The Ariel Helwani Show - Massive UFC 315 main event stakes, Jose Aldo's weight struggles, more | The Craic

Episode Date: May 9, 2025

Petesy Carroll is joined by familiar faces Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes to talk all things UFC 315.The lads kick off the show by breaking down the fallout from Jose Aldo’s weight struggles, including how it could impact his chances against Aiemann Zahabi (3:02).After debating whether the tail end of Aldo’s career is being mishandled, Petesy shifts the focus to this weekend’s main event. The trio discuss Belal Muhammad finally earning the respect of the oddsmakers, and whether Jack Della Maddalena is being overlooked as the challenger (20:01).The result of the UFC 315 main event will also determine Islam Makhachev’s next move, so the chaps unpack just how much intrigue his subplot adds to the card (22:55).There’s also plenty of attention on the co-main event. Chuck recaps his conversation with title challenger Manon Fiorot, offering fresh insight into how she sees her clash with Valentina Shevchenko playing out (38:38).Despite the strong matchups, UFC 315 might struggle to fill the arena. The lads weigh in on lackluster ticket sales and whether the UFC is pricing out local fans with steep prices (48:48).To close the show, Petesy touches on Paul Hughes’s homecoming fight against Bruno Miranda, as well as some unfortunate headlines surrounding the PFL (1:01:05).Join us on the bike: avironactive.com/uncrowned

Welcome back to the crack, my beautiful crack heads. It is UFC 315 Fight Week. Bilal Muhammad JDM, they have weighed in. They're looking very svelte, looking very dehydrated, which can only mean they're going to have a fantastic fight in Montreal tomorrow night. Oh, and the stakes that are attached. My Lord, the stakes. Isla Makachev is watching this frothing at the mouth. Will he be a welterweight?

Will he be a lightweight? Will he fight Ilya Toporya on International Fight Week? Or will Ilya fight Charles Olivera it's all up in the air Dana confirmed it last night a lot hinges on this card in Montreal some people are saying they don't quite like it there is some discussion about ticket sales how many asses are gonna be in seats we're gonna talk about all this we have the beautiful Ben folks and the wonderful Chuck Mendenhall there on the show today and obviously we've a lot to get through. There's PFL in Belfast as well this weekend.

I will be there. But unfortunately that means I won't be joining Chuck and Ariel on the post fight show for 315. But believe me, it's going to be a busy one. Before we bring the lads in, let us hear from our fantastic partners over at Avron. Your workout routine shouldn't feel like a grind. That's why Avron makes exercise more fun and easier to stick to using gamification. Yeah, you can play actual video games while you workout. Powered by their award winning Avron World software and paired with industry leading hardware, Avron's rower, bike and treadmill deliver some of the most fun and effective

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Ben, first of all, Montana. Hey, that's beautiful this time of year. Is that correct? You are absolutely correct. Everything is green. The sun is out. Everybody's running around enjoying what feels like a million hours of daylight every day.

And at least for this time period, we get to forget how sad we were just a couple of months ago when it was still winter. A beautiful, beautiful summer tale there from Ben folks. Chuck Mendenhall looking very, very happy. His Denver nuggets still in the playoffs. Wouldn't go that far. Still in the playoffs. I don't know if you caught the last game, Petezee.

Didn't, didn't see it, man. Didn't see it. A little 43 point dr. I don't know if you caught the last game, Pizzi. Didn't see it, man. Didn't see it. Little 43-point drubbing, you know? It's not feeling as good as it did maybe 48 hours ago. But anyway, carry on, carry on. I didn't know that. To be honest, that's really thrown me off my rhythm.

But the setback only makes way for the comeback, as they say, Chuck. And on that team, we had a bit of an old dramatic scene at the weigh in today boys. I don't know if you heard about this. The great Jose Aldo not going to make bantamweight tomorrow. He weighed in at 143, I believe it was. And Eamon Zahabi at 142 on here. Jordan, please check that for me.

I do not have the numbers in front of me, but here we have a very, very drawn out Jose Aldo on the left and a mean mugging. Ariel, sorry, Amon Zahabi on the right. And lads, first of all, I mean, Jose Aldo, this stage of his career, is anyone shocked that he is finally struggling? I know he did the big, hey, he's making this wait easy. This was his weight class the whole time when he first got there. Anyone worried about this situation or is this a bit of tactical master plan

from the genius from Brazil then folks? I don't know. It's never a great sign when you said you were going to make this weight and then you can't that, that always makes us at least wonder, did he have some kind of training injury that prevented him from doing all the cardio he wanted to do, doing all the stuff that he thought would help him get down to weight is his body just not cooperating because he's like 38 and that stuff only gets harder. Let's not forget.

He had some times where making featherweight was a little bit tough for him back during his championship reign. I remember that, that video his team put out once where it showed him struggling to make weight in the hotel room where he's getting covered, laying there on the floor, covered in towels, telling his team, just called them up and tell them I'm not going to make it, man. And they're like, bro, you are the champion. You have to make it.

This is not an option. So he struggled at times to make 145. It wouldn't shock me if at his age, he's struggling to get down to bantamweight. I will say the savvy veteran move in all of this is if you know you're not going to make bantamweight, don't find out Friday morning on the scales and have everybody looking at you askance and have to scramble then. Do it the way Jose Aldo did it. Call him up in the middle of the night to see if your opponent will accept a

change of weight class well in advance. And don't kill yourself all night trying to make it. If you know you're not going to get there to go ahead, get it out in the open at all at once well in advance. So you can kind of rehydrate, get back up to a reasonably healthy weight. And it also makes it seem less like a failure somehow and more like almost a plan. Like that's, that's experience right there is, is not like showing up and missing, telling people in advance, yo, I'm not going to make it.

I mean, they could have had this plan a week ago. They could have been like, yeah, let's not try too hard, but we'll give them that call. It's a weird thing. You know, you're mentioning this, man. I think when he first went down to Bantamweight, one of the biggest concerns was that exact piece of footage you're talking about. Cause you were like, man, he barely could make 145. How on the hell is he going to get down to

bantamweight and that first fight that he had? Um, I think the biggest curiosity was, can he make it? And I think most of us were like, this is a ridiculous thing for him to do anyway. Like if you're going to move, you move up at this point of your career. He somehow made it.

This will blow your mind. I had to look this up. He has now fought at Bantamweight for six years. Jesus. That's as long as his featherweight run from the WEC through the UFC. They're equal distance now. Like he has fought at Bantamweight this long.

Is that crazy to you? It feels like he's, it still feels like an experiment to me that he's trying to get down here. And I mean, honestly, this is the first time I don't recall. Have you, do you recall him having any trouble, um, getting down to 135 on the other fights, 136, because I feel like this is the first time it's been a glaring, um, you know, misstep in his direction where he was nowhere close.

We have that. I can't, I can't recall it, but he also, it almost never happens that a guy goes down in weight late in his career. And it turns out to be a good idea. Usually it's a case where the weight class move is the fighter's false friend. You think that you're getting a clean slate. You think everything's going to be different. All the weight class was a problem all along.

And then you discover, no, that was not the problem. And you're only making things worse on yourself. Like you're right. You never see a guy later in his career, go down and stay down there and have as much success as he has. That was actually the image that Jordan was showing up there just from his first way cut.

And I remember that you, you speaking about that featherweight cut. Do you remember how worried we were when Ariel did this interview for ESPN? Like I would cut myself on that man's jawline right there for that 135. Look how gaunt B Aldo is here. That's six years ago. Gordon Chuck. Was this the first time that him and Zahabi got together in that picture? I'm trying to figure this out here.

What is, what am I looking at? Only one man left the room that day and one day I think he's doing both presenting and fighting, so it's exceptional. But, um, what do you think of that in general? That's the idea that he's gone down and honestly, I know he's had some great nights, he really has had some fantastic performance at pantomime, but when you look at how he's being matched, it's always against like, and I know, look, Zahabi is an older guy, he's younger in his career, he's 37, he's same age as me.

He's that old, but, um, he is considered like young in the sport. He's an up and comer and he,'s that old. But he is considered like young in the sport. He's an up and comer. And you constantly feel like they're using Aldo's name to make one of these new guys. Like it feels like that's every step of the way. Jonathan Martinez, Batista last time out, Font, he's been through, Marab, he's fought, everyone, Yan. Is this a weird choice to make this late in your career, Chuck? To be this guy chuck to be this

guy, to be like the fodder essentially for a young gun, even though he has had a lot of victories in those circumstances. It's very unusual. You know, the aerial was talking to Dustin Poirier and one of the reasons he's like, quantum had been contemplating retirement, then he's like, you know what, man, I'm hanging them up this summer after this last fight with Holloway is that he comes to the realization, like I'm still three fights away now from a title. I don't know if I want to go through all of that, you know, the camps,

be away from my family. It's just kind of like a practical approach to a situation, right? The circumstance. You understand that we've never quite understood what Aldo's doing. I think when he went down originally, that was the plan, but I think he lost like the first fighter to it it Bantamweight, even though there were close fights, he went on a little run, then he's lost again. He's, it's kind of been up and down.

Now this fight's not even at Bantamweight, it's at featherweight. So you're like, from his perspective, you're almost like, well, what, what does a win get him here? Um, and what is the ultimate plan? If it's the UFC's plan to basically get these guys over kind of like they did with Gutierrez, uh, against Edgar or those types of fights, it hasn't really worked. Like all those kind of, he's still, he's still there enough to kind of, um, you know, disrupt all of that, but then you're like, if it's from all those.

Point of view, you're like, what are we trying to accomplish? So I ran a, I did a column today that should run at some point here about this. And Ben, I don't know if you were in Toronto for UFC 129 when they had all the champions up on stage together and Aldo was front and center with these guys. And I remember just arguing with like media, like who, which one of those guys will lose first?

Because it was almost inconceivable that any of them would lose. They were that good. And so far, you know, ahead of their fields at that time. And yeah, I mean, it was just young enough where there's guys who aren't as well put together to come up after them. It was one of those rare moments.

And of all those guys, I kind of ran down like what happened to most of them. And then you've got Aldo, who at this juncture of his career, what'd you say, he's 37? He'll be like 38 in September, I think. I think so. Fighting these guys who were kind of middle of the pack guys. And you're like, I don't quite know what's happening with all of this, man.

But to me that is, it ends up becoming a little bit of his intrigue is you're like, what, what is going on with this guy? Like, what is he trying to accomplish at this point of his career? He's, um, like that, that, that picture that you brought up there, Chuck, if I'm not mistaken, when that was taken, a won 29, I believe you said, wasn't Aldo going through a horrific course that day and he had to leave the stage. Yes, he was, uh, he was going through that. He was very grumpy.

Um, and, and obviously like that was one of his, uh, one of those big moments, right? Because he put the big bump on hominics head and all that stuff. But crazy. Yeah. He was, he was the only, him and GSP, who was the other guy. And then I think that's why they

brought him together. He had two of the, two of the six, I think. And, but at the time, man, that just seemed like such a collection of champions. It just felt like the big, it would never get better than that moment.

You know? Ben, does this give him, and I could go either way. You can look at this one of two ways. Does this give him a better chance of winning this way? Like say it is now it depends on this. Was it the old, the experienced wildcat switcheroo or was it in fact, I'm dying on these scales and I don't want to fight like, like which way are you looking

at this? Do you think this gives Aldo a better chance given that he has fought a 45 a lot, obviously the champion, one of the great 45ers of all time, or is this just worrying in general? Well, a lot depends on the why. If it was an injury that kept him from making the weight, as we've sometimes seen, especially from guys who normally don't miss weight. And a lot of times it'll be a training injury that has hindered their weight cut.

And if that's the case, then yeah, you don't, your chances don't get better if you go into the fight. Hurt. But if it was just his body's not quite cooperating because he's 38, he'll be, he'll be 39 in September, according to Wikipedia, then that might be a different thing, especially if you recognize early enough, I'm not going to make it.

Let's not bring ourselves to the brink of death in order to try to make it. And you allow you to kind of go in heavier. Cause we've seen a lot of times where the guy who doesn't make the weight. Tends to do pretty well in the fight because he tends to come in with a little bit of an advantage is he did not deplete himself all the way to get there. And I don't know. I think he isn't such a weird place in his career at this point because the UFC kind of knows one thing to do with guys like Jose Aldo, where

he is now aware they're of a certain age. They have a name, they're a former champ, but you don't necessarily see them being a future champ. And so the thing the UFC knows to do with those guys is use them to get some shine to rub off their name onto another guy who is going to be around a guy who's younger, who has more tomorrows than he does yesterday. That's what they typically do. And they tried to do it with Jose Aldo some, except the problem is he can still

show up and win a lot of these fights because he's still really, really good. And yet what kind of fights can you put him in if he's not out here talking about like, I'm going to do one or two more and I'm hanging him up. He's out there looking like he might fight until he's 45, if you let him. And he's still commanding probably pretty good pay. You don't want to just put them in nothing kind of fights. You want them to be valuable for you, the promoter somehow. And yet you also don't see a future where he's charging up the ranks. You already kind of gave him those opportunities and he couldn't

quite get there at Bantamweight. And so it seems like we're just sort of in a holding pattern and nobody knows quite what to do with him because a lot of the fans are looking at him like, Hey, this is still Jose Aldo. I still know who this is. And you're treating his fights like they are just some fights. And in fact, to that point, man, I think I looked this up at some point, but like in the set of like seven plus years, he has been in, I think a dozen fights and

he's always kind of in this role. He's not a headliner, I think only once. And that was an apex card where he had minded it. He's been more cast into co-mains or the kind of swing bouts like we're seeing right now, kind of bang for your buck for the, uh, the pay reviews and things like that. So it's almost like they're still, you know, you plug in Josie Aldo, I, well, he got a legend on the card as well.

You know, you talk about the two big fights always, and then it's like, Oh, and then you got Josie Aldo. You know, it's kind of in that situation, isn't it? Where they kind of can, uh, you know, milk, milk, whatever's left of that career and keep plugging in into these, uh, these situations. So happy was like 136.8 when he stopped. I saw he sent a video to Ariel earlier there today. Ariel had been tweeting about the situation.

Uh, he got more money for this as he told TSN, Aaron Bronceter, uh, shortly afterward, very awkward. I believe he, uh, described the situation as, um, who are you picking lads? Just before we move on to the, to the main, if you had to pick right now, given the information, or lack of our picks on uncrowned, I saw that just now, uh, went out on Twitter, so it's out to the world. We didn't have this information. I know.

That's what I mean. So like, who did you take and who would you take now? I guess is this is the question, right? I, I took Aldo and when I came on the call before we started, we went live today, I was like, can I change this? How do I change this is the question, right? I took Aldo and when I came on the call before we started, we went live today, I was like, can I change this? How do I change this? Then I was saying this to Chuck thinking he had picked the same and you're like, no, I picked the happy and I'm trying to change it.

So I'm as confused as a motherfucker right now. We should just put an X through this fight and not even consider it. Like we should just push it to the side. No, I picked Aldo and I have a little bit of a concern now, just because I don't know what might have caused him to miss weight and how that might impact. But there's just, you never know exactly what's behind that. When a guy tells you he's not going to make the weight.

There is a part of me though. I would rather pick Aldo and be wrong. Then to sit here and pick against Aldo and be right. Maybe that's just the old head in me. Maybe that's just because I remember. Skumbag Chuck. Skumbag. New from you picking up Zahabi by the way.

No scouples here. As a gentleman of a certain age myself, I don't feel right picking against Jose Aldo, it feels like I would be abandoning my roots. And then like, imagine how bad I'd feel if I was like, no, Jose, I don't got it anymore. And then he comes out there and he wins. I would, I would be like, like Daniel Plainview and there will be blood shouting how I've abandoned my boy. I'm not willing to risk that. Oh man.

I like that take. I'm just going to inherit that take from Ben. If you don't mind. That's how I feel as well. See, I, I worried the to inherit that take from Ben. If you don't mind. That's how I feel as well. See, I, I worried the other way that it wasn't like that we miss some kind of injury, but that he just didn't miss some meals, you know what I mean? And now he's just going to show up and he's going to be in the vintage form.

And, uh, he's going to go right through as a hobby. So I wanted to change it because a lot of times when these guys miss weight, um, you know, they're there, we, we scrutinize them at the end because, uh, they're celebrating, you're like, bro, you missed weight by, you know, eight pounds. What are you doing? Like this always, we do this all the time because the person usually wins who egregiously misses weight. So I wanted to change it for that reason alone, but I have to say, man, when we

were looking at all the pics on this, I originally had Aldo, and then I was like, I realized I had all the favorites and I'm like, well, which one of these can I switch? And that was the only one that I was like, I realized I had all the favorites and I'm like, well, which one of these can I switch? And that was the only one that I was like, I could see that happening, you know? So that's why I kind of went with it. Now it's like, it's, it's the reverse. I feel like I made a mistake here. It is always a tricky question, isn't it?

When you miss weight or when, you know, you, you come in well over weight, especially, and you have to do the standing on the scales. Let's take your picture now moment. And it's like, what do you do? been well overweight, especially, and you have to do the standing on the scales. Let's take your picture now moment. And it's like, what do you do? Do you, do you still hit the double eyes pose? Like you're just like, you know, like some people when they make the way, yeah, when they make the way they're so ecstatic about it, you're ripped.

You're, you look, you know, just absolutely shredded and they're on there flexing and screaming everything while we're taking their photo, but it's like, you can't really be celebrating when you didn't make the weight. And so it's like, sometimes we've seen people get up there and hit, hit the frowny face where they're just like, I'm sorry. I know. You know, or they just stand there frozen or like they still do all the same normal stuff that they would do. It's, it's a tricky question of etiquette.

Like how do you want to present yourself while standing on the scale? You could create a whole, you didn't make it. You could create a whole scale of emojis based on that on Calvin, Calvin Gastelum's times on the scale. Like all the different times. It's like all the different things he tried to do, like, ah, do I flex? You know, he tried, he went through the gamut, didn't he? Yeah.

I've seen people do the hit the shrug. They're like, what are you going to do? Like it's what happens. And like, or just to hit you with a sad puppy dog eyes. We're like, I'm sorry. Trying. Do you reckon his coach said to him before? I went, not too excited.

Okay. I'm sad. Let's not. Keep it level. It's also like when you talk about a guy who maybe just didn't miss many meals. That's also another thing I relate to as a gentleman of a certain age. Sure. You get, you get to a point as a gentleman of a certain age. Sure. You get, you get to a point and you're like, yeah.

Do I want to have six pack abs or do I want to enjoy my life? Or six pack. This is a fantastic, I've never talked about that before in my life. And we do have a big main event that a co-main event to talk about. And of course the, uh, the stakes have been established finally. never thought about that before in my life. We do have a big main event and a co-main event to talk about. And of course the, the stakes have been established. Finally, I feel like I was talking to Ariel about this yesterday. I was like, do you know how many times me, Ben and Chuck have done a show with a thumbnail with Ilya Topuri and fucking Islam Makashev on it?

And we're just like, I don't know. Is it, is it gonna? Who knows? We still actually don't know if it's gonna happen, but Dana has suggested, and I believe on air Jordan has a quote here from yesterday's press comments, there's a lot of moving parts right now, and yeah, that's pretty accurate.

And that was what he said when he was asked if Islam's next move will be determined by this main event. Of course we know, well, people seem to think that if Bilal wins, he will stay at lightweight, will fight Ilya Tupuri at International Fight Week. If it's JDM, he will go up. I don't know if he likes Bilal that much, but that certainly seems to be the situation that we're in right now. I was talking to Chuck about this during the week then, and I said, like, the subplot is actually more interesting than the card here to an extent where like,

I'm finding it, I'm excited to see what happens on the other side of this. Not so much of who will win, but who is Islam going to fight? That probably isn't the greatest thing to say about a fight card, but am I alone in that feeling? Yeah, no. And that's a really weird place to be at for a fight like this, where you're looking at Bilal Mohammed's first welterweight title defense. And to me, I think it's an interesting part of the stakes all on its own, just

to see a lot of people seem like they still don't buy Bilal as welterweight champion or as the best welterweight in the world. Like nobody really denies that he won that Leon Edwards fight, but everybody is still looking at him like, I don't know. And it's going to take a couple title defenses. You could argue that maybe this one even, whether he wins or not, whether he even looks great and finishes JDM, maybe that one still won't do it. Just because people are like JDM is kind of a replacement. This is one of the rare fights where Bilal opens and closes as a favorite.

It hasn't been that way since he fought Demian Maia, I think. Wow. Yeah. Like he, he, people just don't really believe they haven't believed he, that's why he had to take kind of the long way to get to the title shot in the first place. He seems to have kind of made his peace with that's just how it's going to be until you win enough of these fights that people are forced that they are dragged kicking and screaming to admit that Bilal Muhammad is the best well-to-way on the

planet. But it seems strange, especially for him. I kind of asked him about that when we talked like, isn't it awkward a little bit that you and Islam, you know, you guys are friends or at least friendly. You've been training partners in the past and he's sitting around being like, friends or at least friendly, you've been training partners in the past. And he's sitting around being like, Hmm, Belong might lose this one. And therefore I will, then I will take that opportunity to get up and snatch his chair.

Uh, and he said, you know, Hey, I told them, don't wait. There's no point in waiting around to see what happens. I'm going to win this fight. There's no way I don't win it. So go ahead and make your decision about who you're going to fight right now. And to me, it's crazy that we're even sitting around talking about this. Ilya Toporya and Islam Mahatchev have the ability to go out there and have a huge mega fight that makes everybody a bunch of money. And here we are sitting about, sitting around talking about whether we would

like a huge mega fight that makes everybody a bunch of money. It's a no brainer. I don't know why it's even a discussion. I guess it's all Islam just wanting to, instead of fighting another feather way, either fight a lightweight or go up and wait himself, but come on. It's this one is a gimme. It's a two foot putt and people are out here like trying to screw it up and making an awkward situation at welterweight.

I don't understand it. If this doesn't make Bilal the, the rooting interest of the nation and of the building and at the bellweight. I don't understand it. If this doesn't make Bilal the rooting interest of the nation and of the building and at the Bell Center, I don't know what will. Like at this point, you'd be like, if this doesn't give people incentive to root for him, I'm not sure if that exists then. Like he's, he's never going to have a fan base that way. I mean, yeah, they've set this up.

And I'm glad they did honestly, because I don't think that we've ever carried like an assumption or a presumption this far into a fight where you're like, you're not sure the stakes they're so, you know, they hinge one way or the other. Like we, fortunately we were correct. A lot of times the UFC will throw like a monkey wrench into things, um, towards the end of something like that. And it's not even the case. Whatever you think is going to happen is not even going to happen.

I do like that. I think it's fun. It's this weird added wrinkle, but I do think that you are, it's, you're facing what Ben was saying, an anticlimactic kind of end to JD. Like if he wins, right? Like you, now you're talking about an anticlimactic beginning to a new era. Like he's going to get up there. And if that's the dawning realization is that, oh no, now Islam's going, you know,

I know some people dig that there are people who dig this. I was talking to Luke Thomas and the other guys over there and they, they, they liked that at least Luke did. He liked that idea of seeing, um, of seeing Islam go up. But I'm like, I just want to see this fight first, you know, I just want to see before we do anything, I'd like to see him fight Ilja while that thing is at, you know, you have two of the best pound for pound guys in the world sitting right there.

I'd like to see that fight before we carry on. Yeah. It's, it's, it's like so perfect for international fight week. Like it's a massive fight. It's just, I'm like the areas of the world, the markets, it will stimulate as well, like it's not just an American thing. It'll be Spain, Georgia, Russia, so much historical connotation. So many people with so much skin in the game watching this fight.

Illya the size. If it ends up being, I love Charles Olivera and it's shit that it's, I have to put it like this, but if it did end up being Illya v. Charles, you'd be devastated. This cara has been dangled since January. You know, we've been we've been like, this is happening since January. And then, as you said, I haven't even thought about that situation with JDM winning and most being like, ah, fuck.

Cause JDM is a fucking savage man. He's a savage fighter. He's a very local guy. Does not speak a lot. I will say that much, but I really like him. I think we need more quiet champions. You know what I mean? Like guys who don't say much.

Yeah, right. So we actually have the way in footage earlier. Let's look at their banging bodies. If we can Jordan, you know, I like to see myself some weighed in gentlemen. Oh yeah. So gone to yet to put the glasses on. There's your champion. Yeah.

Bilal Muhammad one 70 and there's Jack just not even hanging around for the picture. Fuck this. I made the way no one. I didn't sign anything that said I had to stand here for an extra five seconds to take a picture for you. Yeah. He looks like a, like a 10 year old kid who's been made to go to swimming lessons.

And he's just like, oh, 100%. That's what he was like standing on the edge of the pool being like, all right, let's get it over with. Did you see it? He has some magic moments. Like, I mean, did you see Mike Bond asked him about his nose? I thought it was one of the funniest fucking moments I've ever seen in my life. Bond's like trying to have a bit of crack with him and he probably

just gets it a bit wrong, you know? He's like, Oh yeah, you're going to get that nose fixed. Um, if you get the big win this weekend and JDM just looks at him and was like, Oh yeah, my nose. looks at him and was like, Oh yeah, my nose. I'm sure it's been brought to his attention before that his nose looks like it is trying to smell a pie baking in the other rooms. I can't say shit. My nose looks around corners too.

You know, I've known enough fighters who had messed up noses and they'll tell you, you go to the doctor and you're just like, can you fix this? And the doctor's like, well, are you going to continue to maybe get punched in it? If so, there's really no point to fix it. Like wait until you're done, fix it then. And until then, you know, at least when you're going through customs and you tell them you're here because you're a professional fighter and you're fighting at an event this weekend, they don't have a hard time believing you. You know, they look at that nose and they're like, yep, that's a professional fighter and you're fighting at an event this weekend. They don't have a hard time believing you.

You know, they look at that nose and they're like, yep, that's a professional fighter. Yeah. I love him. I love his nose. You know, I'm not generally squeamish when it comes to like, dude, you watch the fight game long enough, you're most things, people see a gash in somebody's head. I'm like, I don't even, I, even if you can see the skull, I'm like, oh, look, you can see the skull, you know, like it doesn't really bother you.

But there's something about a guy who keeps getting his nose smashed in. And like you think about it in little pieces that it bothers me, man. And then like, so it's a constant reminder, right? That he's had his nose bashed in a few times. And that's good for Mike Bond trying to see if he had a sense of humor about it, I guess, but he did not read it. And it was fucking hilarious for his brand of comry. Maybe he was laughing inwardly.

I was, I was laughing hysterically to be honest, just at the whole silence and the awkwardness of like, right, let's move it on to, um, take downs. You know, after this nose question, but, uh, here's the thing. He is a tough bastard. I love how he fights. I love this fight against burns. Um, he is a real fucking, uh a front foot fighter, like a striker. He hurts people. He hurts the body, hurts the legs.

He is a savage. He goes after it. And look, when I think about the Leon Edwards fight, I was there in Manchester, man. You were dying for that guy to just fucking, like you are behind in the scorecards, Leon. Let's fucking go. Let's tear into this guy. Like, you know, let's make this a fight. I don't think we're going to need JDM to have the same kind of encouragement.

I think he's going to do it from the start. Will that play into Bilal's hands? We'll have to wait and see. But Ben, I saw in your article that Bilal thinks he's going to break him. That face looks like people have tried to break that man many times and they have not succeeded. Yeah. Well, and I think one of the things he was saying basically is JDM has one path

to victory, he needs to keep it standing with me and beat me with strikes. Whereas Balal believes he has a few more opportunities and especially, I think Balal is looking at it and going, I've been in some of these battles, I can go and fight at my pace and my style for five rounds. No problem. Can you match that? Like if you can't get me out of there and you have to deal with me in your face coming at you for five rounds, uh, is it just going to wear on you?

Because you haven't really been there before. You haven't been in those kinds of fights before. And that clearly, he said, I, you know, I think the experience is the, the lack of experience in those kinds of fights is going to hurt him here. And I will be interested to see how that plays out. If, if you get to round three and four and Bilal is just right in your, your kitchen, he's not giving you any space to work, you're constantly fending off those takedowns.

Do you start to see JDM get that look we've seen before, especially for some people against Bilal where they go, Oh, here we go again. You know, like another round of this. And I think he, Bilal is absolutely willing to have that kind of fight, ugly grinding in close, not terribly exciting for the fans, but very much to his strengths and you gotta find some way to create some space if you're JDM and, and not get into that battle. Cause we've seen before you spend your entire time stopping the other guy

from doing what he wants to do. You don't get enough of an opportunity to do the stuff you want to do. And if you do go have to go to a decision that way, it's tough to win on the scorecards. You don't think we're going to see those Canelo hands that he's been talking about, like he's going to stand there from range and trade. Not going to see that. I do not.

Did he not mention Canelo hands to you during this interview? He did not say the phrase Canelo hands. I think I would remember it if he had. I also think I would have had a hard time keeping a straight face if he had, I think of all the things. You were preoccupied by the towel thrown over his shoulder and the bare chest, weren't you? Like that.

That was pretty sweet. That's I tell you what, I, cause I, my daughter was asking me afterwards, I was like, hold on real quick, I got to interview the welterweight champion of the world and she's just sort of like what? And then afterwards. That's my fault by the way, PT. It's my fault that he ended up in the situation.

I know, I know. What the fuck happened there, Chuck? What the fuck, man? Just miscommunication with myself, you know, I'm the situation. I know, I know. What the fuck happened there, Choke? What the fuck, man? Just miscommunication with myself, you know, I'm not communicating. Jesus Christ, dude. But I told her afterwards, I was just like, yeah, I had the interview and she was just like, well, what was he like? And I was like, he wasn't wearing a shirt.

And she was just like, what? And as I get it, just throwing a towel over the shoulder, like he's AC Slater, uh, you know, in an episode of Saved by the Bell. And, uh, it was, I thought it was an interesting way to go with it, but of all the aspects of this fight I'm looking forward to and the things that I am looking forward to about this fight. Never in my brain has the phrase like you might get to see those Canelo hands from the wall, like that has not come up for me.

I think that's just a little like, uh, you know, look over here while I do this to you type of tactic. Because honestly, man, the, what you're mentioning, like with JDM, especially like it's really the intangible weird, it's the weird parts of the fight, like it's in the scrambles or in 50, 50 weird situations where he may do something. And I guess that that's where, like, obviously we know he's got, um, finishing power, like he, we know he has these things, we know he's a dog, but it's like, where is he going to get that opportunity? Um, I was, you know, in that, what was it?

The guy's name, Hafez, the dude who stood in, uh, like on pretty short notice. And he got, he, he took JDM down like three times and held him, you know, had control for almost eight minutes. And you look at stuff like that, you're like, uh, Burns had him down seven times. I think seven takedowns. Those things, if you're ball all, and you have all these different ways to fight. I'm sure that you're looking at this, like, if I get into any trouble, I know exactly what I'm going to do, right? Like you're going to put yourself into an advantageous situation.

And I guess if that's an inevitability, what does JDM do? Because obviously he came out of the Burns fight and got this title chance because he was able to persevere and win it. Um, and I think that that's the kind of fighter he is. It's a little bit unpredictable as to like, if it starts to go different places, if he's not winning a fight, you don't count him out. Like if a pattern is established, I'm not going to count him out. Unless for some reason we see that he's compromised along the way, or that, that

look that Ben pointed out where you see, um, where he's just defeated, but honestly, that's kind of the fun of it. It's the extra dimensions he brings to this fight. You know, you get a good point though, Chuck, like that sometimes in scrambles, in transition games, JDM can do some stuff where you're like, huh, I didn't, I did not know you had that in there. I was not familiar with your game. You know, like that, that kind of stuff, like he has some of those moments

where you're just like, so that's in the toolbox, huh? I, I'm, I'm impressed and I'm surprised. But then it seems like part of what comes with that is that sometimes he will do stuff where you're just like, that's, did you make that up right now, because there's a reason that, that people don't do that, you know? Like, so there, there's a, there's both sides to that, to his game, but that does make him a little bit unpredictable and a little bit tough to, to gauge for Bilal who's just like, you can't necessarily rely on I'm going to

do this, he's going to do this, and then I'm going to go to my counter. Like, cause you know, sometimes he'll just try some stuff, it seems. And he's, he's a good enough athlete that he can make it work. Do you know what's really interesting about this whole dynamic where Bilal is saying he hasn't had a test like mine. He's completely correct. And at welterweight, it's so different than it used to be because to be the champion previously, you had to usually go through both

Colby Coventon and Usman who are predominantly wrestlers. You look at Ian Gary, Shavkat and JDM's record. They haven't fought any elite wrestlers because there isn't any real elite wrestlers at the top of that, the food chain there. Now I know obviously Usman's hanging around. Colby's really not at the dance, but I mean, uh, Rachmanoff, I think his hardest wrestler he probably fought was preserves in his debut. Um, as far as JDM is probably the guy that he went to split decision with that.

I can't think of his name right now. Chuck, you just mentioned him two seconds ago. Gary. Yes, Gary hasn't fought anyone like that. You know, that guy is like, I'm coming out to take you down immediately. Like we already know what's going to happen here, but you're going to have to deal with it. Bilal is that guy now in the division. Like there isn't any kind of, well, Brady, I'd say as well, but there hasn't, like just for those guys in particular, JDM, Ian and Shavkat,

I don't think they have a test like Bilal until they fucking get to Bilal. And then it's like, oh, holy shit, I haven't, I haven't had one of these in a while. You know, I think that's such an advantageous position for him to be. The bookmakers have him as a substantial favorite Chuck. The odds of an upset here, as far as you're concerned, do you give JDM a good chance of upset in the apple cart? I mean, I give him a decent chance based on those things we were mentioning. Um, it, let's not discount to, that I think he's 28 years old.

This is a guy who's just coming into his peak. And some of the things that, uh, you know, Ben was talking about where you're like, Hey, what are you kind of doing? I would hope that him and his team can look at stuff like that and be like, Hey, let's, let's avoid doing this. And, you know, you sharpen, you sharpen the tools as you go. Um, I wouldn't be a bit surprised. You know, this is what's kind of crazy about it.

I do, I do see the line exactly as it should be, but I wouldn't be surprised if JDM was able to go in there and win. I mean, would you guys, I think that that's the type of fight it is. He's that kind of fighter. If he goes in there and does you like, well, this is just another one. Um, in the era of JDM, like he's able to put these strange things together and he finds a way to win. Um, so I, I don't know how exactly, I think it

would favor him to do it earlier in the fight than later, but yeah, I think that he, he does have a chance to win this fight. Yeah. If he gets to him early, I think that that could be his best chance. Also he needs to have the fight at a certain kind of range.

Cause if you, I think that we've seen before, if you can keep Balal on the outside, you can have some success against Balal. It's just that I think that as we've seen the years go by, Balal has learned that as well and he is not going to let you keep him there. And so that's where his aggression, his pace, his forward movement really help him a lot. And I also think though, that if JDM goes out there and wins this, it's not impossible for me to imagine. I feel like I could picture a path to victory for him, but also when you

look at who he's beaten on his way here, it would be such a huge leap to go from any of the people that he's fought and beat in the UFC to then beating Balal. Who seems like he's really on a roll right now. It's not to say that it couldn't happen, but I don't know if there's a ton of actual evidence in the fights that we've seen against the kind of opponents we've seen to think that, you know, this is the logical next step as JDM goes in here and beats Balal. Do you think this whole Islam thing and you know this determining what

his next move is do you think that's kind of overshadowed the fight to the point where people aren't given it the respect of the Zarev's joke like this is like you know are people underselling this as a as a good fight or are they accurately saying? I feel like it almost adds something to it to be honest man I mean I don't know if Islam is not part of this, right? Like if he's just not part of this, they've already, he's got the Ilya fight all signed up. What would the level of interest, like the level of interest, would it be the same?

Would it be less? Would it be more? I think that it probably would be less in the end. People would probably talk about this pay-per-view a lot worse if there weren't some element like that hovering over it. Yeah. It's obviously, it's just one of two title fights. The great Valentina Shevchenko is in action against Manon Fiyero.

Fiyero the favorite going into this one. And a lot of people shocked by that Valentina, obviously one of the greatest female fighters of all time. There she is on the scales compliments of On Air Jordan, who was not on vacation. And there is Manon Fiyero. Look at that. She is doing the snarly tooth face right there, Ben, as you referenced earlier. It's a, it's a power move on the scale.

You understand the women on the thing, but when the men are up there, you're like, look at this specimen. Well, that's, it's my, that's my prerogative. But Chuck, you talk to Manon. She seems like a really nice person. I, every time I see her being interviewed, like she looks, seems so cool. Like she always has a really cool clobber on. Like she's always like, you know, she says the right things.

A lot is being lost, of course, with French being our first language. Not in Canada though. But, um, what do you think, how do you think she feels about this being the favorite against one of the greatest legends of sport ever seen? She looks like she's from Montana. She's always got like the snowboarding gear on and stuff like that. Ben, Ben, though, he's seen that. But, uh, I think she feels like she told me that she was a little surprised.

And if you, have you guys ever talked to him and on like, have you interviewed her? I mean, obviously there's a lot lost in translation or not said, and she doesn't really give you a lot. Um, I got that impression reading your story that she doesn't give you a lot. She doesn't give you a lot. Um, I got that impression reading your story. She doesn't give you a lot to work with. And a lot of it is just kind of rehashing what she just said. So, um, there, there's going to be a weird dynamic there, but I think that on that particular question, she, she basically was saying like, I am, I am surprised because she was in implying that, you know, the lines are based on

the public, the public perception and the way that people see it and want to bet it. Um, and I think that she thinks that maybe she's not as exposed, right? As Valentina, who's had this long celebrated career. So she was on those levels, but she's like, if you just look at the last three fights we both had, I'm clearly more dominant than she has been. And I'm like, well, that is also true. So I think that she understands that she's a bit surprised that the public would see it that way. Um, but if you really look at it, I believe that that line is correct.

And I would say this because I think she's had seven fights in the UFC. She's lost exactly two rounds. And that was one of them was to, uh, Rose Nama-Yunus and one of them was to, uh, Shakaegin. That's it. The rest of the time she's either dominant, she had a couple of finishes early. And what she did to Aaron Blanchfield, I, I, I think them was to a Rose Nama Eunice and one of them was to a Chicago. That's it. The rest of the time she's either dominant. She had a couple of finishes early and what she did to Aaron Blanchfield. I, I, I keep mentioning this because it was, to me, it was quietly one of the

biggest, most impressive things that happened last year to go into somebody's backyard, which was showcased. It was a showcase moment for Aaron Blanchfield. They were trying to get her ready for a title fight, having it in New Jersey to go in there and just shut down all of that, all of the festivities and make it about her. That was a very, very, it was like 50 to 45 across the scorecards. It was a very, very, uh, big moment for her.

So I think the line is accurate. I think that she's the one to beat in this fight. Well, the line, the part about the line that I wondered was how much of that is people being really hot on Minoan Furio and how much of it is people saying Valentina has fallen off and think either because of what they've actually seen from her or because they look at her age and the miles on the tires and think this is where she should be falling off. 37, right?

Yeah. This is about the time. Uh, and especially as long as she's been at or near the top, having these five round fights, grinding out, being very active, isn't this where we should start to see a decline and when you look at some of her recent fights, you know, there was that time where she was an incredibly dominant and scary champion in the division and she hasn't been that for a while, you know, she, she started to look a little more mortal where it was just like,

okay, here you go into one where we're expecting you to have another runaway title defense and you just squeak by with a split decision, you know, you'll lose one to Alexa Grasso, you fight to a draw, then you just kind of have one where you get the title back by taking her down and holding her there. It doesn't exactly look like the Valentina of old. And I think especially you look at her style. She's really good when she can bully you, when she fights smaller fighters and she can really push them around.

And it seems like just when you look at them side by side, that she might have a tougher time doing that against Furio. Especially since Blanchfield could not. Blanchfield bullied everybody to that point. So I mean, you're right. It's just all the, all the recent evidence points one way or. I also did appreciate in your story, Chuck,

where Fioreo said that she found the French Canadians accent very funny. Yes. Yeah, she did point that out. That's hilarious. Isn't it? That's something about the French. I always wonder about that.

They let you know what they think of your French. They, they, they are not hesitant to let you know. Have you guys been to Montreal or up into Quebec at all? Like, because you hear them speaking French Something about the French. They'll let you know what they think of your French. They, they, they are not hesitant to let you know. Have you guys been to Montreal or up into Quebec at all? Like, because you hear them speaking French and they immediately switched English when they hear you like even attempted, you know, but, but I'm always, I always wonder, I'm like, so what happens if it's a Frenchman? Do they, is it like, are these like bumpkins or something?

Like the French, the French come over and they're like, who are these people? You know, I was wondering about them. I just respect them for being able to do it so seamlessly. Cause you walk into a McDonald's in Montreal and they greet you by saying bonjour, hi, like pick one, either one doesn't matter. I can go either way. And I always say mushy, mushy. And I just see what happens.

That's amazing. Curb balls. Oh, we'll have to, I'll have to experience this. So I had a friend who, uh, who worked in Montreal for a little while in a restaurant and he, he, he had no idea. This man moved to Quebec and taught. They just all spoke English there. And then he gets a job in a restaurant like, Oh, you have to learn a

whole new language, buddy. And he did it. If you go up to Quebec city, it's like, it feels like you're in France. It's like, you know, it's like old buildings and, um, everything's in French. I mean, it's just, uh, it feels like you're out there somewhere. It's like, you know, it's like old buildings and, um, everything's in French. I mean, it's just, uh, it feels like you're out there somewhere. It's crazy. Um, you know, it's, it's funny with Manon because I feel like the circumstance is the perfect situation to kind of summon vengeful Valentina.

Joan Valentina has a chip on her shoulder. She gets so fucking pissed off. She is so angry. She's like, I cannot fucking believe you think that this person is going to beat me. But I think it's something disarming about my mom where she can't really get into it too much. Cause like, but I was like, yeah, whatever. This is, this is great looking forward to it. I think I'm going to win. She's not giving it enough zeal. She's not like you, Valentina, you're shit.

I'm quality. You are going to get fucked up on Saturday night. She likes, she wants something coming back. I can tell that there is a lot of neck between them, but I just can't get that same. I don't feel as though it's the same Valentina we've seen previously. And honestly, I feel sorry for her because there's so much talk about a potential fight with Zhang here and Zhang is unbelievable. And Valentina is obviously unbelievable. And of course, we have seen Valentina go up and not work out well.

And she'll tell you she was robbed very, very close fight with Amanda Nunes. But it feels like she's finally getting that opportunity to like, look at me beating another champion. Of course, it'd be Zhang coming up this time. But here comes Manon Fierro. But it almost never works. Whenever we have these scenarios, it feels like we'd never get to that. Right. Like that type of person always loses in this spot.

And then imagine we come out with this event, fucking JDM is the champion. Um, so, so is Islam, Islam's going to fight him and then Manon's the new champion. So it's like, all right, we're not going to do Valentino V. John. This could be like one of the most depressing post-fight situations ever. Like, you know, it could be like, oh, we had all these beautiful sweeties in front of us and now we can't eat any of them. Well, I mean, the, the lesson that I think that fight promoters have learned over

and over again and need to remember is when you have an opportunity to make big fights, make them, don't think about how you'll make them six months from now. After a couple of things fall into place. Make them now. Now, now we'll never come again to quote Jean-Luc Picard from one of my favorite Star Trek TNG episodes. You just got to go for it. One of my favorite philosophers as well. Yeah.

That is a great fucking line though. I've never heard that before. I'm a little bit. True. Holy shit. True. It applies to the guy that you're going to talk to. I know it's not quite right time for the segue, but this is a Paul Hughes thing too,

right? Like if you can't get the Nomaga made-off thing, it's like, now you're, now you're rolling the dice. Yeah. We will discuss Paul Hughes and the big Belfast party that no one in America seems to know is happening, but we will talk about that. There's a lot going on in America. There is a lot going on.

There is. You got, congratulations on the Pope lads. You won. Congratulations. Thanks. Yeah. I know we all feel that as a lot going on. There is. Congratulations on the Pope, lads. You won. Congratulations. Thanks. Yeah. I know we all feel that as a very deeply personal victory

for us in America. I was thinking, I was going to text Ben as soon as I got the news because I was telling him that I was actually, I was in the running for the papacy there just the other day. I don't think he believed me, though. I was, though. I was seriously in the last five, six guys they were looking at. And lads- That is a good movie though, isn't it Ben?

I saw you talking about- So good. Best movie of 2024. And I was delighted when I saw a local news interview with the new Pope's brother, where they were like, what are you guys been texting about and talking about? And he was like, well, I asked him if he had seen the movie Conclave so that he would know how to act.

Uh, Ralph Fiennes is fantastic. Everybody should go watch it now. I mean, now would know how to act. Ralph finds it's fantastic. Everybody should go watch it now. I mean, now, now it'd be the perfect time. Yo, my, my, uh, mom and dad went to see it, like the day the pope was being announced, like just to get, get that game mode on, you know, like, oh, I'm fucking buzzing for the new pope now. Fucking saw conclave. And nothing will make you feel like you can talk about it.

Like you're an expert, like having seen one film about it. It's kind of like what happens every year during the Olympics, where it's just like, you know, you watch 15 minutes of ski jumping and next thing you know, you're like, Oh no, this person, there's no way they're going to meddle in effort. Like, you know, you become all knowledgeable about it because you watch them vape their way through the 2024 film Concliff. Oh, well shout out Leo. Where is he?

New Jersey, Chicago. Where's he from? Chicago, windy city, baby. Haven't tried one of your pizzas. Looking forward to it, Mr. Pope and ticket sales, lads, moving seamlessly from to another subject. Yes. It's a hell of a segue.

Talk about the lack of tickets. All apparently it's picked up in the last few days. On Air Jordan, do you have the seat map? Oh, there it is. Now, apparently the colorful ones there means they have not been sold. I don't know if this is the latest version. Is this the latest version on Air Jordan? This is as of this morning, according to the gray honor Jordan, a lot

of good seats available from the look of things. Yeah. It's not good. What's the cheapest on there? Can you tell? I don't even know, man. I'd say they're just fucking handy. If you just walk up to the diners and thinking about it, you'll just give them to you.

Just please. Well, see, this is the thing though. Like, I don't know really what you expect, especially the way the UFC has been pricing some of these events, where you are asking people to pay several hundred dollars just to get in the door for a bad seat, for an objectively bad view. Post pandemic though, they've been able to get by with this. They have, they've been able to get by with it so many places. And this is the thing I think that people maybe aren't really connecting the dots on is that when the UFC is continuing to, uh, kind of rah rah

everybody about like, Hey, new venue record for live gate, it's not because they found a way to put more seats in. It's because they're charging you more money than anybody else who come to the venue has done in the past and they're getting people to pay for it. But there is, there's gotta be a limit somewhere out there. And I think that that's a combination between finding that limit and finding the limit for that market at this time with this effort, because you look at the fight card and you're like, with what did you hope to entice, uh, people from

Montreal to come in there and see it? Cause you're basically just saying to them, there is a UFC event. It's a pay-per-view event. It's a big one. It's a UFC event. There's not anything really on here that plays to local interest very hard. So Eamon Zahabi is just, uh, just dressing on this, right? Like he's.

Well, there's no GSP anymore. We know that, you know, you're not blowing the roof off of the Devel Center anymore, like he did. It's true. It's also, it's like, it almost feels like a weird attempt to do it by putting a couple of French people on there. Cause you're just like, Hey, Manon Ferriero, Benoit Saint-Denis, those, those sound like they could be people from Montreal, don't they?

Come on down and see them. And you're really just getting the people who are like, I want to see a UFC event. I don't know when the next time I'll get to see a UFC event, come to Montreal. So I'm willing to pay the money. But I heard from several people who were just, who live in the area who are like, I would have gone if it wasn't $300 a seat. Um, and especially you're, you're going to, and you're doing this during prime NHL playoffs time.

Now the Canadians aren't in it anymore, but still, you know, the Canadians, they got plants during the hockey playoffs. They want to stay home, watch some hockey, uh, you know, or go to the bar down a few Molson's and watch some hockey. Like they got other things on their minds and you're asking them to pay a whole lot of money to go see a card that just feels like, you know, not especially, uh, interesting or unique. I think sometimes we cling to, to the idea.

Like, so when GSP was fighting, he's fighting Diaz and Condit and these guys in Montreal, it was a hotbed. And I remember when you, I think, I don't even know if it was a Montreal car, but like, I remember Dana saying, basically we'd go to Canada every single weekend if we could, you know, and that's in large part because GSP existed and they just haven't been able to do that. The last time they're there 10 years ago, I think it was UFC 186 was a flyweight fight that had really nothing to do with the region as well and Demetrius Johnson. And also, um, you know, you had rampage fighting Maldonado and a weird, um, state,

like he was in between contracts and I'll remember that whole thing. Like, so it was just a very tour. They got him back. Yeah. It was just a very strange setup. And that was a bit of a dud. I, even though the main event actually was kind of delivered, but I was then the building that night and the crowd wasn't all that into it.

And, um, and then they come back, I guess, I think that there are some notions. Cause I saw some of the promo where they're like, you know, one of the, you know, the most passionate fan bases and UFC history, blah, blah, blah. And they're, they're kind of going in this. Yeah. You can out price those guys too. You know what I mean?

Especially if you're not bringing something that's going to be the hook here. It's a, it's funny at the press conference yesterday, a very enthusiastic Canadian fan gets up and he says to Dana, are you going to come back to Canada? Meanwhile, like these pictures are everywhere, right? Like of the seat map, like we aren't putting asses in seats here in Canada. And Dana like shuffles nervously and he just goes, we haven't even left yet. And I was like, do you know what? Fair play, Dana.

That is one of the great answers you've ever given a press conference. So he would have in the previous days, he'd have been like, of course, we'll be back here as often as we can. We love you. We love you, Canada. Um, he's like, this is literally the capital of the world. Olivier, a Canadian, great, obviously a two time PFL champion, a UFC fighter back in his day two, he spoke to RDS and Ariel sent me this earlier. I had the translated from French and so has on our Jordan.

This is the quote. It's a disaster. Not many tickets are being sold. The good tickets were like 700 books. It's a little ridiculous. It's not the best of cards. I think that is very fair for him to say. He said it's as if the UFC is repeating the same mistake.

I think they'll panic and give away tickets. That's what they did 10 years ago. I feel sorry for those who bought tickets at high prices. It's possible that tickets will be given away. He's saying it's the U of T strategy that it is a little weird to set the prices so high. The good tickets were like 700 bucks. Sorry, we already got that one. Yeah.

Is this a case of the UFC being too greedy or do you think it's a sign that like they could take this and say, right, we need to change the situation then. Well, I think it'll take a lot for them to back off of ticket prices. I don't think it'll take one event. I think that they might chalk that one up to just like that was that market on that day for that fight card. But I do think there has to be a point that you can't push it any further. You have to reach the limits of what people will pay to go to some of these events. And it seems like TKO Group Holdings LLC is determined to find that limit.

And you know, you don't find it until you have some of these events where you realize people aren't buying these tickets, that it's too much, and then you can bring it back down, but they seem like they are determined to discover that limit and it, it very much seems like of a piece of where the parent company is right now in terms of how it views the UFC that there's not a whole lot of focus on how do we make this more fun, more exciting, uh, how do we build more stars and create more excitement around the UFC right now, they seem to be in like, how do we squeeze every last drop out of this

dish towel? Like they are, they're, they've got MMA fans, uh, by the ankles. They turned us upside down and they're shaking us until all the coins have fallen out of the pockets. And so like that's, that's what it's going to take us for them to realize like, okay, we've hit the ceiling on this and have to come back down to earth. Correct me if I'm, I mean, I don't, I don't know the answer to this, but like, they had been on a streak and I know Arial would probably have this information

right away, but like they had been on a streak of sold out events. Has that already been snapped? Like outside of Apex events or would this be the one? Well, don't you think they're probably still, no matter what happens, we're going to claim it's a sellout, you know? Like that's true. I guess that is true. They could do that.

Legally, you have to be in a parameter, but it's never sold out. Like, I think you're legally allowed to say it if you're like 8% off. Do you know what I mean? You're able to be like, we sold it out guys. Because I can remember even London, that was a gate record and people were sending me empty seats. Joe, as the event's on, like, look here, there's a whole row of seats here empty. Um,

I mean, they were, it was expensive for Iowa, like in the fight night. And they were just in Miami. I was, I just, because I went out there for that fighting, they're saying, I just kind of looked at, I definitely going to be out of there before the fights, but just to see, and the tickets were going for a lot of money, man, a lot of money. And that one sold out. Um, I guess it's worked.

I feel like this is the first time we've actually had this conversation in a long time where you're like, wow, look at all these seats available. Fair play to Canadians, fucking stick it to the mind. They don't mind. They don't want sayings, you know what? Fuck this. Fuck this shit. America loves them.

I don't know why they would, this is just, where's this coming from? I mean, imagine you're going to go out to the bars. You're going to watch some NHL playoff action. And now you have $700 in your pocket that you didn't spend to go see, uh, Bala Muhammad and JDM and the UFC main event. You could have a good, good time in Canada with 700 bucks. Yeah. That's a whole weekend, man. That's a whole weekend of fucking good times in Canada.

Let me tell you. Um, yeah. Have GSP take you around, man. He knows the spots. I don't think 700 is going to get you that. Yeah. Have GSP take you around, man. He knows the spots. I don't think 700 is going to get you that.

But, uh, is there any, like, honestly speaking, do you give a fuck about anything outside the top three, three fights on this card? Like, do you look at it and you kind of say, you know, if the sand and E-fight hadn't fallen out, that would have been a great one just for, just for the fans, they've obviously replaced him with, uh, Carl Peplik. I'd be cataclysmic if he loses that fight. I mean, that would be like for a guy that everybody was so high on to lose this fight. This would be catastrophic for him.

I should never be allowed to make another breakout fighter of the year pick ever again, if Ben Wasandany loses this. He's still reeling from a 2024, 2024 pick. I just destroyed his whole career. It was like just before Porianna was like, this rocket is about to go to the moon. Fuck's sake. But like, do you understand the lack of interest is, I guess I'm asking, like, it's, it's not a fantastic card.

And I do, as I said, at the top joke, I genuinely feel like the subplot is the most interesting thing that's happened in that. That is probably true. I, as I said, at the top joke, I genuinely feel like the subplot is the most interesting thing that's happening that night. That is probably true. And I think that a lot of these, not just the weird stakes that are kind of placed on it, the sadnesses that are potential, like if Jose Aldo goes out there and, you know, I just feel like there's some sadness, but there's also the real chance that a lot of these fights are not going to be exciting.

And I think that sometimes when that happens, man, like you get to the end of the night and you're like, why, what, what did I just watch and people are mad because it's a pay-per-view and you spent the money and all that stuff. It definitely has that potential as well. I think honestly, when I look at the fight card and I think what else could be fun on there, I think in practice, just for the fight itself, I think Alexa Grasso and Natalia Silva could be a pretty one for this reason and that one for another reason, there's not a whole lot on there.

And especially when you're trying to sell a pay-per-view to people, I think the USC has the most success when you have a full evening's entertainment lined up. And where they can look at the fights and they can look at the fights and they can look at the fights and they can look at the fights and they can look at the fights and they can look at the fights and they can look at the fights and they can look at the fights and they can look at the fights and they can look at the fights and they sell a pay-per-view to people. I think the USC has the most success when you have a full evenings entertainment lined up and where they can look at the five fights on the main card and go, I care about all of these for one reason or another, or have reason to think that they're going to be exciting fights.

And that's what will get me in by the pay-per-view is that I, it's a value in the aggregate, like the entire product is worth it. Cause if they just care about one or two fights, and especially if they just care about the outcome and not necessarily being there to see the entire thing. It's not like you're scared that I will, if I don't pay for it, I will never be able to see the footage of what happens in Bilal Muhammad versus Jack Delamont Alaina. You're going to be able to see it. It's going to be out there on the internet. It's not going to be hard to find either.

And so it's like, if you don't have the full light up where you can say like, Hey, this is worth your money because you're going to want to sit there for three hours and you're not going to want to miss any of this stuff, then it becomes a lot harder sell. And I don't think you even come close to having that with this car. It's not a good sign either. When you're kind of canvas betting the overs, like the gamblers are like, just bet the over man on these ones. This is not a good thing either when you're kind of canvas betting the overs, like the gamblers are like, just bet the over man on these ones.

This is not a good thing, but I will say this. It's a, it's a big time, like women's flyweight kind of showcase. Cause I think there's three of them on there. And for our own pound for pound ranks, I know Ben is a big, uh, he really loves when we do the rankings at the end of these big events. Can't get enough. Yeah. We, I think three of them are in our top 10.

So it's like, we're going to have some shuffling in that, in that sense, for sure. Come Monday. And I know that, um, uh, Bilal is on there too. So you have a lot of the pound for pound, um, top people competing. So from that aspect, Hey, this is a big card. Yeah. Well, it's not the only big carat out on this weekend. Go, here we go.

Open Belfast. The big news is home for the first time since his very early career. I actually saw him make his pro debut in this arena, famous boxing arena. The Odyssey has some other name on it. SSE something or either. Um, but it is a very famous boxing venue, uh, Northern Ireland, Belfast, particularly a real fighting town. Paul views as having a bit of a showcase bout here against Bruno Miranda.

I believe we saw that beautiful man on the scales. And yes, I did think he was going to take off his pants when I saw the only fans logo there on the bottom. He does not fear not. Do not look away. Look at this fucking tank from Derry. Holy Jesus. I mean, look, he's saying right there.

He's saying, no way, not in my home, not in my fucking home. That's what he said there when he was on the scales. It's amazing how you can do the accent to make fun of Irish people. And you already have the accent. Now you said you're, you're going to Belfast for this one, right? You, and you made it sound, you're like, I'm going all the way to Belfast. And I was like, what is it? A two hour drive?

It's a three hour drive. Okay, man. It's a serious fucking commute. And let me tell you, um, he's fighting Bruno Miranda. He was bat, right? So when Paul went to lightweight, the whole talk was like, geez, he's too small to be lightweight. Bruno Miranda is a good five inches shorter than Paul Hughes, which will

definitely bode well in balls. Very, he's a massive favorite of course. But I tell you the thing that is interesting about this fight for me as an Irish guy is it feels like ever since that McGregor thing happened with, with Hughes, where he was like, you're not Irish. You're from Derry. You're an up from up there C word. And that kind of stimulated all these Irish people to be like, hang on a

fucking second, dude, what the fuck did you just say, McGregor? And it made a massive moment, the use man fight, which turned a lot of people onto Hughes. It made it so much bigger because obviously we know McGregor, very polarizing guy here, a guy who's running for the president of Ireland saying a man from Derry is not Irish is one of the craziest fucking moves I've ever seen in my life. But all these people came out and support him. And now this is homecoming moment. I saw Mick Conlon there, you know, former amateur world champion, a great professional

his own right. And he was like, if Paul Hughes fights here, it's going to change how everyone feels about MMA in Northern Ireland. There is a festival all day long in tandem with the show. in Ireland, there is a festival all day long in tandem with the show. So like the big news crew are like his own promotion crew, and they've rented a whole town square, the common market in Belfast. It starts at 3 p.m. and it goes all the way through the night. And then his after party is there as well.

He sold tickets for it. It's all going to Children's Mental Health. The guy is just a fucking he is just a pleasure to cover this guy. You know, like he just, he doesn't put a foot wrong. It goes so effortless for him. He's obviously got this polar opposite to Conor McGregor, to be honest. Oh, you're saying that joke, not me. I mean, it sounds like you're trying to set him up for an epic fall. You're, you're going out here talking about like,

Oh, he's such a huge favorite. He's so much bigger than the guy. We're already selling tickets to the after party. Like, are you new here? That is true. BT Tread lightly. That's true. The MMA gods can't even talk about like this about Mads Brunel.

He was talking about Mads Brunel this way not long ago. You just got done saying what you did to Benoit Saint-Denis. And now you're doing the same thing to Paul Hughes. He's fearless. He's fearless. It is the first time in about 10 years that a likable Irishman has been fighting at home, so I mean, it's very, it's very exciting. I'm joking of course.

If for whatever reason, Conor McGregor was cage side for this fight and they panned to him and showed him on the big screen, what would that reaction be? Dude, I don't think he's safe anymore. Like I, I, the people like, you know, there was a lot of fighting up there in case you didn't know a good 800 years worth. And then to say to the people like you, I don't think you're Irish. That is a, that is a fucking wild move. I wouldn't say that shit.

Um, Paul's had to talk about it so much as well in the lead up to the fight. Uh, he did an interview with me, obviously, um, we put that out last, you know, two weeks ago, and then he did another one with Carl Frampton, like a boxing legend from Belfast and Carl Frampton, like immediately is like, what about that McGregor? What about what he said about us? I just like, imagine if they stopped the, you know, during the show they had McGregor

walk out with like a Tucker Carlson kid walk. They, they just like, you know, they, it would be like pro wrestling, wouldn't it? It would be like the kind of response that would be, that would be brilliant. I would not be surprised if the security office at the arena has Conor McGregor's picture on the wall. Like do not let this man in the building. Man, that took a Carlson thing. has Conor McGregor's picture on the wall. Like do not let this man in the building. But that took a chalice and thing.

I've never felt my brain melt inside myself. I was watching something like that. It's crazy. I live here and they're like, it's amazing that you're at war. And I'm like, what? Shit. What the fuck is going on? Good day, man. It's absolutely mental.

But not to mention that he seems to be making the argument like these immigrants should not be allowed to come here and commit some of the crimes I have committed here and elsewhere. You commit a crime, get out. Okay. I commit enough crime for all of us. Now you stay out. If that's the case, he is not welcome back in New York or New Jersey, it seems.

Oh, well dude, it's, it's kind of calmed down. I haven't heard a lot of talk about that at all. Uh, recently there was a big, he, there was a big like anti-immigration march and he did like a, like an online video before, and it was like well attended by people, I guess. Um, but he wasn't, I thought he was kind of plant himself as like one of the key figures there and I don't think they've kind of accepted him in that role just yet, we'll have to wait and see what happens there.

Um, call main event of this card, Lewis McGillin, one of the great prospects for an out of UK. He is part of that magic team, Manchester top team, uh, Lewis McGillin's teammate. He's a really, really, really fantastic knockout artist. Young dude too, right? Like very young. And aggressive as fuck. Like John, when it's just, this isn isn't putting on like this guy is just angry as

fuck and he KOs people one shot and he's 135 or he's fighting a legend of the Northern Irish scene and Alan Philpott, who's been living in Australia. He's coming home to fight here. Must be a crazy feeling for him. Like coming home against a guy that like everybody knows everybody's buzzing about. And you're like, I'll get in there. I'll I'm like, try and try and show this kid's what's for. He has fought nearly 40 times though, Phillip.

But so it should be good. I hope people get to see this. Um, I know that PFL are not in a good phase. We might touch on the council French event now and just in the second, but I hope that this can be for Paul's use. What it was for doing Bay, like let people see how much he means to the second book. I hope that this can be for Paul Hughes, what it was for Dumbay. Like, let people see how much he means to the people here. I don't think it serves much of a purpose.

Otherwise, like I do think Bruno Miranda is a tricky fight in that he just throws haymakers like this guy is just coming in to take your fucking head off. That is his game plan. It's like he's like Pride, Vanderlei Silva. If you suck down to one fifty five, you know, he he is a little berserker. But I think that is what people want to get from this. I know Hughes wants this fight, wants to put on a show, put pressure on Ousmane

once that rematch in Dubai. And his plan, of course, is to beat him in Dubai and then bring him back to Northern Ireland to do a stadium show, which would be absolutely fucking crazy if they could do that out there. But a very, very interesting fight, good call main event, a lot of local interest on it too. There is tournament fights for the Bellator Europe fights and a lot of like Ireland v Ireland fights like FAO Paul's team against SBG, which we didn't really get in the Bellator phase when it was just like, SBG lads just absolutely beat the shit out of guys you'd never heard before in your life for the most part.

So it was an interesting- Why don't they nomad of Madoff's demand that there's a Dagestani card? Every time we talk about these big shows, we're like Ireland or one of those types of things like London, where are these Dagestani? Do they not have a venue out there? PFL Dagestan would be fucking class. Like if they could do that, like it would be so cool. Like to give you a kind of taste.

That photo that Hunter took with Islam, it looks beautiful out there. Doesn't it? Yeah. It looks like a Russian Montana. Get yourself a little second place out there, Ben, for the family. If you had like a men's beard grooming products company, that's where you'd want to set up shop is for the, the PFL. But just the lower part.

No mustache. Yeah, just the lower part. No mustache there whatsoever. I always say this though. If you are a Brazilian dude contracted to PFL and they call you up to fight Paul Hughes and Belfast, that is not necessarily a vote of confidence. That is a great point. That is not them trying to be in the you business.

They're thinking like P.T. Just have me call them. I'm definitely not fucking going. No fucking way. They have a festival going on? What the fuck? Yeah. I mean, like if they tell me like, Hey, we want you to fight Paul

Hughes and I say, cool, where? And they say Belfast. He, his after party is already sold out. That tells you exactly what they think about you. I didn't think about that until I said it. And you said a bike to me. That is fucking crazy. It's so low.

It is. It is so low. Holy shit. Have you ever been, I remember back in the days when a lot of USC fighters, you know, their, their after parties in Vegas would be a big deal. Everybody had like a contract with like a different place, like a nightclub. And I remember once going to cover a fight and I can't remember who it was. Maybe it was BJ Penn or somebody where they, I remember like his

team had reached out and they were like, do you want to go cover? Like BJ's after party, we'll put you on the list. We'll get you in. And then he lost. Maybe it was a night he got beat up by George St. Pierre and I was, I was there kind of sitting around like, so when's he gonna come by and they're like, yeah, you know,

well, you probably gotta make this. And the after party, those after parties were such a sad scene there because it'd be a bunch of dudes in BJ Penn shirts. You know, you'd see them around the, the Vegas strip all week and then they'd be standing around sipping a $12 Corona waiting for BJ Penn to show up and it's like, dude, he is at the hospital.

He is not going to make it more like a wake than an after party. Yes. Speaking of a PFL and their bad turn of events, PFL Paris, which we have highlighted as one of the big events of the year, usually Chuck, we've been talking about as like a hotbed. I know we all have in terms of global MMA, it has been postponed. They say it's just canceled. Let's be honest.

Come on. Postponed. What are you talking about? And then we always have this discussion. Yeah. MMA promoters love to postpone that until never. Yeah. Why are you refunding the tickets if it's postponed?

Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. No date has been announced or even a reason given for why this event is not happening. Of course, Patrice Evera, the Manchester United captain, famous footballer, a legend in France, he was to make his debut on this card. It is no longer happening.

Alza Lino, my Italian friend, a great journalist. He shared earlier today, very, very early this morning that the card was to be headlined by Mansour Barnoui and the French lightweight. I'm reading from KSidePress.com here. The French lightweight is currently under investigation over a domestic violence incident caught on video. The fighters former partner, the alleged victim in the case, has stated that Barnoui accused me of having practiced witchcraft on him after he lost a fight and gassed her with a tear gas canister in front of witnesses

per report on France's CNews. Other violence, including the complainant being choked out in Las Vegas, was filmed by a concerned friend. And there it is once again, MMA just absolutely ripping your heart out. You know, there it is again. That is. I mean, that's the one, the one place, right? Like that I felt like they kind of, if they're going to the Paris, those

were electric events and, uh, what a, I don't even know what to say, man. That's just a, it's such a blow. I think that there's like the, I think that every time that right after they announced this the same day, I believe Don Davis was on Twitter saying like, we're growing the sport, we're investing in this, but now that I'm always like, my God, man, can't you wait like a cooling period of like, you know, 24, 48 hours before you post something like that. Cause it just feels so tone deaf when the whole, you know, when the fight world is basically bad mouth in your product for canceling the one hot bed that you go to and you kind of

own right now. Yeah. It's crazy, dude. It's crazy. Like, obviously, I've said this many times in the show, people won't be shocked. Having been there for like a near like it was sold out like 20,000 people there to see Dune Bay to think that we're postponing events this postponing come on we're canceling events so soon after that is crazy to me. We'll always have Cape town though. The road to Dubai goes through Cape town and we're all buzzing fights. Yeah. And we are all fucking buzzing for that one.

Lads. I have a bit of a surprise for you here at the end. Um, New York, Rick got in touch and it's finally been made. You're not going to believe it. It's happened foil. We're on the show. Jordan, bring up the image. That's right. Team Jones v team Diaz on the Russian version of tough.

It's the one you asked for guys. The one that all the Jones fans have been waiting for. That's correct. He is coaching a team versus Nate Diaz who was also coaching a team on the Russian version of tough reaction. Ben, that's a big, big story, mate. First of all, there's a Russian version of tough. You need to follow red corner MMA and Instagram dude. There is a fight every three fucking seconds in Russian. Tof. It's just, all it is, is like a montage of lads beating the shit out of each other in a sitting room.

I don't actually know what the contest is, what they are training with them for. I have no idea. All the fights seem to happen in the sitting room, but this is huge news. It's the news, you know, the John Jones news that everyone's been waiting for. We might have to pay the zoom people some extra money. If we're going to talk about this, I want to, I want to, I want to break this down in full here. It is recognized though, that the Russians are real innovators in fighting, but with this added element space.

Like they're the ones who are where it's just like you hear like somebody started a new promotion where it's two guys fighting in the back of a garbage truck and you're like, it's gotta be in Russia. Like the Russians are the ones who come up with all that stuff where it's two guys fighting in the back of a garbage truck. And you're like, it's gotta be in Russia. Like the Russians are the ones who come up with all that stuff where it's just like, Hey, what about hockey, but only fights, you know, like that's gotta be the Russians. I'm looking forward to that one. That's actually, it's going to be in Michigan, I think. Oh, well, they invented like the Knights of the Round Table fights in a KW.

Oh my God, yes. Didn't they? Here's the thing though. Does Nate Diaz know what can happen to you if you get caught with weed in Russia? Does he not, did he not hear the Brittany Grenier story, the WNBA player? Like they, they, they do not play about that stuff. And my understanding is that Nate Diaz enjoys that stuff. That seems like, and also, I mean, John Jones

known to commit many a crime. So like, I don't know, you guys watch you step out there. Pete's. That's all I'm saying. You remember when we saw Diaz at our meetup show that time and he came. I don't remember much.

You don't remember a lot, but he was there and he told us that he only fights in a couple of places and he'll only go to a couple of places, only interested in a couple of places and he'll only go to a couple of places only interested in a couple of countries. And it was, it was America. It was like Hawaii, which is another country. What was the other one? It was like Mexico or something like that.

But he would not, he did not express interest in going anywhere outside of that. So I'm skeptical. Maybe he's coaching via zoom. You know, maybe the episode is just someone opening a laptop and they is like, Hey guys, we're going to work in half care today. It's a fucking thing. But out the Stockton. Wow.

That's not bad. Very good. He is shocked. It's very, very good. Um, well look, lads, that's all we've got for you. It is a massive fight week. Don't listen to the Canadians. Okay.

They don't know what they're doing. Do you have $700? Get over to Montreal. You're going to miss history, baby. We're going to find out if Islam V. Ilya is going to happen on Saturday. And there's two title fights. Okay. That, that is a big deal.

Oh, and if you don't want to do that, how about you just crank up the old zone there on Saturday and stick on Paul Hughes in a fight that he cannot lose. Please, Paul. Don't fucking lose. He's after saying it. And if it happens, I don't think I can come back to work, but, uh, we will have you covered the lads are doing their watch along tomorrow, Ariel and Chuck will be there for the post show. I'll be doing some serious journalist work around the city of Belfast that night.

I would love to be enjoying myself on the post fight show, but there's some serious stories to be wrote at, I think. It's, it is not a vacation. It is work. Okay. I'm going to cover the fights. If I'm not there, how are the Americans going to know how great Paul Hughes is? That's what I want to know, Jordan.

If a few Guinnesses find their way into your system, what can you do? You know what I mean? I expect you to do like a Hunter S. Thompson style, like immersive journalistic experience. And I wanna know the scene live from Paul Hughes's after party while you're rolling on Mescaline. Yeah, trying to get in touch with your lawyer.

Won't be touching the after party if we don't get that win though. Don't think that will be a happy place to be. Um, but listen, I hope you were all in a happy place. I hope you have enjoyed the crack. My beautiful crack heads. We love you. Wasn't it lovely to have on air Jordan back just for a week.

I mean, he's probably headed off again next week. You know where he goes, but, uh, Ben Chuck, fantastic as always staying on crown, get all the brilliant articles of the best writers in the world I will see you on Monday on the Ariel Iwany show Don't forget that the lads are gonna be doing their watch along tomorrow the boys in the back Ariel and Chuck will be here for the post fight show. We love you very much. Enjoy UFC 315 I've been Pizzi- Puh, I've been Pizzi-Carol. They've been Ben folks and Chuck Mendenhall. He's been on air Jordan Thank you to Oscar Loseff. we love yous, have a great weekend.