, including his reaction when Bonfim missed weight by five pounds, explaining his recent career turnaround, the story behind his viral post-fight interview where he pleaded for a performance bonus, his beef with Daniel Cormier’s commentary, and more (59:50).Ariel reacts to Dana White’s recent comments about being non-political, talks of Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria heating back up, and then answers your Super Chats (1:33:49).Malcolm Wellmaker joins Ariel in-studio to preview his UFC 322 bout, look back at his beginnings in construction, give insight into his relationship with the fans, break down the power in his right hook and his wrestling game, predict how long it will be before he’s fighting for the UFC title, express his desire to be the one to beat Merab Dvalishvili, and more (2:34:17).

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Eria, Hawaii Show. Back in your life on this Tuesday, November 11, 2000. And 25, hello again, everyone. I sure hope you're doing well. It is very cold outside. In fact, when we woke up this morning, at least where I lived, there was snow outside. It was snowing. Ah, I was so depressed.

My kids were very happy, though. You are a certain age, like, you see the snow, you get excited about it, and then you reach a certain age when you're older, and you're like, well, this kind of sucks. Summer's officially over. Heck, fall is officially over as well. It's no good. It's frigid outside, but I'm very, very, very happy to be inside. Not at the top. I do want to say, thank you very much to all the veterans out there.

there, today's Veterans Day here in America. Thank you for serving. Thank you for protecting us. We appreciate you very much. It is also Remembrance Day in Canada and in the UK. And so to everyone in Canada and the UK who served and who, unfortunately, you know, we're casualties of war, casualties of military violence, we say, lest we forget, we say we remember you and we salute you and we appreciate you and we thank you as well.

And so today is a very special day. There is a difference in each country. There's Veterans Day here in America. There's Memorial Day in May. I didn't learn about all of this when I was a kid growing up in Canada. We didn't learn about any of this. But Frank learned about all of this. So Frank, tell us.

Tell us what's the difference, shall you? I did not learn. You didn't learn? I need to revisit. You didn't learn about this? So we have Memorial Day in May. That's for those that were remembering. And then Veterans Day, we're celebrating everyone who has served.

Saluting, yes. So you got it. Awesome. You nailed it. Remind me to take that button away. Thank you very much. It is a great day. There's a lot to discuss.

There's a lot going on in the world of combat sports. Big weekend coming up November 15th. We do have UFC 322 right here in the Mecca. Madison Square Garden. You know all about this. We'll be talking about it on the program. and then, of course, over in beautiful London town across the pond, you have the big Chris Eubank Jr. versus Connor Ben fight.

Last night, last night, we showed you right before we went by-bye. It felt like last night. It was more like yesterday afternoon, but it was pitch black outside. We showed you the face-off, the first face-off between Eubank and Ben. In reality, it's like their 10th face-off, dating back to three years ago when they were supposed to fight for the first time. And then, of course, back in April, when they did, in fact, fight for the first time. And now they're fighting again for the second time, but really it could have been the third time. So we've kind of seen that before.

We have yet to see the 322 participants, and I'll show you that in a moment because they did in fact face off. Let me tell you about today's program, though. Back into the show, Malcolm Wellmaker, yes, one of the bright young stars of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Now 2 in the UFC officially, two right hook vicious knockouts. He fought back in April. He then fought back in June in Atlanta. G.C. loves him. He is representing today.

Also had a vicious knockout in the contender series. He was a pipe fitter, now a full-time fighter. A lot of people think that he is the next big thing coming out of Bantamweight, which I still maintain is the deepest and most interesting weight class in the UFC, despite the fact that their champion is so very dominant. He's fighting on this card, and, you know, the UFC loves to put some, some up-and-comers. They always love to do this. Some guys that they are, or gals that they are very high on, they always put them on the MSG card. He's featured prominently on this card. He'll be stopping by in studio. He'll be joining us at approximately 3 p.m. Eastern in studio. Very excited to talk to him for the first time in person. We've had him on the show before. In fact, the boys in the back had him on their program before me after his debut in the UFC. So this is a guy who was an amateur just three years ago, and now he is fighting at the world's most famous arena.

Maybe, maybe in front of Mike Brown, Carl Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Prior to that, we're going to be joined by Chris Taco Padilla. He was victorious this past Saturday against Ismael Bonfim. Bonfim missed weight by five pounds, amazingly, took the fight, won the fight, finished him, was very emotional afterwards, talking about needing money to help out of his mother, his family, A fascinating guy who our own KC. Leiden, EKC, videographer extraordinaire, trains with him. In fact, I believe Chris is his actual coach over there in California, which is pretty remarkable, undefeated UFC fighter.

You know, I had a few losses on the regional scene, but in the UFC, undefeated. So he's really put it all together. Great story. We'll talk to him at approximately 2 o'clock. And at 1.30, Mohamed Mokaiev, arguably. arguably the best flyweight not in the UFC and one of the best fighters not in the UFC right now. I don't think that that's a hot take. He's coming off a win four days ago at Brave 100, a headkick knockout victory and a very impressive one and the first of his career. And so can he

finally get back into the UFC? His last fight was in the summer of 2024. We all know what happened. We've had him on the show before. We settled our differences. And so we'll see. We'll see. He's 3 and 0 since leaving the UFC, plus 1 and 0 in karate combat. Is this enough? We'll find out. We'll talk to Muhammad Mikhail at approximately 1.30. There's the three pocket of guests, but a lot to get into, a lot to discuss. Let me say hello to everyone.

Everyone doing well over there, everyone hanging in, braving the cold. Peachy. Yeah, man, how are you doing? I'm doing okay. Nice, nice to hear. Why, why, why? Hi, you know, you're just checking in, seeing how we were doing. I was checking in back on you, man.

I appreciate that. I appreciate it. check in on you. I thought you were like worried about me or something. I thought you were worried about us. No, I just want to say hello because sometimes I get on this roll and it's like 15 minutes and I haven't said hello to anyone and I know we have a tight window with Pizzi. He's got a hard out 130 so I wanted to tag him in. Petey, it's snowing in Ireland? No, not yet. It happens it can happen anytime. Sometimes it's marching and it's snow in here. So really horrible weather, but no snow yet. Okay. Thank you for that update. Um, no problem. Let's get into things,

because as we said goodbye, we were leaving the studio and all of a sudden, I see the face-offs and, you know, we have yet to see, sometimes for big fights, they'll do a press conference a couple months before, the on sale, they'll do one in Vegas before a big fight. We have never seen

Jack Delamadeleana and Islamachia face off. We have never seen Zhang Wei Li and Valentina Shefchenko face off until last night. And here they are. And I got to admit, I was a little underwhelmed because the sun was setting

It's worse for Chefchenko and Jung and I felt like we needed a little bit more I mean look at this This is brutal This is you and your family on vacation Taking a picture at the Empire State We get a little lighting New York has never looked better

But a face-offs never looked worse Like this is great Look at the city back there A little spotlight Like this is one of my most anticipated fights of the year This is the face-offs And it's pitch black

Couldn't even get a phone flashlight shining on them I mean, look, at least this picture of Islam and JDM is, like, you can see them. Tremendous. This is good. And look at, I mean, come on, the skyline is tremendous. By the way, I didn't even see it. I don't know if you guys did.

I didn't see a Zhang Shevchenko picture because I think it was too dark. Yeah, they didn't bring any lights. Yeah, they tried to take a picture and they were like, well, it's not going to work. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, look at that. Look at that. That's tough. What is going on?

Why would you do it at this hour? And if you are going to do it at this hour, you know, I don't know if we have it. we played it yesterday. Matchroom did theirs at night, but they're lit up. You could tell that they're lit up, Ben and Eubank, and here there's clearly no lights. I think that's the top of the Empire State building. I should think it's the edge. The edge.

Is it not the Empire State? What is that? I think if we look at the Islam JDM picture, you can see the Empire State in the back. Oh, so what is this? What is this? The edge, it's like a giant building over in Hudson Yards, and you can go out on the balcony of it. Okay. You can go outside, and then there's like a hanging porch.

hundred stories up. We did get some nasty, nasty trash talk between JDM and Islam. Do we have sound on this? Frankie, if you could bring that up for us. I just wanted to, here we go. It's pretty soft. There's one point here where it gets a little personal. Oh, no. Islam, I think he said to him, it's cold outside or something. something like that. Yeah, intense stuff. Metaphor. Do you think he was trying to say something?

Send a message, PT. You think that's what it was. You're about to be cold when I knock you out. That's what I think. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean... Get used to the cold, mate.

Yeah. Get used to it. Yeah, deep waters. It's cool down there, all right? Deep waters. We're taking you down. We're drowning you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm still excited, though, despite the fact that it's not great. Yeah, face off are tough. Face off itself, but I can't wait. Face off with no heat, just like you can't, they can't look bad, right? It's one thing if it looks great, but it's, you know, you get to see them staring down. When you can't even see what they're looking at, you can't see their eyes, you can barely see their bodies when it comes to Zhang and Valentina. It can't have no heat.

It has to have some heat. Islam actually alluded to that by saying it's so cold. He was like, there's no heat between us. I like this type of. Literally no heat. Yeah. There's literally no heat. Yeah.

We don't need to focus. I'm sure the press conference is going to be. Incredibly average. Oh, yeah, for sure. Oh, huge. And then Saturday will be fireworks. Saturday will be sick. I mean, who's going to carry the press conference?

Am I crazy for saying that? No. No, that was great. This is what we were talking about yesterday. It's going to be close. All incredible fights and fighters, but there's no one that kind of breaks through as like a superstar promoter slash trash talker.

When they were facing off JDM and Islam, did we get a sense for JDM being that much bigger than Islam? No. He doesn't look bigger at all. Yeah. They look like they're in the proper weight class. If anything, Islam kind of looks bigger, right? I mean

Yeah, that's always the thing with like the height versus the body The puffer jacket But no Islam definitely does not look out of place as a welterweight Let's just say that

And also how much cooler are these photos and faceoffs If they are both holding belts So infinitely cool You know what I mean Proper lighting two belts Changes everything Islam is one win away

From tying Anderson Silva's record for most consecutive wins He is the You know The last remaining You know What do you want to say Undisputed

UFC lightweight champion after Ilya comes in and takes the belt in a vacant title fight. Zhang is unbelievable at 115. They are both as worthy of holding those belts as their counterparts. In fact, they held their own respective belts longer than their counterparts

because remember Valentina lost the belt and got it back and Jack just won it and yet they're not holding a belt that doesn't make any sense to me. It really doesn't. It makes zero sense. At least even for promotional purposes, right? Who's fact checking? Who's going to be like well, actually Islam doesn't have that belt anymore? Just throw the, on the posters

they have the belts, unless I'm mistaken. People on Twitter will do that. They'll be insufferable, but... No, but I might... Don't they have the belts on the poster? Or on, like, on, like, the tail of the tape or something? I saw that they had belts, but either way. What happened to PT before when his eyes were closed?

What happened there? Was it... He was on the blower, yeah? You were talking to someone? No, it was just on me phone. People were hitting you up? They do have the belts in the poster, right? Great call.

Yeah, so it's like, give him the fucking... Hold the bell for the face off. Give him the belt. Who's hitting you up, PT? Oh, sorry, we moved on. All right. I just want to know who's on. Folks,

that's Ben, who's texting. We're talking about fighting out. I just want to know what's happening. The lads know what's happening, right? Because are bad things happening? Right. G.C.

G.C. is the king of the picks here. And Alshaddy sent out the email there saying, lads, we need the picks. And Ben, folks are suggesting that, uh, so elicit activity is going down.

What's this? Do. Oh, he is at the bottom of the table. He is saying. Oh. He is saying that, you know what I mean?

That the scandal that is currently engulfing our sport. No, no, he has the sport, but it has the picks for uncrown too. So I was just gazing down at that, wondering, like, well, does the corruption have no end in mixed martial arts? It's funny, he says that if I'm going to point the finger, like, you know, it's not a, I'm not that type of guy. But if I were to point a finger, it probably go in the direction of one Shahino Shadi. It probably goes right to Shihina Shadi. and why why why well you know it's funny you ask i'm glad you ask because there's a there's a thing called ties right where people would have the same record in these picks but ultimately there's one person

who gets to decide who's above or below the other person that they're tied with when they list out the rankings and that person is sheen al-shadi and last week when i was tied with ben folks for last wouldn't you know it i was at the very bottom of the table even though i had the exact same record This is very inside baseball right here. I've actually moved up and I'm no longer last. It's been folks. You know, that's, that's, you know, definitive now because I'm no longer. But I look here, P.C. Carroll, Mysterious Frank Tide.

Who's on the bottom? Mysterious Frank. How do we decide who gets to go on top of? It's interesting. Well, that seems like a big controversy, almost as big as the piracy controversy. That is really. What a transition. Look at this.

guy. The faceoffs were, I was just moving right past that. Yeah, has anyone regretted asking about something more than aerial asking about pizza? I just, he was looking down. I didn't know if he was frozen. The faceoffs were not good, but I do have to give them props. There was a campaign that was dropped yesterday. I think via UFC Russia, if that's a real thing.

UFC fight past Russia, I believe. Okay, and this is to try to stop people from pirating the UFC events, and it was absolutely brilliant. In case you missed it, check it out. Well, what, brotan, I've seen all piratistic Silak. Good, welcome, Dagestan.

Now you two, three years to be here. Primly ephirons, archivos, exclusive content,

and a lot of UFC Fight once. Two, three, are Dagestine for game. Okay, that's brilliant. I do have to

give them props for that. That is fantastic. When he's in the elevator and Islam flashes up in red and he's like, brother, and then him at the end fading out two, three years, Dagestan in the figure.

So good. That was good. Shout out to whoever did that. Well done. There was all kinds of stuff yesterday that came out, the great and very popular streamer, Aidan Ross was hanging out with Team Islam, Team Habib, D.C. even made a cameo. I'm not going to go through all of it,

but I did think that there was one really notable part and it just spoke volumes, at least to me. There's a scene there. I don't know if you guys saw it or a clip. I was seeing everyone clipping it off. It was all over the timeline. Aidan Ross streamer. Everyone knows who Aidan Ross is, I would imagine.

He's hanging out with Islam. He's talking. Then they go to Henzos. They're training together. And there's a lot of members of Team Khabib there. Usman or Maga made off. Obviously, Khab is there. Isam is there.

But there's this John Pork character. And there's a whole bunch of fighters. It's like 10 or so guys and Aiden Ross. And then they cut to a scene where Aidan is grappling with who else but Ali Abdel-Aziz, former alleged Egyptian Olympic alternate judoka in his late 40s, maybe even early 50s. Who knows who's to check, right? But he's there on the mats rolling around with Ali. Ali tapping him out, ignoring the tap.

Take a look at this. He's tapping out multiple times. I mean, going pretty damn hard on this guy. A kid, an amateur, 25 years old. Multiple taps here. Multiple taps ignoring. For what? To be hard?

I see hell of stars right now. Never seen a guy with a greater main character syndrome than Ali, you're in a gym with people who could probably use the rub of tapping out Aiden Ross. If Uzmaner Magamatov is in there and he taps out Aiden, now everyone's like Usbander Magamatov, PFL champion, just tapped out Aiden Ross. But no, you volunteer yourself to do it. Why? I don't know, because you want the rub off Aiden, you want the clout, you want to be associated with him because you're dying to get this attention. And not only do you do it, you actually go pretty damn hard on the guy. You ignore his multiple.

taps all to show that you know you're the guy you're the main character it's crazy to me like this is the manager this is the guy who should be in the background this is the guy who should be orchestrating all this this is the guy who should say okay usban like we're trying to build you up you roll with him you like you know you play around with him and then you tap him out and now everyone will clip off that you did it or even john pork or whomever they're trying to push right now put that guy in there not you why are you doing it oh my god this this this is so it it's it's so it's it's It's so classic him, and it's just so funny to see this guy who is so desperate to just be the guy, just to be the main character.

As the kids say, more NPC than MPC, if you get what I'm saying, if you get the lingo, look it up, Google it real quick. But I just thought, to me, that was the funniest and most notable thing to come out of that whole live stream that lasted multiple hours, it seemed like. There was a very good interaction, though, between D.C. and Habib. two long-time friends, you have to appreciate the friendship and the love between them. And my favorite thing about when they link up is that they start to bust each other's chops, bust each other's balls, but then D.C. all of a sudden, start speaking in very, very broken English.

And we haven't heard this in a minute. And so I thought that the interaction was fun. It was wholesome. It was heartfelt. Take a look. Is yours? D.C., I have one question for you. Tell me. No, for my telegram channel. I have one question. What year in your fighting career, it was best? In my life?

2018, double champ. I beat Vulcan, then I beat Steepay and I beat Derek Lewis in Madison Square Garden. One more question. Tell me. 2018, it was my best year too. I become champion. I defend my Tata in biggest fight in MMA history. Who was better?

You want me to tell you? No, no, no, no, two double champs. Two double champ, I was better. But you know what the best? You know what the best? You know what the best? When you retire, Abu Dhabi, you talk, you talk. Right when you leave the octagon, you say, D.C., I love you, brother.

Last words in the octagon. D.C., I love you, brother. I have to check this. No, no, don't change this. No, no, I have to check. I will check. No, no, no, after. D.C., I love you, brother.

I never say this. I swear you say this. 1,000% you say this. D.C., last thing Habib ever say Octagon, D.C., I love you, brother. Hey, what about this whenever somebody fight and you translate her? Why this guy bring me like this? Honestly, I don't like this. You remember I go interview?

And I said, Kabim, come, you translator, you say, whoa. Why does he do that? And what's a telegram channel? I feel like we all do that, though. No, like when we're in our element with different groups, we do the code switch. Like, he's, like, jumping into the language that they share together. I'm not hating. I actually think it's cute.

I like it. I love that. Do you see looking a little sveled, huh? It looks good. Yeah, yeah. A little. He's looking very svel. Looks great, man.

Shout out to that. The beard? That tangerine yellow, ultimate fighter. Love that. Sure, man. It's a good color. By the way, we've looked back and confirmed that that is, that are, those were the words that Habib said.

He said, I love you, brother, right? Yeah, for sure. To D.C. I love you, brother. After the Gaichi win, that was it. final words love it well nice stuff you can see it everywhere uh go enjoy it uh some disappointing news out of uh ireland ptze what's this uh keifer crosbie parting ways with the ufc your reaction well it's actually what he wanted he asked for this

after his uh i think it was his tour defeat in the in the octagon he came back and he was kind of saying this is this is the end of that chapter he's a huge fan favorite in ireland um so lots of tickets in Dublin, three arena for Bellator. I think people had very high hopes from it. He probably got to the UFC a bit later on in his career.

There was lots of people that said he wouldn't. Do you remember he parted ways with Bellator and he had a great win over Alex Cowboy Olivera. And that was really the catalyst for getting him in there.

But he did have a little stint in influence or boxing as well. He fought Aaron Chalmers at the three arena. And after that I don't think a lot of people thought that his next step would be in the UFC. It turned out to be he didn't get a

win while he was there he took on short notice opposition i think he was too small for 170 personally but um yeah he's a he's a fan favorite and it didn't go his way but i do expect that he will compete again and for any promotion that's coming to dublin and i know octagon i've talked about it for a long time they could do a lot worse than getting kefer crosbie on the books also uh it it appears as though according to multiple reports kurt hullabah and fan favorite Chris Barnett released DC

distraught over the Barnett news I know he was a favorite I'm not saying one of your favorite but a favorite

Yeah also Reped Athens too That's right That's right That's right That's right But obviously After the last

performance It's not surprising It's not surprising It wasn't great They'll be bad Yeah but They got Both of them

Hamdi is also gone too He won that Rightfully so Rightfully so Just because he won the fight Doesn't mean He should stick around

The Hamdi era ends You've got to actually produce You know you've got to be, you've got to be entertaining. Uh, we, we did see, uh, we did see some, uh, shocking news last night. This, uh, on uncrown.com guys, uh, UFC veteran Godofredo Pepe, 38 years old, found dead of an apparent suicide in Florida jail.

Former UFC fighter and the ultimate fighter, Brazil runner up. Gotafredo Pepe was found dead of an apparent suicide this past weekend in a Florida prison cell. Did you not see this, PT? No, I didn't see it at all. that's crazy. He was a big personality. That's right. Last fight in the UFC was 2018. Pepe's fellow UFC veteran and tough Brazil

castmate, Honi Jason, announced the news of Pepe's death Monday on social media a spokesperson for the Broward's sheriff's office, main jail in Fort Lauderdale, told MMA junkie that Pepe was found unresponsive Saturday with a sheet around his neck, end quote, the former

UFC fighter was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead at 38-year old. Brazilian reporter Leo Walker Guy Marrish, first reported the news Sunday. Pepe was arrested this past June on a litany of charges that included kidnapping and domestic violence. So shocking stuff, if I'm being 100% honest, I didn't know

about the arrest. He had not fought in seven years in the UFC. So anyway, that's on uncrown.com right now. You can check that out when you have a minute. also want to give a shout out to MMAfighting.com and Damon Martin in particular, who reported that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison revealed plans for a price hike coming in the first quarter of 2026 for Paramount Plus. So you'll recall when they announced a deal over the summer that the UFC was headed to Paramount Plus in January. They touted the fact that currently it costs $7.99 per month or $59.99 per year for the essential plan with ads or $12.99 per month or $119.99 per year for the

premium plan with no ads. Well, it appears as though while they haven't announced the actual prices, there is going to be a price hike. And anyone who is involved in this world of sports, media, business, streaming, et cetera, et cetera, all predicted that as a result of the deal, there was going to be a price hike. The question is, though, how great of a price hike? How high will it be? And how many people are going to do the $12.99

as opposed to the $7.99, or I should say the essential versus the premium? Like, how high do you think they go here, guys? Do you think they go to $20 a month? Because, you know, they have to offset those costs, right? I think they could. Look, they're adding a premium product that comes with a built-in fan base

that is sure to come that they did not have before. Like, you would expect that any time they add something this significant, if the price felt too good to be true, that they have to kind of adjust for that. I'm not going to lie, 20 bucks a month, add free, and I'm getting every UFC event. I'm all right with that. Yeah. It's still way, way cheaper than what you're getting now. For MMA fans, yeah. If you buy a pay-per-view in your ESPN plus subscription, boom, right there, that's like $92 a month.

If you're in the sweet spot of, like, people who consume MMA content, UFC content plus, like, it would get use out of a Paramount subscription, there's not a number that I think would be too high. Like, it would be a pretty decent value for you to not have to pay for those pay-per-view. What do they have on Paramount Plus? SpongeBob, South Park. Oh, man.

Paramount Plus has Champions League. They have Live Sports. Europea League. So. The challenge. Challenge. 322 PC. Is it via pay-per-view?

B-T, not BT. TNT Sports Paperview because it's a European star on the main event or no? No, I haven't seen that yet. The Aspinall card was obviously That was more in prime time. Yes, so it's very rare that this happens. It used to just be McGregor fights.

If it is pay-per-view, I'll double-check now. I haven't heard from it. Usually you see people kicking up shit immediately when it's set online, but I haven't seen that yet and as far as I know, it is not on the pay-per-view portion. Okay, all right. Get on the blower real quick for us. I do have some breaking news, guys,

before we get to our first guest of the day. just got this right now via text knucklemania 6 will take place on Saturday February 7th, 2026 where the Xfinity Mobile Arena, formerly known as the Wells Fargo Center,

Philadelphia, where you guys went site of Knucklemania 5. So it's sort of like WrestleMania 4 and 5 back in the day they were both held at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City they're going back to Philly. They were there in January. You guys were there, or at least G.C. Rick was Frank there, too.

Frankie was there, man. Yeah, we were all there. Yeah, I guess we'll have to book the train tickets. Set a modern-day local combat sports attendance record in Philly of 17,762. They haven't announced any fights just yet, but tickets are going on sale this Thursday. You guys are going to pull up February 7. I think that's the night before the Super Bowl, right? Oh, is it?

Yeah. That might change things. Is that good or bad? I'm still going. We've got to go to stuff. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, what am I going to do until 6 on Sunday anyway? We ride a train back here.

Stop by Shea's shout out. Oh, my God. Do we just, let's watch it in Philly. Let's just assemble the fall. That shoutout is going to get, is worth like 10 texts from our guy Shea. I just dropped my ball, my slitter here, and it's bothering me. You guys just talk amongst yourself for a second. One second, one second.

Yeah, that's not on pay-per-view over here. Not on pay-per-view. Oh, thanks. Checked the blower. Who did you got on the blower? Just went on X, to be honest. would you do you see Google searched it I'll be right back

I don't know good stuff man Ariel's actually left the entire studio all together I stayed up for Mondano football last night oh yeah Jesus who even played Packers Eagles Packers Eagles up 0 0 a half time Okay I'm back I'm back I'm back

The Schlitter fell and it was bothering me I like I like like you know I've noticed comes in and he like works the ball you know it's become my stress toy Nice So Anyway not on paper view

knucklemania 6 you got all that yeah yeah we got it all yeah yeah yeah all right you wouldn't have even known the viewers would have said that was seamless they were like whoa they just flowed beautiful other than uh i'm about to stand up and go grab my slitter hold on oh no i mean i wanted to i wanted pronunciation excellent there what i nailed it thank you thank you um well i'm feeling good about life guys thanks for asking uh last night last night i had a moment where i was uh sitting around and my boys have become so big into the NBA that they're telling me about things they're in fantasy leagues and whatnot

and we were going around the association we were watching Wizards Pistons on peacock we were watching trailblazers magic we were watching bulls spurs calves heat and it was just so much fun and I was like this is this is the dream right here got a couple of kids you know they're still at the age where they don't think

that their old man is like a weirdo or a loser they want to hang out they want to talk sports we're sitting around we're watching basketball I had to cut it short had to go take a shower you know guys it's getting late it's 10 o'clock what's what's better than this what's better than this getting to sit around with your boys and so like a red zone version of of NBA league no but league pass yeah you're oh oh that's a good question like like a thing where you like where they're watching it so I guess there is a

multi-view within the league pass yeah I just like a close games to be honest I was on the Yahoo Sports app and I was just going off of you know What was going on over there? Seamless apps. It was beautiful. Number one sports app in the world. That's what I'm told. Surprise me.

Doesn't surprise me. That's what I'm told. You get that over there in Europe. Oh, you better believe I got it over there. Yeah. Oh, nothing like that. Plus the moizable options. Come on, boys.

That's right. That's right. You can pick your teams. You have it on the top. Fantasy. I mean, it's beauty. Don't have to tell me, mate. Yeah.

Don't have to tell me. Yeah, I know what you mean, Pacey. I don't have to tell you, man. Oh, guys, you're a riot. God bless you. God bless you. All right, jents. We're going to get into things now

and more to come as far as news and notes are concerned later on in the program. Hey, thumbs up, thumbs up to the chat. Okay, thumbs up to the chat. You guys have been great. You haven't been too hard on me. I've noticed a lot of support and love. So I appreciate you all very much.

Thumbs up to the chat. Do give us a little thumbs up as well. Give us a little sub, a little follow, a little this, a little that. You know, all that stuff. We appreciate you. guys very very much back into the show we're going to be joined by malcolm wellmaker you may have seen gc rocking the wellmaker's shirt um oh i didn't even see that you guys wrote that in the thing

there it is yeah look at that the 404 what is that 404 augusta or is that all of that's it's Atlanta because the fight was in Atlanta this was oh okay because that was going to be like yo are you a uh you know he made the shirt bro okay okay wait who made the shirt he did it yeah like it's his off the website a grizzly fight co Shout out. Shout out to him. So he'll join us in studio. Chris Padilla is going to join us to talk about his big win

and all the things going on in his life. You may have seen very emotional in the aftermath, but we'll begin today's portion of the guest part of the show with a man who just picked up a big win on November 7th. That was just four days ago. A head kick knockout the first of his pro career. It was at Brave CF 100 in Bahrain. Now, 3-0 in MMA since leaving the UFC 1-0 in karate combat.

Some might say he's the best flyweight, not in the UFC, and one of the best fighters, not in the UFC as well. He's the punisher Mohama Mikhailov, who is kind enough to join us, the 16-0, Mohamed Makayev, kind enough to join us on this Tuesday afternoon or evening where he resides. Hello, my friend. How are you? I'm good, Aril. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Congratulations on the win.

First head kick knockout. Was it the first? of your pro and amateur career? Is it the first time you've landed that? The head kick, yes. Yes, how did that feel? My foot was like a balloon, but it wasn't from the head kick. But I think it was earlier kicking maybe in the elbow or something,

but it was bigger next day. So I saw this. That wasn't from the kick. That was the other foot? Yeah, it was other foot. I think he checked with the knee, one of the kicks in the, early first round and I went in the corner and Rostam Habila was in the corner and he's like

keep kicking him in the head he think you're wrestling and you will knock him out I tell him brother my foot so he said you just need one kick I'm like okay but I'm not kicking me in my sole foot and then I throw on other foot yeah a beautiful knockout beautiful technique are you are you aware like is it is it broken have you been told what's what's wrong with the foot how long you're going to be out? I know some people say I'm crazy, but I haven't done x-ray yet. We play paddle next day. We play paddle next day.

But I said to my team, even if it's broken, so what? I'm just right now, I don't want to do any operation, even if it's broken. If it's no broken, I'm still like, like I'm still sleeping good. It doesn't bother me. So I will do it. It doesn't matter like when. So this was Braves 100th show. How was it?

How did they treat you? What was the experience like? It was a great event. It was great event. I liked it and like everybody treated me well even though I came back. I thought I wouldn't get like a same treatment because I left when I was like 6 and 0. I went to chase my dream. I went to UC and I thought they might get upset but they treat me even better. And yeah, winning the belt at this organization means a lot to me. So yeah, you won their vacant flyway title and then afterwards you had a face off with the Bantamway champ.

going to move up to 135 next? Yes, why not? Why not? Just whatever big noise I can make, I will do it. Maybe I'm not as big as bottom weight, but I will go at it. Those are my skills, my mental game, and my physically, I feel like very good right now. So everything that you do, every decision, every win, every fight, would you say that's all towards getting back to the UFC?

Is that your main motivation? Are you trying to win as spectacularly as possible, do all the right things to get back into the company, back in their good graces? Is that fair? If I say no, I will lie. Okay. Yes.

How much does this consume you? How much do you think about this? I just want to be the best in the world. And right now, I believe I'm the best in the world. but by the results on the table, only guy to prove that is Pantosia. That's the only name I'm missing on my record. Yeah, I saw that you posted a picture of YouTube training.

It looked like at ATT. How long ago was this? I was preparing for Charles Johnson. It was 22 June. Okay, so a little over three years ago, what was that experience like? Did you actually roll with him? Did you spar with him?

There was a position he takes my back and we defend and then I take his back and I'll defend and two times it was close one time he was close to get some bishops one time I was close to get some bishops

but we didn't some bit each of it but it was close but that time I was still young and I'm much growing now mentally physically and I'm different where I was three years ago

but in my mind opinion he's still same you don't think he's improved as much he's 36 years old but sure how do you think that fight goes now if you actually fight in a in a real fight how does it how does it play out I don't think that fight will go to distance one of those going to go but in my opinion in the fans in France opinion it's 50 50 fight. In my opinion, it's listen, it's either

either die or take the boat. That's my mentality will go to the fight. His next fight is coming up. It's less than a month away against Josh Van. Who do you think wins that? I think Panthejo will win. I think Panthejo will win.

How do you think he wins? Do you think he dominates him? You think he's that much better? I think from early, early, once he takes him down, I think he's some beating. Really that quickly, huh? So like the Kikar-France fight where it's very just

dominant one-sided? I think yes. Because Joshua 1 got very, very good boxing and whereas Pantosia is like he doesn't stunt and do like technical boxing. He's a dog. In a dog, I mean, good way. He just go out there and roof your,

smash your style. He doesn't let you to be comfortable, start doing, throw the jobs and stuff. She's going to go in, take him down. similar fight to Alex Perez I think and where's yeah so looking at the top 10 in the flyweight division of the UFC right now you have wins over three of the top 10 and one in the top 15 Charles Johnson who's 13 Tim Elliott who's 10 Perez is eight cap is seven so you see I mean this is an impressive amount of fighters that you have beaten in the top 10 and then top 15 and yet

you're still on the outside looking in. After this win, have you talked to anyone in the company? Have you had anyone reach out on your behalf to say, like, okay, what do you think now? I haven't been told, like, what do you think now? But they just congratulated me and they wished me look before the fight. It would motivate me like crazy. I was happy all day. I'm like, wow.

Who did that? Who did that? Hunter and Mick. Okay, they reached out on their own. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. I was so motivated.

I was going to event like in the morning. I have different mood and I'm thinking maybe that's the day to prove the world and show the world. And then they just congratulate me after fight. But I'm just happy even though I just stay in touch with them. That's better than nothing. This is very promising, I think. The fact that they're keeping tabs on you, that they like you enough to reach out,

they're paying attention. This has to be very motivating. This has to feel good. I hope, man, I was different mood that day. And when I'm in good mood, I'm dangerous. Some days, there's a fight where I didn't wanna go in the cage, I didn't feel well, I didn't, like, but I still grind out the fight,

or maybe sometimes like hard decision. But when I'm in good mood, I'm dangerous, dangerous one, 25a. I saw Chale do a video saying that he thinks you're going to get back in. I tend to agree with him, although I think that it's going to be a short notice opportunity. I think that they're going to call you at some point when they need someone and call you and ask you if you're ready to jump in on short notice. Would you be okay with that scenario?

I would, I would, I think when you save the company, when you give, make favor for company, when somebody pulls out and there's two flyweights fighting on UFC Qatar I'm here like one hour away in Bahrain right now are any other promoters like since we last spoke PFL won these guys are they

are they reaching out or are they trying to lock you up before you go back to the UFC PFL yes they got in touch to replace Magomedov, when he hurt his rib, I think it was. And to step in and they couldn't get working visa in 10 days notice. Yeah. Would you have done it?

You would have been okay if you could have done it? Yes, yes. Okay. And would it have been a part of the tournament? It was part of the tournament. But the thing is, I just don't want to get locked in. That's my main issue. I would challenge, like, I fight anyone.

Like this fight, I would like to fight Pettys. Sergio Pettis, that's one of the fights I would like to compete. But I just don't want to get locked in. I spoke to team. I called team actually maybe like two hours ago. I said, do you think that fight can happen? And he said they may lock you in the contract. So the only reason some big fights not going on is because of my dream and I don't want to get locked in.

okay but at some point you know because you could be losing out on some big deal right even though you so when how long do you wait basically i know you're still pretty young you still you know you're undefeated you still have you know a very high ceiling and great expectations but you may be turning down stability and and you know that that that comfort for this dream that who knows when it comes. I agree. I agree, Ariel. It's like it's been like over one and a half year now. Like I've been told by many people like this, maybe, maybe they'll never sign you and I said, listen, I believe, I believe they will sign it. That's, uh, sometimes you just have to go with your feelings and my feelings is, is right at the moment. But if, if I don't feel it,

Maybe I have to do something, but right now, I just strongly believe. You feel it, I appreciate that. Have you had, you talked about them texting you, have you had any meetings with them? Have they talked to you? Have they called you on the phone or face-to-face? No, no, no, I don't have anything like this, but I'm flying to Qatar and I hope if they have like time to talk to me, that would be amazing. But I don't want to bother them.

I don't want to like be annoying. Yeah. I don't want to be annoying. If they see me, I'll be more than happy. But if they don't see me, it's their organization. It's their choice. I cannot blame on them. So you're flying to Qatar just to be a spectator,

just to take it in, or do you have a teammate fighting on the card? We have Shamil Ghazif fighting heavyweight. And there's Alex Perez also fighting my ex-opponent. So it'd be interesting. for me to watch the fight. It's very, very, I think it's one of the best cards right now. And I think it was better than Abu Dhabi event. Like Kioji, Hariguchi also fighting.

So it's interesting for me to watch this event. If you get the opportunity to sit with them, to meet with them, what is the pitch? What are you telling them? They love this show. Mick and Hunter, they watch this show all the time. What is the pitch to them? What are you telling them as far as the opportunity that you want to get back in?

Excuse me, last chance. You know, one more chance and you won't see any mistakes in there. I've grown up since then and then I just fight anyone. I never said no to my opponents, never pulled out, never missed weight in my 39. I know it sounds mad when I count my amateur career, but some amateur fights are tough for done some professional fights I had in my life so out of 39 fights I never missed weight never pulled out and never let organization down you know in in a month Manel is fighting against Brandon Royville in the main event the last ESPN show this is a guy that you

fought this is a guy that you beat when you see him still in the UFC and you guys had your issue how does that make you feel doesn't mean we have different paths in life everyone has something written in their life everyone got their own road so maybe if you asked me this question three years ago I will answer you a different way but now now I just focus on myself

okay very very mature answer I appreciate that I saw you you did an interview with Demetrius Johnson and I'm sure that was a great honor for you considering who he is in the sport and what he did in your weight class mentioned to him about taking the money that you've earned in the UFC and building a training center back home in Dagestan. Is that up and running? Has that been built and are people using

it now? Not yet. We're finishing the roof now. So I'm actually, while I'm in the camp, I'm doing like chat, GBT, doing some designs, talking to construction. I love this stuff. I cannot wait to go back and see what's going on there but yes it's similar to like Ilya Tuporia has like a recovery sensor and stuff like this

it's not going to be as big as like UFCPI but it's going to be good okay and who will this be for will this be for kids who want a place to train will it be for professionals who do you hope will use this it'd be more for professionals to do the like full camp

and for the kids I'm looking to buy a land I'm looking for a land every day it's hard to find a good place and I want to make it in city center but that's that one is a bit out

okay okay and was this a dream of yours yes I'm not party man I don't party I don't do anything crazy to spend money so that's my hobby

to spend money on stuff what I like and I just go weekend even we can't make barbecue with friends and a place like this quite you know one thing that I was thinking about

obviously this weekend Islam Khachev is fighting and we see a lot of footage of the whole team and Khabib and they all train together also from Dagestan and I was wondering if if Mokai was a part of team Habib I wonder if that would have made things easier

for him to get back to the UFC how come you were never a part of that team maybe because I have different I had different manager from the early days. Okay. Yeah. Have you ever trained with them?

No, I haven't trained with them. No, I haven't trained with them. Would you like to? It'd be good, it'd be good, but we have different teams. And right now I've gone as far, whereas, like, I don't like to change stuff right now. Sure, sure. Did you even, did you even reach out to them

as far as like training together if you're both in Dagestan or something like that or no? I think because we have like me and Tiger Rolambikov in the same division I don't think they'd be happy with that. Okay, okay.

Yeah. All right. I was just trying to think of ways that could potentially help you because they're a very big and powerful team. You know, Ariel, I have ways. I have the role family.

I have a lot of people who can who can watch for me there's hamza chimaev reached out to me there's tom aspinol i have i'm talking to toporia there's mirab i could possibly ask is Islam i remember he told me straight away like go talk to hunter when it it just happened you direct message me and so there's ways to get in but i don't want to be annoying like i said right i don't want to like please can you talk for me can you do if i want to be good with organization i don't want to get in there and not not being same with the people you know um like i just got got the hard way i want they they be happy with me that's simple as that and any any organizer any like the main guys they don't

when people keep calling them yeah it's their business that they don't like people when they don't like when other people involved in their business you know no i I understand. But by the way, what did Hamzad say to you? What advice did he share? Hamza just said it's not fair, but just keep winning and they will get back to you. Okay. So you have a lot of people looking at how you mentioned Tom Aspen. You're both from Manchester. You've known each other for a very long time as well. So it seems like you have the support that you need. You just have to remain, you have to remain confident and keep that spirit alive. Do you ever have moments where you start to doubt, where you start to doubt, where you start to question where you feel bad for yourself do you have moments where you feel down and and think

that it's not going to play out the way in which you wanted to play out the first month it was it was crazy first one two months it was a bit weighed and that's month i had a car crash and stuff like being a little bit crazy but then i thought listen i just go out there keep winning does the most guys make mistake when they get cut from you see they just go out there and and thinking they'll never be back. But my age, my age is advantage. I'm not 31, 32 years old. My age is advantage.

Some people get in the UFC when they're 28. Yeah, you're just 25, for those that don't know. You're still a baby. With babies. How many babies do you have now? One, three years old. Three years old. It's a boy, right?

Girl. Girl, sorry. Are you getting her into martial? arts? No. You don't want? I want, like, university, like, being smart, being smart, yeah. No training, not even some wrestling or jiu-jitsu or something like that?

Gymnastics, I want to say. Okay, okay. That's, like, healthy for the body and gymnastics, swimming. Once we get back to Dagestan, I will do, like, private lessons for it. Okay, so is that home for you now? Dagestan. Dagestan, really for me, wherever I feel like, I can be here one month, I can be in Thailand, one month, Dubai, Dagestan, wherever I can go back to UK, I just like to travel, I really. I don't want to sit, I don't feel comfortable in one place. Okay.

One of my friends said, you have like, what is called, I think, ADHD or something like this? ADHD, yeah, you can't sit in one place, you want to constantly be moving. That makes sense and you're young. You're able to do it. What about this Islam fight against J.D.M. Who do you think wins? I think Islam on the ground is much better. Like, I think Islam can submit him with Darz Choke.

Really, with Dar's Choke? That's what you're thinking. I think because I watch, I remember, J.D.M. This is Ramadan imayev. And he got them very tight. And if you give that way to Islam, Islam, he will squeeze out, squeeze everything out of you. Did you see the footage of him as a 170-pounder training?

He's looking very big, very, very thick. Yes, he looks big, he looks big, brother. Strong? Yes, strong. I think Islam going to feel better in this division. Like I see his interior, he said, I only feel 60, 70% in the lightweight. and I believe him because when you caught so much weight, you're not going into cage 100%. And by the way, for you, you mentioned Sergio Pettis and you talked about PFL and those would be at 135.

They don't have a 125 pound division. What do you walk around at these days? And how much do you think, you know, like at 135, how much do you think you'd weigh if you fought someone at Bantam weight? I'm around like 155. Oh, wow. 50, 155 around that year. Okay. So you wouldn't make, like, it wouldn't be that big of a, do you think you would be at a major disadvantage at 135?

No, I think I'm, I'm, I was bigger than P.T. Ryan at some point in Thailand, we, we checked like together, we train even together. And then at some point I was preparing for flyweight fight. It was Jafel Philho. I was bigger than him. Okay. All right. Is the true PFL asked you to fight patchy mix? It's true, yes. Wow. And what happened? it's true it's basically they said then they offered the tournament and then i said i have to bulk up a little bit there was a little bit short of period time and i said let me let me do like bulking up because patch is big yeah patch is big and i want to get on some s nc there's there's bantamates like sergio petis who is x flyweight he's is is good but there's natural bantamates

where you have to like take a bit time and bulk up and like islam Islam did. Are you surprised at how he's looked since getting to the UFC patchy? Yeah, I'm surprised. I thought he's one of the, like, one of the best of Fred of Bantamweight before he joined the UFC. And then when Bautista just did like simple boxing with him, I'm like, wow. Yeah, what a story. Never saw that coming. Okay, so for you, you enjoyed this victory. Do you think you're going to be doing any more side quests? You did the karate combat fight? It went, well for you or do you think you'll go back to brave if the obviously UFC is where you want to be but where do you think we see you next if not and when how soon yeah so i i probably compete

in rough the people you introduce me too oh real american freestyle wrestling yes okay i would like to i would like to wrestle that i spoke to them like today as well i think january i will compete i think yeah january about i compete and then also carry the combat of offered me fight for the belt. I just want to stay like crazy busy, really. Like wherever side quest there is, I mean. Okay. All right.

Well, I hope it works out. Congratulations. Muhammad on the win. Very, very impressive head kick, very impressive finish. Hopefully the foot is not too bad and you heal up soon and we get to see you continue to do your thing and of course eventually in the UFC because I think you versus Pantoja,

you versus Van, any of those top guys would be phenomenal. And I feel like at this point, you did your time. Now it's time to resume, as they say. You know what I mean? Free Mokaiv. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So good luck to you, my friend.

And all the best and congrats again on the victory. Thank you so much. It means a lot. Thank you for having me on the show. Salama al-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-qa-a-qa-qa-a-qa-qa-qa-hikson. There he is. Muhammad-Mukaiv joining us 16-0, 25 years young, and, you know, undefeated.

in the UFC went 7-0 between March of 2022 and July of 2024. Obviously, one of the top guys, like I said, beat Cap, beat Perez, beat Tim Elliott, beat Charles Johnson. All of those guys ranked in the top 15. By the way, still third in the UFC as far as most submission wins in the flyweight division. He's got four, one behind the great Demetrius Johnson, two behind Alex Pantosia. Third longest winning streak in the UFC's flyweight division. Once seven in a row, Pantosia 8, Mighty Mouse 13. If he was still there, he'd probably get a little closer to that 13, I would imagine.

And here's an interesting note. Five different fighters have held the UFC flyweight title. None of them started their careers 16 and 0. none of them reached 7 and O in the UFC to start their respective UFC careers. So the resume speaks for itself. It's been talked about that it just, for whatever reason, it didn't end well.

But certainly there have been a lot of fighters who have been, you know, a little difficult, a little problematic, who have gotten many an opportunity given that weight class and especially given how successful Pantosia has been in that weight class and how he might be running out of options

and opponents, It would be a very interesting fight to see. And, of course, he says he walks around on 155, 135 now becoming, especially as he gets older, becoming more and more of a possibility as well. All right. So thank you very much to Muhammad Mukhaev. We turn our attention now to someone who is victorious on Saturday at the UFC Apex event. In fact, he has won his last four in the UFC.

He is undefeated in the UFC. He's a perfect fore-in-o in the UFC. and he was a big talking point going into his fight on Saturday against Ishmael Bonfim because Bonfim missed weight by five pounds. Now often when this happens, either

the fight doesn't happen or the guy who missed weight wins. Didn't have to cut as much, didn't have to drain himself, whatever the case may be. Well, in the end our guests at this time, Chris Taco Padilla won via second round, ground and pound,

gone on the microphone afterwards, It was very excited about the win, but also talked about wanting to help out to his family and his mother in particular. And this has drawn a lot of attention to him. So wanted to talk about the win, wanted to talk about his career and everything going on in his life. He's kind enough to join us right here and now on the program. Hello, Chris. How are you? What's good, area? I'm doing pretty good, man. I'm here at the gym.

I'm just having a good day, man. Just chilling out. How's everything with you? Everything's going great. Congratulations on the win. And by the way, any signs of our friend E. Casey Leiden, who I understand you train, videographer extraordinaire? Is he at the gym right now? Is he the one showing you here he is so proud of you?

He says to be a small part of the taco training camp. I don't know if he's taking credit for your victories, but he's very proud to be a part of the team. Yeah, he's actually on the mat right now. Yeah, bro. This guy, hey, in another life, bro, or in another universe, he's for. fighting right now, bro, because this guy's in the gym just as much as shit, the pro fighters guys. So, yeah, he's in here. I love that. I actually didn't think he was actually going to be there. That's hilarious that he's actually there. That's amazing. No shirt on flexing,

showing off the muscles right now as I speak. Oh, my God. Let's see. Let's see. Can you turn it around? Let me see if I get, hey, okay, still here. Okay, just pulling the shirt right now. He got all, he got all bashful. Ah, there he is. There he is. I'm sweaty. I look horrible. No, you look great. You look great. That's amazing. I love that. That's the man right there. Well, Chris, congratulations.

You're getting a lot of attention for the victory and obviously everything that you said afterwards. But I do want to go back to before the fight. When you found out that Ishmael was going to miss weight, that he was five pounds over, what was the thought process there? Because we have seen fighters, and I don't blame that at all, who said, like, no, I'm just not taking this fight. What were you thinking and how did you ultimately decide to take the fight? So I kind of already, so when I'm at the hotel, man, my job is to cut weight. Like, I'm not, there's nothing else on my mind. I don't want to see sightsee.

I'm not here for vacation. So when I get up, I go, I go do my run. I bust out five miles up, five miles down with my sweatsuit on. And that's my ritual. Every time I go to Vegas, That's what I tell people, I love going to Vegas because for me, the desert just, it just hits different, man. It really does test you. I run in the hotel, too, and I didn't see bonfying anywhere in those locations. You know, I didn't see him running at the hotel. I didn't see him running outside. He just kept going to the P.I.

So I already knew he wasn't going to make weight because that's the same thing Yontop did. They came here and they didn't do anything else but work out at the P. So I kind of already had that feeling. So to be honest, bro, it never passed my mind to be like, no, I don't want the fight. If you miss Wade, bro, you're paying me, and I get to beat you up. You know what I'm saying? So when they asked me, bro, yes. Do you want to negotiate with your people?

No. There's nothing to negotiate because that's not what we do. When I talk on my team, my team, they're like, oh, talk, do you want to talk? talk with your team or anything i'm like nope because my team would tell you the same thing oh he missed weight oh let's kick him in the body let's kick his legs let's see what he's made of and uh yeah i don't uh uh i couldn't imagine me personally come out the way from brazil and then missing weight and losing the fight nah so we don't duck fades man not where i'm from uh you got what 20 percent 25 percent what it end up being i believe they said 25 percent

from what he made so uh yep hey uh i don't know what else to tell you man you came all the way down here and you weren't on your peas and cues you know you we had the same exact time for the fight get up run bro it's that it's really that simple what's been the difference for you as of late chris because you know we're we're flashing your record up there and you're 17 and 6 but all of those six losses came before you got to the ufc you're on a winning streak prior to the ufc like i said undefeated in the UFC 4-0. Why has it all seemingly come together for you now? Shoot, man. I would say I started fighting when I was 17 years old, man. I jumped out there as soon as I could because when I became a fan of the sport, I was like 13, 12 years old.

And I instantly fell in love, man, because that was, it just, it captured me. just like I'm sure in MMA captured all the fans, you two. So when you're coming as, when you're coming up as a kid, man, you don't see the mental side of it, the spiritual side of fighting. You just think, oh, I've got to get in there and I just got to hurt somebody.

And that doesn't go, that doesn't go very long. Like you can get away with it for a while, but in the long term, bro, you start meeting why I like to call them spiritual warriors, bro, who can take an asswop in and bring it right back to you. And that's something I didn't comprehend until I got older until I met my new coach, Chris Cully, Jumbi, Chad George. Once I started really working with them, man, we start really talking about those things, like, okay, what makes you feel that way? Why this, why that?

So they almost became like sport psychologist for me, you know? And for me, bro, I'm the type of guy, if you say, hey, if you walk across this long as desert, that's where the water is on the other side. I'm a walk, I won't ask questions, I'll go. So when they told me, like, I really had to dig deep in myself to find why I wanted to do, it was easy for me. Like, of course, I'll do whatever I have to do. So I would say I just, I got the mental and spiritual part of fighting down compared to when I was a kid.

Your pro debut came in 2014, your amateur debut in 2012, 11 years to get to this point. And I know you didn't just have your debut in the U.S. but you know that's a long stretch of time was there ever a period where you thought this will never happen that you know you yeah you did okay and so how did you get over those those feelings of doubt oh uh i just remember uh it was right before covid happened um my fight fell through bro and like i was i was coming off like i believe two losses my fight just fell through and uh because of covid so i didn't know when i was going to be able to get back in and then i was

have like these weird, uh, injuries with my hands. Like, I wouldn't, I wouldn't be able to, like, drive for long, long periods of time because my hands would just start to like lock up on me and hurt. So like, I was going through that and I was like, I remember talking to my student Jake and I was like, hey, bro, I think I've done with this. Like, I don't know what else to do. Like, I don't know when COVID's ended. Uh, I'm actually making more money teaching privates. I'm doing things like that. So it was like, bro, what, what am I doing here? Why am I doing it? Um, yeah, it just, I just had a lot. of questions for myself that just that I was just like you know what maybe I could I can help

create the future instead of you know me being in myself but uh what kept me in was the love bro just like just still watching fights still a study and still seeing the guys you know do what they do and thinking like man I'm way better than that like I know my skills are better than that because I've done this my whole life like like seeing guys make silly mistakes do silly things and like you know I almost felt like a couch warrior where I was like bro I'm better than that but I just can't when I get in the cage I don't know why I can't prove that so that was one of those things for me bro where I just I just really set there to myself I was like you know what I'm put there's something I'm missing like what what was that

again I think it was just that mental spiritual side of it I could get past all the physical stuff so I just found proper trainers man and then I trainers just, they push me to that limit of like, when your skill, you know, you get so tired, like you can barely hold your hands up and things like that. That's what I think tested me more physically and spiritually because they start making me question, like, okay, what is my real skill level when my brain is telling me to quit?

My brain is telling me I'm tired or this and that. And that's where, like, once I got over that hump, it was like, okay, you can still be great you can still do this and then i came back uh i'm losing a fight so i went three fights down i was like bro like i've never wanted to go three fights down because you know mma you go three fights down you're a bum you're washed up you're all the uh all the names man and uh after i lost that third fight i sat there and i was like you know what i still feel good like i don't feel like i feel horrible because i'm on three fight win street but my my mind just says get back to it let's do it let's do it again. So I just climbed back on the horse, man, and I just started slaying,

slaying, took a few more losses. Then that's when I met Chris and start working with Chad full time. And here I am, bro. And the debut came on short notice, right? It wasn't exactly perfect circumstances. Yep. Like how long was it? How long did you have 10 or so days? uh shoot oh for the uh for the yon top fight i had less than the week basically i think i had like four or five days but like uh my marriage had told me weeks earlier like okay we're going to take this fight and uh you but you're you're on the radar so just keep your weight low so i already had a match up and again i was on full uh routine i wake up every morning uh run at run at 4 30 or get up at 4.30, run at 5 o'clock, get on the mat, warm-up, stretch,

moiety, time to about 9. From 9, I'd go down to my other gym, fight science, train from like 11, like 9 to about 11.30. Then I would come down to Gardena, train from 12 to about like 2 o'clock. And then I would go back to the gym later on at night. So I was on full, full routine. My weight was already low. I just needed them to say yes. So then when I got the call, when I was on the toilet,

I was like, bro, wait slow. I'm mentally ready. I've been running, doing all my shit right. So I was just ready to get to the business. And so here you are. You get this big win on Saturday. And like I could feel it in your voice. I could feel it in your soul.

You know, you're asking for the bonus. You want to help out your mother. I'm a mama's boy too. I would do anything for my mom. So I understand where you're coming from. And the sentiment seems to be like, man, this guy's a four and no fighter in the UFC and you know he he's for lack of better word begging for more money because the fighters aren't getting paid enough and so what do you make of the reaction

to what you said in the cage afterwards about trying to get that bonus and trying to help out your mom uh so when i look at when i look back at that man i'm gonna tell you the truth i literally was just speaking from my heart uh me me personally i said it in some interviews earlier i'm a minimalist man Like, I don't need much. You know what I'm saying? Everything I'm wearing right now, sponsor, free, UFC. Like, I'm not one of those guys that, like, the first thing I'm going to do is go get my money and do some wild stuff.

Like, all I care about is my bills, my things like that. I was, again, I got just emotion, man. I love my mom. And the UFC, me personally, I can't speak for no one else. And because I don't know, I don't know what anyone else is making. But the UFC take care of me very well. It's just that I don't care about me. Obviously, you see, I'm a professional fighter.

I care less about myself, but I care just about my family, man. And at the end of the day, that's why I'm doing all this for. So it's not that I'm underpaid or anything. It's just for me, my mom, my mom has spent her whole life. I'm 30 years old. So as long as I've known my mom, she's been struggling, trying to put food on the table, pay rent, do all these things for me and my other four siblings. You know what I mean? And I know, again, with or without the bonus, I'm going to help my family.

I'm going to take care of my people. But my mom is a one. She's a diabetic. She's an older woman. And these days, you don't know what the timetable is for your family and things like that. So I really want to make sure that I can do that. You know, I got a nephew. I got, I just adopted.

So, you know, I have little things on my plate that, again, if it was just me, my nephew, and my girlfriend, then I'm cooling, you know what I'm saying? Because I don't need much. But because I think about my mom, like, I want my mom comfortable, bro. I don't want my mom to, like, spend the rest of her time, you know, living in a trailer, trying to, okay. Can I pay rent this month?

Can I eat food this month? You know what I'm saying? Like my mom, my mom shouldn't have to worry about that, you know? So that's really it, man. People can say I'm begging. People can say I'm pleading. They can use whatever words they want.

At the end of the day, bro, this is about my mother and my family, my legacy. You know what I'm saying? That's what means more to me than anything. So and even my mom message feels like, she, you know, she was crying. And she was like, you know, I don't need anything. I have enough long as I have you guys. And for me, I know that about her. I know she doesn't need much.

But just as a man and as her son, that's where I stand at those days, you know? So I was talking to my boy, too. Like, we were just like, oh, what's your dream car? I brought up a Honda Civic. Honda Civic is my dream car because it's, it's, it's, it's, the gas is good. I can, I can fit, I can fit five people of you skinny. I can fit you in the middle. And I get the two big homies in the back, me and, you know,

whoever in the front seat. So that's what I mean. That's all I really care about. So, hey, I do appreciate all the fans, you know, trying to stick it up for me, supporting me. I do appreciate those things. But I want them to know. I want everybody to know.

My words aren't hate for the UFC. I've dreamed about this since I was a kid. I'm grateful. They literally, if I can speak anything, bro. Ask how many local guys are getting paid well, you know, on the local scene. I'm used to fighting for pennies. So the UFC, I'm grateful for them. But my family, man, that's it.

Sure, sure. And by the way, for the record, I didn't interpret anything that you said as being hateful. You were just talking about your situation. Of course, you'd rather be in the UFC than be on the regional scene. I mean, every single fighter in the world would feel the same way, and you're getting to where you want to be. Can I ask, how far away are you from improving your mom's situation?

I'm getting there, man. My goal is, I want my parents. family to go back to Mexico, man. Like, that's where my dad's from. That's just, that's like, I was talking to my boy yesterday, like how Habib and Islam, how they have Dagestan, how they have their, they're helping their village people. They're trying to build up their home country

and turn into a mecca of the world. That's, that's me, man. I want to, I want to start small, you know, maybe get my mom a little apartment out in T.J. some she can just take care of, put plants around, you know, just be to herself, and then eventually, you know, own some land and stuff like that. So I'm getting there, man. That's, that's the beauty. I'm getting there. It's just a little, a little bit slower than I want, but I'm hoping within, shoot, next few months get into another fight, bro, and, you know,

handle business from there. What was your reaction when you found out that you didn't get the bonus? Certainly a bonus worthy performance, but you didn't get it. What was your reaction. Hey, bro, it is what it is, man. I'm a hustle with or without it. If I would have got it, I wouldn't have stopped hustling hard. And if I didn't get it, I'm not going to stop hustling hard. So it's a, I'm not, I'm not one of those guys that ever got what he wanted. Like, I'm going to keep it real with you. If, if when I signed up, I remember signed up for the UFC, the ultimate fighter, I was like 6 and 0, 7 and 0, and I signed up at 18 for the ultimate fighter. And guess what it said? Oh, we're not accepting anyone that.

that's under 21. So then I was like, okay. So after I went on some losses, I checked the Ultimate Fighter again, and then now they're accepting people under 21, 18 and over. So that right there, that's a summary of my whole life, essentially. I've never been the lucky one.

I've never been the one that I could buy 20,000 lottery tickets and probably still lose the lottery. So it is what it is, bro. I'm just one of those guys that have to work for every bit of it. So when it's all said and done, I work for everything I earn, period. So it is what it is, my man. There was a sentiment that I don't feel like this is true,

but I don't know if you feel otherwise that the UFC isn't going to give you a bonus if you ask for a bonus. I don't mean you specifically, but fighters who do it. There's people who pay attention to these things. Do you think that's true? I don't care, man.

I'm still asking for next win, bro. I'm not sweating. I'm not sweating any of that, bro. I don't sweat the Altite, bro there's so many people telling me like oh you're not supposed to smoke weed before your fight there's so many people telling me uh bomb fiend was injured there's people telling me oh he lost five pounds this i don't uh i don't really listen to the outside word where i just uh like i said i speak on what i know and if i don't know that for sure then i don't know that but you know and even back

to the thing where it's like uh i know you say you didn't perceive what i said as hate for the ufc but like if you've been on twitter a lot of people on twitter definitely they think that's a shot at them. So that's why I wanted to be like, no, man, it's none of that. It's just, I just, I was speaking from my heart, man, and that's what I'm always going do. And yeah, so I don't know, maybe. And if that's, if that's the case, well, I guess I might not get the bonus on the next one either, so because I'm going to ask. Speaking of the weed, I saw a clip of you talking about this. So how close to a fight will you smoke weed and, and why do you feel like this isn't a hindrance? Well, I'm going to tell you this. How much, I'm going to tell you this,

how many joints take away 10 miles of running? You know what I'm saying? Like, if I ran 30 miles in Vegas within those few days, is there like a number of joints that's going to stop my cardio from being good? You feel me? So, like I train all, I train, like I said, I think I do over 10 hours of training a day, man. So it's like how many joints will ruin that?

So I smoke, shit, I would say up until fight date. I just can't show up to the, yeah, I smoke as much as I can. Wow. So you could do it on the Friday before? Like you could do it the day before? Is that okay? I can't show up to the event. So long as I don't show up to the event, I don't do anything like that, I should be pretty good.

So are you doing it on Wayne Day? On Wayne Day? Shit, yep. Wow. How long have you been doing that? As long as I've been smoking, essentially, I don't, I don't, it's never hindered me. Like I said, I don't, I don't, I haven't felt anything. My cardio felt good during the fight as you can see.

So, hey, ask Nick and Nate, man. No, I know, yeah. They know, they know the game, bro. So it's the same thing. What about, what about like when you're sparring and stuff like that in the gym? Obviously, there aren't the same rules. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, it helps. I smoke more sparring before drilling.

I smoke two or three joints. I smoke one when I wake up, smoke one before I get on the map. Damn. That's amazing. Is that why they call you Taco? I don't know. I was trying to think. I'm the Iron Lung, man.

Yeah. Why do they call you Taco? Just because, bro, when I was a kid, we're jackass kids, bro. Like, we all had our little nicknames that we used to terrorize our school with. We used to just do wild shit, bro. Shank Wars. I don't know if you remember 300, but we used to run around Sparta and each other. So we would, like, catch the other person slipping.

All you hear is, this is Sparta. You just get a hard-ass kick to the side, back, stomach. We used to throw, we used to run around hitting each other with fruit. Like, bro, we used to be terrorizers, bro. So, like, that was my nickname. And somehow it played to fighting very well because, again, I can do any style, bro. So I always tell people, if you like, you like a sada taco, Langua Taco, Cavesa Taco, That's my style, bro.

I can kickbox you, Muay, you, Greco, you, wrestle you, jiu-jitsu, you, whatever you need. I got it. I've seen some photos on your social media of you doing a lot of training in what appears to be a garage. What is this spot? And there you go. Is this your garage?

That's the Trump. That's my coach, Chris Cully, known as Jumbi. That's where we work, man. That's his garage. We wake up. We wake up. Monday through Sunday, Tuesdays and Thursdays. I show up at night, but I'm there from Monday through Sunday. Okay. And speaking of social media, I've seen USA, Mexico, Cameroon, India flags.

What connection do you have to the, obviously I know the USA and Mexico connection, but Cameroon, India, what's your connection to those flags? So on my mom's side of my family, her her mom and her or not her mom her grandpa and her grandma those are their those are her origins the man uh the man is from india and the uh female side is from cameroon uh my on the indian side they were uh from iran but they were indian iranian and their land was taken from them so they had to come here and cameroon obviously slavery and all the wild shit okay okay yeah All right, representing. I respect it and appreciate it very much. Oh, do we lose you there? Okay, no, you're back. Okay, so now that you're on this role, I would imagine you want to keep it going, although it was seven months in between fights for you? Was there a

particular reason for that? And are you hoping that it's less time in between fights this time around? Yeah, it was, man, I'm ready to keep it rolling. I'm ready to show, like I said, I'm hoping for January, February, March. I'm hearing there might be an LA card so I'm looking I want to get on that I want to get on a Mexico card I'm looking for any of that man pay-per-view main card I'm looking for a fight night

co-main events I'm looking for the big ones man the seven months I was off you know man it's just you know it's more of the behind the scenes nothing to do with me I was I was on weight I was sharpening the craft I don't like waiting out that long

but at the same time you see when I'm out that long I'm in the office, you know, I'm always training, so I just come back better. That's like the gift and the curse of it, I guess. I'm getting better, obviously, but it's like, man, I'm trying to get money, man. I'm trying to do my thing. I'm trying to prove I'm number one in the world. So I'm hoping they give me a turnaround around, shit, January, February, Air, March. I run them all.

Okay. And is there anyone in particular that comes to mind? True. I saw Louvette Klein take a dub. Jim Miller, obviously, I've been asking for that one for a while. Satakoff was a cool one. I think he got a fight coming up.

Shit, Daniel Kormier, if I can run that one, I'll take that one. Hey, Daniel, Cormier. Yeah, Daniel. What's the B for them? Hey, Daniel, you kept calling me explosive. I'm going to tell you this. It's technique, not explosiveness.

Explosiveness is due to my technique. So, Daniel, I didn't forgot about that. You took that as an insult, explosive? That feels like a compliment. But, okay, I'll tell you this. What does being explosive actually mean in fighting? Okay, you tell me, how do you interpret it? When I think of explosive, I think of somebody that can explode, anybody can explode,

but not a lot of people can time things. I think timing is, in my opinion, is way more important than explosive. I think that was the difference between me and Bone Theme on Saturday. He's explosive, like throwing hard punches, just trying to wild out. about timing, though. Timing is something that only the masters to understand. And when I fought Yon Top, all my takedowns were

well timed. And it's nothing personal, but that's that is just the little things that I would like, you know, to be mentioned. Hey, he has great timing. Now, he's explosive. Whoa, that guy's explosive. Nah, timing. And in my opinion, I don't even think I'm not

exposed. I think I'm that. I kind of got like a a jellybody. But you know, like I said, it's it's not a it's not a personal thing but it's just DC you owe me a wrestling match I can prove my timing all right all right I respect that um also respect the merch man your merch is pretty great who's behind all of this you're rocking that uh that sweatshirt there here here it is I guess it's from uh born for this who's who's doing all this stuff yeah born for this man they made it last design uh their artists did it this design my girlfriend did this one and uh yeah man uh we we

we sat down they kind of asked what I was uh was what I was thinking about I was like man I want I'm thinking like 50 60s pop-pie Mickey Mouse type cartoon itchy and scratchy kind of look yeah bro that you know me man that's those are my vintage man I love those growing up so uh yeah that was that was the motivation obviously Jason so yeah yeah no it looks great I really really dig it and I saw also you were passing out flyers what were you doing there. Oh, man, shoot, bro. I'm, I'm, I'm, uh, that's my street team. So I'm a, I can't reveal too many names with my nephew out there, man. He's, uh, uh, we hustle, bro. Like I said, everything we do is out the trunk. Like, if, uh, we'll get out on the ground, we'll post things, uh, paper. We do

digital, everything. You know what I'm saying? Like, I wanted my sponsors who, you know, help me big in this camp to understand that like, when you guys work with me, you don't just have somebody who's going to post a cool Instagram post with their fingers up. Like, no, bro, you have an army behind you. And that's why I had to let the people know, like, hey, we're on the street posting, handing out flyers, giving people, letting people know, hey, sweater, check out my sponsors. We're watching the fight on this day. You know, so I'm trying to hit all avenues of marketing. So, yep, that's just that. Hustling. I like it. I respect that as well. You know, you saying those comments in the in the cage and in the post-fight press conference after did remind us a little bit of the story that happened a week ago at the apex this Isaac Dalgarian story and one of the hypothesis is that you know fighters and UFC fighters are susceptible to people coming up to them and saying hey do you want a couple extra dollars to do X Y and Z has this happened to you now that you've talked openly about this sort of thing have you experienced something like this at the gym where someone is trying to entice you to

do something like this? Hell no. I don't know. I'm not going to lie. Someone says some shit like that to my. I'm a smack him, bro. Just because it's like, I'm a purist, bro.

I didn't grow up. I'm not like some 5-0 kid, 8-0 kid. Like, I grew up in this. I used to watch Spike TV, UFC Unleash, Anderson, Selva, Forrest Griffin, Chuck Reddell, Rampage, Quentin, Travis Luter,

Matt Hughes, George, St. Pierre. I used to watch all those guys coming up. man so like to uh to even bring something like that to my uh my department bro i would almost strangle you man that's uh that's that's ultimate disrespect like i'll i'll go get a regular job before i do some shit like that man mind you i ain't trying to be under nobody's thumb working at fucking whatever and ain't no problem with a regular job but it ain't for me but i would rather do that than hey go get your ass what by somebody i don't no we don't dug face we don't

give free asswhipins. If you're going to take it, you're going to have to fucking beat me. I love the, uh, I love the mentality that you shared when talking about, you know, taking this, uh, this fight. Uh, you said, quote, you run into somebody at the liquor store, you don't ask to check weight beforehand. And, uh, and so it seems like you bring a lot of that mentality to everything that you're doing. And, uh, it's cool to see it all coming together for you there. Gardina, is that, that's where you're from. That, that, that's our mentality, bro. Like, I, I, I grew up On the, in Gardena, the streets, the schools, all that, bro. And that's literally what it is.

If you, if somebody run up on you, bro, and it's time to get down, you don't get to, you're going to either turn cheek, bro, and you can never show your face in that area again. Or you're going to stand your ground, bro, and take your licks, bro. You're either going to win or lose. So that's that mentality, bro. And I want to say shout out to Coach D, my coach Steens, bro. So they're two of West Coast, East Coast guys of L.A., and they really do instill that mentality into not just me, just all the guys around them, man.

We don't, again, we don't duck no fades, period. Chris, congratulations on all your success. Congrats on the big win. I hope everything works out for you and your family. Appreciate you coming on and talking about your story and looking forward to your next one. Thank you, brother. Thanks for having me, Ariel. I'm just geek out a little bit.

That's just what I do. I remember watching you, bro, from just you holding the mic, you talking to rampage, bro, you're showing up to the shows, you doing what you do best, man. And it's a dream, bro. This is part of my nerdy dream getting to talk to you on your show, bro. I'm super happy for you, bro, that you blew up as much as you did. I know how much you respect combat sports, sports in general, all the such, bro. So, again, I'm humbly grateful for this opportunity, bro. your thing, man, keep growing. And shit, next time you see me, man, I'll probably be either

UFC champion or shit, I'll be 8-0. Whatever comes first, bro. I appreciate that very much. And the funny thing is, the guy holding the camera for all of those interviews that you were talking about is the guy in your gym right now that you're training. So it's all connected. It's all connected. It's all connected. I love it. I love it. Looking forward to the next one. Thank you, Chris. I appreciate that very much. And congrats again on all your success. God bless, bro. You have a lot. there he is chris taco pedia very easy to root for uh now 17 and 6 as a pro but four and oh in the ufc and there was a time where as he said won uh you know won a couple here lost a couple here

lost a couple in a row this then and the other uh but it's been a minute since he last loss in fact his last loss was in may of 2022 and since then one two three seven in a row so he's rolling right now And I really, I really think he did a great job of talking about this because, look, you can come across if you're asking for this, you know, bonus money and all this stuff like, oh, you're ungrateful, you're unhappy and the UFC could take it the wrong way. But I think he did a great job of explaining that, look, he's very happy. He's, he's very grateful. He's very appreciative. But, you know, he's wearing his heart, you know, on his sleeve. He loves his mom. He loves his family. He's just trying to do what he can. And he has no shame. And he's going to ask again. But that doesn't mean that he's, disgruntled or upset or feels like he's underpaid he's just essentially shooting his shot and I appreciate that as they say close mouths

don't get fed and he's doing his thing and of course that can be misconstrued I get that and you look at the UFC and you say hey they're the major leagues we shouldn't be in a position where fighters are talking about this sort of thing first thing that comes to mind on the microphone

after a big wind with such passion and such emotion and we do hope that with this new lucrative TV deal that's about to kick in with Paramount Plus. And again, the Paramount Plus deal that we talk about time and again, 1.1 billion a year, 7.7 over the course of seven years, that's just in the United States. And that's just TV money. That doesn't include all the other markets. That doesn't include the deal that they announced with Australia and South America. And, of course, those are going to be less than the U.S.

but there's, you know, the U.K. out there in Canada and other parts of Europe, France, et cetera. And that doesn't include sponsorship, which is a huge revenue generator. That doesn't include Gates, ticket sales. So there's a lot, you know, we focus so much, and that's the big one, no doubt about it. Merchandise, all these other facets of what they make. There's so much out there. If it was just that $1.1 billion a year, 7.7 over seven years, it would be tremendous. But it's actually way more than that.

Even Chale was talking yesterday about a $20 million gate on a random Saturday in November at Madison Square Garden. It's a pretty good place to be for Dana White and company. Speaking of Dana White, Dana White was on a podcast called His and Her, Him and Her. No, him and her. Him and her. You're a big fan of this one. Oh yeah, this is appointment viewing for me. Yesterday we learned that G.C. was a big fan of the No Corner's podcast?

No script podcast. No script. Yeah, I only listen to him and her when I'm done with my No Scripts episode. Okay. Well, a couple of these clips. And really, these people have only one person to thank. It's really all Jedi. I feel like Jedi, our guy, Jedi, whomever he may be, is the one who finds these clips. I don't know how he finds these interviews. and then he cuts them up and then he disseminates them and then they explode. And then so today I'm seeing people like Pablo Torre and Van Jones and a whole bunch of other people reacting to all kinds of Dana White Jedi Goodman clips. If Dana White is speaking in his backyard, Jedi Goodman will have a clip of it, yes.

There's an investor call here with Mark Shapiro. He's finding it. There's a random podcast in Riyadh, he's finding it. There's an appearance over in Qatar. He's finding it. It's unbelievable. I know we have one of the clips We have one of the clips That a lot of people were You know getting all excited about where he was talking about not being political Which was obviously a very interesting

Comment to hear considering you know If you've been watching the UFC for some time or covering the UFC You would probably think otherwise Anyway here's the clip and we can react to it I'm probably not as as far right as everybody thinks I am Everybody thinks I'm like far right I literally up until the world lost its mind

considered myself to be liberal I leaned a little left but I would say that's probably the biggest misconception everybody thinks I'm like some far right you know I'm not really even that political to be honest with you

okay of all the comments that he made just there it was the last one that I think you should probably take the greatest issue with look far right mid right whatever the case is he's clearly very right, and there's nothing wrong with that. But to say that's a misconception about me is silly when you've spoken at both of the last two, the 2016 and the 2020,

actually the last three, I think it is. It was the 2016, the 2020 and the 2024 GOP conventions on behalf of one Donald Trump. In at least two of them, he was like, the guy introducing him so like that's that's as prime time of a slot as possible and and so okay you can then say like hey you know he's helping a friend and I do believe that when he boils it down in his brain he's like I'm just helping a guy who helped us out I'm loyal to a guy that's my that's my most important word that's the most important trade in my life loyalty I'm loyal to a guy who was loyal to us who was loyal to me I think that's the way he rationalizes it, for lack of a better word.

But to me, what is the point that you should be like, yo, come on, like, let's chill this. Like, when he says that, you know, like, he's not a political person, there is probably no greater sporting organization, certainly not in North America, and I would argue in the world that is as political

as the UFC. The UFC is arguably the most political sporting organization in the world. And when I mean political, I don't mean like the politics in pro wrestling. I mean, politics like left, right, Democrat, Republican, conservative, all that stuff. And why do I say that? Well, when Donald Trump is campaigning to be president of the United States, they don't just have him in attendance and they're like, oh, look who's there. It's the, you know, the former president of the United States number 45,

hoping to be number 47 or, oh, look who's there. He's the Republican nominee, all this. Like, no, they have a whole, drawn out, really long, five-minute long entrance right before the pay-per-view, not on pay-per-view, right before the pay-per-view usually. So on free-to-air or on cable television, not behind a paywall, him walking out, everyone stands, everyone, you know, pays respect, pays homage, the broadcast does that. Subsequently, all the fighters, then essentially, like, pay homage, pay respect, kiss the hand. You know, they'll do the thing with the, the celebrities, and it'll be like, this person, this person, this person, and number 45, 47 is there. And then an hour later, it's like, this person's here, this person, and like, he'll be showed multiple times over and over.

That's political. That's not your friend in that moment. That's political. That's, that's you endorsing someone. That's political. And I'm not saying it's bad, it's good. Personally, I think it's a little bit much. I don't take back what I said about the

You guys know how I felt about the elections You know that I didn't vote But you know how I felt I talked about this ad nauseum I see people still calling me a snowflake And all this stuff You could say whatever you want I'm not offended by any of this

Let's be very very clear I'm not gonna get on here And make a whole 25 minute rant About how this is horrible disgusting I personally think that We should try to keep it a little bit more Down the middle like Dana White used to say back in the day

Which was you know No politics here This is a sporting event This is an escape. We're not trying to alienate anyone. We're not trying to endorse anyone or turn our back on anyone. This is going to be a place where you can come and watch sports and have fun and forget about all the craziness going on in the world, all the issues going on to the world. But to suggest that you're not political, when you do more of this than any sporting organization on the planet and certainly in America is this.

I mean, this is laughable. This is disingenuous. You guys, you don't even just have him there as a quick cameo, hello. you actually have him while he's campaigning while he's like it's one thing for him to show up in the booth on Sunday NFL on Fox he's already the president he's not really campaigning for anything of course doing that you're your influence I get it but now you're a part of like the actual election you're a part of the campaign and it's not equal time there there's no walkout for his opponent and I know they'll say oh if if they wanted to come if Barack Obama

wanted to come if Kamaharis wanted to go of course we would do the same no you wouldn't. We all know you wouldn't because you're not friends with them and you can do whatever you want. I was always a little bit surprised that ESPN was so okay with this because this is way more than you would usually get for any candidate for any sitting president. But while you are campaigning, while you are out there trying to sway people, that is all very calculated. Notice you don't really see that as often these days. Of course, he's a lot busier, but you almost saw it every single month for a year, every single pay-per-view for a year leading up to that election.

That's political. So to suggest that that's a misconception or to suggest that the UFC isn't political is very disingenuous. They have made a conscious decision to go all the way. You don't see other heads of sport or other heads of league or teams do anything even remotely close to this. They all kind of try to stay out of it. They all try to stay as neutral as possible.

The UFC has not done that for better or worse. Some will love it. Some will hate it. Some will try their best to ignore it. If it bothers them, some will use it as a reason as to why they love the UFC so much. But that, you know, that was even Pablo showed this really long list of all the donations that have been made. And that's stuff that's being done, you know, in his private time. That's fine.

Oh, there it is. There's a lot of ours there. Yeah, Pablo is saying that this is according to open. Secrets DC database since July 2011. Yeah, a lot of ours. And again, he can donate to whatever he wants, but don't, like, don't insinuate that people suggest that you're too

political or too right wing or anything like that. Again, please be very clear here. I'm not trying to say that any of this is bad. It's just the common there. I'm like, really? Come on, man. Yeah, it's like a skirting of the responsibility, right? We've highlighted the

these political affiliations, and then to say, like, yeah, Yeah, but, you know, that's their thing. That's not necessarily my thing. Like, we're just, you know, friends and putting in that position. It is a little bit of washing your hands of something that you're involved with. Yeah, you show up to the White House. You're part of these committees.

You're doing dinners. You're sitting with the president in the front row at events. You're together in his booth. Presenting him at national conventions is very obviously. It's pretty much as political as against. Somebody who is not in the political world, I can't think of a more political step or measure than introducing somebody at a political rally. The only issue I have with it is just own it.

Just say, like, this is my guy. I believe in him. I like him. I like what he believes in. That's my guy. And again, even if it was Dana White, Dana White shows up and introduces him at the convention. All right, that's, you know, like, you're a lot, you are a human being. You can make whatever decision you want.

You can endorse anyone you want. The stuff that I always felt was a little bit too much was the walkout, the music, the sitting in the front, the multiple mentions, the multiple cameos on the broadcast. That to me felt like you were now using your platform, your sporting organization, which is supposed to be neutral, which you've told us for many years, was going to be neutral and not a place where any of this stuff was going to be allowed or highlighted or tolerated. And now you are using this to endorse someone. It's very different. I know Dana White is synonymous with the UFC, but ultimately he is not. the UFC. The UFC lives and breathes without him. If he if he quits tomorrow, if he gets fired, if he whatever, that thing continues. It's its own living, breathing organization.

And so to use that multiple times a year, almost on a monthly basis to endorse a candidate, to me seems a little bit much. What's going to happen the next time? I guess we'll find out when he doesn't run. If he doesn't run, who knows what's going to happen there. But like, are we going to, are we then going to pick someone else? I don't, I don't feel like a sporting organization should do that, especially because it's just so divisive. The one thing I'll say is we do have to also acknowledge, though, that sometimes these, like, I'm about to, I was about to state the very obvious, and then I backtrack, but sometimes it is motivated by the business side of it. Sometimes it is motivated by the money as opposed to necessarily, like, support for a candidate or another. As an

example, right? When you want to legalize certain things in Nevada or when you want to get a huge market like New York City opened up, if you're the UFC, you do have to do some political ring kissing. You do have to figure out how to navigate the political space. And so certainly some of that is at play and has been at play at previous ventures. As a more current and relevant example, right? When you want to make amendments to the Muhammad Ali Act and when you're pushing a bill, the Ali Revival Act that is motivated and will help your business, there is politics involved in that as well. That just doesn't happen on its own where it's like we, out of good faith, we put in a bill and everybody just got behind it. It was great. You need

political supporters. You need people pushing those things forward. And so there is an element of this that is beyond just like, I am right or left leaning. And in the in the interest of the business and the interest of your aspirations. Yeah, I took a quick gander at the chat, and of course, everyone gets very upset. I'm not criticizing being right or left. Which choice you made is irrelevant. Here's the thing. I can guarantee you the people who are getting upset about us just talking about this,

as human beings, not being even emotional about it, we're just talking, we're reacting to something he said. If, for whatever reason, they would have done the exact same thing, but they would have done it with someone that they didn't like, that they didn't believe in, that it was Joe Biden or Kamala Harris getting this royal treatment I can assure you they would have felt differently so be level-headed here be level-headed

this is no endorsement of one or the other I'm trying to say to you the only issue that I have is him saying he is not political of course he is political of course he is political and the dumbing down of these actions is only fooling the likes of you

of course you are sitting there as a UFC fan you're like that's fucking cool man the former president and the potential future president of UFC likes my sport, that's exactly what all of this is. That's why, that's why, you know, politicians make appearances at certain things to make you feel like you are on the same level that I like the certain thing that you like. Now we're pals. Now will I get your vote?

I mean, like, come on, man, this is all very calculated. You all know it's very calculated. And the only issue that I have with it is saying that it's not calculated, that it's not political, that you don't do this on purpose, that you don't have a history. of showing up at these conventions. Like, that to me is just, for lack of a better word, a lie. It's just a lie. And there is no other, if you watch the NFL, if you watch the NBA,

if you watch Major League Baseball, if you watch the NHL, they try to do a very, very conscious job of not leaning one way or the other. I guess you could say like the basketball players were leaning one way in the election in 2020. And that's 100% accurate. You're 100% right. I'm talking about the organizations. I'm talking about the heads of the organizations. Correct me if I'm wrong.

seen like a commissioner or an owner be that you know what's the word that I'm looking for like open with their political leanings and and I don't get I don't get uncomfortable when it comes to politics like I I wish we could all just talk about it and be like okay you like this guy you like that guy let's shake hands and go home I don't get upset about politics I don't get emotional about politics but guess what I think a lot of people do it's a very divisive issue it's a very polarizing time. It's a lot of polarizing characters. They believe in things that affect our lives. I've never felt that way. I kind of, at times I just viewed all as pro wrestling, to be honest, these characters who are trying to like, you know, play up these personalities and gimmicks,

but I feel like I'm in the minority when it comes to this one. I feel like a good person to ask about this is Frank, because Frank, and I'm not joking when I say this, Frank, like you're not a hardcore MMA fan, but I feel like you're very worldly. So do you understand what I'm trying to say here? Absolutely. I think you're playing it right by acknowledging that there are politics and most aspects and including this sport and not saying that it matters one way or the other. Like I think what you're saying is very fair. And I do also understand that people are pretty reactive to any sort of political talk where they think that you're making some sort of slant right now, but you're obviously not. But how do you feel when you see a politician being sort of propped up like that?

Like when he says, you know, I'm not political, I would imagine your reaction is like, well, I've watched a few shows. My knee jerk immediately is like, bro, what are you saying? That's silly. And then when I think about it a little bit more to like Rick's credit where it's like, look, there was a relationship between Trump and Dana before the presidency, right? And that relationship is still there. So there is very well a possibility in Dana's mind that it's like, this is just my bro. It just happens to be the president now. Now, do we need all the, here's him walking, you know, that sort of thing.

Do you do that for all your friends? That's where it becomes a question of like, well, this is no longer just you shouting out your buddy. You're talking sports with someone, like you are drawing attention because he is the most powerful person. Even if it's your bro, it's still the president. Yeah. That's making it political. You're also bringing in, like, his cabinet members as well. You're bringing in political pundits that talk on the air about it, the Tucker Carlson's of the world.

Like, you're going to do a fight at the White House because of your relationship. with the president of the United States. Like, you obviously have political ties. I don't think, I don't, I don't think anyone can believe the statement that he's saying. So, so you watch, D.C., you watch NASCAR, you watch tennis, you watch golf. When I say that the UFC is probably the most political organization, agree or disagree. Like, do you see any other sports league sports organization? Trump attends events.

Like, he was at the, he was at the commanders game this past weekend. He's been at NASCAR races, things like this. Yeah, U.S. Open. He was at college football games, everything. like that, he doesn't get as welcomed of a celebration over and over and over as he does at UFC events. I mean, if I'm not mistaken, was it last year's MSG when they did like the promo package for him after he won the election? It was like a three-minute video. Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, I mean, to say there's no political ties is crazy. And even like when he gets shown on

the broadcast, and again, this is not a commentary on Trump. We're talking about whether or not they are political and he is political, that is one thing when you're the president, when you're the actual sitting president. But when you are campaigning, right, when you're, when you're trying to garner votes and you're getting this type of introduction, this type of reaction, that is very political. That's not just, hey, we're just trying to show a buddy a good time. That is you endorsing someone. That is you saying, this is our guy. And if you're a UFC fan, this is the guy that you should be voting for and that's that and that is used and i always was very surprised that that espn would be okay with that because they try i feel like i guess maybe others would disagree who the

hell knows they there was definitely there was definitely a moment where espn was left incredibly left yeah when was that when was that like when we were there yes 2020 it was it was taken to extremes yeah and and and some might say that they uh they they paid the price for that right like they're still kind of viewed in that way. It's probably best to stay out of it. Even us. Maybe we should take these 20 minutes back. I don't need it.

I don't need the political talk. When Dana White says he's not political? I am not political. I cannot stand political discussions. When you saw that clip, did you have any sort of reaction to it? Just like a, yeah, right. Okay. Yeah, so pretty much what I'm saying here, but over the course of 20 minutes, I'm just

kind of going on and on. The point is, of course he is. of course he is he did speak to nick torturo of all people about the um the islam ilia fight got another great show breaking bread with nick torturo big fan okay uh i i heard you talking about this one a couple weeks ago and and there he was in case you missed it take a listen now what about the poria and and islam could that fight happen yep that can happen too i like to see that fight i think everybody wants to see that fight yeah including tooporia and in Islam so he's a different bird that to pour you huh yeah i thought he was just cocky at the beginning

uh-huh but he he's the real deal he really is man those hands are like he's almost like a regular it's like almost a real fighter you know like rice man yeah really because a lot of the ufc guys and mcgregor was a good box and this guy is like razor sharp i agree only time i see torturo usually is like him ranting and raving about the yankees so it was nice to see him in a different light here he knows ball baby yeah what is What is going on in that clip? Absolutely highlight of the clip. Well, it's breaking bread so they have to be eating,

but the highlight of the clip is the Dana White. Yep. I'll listen to that one about 15 times. He's a real fighter, huh? He's like, he actually fights? Shop! You think inspired by Fifeas? No, inspired by Fifeeus?

What are they eating there? Spired by a fuck-it bread? A little flapp bread? What was that? It looked like pizza. Yeah, I think it was pizza. Oh, so what's the gimmick? Do they make it?

Do they make it? Like, what are they doing there? You break bread. You eat with them. Okay, but I didn't know if there was a gimmick where, like, they had to actually bake the bread. If you're a fan of crisp, clean audio, the show is not for you. Frank, do you have an aneurysm when you hear this audio? I made a note per later.

It's a combo of ASMR and, you know, thoughtful discussions. So that, that Ilya Teporia. No, no, no. He's a different bird, eh? Yeah. It's great. It's fucking great. But between that clip and Islam telling, like, he was kind of giving props to Aiden Ross about, about Ilya, it kind of makes me feel after our conversation yesterday, like, this is a real thing.

Maybe Chales right. Maybe this is the White House fight. But why wouldn't it be? Again, you know, I was- Well, I mean, they were both in the same way class, and then they both left. But that's my point. When they were in the same weight class, the talk was that this was the fight of the century, and we missed out on it, and the UFC blew it. That's what everybody was saying.

it's still here. It never went away. Like these two guys, regardless of what weight class Islam is in, him versus Ilya is still a fight that can be made. Now, granted, I wonder what Islam's body is going to be like after this venture up to welterweight. He's discovered creatine, apparently. And so, you know, who knows what he looks like on the other end of that. Is that a real thing or is that a joke? No, no, no, that's what he said.

Oh, he said it? Five milligrams a day, baby. Just a little bit of creatine and protein, that's all you need. Pizzi loves this. I wish pizza was here. He loves the Islam has discovered creatine because he's publicly said that he didn't use it for a long time. And by the way, I'm half joking about that as well. You do have to imagine that he had to really suppress his nutrition to be able to stay at 155

because he is a massive man, as we can see, when he's facing off with Jack Della Madalina. I do think he probably had to minimize a lot of these things in order to remain as a 155er. But I don't know Like if you thought If you're out there If you're an MMA fan out there That thought that Ilya was going to knock out Islam Makachev It's still it's still possible

It is still there to be made So I think this fight has legs I think this fight makes a lot of sense Honestly If Islam can win the 170 belt And if Ilya were to fight Patty And then they fought after that I think it'd be even bigger than it was going to be

There's one guy saying that all along There was one guy What'd you say? Would you say? Islam should go up to a 170 Make it a bigger fight? Yes. That's exactly what I said. Yeah.

Roll the tape. Where's the clip? That's actually literally what I said when you guys were all losing their minds. Oh, Ilya and Islam. We didn't get it. Oh my God. That's literally what I said. It would have been pretty big in June of 2025.

It would have been massive. It'll be bigger now. Still having gotten it. Still need to get over these hurdles. There's like there's one real big hurdle coming up in four days. and then we presume we presume Ilya will have at least one fight

before this could be a real thing so yes there's a lot that could happen but it you know it is nice to see that he's on board with it I kind of wish that they just did it when they were both in the same way class for a brief period of time there

but that was that was promising and even Ilya putting him in his top five and giving him props and saying that he'd be interested in the fight I thought was promising as well no did I say I mean Islam It's something also said that he thought that Usman, Kamara Usman, would be a good first

title defense? Yeah, so I don't know about that one. Here's where I understand it. Honestly, when we keep talking about the What 2A Division, I always forget to bring up Kamar Usman. Yeah. I always talk about like the eight guys fighting over the course of this week, and even Gabrielle Bonfim, I always forget about Usman.

I just don't feel like he's consistent or active enough to be a real player. He's been very inactive, but by design, right? You do have to pick and choose a little bit when you're at the latter half for your career in the way that he is. I get it from the perspective. If you're much like John Jones at Stepe, wasn't a fight that anybody wanted to see. But for legacy purposes, if you're John Jones, to be able to say you beat the best UFC heavyweight, possibly heavyweight of all time, has some significance as a fighter. If I'm Islam, to be able to say I beat arguably number one, I don't think most would have them. I think a lot would have GSP.

I believe Dana White is still kind of like on the Kamar Usman's the best Walterweight ever camp. He's at worst a second, right? Like, I do have to think that that has some significance. So I understand it from Islam. If you're trying to go from, I just entered this division, and now I'm going to knock off one of the best guys, top two, top three of all time in this weight class. Kamaru Usman kind of does make sense. It doesn't make sense from a meritocracy perspective. It makes zero sense when you've got all these contenders lined up,

but it does make sense from a legacy kind of defining standpoint. It's a great name to have on your resume. Sure, but these guys are active out there. I don't disagree. I don't disagree. It's just such a stacked weight class. And he lost three straight, and he's coming off a win over Joaquin Buckley. There's more deserving guys.

100%. I do see a quote from Habib on the weighing in podcast saying, I think Islam v. Deporia is the biggest, fight right now, not Jones and Pereira. Hard disagree. Yeah, we were debating yesterday Ilya and Patty being akin to Jones Pereira.

No. By the way, all these are good things, and there's a chance that none of them happen, but they should happen, and they could easily happen, I think. If you have matchups that people are salivating over, like, oh, wow, this is a dream. You have to

make happen. I probably I guess it depends, like, Dana White has never Every time Dana has asked about John Jones He's really asked about him fighting on the White House card I've yet to see someone say like Okay forget the White House card Are you interested in just bringing him back

Or is the bad blood so great That they're not even going to offer him a fight? I'd also be interested in hearing from John Jones Are you interested in Alex Pereira if it's not on the White House card? Forget Tom Aspinall for a second Which I think is kind of absurd that obviously Tom versus John would be the most significant,

not the biggest, but the most significant. But if you're John Jones, would you come back to fight Alex Pereira? You're talking about how great he is. You're talking about his legacy. Would you fight him on a September card? You know, that's interesting to me. Because if John would say yes and you could fight Alex Pereira then, that's still a massive, massive fight.

That does not have to be at the White House. And then you can do Connor McGregor, or you could do an Ilya versus Islam on the White House card and do that another time. I'm totally down for John versus Alex anytime. Yeah, those are two big questions. If John doesn't get the White House card, is he retired? Is that it?

Yeah. Is it only for the White House? And then if John says, I will fight, is Dana so mad at him that he just doesn't want to be a business? That seems a little bit crazy. But I feel like the John one is real. Like if John just says, like, yeah, I'm not interested in fighting in some regular fight, that's it. I don't know. I think Dana's anger with John Jones is dependent on what that calendar year looks like.

if man Ilya couldn't get back in the first quarter because he was nursing something or if all of a sudden you know all these dominoes that they've lined up perfectly don't play the way that they thought they were going to play I think all of a sudden John Jones looks like a much better dude in Dana White's eyes

I think all of a sudden John Jones is back in that he's number one best ever territory if they're having a year from the gods where Connor McGregor's back he fights on the White House card We've got Ilya versus Patty. We're doing Aspinall versus Gond. It's a massive win for Tom Aspinall or Cyril gone. Oh, my God, the new heavyweight champ is crown.

Then all of a sudden, I think John's still in the doghouse. I don't think he's as appealing. It's a business. It's a business. And I think John Jones's viability for the UFC and for Dana White all depends on how business is. If business is booming, you don't need John Jones as much. If business is tough, man, that John Jones fight could look awfully good. I also do wonder, you know, the partners, their new partners.

Oh, yeah. Like how much of us say they're going to have in all of this. Like, hey, guys, we want the best. If you're the UFC, you want to deliver. You're on CB Freakin' S now for some of these number cards. CBFreakins is amazing. It's amazing. Rolls right off the phone.

But it never felt to me like ESPN really got involved in the matchmaking. No. You know what I mean? Like, they never really pushed matchups. Like, hey, that's the impression I got, you know, whether it was informed or not. I wonder my gut says that they won't be aggressive in saying like hey

we want to see X, Y and Z but when it comes to some of these big platforms I do wonder how much of a say or if they'll you know if they'll weigh in if they'll suggest things if they'll push for certain matchups certainly I think when it comes to the White House card I have a feeling that

there will be people wanting to weigh in on that one that's my feeling That's my sentiment. Yeah, probably some people outside CBS, too. Probably some people who occupy the Ovaloff. Oh, yeah, that's what I'm talking about. I feel like if there's ever going to be a card where there's going to be like strong suggestions made.

Yeah, other cooks in the kitchen other than the U.S. As to who will be competing, it's going to be that one. I did want to bring up a quote that I saw from Herb Dean. He was on the Believe You Me podcast, and he was talking about iPokes. this graphic courtesy of MMA fighting he said so we made a rule it's a foul to extend the fingers towards the eyes that's the rule we've already had in place so that rule has been there but we haven't been enforcing it so we're going to move forward on that what moving forward on what was already in place that sounds right they're moving forward with the rule that's already in

place then what was the point of the rule to begin with just like all rules and How many other rules do we have that we don't enforce? All of them. Yeah. All of them. Grabbing the cage, grabbing the gloves. Restarting fights. Restarting fights.

Needing people below the belt, not getting a point taken away, point taking away for a eye poke. It means, it's just a crazy thought. I did check in with our good friend Andy Foster about the meeting that they had last week regarding the intentional and non-intentional. And he did say that they're working towards it. They're trying to redefine what this all means. But it just goes to show, like, you know, for a respected referee who's, been in the game as long as he has to say like look we had this rule we just didn't enforce it mess of a situation absolute mess of a situation and we haven't heard much from tom

as far as like how he's doing what his timeline might be all these things and more but yeah I maintain I poke immediate point deduction we saw an I poke this weekend did we not see an I poke this weekend I remember seeing it which if it was it that there was an I poke or was there something? Was there a foul? I think Brown and Bonfeme had an eye poke, right? Am I crazy? Oh yes. Yes. Yes. And then he like kind of shook it off though. Yes, yes, yes. Bonfim shook it off quick and then they went back to it. Point deduction. I agree. By the way, I don't think there's ever been a more universal sentiment or time for that sentiment than now. I think everybody's kind of sick of this and is definitely on the train of foul means immediate point deduction.

I think, like, that's got a high approval rating right now at this time. And it'll be interesting to see how the fighters react. I'm honestly in favor of bringing the yellow red card system, like Herb Dean goes over in one championship. I love that. Pride, I mean, come on. Yeah. I know, but Herb's got the experience with it from one. There's nothing better than the Herb Bean holding up the...

Are you being serious about this? Would you like to see it? No, absolutely not. Wait, what? I do. I actually kind of think it's cool. Yes Stalling

Let's start with taking a point Let's start with taking the point No I like a card system for inactivity Let's give them whistles too Okay Not for a foul But for inactivity I actually think it makes sense I don't mind that

I don't mind that Yeah maybe just to flash the yellow For stalling What's the red fight over What fight was it in one championship Arjun Yeah Put out the red

Yeah Yeah That's right Also if we're going to do this Let's go ahead and get the IFBs in for the horn weren't for them. Oh, God. Right, so they can't say they heard the heart. Oh, for Merculiata Company, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Early, late. Three seconds, let's just get a direct

earpiece. I feel like, oh, actually, it's, no, it's, it's, it's, it's in WWE where they have the earpiece. They have the earpiece in WWE, but that's really because, like, they're telling them to finish. Yeah, yeah, they're like, hey, let's go home, guys. Oh, yeah, I guess if someone troublesome tapped into the IFB line, something crazy could happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Who's to check. Why does that one hit so well all the time? I actually hit you guys with the who's to check earlier. You did?

Every time I hear it, it flashes me, too, like the image of Bob. He sounds like a guy at a deli being like, you know, they charged me an extra $2. Who's the check? He's a real fighter. And I flashed back to that. Oh, my God. No one said some crazy shit again in the deli line.

You know what, Frank? that might be another one that he's like a real fighter I cannot stand hearing I wouldn't mind the Dana White then I feel like Connor really likes a mouth noise

and I Frank hates it I think it's hilarious because he gets all nasally with the breath of yeah skin is crawling right now from just your copping

it's just such a nonchalant I don't give a fuck type way to have a conversation. It's really, and also, like, I feel like he's so unmotivated to have this conversation right now. Like, Nick's just hitting him with the random fanboy questions, and he's like, yop, yop,

big fight, big fight. Also, like, you are talking to, like, the guy for UFC who, like, knows the roster incredibly well. So, like, when asking the surface level is Slam and Elia, just like, different bird, eh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. He's a different bird. He's ordinary. What's his claim to fame?

Nick Toro. Wow, he looks so different. He's an actor. No, I know, but like, what's his biggest? Breaking Bread with Nick Torto. Oh, NYPD Blue? Shout out. Longest Yard? Adam Sandler? Yeah, longest yard, legendary. Do the right thing. Mo better blues. Do the right thing back of the day?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Love do the right thing. He was in Malcolm X. He was in Malcolm X? He was in Frank's favorite Hellraiser, Inferno? Jungle Fever? Man, he was in all those Spikely joins back in the day. The Rosie Perez, a randomly, uh, saw a trailer for one of her movies from 1994. I could only

name the one that she was in up until last night. White Man Can John? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Legendary. I was in the legendary. It was some Nicholas Cage cop movie where he wins the lottery. I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry. Oh, legendary. He was in the Sandler's Fear for him. Paul Blart, Mallcop 2? Oh,

he got called up for the sequel, wasn't in the OG? Here comes the boom. Referee. Shout out. M.M.A. Connection. that's actually how we got dating on the modern black clansmen people love that that movie right i never saw i know i always say very excited about that when i'm doing my um well why do people talk about black clansman i've i've heard that one mentioned a lot oh spikely okay um when i'm when i'm doing like my mouth exercises before going on air i always say paul blart mall cop two paul blart mall cop two in theaters now rated pg because the first time i ever had to host on fox that was the sponsor

and I was so nervous about being the host. I wasn't a traditional host like, you know, going in and out of the commercials. And every segment had to be sponsored by Paul Blart Malcop 2. And so I've used that as my, I don't know, as my tongue exercise, if you will. Starring Nikki Forturo. Start adding that to it.

I think it's Tortoro. Starring Nikki Tortoro. Throw that in there. Close enough. Frank, do we have any super chats? And by the way, Malcolm Wellmaker is going to be joining us in studio. He is on route. A ton of trafficking in New York City today.

It actually took me really long to get to the studio. So he is going to be joining us. And we do appreciate the effort that is being made, that is being made, that is being made, that is being made, that is being made. People think their podcast is just. Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry. What do we go, Frank? The first one is from Jake from Wendy City. This ESPN YouTube TV standoff is frustrating.

I'm not a YouTube TV guy. Anyone here, a YouTube TV guy? No, but I have direct TV in last year. We lost ESPN, and it was... So what's the issue here? YouTube TV and, like... You can't get ESPN right now? Yeah, no, you can't get...

Wow. Trying to crank up the prices and... Damn. It's this whole thing. And everyone's out there tweeting, saying, please, go to this website right now. Let them know how much you care. Yeah, like, get your...

Keep your favorite channels on your... Yeah, I feel like they know how much people care. They want people to pay more money. Right, right. Who's that for? fault here. Who's the bad guy? I'll just blame the espion. All right, fine. What else, Frankie? What else? Trindaddy says 12

months of Holwani, can we get a one and a half or two year badge? Oh, oh, okay. I know Trin Daddy. Shout out to him. So what does that mean? Like, when you get to You see how it says like member for 12 months? He wants one that's like member for 18 months or member for 24 months.

Are we doing that anymore? And take all that proprietary information. What is the deal with that? We are capable. we should use who's to check for cover for everything uh what what i don't even know how you do that how do you do that sort of thing i thought it was an automated thing that youtube does no we can upload i made the badges for it okay we can well it sounds like you've got a new assignment on your hands what are we doing 18 months 24

months what do we do i love to hand but i mean every other day it was a new emoji request Gout request. Never forget the gout. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's going to chime in in the next 15 to 30 seconds. I'll get a podcast voice note. We'll work on it, but most importantly, we do appreciate it. I didn't notice, by the way, speaking of the chat, there's other things now.

There's like, let me see here. There's like a here. This guy has a nose and then like a Lajuan dream who we love. He has a crown with a number two next to it. What does that mean? Frankie, this is your world It is And I thought you knew this stuff

Yeah, the crown What does that mean? The crown means he's a member The crown is a year I think Alright Can't remember It's been like a year since Ace Boogie rights

Okay wow, I didn't even hit you with the What else Frankie? The fighter going up Should bring their belts On brand for Whaliyah Islam There aren't great promoters of themselves No way Ilya doesn't bring his belt Yeah I guess he would just

Ilya is the kind of fighter that would just actually just bring the belt. Yeah, he brought the BMA. Even though the BNF wasn't even on the line, right? Yeah, I wonder what would happen. Like, what would happen if Islam showed up with the belt? Nothing. They'd let them. Nothing. I'm sure they'd let them.

But Ilya shows up with BMF belts, the press conferences. Yeah, he just said that. There are. Oh, man, sorry, so I'm down for a second there. 30 seconds ago. Sorry. I'm just going to be full transparent. I was reading an important slack.

By the way, I'm watching the car with Malcolm Wellmaker in it, just sweating my fucking... What is happening? Because I'm just watching the worst driver in New York City trying to get Malcolm here, and I don't know what to do at this point. We're kind of subject here. The ETA just keeps going up. You should have just sent him a metro car and been like, up on the six, bro. We'll see in a few minutes.

I feel bad for Malcolm. I think this might be Malcolm. I think it might be one of his first time, if not his first time in New York. So I'm on the phone with Malcolm. Yeah. I'm on the phone with Malcolm. he's like, I told him, I'm like, oh, the driver's going to be there at three. And then the ETA goes up to 305.

I'm like, oh, no, sorry, Malcolm. I'm really sorry. They're going to be there at 305. He's like, no worries, brother. Then the time starts creeping up. Calls me at 307. I'm like, yeah, they're across the street. They're coming right now.

He's like, man, he's like, but I'm inside. And I don't want to leave the hotel because there's like a mob of people who are waiting. So I'm on the phone with him. He leaves the hotel to go to the car. And it's just like, yeah, yeah, let me take a picture with you. let me take a picture with you. Legitimately 30 of those before he gets to the car. Now he's at the car.

He's got no one with him? What do you mean? Like security? Yeah. Nah, he's got his... He's got his crew. He's got his crew. Uh-huh.

And we're on the phone and he's just like, New York's not a real place, man. It really is. I just started crack it up. I wonder if this is actually his first time and now he's getting a... It is. It is. It is.

It makes sense. Oh, my dear. It definitely is. Can we keep breaking the fourth wall, especially inspired by me not hearing anything? Yeah. Rick, this morning we're sitting outside in the kitchen area, and Rick's like, is Frank here yet? I was like, dude, Frank just walked by like four minutes ago, said, hey to us.

You responded to him, and then he walked off. Stop. Wait, what I said? Actually, he didn't respond. No, he didn't respond. I was like, well, damn, all right. Connor made his joke about me being late. Well, the time keeps moving up and up.

And then Rick just didn't say anything. And I was like, damn, I must be in trouble. Is Frank here yet? I didn't know Frank was here. Frank, how do you feel about this that your entrance didn't make much of an impact? Oh, no, I always got... It's either a plus or my mind.

It's a plus is like, I'm so upset with you. I don't even want to look at you or acknowledge you. Here are the other one is. Damn, my deck is really good on magic. Right. And I'm like, hey, it's going to be a good day. He's like, who? That one. Whose food is this next to me?

And I was like, Brad also just left out and say Haiti as well. He's the same thing about the food. Brad and Frank are here? And then I creep down. He's holding the phone like right here. I get the glance. He's in the middle of a magic. Okay.

But here's the important part. I did acknowledge Brad. I did not acknowledge Frank. I did acknowledge Brad, though. What else, Frankie? What else? Dunkett says, we all love both Wei Lee and Valentina, but let's be real. Valentina gets clenches and takes downs whenever she wants and gets massive heavy top control minutes. Yeah, that's fair.

Valentina is a great grappler, as we saw in the fight with Menon Faroe. But, like, Jean-Wei's take-down defense against Tatyana Suarez is, like, pretty damn good. Like, I'm banking on her being able to be competent in the takedown defense and also in the grappling realm. And when it comes to the hands, like, I know Valentina has some knockouts in her career, but I do, I give the power edge to Wei Lee. We're going to have to see how it translates when she goes up to flyway. But I don't think this is going to be like a takedown heavy game plan from Valentina. Famous last words, maybe that's the way she goes. but I think Zhang Wei's sprawl game

was really on display in that last fight and it was very impressive. What else, Frankie? What else? Bealsabove wanted to say who was to check? A nice little shrug emoji. I really like the shrug emoji. Rick analyzing his balls off over here for the co-man event and he was just like

what's next? I'll try him in, I'll try it. Well, he's got one eye over on the Uber thing. He's just like, wait for that sprawling stall game from John Way Lee. Listen, I'll try it right now. What else? You know that picture, the meme of the cook after his crazy-ass ship where he's just got the head down and he's got the apron salon?

That's going to be me after this day. No, you know what I was thinking? I was thinking, okay. Jimmy Butler hanging on. Very clearly, we're trying to kill time here until, I mean, it's been almost an hour since we said goodbye to Chris Padilla. So I wanted to go to the chat and be like, give us, this is an impromptu on the nose, but don't, don't waste it. Okay? Now, just, just hit us with it. Hit us with good questions. Don't waste it. Close now. No, no, what do you mean? What do you mean? We're too close to having our

guest that I, what's the ETA now? Listen, it's close. We told them everything. We don't have to lie. He's close. Okay, he's close. He's close. Give us one. Give us one. I tried to do a Q&A thing, but I don't know if I did it right. Can we also talk about, look over, it says hi. It says hi. Can we talk about Casey being in the gym with Padilla and just like making an appearance? That was pretty cool. Sledo did ask a super chat. Oh, let's hear it. It just says if you ever use the same side of your cute?

Oh, wow. This is a good question, Slego. I've been actually dying for someone. No, that's, I used to be, if you must know, I used to be an avid Q-tip user and then I started to see these videos and stuff. So now I try to, I try to limit it. and but I think I was like addicted to it the sensation and so that but I've had to slowly like do it now I do it like once or twice a week

what when you were avid yeah no six points a lot every single every single shower after every single shower but when you were yeah did the same side no no no never go in no I I won't even double dip I don't care if they had down every redwood tree to support my Q-tip habit yeah it's happening

You have redwood Q-tips? Do you ever notice that on actual Q-tips, it says nothing about ears on it? Yeah. Yeah, you're not supposed to do it. What are they used for? Some dummy stuck it and damaged their eardrum. Yeah. Do your thing.

If it feels good, do it. You're an everyday guy? Every day. Every day? Is that what you can tell you son? If it feels good, do it? It feels like dangerous advice. Let's see here what the people said.

Ariel, have you been given which sports you'll cover in the Winter Olympics? Which sport is your favorite outside of hockey? I like biathlon curling. We're going to be covering it all, but I will be in the mountains, so it's going to be focused on the skiing, snowboarding type of sports because they said the coolest athletes will be hanging there, and because I'm so cool, they wanted me to hang with them. Playing, this is from Plus Money,

playing a magic whatever the fuck game but claiming work is tough and stressful is hilarious. I think that's a dig on old Ricky. Warship says Ariel, who's, is Ricky gone? Ariel, whose legacy has more to gain between Zhang and Valentina?

Hmm, I would say Zhang, right? Double champ? The person going up has more to gain? For sure. Kiana, why is your shirt button so high? I don't know. It just... Swag, bro.

Yeah. You tell them not to waste their questions. That's what we do. Oh, here's a good one from Phil Barker. Let's talk about things and stuff. Thanks, Phil. Corbyn asks, any updates on when the next live show is Ariel? Would love to drive up from the South.

Yeah, you know. We were going to do it this week, but, you know, they canceled. Jack Dempsey's. There wasn't enough time. Friday. Just show up? Impromptu? It feels like, by the way, we started with a four box

that we went to a three box. Now it's going to go back to a single. You're killing me here. This is amazing. Ariel, do you want to go back to the UFC to do it behind the scenes? Like a movie that we did, like the uncrowned film? Sure, that would be great. Ooh, this is from Nikki.

When does the Sydney Crosby interview drop? I think of the next two weeks. it was a lot of fun he was great some people asked if he knew who I was I mean like what am I supposed to say hi Sidney do you know who I am we didn't get there

is he an MMMA fan I don't know if he's an MMA fan but there was a time where there was a fighter named T.J. Grant who is from Nova Scotia just like he is and he suffered a concussion just like Sydney did and I found an article because I did type in like Sydney Crosby UFC where he talked about reaching out to him to offer advice

so I would imagine you know he's aware of it but I don't know if he's like a hardcore fan Ariel when are you finally heading to Orange County to go on Rampage Jackson's podcast Oh Jackson Pod

You love that Yes he has actually asked me Several times But I'm just I'm not really in the area But I told him I'd be happy to go If I'm ever in the area It'd be a good time

Do I get a watch too like everyone else Alec in the Slice Thoughts on ESPN getting rid of the $10 off pay-per-views After the Paramount deal was announced Is that true? I haven't heard about that Thomas Curran says When is the Sydney Sweeney interview

To promote Christy Need some help Box office numbers down Let's get her on Yeah, do you have an end? Yeah, I got her number direct I'm going to hit up a scooter Bromson

Braun Isn't that her boyfriend Oh is it T-bone says Please get Dana on the show Similar vibe to you and Dennis would be gold You know what? I didn't think of that That'd be a good idea

Right Auto generated experiment from Sledo Quality may vary Viewers in the chat are discussing What The AI does it chat summary they were copying and pasting got it got it Ariel who's the biggest

patriot in the chat Frank who would that be in the chat? Yeah who's the Mel Gibson okay um no in the chat Solvarius says GC what country would you most like to do a fight feast in

we're actually going to it Georgia oh yeah yeah number one when are we going next uh next summer who the fuck is we no no no you're coming Frankie I'll be there I just catchipori dumplings the horn. I want to chug the horn with Maraub. Frank, remember when we did a roll call in the group chat and everyone responded

about you? That never happened. That was tough. Yeah. You're skimming. You're skimming. Mel Gibson. Ariel, who has been your funniest guest that you've interviewed? Hmm. Funniest guest? I mean, I remember, I was just going to say, I remember laughing a lot when Raven came on, because I didn't expect him to be such a hardcore fan. In fact, he texted me about some, like, one championship

comings and going. So I was like, wow, I think you're the only person in North America actually watching this. Who would you say, Frank? Maybe Stivo Schultz. Steve-O was good, Schultz. Oh, you like Schultz? It was one joke he made that I tell everyone about it.

I'm not going to repeat it. It's highly inappropriate, but it was... Tell me, tell me. You were talking about your favorite teams, not making it to championships or winning. Okay. And they were all basically from New York. And he was like, geez, where were your favorite buildings, the Twin Towers?

Oh, wow. Wow, wow. You laughed at that? Because it was so subtle. Wow. You didn't even react to it. Wow. Okay.

I don't remember. Was that the first one or the second one? Second one. I wasn't here for the first. You weren't? No, I was out of town. Wow. Was that on purpose?

Were you making a political statement by abstaining? What else? What else? oh hey here's a super chat from J.K. Ariel, why has MMA in Japan never really recovered? I actually kind of feel like it's enjoying a renaissance right now. I mean, obviously it was super...

I watched the dark side of the cage or is it ring? Well, I think it's dark side of the cage but pride was in a ring. Anyway, it's the series on Vice about MMA, and they did a good job of talking about the heyday of Pride. I do feel like it's obviously not where it once was, but I feel like Risen, which is a disciple of Pride, is enjoying a nice little moment here. Well, here's Ace Boogie with a Super Chad. He says, Hokit versus Stevenson for the White House. That would be kind of wild, actually.

I'm in. Gable? Yeah. Oh, he said Stevenson. Yes, Stevenson. Amen. I thought he meant Lance Stevenson at first. Formerly of the Indiana Pacers.

Correct. Here's Morris who says, Ariel, have you heard of a fighter named Malcolm Wellmaker? And can you have him on the show? Sometimes he's pretty good. Who's to check? We've heard about him. We've heard about him.

He's coming, I promise. Any moment now. Let everyone know. I heard the elevator ding. Do, do, do, do. Hey, Teebone asks, where did we land on the shop? brady gc bike contest uh he ducked me he's afraid he's not going to do it yeah he's in the city wouldn't come scared i think he actually suggested it scared uh darren says arrow do your kids brag

about your job to their friends all the time no but i am starting to get more more like i was at my son's basketball practice on sunday and one of his friends said oh i saw one of your uh shorts on youtube and i said did you like and subscribe and he said yes i said what did i talk about in the video what was I talking about? And he's like, I don't really know. I was like, well, you weren't paying attention, kid. You know? Here's Maya Toboli.

So is Wellmaker going to be on the show today? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, he's in the building, Andy says. Oh. Lazy bed. says Saturday is moving, oh, Saturday's moving night at the top of the 170 pound division with three Walterweight main card ballots of the six men competing, who has the most to prove and why? I actually think it's, oh, I guess, yeah, it is six men. Can I tell you,

here's a hot take. I feel like Sean Brady has the most to lose. I feel like Sean, I'm not talking about the championship fights because, I mean, obviously, like, Jack Dell is the champion. But Brady is the one that it feels like should be fighting for the belt next. And for whatever reason they're putting him up there against someone who is really, really good and maybe not as well known. And I kind of feel like he's the one that if he loses, he's going to the back of the queue. Leon's already climbed the mountain. Carlos they really like. Morales, they like. I feel like Brady has the most to lose. I actually agree with that. Yeah. I think that's a solid take that. And I think if Brady wins, I don't even know if he gets the next shot. Yeah, I don't know.

And it's kind of crazy. Like he submitted Leon Edwards. He didn't win a just, sort of ho-hum grind him out decision like he dominated him the entire time up until the finish yeah it was one-way traffic Leon never been submitted before like I thought for sure that was it remember after that fight we were talking about okay like that's it

yeah that's it and I mean Michael Morales too undefeated sick prospect on the rise like if he's able to stop him he should get the title shot but it's just so stacked at the top you just don't know where they're going to go right yeah so that is my that is my pick for that one

Rasta Sloth says, how screwed are the welterweight contenders now that Kamaro wants the next title shot? I mean, it's not like he's going to get it just because he asked for it. But, yeah, I don't know. I just don't, like, you're telling me if Sean Brady beats Michael Morales,

like Kamarwson's going to bypass him? You're telling me if Ian Gary beats Bilal Muhammad, he's just going to get bypassed? Or if Prattis knocks out Leon Edwards, you're just going to get bypassed? I just don't see it. Darrell Max says, do we really know if Isaac did take a dive? Like, has he even gained anything from the loss?

I mean, we don't know for sure. But. It's allegations, but his plans were thwarted. Not only that, he lost his job, and he didn't even get paid. Like, he didn't even get paid by the commission. I mean, who knows if he was involved, allegedly, if there was any kind of connection to any of this. They asked what he gained. I mean, he lost a ton.

The plan, if what we think happened actually did happen, the plan would have been to just lose and then get a bunch of money from it. AK says, Ariel, why am I so obsessed with timeless Tony Storm? What makes her so awesome? I think she's just very fun. She's entertaining. She's talented. She's very fun.

Different type of character. I think she's one of the best things that they have going. and dare I say one of the best things that is going on in women's wrestling right now dare I say we do have an update

for everyone, a breaking news update Rick is walking to the door Oh man CFO Breezy says Ask Malcolm if his wife plans on fighting in the UFC Is Malcolm's wife a fighter? I guess you're going to have to ask because I don't know how to.

Yeah, I guess I guess. Good point, Bob. I mean, I didn't know that. Do you think he's confusing Malcolm with someone else? Yeah, he might be. Yeah. He might be.

Cameron, camera says, how are you here and also on the Mighty cast at the same time? I don't know. These things are are you on the Mighty cast right now? I don't know. I mean, are they, are they, are they are they counter programming us oh yeah I gotta put my IP in is it time should I do it now okay um oh yeah they dropped it three hours ago wow okay three hours ago

okay three hours ago here I'm gonna turn this on for you guys right here I don't think you know usually when we have an in studio guest they hang out they get a little coffee they get a little drink they they do all kinds of things and uh I think this time we took him straight from the elevator to the studio. I'm trying to turn this on. Why is it always so hard to turn it on, Frankie? One second. Hold on.

Hold on. Am I on? Can you hear me? Can you hear us more important? Oh, wait, wait. Oh, yeah. All right. Okay.

Oh, wait, wait, wait. I think it says, yeah, yeah. So are we good? Absolutely. No way. I don't believe you. Please. I don't believe you.

I don't believe that one of the best fights, in the world is between me and that door and on the other side of that door. I don't know what's going on my thing. It's screwing up, Frankie. I hate this thing. Okay, let's go. I'm unplugging it. His name is Malcolm Welcome. Let me start again. So we have the clean in, all right? Spencer, when you cut this, don't have that other part with this and with the stumbling. His name is the machine. Malcolm Wellmaker, 10 and 0, 2 and O in the UFC, three right hooks in a row. Contender series, April, June in Atlanta, right hook, right hook, right hook, they call him the machine. They might as well call him the right hook machine on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

He makes his New York City, his Madison Square Garden debut on the prelims of UFC 322. He is a superstar in the making. He is the pride of Augusta, Georgia. He is the one and only Malcolm Wallmaker. Is he here? He's here. He made it. How are you, my friend? How are you doing?

Give you a hug, man. Good to see you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Welcome to New York, man. How bad was that?

Horrible. Horrible? How long were you in the car for? Bro, it was over an hour. I'm sorry. I think we got in the car like 219 and we, you know, we just not getting here. And it's 335. Yeah, it's horrible.

And I'm so sorry. I had to piss. Oh, yeah. did you get to go to the bathroom yeah that was the first thing i did first thing i did when i came i'm sorry man i hope that we didn't put stress on you no no not at all okay okay i'm glad to see you okay we're glad to have you brother we're glad to have you man it's so good to see you in the flesh it's amazing here you are i don't seen this set so many times i've seen so many superstars here it's just and now you're one of them i guess so i guess so man is this your

first time in new york yeah in your life so i did a band trip when i was in middle school and I came here but it was like we came in we did a little show and went back home so I've never seen half the things I've already seen since I've been here for just a day and some change so which instrument did you play I was a drummer okay yeah the the least nerdy part in the band yeah and you still do that no no I stopped so I stopped drumming and then I went into like just making beats for my friends and stuff like that when we were trying to be rappers yes yes yes that didn't pan out wala and all this yeah yeah facts I tried rapping it wasn't my thing so here I am and so what do you make of the city now that you say that like you've gotten exposed to a lot of it now over the past there so what do you make of the vibe here the hustle and bustle as they say it's like the movies yeah it's literally like the movies you know I was uh on the way here I was talking to the guy that was giving us our ride from the airport to the hotel and I was like everything I know about New York is like from the movie elf you know what I mean like everybody busy and fast-paced and kind of rude you know what I mean it's been just like the movies I even saw the building that his dad worked in you know oh yeah yeah yeah yeah it's crazy

So a little different than Augusta, right? A lot different, yeah, yeah. Do you like the vibe, or is it not really your thing? First impressions, I don't like it. I like it, you know, in Augusta, where it's a little bit slower-paced and people seem a little bit more personable maybe. I mean, people don't seem mean here, but it definitely is like, it seems transactional a bit, you know, when you're talking to the people at the coffee shop

or whatever, at least in the hotel, it's been like... Oh, yeah. It's fast-paced, it's intense. Get out of everyone's way. And driving, bro, the cars are like this close to me. They're ballsy, bro. how close they get to each other, how fast they're driving, it's different than Augusta, man.

Well, I'm happy you're getting to experience it, because I said this earlier, like it always feels every time the UFC comes to MSG, they come here once a year, always around this time, they always sprinkle some guys that you can tell that they're very high on to give you the rub, to give you the platform and the showcase, and I feel like you're one of those guys.

Did you take it that way when you got the call that you were fighting on this car? Not Qatar next week or Apex last week, or even T-Mobile in December, MSG, to me, it felt like validation it felt like they were tipping their cap towards you did you take it that way i did you know my manager told me he was working on getting me at msg um and i i thought that was crazy when he told me that after june and so before i actually got you know the fight signed or any

confirmation from anybody in the ufc i went to 320 to watch marab oh yeah and when i when i took that trip to Vegas i talked to a lot of people in the organization and based off of those conversations like they was telling me how happy they were for me, how they wanted me to just keep being me and like how they had big plans for me. And like, I was like, you know, for me, like, what you, you know, it was crazy. And then, you know, I actually saw Sean when I was in Vegas. And he was like, yeah, man, like, we're working on that MSG car. And I was like, oh, so like, it's like happening happening.

And between that trip and then actually seeing the placement on the car happen, I really do think I'm getting kind of like that, that, I guess, like, privileged treatment. but in a good way it's a push it's not a it's a push they're getting behind you yeah yeah yeah it's amazing man it's it's crazy i'm i'm glad so you went to 320 what to scout marab no no no no it was uh they asked me to be a guest fighter okay okay so it was my first opportunity to be a guest at a fight and so i went and i did some uh like some media stuff like they took some pictures of me posted it yeah another you know moment of me realizing like oh they like promoting me yeah yeah crazy what's it like being a guest

fighter like now there's people who are lining up to take pictures of you because old this is still so fresh like three years ago man you're like fighting in the amateur scene yeah yeah yeah and I hear you are getting this type of attention it's crazy and the real crazy thing is I mean I guess it's because I still have like a small town vibe or mentality but like

you know I'm talking to these fans holding like short conversations with them and then like some of them I even remember their name and like I'd see them one day and then call them my name the next and like I can see how strongly that impacts them like they are like man you mean so much to me how much you talk to me and the time you spent with me

and then stuff like that and so like I really really enjoy talking to the fans and I can see how much it's impacting on fast forward five six years you're like man F the fans I hope I hope you don't strike me as that type of guy we were looking at so it was around

three years ago you're fighting in your last amateur fight you win via rear naked choke we were looking at that I think we have the footage here do we have this because what's crazy to me is we're going to play it in a moment What's crazy to me is like the scene around you You're fighting like look at this

Look at this right here for conflict MMA There might be like 50 people there Yeah yeah yeah And now you're about to fight at Madison Square Garden In front of like 18-19 thousand Like how many people are here Like there's the wall right there I see the wall

I see the wall That's your last amateur fight right Yeah that's my last amateur fight Yeah where is that Is it in some kind of where You know all those people A good bit of because that was in like Making Georgia

So it wasn't far from my home And so that was actually a gym, like an MMA gym. They moved all the mats out the way and put a cage in there and set up chairs around it, you know? Like I don't fought in like high school gymnasiums, you know what I mean, warmed up right next to my opponent and stuff like that. And I don't know, man, it's crazy because in that moment when I had my four or five amateur belts, I still felt like a superstar. Like jumping on that cage in that eight feet of street. You know what I'm saying? I felt as huge as I feel today.

I feel like the same guy. And so, like, if we would have talked that night, would you believe it would happen so fast for you? Absolutely not. No, it's happened really, really fast. I went pro in 2022. So being in the UFC this soon, like, you know, I got in two years after going pro, and then within the first year, having all this stuff done in the UFC already is crazy. It's insane. Do you remember getting the call that you had been signed by the UFC?

Yes, I do. I was on the way home. It's funny. Jason House got a picture. it is, but I was on the way home. I was still in my work clothes. Jason House, he texted me. He was like, I'm about to FaceTime you. And most of the time, like, he's a fast-paced guy. He'll text me if you need to. He'll make a quick phone call. But to stop and say he was going FaceTime me. I knew it was something interesting. And so he facetimes me. I'm in my work clothes.

And he was like, hey, bro, I was like, you're fighting for Dana White's Contender Series. And, like, it was just almost like, everything went mute. Everything slowed down. And I remember I had tears in my eyes. You know what I mean? And we took a little screenshot in that moment and I just was smiling and couldn't believe that you know I did enough to get that opportunity this is when you were still working as a pipe fitter right yes yeah man there's like even like looking at some of the pictures like we we found this one picture of you and I guess your co-workers your boys yeah these guys I would imagine like here they are right here right you're on the right yeah that was a sick

job that plant in the back is a zinc processing plant and they take steel mill dust and they put it in a real hot furnace and process it and remove the zinc of it and so that whole plant is covered in that black dust and all the employees that work for the company walk around with respirators on me and my guys none of that that's why that that's why like 30 40% all work was at that place i hope i'm not getting them in trouble but yeah yeah it was dirty work and that was a shutdown that was like 16 hour shift nasty work rebuilding a a shoot for that that zinc it was nasty work wow you still keep in touch with those guys yeah yeah i talked to that same group of guys

group of guys that same crew within the last month. Wow. Just talked, yeah, yeah. Do they get together to watch you fight? All of them. Everybody in the trade, like everybody in the trade, it's even people working on the road, Texas and Florida, they have fight parties on the road because everybody in the construction industry knows who I am. So even if they don't know me personally, the guys on the job will do a fight party. They'll send me videos. It's crazy, man. Do you feel like you're representing them? 100%. Does that give you pride? 100%. Because it's a lot of those, guys in the trade like if I tell you I worked construction and I trained full time until I made it to the UFC it sounds hard right yeah but if you haven't done that kind of

work if you wasn't on those like shutdowns with me you don't know what like what I mean by hard work is it's it's it's rough it's it's imagining doing that I look bro I look back at that and I don't know how I did it like I don't know how I worked construction for eight years alongside competing and training and did not like fold It's crazy. Like just dive exhaustion, right? I mean, the job is tiring enough. Enough, yeah, yeah, for sure.

And a lot of people, they'll do their ship and they'll go home, they'll crack open some beer, and they'll enjoy their night. And before they got to get back on the job the next day, and every day I was going straight to the gym until it was all over with. It was crazy. Was there ever a point where you're like, man, I can't do this anymore? And something's got to go and it's the thing that's not making me any money, which is the fighting?

Yes, and no. Like, there was times where, like, I'm so unprofessional. No, no, no, all good, all good. she's trying to eavesdrop right there was times where like you know it was rough like for instance so that that job I worked for the last few years there were times where we had opportunities on the road for work where we go out for two weeks at a time and we get paid for dim and like real good money and like I remember missing multiple opportunities like that because I had to stay home and train or I had fights coming up and I was already like broke and not seeing no kind of like

real success other than just improving my record and hoping one day I did enough and those were the moments where it was like not knowing if this if these choices were going to pay off these sacrifices were going to pay off because my whole pro career I was behind on my bills wow so it was moments where I thought about walking away but like legitimately like having like a sit down like I don't know what I'm going to do no I figured I was going to do it until I knew it wasn't going to work did you did you give yourself like a sort of deadline like if it doesn't happen by five years by six years by six years years? Not really. I kind of, my idea was like, if it looks like I can't make it to the next level, I would do it. Like, if I started taking losses, if, you know, like, because I was signed

by Jason House fairly early in my pro career. So, like, if I felt like, you know, things like that wasn't coming, like I wasn't seeing actual progress towards the next level, I think I would have had that moment where I had to make a decision. But there was small bits of success and small steps towards the goal that kept me, you know, locked in on the journey. Someone was at, we were kind of killing some time and talking to the fans while we were waiting for you to come in. And someone asked me, no, no, no, no. I appreciate you not saying, F you guys, I'm going back to the hotel.

No, absolutely not. No, no, no, no. Someone was asking me, they wanted to know if your wife or girlfriend is going to fight pro as well. Does she compete also? Yeah, yeah. So, me and my wife met in the gym. Oh, wow.

She's in the Navy. She got stationed in Augusta, Georgia. she started kickboxing in Augusta, Georgia, and once every summer we do an MMA show in Augusta. And I was headlining the year that was her first time going to this show. So me and all my teammates, it was four of us. All of us got a knockout that night.

And every one of us took fight of the night from one another as we was getting the knockouts. Well, anyway, that night was so huge for us that we had a lot of people who decided they wanted to come and try out our gym after that, and she was one of them. So she decides to come and try our academy out, obviously you know we was kind of eyeing each other and we started dating and then um obviously

had a baby got married and all that stuff but she is she gonna kill me if i get the drag wrong i believe she's five and oh maybe six no but i think five and oh we're all but one knockout wow so she's she's a really good kickboxing in pro mma no amateur kickboxing so she's planning on making her transition into mama after she's done focusing on the baby because we're going breastfeed for a year. And then after that, she's going to get back into competition training, which she's already training way harder than she should be. And then hopefully pursue a professional career. Wow. And how do you feel about that? I love it. She's a, I admire a lot about her. She does so much for me that people don't know to make my life work

how it is. Because, you know, before I was in a relationship or had a child, like, making my life work was just being selfish and putting everybody else on the backburner so I could achieve my dreams. But now that I have a child, I have to have a wife who's accommodating for me in so many ways so that I can be a present father and that we can have a low-stress relationship and bro, she does so much for me. So I admire her in that way, but her work ethic as an athlete is incredible as well. It's not many athletes, let alone female athletes that I've seen like just commit to training and show up to so many sessions that are not necessary.

And she's like very similar to myself in that aspect. so when you see her compete like do you corner her yeah yeah okay i cornered her in her most recent fight what when was that um pre-baby yeah right before the baby yeah baby was born in may right baby was in may so she got pregnant right after the augustus show the year before so i cornered her in that augustus show and the fight before that what is that feeling like though not bad honestly i get a little bit nervous but for her with the level she's at and how good she is how hard she works i don't get too nervous with her fight okay she did she did she did really well. And if she

transitions to M.A., which weight class do you think she'll be in? She fought 115 in the last one, but I don't think she'll ever go back down that low again. She had to live hard for that. So probably 25, I would think. Okay, so almost close to you. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Training partner. She can't do nothing with me, though.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't get it wrong. You guys don't roll. You don't... Yeah, no. We do. Like, we roll a lot. We spar a lot. And it's funny because I don't know how many people, like, have relationships when they spawn partners. But it's a complicated dynamic you know what I mean because it's like every time you hear that she take it on an emotional level too

but like I'm the type of guy as well to where like I feel like I need to give her her best work you know so I don't take it easy on it I'm not trying to knock a head off you know what I mean but it's a complex relationship but she's she's good she's a good student I saw UFC was posting earlier today

pictures of fighters checking in and signing and you're here with your son yeah I saw a picture I guess when you fought in Atlanta in June was he there? Yeah, yeah, well, so Because that was like a home game for you

kind of two hours away. Yeah, yeah. But did your, he didn't go to the fight, right? No, no, no, no. So he didn't go to the fight because at the time, so he was born May 19th, so he was like a, wow, wow, wow, wow.

But he rode with us and he stayed at the Airbnb in Atlanta when I fought. This time will he come? No, he's not going to be there. Still still a little bit young, yeah, we don't quite want to bring it. I was nervous about bringing him

on a flight, but he did really well. Was this his first fight? First flight ever. Wow. How do you do? He did great. And me and my wife didn't even get sat next to each other. So we was like, I was kind of like, you know, looking around trying to see her.

But he did good. Well, you left her with the kid? Yeah, of course. Of course. But she's independent, man. She takes them everywhere. He goes everywhere with us. And he did good on the flight.

What about at the hotel now? Are you sleeping with them? Yeah, yeah. How does that affect your sleep? You have a full-time dad, brother. You got to do what you got to do. So, I mean, I'm still like my wife. She takes majority of the work, especially throughout the course of the night.

But, you know, it is what it is. There are some people Fight Week. Well, they'll say, like, you know, wife and baby will be in another room so I can get my sleep. You don't feel the need for that. I'm all right, bro. It's fine. Yeah, we're going to get some sleep. We're going to rest.

I'm going to have a good time. And, you know, I don't think it's going to impact me so much that, you know, I'm not going to do what I'm going to do anyway. If I'm a little bit more tired on fighting night, it's not going to be significant enough to change the outcome. Will she be in your corner? Absolutely not. I don't mean, you're in her corner. Why isn't she in yours? Yeah, because I know what I'm doing.

Oh, my God, oh, my God. But no, no, no, no, no. Like, my God. My coaches that, you know, day one coaches, they've been cornered me since the beginning, and they still corner me now. What if she, like, you know, what if, you know, she's watching

and then she's like, you know, I think the right hook will, like, you were a little bit. That's cool. Will you take that? Yeah, now go to sleep, man. Yeah. She gives you pointers?

Is she that bold? Yeah, I mean, she gives me her opinion. and we like watch my opponents together sometimes and she'll be like oh i see this i see that and i'll run my thoughts by her um but like it's not like a dynamic where like she's giving me actual advice it's more so just talking about okay what's in front of me will she go to the fight not this one she's gonna be with the baby okay she's gonna stay back yeah she came all the way to the trip but she doesn't get to go to msg she'll be all right brother all right all right like i said my wife accommodates in many ways for me to make sure i can do what i do at a high level and i love

for it um i just want to go back to the pipe fitting job how do you even get into that? Like, how do you even get that job? How do you go down that path? So, this is a funny story. I'll kind of condense it, but my mom works at a pediatric's office, right? Okay. So she was working the front desk at a pediatric's office for a long time, and there was this lady in the office that was bragging about how much money her boyfriend made. And she always was coming with gifts and all this other stuff. My mama was like, what are your boyfriend do? And she's like, well, my boyfriend's a pipe fitter. And so my mom was like, well, what do you got to do to become a pipe for it because at the time I was working like a call center jobs and food line as a buggy

boy and stuff like that and so turns out they do a application process uh once a year or twice a year back then they did it and so uh my mom finds the information sends me the internet link I get the date that you got to show up down to the hall and I show up in like my khakis and like a little tie-in button down which nobody else did they was like country boys and jean right but I show up and then you fill out paperwork and they send you to the department of labor to do some tests like math and reading and writing and then you come in after that again to do like in-person interviews and they want to know about any mechanical background that you have and then just kind of fill out your personality how you work with others and stuff like that and um I smashed the math

portion of the test I always been good at math um I had no mechanical experience like they asked me what the crescent wrench was I didn't know you know what I mean it was bad what is it by the way it's just an adjustable wrench oh so if you ever see the wrench that got a little that little threaded like spinning gear in it that changes the size of the handle yeah yeah that's what okay well wrench is a crescent wrench crescent wrench crescent is the brand and it's an adjustable wrench but everybody call it a crescent wrench but anyway i didn't know what that was and everybody know what that is except you yeah yeah but i did good enough on the math and i talked well enough that i landed pretty high on the the list of people they call as they need apprentices and it was maybe within

the next couple months i went to work for them okay and and did you like it or was it like could you if things didn't work out would you have done this for the rest of your life or was this just yeah yeah no i love it i love python i love instruction i have to say it like i look at this you posted this this is kind of like where you got on our radar your day in the life yeah yeah it looks it looks it looks kind of miserable in the sense that like it's tough man it is look at this look at like you're all hunched over and stuff me and my apprentice wyatt Wyatt Wyatt was like three months into the trade did that job bar herself i was up in the air what is that job what are you doing right now So I'm changing out a butterfly valve.

So those bolts go to a valve that opens and closes the flow on that pipeline. It's called a butterfly valve and it's very slim. And it's installed in the piping line by what's called a flange. The flange has the bolts that go into the valve that keep it in place. So the one that was there was old and it needed to be replaced. So we had to remove the old one, cut off the old flanges, install new flanges, and bolt up the new one all while I was above the line like above those lines up there and that's Wyatt right there

and he was up under it and we got it done pretty pretty quick I got that job done in a couple hours it wasn't too bad but yeah it's you gotta know what you're doing because you can you can mess some stuff up and a two hour job becomes a four hour job right right six hours more more stuff and where are you where is this oh that's so that was in South Carolina um Jackson South Carolina and like what is the building that you're in oh that plant so that plant was called Union Agner. Union Agner is a plant and they do like, they do chemical processing and it has something to do with the agriculture industry. Like when you pull up to that

plant, it's a big statue of a cow in front of the plant. But we had a lot of work out at Union Agner, which was actually one of the more clean plants that we worked at. So like this, like why aren't you wearing a mask when you're doing the zinc stuff? So it's about getting the job done, brother. How does the mask stop? you so so like to the type of mask you'd have to wear in that place would be a respirator mask yeah to get fitted for they're expensive um it's a process that goes into acquiring them being trained for it and um with us not working there full time you can get around having the necessity of doing it because we were contractors

that went out to do jobs but it was just so frequent that we was doing it that the amount of exposure we had might not have been you know what was uh being and say it to be. So to go in and do a job here or there, you probably don't need it to legally work safely under like OSHA regulations, but for sure, like you would want one. I mean, this is, look at this. Look at you here, man. Oh yeah. That was a shutdown out of paper mill in Augusta. That was fun. What do you mean by a shutdown? Um, so a shutdown is when a plant of some kind that's up and running shuts down operations temporarily so that time sensitive repairs can be made. Okay.

So when a shutdown is going on, you have a list of jobs to get done, and it has to get done in that time frame. Because every minute beyond that time frame they shut down costs money that they didn't plan on losing. Okay, okay. So like shutdowns are like a big part of what we're doing in the trade. Everybody better show up on time and like have work clothes on and be ready to like skip breaks and lunches to do what you got to do to get it done. How many years did you do this job for? It was like nine years and eight or nine months. It was close to 10 years.

That long? Very close to 10 years. I got in my very first job was August of 2015. Okay. And I got obligated into the union in October that same year. Did you ever get hurt on the job? Nothing major. Like small cuts, bumps, bruises, smashes, but nothing like, you know, life changing or making me think I wanted to do another trade, you know.

This may be a silly question, but because it has to be so rigid, there's pressure, there's people. Does any of that translate into what you do now? Like, you have to go in, get in, you know, 15 minutes, get the job done. Do you feel like any of the discipline that you learn from that translated into the fighter that you are now, or is that a reach? Yes and no. What's crazy is, so I was a, when I was a first year apprentice is when I started training. And it was a lot of things that I needed to learn to be successful and respected in construction as far as like the type of clothes you wear. Like because a lot of people like me who come from backgrounds that don't know much about the trades or that profession, wear whatever clothes we have.

of when we get into the trade. So it was like my old clubbing clothes. Like I had skinny jeans and like graphic shirts and stuff. But like the thing is, and I had dress down to my shoulders. But the thing is on a job site, you know, if a guy sees you dress like that, the immediate assumption is that one, you probably don't know what you're doing. And it's just that, you know, to be respected and be, you know, productive in that trade, I had to learn to dress the right way.

I had to get the knowledge. And it's just a whole package. But I say that to say, I learned a lot of stuff about construction, manhood, respect, work ethic, alongside learning it in MMA. So, like, the things in MMA was kind of helping me outside the trade, and I think the trade was kind of helping me within the trade, but they worked both together, I think, to make me who I am today. So who gets you into MMA?

Like, did you do martial arts as a kid? No, no, no. So anything? Never. I played little league basketball, rec ball. Okay. And I had to stop when I was going to sixth grade because I got into a magnet school because my math scores, right?

Okay. My mom wanted me to stop because she didn't want it to distract me from being a good student. So beyond 10 years old, I did no kind of sport. And I never did combat sports, never wrestling, karate, boxing, nothing. And I was first year apprenticeship in the trade and I was eating good, right? I was drinking more beer. Lifestyle was declining a little bit, but I was physically seen it. So I went from being a skinny kid in school all my life to being like a little bit of a gut having, you know what I mean, face kind of chubby, and I didn't like what I was seeing. and the guys on the job site is two guys in particular. Kyle Mathis and David Cornforth, both of those guys I talked to. I was like, man, I want to get in shape.

I want to hit the gym and, you know, get strong and lose his belly. And they both was like, hey, you should try MMA. You can learn to defend yourself. You'll enjoy it and you'll get in shape. And so that was like a little like. That's the moment. Yeah, the little moment where I was like, okay, let me try it. And then I walked in and life completely changed.

Did you even know what the UFC was? Were you aware of it? But the only thing I ever saw before was like John Jones highlights. You know, Anderson's Silver Highlights. But beyond that, I never watched a fool fight, never watched a live event. Never went to a party, a bar, to watch a fight. It was not on your radar. Never.

Not at all. The only combat sports I ever watched was, like, Floyd, when he boxed, like, you know, Mani. But besides that, I was not a combat sports fan at all, really. And so how do you decide which gym to go to? So, this is a crazy story as well. There's a kid I grew up with, his name was Scooter. And me and him always was, like, goofing off doing the same thing. his kids but I ran into him at Georgia Southern where I was in college at and he was in the gym

and they had a wrestling room but he was in there boxing people like sparring and stuff and so I'm like you you do MMA or you box like what it is he was like no yeah I do MMA I compete amateur and stuff like that and like so like I was like damn that's cool so when I'm back in Augusta because both of us ended up back in Augusta after Georgia Southern he was the person I reached out to and crazy enough he trained at like a garage gym like some guys training themselves in a backyard but they shut down and the leader of that gym reached out to my coaches at the time and said hey I got fighters that don't got nowhere to go can you take them in and help them out and my coaches was like yeah tell those guys come on we'll help them out they can't afford it we'll figure something

out and he was the only one that went to that gym and he only trained at that gym for like two weeks he never committed hard but during that two weeks I hit him up and that was when he was like come to this gym with me they good people and so he brought me there and we trained together for a couple weeks and beyond that he never showed up again and i i just stayed man yeah it's crazy like if you're not talking to your friends at work about the belly and all this oh my goodness you may never find this sport never insane do you ever think about that all the time like it like i think about how many small like moments about me choosing this path being like if i wouldn't have became a pipe fitter i might not would have ever found right right right this uh this life if i want to

talking to the specific guys if i want to got put on that job or that crew if i wouldn't have had a friendship with the guy that took me to the gym I'm at because as well, the gym I'm at is 100% responsible for me being as successful as I am. Like, there's a lot of other gyms in Augusta, not a lot, but some other ones that train at a fairly high level that I know I would not have had the success way. And not just because of the skill, but the people. Because Jake, Pops, Joel are like family, family. Like I call Pops.

I don't ever call them by his first name. And they didn't just help me out in so many more ways than fighting that I know. I wouldn't have got here without them. Are you still with them? Yeah, 100%. They just got here before I came in. Wow, wow, wow, wow. And are you their first fighter to make it to the UFC?

Yep, very first. So you're all going through this together. Yeah, it's crazy. Like, you know, I had, when I was training with them and I was coming up, like, I had different managers come at me. I had different teams come at me and, like, tell me, hey, you should come train here. Like, you're going outgrow your camp eventually. We got these partners, those.

partners and I remember I went through like a real bad breakup and I was thinking about relocating and trying to go full-time at like an ATT somewhere or something like that and having these conversations with my coaches and bro they never was like upset about those conversations they was like we only want what's best for you we think we can get you there but if you want to try doing something like that because you think it's best for you like bro they never but they handle it like it's crazy how well they handle stuff like that they just they great people and as I've

grown they've grown alongside me like they still give me work in the gym they still have technique that i'm i'm learning and and they have such a mind for the sport and i love them so much how close were you to actually relocating and going to one of these big gyms not super big but uh robbie law luller's brother frank lawler is out of the same local as me okay um frank i never heard of frank but before i mean so have you ever heard of robbie say when he was growing up his brother used to beat him up and that's kind of like we'll start that even. That's the brother. He's huge.

He's huge. He's literally like Robbie plus 100 pounds. Like, dude is tall. This can be big old head, big old hands. And I've worked a few jobs with this guy. And every time, like when I was fighting on the local scene, he would go out of his way to come up to me and give me positive words and all that stuff like that. And anyway, he took a step one time to put me in contact with the coaches out there in Deerfield. And they had a program where they would onboard fighters depending on, like,

you know, your record and experience and stuff like that. And so I remember sending the email to the coaches out there, and this was so long ago, like, these hells are probably butcher. But I sent the email, and they was like, yeah, you can come down and train for a week for, you know, lodging and stuff with this price and blah, blah, blah. And like I said, it was right after a bad breakup. So, like, I'm thinking, like, I need to go all in on fighting. And that was like when I pulled my coach Jake aside and told him, hey, I got this opportunity,

hey, I got the money. You know, I was working a good job at the time. I don't have nothing time me to the city right now. I'm kind of considering going and pursuing this and really trying to make sure I take this to the highest level. And it was that conversation I told you where it was like I could see how heartbroken he was, but like he was like, man, I would hate to see you go, but I would never hold you back.

Wow. I decided to say. Glad I did. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's amazing when you think about all the things. Like you probably don't meet your wife, right? Yeah. You don't go down this path, right?

Like from the job to the gym to training MMA, right? Everything was so, so, like, it's just so many small things that had to happen right that just makes me believe, like, it's from the higher power, bro. Like, it's not by just so happenstance. It's a plan, you know. By the way, you mentioned Georgia Southern. You were once on the other show that we have here with the boys in the back, and our guy, Connor went to Georgia Southern too.

You know this. Which is crazy. Yeah. I think we probably have walked by each other at some point and had no idea. He's reppping you back there. Connor, you there? Yeah, there is. Hey, my boy, got the grizzly

merch on. I love it. And he got that from my boy deal in person. At the fight. Yeah, so shout out to you, my boy. The shipping didn't make it in time, and so he met me at the arena and gave it to me. It was incredible. Yeah, for sure. Just in time for the knockout, too. Bro, and we got another shirt that we're going

released right after the fight. We had to iron out some details so we didn't get enough time to push it before the fight, but the design is sick, and it's going to come out after the fight, so it's going to be fun. Where's the spot? Where's the spot, Connor, they used to hang out Georgia Southern. Oh shit, I don't know. Dingus McGee's. You remember that? Yes, I remember Dingus McGee's. What dorms you live in? I lived in Eagle Village. So I stayed at Eagles Landing was the first one that I stayed at. But I, you remember the Ave? Have you

that's where me and my friends hung out the most? I lived in the Avenue my second year. Okay, yeah, yeah. A year, a month in rent, cockroaches climbing all over my walls and everything. Right, right. No, the Ave, bro, like how you said, roaches crawling everywhere? That's like the project. What year is this? What year is this? 2012, 2013 And I graduated 2012 and I went 2012, 2013

I made it a semester So I made it a year I got kicked out And I appealed it And I peeled it And came back my second year And then after the next semester I got booted for academics

And so my second Second year I spent the whole six months It's chilling and I have Doing nothing First did you get kicked out Because of the three strike program No no no I had a

I had like a big old thing back That happened Yeah What's up? what's that um so long story short they do fire drills uh on campus housing eagles landing was an on campus uh housing okay it's an apartment complex but it's on campus and so when they do these fire drills they always open the front door to make sure nobody's in there and then they they closed the door that's it but at the time i wasn't there but i was doing a lot of stuff on

campus you weren't supposed to be doing so they open up the front door they see a lot of stuff they're not supposed to see and so they lock it but it's a lot the boat lock only the campus has access to unlock. So I literally was chilling in the Ave. I come home to try to get changed so we can go to the club that night. Like me and my home boy sitting in the car, and I can't get it open. And so I drive up to the lobby of the apartment complex, and it's a cop car out there. And I'm like, something, like, yeah, this don't look right.

And I walk in, and as soon as I walk in, brother's like, I've been waiting for you. And I'm right, oh, my God. So he walks me to my dorm or my apartment, and he said, you can either give me permission to search it or we just gonna go through the processes and the dean is gonna give me permission to search it anyway so you can sit here and wait for a couple hours or you can just let me do what I'm gonna do anyway

so I'm like alright bro you can search it so he opened my door he started searching it he started finding a bunch of stuff that ain't supposed to find he start pressing me you know getting aggressive being a cop and I'm being a young dumb kid I'm cussing back and I'm trying to like fire for cigarette in the apartment in front of his face and it kind of got

physical like I he say he said I pushed him I ain't push him I just tried to get around them you know what I mean uh yeah it ended up you know he arrested me and oh shit damn I had a hearing with the school and um they say like it's up to 72 hours for them to come up with a decision on the punishment they're going to give you and within like two hours of me leaving the the hearing with the school they told me I was expelled and then um I obviously had charges with bullet county too that I had to get situated which that's a crazy story but But, yeah, I appealed it, and they let me come back to school, but ban me from on-campus housing. And so I did one more semester at the school, and then I failed out for academics after that.

And then I had six months left on my lease. So for six months, I was just chilling at Georgia Southern with my friends, playing games, working at Wendy's. You know, and then... How come the academics? You're so good at math? Yeah, but I wasn't going to class, bro. Like, Connor will tell you, bro, like, Georgia Southern, they're notorious for partying. Like, every day of the week, you can go and party, and it's not like...

an empty bar or club like it's a lot of people a lot of house parties all the time and i had i had no direction like i didn't have anything i wanted to be i was just in college because my mama told me that you either going to pay bills or you can go to school and like i'm not going to get a job and pay bills in your house like if i can go to school i'd do it so i took out a bunch of loans went to school was having a good time and um you know had some loans i had to pay because of it but you know it's so crazy hearing you talk about this and this is not that long ago right like this is like 13 or so years ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then the pipe, and now you're fighting at Madison Square Garden, man. It's so crazy. Like, I say this all the time, but if you look at all the stages in my life before this, like, almost up until I fought on contendous series, you would never say that this was in the cards for me. Like, if you stop and say,

Madison Square Garden, an X amount of years, is it happening? Absolutely not. Nobody going to bet on it. And you can do that all the way up until maybe after my UFC debut, but before that, like, I was nowhere on track to being in the shoes I'm in today. It's outlandish. Do you get nervous?

For what? All this. Like, this is a big stage, a big platform. Do you get anxious? Not really. So I was, the contended series fight I was nervous for. That was the most nervous I've ever felt because, you know, you know if you're walking away with a contract that night that night. So I was nervous about that.

But Kansas City, Atlanta, this one, bro, I feel good. Really? I feel good. I don't feel, it's kind of weird. I've been waiting for the nerves to hit me and get that gut feeling, man. I ain't felt it. Like, I feel good. I feel excited.

I'm ready to go out there. I want to cut this weight. I want to get on that stage. You know what I mean? Hopefully Joe Rogan there. You know what I mean? Oh, yeah, because you haven't done a Joe fight yet, right? I ain't never met the guy.

Never met the guy, bro. Forgive me, but I saw Joe Rogan for the first time at the 320 ceremony wins. I said, bro, he's short. Like, I didn't, but it's arm so long. He's big, yeah. I watched Joe Rogan's podcast. So there was a job I worked for years, 45-minute drive to and from.

I watched his podcast religiously. while I was working that job and I admire him so much and respect him so much but I've never seen him so when I finally see him on stage and he's next to like these athletes I'm like, bro, it's crazy so

you win he's interviewing you that's crazy bro that's crazy bro I mean you interviewing me right now he's on another level but like that's motivation too right you're gonna win and the guy that you used to listen to

religiously I can't even wrap my head around it and as big as a moment as that is for me like I still don't feel like nervous per se about it I'm excited about it like I can't wait to to go in there and fight

and knock them out or have a dirty fight or have a brawl or have to whatever I got to do like I'm excited to do it and then have my conversation with Joe and had some pizza after the fight

bro I can't wait bro you're in a good place for pizza I heard this is the spot I can't wait I don't have a few suggestions but like I always do pizza after the fights

because I don't party I don't club on drink so um The pizza after a fight is something I've been doing since the local scene. Oh, wow. In Atlanta, Kansas City. But, like, this one's going to be special with this is New York pizzas. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I can't wait, bro. Do you feel, so three straight right hooks, is there any part of you that wants to keep this going? 100%. I want to knock them out within three minutes with a right hook. Oh, my God. That's what I want. Like, you know what I mean? I hope it happens.

I don't know. Obviously, I can't predict the future. But a first round knockout is what I look for in all my fights. I'm not necessarily going out hunting it, but, like, I plan on seeing an opening and committing to it in the first round. When did you realize that this thing was lethal? Right hand? Yeah. To be honest, man, after the contendezer's fight.

Okay. You know, I've always had power in my hands. I've knocked guys out. I've not guys out with straight lefts. I've not guys out with right uppercuts. I've not guys out, you know, with right hooks. but I never thought one shot in particular was like

this is my death shot like if I hit the window they die but now I think that after my last the way you set it up too like the way you set up the last it's just so clean man it's crazy you just watch it over and over again be like

I can't count how many times I'm probably watching more than anybody on this planet oh I don't doubt it I can't even imagine how many times because it was it was textbook picture it's better than textbook it's like it's like not a did your coach say anything about

that afterwards there can't be a single thing yes like I mean not well of course not like well yeah actually really what is there to say what is there to critique about that I got I got a little while when I hit him with the left so I hit him with the left earlier in the fight and his knees buckled a little bit and in my defense I thought that shot was good enough to do them and so that's why I kind of went guns blazing and like through like this heavy combo but I don't think it wasn't necessarily criticism but like it was us looking back at that moment like okay like looking back in 2020 I was a little bit, you know, trigger-happy with deciding just a moment to go for the finish.

But again, I thought that left hook. So now that it's a thing, you have to be careful of that, right? Absolutely. Because now you want that fourth in a row. So how do you stop yourself? I've been wanting to knock people out in the first round all my life. You know what I mean? Everybody I've ever had.

And it's funny, I remember for so long in my career, amateur all the way up through pros, me and pops would always be like, first round. 60-70 percent. First round, 67%. And every fight afterwards, we'd be like, that wasn't no 60-70 percent. Every time we say that. And it was like maybe like, I think maybe my second pro fight, it was the Jorge Massford-Dall fight. And afterwards, I went to pops, I was like, I think I hit that 60-70%. And my desire to knock people out fast has never changed, but my ability to control my composure and pace has. So I think even now with me wanting to continue this hype streak of knockouts in the first round, I don't see an issue with me controlling myself and compromising, you know,

any openings by doing so. How's your wrestling? How would you assess your wrestling? It depends on who asks me. If I'm talking to somebody seriously, I think I can wrestle really well. Okay. You know, we identify wrestling as a necessity long, long ago. Before I even competed in MMA, my coaches was making me wrestle.

So before I transitioned from kickboxing to MMA, we was doing. I was doing like a Sunday wrestling class with a guy in Augusta Doc is what we call him and he's super good and all the way since then up until now I have wrestled and in the training room I wrestle aggressively like I pursue takedown on people we do a lot of wall drills

I cycle guys in on me bro I'm a tough wrestle but I like the narrative that I can't wrestle so like when like the casuals or trolls ask me like I kind of plan to it and say I don't wrestle or I don't grapple to train it very much but to be honest I'm very confident and my ability to wrestle.

And I feel like I have fought some strong wrestlers in my career before. Granted, the UFC level is higher than any level in the world. But I fought some guys who were a dog on a bone and once they got hands on me, did not want to let me go nowhere. And I got what I wanted. I got space and I put hands on them.

So I don't have this fear in me or this lack of confidence in my wrestling at all. I'm looking forward to it. Because, you know, we've seen before guys come in few knockouts then all of a sudden they get stifled right yeah yes so you you're aware of this yes you're relishing the opportunity to show that you are not one of those guys yes and again like Cody in particular or any opponents in my future I hope I knock them out in the first but the silver lining is if I don't knock them out that means I'm in front of somebody who is going to put me

in different situations to show what I can do and I believe when I show what I can do in these situations the fans are going to love me for that as well so they can love me for the knockouts they can love me for my dog mentality they can love me for my anti-wrestling they can love me for any of it but i just haven't been put in a position yet on the big stage where i can show that i can do that stuff speaking of cody um replacement opponent when your original opponent fell through were you worried that you wouldn't get a slot on the card yes and and the reason why is because Atlanta was such a nightmare bro oh yeah yeah where i didn't get signed until 11 days out and like i was I was very nervous after, you know,

Sergey got injured that it would be another situation where we weeks away from the fight and I don't know if I'm fighting or not, but bro, they got me somebody in a matter of days. It was like literally three days later, it was already signed and done. He's looked good in the UFC so far. Yeah, no, he has.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you think of the challenge? I'm excited about it, man. You know, I think if you look at him on paper, man, he's very, very good. You know, he's got these amateur junior boxing titles. You know, I believe he's a black belt as well.

The only loss he's got is Steve Urseg. You know, he's really, really challenging in different ways. But when you watch him as a fighter, like, bro, it looks like exactly what I want in a fighter. You know what I mean? That's a guy that has forward pressure. A guy that's going to throw punches and give me my counterpunch opportunities. And if I don't get that Cody Haddon that's giving me punch. and giving me counter punch opportunities,

then, you know, again, I end up in a situation where maybe I get to create an opening like I did with, you know, Chris or, you know, many different ways, but I think he's a great palette for a fight of the night, 100%. How far away do you think you are from, like, the real big tests, the big dogs of the division? Not to diminish any of these tests, but you know what I'm talking about, right? Like, how far away do you think you are from those guys?

Yeah. Everything's happened so fast for you. Right, it could be the fight after this one, honestly. You think that quickly? yeah and look I'm not comparing myself in any way but I'm pretty sure Hamza after his first three dominating of performances they gave him Gilbert Burns right and that was like Gilbert Burns like I remember seeing that and like wow that's that's crazy and so it could be a a fast track like that would you be okay

with that absolutely yeah I was I was halfway hoping like after the fight with you know sir hey got canceled because of an injury like I was like I was like I wonder if they're going to throw me a bigger name. Like somebody that people know well, and I was kind of looking forward to it. But I also know that was like a long shot, you know, and still even now, I think Cody, Cody is a good fight, man. Like, it's, it's... Yeah, I'm not trying to put him down.

Yeah, yeah, you already know. You know sports. I mean, you know Cody. It's a good fight. No, it's a great fight, and it's the proper, like the stage is proper, the opponent is proper, but at some point they really get behind guys and they seem to get behind you, and they push you when you watch marab right now you're obviously not in that conversation just yet we have to take some time but like do you start to compare yourself to him this is how i would fight him this is

what i would do yeah 100% yeah like when when i watched him i've watched him for years obviously but even most recently watching cori like bro corey did so good like there was so much cori did right he got up every single time he got taken down i mean you know to the last bell he had that fight and spirit like he did so much i admire and like unfortunately if marab is conscious bro the problem doesn't go away like you know i mean i feel like you got to knock him out and so me my coaches all are like man i know i got the power to knock him out like what would be the shot how would we beat this guy you know and what's the plan so like i i definitely watch him with that thought in mind uh do you think he beats peter yon next month yeah i do okay i think i think he's gotten even better since he's become a

champion like he's loving the sport even more he's probably enjoying training as much as he's enjoying fighting and um i mean he won the first fight and i think he's going to do the same thing in the second fight he's beaten a lot of the top guys already and now there's talk maybe umar gets right another do you see anyone putting aside yourself anyone who could give him a tough go right now in that top 10 i don't know man um not not not like I can't, like, no names come to mind. Like, I think this is the guy that beats Marab. I think Marab, Marab's everybody.

Like, to be honest, like, even objectively speaking, you throw my name in that conversation, people are going to say Marab, Marab's me, you know, unless I land that shot. And that would be the whole game plan. So it has to be somebody with that one punch power that could just not have to follow up that shot when they landed. Are you praying that he's still the guy by this? Yes, that's my biggest dream. I want that, that would be like, so far my career has been great.

but like the cherry on top to where I'd be able to say that was a that was a career yeah if I get to fight morale while he's the champion while we're both the machine while we're from different georgia like you know that's yeah that's right that's the fight bro like that's the dream fight you know obviously tons of work to do but that be if he's still the guy he will be the most decorated and respected bantamway champion of all time he might have the most wins in a row if islam loses and he wins a couple more he'll surpass anderson silver you know i know a lot has to happen but holy smokes imagine that though and if I beat him it'll be because

it's past his prime but I'm cool with that I'm cool with that man he's showing no signs of slowing down there oh man he's a killer he almost knocked out Corey in the second round I know that and he said he was gonna do that you know so like I hope he said he won't knock me out

you know what I mean but yeah I love to do man and and I trained at syndicate that that so I went out to 320 but two weeks before that I went out for a media shoot and I trained at syndicate while I was there because Andre Philly invited me

bro Marab is like incredibly cool like he You talk to him? Yeah afterwards We sat and we talked He was asking me like About my time in the industry The construction industry

He was telling me about his He was making jokes Because he found out I was Muslim My knees wasn't covered And he was like your knees supposed to be covered And I was like look I'm a revert one day at a time brother You know what I was making jokes like that bro

Like but Maraub is like He's so awesome bro He took pictures with my coach's son And everything like I like to do, but like I would love to fight him. Did you know who you were? Was he aware of your career? Yeah, yeah.

So a really close teammate of his, Otari Tanzlov, is somebody who accepted a fight with me in Atlanta 14 days out. Okay. He tore his knee helping Maraub prepare for a fight. So he had to pull out. So when I went to the camp, Otari obviously knew who I was. Maraub obviously is super close to Atari. So he knew who I was.

And yeah, yeah, he was nothing but love and respect, man. When you're at your gym in Augusta, what's the name of the gym? Fagler's M. So it's a little smaller than your syndicate, right? Yeah, absolutely. What is it like for you when you go to one of those gyms in Vegas, and there's a ton of pros, and you're kind of, you know, one of many fish in the sea?

Right, right. You know, I used to go to these big gyms and be, like, starstruck by just the equipment and layout of the place. Like, they got front desks with receptionists. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, they take a map fees. They know if you remember you're scanning stuff to get in. like bro we don't have we don't have that for real and um you know I used to be just

mesmerized by that and then like being on the mats with like all these big names and like these coaches that are so recognizable and granted like I've only had a couple experiences with these super high-level gyms like that um but now I feel like I like my gym and my team like my coach moved around with one of Marab's teammates who was preparing for a fight and a very accomplished wrestler I don't know the guy's name or how to pronounce but after that round like he complimented my coach on his wrestling ability and my coach don't pride himself on wrestling he prides himself on grappling um and like that's my main training partner you know what I mean he he's done so much for me Jake's done so much for me and like

I have guys that one of my other teammates Quincy was the number one ranked 55 amateur in North America before he went pro like this guy I'm avoiding getting knocked out by him every day I'm sparring like I have I have really good guys in my camp that not are just there to help me get better, but they love me. They take care of me in a way that I won't have to worry about my health. And even though I like being on the max with a lot of high-level guys, I got the takeaway I got after experiencing that was like I have what I need at home. Not that I can't learn from these guys, but I have no, you know, desire or gaps that I feel like need to be filled. Not to look past, Cody, but have you thought about who makes sense

next? Not really. I ain't thought about past New York at all. I'm just still thinking about Joe Rogan. The Joe Rogan and the pizza situation. Yeah, Joe Rogan and the pizza. I don't know what's next. Hopefully a ranked guy. If not a rank guy, I hope it's a very recognizable name. Not that I don't want to continue fighting lesser known people and stacking up highlights, but now I have this almost like this ambition to like show how good of a fighter I am rather than just like get these knockouts and performance bonuses. I was listening to an interview where you talked about, I think you said either your grandfather,

your father is from Vietnam. So yeah, my granddad was in the Vietnam War. Vietnam War, and he married. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, my grandmother. And he brought her to Augusta, and that's why me and my family is Blazian. Blasian. Yeah, yeah, facts, yeah.

Because I have to admit, like, when I'm talking to you, I feel like it's the second coming of Benson Henderson. And I know you've heard this before, right? It's even with the hair, too, like your smile, You look like Benson, and Benson's from Korea. His family, his mom, I think, is from Korea. But it's just, it's amazing. Obviously, you're a little bit younger than him.

But there's something about your vibe, your smile, your spirit is. Have you ever met him? Never, but this is a funny story, too. Before I was in shape, I still had the beer belly at this point, still had the dreads and stuff like that. But I remember doing a workout at an amphitheater and being like spent and worn out and not even finishing the workout because it was too hard. And pops pulls up his phone.

a picture of Benson Henderson ripped up and this bike shorts he's like you could be like this one day and I'm like who's this guy

he's like Vincent Henderson that was the first time I ever saw oh wow and so like Pops was telling me I could be Benson back when I still had

a beer belly you know what I mean and now you're like he used to be always ripped like no freaking fat on his body I went back and watch

some of the stuff he's done he was amazing yeah for sure so back then you just had no idea who this guy was he showed me

he showed me champion WC yeah crazy it's so wild for me that we're at a point where UFC stars don't know who Benson Henderson is. But that just says I'm kind of old at this point.

But you know what I mean? Do you go back now and try to make up for lost time? Do you watch old fights? No, you don't do this. Yeah, you're missing out, man. This is what's so funny. So my coaches, like, Pops been fighting, like, karate tournaments, and he is a Kimpo guy, so he used to compete in a black guy.

And, like, he was doing M&A when it was the Wild West, like three-man free falls, stuff like that. And so him, my coaches, Jake, Joe, they close to my age, but they grew up on this. So, like, the old stars, like, Clitchco and, like, you know, Wanderlay and all them. Like, bro, they speak about these guys, like, you know, God. Yeah. And I'm, like, forgive me.

But as a troll, I tell them, like, the old guys suck. And they can do nothing with the new guys. And I'd be like, you know, Anderson was Michael Jordan. And they ain't been the same since then. They hate me when I do this stuff. But, you know, I definitely respect those guys. It's just I personally haven't seen what they've done. Like Dominic Cruz, arguably the greatest bantamweight.

Have you ever watched him? Listen, brother. Okay. The only thing I knew about Dominic Cruz was Cody made a fool out of him. Like, that was my era. Like, when I came into the court, Cody Garbrandt was the guy, not Dominique. And so, you know, and I will say, I've seen a lot more Dominic Cruz because he's a 35er, and I've watched more of his work than the other guys, even from his era.

But again, like, the thing I knew him for was getting beat up by Cody, getting trolled. And that's how he became the robot on it. Yeah, and became the world champ at 11 and O, like, from Team Alpha Mel. Like, that was the guy. Like, I was in love with what Cody Garrent was doing. Wow. And you, I mean, there's a scenario where Cody's that name that you're talking about. I know you've been asked about this.

You'd rather not, right? Absolutely not. Like, you know, granted, it's only, like, small interactions I've had with him. But he was the first fighter I met that, like, I was like, I'm asking him for a picture. Like, you know, other guys I saw him. I met him. I was like, hey, nice to meet you. Giga, Chikaze, man.

cool, by the way. But me and him shook hands and it was a lot of guys I shook hands with and wanted to meet, but not many that I was willing to go and be a fan about. But Cody, I was a fan. And I said, hey, I'm going to keep this short, but let me tell you. I was like, you know, and I told him about all the stuff. I admired about him and how much I watched him. I saw his son with him. I knew Kai's name because I watched Kyle born on the internet. You know, and every time, he's such a nice guy, right? Incredible. Every time I see him, we talk for like 15 minutes. And he'd give me so much love and knowledge and game that, like, I don't know if he felt like we hit the threshold of friends, but I do. You know what I'm text now?

Huh? No, no, no, no. But that's what I'm saying. I don't know what the threshold is for him. But for me, we didn't hit it. And I don't want to fight the guy. But, you know. By the way, first event that you ever watched, like, once you started getting into this?

Like live UFC fight? Yeah, yeah. I'm just curious, like, how new you are to the game. Oh. Was it like UFC 300? Let me explain this. the first one of the first times before I ever had seen a live event or went back and studied YouTube UFC fights I was in the gym and after training everybody was like Connor McGregor

Connor McGregor and I said bro who is Connor McGregor and they was like you know the conversation started about how he was one of the greatest ever and that was around the time when he was about to rematch Nate Diaz so that might have been the first time I ever went and watched a live fight but before that nothing and that was It's low-key, like, my beginning of being obsessed with Connor. Like, bro, I watched Connor McGregor fights. I went to sleep watching Connor McGregor fights for, like, two years straight. Wow.

Like, set my phone. Over and over again? Yeah, same fights. I just watch him over and over. And, like, bro, I could watch the Eddie Alvarez fight, and I can tell you exactly what's going to happen. I can tell you when he's about to hit him with the counter shot, when he's about to, I can tell you everything about that fight because I watched it literally like tens and

tens and tons of times, all his fights. You know what's crazy? So you're watching that this is 2016. where did that fight happen MSG and check this out I just did an interview last week and they told me like that was the first New York

MMA like 51 section before I had no idea no idea like so I'm like admiring this fight not even knowing the significance of it historic yeah no I didn't know that until last week bro I didn't know you know where they mentioned on the broadcast are you listening to it without volume

they might have said it I don't know yeah and then he gets the two belts That was historic too. And I remember, look, the gloves had like this like, yeah. And I was like, oh, that's cool. They're doing that. But I literally did not know it was because that's the first fight in New York at MSG. I did not know that until a week ago.

The sport was banned in New York in 1997, and then it took up until 2016 for it to be unbanned. And this was the first event. He was the first headliner. And Tyron Woodley fought Stephen Wonderboy Thompson in the Colman. Yuanian Jacek fought against Kalianakovych. Yonah Kovic. Yes, yes, yes. I met her at a meet and greet, and she showed up a little bit later than everybody else,

but she's standing in front of the backdrop, taking pictures with a line of fans. And after the line clears out, I go through the line, because I don't know if she knows who I am. Like, I only got two fights in the UFC. And I walk up, and her manager was like, why are you standing in line? I was like, because I don't know if she knew who I was. And, you know, it was just, she's so cool, bro. She showed me so much love, for sure. Are you an engaged guy?

I guess. You know, they showed me a mad love. Yeah, they see a ton of stuff. I love Engage. I just met. his name's Ash. Ash is the man, Doc Castro. He was at 320. And we talked a lot and they send me care packages

and, bro, they show me a lot of love. I don't know if I, like, can identify as an engaged guy, but, like, they're not paying you for this? Come on. Look, I don't know the, I don't know the ins and outs of what my management working, but they're being blessed in me. So even if I don't get a check for it. Now we got a little jewelry

and stuff. Yeah, yeah. I appreciate it. Okay. Okay. Was that from Jackson, too? Yeah, yeah. You already know. I saw it. They're a plug, bro. I tell you what, since I got on, like, I ain't got to buy clothes. I ain't got my jewelry. Ain't got about nothing.

This is all for the free, man. So you're loving life. It's incredible. My life is great, man. Do you ever ask yourself, why me? Why is this all happening to me? Do you ever worry that it's going to end? Are you that type of person, or you're just kind of going with it?

I don't worry that it's going to end. But, like, the why me is there, bro, because. So I was talking about my coach, Jake. Like, bro, my coach was six, seven fights until his pro career when I started. started my day one. He didn't have partners and I was like one of his helpers in his camps and he's had this dream of being a UFC fighter since he was a child. He's a level of grappling I probably will never get to. He's trained hard. Like I trained hard. Don't get me wrong for my eight years in the sport and I gave up so much for it, but he did that for 20 years.

And sometimes I wonder like how hard it must be for him to watch me accomplishing this. And he does it with so much grace. And, like, that made me think, like, why me, like, because I don't question, like, how God gives out his blessings, but, like, stuff like that, like, it's hard, you know what I'm saying? And is he still actively pursuing this? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He just had, so the Augusta fight, this summer, obviously, I didn't fight in it. But he did. He was the headliner.

He got the first round finish. Okay. Record is improved to eight and three now. He ain't gave up on the dream yet. What's his name? What's his full name? name? Jason Fagler, Jr. Okay.

Yeah, he ain't gave up on a dream yet, but, you know, again, that's like the thing that made me say, like, how did I end up in this position? Especially when, like, bro, from my childhood days until three months before my kickboxing debut, because he told me to, I was living a lifestyle that's, like, counterproductive to this, you understand what I'm saying? Yeah. So, like, it's crazy, man, to see myself in this position when it's people like him who just gave day all to the sport since they was a kid, you know.

Do you still drinking stuff like that or you cut all that out? Zero. I don't drink or small. I stopped completely before my kickbox and fight. It's another funny story. I won't get too deep into it. But basically I was wiling on Snapchat for my birthday. Okay.

And the morning after my coach Jake called me, he said, bro, what are you doing? I'm like, what are you talking about? He was like, bro, I just seen you blah, blah, blah on Snapchat. I said, oh, I was like, it was my birthday. I was drunk. You know what I was doing my thing? And he was like, no, if you want to fight, you got to stop. and from that day I walked away from everything

and it was like two years straight that I didn't do anything and then after those two years I kind of like drank in a much healthier way like I'd have a nightcap here and there maybe on date nights or something like that I drink but I reverted to Islam in April last year and since then I haven't

took anything at all Wow do you miss it? A little bit I still to this day definitely it's crazy but I miss smoking cigarettes like that was like I used to love smoking cigarettes You and Carlos Prakis? I love the cigarette. I miss smoking cigarettes a lot. Even as you're like coming up, you're fighting and you're smoking cigarettes? You're talking about fighting or a child? Well, how old are you when you're

smoking cigarettes? Mama. So I started smoking weed when I was like 13, 14. And a year after that is when I started with black and mouths. But I don't know what that is. It's like a, it's like a cigar with like the plastic tip, right? Oh, got it got, got, got, yeah. And they'd be like, you smoke a black amount. They'd be like, it boost your high, right? So like, I was smoking black and mouths, but it's tobacco and then I remember shortly after that like when I was like 15 there was a guy that I was friends with had a cigarette in this car I was like that's your mama cigarette or something he was like no it's mine I was like you smoke cigarettes and he was like yeah it's just like a black and mile and boom so from that day up until like I said months before my kickboxing fight like I was

living like that and I mean like a day a better at least pack a day wow right hand the guy yeah wow you can ask any any of my homeboys that grew up with me that knew me like I I always, always, always had cigarettes. And what do you do now to battle the urge? You can't. And why did you convert to Islam? How did that happen? Oh, man, so this is a crazy story, too.

I don't know how much time you got. I don't want to go on a moment. No, I'm good. I'm enjoying myself. Yeah, yeah, okay. So my dad passed away from cancer when I was like three years old, right? I'm sorry. All good.

And, you know, I grew up, like, finding father figures in different places. So in construction and in the gym in particular, there was like these father figures I found, Pop's strong Christian man, another guy in the trade, his name Carl Smith. I love that guy to death, but he was a really religious guy too. This Cal Mathis guy I told you about that. That was the guy that urged me to try MMA, right? He was one of the wildest people I ever met, like go out, party, get drunk, fight. He was one of those people you don't want to go out with unless you're ready to get in trouble or go to jail. And I ran into him like three years after not working a job with him. Change man. Like, he's a family man. Now he got a wife and a baby, and he's living. straight he don't do nothing and christ did that for him right um but i uh wanted to be religious because i saw what religion did for the people i admired and christianity was the one that i was exposed to all my life like i grew up my granddad was a deacon in the baptist church all that stuff like that and so um i kind of had that thing where i grew up going to church from my granddad but then early adulthood adulthood after my granddad passed around like 20 years old i stopped going to church i really didn't have any faith because it was more cultural than it was

me having an understanding of the theology and an actual relationship with God. And then so after that, I remember mid in my 20s in construction, Cal was running a Bible study. And so Kyle's running this Bible study at lunch, and we got a 45-minute lunch. So every day for like six months, I'm doing this 45-minute Bible study with Cal. And like, I'm the only guy in the group that don't know nothing about the Bible. I don't even have a copy of the Bible, you know what I mean? And so, like, I'm asking the dumbest questions that everybody knows. Well, back then they didn't have shoes, so they did this.

like you know what I'm saying like so stuff like that and I was learning a lot and I remember watching a bunch of like remember this that 45 minute drive the work I was telling you about so it was times I was listening to audiobooks and watching lectures and debates and stuff and um I remember uh downloading an audio book on the history of the Bible and um I don't even I'm gonna get attacked but I remember this this audio book it gave me the basic knowledge it's not like it's information people don't know but it's not what I thought it was I thought it was like the word of God, but it's more so like letters that are inspired by God in a compilation of different, you know, texts from over time and stuff like that. You know, the canon and

apocryphi stuff, all that stuff. Like I was learning all this stuff and I was like, it's not what I thought it was essentially. So like that kind of was like where I strayed away from my pursuit of Christianity at the time. And this is really crazy, right? So my wife, she translates Arabic in the military. Oh, wow. She grew up in Buffalo, New York. So she grew up around a bunch of Muslims And she works with a bunch of people that are, you know, Arabs, because obviously she's speaking Arabic, had a bunch of Arabic teachers, had shared, you know, feasts for Iftar, during Ramadan with all these different people throughout her career. Anyway, she's not Muslim, but I'm having a conversation with her one night after my contender serious fight. And I'm like, this was like months after it. And I'm like, you know, I'm 30 years old.

I'm probably going to get signed to the UFC. I was like, man, I got to have something to get purpose. fulfillment of after I fight like because if I'm lucky my career is going to be like four six maybe seven years in the UFC but like what after that like am I going to be like a shell of myself and be unhappy and um she was like this is actually before my considering serious like because it was in April but she was like well have you like looked into other religions so she sends me like a short form video on like Hindu Buddhism because she grew up as a Buddhist which is crazy and then Islam like a bunch

of little short form videos and there was a video on this Islam. It's like 20 minutes with Biblehead cartoons. And it tells you the basic theology of it and like stuff like, I didn't know they believed in Jesus. Like, you know what I mean? Just basic stuff like this. And I was so interested in the things that I heard that I went and ordered a Quran that night. So I order a Quran that night. I start reading it. And in the next two months, I read like two thirds of the Quran. Like it was like, I was like every free moment I had, I was sent down. I was reading. I was so interested. I was listening to lectures on the way to from work every day. I was watching debates. I start watching the Muslims debate to

Christians now. And, man, I don't know if Muslims just have this particular ability to debate religion, but they are very convincing. You know what I mean? So then I become so curious that I want to visit the local mosque and talk to the brotherhood. But it's Ramadan at the time. It's March. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes. In April, right? So it's Ramadan, and I'm calling the mosque and ain't nobody picking up the phone. I got three phone numbers off their website. Nobody picking up the phone. There's like five minutes from around the corner from my house. And I put it off a couple weeks and then one day I'm just like bro I'm driving up there like I want to know because I'm still reading this Quran still listening to lectures I was like I got to know so I drive to the

local Majid right around the corner from my house it's uh it's early April end of ending of Ramadan and I walk into the the lobby of the mosque and it's dark it's like I thought I was going maybe see somebody at a desk or something and then I see like the doors to the prayer hall and I look into the doors there's people in sleeping bags I said no I said I said I'm not going to wait these folks up it. I said, this ain't for me. So I walk out, I go back to my truck, and I'm going to leave, and I'm like, you got to do it. Like, so I walk back inside, and I knock on the prayer hall doors and don't nobody move an inch. And I was like, all right, it ain't meant to be. And as I'm leaving this time, a minivan pulls up, and it's this woman coming to pick up her son. And

she's like, hey, can I help you? And one thing leads to another. She gets her son out there, son gets the e-mom to me. Me and the imam walk around the courtyard for like, you know, 30 minutes. He's just asking me what I know, you know, what my experience is. Like, why Islam? What's my questions? You know, and he invited me to come back and break fast with the brothers that night at Iftar. And I came back and the way I was treated was so incredible. Like, and also like, I'm like, I don't know nobody in the mosque. So like, it's scary for me to go to a feast where these guys been fasting all day. And I'm like, I'm about to be around a bunch of Arabs that don't know me and look at look at how I look like I tattoo is the way I dress and everything like

like I'm nervous and I got to even force myself to come back that night but bro I came back that night and they showed me so much love they treated me so well um and then they took me into the prayer hall and you know during Ramadan bro it's so many Muslims like it's powerful to see something like that reciting Quran and all that stuff and uh the guy that was that way he was like you want to take your shahada tonight and I said yes and so I took my shahada that was April 6 last year and um it's been good ever since. And my UFC debut was April 19th, and Ramadan was all March. So for my very first UFC fight, all of March, I fasted all daylight hours and still

had that camp and had three weeks to have somewhat of like recovery and a weight cut before I fought camera sign. Wow. As you were training. Yeah. And it was the most sensational performance in my life. And I feel like Islam, bro. You know, so that's like my...

Respect. Back story. Respect. A long story, but that's kind of... Salamalama. my brother al-a-a-a-a-slam and and uh i think you're a big fan of us i'm a macha have you met him no i haven't okay well you will this week i'm nervous i'm nervous you know i mean i'm not okay the whole crew incredible guys like i don't they gonna have that cody garbrand

effect don't me for sure so i'm excited to meet them man uh what a joy you are really thank you uh you have such a great personality such a great spirit and it's so much fun seeing you do your thing we're obviously uh big fans of what you do and really appreciate you coming in honestly I know it was a pain in the butt, but when they told me that you were willing to do it, we were so excited. So thank you so much. When my management told me you was willing to do it, like, because, you know, like I said, I still got that small-minded mentality and personality.

Listen, a couple more fights, you'll be like, nah, I'm not feeling it. I ain't got no time, Ariel. No, I don't think so, brother. I hope you get to that point. I hope you get to that point. Good luck this weekend. Thank you so. Can't wait to see what you do.

If you pull off another right hook knockout, everyone's talking about Walter Walker and his finishing thing with the heel hook you've got that same thing with the right hook I hope you get that Joe Rogan interview I hope you get that pizza what's the topping by the way what's the topping I don't know man maybe cheese maybe chicken

something halal that's true I'm a green olives pineapple guy and people give me crap for this trust me yo the sweet and the sweet and the salty is something don't knock it should I try it would you recommend it to people

are you such a when I talk about it I feel it in my throat. Oh, you know that you're weird. Which are you? No, no, no. It's incredible. It's spiritual. You said, pineapple's and what? Pineapple and green olives, not black, not Calamata. I'm going to try. I'm going to try it. I'm going to try it.

Just let me know. Just let me know. Just let me know. Let me know. You're the man. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Good luck to you. Malcolm Wellmaker. Check him out this Saturday. UFC 322 going up against Cody Hayden. We're going to say goodbye to him very quickly. And then we'll be back to wrap up the show. Do not go anywhere. Okay. That was phenomenal. Great stuff. It's pitch black. outside. How is this happening? We used to do a second show on on Tuesdays, so we were used to pitch black. Malcolm Wellmaker is great. Wait, what is that? Oh, ah, you know what? It took me. It took me to a place. It took me to a place there, Frank.

Frank almost too quick on the trigger with that one. I was like, what, wait, wait, what is going on? I really like that song. The undisputed, what was it, leader in boxing or something? Something like that. That was a parting shot. That will... Oh, Frank. Why? Did we exhaust all the super chats before we go real quick? There's two more. Okay, by the way, how great is Malcolm Wellmaker?

I mean, is he not... How can you not be cheering for him on Saturday? You and him were like two peas in a pot over there, reminiscing. I mean, it's just crazy that he was... He knows your spots. Class of 2012. I was also class of 2012. Go to Georgia Southern.

We're both there at the same time. He lived at the Avenue. I didn't know anyone even knew about the Avenue. You know, it was wild bull. Bullet County Jail, shout out. I feel like we've talked about this, but Walt Clyde Frazier went to Georgia Southern, right? I don't think so. No?

I don't think so, did he? Walt, once again, Walt Frazier. I'd be shocked if that wasn't pushed more there. Southern Illinois. Yeah. It was a, I knew there was a Southern, and I know he's from Atlanta. Okay, so that's where it gets all crazy. Our biggest exports are Young Way, Ku.

kicker. And your boy, Bass, Tyler Bass, went to Georgia Southern. The kicker? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Miss Tyler. All right, Frankie. Last two, what do we go?

What do we got? J.B. says, we've been in the golden era of the show lately in terms of guests, mostly MMA, some boxing, and no wrestling. Also, Frank, add me on Limewire, ASA. Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, I agree. The bad news is we have a wrestling guest tomorrow, but it is a very interesting one.

it's a man by the name of Ridge Holland who's been in the news as of late a little bit of controversy, former WWE guy going to clear the air on some things so I'm looking forward to that chat. Open mind, open mind. But for all the people out there

who say, ah, there's not enough MMA, I would say lately over the last couple weeks, what has it been? Like 95% MMA? If not even more. I mean, the last couple of, the last couple of weeks for sure.

Tomorrow on the program, Ridge Holland is going to join us to clear the air on this stuff. We are also going to be joined by Tim Welch, the Red Hawk. Do we have

his music? No. No, not on demand. Not at the ready. He's going to break down 322 for us.

Talk about a whole bunch of other stuff going on in his life. And we're also going to be joined by my old friend Gareth A.

Davies of the Daily Telegraph and also of Talk Sport. I want to get the temperature of what's going on over in London regarding

this Chris Eubank, Connor Ben rematch, and also talk some 322 with him as well. He's been covering MMA for as long as I've covered MMA and also

has been covering boxing for way longer than that. We've known him for quite some time. Haven't had the warlock on the program, so that's who'll be joining us tomorrow on the show. In addition to that, on the nose, ariawhawani.substack.com. Arialhuwani.substack.com is the place to be for all your questions

regarding on the nose. What else, Frankie? What else? And Chad sends us home with Bill Simmons does something on his Sunday show with Cousin Sal call Parent Corner. Any chance we could get something similar with you and the team? Now, what is Parent Corner? Does anyone know? What are we doing

there? What are we talking about? Is it sort of like life advice? Who's to check? Thanks. As an avid listener, you know, like this is my domain. Bill and Sal both bring stories from their family life. Often, Ben Simmons-related stories are very popular on Parent Corner. Him having done something

that got Bill in trouble or created some kind of issue, there's obviously stories about his daughter as well. And then with Sal, just like the hijinks that he gets into with his family as a prankster himself and all these things. But it's just like kind of funny stories from the family life that are unrelated to the sports. You know, I'm open to anything. I thought that he was going to ask for like a Sunday night. You know, that's like Bill's big thing, the Sunday night. But we do the Saturday post pay-per-view. I feel like that's our version of it. Oh, yeah. But if there's a demand, we're open to it. No, we're not doing a show on

Sunday. No, no, no. I meant the Parent Corner thing. Oh, okay. Parent Corner, yeah. um what else frankie what else that was it no there's actually two more jona friedman said at 2038 i wanted to make sure that you were falling there's a cutoff um at 2038 of episode november 4th 2025 Alex davis said i have an opinion i think that's bullshit should be added to the drop oh yeah you know when i asked them um asked them about derrick moneyberg i think that's bullshit it's not a bad shout from jonah i don't even know what this what is this what is this what this uh this logo next to the symbol next to the 15 i don't think we're looking at the same thing you're looking at so you're going to have to just i don't know what it is uh it's some it's probably

six cents and then one last one from laurence p who gave us $20 from new zealand what is new zealand probably six cents who cares what is it fuck a week super chat for the boys love the show makes my dog shit job 10 times better sorry n z d are so shite what's the 5k group called gc can't find it uh uncrowned on strava go find me on strava and then it's it's in there shout out to that guy i gotta i gotta hit the pavement we love you strava strava yeah i hope they're sponsoring you for all these shoutouts because uh who's to check yeah yeah no they're not they're not well they should not yet not yet good to my heart they should they should um all right uh that is it it's been a great day it's been a long

day. In fact, Frank has a 615 haircut. Why don't we type of every detail? I don't understand. Wait, you actually have a 615 haircut? Oh, yeah. And I said, oh, you're for sure going to be out of here on time. And now that I think about it, during the one hour delay, I feel like that's all he was worried about. Am I wrong? I was like, why did we even talk about this? Because now we know it's going to be a delay. Now, can you make the 615? Yeah, I'll be fine. I won't be able to sit in your car. How much is the late fee? Oh, yeah. I forgot you guys had to do.

the listening session in your car oh that's right we've got to do i called frank yesterday we'll do it tomorrow let's move on you know the audio sounds a little bit comcy cumce he's like why don't we take a spin in your car and we could listen to it together and i was like left the detail out of you were in your car when you told me i was like well why just listen to it on your own and uh we could skip the listening session but then he asked me again and guess what i walked up to that conversation late and you were just like i'm i'm not spinning the block i'm not i'm not getting you know not getting in my car, we're not spinning the block. I was like, what's going on there? He's like, an audio

problem. I was like, you need to, what, fix his car speeders? I don't know what it has to do with the car, but we appreciate the commitment to the job. We appreciate, I just got an email from my son's soccer team saying that they've canceled their practices tonight because of cold temperatures and high winds, and they never cancel anything.

So, Frank, I'm a little bit worried about your trip to the barber. What are we doing? Can you give me a ride to the barber in the car? High in time? Fade? Yeah, we can kill two birds in one stove. There we go to the porpo. This would be perfect.

Malcolm Wellmaker, Muhammad Mikhail, Chris Bedea, all of you, all of them. Thank you. Back to Marseite. Time, this episode. I'm out here.