The Ariel Helwani Show - Matchroom CEO Frank Smith, TNA President Carlos Silva, Ring Announcer Big Mo, Petesy Carroll ALL IN STUDIO

Episode Date: July 9, 2025

Ariel Helwani and the Boys in the Back are joined by Petesy Carroll to recap his time at the Taylor-Serrano open workouts as well as cover all the latest news and notes (01:08).Combat sports ring announcer Kody "Big Mo" Mommaerts is the first of three in-studio guests, and he joins before working Taylor-Serrano on Friday. He gets into carving out his path as an announcer, competing in public speaking, his favorite fights, and more (16:22).Frank Smith, CEO of Matchroom Boxing, is next up behind the desk, and he discusses Matchroom’s rebrand, how he met Eddie Hearn, the rematch between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn, Katie Taylor's possible retirement, Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul, and more (58:58).TNA President Carlos Silva is next up, and he breaks down his role as head of Anthem Sports Group, including TNA’s growth and partnership with the WWE as well as Invicta FC's place in combat sports and the possibility of a deal with the UFC (1:46:20).Petesy joins back to help answer Super Chats and end the day (2:24:47).

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome for the music to change the Happy birthday We did it yesterday for me thought we would do it today for on-air Jordan there it is on-air Jordan's birthday today Where the props guys? On Air Jordan's birthday today Where are the props guys? Yeah, they're nothing Jordan nothing no hat no streamers demanded against them nothing I was first what time 7 13 a.m. I

Texted him by the way and of course I mean no need for the big intro or being joined once again by our resident Irishman fucking stalemate on an out Jordan hasn't he oh it's his birthday now look yours is coming up We've got myself does not care It's so crazy because PT was so excited He was talking for for weeks about this trip to New New York and then I wake up to a text today, hey I've got some errands to run, is it okay if I come in after you? I was like wow, you don't want to hang, the best part is to hang, the best part is the lunch, the

best part is the kibitzing. Listen. He showed up literally 16 minutes ago. Unlike this whole team, I have to serve a purpose for the Uncrowned side as well, okay? You won't know anything about that What are you doing? You're ready. Yeah, Jordan who gave you your first card of the day, huh? Can I ask something very important here sure sure who wins this bullshit who wins the like I Texted first you got this first just who wins this why are we playing this?

Why is anybody? I'm here at eight nine o'clock every It looks like Razor Mom with that two pick, doesn't it? I'm here at 9 o'clock every day before anyone else. Eric walks in and he goes, hey, how's it going? Sits down, nothing else. Andy comes in, Oh, Jordan, big hug, happy birthday. Not even an acknowledgement. By the way, after she did that, I then went,

Oh, I feel kind of left out. Like, Jordan got a big reaction there. I'm still waiting for the happy birthday from Eric, actually. Oh, it's not coming. Don't wait. It's not coming. Look at this. Yeah, look at you guys. Are these the Aspenol picks?

You're damn right they are. These are different flavors. Pizzi has put us on to the mango and the strawberry. No shade towards Aspenol, but the mango and the strawberry are better than the, better than the Big Berry from Tommy. Wait a second. Those aren't the Aspenols?

Those are a different brand. The same brand. There's a, he's involved, he's involved. Okay, okay. Don't worry about it. I mean he promotes all of them. He's doing well. Yeah, he has his own flavor. Shout out Andy. Yeah, shout out Big Andy. Well anyway, I mean... Happy birthday Jordan. Yeah, happy birthday Jordan. So the answer is nobody wins, right? Okay. I just wanted to say thank you. I just noticed that his coffee order was messed up this morning and I was like, even on your birthday, your coffee. Let's be honest, everybody's coffee order was a little. Wow.

I hope they're not listening right now. In the- Starbucks? Oh, I thought in the lobby. I thought in the lobby. No, no, no. They're A1 all the time. We need to get into things here.

It's been so great having pizza. I don't want this to end. Any chance of extending the trip? You pay my rent, put me up in a penthouse suite. Would be fantastic. Or maybe we make, put me up in a penthouse suite. It's going to be fantastic. Or maybe we make it like a quarterly thing. Penthouse. I just mean like you come in quarterly, just

you've brought so much joy, so much happiness. Scratch cards. I just, such energy. Another surprise on the way as well. Did you win anything off your scratches? Uh, actually, uh, thank you for asking. Uh, this morning, uh, my daughter, Claire and I, before she left to camp,

scratched off, we scratched, how many did you give me? Like seven or so? I don't remember. We scratched five out of, okay, four out of the six. We left the bingo till later because we really wanted to like lock in. And we've, we've currently, we've currently walked away with $15.

Hey. $10 on one, five on the other. The best part was my wife coming down and saying, what are you guys doing? I was like, look, we gotta match them. This, that, she's like, wow, this is what you're teaching. You're teaching her how to play scratch off. I'm like, this is a way of life in New York.

Support the New York Lawry, man. How's Jordan getting on? Did he win anything? I saw him throwing them in New York. Support the New York lottery, man. How's Jordan getting on? He winning anything? I saw him throwing them in the trash. Wow. When I learned. Well, it's been amazing. Pizzi's been all over the gaff here in New York City, covering the massive Taylor Serrano fight that goes down,

of course, on Friday at Madison Square Garden, live on Netflix. No pay-per-view required. Yesterday, he was at the open workouts at the Oculus in the financial district. Look at no smile huh well I wasn't very I was like right so I wasn't there they put me in a photography section and everyone all around me because I don't have a camera is going like oh we just have to get in there and I was like no you fucking don't I'm here all right

you're not seeing me standing here yeah and then they were like oh em, we actually have another photographer coming. I was like, oh well tough shit. I guess she wasn't here on time I'm here now and so there was a bit of elbows bit of elbows going over there because when you when you came to us live On the our nati program you were in the same spot and exactly and I said to them I'm gonna spin around and you're gonna be pointing those cameras right in this freckly face. God bless you. What was it like? It looked like quite the scene. It was crazy because there was people just- I think we have more pictures, right? More stuff?

I don't know. There was people trying to come in at all times. Oh, look at this. What about that? Wow, look at you. Some kind of piss with the exclusive KT champion. Is that really the first one? First one in the world.

In the world? Given to anyone that isn't named Katie Taylor. Who gave it to you? Katie herself? Our boy Nick. Champion. Oh, shout out to Nick. Legend. And I've also met Scorry from Champion, two lovely people. They've been doing this big thing up in Legends Bar and we'll pop up in there later.

They sponsoring our show maybe down the line. Huh? They gonna sponsor us? Gonna sponsor the cracker, don't know about this one. Yeah, yeah. Is canapis really a phrase? Yes. It is a phrase, what do you...

I mean... And if it wasn't before we made it... It's what Alani made it one, if not... I looked it up on Urban Dictionary made it. Oh, Lonnie made it one, if not. I looked it up on Urban Dictionary and it was like... Some can of piss. It was like no definition could potentially mean a container that holds someone's urine. I was just like...

Well, that's what it means. Like you are a can of piss. That sounds like an insult. It is an insult. It is an insult. Oh, okay. Nice champion t-shirt, you can of piss. Yeah. I'm just trying to keep up with the times. I'm just trying to keep up with the times.

Did I say that? By the way, according to onelook.com, it's Dublin slang. Yeah, it is. Wow. Is One Look the Irish urban dictionary? I don't know. I don't know. It just popped up here. Who knows?

Anyway, please continue. What was it like? What was it like? Yeah, there was loads of people. The terraces was crazy because up there, do you know around like there's all shops up around, but there were like five deep open those terraces. Looks sick. All around.

And then meanwhile, there's people trying to commute and they can't get through. I see. Yes. The amount of people trying to move through and then they had to bring in security to make like paths through the spectators for the commuters. Yeah.

Cause people are just trying to get home. Yeah. And, but also people are like on their journey going, Oh, what's going on here? And they stay when the fight was happening. And everybody wanted to stay. It was just like people were like, Oh, I'm not going home today. Let's watch this. And there's like different people making content all around the ring, which might differ from from your usual boxing event.

Jake Paul's charity were there. Boxing Bullies, is it? Correct, yep. And to be fair to Jake, he was over with them the whole time. A lot of respect for him. A lot of kids. He had media obligations, but he was running back and forth to them

every time he had two minutes, and they were going crazy. They love him, you know? He must have been over, I was standing there for about two and a half hours, he must have been over 18 times. Wow, wow. And there was another girl behind him.

She was holding up this sign, sign me, and she kept on screaming, I'm the female Jake Paul. I'm the female Jake Paul. He must have stepped over and talked to her like five times and she still couldn't get enough. Every time we walked past her, she was just kind of like, I don't know what to do. By the way, did you like having the fights in the,

we've been to a million open workouts, but they had two fights in the midst of it. I had a completely different energy to the thing. Good, bad? Good, really good. And pretty good fights too, from what I saw. Yeah, that first one was really good. Crystal Rosado.

She's really good. Amanda's high on her. She's really, really good. And I didn't think Vasquez was bad either. It was just your woman, she was really good. And the energy in the place completely changed when that happened. And I kind of set the table then. People were more intrigued by the workouts as that was happening. I feel interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I do think that the, uh, the good people at the, um, the ring Riat season, they were the first ones to do that, at least that I've seen where they've

done some, uh, fights during the open workouts. But I think it's a brilliant idea, especially when you're out in public like that, because it just gets more people to stop, watch, partake, makes for a bigger crowd. Nice showcase, nice showcase. It's streaming on YouTube. It's, uh, I don't know, it's kind of a no brainer. It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it to stop, watch, partake, makes for a bigger crowd. Nice showcase.

Nice showcase. It's streaming on YouTube. It's, uh, I dunno, it's kind of a no brainer. Yeah, it's, I was trying to figure out, yeah, there was all these different areas. People were sitting in, there was a commentator going on behind me. It's a, it was a real hive of activity. I've never seen anything like that.

Like I've only ever been in there getting the train to your offices or whatever like that. Um, crazy to think they could just turn it into that well later today at the theater 6 p.m. they'll have the press conference yours truly actually will be hosting and I thought you know I thought the team might you know come by sit in the front row I got you guys seats support look down Frank is here supporting me thanks never thanks Jordan on his birthday coming to support me more like the air in the Frank let's be honest he's I mean like everyone's gonna be there and I thought you know maybe you'd come and support no No. That's fucking bullshit. Put up the blow up dolls.

Look at this thing. No, I mean it would be nice. See that it is actually an inflatable. You call that one right, Ariel. Yeah. I mean, I never doubted myself. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be hosting at the theater today at 6. A little bit of a hiccup.

Chantel Cameron, still not in New York. It's six, uh, a little bit of, um, a little bit of a hiccup, Chantelle Cameron, still not in New York two days before the fight. I did not hear that. Yeah. Uh, her, her visa did not get approved, but, uh, is flying as we speak. Finally got it over the line.

That would have been devastating for her. Of course, the two, uh, the two fights against Katie and I think there's only one other fight for Katie after this one. And that is a third one against Cameron. So that is going to be interesting to monitor. She will not be at the press conference but hopefully we'll be fighting on Friday. Did want to go over some other news. UFC going to now is it Qatar,

Qatar? Qatar. Qatar. Who said it Frank? Qatar. The boys in the back say Qatar. Fuck off. It's Qatar. No I say Qatar. Thank you. Yeah, I say guitar as well They're going there November 22nd first time it's exciting. Isn't it? That's big stuff. Whoo. No fights announced But that is another one. That's a fine horn shaped building. They out there. That's fantastic. I don't know what that is hotel It's crazy looking kind of looks like something out of Star wars or something, doesn't it? Yeah, it's fantastic. Maybe that's the fighter hotel. Uh, also announced that, uh, Chris Eubank Jr. get a load of this.

Have you seen this? No. Chris Eubank Jr. has been fined 10,000 pounds for misuse of social media by the British boxing board of control. Whoa. Eubank Jr. appeared to have violated the board's rules

when he posted footage on social media that suggested he was using a sauna to make weight. Misuse of social media. That's mental. It's just a lot of fines on the poor guy, you know? 10 grand. He missed weight by like 0.2 and now 10 grand because you're not allowed to use a sauna.

And so they said, okay, we can't catch you for using Asana because we don't have like physical evidence, but you suggested, it seemed implied that you were using Asana. I remember, I thought both guys employed. I thought- And they're fining him for that? You know, it's either you have the evidence or you don't.

They really know how to warm the boxing fans to the moment they're the British border control. Jesus Christ That's like it's either he did it or he didn't do it anyway Them's the news wouldn't make a dent in that man's bank balance or right now ten thousand is nothing Oh another piece of news interesting news Francisco Rodriguez jr. Who has a win over Galalia five just a couple of weeks ago He tested positive for a banned substance

This is now another fighter under the Eddie Reynoso stable that has tested positive. We saw very recently Jaime Mongea, another one. Everyone's saying that there's something shady going on over there. There it is from the Matchroom Boxing account. And it's interesting that we highlight this because later in the program, the CEO of Matchroom Boxing, Frank Smith, is going to join us in studio. I'm very excited about this. Frank Smith, in many respects, people have said this,

not me, is to Eddie Hearn what New York Rick is to me. That's a good, yeah. That's what people say. Sorry, yeah. No, definitely. Ride or die, loyal to the end, a young upstart, started working for the Hearns when he was 14. Wow.

He's a T-boy. Crazy. A little bit younger than Rick, but not too far off. He came into his own during the old Chris Eubank v. Connor Ben situation, didn't he? He had a T-boy. Crazy. A little bit younger than Rick, but not too far off. He came into his own during the old Chris Eubank v. Connor Ben situation, didn't he? He had a few moments there. He had a few moments backstage. He was pushed into the floor. Eddie can't go.

Here comes Frank. Here comes Frank. Didn't shy away from it. Interesting, by the way, because he is dating. Come on, you fucker. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look at that, yeah? You know, he's dating Junior's sister for many, many years.

What? Frank Smith is in a long term relationship with Chris Eubank Jr.'s sister, Chris Sr.'s daughter. Frank, you are dangerous, mate. Whoa, you don't want an easy look, does he? I mean, it's been years. It's been like six, seven years. Frank, mate. But I always want to-

What? So we'll talk to him about that. We'll play to him. Back into the show, we're going to be joined by the president of TNA Wrestling and the Anthem Sports Group, Carlos Silva, who is a former member of the TNA team. Rank me. But I always wonder. What? So we'll talk to him about that. Play to him. Back into the show, we're going to be joined by the president of TNA Wrestling and the Anthem Sports Group, Carlos Silva. You may remember Carlos Silva,

used to be the president of World Series of Fighting and PFL. Oh yeah. You remember him? Oh yeah. Stop. What's wrong with this guy? You know, I say to him, come ride Shotgun,

be on the show. We have the great graphic with you on there. Look at this thing It's just too good. What position did you play on the 1936 Notre Dame fighting? Ben and Cody Bigmoe, Mo Martz is going to join us, a rising star in the world of ringing out. He is a freaking giant, six foot seven. I was obviously in my spot as we saw earlier with the photographers. Oh, yeah. I saw this big handsome blonde man. Yeah, standing there. And he gets in and he does the whole business or whatever I'm walking into the office today on time of my dad and there's this big blonde lad in front of me and I'm going Surely this lad just doesn't look very like the other fella. You didn't happen to see the lineup

No, I didn't today. No, I didn't check in check in with it And then we came up the stairs and I was trying to get in Into the rooms without my beep beep and I went up and signed in. Then I heard him saying, I'm here for the Ariel Wanis and I was like, it is him. So that's, yeah. That was it. Yeah, no, so three in studio guests, that's a great story.

Three in studio guests once again, we're killing it with the guests. Yesterday was tremendous with Craig Jones and Shakur Stevenson, Sheree Johnson, P.T. of course. And I do believe at the end of today's program, you'll join us once again, unless you have other things to do. Let's see if anything else pops up. I mean, you could go to the semi-final three o'clock kickoff. I don't start that PSG

You and Adé, nothing. Literally eight miles from here. Adé, Adé, nothing. Yeah, nothing. No, nothing You look good though fair play to him. Well rested. Always. Oh well rested. Yeah. Yeah buff trim Well looking guy anyway, thank you, P.T. Great stuff from you. There he is, the great P.T. Carroll, host of the critically acclaimed podcast known as The Crack. Big show on Friday, Chuck Mindenholme Studio. Gavin Casey, the legendary Irish writer. Do you know what Gavin Casey's playing got turned around on Tuesday? He's playing what? His playing got turned around in the sky.

Wow. Save it for the show. Save it for the show. No, this is good stuff. See you later, guys. Good stuff. All right, there he is, the great P. Wow. A board. Save it for the show. Save it for the show. No, this is good stuff. See you later guys. Good stuff. Alright, there he is. The great Pete C. Carroll joining us. Any music to walk him out? There it is. There it is. Thank you so much. What a legend he is. And we'll check in with him at the end of the program. Without further ado though, you may have seen him. He was in the ring. He was announcing Jake Paul and Mike Tyson back in November. He's done a litany of bare knuckle events. He's done a litany of boxer events as well. He is a rising star in the world of ring announcing and cage announcing and he'll be front and center on Friday at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. Once

again in that same role for the Netflix card, Katie Taylor versus Mandus round of three. He is the great Big Mo aka Cody Momarts joining us in studio there he is the mountain of a man my friend great to see you thank you for having me please have a seat and I know you're a stickler when it comes to pronouncing names yes you nailed it did I nail it Oh marks there it is very few get it right off the rip like that thank you thank you we have worked together a little bit of a stickler as well so I just I like to make sure but I know that you are very particular as you should be. Yes. Great to have you in studio. Absolutely. It's great to be here.

Is this your first time doing an event at MSG? It is. Wow. I get to check off. Big freaking deal. It is. It's really cool. Man. MSG and not, we're not talking theater. No, MSG kind of annoys me sometimes when people say, yeah, I'm fighting an MSG and like, it's like when people say like the Indigo at the O2. Yeah, yeah, yeah, not quite the same. Same building. So you will be there front and center.

I will be there. As you were back in November for Tyson Paul, Taylor Serrano too, how much has life changed for you since then? Because there have been some people, most notably the Ring Girls, who I think some of them, their life changed after that event, right? But you were front and center

throughout a lot of it as well. How much has life changed for you since then? I mean, I don't know, but my whole career has gone pretty quick since I got started in this. I mean, I started doing this when I was 23, 24 out of college and started on the regional scene and just- That's not that long ago, by the way, you're 29?

Yeah, okay, so six years ago. Yeah, so I've just been building this career and it's all just been progressing. And honestly, Paul Tyson, more than anything else, was self-validating. I mean, don't get me wrong, the show was massive. But after going and starting in my career and cold calling promoters and trying to get on,

and I kind of always got the same answer from all of them, why would we hire this 25 year old when we have these other announcers we've been hiring for 20, 30 years, which I totally understand their logic. So really doing that event, only a few announcers have ever announced over 70,000 people and I don't think any announcers ever done 100 million people watching. So when I did that, I was like, okay, I do belong in this. I can do the big fights, absolutely. Was that your first show with MVP? That was my first show with MVP,

and that was actually my first big show I've ever done in America. Wow. Big fights I've been doing for boxer and sky sports. Okay, so how did the MVP relationship, because since then you've done a couple others. I saw you in Anaheim, of course, for Jake and Julio Jr.

This one, how did this all come about? Yeah, well, obviously building my name in the UK with sky and boxer were great. MVP reached out back early last year when it was initially scheduled for Paul versus Tyson and they were like, hey, we're doing this on Netflix, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, I'm in. And then it got delayed, you know, a week later,

whatever it was and just kept in touch. And I love the MVP team and they're really creative disruptors in the industry and it's fun doing some shows with them here in the States. So are you their guy now? Are you doing all their events? As of now? Are you doing all their events? As of now, yeah. I mean I'm enjoying my relationship with Nikkisa and Mike and hopefully that continues. I mean right now we're just, I've only done two with them so hopefully that can continue over time.

This would be three now. This would be the third. Yes, and three pretty massive ones. Yeah, I like the big ones so that helps. So let us talk about the journey and I know you've talked about it a little bit here and there but it is a fascinating one because you are a former football player. You posted a picture recently of how you looked when you were playing for Northern Colorado.

A little bit bigger Mo. What was that? 315? 315 ish was my biggest. Yeah. And now you are? 225, 230. 6'7".

6'7". So you're just, you're a football, do you think you can make it to the NFL? Are you, are you hopeful? You're playing for a D1 school. Yeah, no, I mean, it was, uh, I mean, football, I was a better student than I was a football player. I loved school, got my undergrad and my master's while I was there, loved playing

football. But when it was over, it was over. And towards the end of my career, I started hosting like events and doing a lot of public speaking for class and things. And I realized I was a pretty polished public speaker and I had friends that said, Hey, you should try commentary because that's a common doing a lot of public speaking for class and things. And I realized I was a pretty polished public speaker. And I had friends that said, hey, you should try commentary

because that's a common transition when you get done in the sport as we see in combat all the time. I was tired of football and basketball, but I joined a local organization called Sparta and a lot of great fighters have fought for them on the regional side. Justin Gagey, Sandhagen, Ian Heinish, like Denver is a, Denver to MMA is what New York is to boxing as you know. Yeah. And so I started with them as a

commentator, saw the ring announcer and I thought you know what that might be more my speed I think I can do that. Started doing that, had some coaches and managers that said hey you're a little rougher on the edges but you've got something here. So I stuck with it, chose to brand myself. I used to wear sunglasses in the ring just as a visual, you know, grab someone's attention, went by Big Mo because it was simpler than my name. And then just started marketing myself on social media. People thought I was related to the buffers. I'm not.

I don't know. Maybe it's got slick back hair. We're white dudes. So maybe that's why. Got on TikTok, Instagram, all that social media stuff. Obviously I'm a little bit younger than a lot of the MCs. Then joined BKB Bare Knuckle, all that social media stuff. Obviously I'm a little bit younger than a lot of the MCs. Then, um, join BKB bare knuckle, who I still work with today. Got, and that was my

first time getting to work with like top quality broadcasters, Mike Goldberg, Claudia Trejo, Pauli Malanagi. I got to be around them. Then I got a call to do the Eddie Hall versus Hafthor Bjornsson fight in Dubai. And that was like the first international show that I did. I remember I called the promoter. I was like, if you're going to have the biggest fighters,

might as well have the biggest ring announcer. So you reach out to them or do they reach out to you? I reached, in the beginning, I called everybody. I love this. Yeah, I love that. I mean, it's one of those things. I remember, I mean, I still got the video on my phone. I took a, I went to Vegas for a trip

and took a ride at the UFC headquarters. Didn't realize it was a compound. They wouldn't let me in. So I just stood on the sidewalk for like an hour and I met like video editors and I was just trying to. Come on. Have it on my phone. Wow.

What year is this? This was 2020, well actually it might have been before COVID. 2020, like maybe right before COVID. So you're just there hoping to meet someone. Yeah. No problem. You're hustling, you're standing out there. Yeah.'re just, you're just there hoping to meet someone. Yeah. No problem. You're hustling, you're standing out there. Yeah.

I mean, look, it's, I, I've learned through business and I have an entrepreneurial background, had a cold call and sales pitch and market myself. So did that progressively. Then I did the show in Dubai for Eddie and Thor, and that's where Sky Sports found me. And so then Sky Sports and boxer Ben Shalom reached out to me and they said, all right, we want to do this as a test run. I go, great. Don't pay me. I'll come out. I'll just do it. Let me see what I can do. You suggest this. Yeah, did it. And the rest is history. Then two months later,

I was doing shields versus Marshall for the undisputed title at the O2 sold out. And that was like the first big, like global show that I did. ESPN, Sky Sports broadcast, et cetera. And now I'm on Netflix and now I'm in the Ariel Horani show. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's a side note, but it's very inspiring. Thank you. There's a lot of lessons, especially for young

people, because obviously I'm a little bit older than you and I get some people who will reach out to me and they say, how do I get to ESPN? And you just have to be patient, but you have to work your ass off. And when you think that you are working very hard and outworking other people, work even harder. That's what I say. Yes.

Never stop. And I'm sure there have been times where maybe, and let me know if I'm wrong. Yeah. You kept hitting some roadblocks. Yeah. Maybe feel bad, maybe feel down, but you don't sit there and lick your wounds for six months.

You dust yourself off, you get right back to it. Right? I mean, I think that everyone has the opportunity to do whatever they want within reason. I mean, obviously, I'm not trying to go play in the NBA tomorrow type of thing, but I think you can kind of control your own destiny and your own career. And if I was able to do it, I mean, ring announcing might be the most niche industry in the world. I think if I was able to do that and carve a little niche and space for myself, I think pretty much that shows that

anyone can do anything they want, within reason. Did you grow up a fight fan? I did. So I was a little later. I was actually a UFC fan first. I remember I used to watch UFC with my dad when UFC Unleashed would be like reruns on blocks. I always thought they were live because I was a kid and didn't know any better. And I practiced my first sport I ever did was Shotokan karate. So I was a huge fan of Lyoto Machida growing up because he was

one of the few Shotokan fighters at UFC. And then my love for boxing grew out of that. And now I'm a fan. I love combat sports in general. That's why I like announcing all combat sports, start in MMA and still do bare knuckle and boxing. So it's fun. I'm a huge, huge fight fan. It's my favorite sport in the world. And so in the early days, you're doing play by play. Started off doing commentary for just a few shows. And why did you feel like that wasn't quite the right fit? I don't know. I just, I mean, it was a combination of like, I was used to being just a public

speaker presenting to a crowd. What are you talking about when you're public speaking? Yes. You're doing that. Yeah, so in grad school when I was getting my masters, I would compete in business competitions all over the world, won a lot of them, won a competition in Boston, went to Lithuania for a competition, so I was always giving presentations.

Really when I got the real love for it, this is kind of a cool story. So our athletic department used to do an SB type show. Okay. And it was for our own school. And I remember I kept asking the AD, let me host it. Let me host the show. And he's like, I'm not letting a 20, 21 year old kid host this event. We have boosters that come to this and administrators. And I was

like, let me host it. So eventually I helped him move and he wanted to compensate me in some way. And I said, let me host the show. So he let me host the show full tuxedo, did a dialogue, did a monologue, roasted coaches and administrators and things like that. And that's when my friends were like, you're, you have something here. And so I did it and I don't know. I w my goal has always been to work in entertainment.

I've always been fascinated by it. And I didn't want to go the route of, you know, moved to LA and sleeping on couches and things like that I respect the people that do that but I wanted to find a different vein for me to get into so when you combine a love for public speaking I was raised by a trial attorney that taught me how to public speak and how to dress and how to present to people you combine all that together and my love for combat sports and entertainment being a ring announcer actually kind of fit in

a weird way. What's also interesting is when you look at the landscape, you know, a lot of the guys, as you said, are getting a little bit older. Yeah. So that one could surmise that like there's a, there's a massive lane here for someone who is in his late twenties to be around for a very long

time. Did that thought cross your mind? Absolutely. No, I'm a, I like research. I like primary research and doing all that. So when I started, there was no, there's no textbook how to be a ring announcer. That doesn't exist. So I actually made a whole database from scratch and I started doing research on every single ring announcer and understanding who they are, what their catchphrases

are, who they announced for, what I like about their style, what I think I could do differently. And I just started absorbing as much information as I could to make me as capable as possible to do my job. And when I started, I approached it very intently, dressed the part every single time, kept the same energy the same time. I had promoters early on, on the smaller scene that used to tell me to tone it down, you know, I don't know where you think you are, blah, blah, blah. Really? Yeah.

Oh yeah. But I believe heavily in visualization affirmation. And so I would, I wouldn't picture that I was in a bar or wherever we were doing these fights. I was picturing that I was at Masson square garden. I was at the O2, I was at Wembley.

So I'd already lived those experiences in my head, which helped me throughout my career because when you do something live, as you know, you've got to be perfect. You can't really make mistakes. So that helped me a lot because I'd already lived that experience in my mind. Do you get nervous? Not anymore.

No. Did you get nervous? Uh, yeah, occasionally. Um, and when, when we're talking nerves, like I remember my early days of being on TV, I would, I would feel my heart beating so fast. I would say it feels like it's going to like come out. I would feel my heart beating so fast. I would say it feels like it's gonna like come out of my throat.

It was going so fast. What are you feeling when you're getting nervous? When I would get nervous, one of my legs would shake. Okay. Yeah, and it was, which is good. Cause at least, you know, it's not visual for a lot of things from the chest up, but not anymore. Honestly, after I did Shields Marshall at the O2 sold out

at that point, I was able to go, okay, I can do this. Now the only thing that would change is maybe the amount of people. Sure. And that's what I experienced at Paul Tyson. And after doing Paul Tyson, now- Were you nervous on that night? No, actually. No, I was actually super, super calm. Yeah, I loved it. I think I've been working to that point for so long that it just, it felt right. And introducing Mike Tyson was a trip. I couldn't believe I did that.

But it was an amazing experience. And I've gotten to do some really, really cool stuff. And I love my job. I love building combat sports. I love being a, I don't know. I think entertainment is really important in society. I feel like everyone is just super tense right now. And I think it's important to have something

to where you can turn it on and you can just disconnect. Entertainment is really important in society. I feel like everyone is just super tense right now. And I think it's important to have something to where you can turn it on and you can just disconnect. And so I've met families that bring their kids or people that go out on a night and they say, oh my God, I had a great time. Thank you so much. This was so much fun.

You're great, blah, blah, blah. That gives me a sense of euphoria because it's like they just went out and they experienced something fun and I was able to be a conduit or a piece of that. And so that makes me happy. Who do you think is the greatest of all time? I've been asked that before. To me, and I've said this before publicly, I think the buffers in each their own lanes

are the best. I think they each have their own dynamic that fits a lot. Historically, I mean, Michael's Michael. Michael is a legend, but I do love Bruce also. I would say Bruce is the person that I was first enamored with doing the job. And I saw a lot of people in the industry try to just replicate what Bruce was doing,

and it's hard to do that. And so I never wanted to be, in fact, it it was on your show I remember Bruce came on your show and he said whoever is next or whoever does this needs to be their own person so whenever I've gotten compared to Michael or compared to Bruce it's an amazing honor they're great I want to be me I want to be the first Big Mo I want to do things my own way if I can take inspiration from them great but I want to do it how I want to do it so So I would say the buffer's in their own respect. Have you ever met either of them?

No. I've had an email exchange with Bruce. He's a very nice guy. But that's kind of one of the downsides of the job is it's a very individualistic job. Sure. You know, if I, and I recognize this, if I have the job, that means someone else doesn't. So no, never. I haven't really done much. So you probably wouldn't be at the same show because there would be no point. There's someone else doesn't. So no, never. I haven't really been doing much. So you probably wouldn't be at the same show because there would be no point. There's only one role, right? Yeah, exactly.

And, and you know, what's interesting is they're completely different in terms of their style. Obviously let's get ready to rumble iconic. Yeah. Bruce though is moving around, he's spinning, he's in your face. He really changed in my opinion. He, he pioneered a whole new way of doing this.

Historically the guy's in the middle, he's standing, he's very proper tuxedo. It's a similar look. What he did was revolutionary and so it's interesting now to see other people put their own spin on it. If someone hasn't seen you before, what is your secret sauce? What is your different? Yeah, I mean I think my voice is interesting. I actually went to, it's funny, I've taken the same approach that I took as an athlete to this job. So I went to an ear, nose and throat specialist

and I basically talked to them about how I can work on my voice and how I can improve it in the same way when I was playing. I would go see a physical therapist or a special coach, strength and conditioning coach for advice. I did the same thing. They actually took a camera and they put it down my throat and to look at my vocal cords. And they actually said that my vocal cords, a lot of them close flush, might actually

overlap. And I don't know if that has led to kind of, I can almost kind of growl a little bit when I speak. It's a lot, but it's still clean. It doesn't come out like yelling or screaming. So I think like, I don't know, my ability to project is a plus of mine. I've increased lung capacity, which is a good thing for the job, et cetera, et cetera. I think from a stylistic point, I was trying to be in the middle of the two buffers. That's what I was going for. I loved Bruce's energy and passion, how much he moved around the ring,

but I loved Michael's, how polished Michael was and how consistent Michael was with how he sounded every time. I liked that a lot. I liked that Michael was a little bit slower at times. I think that helps add to the suspense. All of that, I think is important when you're trying to convey suspense and excitement to people. What I've said is really, I'm a glorified public speaker. If you really just narrow it down. So I've watched a ton of different public

speakers to understand how they present. So like I'm a huge stand-up comedy fan and I started paying attention to how different comics have different delivery with jokes and how they take people down a certain path or what their tone is. I started watching Southern Baptist Preachers who I think are some of the best speakers in the world because they're so they're so passionate, they're so in your face that you almost become enamored with them. So I started paying attention to other types of speakers to see how I could kind of refine what I'm doing, because in my mind, if I'm going to dedicate all this time, if I'm going to go in front of all these people, if I'm going to be on these broadcasts, I want to be the best at what I

do. One thing that I'm always drawn to, especially with someone like you, it's like you take your time, the world is watching you, and sometimes, I was even talking to my son about this because he had to give a speech in front of his class, and I'm like, if you think that you are going too slow, you're probably still not even going slow enough. We have a tendency as human beings to go too fast. In the early days, like if you watched some of your stuff from four or five years ago,

is it hard for you to watch? Do you think that you're going way too fast? I don't even like watching myself now for being totally honest. Like I put clips out on social media, but I don't even... It's hard. It's weird. I don't know. It's like, and you're also super critical of yourself every time, which is a good thing. I think it keeps you kind of in check, but no, I agree. Look, public speaking is the number one fear amongst young people by a lot of standards. It actually outranks drowning and heights and things like that. People are terrified of it.

And I think it's because what I've learned, they're afraid of making mistakes. If you're afraid of something that hasn't happened yet, it's gonna throw you off of your game of what you're trying to focus on now. And I think a big issue that people try to do is they try to memorize everything. So when they can't memorize, they freeze

completely because they're used to a sequence of words and a sequence of phrasing. So what I've told people is you need to almost have like a Batman utility belt of words that you can pull out at any point to where if you get stuck or if you slow down, you can always pull something out. So in my, in my career or in my role of being an

announcer, I know there's always things I can pull out. Live on Netflix, July 11th, Mass in Square Garden to where instead of saying, you can actually fill it with tangible words that actually add to the presentation because the only person that knows that you ever make a mistake is yourself. And that's an advice to give to any public speaker. Don't be worried

about a mistake that you've made. No one knows you made it. That's brilliant. Who taught you that? Me. You just figured it out. Yeah. Over time. Over time. I mean, I learned how to public speak at a really young age. I was raised by an attorney, a trial attorney, my dad was. And so he taught me all of that stuff at a very young age. He taught me how to present. He taught me how to address a room, taught me how to dress to gain attention from people or to get authority when you're presenting to someone. So I just learned that over time, but I also started watching and like I said, listening to different types of speakers and how they speak. When you look at people that have the greatest speakers in history, in my opinion, they all had

something that was the same, which is they got people to listen to them. They had a way that they spoke, whether good or even sometimes bad, it got people to pay attention right. You look at presidents, you look at someone like Barack Obama or you look at someone like JFK and then you look at someone like Trump. Different ways that they speak but they're so uniquely themselves with how they speak it forces you to pay attention. So I think that's kind of where I got it from. It's just absorbing a lot of information. I'm curious about the process. So like on Saturday, excuse me, on Friday, um,

it's still, it's still a little bit funky. Yeah. Friday, Saturday thing, historically Saturday. Right. Um, eight fights, 16 fighters. Yes. You do have cue cards. Yes.

You're not just sitting there or standing there reading all of them. So what's the process? How do you get to the point where you're comfortable in front of the world, in front of 20,000 people to do your thing? Yeah. Well, what I've learned is that of all the words that I say, 60 to 70% of it is going

to be the same. So if I'm saying, he stands six feet, five inches tall, he weighed in at X weight, the only two variables in that is the height and the weight. So if I can get my brain to a point where they almost look at the base words as just, this is what I say, and I can, you know, swap in synonyms and antonyms and things like that as I go. But in general, it's the variables that change. So the purpose of the card is just to track the variables. And I don't like reading off of a card. I like looking at the fighter in the eyes. It's kind of an intimate moment in a way, because it's just us too, for all practical

purposes, but really there's 20,000 people. But in that moment, it's just us. So for me, it's just understanding what has to be said throughout the whole week. I love doing the whole fight week because it gets me more locked into the show itself. I'm sure you can kind of relate. You doing the press conference helps you do the interviews after because you've already talked to them throughout the week. Granted, you're a lot deeper in the industry.

You talk to them all the time. But I think as long as I can get comfortable with what I have to say, then I know I'm pretty good. And so are you writing all this out days in advance, the night before so it stays fresh? Yeah. What's that process like? Well, it depends on how long the fight week is,

but I always like to get them done as early in the fight week as possible, because if there's any, you know, sometimes a fighter says, oh, I'm actually not from London, I'm actually from Manchester or something like that. I can always, you know, make adjustments on the fly, but that's always one or two things throughout the week. Um, so no, I like to get them done early.

I like to hand write them. I have a template that I kind of fill in the blanks for. Um, I've crafted my kind of cards over time to chart of save space, condensed space, but it always gets really when it gets the trickiest is when a sponsor has something specific that they want said, or a fighter needs something specific that they have said, because now it's.

Now I'm speaking on behalf of the promotion who can, who has contractual obligations with these sponsors So that moment that's what I'll actually like just really messed that up, right? Bruce over the years has told me there's certain fighters that he loves to connect with They you know, like like Michael Keyser would always like come up to him and give him the fist bump Are there certain guys or gals that you've developed a relationship with where you're like, okay, this is gonna be a fun one Yeah, I love the way they react to me and I react to them developed a relationship with where you're like, okay, this is gonna be a fun one. Yeah. I love the way they react to me and I react to them.

Yeah, I've never, I think maybe with boxing, maybe it just doesn't, cause with boxing it's kind of a tighter introduction because of the octagon they stand on the side and there's more room to move around. In boxing it's kind of in a corner, so it's kind of trickier to move. So I've never had as much like fist bumping

and things like that. It happens occasionally, but for me it's, I've been able to build relationships with these fighters because I think I can relate to them in a different way. I've never been a fighter, but I've been a high performing athlete. I understand to some capacity what they've put themselves through, obviously not to the same extent. I'm also closer to them in age. So that allows me to just relate to them on a different level, I think. And that helps too. I think that fighters feel comfortable around me,

which is a good thing. And I want that to happen because fighters are always like, you know, shameful. They don't want to, they're humble, but they don't want to say what they really want said. And I'm like, no, like this is your introduction. Tell me, like, tell me exactly what you want said. So I think if I can build a comfortable relationship

with them where they trust me with that information or they trust that I'm just doing this as my job for them, then that builds just a more natural relationship because they can come up to me and say, hey, I'd really love for you to say this. Great, whatever hypes you up, within reason, I will say whatever you want. I do have a bone to pick with you though.

I have a bone to pick with you because the first two things that drew me to you in particular were your height and the stash. I thought the stash was perfect. I loved the stash. The moustache? Why'd you get rid of it? I thought it was great, it was unique,

it made you stick out, it fit the look. Why'd we get rid of the stash? I think we have, look at that, look at that middle picture right there. Yeah, I mean. It get rid of the stash I think we have look at that look at that middle picture right there yeah I mean great looking stash I agree pull off that kind of stuff I love it I've gotten mixed reviews look in America in America you know mustaches can sometimes you know depend it depends on who's wearing the mustache back though I'm gonna do it don't get me wrong it's also like I also need time to grow it in like super fully because I

don't want to come out there look at like yeah looking like why'd you get rid of it because that was kind of your thing early on it actually not really I mean I don't did it for a few shows here and there so maybe it was good timing when you saw me but no I've mostly been clean shaven but yeah I'm bringing the stash back when I have some time did someone tell you to get rid of it was that it no no no one ever no one ever tired of it. Just I like It's a novelty. Okay, it's a novelty. It helps keep people on their toes. Okay, so you want to change up the look? Yeah, I mean I like being clean shaven I think and to I mean the other reason why I shaved it last was because the next fight was on Netflix

It was the first big fight I'd done in America on Netflix. I was like Do I really want cold feet? Do I really want this audience's first impression of me to be with a mustache? I don't know. I think it's a great look. I'll bring it back. How many different tuxes do you own? A lot, a lot. I've tons of suits. I'm a huge snoot suit snob. I've gotten to work with a couple different tailors from all over that have made some cool stuff.

So you have to get yours bespoke. I mean, given your size. Yeah, I can't really fit anything off the rack. So yeah, no, I love wearing suits. It's, I don't know, I think it makes you feel a certain way. Like knowing that you're polished and you're presentable like this and you really look the part, I think helps. A big component of public speaking is commanding authority

and getting attention. So that's why wearing the suit I think helps. But I mean I also just own the fact, I've said this before, but into some capacity my job is kind of ridiculous. Like I get into a ring. No, I agree. Yes. I get into a ring, I'm wearing a tuxedo, there's a few people wearing suits and tuxedos for

sure it's definitely a nicer event. I'm in there, I'm introducing information that you may or may not already know about these people, but I think it works. And where I really became enamored with it is, I remember early on, my friend group, I was like one of the few people that really was in the fights and watching fights. And I remember I would always put like fights on during pre-games and just mute it and things like that. And a lot of my friends, they didn't, they couldn't tell you what a 10-8 round is. They couldn't tell you, you know, what this choke was or what this type of punch was or anything like that. But what they could relate to, lights go down,

the MC introduces the fighter, pyro, flames, music blasting. I mean, when you ask a lot of fans what their favorite moment is of the fight, a lot of them say the ring walk. A lot of them say the presentation of the whole product. So that's where I became enamored with it is I was like, oh, this is sport, but it's sports entertainment. And the entertainment is a huge piece because they're

watching a show more than they're watching a game or a match. You know, I have to say, again, when I was first introduced to you, it was on one of the boxer cards. And I really liked the way boxer does the intros with like the ticking time bomb thing. Yes. There's like this, this, um, a bomb.

This tension. Yes. You know what I mean? Um, and I know they're kind of going through this transition period now, uh, they're looking for a new home. It might pop up on sky here and there. Are you going to continue to work with them?

Yeah. I mean, my plan is to, I like working with everybody, you know, that's exclusive to anyone. I mean, I'm depending on regionality possibly. Okay, okay. But it's more so, look, I want to introduce on the biggest stages, I want to do this in front of the most people that I can. That's my goal.

And I'd like to maintain a good relationship with everybody. I like to maintain a working relationship with people. So Boxer knows that I work with MVP here in the States and MVP knows that I do stuff with Boxer and it's just, you know, I like to just work with everybody. Is there any particular reason why the, yeah, it would be the three major boxing promotions in the UK all have American MCs. That's a great question.

David Diamante with the matrium, tremendous. Thomas Treiber with Queensborough and you with Boxer. And then Michael for, you know, if they want. The big re-edit. Yeah. Why is that? Is that a coincidence? It's a great question. I asked that same question. When Sky and Boxer hired me, I remember I was talking to some of the Skype directors and producers and I go,

I'm just curious. Like, I kind of anticipated that you would want a British MC. They said, well, the American accent is act. We look at the American accent as the international accent. We never think that way because we live in America but it makes sense. So it what I've been told and I've done shows in France I've done shows in Poland culturally just bringing in an American adds a level of presentation it sounds different I've talked to a lot of British people a lot of a lot of British people don't even like the British accent They like the American accent. So I think it's more of just an adds to the

The global feel of the show. I think this is actually a conscious thing. It's not a coincidence. No, I think it is Yeah, okay interesting because I too would think that they would prefer The broadcasters are British. Yes, the play-by-play guys British the analysts are British So you would think that the ring announcer would be British as well. Yeah, I don't know. Like I said, it's a very niche industry, I think, of announcers that do global stuff and really travel for shows and can make this a career.

It might be like less than 50 in the world. Right. It could be less than 25. And really, when you start getting into the top, top top fights it's less than 10 or 5 and so it's a really just fine-knit group of people and if they like the American accent then they like it. I've also seen that you've sometimes doubled up you're doing the MC work and the post fight interviews. Yes. Like a BYB right? Yeah. You're doing the post fight interviews. There was a guy recently who had a moment where he was telling his

wife. Yeah. Yes feel the way you are. Yes, yes. How do you like doing that? Does that make your life? I love entertaining people. I can do a lot of different stuff. I've hosted press conferences. I've done interviews.

I can announce. I've done play by play. Like I just I feel comfortable in the role of speaking or presenting in front of people. Just I think the ring announcing stuff was just unique enough to that's kind of where I found my footing the most. But I like doing it all. And the whole goal is to transition into other forms

of entertainment. I want to get into acting. I want to get into show hosting. People have said I should host game shows. So maybe, you know, Jeopardy needs a new host. I don't know. Reach out. I like it. What is the dream? What is the dream gig? Honestly, like for a long time, my dream was to host The Tonight Show.

Okay. Yeah, that was like, but at the same time, I want to try acting. I want to try a bunch of different stuff. At this point, like, I think I can do anything. And I don't say that in like an egotistical manner, but like, I announce fights for a living. Like, that's crazy. Yeah. Like, it's, so if I can do that, then in theory, I can do anything. And do you do anything else outside of this world? Yeah.

Help start a technology company out of college. My teammate and best friend, his name is Keenan Leary, I remember he brought me into his dorm room when we were 18. He's like, hey, my brother Sean has an idea for a company. That company is now Sportsthread. We have about three quarters of a million users. We're a ticketing platform. We're a full SaaS platform on the COO of the company.

Wow. Yeah, so I'm entrepreneurial side. I've worked in tech. I've done a whole lot of stuff. And that's why the job in the UK worked is because when I was working more for the business, I would travel and I was able to do the fight stuff in the morning.

And then 4 p.m. was 9 a.m. in Denver and I was able to work the full workday in my hotel room after doing all the fight stuff. So I was able to do both. So like even this week are you doing both? A little bit. Okay. But it's tougher when I do stuff stateside because the times don't always work out. Right. And I've been focusing a little bit more on the announcing recently just because of the amount of shows that I've been doing. But yeah, no, I love business. That's definitely aided me in my career because understanding marketing and social media, like I help build a social media application. So I have an idea of how algorithms work and how posting and things like that.

And that's all been advantageous to me. Um, so yeah, I like to stay busy in terms of the acting. I know that you were, you were in a Mike Tyson biopic, but you, uh, yes, quite make it. My scene was cut. Golly. It's a great story. So I remember I was in Los Angeles,

and I met a guy named Steven Rogers, who was the screenwriter for I, Tonya. He's Margot Robbie's writing partner. I remember I met him, and he had mentioned that he was doing some boxing show. I didn't think much of it. And then I had an actor that reached out, an actor friend of mine, about eight months later,

and he sent me a posting for a ring announcer. And I was like, I'll do it. Cool. Going to the posting, I go, I know that guy. So I gave him a call, talked to him. I thought I got cast as Michael Buffer. I thought that's what had happened, but I was more cast as like a radio side host type of thing. But yeah, flew down to Alabama for a couple days, shot that. The director, Director X was like Drake's main director and this was like his TV debut I think. So I got to work with him, which was cool. And I remember I came in, sat down and they had a whole script. So my first ever casting I ever got, I had a whole monologue where I was introducing Mike Tyson fighting Lennox Lewis. That was like my whole spiel. And I remember I sat down, I did it, and it one take. And I remember like, I remember Russell Hornsby, who was playing Don King was

there, and Trevante Rhodes, who's playing Mike Tyson. A couple other actors were like, you've done this before? And I was like, yeah, actually, occasionally. Yeah. So it was funny that I got to do that for Mike. And then I actually got to introduce Mike in real life. It was cool. What was it like when you found out you didn't make the final cut? I was bummed. I still made it in the credits though. I still got that IMDB credit, so that's what matters. So have you been in any type of film or movie?

Okay. I haven't really tried. How do you get into that world now? What's the thing? Like you stood outside the UFC offices. What do you do to get into that world? Kick down the door until I get someone to pay attention. What do we do here?

Yeah, I mean, I'm working on it. I'm working on,. I'm working on... Because the whole thing is like, this is such a unique career that it's difficult to get people to understand it in a certain capacity and understand that I can branch out and do other things and speak in other capacities.

You don't want to be typecast, right? You don't want to play the ringing outs here. You want to do something completely different. Absolutely. I also don't want to be typecasted for my size. I don't want to just be cast as a security guard or a cop or things like that. I want to, I don't know. I think I can do a lot of different things and acting being one of them or hosting a show or hosting a game show. Who knows? For now though, you're happy with this.

Yeah, I love it. It's not like you're, this is, I feel like you're just scratching the surface. I agree. I agree. And that's, you know, that's why I'm excited to do this at MSG because it's that's been like the bucket list thing for me. I talked to the Daily Mail this morning. I had an article that was written a few years ago where I said I visualized doing this at MSG, and now I'm actually doing it. It's like a pinch-me-self type of thing. But like I said before, it's very self-validating. Yeah, and it's amazing to see someone just work their ass off to get these opportunities. Absolutely. Nothing was handed to you, you're not

someone's son, you're not you know like it was just good old-fashioned. Call-calling, getting opportunities, taking the work, showing the work to certain people, getting them to show the work to certain people and just making up. The amount of best friends that I've made that are secretaries, I've made so many secretary friends, oh Sarah I love you, can you try to get this tape on this person's desk, can you try it? I remember I cold called Brad Jacobs from Top Rank a lot. And then a couple years later when Michaela Mayer

came over to fight Natasha Jonas, I was like, what's up, Brad? And he was obviously cool. I saw Dimitri Salida the other day and I remember he called me, he goes, man, I should have hired you three years ago when you called me and things like that and I don't hold any hard feelings because I understand their position but yeah it's like it's about putting forth your best work and getting

that work seen by someone whether it's organic or whether you kind of you know hold their hand and make them watch it a little bit. As far as boxing in America so I know in the UK, a lot of the guys are exclusive, right? They are exclusive to the promoters. Yes. But you know, like Jimmy Lennon jumps around, Buffer jumps around.

Do you have to be exclusive with anyone in the US or can you jump around here? I mean, I would like to jump around. You would like that, you'd prefer that? Yeah, I mean, look, I think, again, it's, I wanna be doing big shows, I think, again, it's, I want to be doing big shows, I want to be introducing the best fighters, fighters move around, they fight on other promotions, there's co-promotions, things like that, so I always want to keep my options open, but at the same time, if I find a home that really fits and they give me a good amount of work throughout the year, then so be it. How many shows did you do in 24? All told. I averaged usually two shows a month, sometimes three depending on the amount of travel

between the two sports that I did. So I don't know, probably 25 to 30 shows maybe. What do you think you'll get at the end of this year? I think 30 plus probably, because BKB is doing a lot more shows on the bare knuckle. I'm doing more boxing obviously so I don't know, Road Warrior. I don't have a body clock anymore. And are you hopeful to have more? Do you like that number? Yeah I mean the thing kids you

don't have. No I don't even have pets. I don't even have a goldfish. I got a suitcase with a tuxedo in it and that's what happens. But no, I think yeah, if I can do more that'd be great, but at the same time there's only so many weekends in the year. There's only literally so much I can do and usually I'm there for multiple days, especially if it's international. So I don't know if I can do much more than 30 or 35. So we'll see how it shakes out. Are we doing exercises on fight day for the voice? What are we doing in the hood? Yeah. I mean, hydration is important.

Men fall, you know, tablets is important to kind of cool everything. But the biggest thing is I've worked with a couple singing coaches here and there that taught me how to speak and how to sing from the diaphragm rather than the throat. I haven't lost my voice from announcing in years because I taught myself how to get more from the diaphragm and how to project. What I've said to people is when a lot of people are in arenas or when ring announcers are in bigger venues they feel the need or the tendency to scream and to shout and that's why I said earlier with how many people have tried to copy Bruce. He's not screaming and shouting. What he's doing and

this is what I've said to people is you need to learn how to throw your voice. You want your voice to sound the same to the people that are in the rafters as it's sounding to the people at ringside. It just needs to be louder. And I think that that's difficult for people because they get it all from here.

There's only so much range that your throat can give you, but you have a lot more range if you incorporate your entire diaphragm and your abs and your lungs and things like that it's a whole it's I've dug deep in yeah absolutely Bruce has its time Michael has let's get ready to rumble what's yours are you ready to make history are you ready no matter what no matter what it was get wild before chose to polish it up a little bit more for for boxing so now I say are you ready to make history and at what

point is that? Is that right before you say the main event? Yeah, so it's my main event introduction. I'm not huge on catchphrases, honestly. I would rather just be known as me, and I'd rather build my own personal brand. I don't want to necessarily lean on a catchphrase, especially because I don't think any catchphrase will be good

as let's get ready to rumble, truthfully. So I have one, but at the same time, I'm not like glued to it. Yeah, I use it. A fight that could happen down the line, not signed, maybe a signed, what's a dream fight? But I don't mean like, you know, Tyson versus Ali. Something that you want to be in the middle of the ring for.

Or Cage, by the way. Well, the biggest fight in my opinion in boxing and the one venue that I haven't done yet I would love to do Fury Joshua Wembley that'd be amazing even Ben Eubank the rematch would be cool on the UFC side I mean that's that's tough I mean there's a whole host yeah there's a whole host of them. And I never even worked with the UFC. I don't know. If Connor comes back, that'd be cool. Have you done any MMA show that,

I know you've done the early days, but like as far as like the more. I, XMMA tried to make a comeback a few years ago, and I did a couple shows with them. I don't know what they're kind of doing now, but no, it's been more boxing recently, and boxing is on fire, which is great. Yes. Well, it's working out for you, man. Thank you. Congratulations on all your success. Keep it up. Keep freaking, you know, pounding the pavement. This is surreal to me being here. Like I grew up watching you and I love what you do. And like I said, I was a UFC fan first. So to be here is like crazy to me. So thank you so much.

It's been a lot of fun. Great to work with you. Great to call you a teammate and looking forward to what you do on Friday night. Friday night live at Madison Square Garden on Netflix. I will see you all inside the ring. Ariel's gonna be there too. Make sure you tune in Friday night on that. This guy hooked me up a couple weeks ago. My mic didn't work. Hey. You gave me the nice little assist there. Yes.. Yes. Sneak underneath. I appreciate it. Absolutely. Thank you, Ariel. There he is.

Big Mo, there's the poster right there. Friday. Oh, by the way, weigh-ins on Thursday. On Netflix. Live on Netflix. So I'll see you on Thursday on Netflix. Yes, yes. Two for us on Netflix.

So this is huge. We're going to take a quick break, say goodbye to Big Mo and be back with the CEO of Matchroom. Maybe you could talk to him, Frank Smith. He'll be joining us in studio, don't go anywhere. Thanks, Ariel. Okay, that was a snippet from our BTS from our time in Vegas, International Fight Week. What a time it was, what a time it was.

We had someone following us around. We're gonna do more of this. We did this at Fanatics Fest. You liked it? You really seem to have liked this one. And actually, I think I liked it most because I got to see what Rick and GC and Frank and Jordan and I got to see what they do backstage. Like while I'm doing this, I don't know what's going on back there. So it was actually nice for me. Very fun. And for me, the highlight was the trip to the Apex and the P.I. and UFC X.

Rick GC, shout out to our guy Dustin who shot it and edited it. Great, great fun, it's up on the YouTube channel right now along with everything that we did in Las Vegas and everything over the last few days. It's been a big month. June was actually our biggest month since launching this whole bad boy operation back in October. So enjoy all of that, enjoy that chat with Cody,

Big Mo, Mo Martz. In about 45 minutes time we're gonna be joined by Carlos Silva, the president of the Anthem Sports Group, which in that role he oversees, among other things, TNA Wrestling, Invicta FC, and the Fight Network, formerly president of World Series of Fighting, and PFL as well, but for now I've wanted to have this guest on the program for a long, long time and wanted to wait to do it in studio because it's just a little different when it's in studio. I have described him

and this is with the utmost respect to the New York Rick, to Eddie Hearns, to Ariel Hawani if that makes sense. The right-hand man. Some might say the brains behind the entire operation. He is the CEO of Matchroom Boxing. He is the one and only the the prodigy, Frank Smith. Is he there? Oh there he is. Okay, there he is. I had a whole big intro. He didn't even hear it. He was standing outside. Hello Frank. How are you? What a missed it. You missed the whole thing. I'll have to watch it back. Usually Eric opens the door. Oh he said stay outside. He said he might a miss. You missed the whole thing. I'll have to watch it back. Usually Eric opens the door. Oh, he said stay outside.

He said he might get embarrassed. You know who that, that guy there, I have said the guy who walked you in. Yes. I have said he's me. You are. Yes. Yes. You to Eddie is him to me.

He's been with me for 15 or so years. Loyal ride or die. No matter what the brains behind the operation. Everyone needs one. Yes, yes. Everyone needs one. You have the face and then you have the behind the scenes. I said I need a photo at some point of you guys together. We'll get together. Eric and Frank, thank you so much for coming in. Thank you for having me. It's great. You had a couple, a nice little run this morning. I saw that. Nice little five K. Barker. Yeah. You guys in the five Ks. K's a matchroom social is basically just five K's at this point

It is is that's that's the aim of the game. Yeah, I was I was struggling this morning Where you there and Barker hasn't run in eight years? And I mean today was the first time today or the second time Okay, and I was next to him and I think he was thinking what am I doing out with it? I'm not too athletic. I'm not competitive. I see you you out there doing the push-ups with the kids and all that. I try. I try. I try. Well, you look fantastic. Thank you.

Everything going very well for Matrium. Congratulations on the rebrand. We actually have a side by side because I actually, I think you're behind it, right? I mean, it depends who you ask. Okay. I suppose it depends. If you ask, if you had Eddie here, Eddie would say it was all him. But I I'll be honest. I didn't come up with the logo. Okay, which one the right the right But I came up with the the idea that we need to change the logo did, you know But okay, so I want to ask you why people

Can I just say I really loved the period as I think you did as well. At least you said it in the spoof video It was classic it was clean. Why did you feel the need to change it? I think we felt that for years, sometimes it's easy to get complacent and sit there and go, oh, we're doing really well, everything's looking good, and not look at things and say where they need to improve.

And I think we have such a great brand to within the business, also to consumers with Eddie, you know, and the matchroom when you hear match me go match in boxing. I feel like we never had that look and feel that sort of sexy edge that's what it gives us and how many months ago did this start 12 months 12 months to change that. I know it's not just that it's a whole whole he's the whole everything behind it you Ross Garra-T who led it, Alex Haynes who... Oh my God, Haynes? Yeah, Haynes.

He was behind this? He was a big part of creating the new look and new feel. If not the best person in the business. And I know he's going to clip this off and put it on his social media, but he deserves it because he is such a brilliant mind, dare I say underutilized. He is, but he also raises every time you say how good he is. Every time we have like an appraisal or an annual review, he's like, what about what Ariel says about me?

I'm the best in the game. But we felt we needed a change. I think when I first said it to Eddie, he was like, what are you talking about? Oh, really? Yeah. But he will come on here and say it was all his idea. So we'll let him have it. So you pitched it to him.

Yeah. Yeah. At the start, it was, do we need to change the name of Matchroom Boxing? Oh, wow. And then we did a lot of... That radical. Yeah, but we did a lot of research with a group that helped us put it together and went out to our fans, you know, and the team internally as well, and the people we work with day in day out and say what do you want to see?

What do you think needs changing? So it was a year process to get to the point you see now. So Matchroom isn't just boxing of course Has the entire matchroom look changed or just the matchroom boxing just boxing? Okay boxing. So obviously matchroom is a holding company We have the darts we have a snooker nine ball pool and boxing, you know boxing has been the one Probably we've been known most for for the last 40 years But matchroom still remains as it is and matchroom boxing now has its standalone 11 B logo, which Eddie likes to call it. Yes. Yes. Yes. Um, I see. Yeah. And the clip was great of you guys. The acting was phenomenal.

Wasn't acting. That was a normal day in the office. I think we could get a career in, you know, some kind of sequel or pre-co. It was very office. Yes. Yeah. It's as if we copied it. Yeah. No, it was, it was great. Um, you just had the show, the U-Bank Caterhall show, that was the first one under the new look, right? Yes, yeah. Was that weird for you as someone who was so ingrained to see different logo, different color schemes, all that stuff?

I think it was good. Like I say, we always knew we needed to change. And I think some people in businesses, they get to attach to things and go, oh, we're the best at what we do. And nothing needs to change. And we just continue to do what we do. But we're always looking to take it forward,

you know, in everything we do. And it wasn't just a logo change, it was the fight week, it was the press conference, it was the weigh-in. Because, you know, for me, Eddie is the passionate boxing fan, I'm more your sports fan, like casual audience, right? And I watch things and I go, it's a bit boring.

Like, how do we take it forward and attract an audience like me of people who are going to sit there and watch these shows these build-up shows sell the stories of fighters rather than just do what's been done for a hundred years because that's the way it's been done. So I noticed all the changes I'm a big fan of all the the fight week activities and whatnot I have told Eddie myself that I found the press conferences to be a little I found the press conferences to be a little stale. The press conference that you did last week, so this was the first one, was more variety show. There were like different segments and different areas. So

very different from what anyone is doing. Were you happy with the first one? Yeah, and I think there's improvements that can be made on top of that as well. And we'll take the feedback of people. But I feel it felt fresh and quick and you know, it didn't stay still. It can get stale. Sometimes you watch a shot for 40 minutes and I'm thinking, I'm bored. You know, and I work there, you know, and then the fighters, you see the fighters sitting there have been there for 35 minutes or on their phones. Why is anyone going to watch that and go, I need to tune into this on Saturday night.

You know, so for me, it was about keeping the pace up. I said to Eddie before he went on the stage, I said, please, you got seven minutes and he spent four minutes talking and then realized he only had seven minutes and he overran. I think he did 11 minutes, but for him, that was quite impressive. Why not live fans in? We do at certain shows. It's about when the demand is there, the way in we had them there and we did our

small talk show afterwards as well, you know, and that was a great thing to add. But yeah, I think fans in time at the right shows as well when you can get the audience there and a bit of fan interaction ask the questions they want to hear. It's worked for the UFC. Some of those big shows when they have the fans in there, they just add a lot of energy, which sometimes I think is lacking in these press conferences. For sure. And I also think the same thing doesn't work for every fighter. Sure. The same, you know, host may not work. You may not get as much out of one person as you get out of another.

Eddie may not get as much out of a young fighter than Charlie Parsons, who, you know, we used on small talk with Sonny Edwards or Jamie or Darren Barker. You know, different fighters react differently to different people. And I think that was a big thing we were looking at is how do we best tell the stories of these people rather than just do the same thing week in week out. So this week is a big week for you guys yet technically correct me if I'm wrong you're not promoting or producing the Friday show. No.

Do you have any sort of promotional involvement on the Saturday show at Louis Armstrong? We not not directly in this show Golden Boy are leading that one. How does that work, by the way, because you guys did the Times Square one, right? And so why aren't you doing this one? Just because of the different relationships with different fighters. That has been one of the great things,

as well, working with Tokelo Shake, is involving all different promoters and working together with different people to make things happen. For this show, we've obviously worked with Shakur Stephenson on Saturday night. We'll help, you know, we'll help push things around the event and any way we can help. We work very closely with the team, you know, we did the event

at Tottenham a few weeks ago, did Times Square, did LA, so we have a great relationship and any way we can get involved and help deliver a successful event, that's our job, that's our business. So obviously Katie has been with you guys from the beginning. I mean, were you instrumental in bringing her over? It was, Eddie really had the relationship. I know the DM, yeah, but you were there, right? Boots on the ground?

Yeah, yeah, it's been an amazing journey. To have her in such a big fight on such a big stage, but not, because I even noticed, correct me if I'm wrong, you guys don't really push this one. I don't think Eddie's gonna be on the stage today. No, no, no. What is that like for you guys? Yeah, look, it's different, like you guys don't really push this one. You're, you're, I don't think Eddie's going to be on the stage today. No, no, no. What does that like for you guys? Yeah, it's different, but you have to do the best things by the fighters you

represent and that's always been the difference with us, I think as promoters is we've always worked to deliver the best possible opportunities to the fighters we work with, you know, the journey we've been on with Katie Taylor and what she's done for the sport is outstanding, you know, and it's been a pleasure to be involved in it. You know, that first fight at MSG, I always say out of the hundreds of fights I've worked on, that was one of the best nights I've ever been involved in. That atmosphere in MSG and also in Dublin, her two fights with Chantal Cameron in Dublin,

I've never experienced anything quite like, you know, the passion they have for Katie Taylor is like nothing else. So to be involved in that journey has been amazing. And look, the reality of it is ego, isn't it? At the end of the day, like the things you met, like being on the top table or this, that, the other, that's ego led. It's about being involved in these stories and being involved and staying involved throughout a fighter's career and that journey that you work through together. How's the relationship with MVP these days? Yeah, I mean, we've had our ups and downs quite publicly.

And things seem to be good. I think we're never always going to agree, and you're never always going to agree with any partner or any people you work with, but if you can do good business, happy days. But it's definitely in a better place than it has been over the past few years, I'd say. Are there any promoters that you refuse to work with? No, no, no, no. Look, I'm very open about promoters. I will be open about my opinion on promoters. There's a lot of people I don't agree with. There's a lot of things I don't agree with.

But if it makes sense for the fighters you represent, again, you have to put away... There's too much ego in this sport, and in fight sports in general, that get in the way of things happening. So you have to just go, you know what it makes sense let's do it let's make it work. How do you decide as far as with Eddie and I know there's a whole team but like for the longest time I think he was just kind of the front-facing guy now I've noticed you do a lot more media you don't mind being out there how does that balance work? It was to be honest it's never been the focus for me you know I'm You know, I'm not like Eddie.

People compare me to Eddie and say, he just wants to be like Eddie or he sounds like Eddie. You know, I've been around him since I was 14 years old. You know, I met him when I was 14 years old. It's an unbelievable story. Do you mind telling it to us? I know you've said it a million times before, but... He'll go at me because he says,

oh, you're just so dull, just make up some new story. But I met him when I was 14 years old. I was selling raffle tickets at Romp for Greyhound Track and selling raffle tickets for charity. And when I went in there, there was a Bentley parked outside. I went, that's nice. And you know, being a 14 year old, you're impressionable. Everything's about money. Or for me, it was at that time in my life.

And I sold him raffle tickets and someone said that's the guy with the Bentley outside and I went the tight bastard only gave me 20 dollars. So I went back up to him I got 50 bucks out of him and then I asked him for a job and I think he looked at me and thought stay in school you know like leave me alone. Did you know who he was? No. You never heard of the family? I didn't. I wasn't a mad sports fan, if I'm honest. I followed football, you know, I went to West Ham, but I wasn't a crazy sport fan. It wasn't what drove me. At that point, I was impressionable to money.

Again, being honest, I wanted to be a stockbroker in London because it was like, oh, that guy's got a Ferrari because he's stockbro- they were the kind of things I followed. And I think when I met him, I him I just thought oh and someone said he's got his own business I went I'll go and work for him. Wow. And then I pestered him for a job for months and months and months and I remember going to the train station and I got to the train station I'd left my wallet at home and I had to borrow 20 pounds off a stranger at Chelmsford train station in Essex and I

never found the guy again. Wow. And I really owe him my life to be honest because it's, you know, if I missed that job interview I never would have had a job. Okay, and so what was the job early on? Like they say T-boy. T-boy. Like runner. Like making teas, coffees.

Is that because if someone would call you a T-boy here in America that would be an insult. But that's like a real title? But if they called me it in America I wouldn't mind. You know, I started. Like an intern? know I I started like an intern yeah I started doing anything I suppose like is it post room people say as well in America a runner is someone who just goes like hey can I get a coffee can I get some yeah I got laundry yeah and I got pizzas I got

teas and I was very good early yeah like the lowest the lowest of the low yeah but it gave me that that drive and I think when I got into the company, it was very different back then. This was 17 years ago. I'm 32 or 18 years ago at 14, 32 years old now. And the business has completely changed. It still has that family mentality of a business, but it was a very different place to be. And when I started, I think I was on $40 a day or

something like that. I was working 19 hour days. I'm not sure if it was illegal but we won't press charges for it. So I would just do anything. Literally. Sometimes I'd sit in the office and they go we've got nothing for you to do and I'd be like they go like go and swim go in the swimming pool or go and learn how to deal poker cards you know or flip poker trips. I'd do that for days. You just wanted to be around. Yeah, and I think whatever I did I would have worked hard, you know, whether it was in sports, whether it was in going into the city to work in banking or finance,

or working in a superstore, I would have worked hard. And that was always, whatever I went into, was just work hard and see where you get to. I heard you tell a story that in your early days with Eddie, you might've been 16, 17, you stayed up really late, alarm goes off a few hours later. Unplug the phone. Unplug the phone thinking it was like a mistake or something and you show up like two hours late.

Crying, my eyes out. A lot of people would fire you on the spot. Yeah. You think you would be fired. He thought about it, I'm sure. No, you know, I was sitting in a room, we were producing a poker event and I was sitting looking at the cameras. I was doing something logging, logging cards or something.

And out of the corner of my eye, he walked in to this television truck and he walked up behind me and he just dropped a letter in front of me and I was 16 years old. I'd never worked anywhere before and I opened the letter and it was a final warning. And I wish I still had the original of it because it had the tears that I was crying on there. And I remember thinking, you know, the first thing I thought at that time was my mum, I was like, how am I going to tell my mum?

Because my mum had put pressure on me to, you know, work in whatever you do, work hard, you know, and give it your best. And I was like, I've been here for two months and I'm about to get fired. I was never late again and the final warning still stands. That's amazing so he wrote it out like this is it? I'm not sure he wrote it I mean the spelling was a bit yeah I posted it once and a few people did raise some of the spell I'm not sure he wrote it himself though. Any incidents since then? No never never that was perfect record since then I've've done 15, 16 years of being, you know, no trouble whatsoever. But just a few interviews like this, like you were saying there about how do you split up the time now. And it was never my focus. I love what I do. I love operating events, running shows.

I love putting on shows. Like that is for me what drives me. Every week I will get to walk out and go, wow, look at what we did. So it was always the focus for me was about that side of it. As things have progressed, the business has got bigger. You know, we have a whole range of sports, as we said, Eddie is obviously busier amongst a whole group of things. We have multiple shows on the same days. I started doing more and more of this and you get used to it. But the only way you improve is by making mistakes. and I remember the first press conference I did I was probably 23, 22 my legs I was sitting at a table like this my legs were

shaking and he every time he'd ring me afterwards he'd go what on earth was that? You know and you think I just need a bit of support but it's one of those things with all the mistakes is only you know How you get better at has there ever been a time where you did an interview and he's like, yeah Didn't like that answer. Yeah, you shouldn't have said that. Yeah, it's too much He doesn't he doesn't say too much like that. He'll joke he'll wind me up He'll say what on earth were you saying this, you know, what route were you going down with that one? But it's I'm quite safe in terms of like,

I'm quite the corporate or corporate head. I deal every day with the corporate side of our business. He does as well, but that's my day to day. And I don't take as many risks as him, but he's different, you know, it's his business. He's been doing it a lot longer than me. He's much more comfortable saying certain things. I will always stay close to the line, you

know, say what I think. Sure. I'll never not say what I think, but I won't go too riskate with it. You know, and maybe that's what comes over time. Well, that's why perhaps it was noteworthy Ben Eubank weigh-ins. You're in the mix there and it was a different side of you. Yeah. You got a little heated there with the Eub, the bank team. He was actually my brother in law as well. Okay. So that's the weird thing about this. We were talking about it earlier. Yeah.

You, so you're, you're married. Not married. Basically we've been together a long time. Yeah. Seven, eight years. Uh, yeah. Coming up to 10 years with seniors, daughter, junior sister. Yeah.

Yeah. And, uh, her name please. Uh, Emily, Emily. Um, first of all, how did you meet? At a boxing show. When Junior was fighting. Okay. I think it was 10 years ago in October or so. He was fighting on our card, a guy called Tony Jeter in Sheffield.

Okay. And met her there and then the rest is history. Has this been awkward at all? Especially as, I mean, the saga for the last three or so years, you're very much on the other side of the fence, right? Your guy is Connor Ben. She's the daughter. Does this thing work? especially as, as I mean, the saga for the last three or so years, you're very much on the other side of the fence, right? Your guy is, is Connor Ben.

She's the daughter. Does this not get awkward? I try and keep it separate in truth. The only time it's difficult is these kinds of things. Okay. I've never said anything detrimental about Chris. I wouldn't do that. That's not my personality.

You know, at the end of the day, he's a fighter. He gets in the ring. He fights. He said things about me and that's a fighter. He gets in the ring. He fights. He said things about me and that's something I just have to get on with. I'm not going to respond to it. Um, no, because I don't think it's the right place to do it in truth with the family relationship. And even when I did that press conference, you know, Eddie called me up. He called me scumbag number two.

I had, you know, I never said anything about Chris. I, and I was actually going to say that they, these guys don't always get the respect they deserve, both Connor and Chris, because of their fathers, because of where they've come from. And it's like anyone in business, like Eddie with his father, people never quite give the respect, even though he works harder than 99% of people I know, because they look at their fathers and go, you're just there because of them. Don't get me wrong they all had an opportunity, you know, a helped opportunity to get to that point but I was actually going to say that day the respect they deserve so much respect for being in the position they're in because they've done it themselves as well and look at

what they went on to deliver as well you know what a spectacular fight so I try not to let the politics of boxing get in the way of outside. I'm very two different people. You know, I have no people think I have no ego. I have no care. Like it's boxing and business and you walk away and then it's personal and you have to try and keep everything. Do you have any kind of relationship with Junior? Not particularly.

I did at time, you know, I spent Christmases with him. You know, I have done. That's why he called you scumbag number two. I was like, is this just a work, as they say in the pro wrestling business? Maybe he'll tell me in a few years that it was, I don't know. But you don't, you don't talk behind the scenes, your buddies, that was great. And how does his sister feel about all this? That's got to be awkward. You're her partner.

Yeah, she doesn't really get involved in that side. Does he pay attention to it? I try not to, and I try not to as well outside because you have to keep it separate. And she's not in the, she's not in that world, she's not in the media like she has no interest. She's in working boxing? No, no she has no interest in this whole, all of this world. Yeah. You know like I have to do, I do this as part of my job, Krista she's not interested. Okay. So we try and keep it as separate as we can. What about you and Senior? she's not interested. So we try and keep it as separate as we can.

What about you and senior? We've had, you know, good, I get on with senior. He's, you know, he's an amazing character and I think more fighters can learn from what he's done in the sport than what he's created because he's unlike anyone else. You know, I've known him for, I've known him longer obviously because of my work in boxing, probably 12, 13 years. Yeah. uh... and to see now i always look back at what when you think about what he did in his career pre-social media can imagine how big he'd be social media was around

as a character oh my god uh... he's still an incredible character and he's had this explosion as well so going back to that moment why were you so fired up what the press conference? no the one on the weigh-in day. oh the weigh-in? yeah no i was I'm very relaxed I just react. I think I'm quite sarcastic. Yeah, you know, I'm quite dry and I think it rolls people up and I just have a laugh with things and I he was

The guy in question said some things about me and I was just like I wasn't gonna fight I've never had a fight in my life. I'm not trying to fight anyone. I was just like, come outside, let's have a conversation about it. I think he would have rather, you know, thrown a right hand and sometimes when people say that it implies let's fight. Yeah. Well, come outside. Yeah. Maybe most people.

Yeah. I just wanted to have a chat. Did you see that junior got fine? 10,000. Yeah. I actually, someone asked me about it earlier. I thought it doesn't make sense to me. Yeah.

Like, if you're questioning what he did, deal with that. If your problem is that you use social media, you know, it doesn't really make much sense. It's either he used this on or he didn't. They're saying improper use of social media. That's a little bit too much. It's the smallest fine he's had to date. Right. You know, he had a hundred thousand before that, so I thought the 10,000 was one to get

away with. But I don't understand it I don't look we don't represent Chris you're in yes not our role but yeah I think I didn't didn't make much sense to me rematches set though September 20 year but no location announced no no working through that now has a has a broadcaster been announced not yet no a lot the the rematch was science that was always a two-fight deal it was always a two fight deal. It was always a two fight deal. So it would be the same terms?

Yes. Same weight, rehydration clause, everything, okay. And that was announced last week and further details. Now look, it's not long away, I think it's 12 weeks away. Sure, when will the venue be announced? Hopefully in the next week or so, we've got meetings out here that are taking place, to plan everything, so yeah, everything. It would have to either be the Hotspur Stadium or Wembley, right? It would be amazing. I mean look, it was a massive event. There was, again, we

talk about like KT Saylor events and shows. That night just had everything because of the build up and then the fight. And you can talk up a fight as much as you want. Sometimes you can make a fight so it's gonna be the best thing ever and it it's live sport it doesn't deliver that fight literally and incredible and this will be no different it was a movie it was literally a movie

yeah the way it all played out for you yeah you know it's a it's a fight that's been built up for 30 odd years and they did everything asked of them and more and I don't the one thing I would say I don't think those guys in any other fight would have done what they did everything asked of them and more. And I don't, the one thing I would say, I don't think those guys in any other fight would have done what they did that night. It wasn't human. What either of them did, you know, what a spectacular night and in a sport where

sometimes fighters now coming under fire for not delivering, that was definitely not that speaking of stadiums from your perspective, how close have you gone to croak park with Katie? That to me is like the last thing left, if there is anything left. Yeah, we had a lot of meetings with Croke Park. It was very expensive, you know, and at the end of the day, we're trying to run. It's like more expensive than MSG. Yeah, I mean, MSG is insane.

Dublin to run an event is possibly one of the most expensive places in the world. Is it because of security? No, not just that. Hotels, like everything around Dublin and I don't know why. It's more expensive. We've done shows all around the world obviously at the biggest stadiums around the world. Croke Park was like something I've you know I've never seen. Really? Yeah. Is it almost unreasonable? We came under fire, I think so. Yeah. I think so but they will say other people pay for that. Boxing is very different. When you're in a venue for one night,

it's very hard to make it work. You know, when you go to these venues with concerts and you're doing three, four nights and you're selling tickets and the costs are already there, it's very different. Boxing is you're in and out in a space of six hours and you're done and then you tear it all back down. You know, so it's very hard to make those numbers stack up,

is the reality. So do you think that dream is dead? I'd always love to say that. It's not in the works, there's no. No, no, it's very unlikely. Do you think there is a chance Friday's her last fight? I think, you know, and this is like a discussion and not bringing it up, but AJ as well,

when people talk about AJ, it's whenever they feel like they've had enough. She deserves to do whatever she wants. If she would have retired after the last Serrano fight, she's done everything in the sport. She's a trailblazer in the sport. You know, who would have said she would have done to go on to do what she's done? I think she still has a passion for it. You know, she still loves the sport. It's what drives her every day. You know, all she does is train. She's been a professional a whole career. She's never taken, you know, she's never gone the wrong direction. Everything she's done has been to the tee by the book. And if she wants to

carry on for another five years, she'll carry on for another five years and she deserves that. So, you know, it's for everyone can have opinions. And I've said before, I've got a lot of fight, you know, I work with a lot of fighters that become friends as well. Derek Chisora being a great example, someone we don't promote. I said to him two years ago, he should retire. He's about to fight for a world title. Yeah. So what do I know?

I mean, you do know a lot, but yes, the fight game is a little bit funky in that regard. And actually she told me on Monday, there's a lot of things. We did the face to face and she was like, 136. They demanded, they demanded that I walk out first, all these things that I've had to give up to do this fight. And she wouldn't do the same. Excuse me.

She wouldn't do the same if the shoe was on the other foot, she wouldn't do the same. She wouldn't give me the third fight if she was up to all that. Was it difficult at all in the, in the, in the road to making this fight? Because typically, I mean, she is the undisputed champion. The fact that she's walking out first is a little

atypical right but it just shows it goes back to the point of ego in this sport yeah and if you take away ego things can get done and Katie Taylor is someone who doesn't have an ego Katie Taylor with all the successes someone who has never changed you know you go into a changing room there's still the same people in that change room today as they were when the journey started. Yeah. You know, and you don't see that. I'm sure like in all this, but you just don't see people do that. And I think sometimes when you step away and you go, who cares about all these things?

We've made so many fights in the past where I've said to fighters, no one's ever remembered who walked second in a fight that they won. No one ever goes, oh, do you remember he walked, who cares? But we're in a sport dominated by ego and if you can step away from that and you can make rational decisions and go again, who cares? You know, does it work for me? Yes, happy days. Yeah, you're still getting paid the same. Exactly. Speaking of AJ, you've known him for quite some time, signed him after the 2012 Olympic Games. I saw this photo of a very young Frank Smith

with Anthony Johnson. I mean, I wonder, Anthony Joshua, I should say, Johnson's MMA fighter. How old are you in this picture? That has got to be about 23, 24. And AJ is one of those people, you know, we worked with him since his professional debut in 2013. I took him for his medicals. Wow. I took him to Spec medicals. Wow. I took him to Specsavers and told people he was an NBA basketball player.

That's incredible. This is after he wins Olympic gold. After he won Olympic gold, yeah. And he was, he's just been the best player. You know, we work with so many fighters and you meet so many people. And the best normally are the ones who are the best at it.

You know, like the people who get to the pinnacle. The people who are just like, they're good, great to deal with. AJ is exactly that. It's always been, you do what you do. He's never let, you know, he's had opportunities to come and do other things and he's never looked elsewhere and it's worked.

And that loyalty goes both ways. And I would do anything for Anthony Joshua. You know, like he's like a, he's more like a friend than a client. And that's the same with fighters. Darren Barker, someone we worked with for years. You know, when you build those bonds and those relationships with people,

you'd literally do anything for them. And in this sport, you need that. It feels like in the Eddie Frank era where you guys really took that next step, especially with Dazon and coming to America, it was AJ and Katie, and you couldn't have picked two better people, two more loyal people, two people who haven't really been involved in scandals

or embarrassed you or the company or the countries that they represent, right? Like I think those two, in terms of like founding fathers for lack of a better term, have been instrumental in your success. We are obviously approaching the end for the two of them, and you always have to have the new ones. I saw you bring out Leo Tang, Frank Bruno, AJ.

That was very nice that you guys did the sort of passing of the torch. But how, like, we don't, I mean, what do we have? Two more left with AJ, three more, Max, who knows? I was disappointed, Tyson came back, he comes out and I knew he was always coming out, but he's talking about this Usyk fight. I don't want to see the Usyk fight.

There's only one fight. Why? I think it's all part of the game. You don't believe that date that he threw out the April 26th? I did text Spencer and ask him for six ringside tickets to help me, but it's part and parcel of it. That is what Tyson's an expert at. How long?

He's retired a few times and come back. It's part of the game. I think everyone wants to see that Anthony Joshua fight. I think, you know, Usyk won those two fights. He deserved to win those two fights, brilliant fights, you know, they both deserve a huge amount of credit, but AJ against Fury is the fight we want

to see. And I believe it will happen, but. You do? Yeah, I believe. 26? Yeah, but we talk too much about things, don't we? Yeah. And sometimes it's better in silence rather than just keep going on about things that

never materialize. Let it happen in silence. But Tyson's brilliant at what he does, isn't he? He's a great talker. He is, but sometimes it gets a little bit tiresome. I'm in, I'm out, especially when you don't believe it. It's like, all right, when are we getting the announcement that you're back? On the day that he announces his retirement, we're wondering when's the other announcement coming

because it gets a little bit. He's had a few, hasn't he? Yes. He's had a few. And there's just one left, I think, for both of them. Like, of course, AJ versus, I don't know, AJ versus Moses Saitama would be fun one day. It's not gonna happen. I know it won't happen, but I'm just saying

there's literally one left for the two of them. Just give us what we want. And by the way, they'll make won't happen. But I'm just saying, there's literally one left of the two of them. Just give us what we want. And by the way, they'll make a pretty penny. Look, I've said before that, I still love the Deontay Wilder fight. Yeah. You know, that in terms of, we're in a business of narrative, aren't we?

You know, you can put on the best fight, you can work with the best fighters in the world who don't have a character or personality matching other people that will never generate the eyeballs and nights that we've seen from other fighters and You know we want to sell fights and narrative is key to that AJ against Wilder is a fight That's been spoken about for many years. I think that's a huge fight. AJ fury a huge fight You know all of these fights are there to be made

I believe we'll see them, you know, but this is the most important decision of AJ's career, this next step. And about being, because it's the last, really the last move, you know, whether he fights for one, two, three, four, five more fights, and only he will be the one to determine when he's ready to do that. This move right now is the key to that, you know, and he had the injury after the Dubois fight, he wasn't going to be ready. And it was about just taking the time and putting yourself in a position to be ready to go and give yourself the best chance

at this point of his career. We probably don't see him this year, right? I think we do. That's a part of the year. Yeah, I think we do. You know, when you talk about Fury as well, that's a stadium fight. Yeah.

And that needs to be April, May. Right, right. I think there's a chance you see Anthony Joshua this year. Oh, wow. Fourth quarter, November, December. Yeah, I'm heading, not Jake Paul. Not Jake Paul. No, is that not a real thing? No, I saw it yesterday.

He said it's happening. He said it's going to happen. Yeah, yeah, they've talked. I've seen the screen grabs. He said it's going to happen. Have you been involved in these discussions? Not the screen grabs, no, no, the DMs, the DMs, no. A lot of people will laugh at it.

You know, I think if I was Anthony Joshua and I got an opportunity to fight a guy that was a Disney star a few years back. Yeah, yeah, a few years back, no longer. No longer. By the way, I don't discredit what he's, you know, he puts the work and the effort in, but fighting Anthony Joshua is very different

to fighting a 60-odd-year-old Mike Tyson. Sure, sure. Let's be completely realistic about it. But are these talks real? Or is it him just sort of trying to put it out there? I think he's a tremendous marketeer, isn't he? He was this close to getting the Canelo fight. But that is what he does. And again, if you're a fighter and someone says you can get paid this to fight someone who's really good, and no disrespect again to him, but he's not at the level of these guys not Canelo he's not Anthony Joshua sure or you can get paid this to fight this

guy who's had oh yeah I don't know I mean it's sort of like the Inganu fight too yeah but it's about marketing isn't it and that's what he does well okay but you've sort of danced around have there been any talks I think as much as the screen grabs as you've seen okay you know You know, whether it's real or not. The Nikissas, the Franks, the Eddies. No. You guys haven't sat down and talked about it. But again, in boxing, you write so... Who would have said Jake Paul would have fought Mike Tyson? Let's be honest. You can write so many things off. Right. It's a mad business. Okay, so just curious from the T-boy to the intern, all that stuff, to CEO, how many steps

is that? It was about three years. I was a T-boy, then I was ticketing. I worked in ticketing for our boxing business. Then I was an event assistant, then I was head of events. And I think it was, I've been CEO for five years now, six years. When we launched in the US, I think around that period, I can't even remember it, this business goes so quickly.

I think that was like... This was 2017 or something with Danny Jacobs. Yeah, it was probably four or five roles to get to that point. And I think I've worked with so many senior people over the years that get put in a position that haven't had the experience in order to go into that position. I can sit and talk to everyone who works in our team. We've got 40, 50 people and sit and understand what they're doing. I'm not saying I'm an expert at it, but I've been there because I've worked.

I tried writing press releases. I wasn't very good at it, but I gave it a go. I can sit and understand it all and sit with people And I think for so many people in senior positions, they don't understand the business, you know, and I've worked through that So yeah, it's been an amazing journey And I think we're so lucky to be in a business where every night you walk out and you look around and you go Either you go this is great or you go this isn't good enough right because again, it's about being able to Constructively improve stuff and go, do you know what? This can be better.

And that's the joy I get every weekend, you know, because I've been doing it so long now. We do close to 40 events a year, probably done 300 odd events. And are you just focused on the boxing? So I know Eddie has his hands in the other businesses. Are you just boxing? Yeah, I sit on the board of our group company that is the Dart, Snooker, Nineball and boxing. But that's a few ball meets and I go to some events of the other events

to see how they're doing with things. Great businesses, Dart, Snooker, Nineball. But my focus day in, day out is boxing. In the early days, when you were CEO, but let's say three, four years ago, did you find that some of the older guard weren't taking you serious because of your age? Yeah, I probably found that when I was about 24, 25, that people would go, all right, yeah,

I'll talk to Eddie. And I think only over time, once you show, you can deal with things with experience and people start to respect you and go, actually, he knows what he's talking about. And that just takes time. And once you get into a position, it becomes a lot easier. But because I made built relationships over the years, when we made Anthony Joshua against Josie Parker, that was 2017, I think, 2017, 2018. And I remember sitting in an office with David Higgins

with his vest on, he took his shirt off because he was hot. And it was like sitting with him and Eddie. And when you start to build these relationships and you start to work through it, people start to respect and go actually you know on the outside everyone looks at Eddie because he's the face and he's amazing for our business but on the there's a lot of work that goes on in the background so yeah it's over time it's got a lot easier.

I have heard actually a word on the street that like you crack the whip like you're you know someone was making a joke about like in terms of expenses and hotel and stuff like like you don't want to mess with Frank Frank you know you're not a freewheeling big spender like I'm the accountant yeah yeah yeah look I came from the school of Barry Eddie's father was in it thought the youngest ever chartered accountant in the UK and I grew up basically like Eddie's like an older brother to me. You know, I spent more time with Eddie than I have anyone else. You know, like it's like family.

Yeah. So I grew up with Barry's mentality and everything's numbers. And that's why we're a perfect mix because Eddie is the passion of boxing. And he has a gun. Me he's like, you don't care about this. And I'm just literally a spreadsheet, like a walking, talking spreadsheet. And he's like, I don't care about this. And I'm just literally a spreadsheet. Yeah. Like a walking, talking spreadsheet. And he's like, I want to do more fights. I was like, no, we can't do more fights because of this.

So it's a good balance. You know, it's a great balance. And I think every business, like we said earlier, needs that balance of people. Um, but yeah, I'm quite, I'm, I'm fair, but I'm strict. Fair enough. If that makes sense. Yeah. Have you ever been close to leaving? No, no, never. Not being recruited or said, I'm strict. Fair enough. If that makes sense. Yeah have you ever been close to leaving? No, no never. Not being recruited or said I'm tired of this? I wouldn't

look I I don't want to work in boxing forever I'll be honest with you it's a terrible business because of the people involved in the sport you know I don't want to be around some of these people I will I'll stun my kid and I won't I don't make rash decisions because I don't like someone or I don't, you know, I don't agree. I'll make decisions that make sense for the business and the fighters we represent. But leaving never because they gave me an opportunity and everything that Barry Eddy said they do, they've done for me. And I get to really direct something in a direction, as much as Eddie is again, go back to the face, I get to really direct something in a direction, as much as Eddie's, again, go back to the face,

I get to direct the things, the decisions we make every day and they let me really run along with it. You know, Eddie makes a joke that we just wheel him out in a wheelchair and say, you know, go and sell the fight. And then it's like, right, in the background, I love just making things happen. And I've been given that opportunity and, you know, to do that

we're the biggest boxing promoter globally with the only people who promote shows week in week out around the world and To be able to do that and to have built that from 14 years ago, you know 12 14 years ago It's amazing to be a part of and I think the day I don't have the drive That I have now I'll, let someone else do it. But I have the drive, like I say, of every night walking out and looking around and going, wow, you know, this is great.

And it's impressive drive. I've seen like maybe the end of the year, you've said like, I've been in hotels this many nights. What are you averaging? Like last year. 300 nights in hotels. 300 nights. So I'll go home for a night. You know, I went home for a night. I go away nights. So I'll go home for a night.

You know, I went home for a night. I go away for another two weeks, I go home for a night or two. Gosh, that doesn't wear on you. Yeah, it's not sustainable. That's the part I will in time look to bring that, because you can't do it. Yeah.

But it's not just events. It's like on Monday I was in Monaco meeting the government about our event there, flew from Monaco. This Monday? Yeah, and then flew here. And then before that was in Manchester for five days. about our event there, flew from Monaco. This Monday? Yeah. And then flew here. And then before that, I was in Manchester for five days.

And then before, you know, it's just like, it never ends. And people look at it, you know, from the outside, people go, wow, that's amazing. And it is amazing. I would never complain about it, but it's not sustainable. You know, it's not sustainable. How much longer can you do that? Realistically? Four or five years, maybe.

Okay. I just don't think as as you know, 100 flights a year. And I'm not the healthiest guy. I try and run, but I'm not really. I like my food. Are you on pace to do that again this year? Yeah. Wow. Yeah, yeah, but it's literally,

we are like a traveling circus. Finish an event, you get back on the Monday, you're back working, then you're working through, and then you go to another event, and it's just back to back to back. When does the Netflix series come out? September. working, then you're working through and then you go to another event and it's just, you know, back to back to back. When does the Netflix series come out? September, September. So imagine we're going to see a lot of that.

Yeah. Are you in it? Yes. Yeah. It's across our whole group. Are you worried about it? Are there things that you're worried about? No, no, no.

It was, it was an amazing experience. I mean, having watched, you know, the drive to survive is obviously box to box produce this. To be a part of it was amazing. I think in years to come, we'll look back on it and go, well, what about that time? It was a bit to get used to because you'd be having a conversation like this and a boom mic would come in and people would be like, what are you doing?

But it was something I pushed very hard for. There was certain people in our business that we got a great business. We've got a very successful business that's been successful for a number of years and it was like, do we really need this? But I looked at what it did for formula one and I'm not saying it was the sole factor, but I do think it was a huge factor. Oh yeah. What has been created in America.

Yeah. And I look at it for our business. We're a business full of characters and people buy into that these days. As much as we wanna build the fighters and that's the focus for us, we also, if we can build our business at the same time and build storylines around that and it grows the sport we're involved in,

then that's beneficial for everyone. By the way, new game in town, Zufa Boxing, how do you feel about them? I think it's great for the sport. I think any new entrants- They're trying to ruffle the feathers though, right? They're trying to reinvent the game. Yeah, but to see what they've done with the UFC is spectacular. I think it was different times in a different sport which didn't have the history and heritage that boxing has of hundreds of years

of being this sexy sport. You know, boxing has had so many storylines, so many promoters over the years and UFC they came in they brought everything together and yeah it's unbelievable what they've done. I don't think you can do that now in boxing. I think there will always be, it will coexist is my view but I do look the same model though right? No not as the UFC but I do, I look at boxing as well. And I think things need to change in boxing. You know, in this fast paced world we're in, of people who need to be entertained within a minute. You know, like we sit and watch reels,

we sit and watch TikToks. If they don't interest us within 10 seconds, we're onto the next thing. It's the same with sport. And it's the same with the younger audience coming through. They want to be entertained immediately. Like this thing we talk about fights and the boxing start, you know, people six, eight rounds in and it's the same with the younger audience coming through. They want to be entertained immediately. Like this thing we talk about fights and the boxing start, you know, people six, eight rounds in and it's dull and it's like that for me, I'm not again a major boxing fan and

I know that may sound crazy, but I look at the products and go things can change. And I think shorter formats can work in boxing, more engaging formats can work in boxing, selling narrative and you know sometimes it's about two people being on a similar level, you know, you can be the best fighter in the world but if you don't have a storyline and you don't sell yourself, you know, I look at Andre Wold, a perfect example of that, how good was Andre Wold? But when he was active fighting he didn't really do any media, he wasn't as big as he probably deserved to be with his skill, he's just one example of a fighter but yeah let's do for boxing I think he's brilliant I think anything that brings money into the

sport investment into the sport you know it's great when's the Dazon deal up next year but we're working on already that now you know end of 26 yeah it was a five-year deal okay are we gonna go out to go out and... We got it, no we we're in a great place. Look we made the move to Dizone at a time where people looked at us and said well you know you know what are they doing at that point? We believed in the Dizone platform and look at where we are now. Look they've got a club world cup with FIFA with the final on Sunday. They're the home, the major home of boxing. Every major event Saturday night, Ring 3 on the Zone. You know we believed in where the Zone would be and

it was, it wasn't that we thought at that point they were aware they were going to be. They were investing heavily into sports but we knew the direction it was going in. So you know for us we're big believers in the Zone. They backed us as well. They backed us you know in the US when we launched in the US. So you know, for us, we're big believers in design. They backed us as well. They backed us, you know, in the US when we launched in the US. So, you know, we're working through all that now, but we've got a great partnership with them. Is this Shakur's last fight with Matron? Yeah, but we've got a great relationship with him, you know.

I think you will. I hope so. I think where Eddie's been very good as well, you know, with Shakur. Another one was Terrence Crawford. Yeah. Bringing out fighters' personalities. Yeah. You know, and I think Shakur naturally. Going great. Yeah, And I think Shakur naturally is getting better at that. He's a great talker.

But the same with Terrence. When Eddie would spend time around him, when we had that LA show as well with Madrimon for him, the personality. And that's our job as promoters. And I think sometimes that's lost amongst a lot of promoters. That's what we need to focus on. But you know, we should call those big fights to be made. And I think with the relationship we have,

there's much more we can do together. Okay, so the next one for him is obviously this Saturday, Louis Armstrong Stadium, Katie on Friday, a lot to be excited about. You just signed Molly McCann as well. Yeah. From a UFC fighter. Yeah, brilliant.

You know, I've known Molly for a few years, not too closely, but having now spent a bit more time with her, she's brilliant. You know, she gets behind things and that's obviously why she's still got the relationship with UFC as well. And she's a great character and people are interested in her and you know, I think she's going to have a great story in boxing and excited to get that started. Lovely stuff. Thank you, Frank. Thank you. Congrats on all your success. This was great. Our first official chat. Big one. We don't need Eddie anymore.

I don't know. I mean, look, he's much better at this than me. He's got better hair. He's obviously a presence, but I enjoyed this. I enjoyed this very much. Great. And wonderful to see your success, honestly, for you personally and for the entire company. So keep it up. Thank you so much. There he is. Mr. Frank Smith, CEO of Matchroom Boxing. We will take a quick break and then we'll bring in the president of the Anthem Sports Group, the Fight Network, Invicta FC, and of course TNA Wrestling. It's a business kind of day here on the program. Do not go anywhere. We'll be back with Carlos Silva. I gotta tell you, it is toasty in here. Someone commented on the behind the scenes video

and said, Ariel keeps saying we like it toasty in here, but I'm literally the only one who likes it toasty. It might be actually too toasty now. I might have gone overboard. It's probably a good 77, 78 at this point. He teased in the control room with us saying it's unbearably hot in there. Is it too hot?

I'm sweating, but I like to sweat. Anyway that was a great chat with Frank Smith. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Brilliant guy, impressive young man, just 32 doing massive massive things. Let's keep this theme rolling along here. I'm enjoying it very much. We will have in a matter of seconds the former CEO of World Series of Fighting and the Professional Fighters League from 2015 to 2019 Also worked as the CEO and Commissioner of World Team Tennis. This man has been all over the sports media landscape But these days he is the president of Anthem Sports, Anthem Sports Group to be exact, Invicta FC, the Fight Network, and TNA Wrestling. And if you are a TNA slash NXT fan, you will see him quite often in the front row

at some of these events where the TNA and NXT wrestlers are being shared and there's kind of a running storyline between the two of them. So it's a fascinating chat between someone who has been very much involved in the world of MMA and now very much involved in the world of MMA and combat sports once again but also pro wrestling. There aren't a lot of these out there so let us say hello now to our old pal Carlos Silva who I have not talked to in quite some time but great to have in studio. There he is! Carlos! You're back! Thank you so much. Please have a seat. Everything is great. I love the hat. You're always rocking the TNA hat.

I'm trying, man. I'm trying. Good to be back here. It's great to be back. Yes, because I said there's not a lot of people who have been in the MMA space and then reemerged in this type of space. Get closer to the microphone if you don't mind. Yeah, good, good. Yeah, that's perfect. But now here you are very much back in the world of combat sports you left in 2019, right? Correct your CEO of World Series of Fighting slash PFL 2015 to 2019

That's right the tennis thing you were doing sports media stuff and now back with anthem TNA and Victor fight network This is a crazy journey. Yeah, we're saying the same thing coming in here. I can't believe I'm back Yeah, you know back with Ariel and I was trying to think the last time I was on the show, but I think it was right around when we did the big NBC show with World Series of Fighting at the Garden. Yes. And it was Nick Newell and Justin Gaethje perhaps. Justin was the yes the last yeah great last fight Justin then Justin went on to do what he's done at the UFC which is awesome. So was like how did this all come about because sometimes when you leave combat and you go down the more traditional sports path

You don't come back. You don't want to come back. And so here you are With this massive opportunity anthem sports. I've known them for quite some time Canadian guys the fight network. They've been a staple So how did this all come about? That's really how it started I mean if you go back in time to World Series of Fighting, you know fight network was our distributor in Canada Okay, and so we you know, Fight Network was our distributor in Canada. Okay. And so we, you know, we distributed, they were great partners, got to know Len Asperer and the team a little bit over the years, you know, continued working with them even into the PFL days. And I got a call.

I got a call from a friend, a buddy of mine, Rick Alessandri, who you may know, Rick was, Rick ran X Games and now is in the recruiting business and was at ESPN for years. And Rick said, you know, Len and the team are looking for a new president. I knew Anthem Sports well because of the properties. I obviously knew Invicta a little bit from back in the day and Shannon and what she was doing.

And I felt like so many, almost going back to the World Series, and funny, there was this groundswell around pro wrestling too. I think we're in this interesting moment in time, feels a little heyday-like again, because of all the great things that are happening with WWE and AEW. And so I jumped in, it was a process, we talked about it,

we talked through how to do it, and then I joined in, sort of end of of December really January because it was the holidays and and jumped in and you know spent the last six months Reworking some things and Rebuilding and so far so good you live in Canada. I don't I live in in outside of Washington, right? That's not required for you to look because I know I mean I'm up in Toronto from time to time But you know right now the team is in the world we live in. The team is in a lot of, I've got some staff here in New York City, you know, sales and

marketing. I've got an executive producer in Cleveland. There's people, you know, our team in Nashville, Tennessee from the original TNA team is down there, Eric Tompkins and the team. So we're down there and we have our studios down there and produce our shows. So it's, we're everywhere and we're obviously traveling every almost every weekend. So you're quite visible a lot at a lot of these events. Is TNA taking up most of your time these days or is it just because we're seeing

you but there's other stuff? Yeah I mean under the sort of the Anthem sports portfolio is is TNA, Invicta Fighting and then fight network as well as game plus and you maybe you know for being a good canadian game plus is a variety now you have a variety sports network on mostly in canada yes and uh... i would probably say tina does take the most time i think it's um... it's uh... it's a really important asset to anthem sports uh... but you know every day every monday wednesday friday we've got our staff calls that have all of the teams on and we're

working through each of the business units to try and optimize each of them. So I know you're relatively new like you said January or so but the the the resurrection if you will or the resurgence of TNA has been an amazing story to watch because there was a period I mean I would I go back 0203 the beginning of TNA they would have these Wednesday night pay-per-views they didn't have a TV deal this was Jerry Jared and Jeff Jared and the pay-per-views were available for 9.99 I'm a kid in college nothing to do on a Wednesday night and so I was ordering these on a weekly basis events in Huntsville Alabama and

the fairgrounds in Nashville and whatnot. And so to see this company go from that, the spike days, and then like a little bit of a downturn. And now all of a sudden this, from your perspective, what has changed? What's the difference? Because honestly, it felt like they weren't quite six feet under, but maybe like two feet under at one point. And now all of a sudden, there's been a massive shift. It's definitely there's been some ups and downs. Anthem bought the property in 19, 18, 19. Okay. And I think there's been some ups and downs there.

I think we've really kind of looked at sports and entertainment as a property and not just as a wrestling promotion. And in the world that we live in now and maybe with the 25 years of experience that a lot of us have and the team that we brought together has, we're trying to bring all those things together to increase every little piece of TNA. It's not just about having great wrestlers. It's also about having great venues. It's also about about having great wrestlers, it's also about having great

venues, it's also about making sure the fans can get it, it's selling merchandise, it's bringing sponsors in, and it's getting the right distribution deal, and it's how do you take all of those things from all of the different properties I've been in now in a little bit, the years keep going up, Ariel, but it's okay. And how do you do that to create this engine that keeps building it? And I think we've built it from January to February. Every 30 days, we've gotten something

that has continued to build the story. And we've always been building towards this UBS event, Slammiversary, we're so thankful with John Ledecky and the team that we're going to such a beautiful arena beautiful arena and we've been sort of targeting it over these six months to build it and I think the build has been you know one step at a time but always up a couple of steps and we've been pretty lucky that I don't think we've gotten you know had haven't had to go down a step to go up a step we kept building and then I think on top of it too, I think the WWE NXT partnership has been spectacular really.

Starting at Royal Rumble, continuing at WrestleMania. I mean, when you saw Joe Henry run into WrestleMania, I was there. I mean, it was amazing moment for TNA and it was great partnership, really make that happen from the WWE and NXT side. And then it's continued to build in the storylines and the way that we're crossing over. You're seeing our wrestlers on CW on Tuesday nights on NXT shows almost every week.

And they continue to support us. We continue to support them. And I think it's just built the brand and the property up. And I think it'll continue So yes, July 20th, Long Island UBS Arena slam adversaries sort of like your your WrestleMania if you will big yearly show for the company We had the Hardy Boys in a couple weeks ago, which was tremendous absolute legends They're gonna be a big part of it Joe Hendry as well and I'm happy that you brought the the WWE relationship up because I would agree. I mean the

spotlight that they put on TNA mentioning the TNA brand, the title, having one of their guys become TNA champion trick one is huge for the company. I asked Matt Hardy about the relationship and you know I appreciated his candor. I said you know why do you think this is happening and he quite frankly, it's because they want to try to, you know, put down AEW. And so it's to their benefit, WWE's benefit to be in business with you. Do you agree with his assessment?

And it's benefiting you, but do you agree with why this is happening? Look, I think, I think that, and this kind of goes back to even the early days when we were in, when we were in MMA, there's, look, there's a major league of wrestling. And we know who the players are. Obviously, WWE with NXT are the NFL of the space. AEW has done a great job over the last six, eight years building up. They've gotten a great

distribution deal. But TNA is part of the major leagues too. And so, look, we've been in partnership with AEW well before I showed up as well. And now we're partners with WWE. You know, what they're if they really want to do it against AEW, not really how I see it. I just think that we've built such a great partnership together that I think they see the value in not only building up stars like a Joe Henry that came up through TNA, but also letting the Hardys and Nick and others find another place to continue to celebrate their greatness. And they have now also crossed back over into WWE and NXT

as well over these last couple of months. So I think that combination is why we're all working so well together. Were you a part of doing that deal or was that before you got there? So the deal was really constructed before I showed up. And then as I showed up, I really helped to get it over the line,

to get it signed and really get it going. Was that with Nikon or with someone else? That was with Nick. And Paul Levesque? Yeah. And how would you describe the relationship now a few months in? I think the relationship over the last 60, 90 days has just grown. I knew Nick a little bit going back to his CAA days.

He actually helped me with the first PFL deal with ESPN before I left. When he was working in the rights business. Yeah, so I knew Nick well then. He's been great. Paul has been very supportive at all levels and you saw all the things that Paul said about Joe at WrestleMania, which was great and very supportive and really you could see his thinking about growing this brand and Joe Henry. So that's been great. And then Sean Michaels and Johnny down at NXT have been great on the creative side. And, you know, we've been doing a lot with them and they're super supportive too. So far so good.

I don't really have any complaints about how it's been going. Are you ever worried that some of your guys would say like oh you know it's quite nice over here and then you know like if I play for the Knicks I'm not really having a cup of coffee with the Lakers you know what I mean? So is there ever a concern that they'll see something on that side of the fence when if there wasn't a relationship they wouldn't see it and thus you might lose them? Of course yeah but I think you have to you have to take the goods with that and understand how it helps to continue to build TNA. I mean, as I've been doing this in and around the sports and

entertainment business for a long time, I've always created strong partnerships that will help you. I've never really been a I don't lead by trying to attack or create divisive ways to get there. I think if you partner with people, you can continue to grow and all boats will rise to the tide. In our case, we are the smaller boat. It's okay to say it. And so we do rise. And being, you know, the other night I was telling my team, if you didn't see it, but,

you know, Joe was, led the the show with trick on CW two weekends ago and they put out that 750,000 people watched on on CW it was a great number and it's you know it's it's a proud moment for us too because our TNA talent led the opening of that show and and helps those numbers so I think it's good for everybody so no no, it's been great so far. Okay, so I'll be 100% honest. Raw, Netflix, 8 p.m. Mondays. SmackDown, USA, Friday, 8 p.m. I know that AEW Dynamite is on Wednesdays.

All these are live. I know they have Rampage on Friday. When does TNA air and where? TNA Impact is on Access TV. Access TV is also an anthem sports and entertainment property and it's on from 8 to 10 Eastern Time every Thursday night. Is it live? It is live sometimes.

Sometimes, so you tape others? Correct. So we will go to weekends, we'll go to loops and those loops might have a live hit on a Thursday night and then if we're there on a Friday night, the Friday night show might have two tape shows that would show the next Thursday and the following Thursday. And the venues where the shows are taped, is it always the same venue or is it in different venues?

No, we, right now we're a traveling event business and we're, you you know we're at UBS arena on July 20th we're going to be in Baltimore we're going to be in Minneapolis we're going to be in Edmonton you know we've been this year you know in Atlanta we were just in Tempe we were in Vegas and so so we've been going around the country do you think it has to be live every week? I'd love it to be live every week. You would, because there was a time where it was live. I'm a live sports guy, Ariel. Even when we have our talent meetings and I talk to the talent and I tell them, and

you know, guys, we're going to be live tonight, you can see them light up. Like, everyone responds to live. I mean, when I asked if this show was live, I said, great. I don't want it to be a tape show. I want it to be live. Yes, yes. It's just the interaction that you get that's different So we've actually opened up a couple of our tape shows recently To a live look in on TNA plus as just a way to also bring a little bit of live flavor as we sort through

The ability to do more and more live. I'd like to be live 52 weeks a year but with that comes some deals and the costs around the operations to do that, and possibly finding a place to be three months, four months out of the year, so you're not traveling 52 weeks a year, which is difficult. Of course, and expensive.

Expensive. So let's talk about that, because you said that Access is owned by Anthem. I remember when Access was HDNet, right? HDNet, correct. Back in the day, Mark Cuban, and then it was sold. It's obviously not the biggest platform, and I've even heard you say they're not a sports network,

so maybe we're not the best fit for them anymore. You said that recently, right? And so Could because it is owned by anthem Could you sign with someone tomorrow or you are you contractually obligated to be on? Access for X amount of time and then can go out and find a new home No, I along with our partners at access and and you know Len and Andy Andy shown who runs access TV We we want to find a bigger platform. Okay, so are you actively, I know you have CAA representing.

We've got CAA helping us, we're actively in the middle. Okay. You know, if I could get a few things done, I'd love to tell you about those deals. Are you close? Yeah, we're close. I mean, we've been working on it since the beginning of the year, really since I joined, and it really has accelerated over the last 60 days, and so we're working through it. But yeah, I'm excited.

How close do you think you are to announcing? I think we could be in a 60 or 90 day window to get something done. As you know, the media landscape is changing every single day, and literally week to week things are changing. We just saw some other networks that are going to get sold again this week things are changing. I mean, we just saw some other networks that are gonna get sold again this week that are changing hands. So you never know, but it's never done till the eyes are dotted to each other's cross.

But yeah, we're working hard at it. Would that come into play in 25 or 26? It would come into play at the end of 25. Okay, and would it possibly mean live 52 weeks, this new deal? We've been asked by many Partners that they'd like it to be live 52 here. And so we're talking through how we would do that Maybe it wouldn't go live in January straight away 52 weeks, but we would certainly lean into that to try and make it happen Yeah, still Thursday's

Could be up for grabs. Okay, are you married? You'd have to look at the crowded. Sure, you don't wanna go on Mondays or Fridays. You don't wanna go collisions and you don't wanna start playing that game. Thursday seems like a good day for you guys. But yeah, Thursday's worked out well so far, yeah.

And as far as pay-per-view is concerned, you still wanna stay in the pay-per-view business. Some people are moving away from it, right? So if you do a deal with something, with some network, are you now, you know, like the Peacock deal, for example, where the pay-per-views are now kind of a part of the deal, what do you think? You're smiling, so I don't know,

I'm trying to read what the smile is. No, I mean, you should be sitting with me in the meetings. Yeah. I mean, those are the questions that get asked every time. How do we take your live impact shows, 52 weeks a year? How do we take your four pay per views, Slammiversary being one of them? How do we take the eight PLEs that we do that are currently on TNA plus? Many of the folks that we're talking to also have platforms and they have either USA platforms, in some cases worldwide platforms. They obviously

want to suck those kinds of assets into their platform and we're open to it. So TNA plus is sort of like your version of WWE Network from back in the day. It's your own streaming platform where there'll be exclusive content, exclusive shows. How is that going? It's going well.

I mean, we just announced it. We have over 21,000 subscribers on TNA plus. How much is it? There's a couple of different tiers between, you know, between five and $10 a month, depending on the tiers. And there's a yearly subscription as well. And then there's also a tier that if you get the bigger tier, you get the pay-per-views as part of the package.

It's gone well, but, you know, going it alone can still be tough. And, you know, having come from going way back into my AOL days, being the subscription business is hard and you have to care and feed. And you do have people buying and leaving. And you've got to work through the marketing dollars to keep it going. So I think, look, I think all all assets are on the table as we look at new partners. And someone actually yesterday asked me the question of,

you know, what would happen to TNA plus if we? Did this deal and we've got XYZ platform and the answer is let's talk about it Mm-hmm, if it makes sense to move the 21,000 TNA plus subscribers into a bigger platform We'd we'd sit and have that conversation by the way. Did you know that AOL was on this floor in this building? Yeah Oh, yeah Was here many years ago. Yes, were you working out of this? No, I was, I was based in Dallas,

but we would come up here and yeah, I remember these offices. It's a wild thing because my show started at AOL when it was AOL Fan House, the MMA Hour, way back in the day. And when we came back here and did this deal with Yahoo a year ago with Ryan Spoon and everyone, I was like, 770. I this this address sounds familiar So I typed it into my gmail right and it went back to 2009 when I was doing the show for a well on this

Or in this building, right? It's a crazy thing to come all the way back here So there's a couple I don't know if you notice when you came in There's a couple of old a well remnants. No, I didn't but I'll definitely you will probably appreciate that That's way back in the early days of your career. Yeah well and then it and then in the in the crazier part of it is Ryan Spoon was. President of Yahoo Sports now. Was one of our was one of our investors when we built world championship sports network in universal sports.

Wow. At Polaris up in up in Boston so I've known Ryan years as well. So there's a there's so many connections from You know these last 25 years Ariel. It's great Are you still so when you left the combat business were you still following? PFL World Series of Fighting that you know, like were you still of course? Okay. Yeah, of course a lot of a lot of my teammates People I brought into the business friends, you know guys like Ray, you know Certainly Don and Pete and George Greenberg and all those guys are good friends.

So I try to keep in touch with all of them. How do you feel about the current state of the company based on what you see from afar? You know, it's hard. I think it's hard. I think everyone, they've been spectacular at raising a lot of money. They've been spectacular about growing into Europe.

It's just being in the live event business is difficult and it costs a lot of money. But look, we'll see what happens with ESPN and where ESPN goes. There's so many rights deals coming up. And like everything, you gotta be really good and you have to be a little lucky with all of these things. So one brand that I've long been a fan of is Invicta. I love

what Invicta has done and I've always referred to Shannon, Shannon Knapp, the founder of Invicta as a survivor because she has been in this business for a long time through many ups and downs and there was a time where I mean you looked at the Invicta roster maybe like 13, 14 and it was a who's who and. And for whatever reason, you know, UFC started to get into the women's MMA business, so they poached a lot of the talent and now people want to go straight. How do we get Invicta back to where it once was? Is that even possible? Is that even an attainable goal or does that need to be redefined?

I know you have to deal with CBS Sports Network. They're still around. They still have solid fights. But can we get back to where Invicta was 10 or so years ago? Is that possible? We think so. I mean, Shannon and I tackle this every day too. Again, it's a little hard. There's been a little bit of starting and stopping with Invicta. And so I think also laying out the schedule, understanding really where you're going to be, you know, 8, 12, 14 times a year

so that you can continue to get the consistency for the fans is important. CBS Sports Deal been great because it is a nice platform and it does get a little bit of a shine because of the CBS Sports brand and its quality. The shows have been great. They look great. They're happy with the product. I think like everything,

we're out there looking for sponsors, you know, looking for other partners and ways to grow it. In fact, Shannon and I are flying off next week down to Orlando to look at another venue as another potential place and maybe a little bit of a home base that could also help out operationally with some costs. But look, you couldn't have a better person in Shannon in not only the passion and the history and being a Hall of Famer to make it happen. The ladies that fight for her, love her, she takes care of them.

We just have to, again, sort of mix in that magic of how do you manage the operation of the event business along with sponsorship and the distribution so that we can dial it in, and that's what we're working hard on. What do you think is like the sweet spot number as far as events are concerned for them? I think it's probably 10.

10, okay. Yeah, I think if you could do one once a month and take a break in August and December, I think it would at least give the fans, Chen and I were actually talking about it yesterday, give them some consistency so that they know when the shows are coming up and they can follow the fighters, they can train with them, they can understand their camps,

all those things that help lead up to the moment when they step in the cage and the excitement happens. And the Fight Network is near and dear to my heart as well because I remember when they launched in Canadian and I had a lot of friends who worked for them and I remember when they were really heavily involved I mean they even had a UFC deal at one point what is your your take on the the state of the fight network and and and the one thing for me is it felt

like it never was able to break through into the United States is that even a possibility is that even something that is trying to be done absolutely and I agree with you it's it's strong Canada. It's always been strong in Canada as you know having been on the other side and them being my distributor they were always great in Canada. We've got a fast channel with really good traction in the US. Oh really? Okay. And we're continuing to grow the different platforms that it can go and now we're talking about some other live rights that we could bring in to the Fast Channel.

As you know, if you know a little bit about Fast, I mean, Fast is a crowded place. It's difficult, but live matters on the fast side too. And so if we can bring some more live, you know, look, as you move rights from Canada to the U.S., sometimes they're costly, but there may be some different rights that are also available that we can get in the U.S. that helps to give FIGHT a little bit of that live magic that they need that will help with distribution. So yeah, Chad Megley on our team is still leading. He's been there forever.

He's been there forever. He's the oldest Anthem employee. Wow. He's a great guy and he's a hard worker, super passionate about what we have with FIGHT. And I think he's excited to try and build it build it a little bit in the US together. As you know when when a new president new regime comes in there's always going to be some change. I did want to ask about one that made some headlines. Gail Kim leaving TNA. What could you tell us about her departure because I think she was there for quite a while 17 or so

years and it made big news. What was the reasoning behind her departure? Yeah, so Gale, I mean Hall of Famer, TNA Hall of Famer, been there for years. You know, I think we just, when you come into an organization, you have to look at what's working and what's not working. And sometimes you have to make changes because you gotta move forward to continue the growth.

And so I had to make a couple of hard decisions, not just with Gail, but with a few other staff to try and maybe reinvigorate to your point, sort of reinvigorate what I think was already going well, but at least from what I've learned in my career over the last 25 years, when things are going a little bit well, that's not the time to sit and be happy

because everyone is chomping to try and get you. And so we kind of got a little more aggressive in making some changes that we thought we needed to make to sort of reinvigorate the locker room, maybe reinvigorate the knockouts division that I think we've done, elevate a few people that needed to be elevated and given some, you know, more responsibility. And that was one of the changes we made. We made a few others in the front office as well and look so far everyone's responded well and it's, we have a great team and some great camaraderie going right now. So like the reports online were that the locker room was upset over this.

Are you saying otherwise or? Look, I think in knowing a little bit about wrestling and knowing a little bit about working with athletes in throughout my career, they're always going to be people that are upset. I mean, Gale had been there a long time. Of course, it was it wasn't an easy decision to make. It was the most difficult decision I had to make so far in running TNA. But I think what's important is what you do after that and how you bring people together

and how we bring the locker room together and how we share what's going on with our talent and help them to feel like they're part of the business. And I think we've done a pretty good job of that over the last three, four months. And so far, the feedback I've been getting is people like the way things feel now. They like the energy. I'm a big energy guy.

I'm a big positive attitude person, and I think it makes a difference. And so we're trying to inject that into the organization. Do you think TNA could become the number two promotion in the world? Sure. Is that a goal? Look, it's always a goal to get better. And I say number two, obviously no one shoots to be number two, but obviously WWE is is is the big dog, right? They've they've got a massive head start. But there was once a time where TNA was number two in this country and around

the world. Is that part of the the motivation?, the motivation is to get better every day and land where we are and BTNA. Like I said, we're one of the major leagues. We've got a great partner in WWE and I think we keep getting bigger every three months. I think in the last six months, we've gotten bigger every 30 days. And I'm a really big sort of what do you you deliver in 30, 60, and 90 days? It's how you set your short-term goals. You can't just be thinking three years out. You gotta think about that,

but you gotta really grind it out every single day. There's no one thing that makes you win. It's a little of everything. And yeah, look, I want TNA to continue to be big and strong. And if I come on your show in six months and you want to tell me that we're the number two promotion, I'm going to say, yeah, I think you're right. You know, the way the TNA-WWU relationship has benefited TNA, I wonder if there's a possibility for an Invicta-UFC type of relationship in that same regard.

Is that a possibility? You know, sure. I mean, why not? Same company, TKO? Of course. Has that been discussed at all? in that same regard is that a possibility you know it sure me why not same same company tk l of course and that been discussed at all you know not yet because i think we got a still rebuild shannon has been doing over the last twelve months i think we need to do that a little more and

continue to build uh... the awareness uh... get more fights on bring in a couple more sponsors but but sure why not? Yeah I think it would be great by the way in the midst of doing all this all these deals Traveling how do you how are you doing all these? Ironmans, it's the Ironmans, right? How many of you done? I've done 13 13 Ironmans and for those that don't know that's and here's a photo of you at a recent one For those that don't know

how many how many miles on the bike is the bike first or the swimming swim first you have to swim first because otherwise you might drown that's a point first great point how many how many miles in the water 2.4 miles and then on the bike 112 and then the actual full marathon 26.2 miles yeah running that's insanity it's a long day when's the last time you did one? That was Phoenix in October of 2023. I took 2024 off. I did 13 in 14 years, one every year. Wow. Took COVID off and then I decided to quit. I think 13 was enough. I decided that I didn't need to tell Ariel that I needed to do you'd be happy if I did 13 which most people are but I've decided that I'm gonna do

another one so I'm going to Chattanooga in September to do an Ironman. What is the training like for that? I just train every day. I run, I swim, I bike. You finished every time you started? I'm 13 for 13. Do you mind if I ask how old you are I turned 60 years old 60 years old golly. Well done. Yeah, that's incredible I can't believe I just have this day. Just said that out loud, but it's true No, I mean God bless We should all be lucky to be doing this at half of that a quarter of that and and you don't find it hard with

All the travel all the work. Oh sure. Yeah, but you know, you can always get up early, you know, up at 5.30 or 6 and you can get a run in. I mean with the travel, almost every hotel has a pool. And every hotel at least has a bike in the gym. It's not the same, but it's okay. You know, you go in the gym and you ride the bike for a while, you jump in the pool, you swim. How long are you training a day? A typical day is three to five miles running,

10 to 15 miles biking, and 20 minutes of a swim. I do that pretty much every day. What's the diet like? I just try to eat protein, eat well, try to not eat bad things, just like we all should. And who got you into this well you know when I ran when I ran universal sports I went to Boston College I played tennis at Boston College and in Boston College I was on Heartbreak Hill every year with my buddies drinking beer and having a good time I played tennis my buddy Brian played soccer my buddy Renee was on the track team we always said we're gonna run the Boston Marathon.

We never did, because we were having too much fun at Boston College. So when I ran Universal Sports, the Boston Marathon, we were the broadcaster for the Boston Marathon, and I said that I wanted five entries to the Boston Marathon, and they said, well, you can't have them, you gotta qualify for the Boston Marathon.

So I said, well, I'm not gonna be the broadcaster then. They're like, okay, we'll give you some entries. So I ran, my first marathon I ever ran was Boston and that was 2008. And then the Ironman came to us and wanted us to do a broadcast deal for the Ironman races, especially Kona. And so we did the same deal and I got, I got some entries for Ironman races. And so I decided after running a few marathons that I do an iron man and Then sort of just kept doing them credible because I figured I if I stopped I wouldn't do them again Sure sure I kept doing them and we'll see I've got maybe hopefully I got one more in me in September

Do you have kids? Yeah twin girls. Do they do this? No, they ran track and field Okay, and they're they're pretty athletic, but no, they don't do. They come in, they're my pit crew. Okay, yeah, to hype you up. We have a good time. Yeah, they help me out. I love it. I love it.

Well, it's great to see. Congratulations on all your success coming back to the combat sports world. Just when you thought you were out, here you are back pounding the pavement. And I do really enjoy when you're front and center on the events interacting with the guys. It's cool to see, it's cool to have a face as far as TNA is concerned. I'm wondering when you're gonna get involved

in the angles now. Like is someone gonna hit you on the head with a guitar? Let's hope not. You want none of that? No, let's hope not. You just wanna be the guy sitting in the front row. I think being the president's enough. Yeah, but you know, it always happens by the way.

Like eventually you'll do some angles, someone will put you through a table and you are quite fit, I feel like you can handle it. We'll remember this. I'll be the president for right now. We'll remember this. It's good to close the circle and be back here with you too. And by the way, let us know when you have that news to break.

We like breaking news as far as the TV home. Well, are you coming, will you be out at Slam of Urshman? Yes. So I have to pick up my kids from a sleepaway camp that day in Massachusetts. I did want to go. Joe Hendry actually you know we were talking about me being maybe his mouthpiece as manager sort of like Paul Heyman with Roman Reigns but the call never came. You know I actually had a cup of coffee with TNA now I'm going off on a tangent here as I'm trying to say goodbye Jeff Jared and I spoke very briefly in like

06 07 about me joining the creative team way back before all this started interesting but the requirement was I had to move to Nashville and I was like yeah you know I want to build something here in New York so you've done a good job building I think it's worked out yeah it's worked, it's worked out well. Thank you, Carlos. All the best to you. There he is, the man himself, the president of Anthem Sports Group. We'll take a quick break.

Back with PT, do not go anywhere. That's a good cliffhanger right there. The Beef Wellington PT was something else. Really, yeah. You ever see The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson? No. Never heard of it. I've heard of it.

Johnny Carson? Yeah. Do you know who Ed McMahon is? No. So Johnny Carson would No. Never heard of it. I've heard of it. Johnny Carson? Yeah. Do you know who Ed McMahon is? No. So Johnny Carson would do the show and Ed McMahon would sit next to him and when a guest would come, he would just move down to the other seat

and the guest would sit in between them. Conan had a guy as well. That's right. I kind of feel like you've become that guy now. Oh, wait, my- We come back and here you are sitting here. I should be here all the time. You think like when I'm doing the interviews

with the guys you just, oh, there it goes. There's more. Sorry Frank. Sorry Frank. Sorry Frank. It's gonna get clipped out. You just kind of sit here. Yeah, I like that.

Okay, what have you been doing for the past three hours? Andy, that's Cohen's life. Andy, Andy what? Cohen? No, Andy. Hoffman. No. Wow.

Andy Richter. There we go. On Air Jordan. Andy had a weird interaction with Norm MacDonald all the time. Yeah. Yeah. What a legend. Canadian legend may rest in peace. What's what's the crack? Yeah. Last two and a half hours. What do you mean? Gavin's Gavin Casey has landed successfully in New York. God bless. He's booked for the crack. Gavin Casey, the greatest Irish boxing writer. Who does he write for? The 42. He's been following

Katie Taylor forever right back from the amateurs. He's a brilliant, brilliant guy. He's going to be on the show as will Chuck Mendenhall. I've also ordered for my lovely friends, everyone that's going to be in the office, not you, a bit of catering from a very famous sandwich shop around these ways called Joey Roses. I was going to say cats is deli no no no do you remember when I was out with Shane Gillis that time yeah bestie what's the name of the guy who was out with you guys that we saw in Las Vegas Delboy Delboy what's his actual name I actually call him Delboy all the time he's a ledger Derek Derek from from Scotland from yes every word is I he is a legend he was able to stop no

he's Chris Bungard's best my cow Bungard the actor slash MMA fighter slash professional wrestler you have to talk to him some oh yeah yeah but Derek's legend Delboy and brain farted there when you ask me his name no no but a yeah he we that night we're also with Joe DeRosa and Joe DeRosa is the owner of Joey roses and I promised him after about 25 Guinness is that I would get all of my colleagues his beautiful sandwiches when I came to New York Okay, so when I get that and why didn't you do it today when I was in because it's for the crack It's not for your show. Okay, if I you should have like you should be getting catering for me

That's true. You're right. I used to go to ESPN and like Jalen Rose would get catering for me that's true you're right I used to go to ESPN and like Jalen Rose would get catering for everyone he sounds like a real good boss I don't yeah I guess I guess I should get catering from time to time it'd be nice you did bring us bagels once I did oh thanks yeah yeah yeah chocolate one other time yeah I did do that take us out for dinner on our birthdays ah you know what I'm actually not you flowing me back out next week then for my birthday? Uh, for dinner. You know what we talked about on the group chat. We probably should have done it. What GC is getting a whole trip to the restaurant.

Yeah. Well, it's a GC, Ariel, Frank, Jordan. Yeah. You, we probably should have figured it out. Um, I'm so busy. Oh, I'm going to the press conference and then I got the way ins tomorrow. And then we got the, uh, are you going to the way tomorrow? Maybe I'm not out of protest. I'm fucking not going to do it after the way. And look, a lot of planning is going to be happening tomorrow. Man. Yeah. There's a lot of things planning. Yeah. Me and the crack.

Do you think that just off the cuff? I plan every sentence of that. No, it's become sort of the darling show of the Uncrowned Network. Yeah it's a look the producers they have a lot of work to do on that one let me tell you you think this is hard work? It's live though it's live it used to be taped now it's live. Frank cut the mic. It's it's look it is what it is and Chuck Mendenhall is gonna be here. Thank you Max. It's gonna be fantastic. Speaking of there's nothing to speak of Frank. Do we have any super chats? I thought it's just super chats now already Yeah, it's super chest. I gotta go to the press conference. Oh, would you stop and I know press conference?

There's one super chat and it came in from sleeto for a dollar 99 Seems similar pizza give Jordan Marilyn Monroe. Happy birthday Say pizza give Ariel the Marilyn Monroe happy birthday dance. Did he say Pizzi give Ariel the Marilyn Monroe happy birthday dance? He said it yesterday. He said it yesterday. A lot of people have been asking me what happened to On the Nose. This is what happened to On the Nose. Two weeks ago we were in Las Vegas. What? Did something terrible happen to us? No, but they were asking what happened to On the Nose. Yes Cheeto, let me explain to you. Two weeks ago, we were in Las Vegas. We didn't have a Wednesday show.

I mean, you could have done it. You did the Wednesday show. No one asked me. Last week we had so much because we didn't have a Tuesday show. We had so much to get to on the Wednesday, didn't have time. This particular episode, this Wednesday,

three in studio guests plus pizza you needed is air time. Plus I have to go to the. There was a Tuesday show last week though, wasn't it? For me. Just for the. No, no, no.

I said for me, so I couldn't get to everything. Do you not watch it? Hang on. Do you not watch my show? Last Tuesday. Listen, I love your show. And you're fucking, oh, you're not coming to the press conference.

I'm the one constantly giving you a feedback on the program. And so next week, before we go out for our team dinner, we'll have on the nose back. How about that? Can we talk about, uh, can we talk about pizza ordering catering the day that we have a Peter Luger's reservation?

Yeah, that is a weird one. Made this whole plan. I had to shake hands. I had to kiss babies. I had to speak to Peter Luger himself. Yeah. Wow. Just to get that reservation. And now he's like, yep.

I'll have 15 subs here an hour beforehand. Oh, wow. Wow. Wow. That's what we call an ingrate in Ireland there. Honestly, I would love to go to Peter Luger's. When are you guys going?

Friday afternoon. It's been in the plan this whole time. You were there when I made the reservation. Oh, you guys going? Friday afternoon. It's been in the plan this whole time. You were there when I made the reservation. Oh, you're saying like on the day of the Netflix show. Yeah. You want me to have a whole Peter Lugar. You can't squeeze us in.

How long are you? 315. I mean, there's a lot going on. Here, what's the story with, it's warmer than ever in here. Did you fucking press a button or something? I think someone might have blasted a little AC. I will admit, short sleeves. This is how AC works.

Yeah. I will admit, it's short sleeves weather, and I'm still pretty hot. Someone did say on the behind the scenes video, they said, Howani loves saying, we like it hot in here. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He's actually the only one that likes it hot. Maybe it's more of a vibe in January, February. Maybe I need to ease back a little bit. I don't know how you like stay awake in here. Yeah. You look like you're perspiring from being completely honest with you. Does it look like I'm sweating? I think so.

I can see it's just my beautiful town, tan on the beach. There was one day where Rick was in there sweating like a pig. Like Paul Walter Hauser. To be fair though, I don't think it was even that hot in there. I just had like a moment.

I don't know what happened. I thought he was going to get sick on the air. What about Tuesday me when GC ran me up the street? I came back and just pared some weird hair, just stuck to my face and shit. We were singing Happy Birthday to him. I was in bits. Remember how bad my bike was yesterday? It was sick.

Frank didn't want to touch me. It's hot. It's hot. By the way, I do have I do have some breaking news This just came through the wire right here from EIC Shaheen al-shadi what? Just just hit uncrowned calm when Katie Taylor. Oh I was worried that was terrible and he just wasn't Irish icons trilogy with Amanda Serrano, which culminates Friday at Madison Square Garden has become far more than a simple

Sporting milestone there. She is and you know, what's great about this article What Pete's account if we could get up? I know I'm springing this upon all of you Pete's ecaro byline picture mugshot, but then Dateline oh shit. Oh, I love it. I love it. And know yourself. You know what a Dateline is, right? Yeah. It was NBC. Oh yeah. Cool.

Dash, dash. Uh, this is a big deal. Let's read the first, uh, paragraph. Shall we? In the early hours of May 1st, 2022, the Irish population of New York city were dotted all over Midtown Manhattan, celebrating the island's most revered fighting product hours after a victory in the battle of the New York City were dotted all over Midtown Manhattan, celebrating the island's

most revered fighting product hours after her victory in the biggest women's boxing match of all. It's a bit of a run on sentence if I'm being fun. Yeah, I think it sounds great. Yeah, like where's the puncture? Ah, there it is. Look at that. We didn't quite get the dateline there, but the dateline is my favorite part. You also didn't get the custom order or anything like that. No, they never give me that. It's more of a Chuck Mendenhall thing.

Yeah. Chuck's piece will be out before they are. On Katie as well. Chuck coming in studio on Friday? Yes. Oh, the man in the hat. He's going to be in town tomorrow, maybe a pop boy. Uncrowned satellite HQ.

It's going to be fantastic. That's a great piece, a lot of boy. On Crown Satellite HQ. It's gonna be fantastic. That's a great piece, a lot of words. Peter Lugers for Chuck. A lot of words. Chuck is coming to Peter Lugers, yeah Frankie. That's exciting. Chuck's coming to Peter Lugers too. You're fucking right he is, the whole squad is.

Wives. We put it in the chat. Wives too. Yeah, pregnant wives. Pregnant wives. Yeah. It's coming to Peter L's. Pizzi, I actually think I like the strawberry

better than the mango. Yeah, strawberry growing, yeah. Yeah, they're good. Yeah, Pizzi, I actually think I liked the strawberry better than the mango. Yeah. Strawberry growing. Yeah. Yeah, they're good. Yeah. Good. Fabulous. Good stuff man.

Uh, did have some bad news to report on a serious note. I'm seeing this on TMZ. Randy Couture airlifted to burn center suffers serious injuries after NHRA practice crash. UFC legend Randy Couture was airlifted to a burn center with serious injuries after crashing during practice runs at a racetrack in Kansas city. TMZ sports has learned Couture was airlifted to a burn center with serious injuries after crashing during practice runs at a racetrack in Kansas City.

TMZ sports has learned Couture, who was slated to make his national hot rod association racing debut this year was involved in an accident during preparation on Tuesday, resulting in first and second degree burns, trauma injuries and smoke annihilation. There's a picture of his arm. Inhalation.

Yes, inhalation, excuse me. Um, thank you for that. There's a picture of his arm. Inhalation? Yes, inhalation, excuse me. Thank you for that. There's a picture of his arm here, which looks quite gruesome. The 62-year-old fighter actor and army vet completely wrecked the car he was driving at the time of the incident. Although it's unclear what caused it, he was rushed to a nearby burn center for treatment where he remains at this time. Luckily, we're told he is expected to recover. So that is some scary news. He's had some health scares as of late. Remember, we're told he is expected to recover. So that is some scary news. He's had some health scares as of late. Remember, had the heart attack several years

ago. We were actually just at Extreme Couture with Eric Nixek and he told me that Randy is quite a fixture at the gym. Still going, still training, still helping out. So yeah, just want to wish Randy a speedy recovery and glad that, uh, at least according to this article, he will make a full recovery and that, uh, he could get back on his feet. Uh, also a member of the PFL broadcast team. So that is scary, scary stuff. Um, any other news since we've been locked in here?

Anything else? Or was that pretty much it? Lauren Murphy's return. Lauren Murphy's retiring. Okay Murphy's retiring, okay, that is, was there any specific reason for it? I announced the breaking news in the back here a little bit ago. What was it? We did get a super chat from Chris Manning, 499, thanks Chris, he said, for Pizzi, I had a Guinness insider mix at the bar over the weekend, is that an acceptable use of Guinness in your expert opinion? It's funny because someone is,

are you saying that you sent me a picture of a cider mixed with a Guinness one? Oh yeah, yeah. I watched Frank do it in front of you and you were screaming in my ear. You were like, me father would be rolling in his grave. He's not even dead.

That's what I was like, is your dad even dead? Yeah, no, he won't be. If you were in like an Irish bar and you're with little lads and they're all drinking Guinness and it got to Frank and you're like, yeah, I'll have a... Black velvet. They'll be like, what the fuck? The name doesn't make it any cooler. And by the way, Lauren Murphy is fighting this weekend. Yeah.

Okay. So she hasn't retired yet. This will be her final fight. Okay. All right. That retired yet. This will be her final. Yeah. Okay. All right. Uh, that is, I mean, it's different. I thought you said she just retired. That's not what I said. It sounded like she's retiring. Okay.

Okay. Interesting. Interesting. Um, well, we wish her the best legend of the game. There was another piece of news here that I saw that, um, that we might've missed. Oh yes. I see tomorrow that, uh, BKFC is, uh, Another piece of news here that I saw that we might have missed.

Oh yes, I see tomorrow that BKFC is going to have a sort of state of the promotion address, making all kinds of announcements. We've got a slew of high level free agent signings to be announced this Thursday at the Champions Summit. You do not want to miss this. Any guesses? They tweeted. And then Conor McGregor tweeted, huge announcements I make tomorrow for Baron Elko FC. I do think another promotion is going to make an announcement. I am, you know, we'll see. I think tomorrow might be an interesting day. Ben. That's a bit of it. That's a bit of a tickle of the balls, isn't it? What you just did

there. Over at uncrowned.com, I'm being told that Ben is going to have an article on Lauren Murphy's impending retirement there it is Ben's not gonna be on the crack and we're all a bit upset you know what I mean why is that why is that well you know what I mean the producers are kind of like you know let's keep it in studio you're in studio peetzy you know I mean that's you know you do zoom calls all the time yeah so you know I'm gonna miss them dearly and I just want to request on the air that next

time we're here, Ben and Chuck are here just to add to the expenses already. Yeah, we'll do that. I agree. I agree. Um, one other one that I wanted to bring up. Did you guys happen to see this, um, Tim Kennedy news?

Yeah. Rick just told me about this. This is crazy. Okay. So Tim Kennedy, obviously we know about Tim Kennedy, a long time MMA fighter, strike force fighter, UFC fighter, has been in the game for quite some time.

Yesterday I see on his, um, on his Instagram that he posted this. I want to read the whole thing here. I'm just seeing it. So I didn't, I didn't send it to the boys One second sorry so many messages you should hear the stuff that Frank is saying. We're here. Well, what do you know? It's disgraceful. He's saying sweet nothings wish he was saying sweet He's saying sweet everything's I want to take full and unequivocal responsibility for a serious mistake. Over the years, I made public statements and gave

interviews in which I unintentionally misstated aspects of my military service. Most notably I implied directly or indirectly that I had been awarded the bronze star with valor. I wouldn't do that. That is not true. And there is no excuse for it. I never received that honor and I deeply regret

ever suggesting otherwise. That kind of recognition is sacred. It represents extraordinary courage under fire, acts that risk or cost lives to those who truly earned it and to their families and brothers in arms. I offer my sincere and direct apology what I said, disrespected your service and I take full ownership of that. I was young when I stepped into the public eye and while I wasn't prepared for the scrutiny or pressure that came with it, that doesn't

absolve me. I should have known better. Integrity is not situational and I failed to uphold the standards I claim to represent." He continues with his apology and so did someone unearth this that he said in like old because... I heard him many times kind of talking about all of this stuff. That's a tough one. How do you unintentionally do that? No, I don't know. I guess we have to find the original interview.

And then did someone like, I remember this up. I think he was called out by a number of, um, people within that community. Yeah. Rick, where are you going? Yeah. That that's my recollection is that there, there have been other like people in armed services.

Called them out. And then he had to come out with a statement. Calling things into question. And so, yeah, he had to. Jay's address it. That's a tough one. Roof of the dog's ass, isn't it? GC, any thoughts on this, uh, breaking news story?

No. Oh, I thought I was getting ready. I thought he was going to. Deep breath before. I thought you had something. Is it? Stolen Valor, nothing to play with? No. Yeah, no. Brother in the Marines. Oh, I thought he was getting ready. I thought he was going to... A deep breath before that. I thought you had something. Is he... Stolen Valor, nothing to play with? No.

No, not yet. Brother in the Marines. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Doesn't go over well. We did get a few Super Chats from JD Realty. Wait, by the way, Frank told me not that long ago that there were just one Super Chat. Are they now coming in or...

They're coming in like hotcakes. JD Realty sent 99 cents. That's what I said. Said nothing. Yeah, we don't... Then he said JD Realty... We appreciate your donation. Thank you very much. Sty sent 99 cents, said nothing. Then he said JD Realty sends in 99 cents, says nothing. Then JD Realty sends a dollar 99 and says, looking to buy a house in Orlando.

That I am not, thank you though, JD. I mean, maybe Carlos Silva and Shannon Appar, they said they're gonna go to Orlando. Are there any other super chats? What I miss with this Orlando thing? I mean, he said that they are potentially looking at Setting up shop in Orlando. Oh in Victor that is here. Do you think do you think Frank look talking about the whole family situation there? Mr. Smith. Yeah, you think he got uncomfortable. I think he wanted that to end as quickly as well Oh, wow, I he was like, oh, what about that?

And he's like, what the fuck, man? Oh, really? Oh, really? I mean, I think these are natural questions that should be asked, though. Like, I mean, you're doing your job, but I was just like, Jesus Christ, I hate to be frank in this. Oh, wow. I thought he was lovely. We did get the picture. He's the man.

We did get the picture with Rick in him. Oh, brilliant. I'm excited about that. What is the picture? When he had hair, he looked like Rick? No, no, no. Oh, Jesus. Wow. He's the CEO of Batroom. Oh, it's the comparison?

Yes. He is, he is the Rick to Eddie's AJH. I see what you're saying now. It took you this long. I've said it like 10 times today. Nah, right over the old hat. Wow. And then when we were about to take the picture, he's like, yeah, you used to have great hair like you this long. I've said it like 10 times today. Man, right over the old hat. And then when we were about to take the picture,

he's like, yeah, you used to have great hair like you, Rick. You're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's get a pic. Let's get a pic. That's what I thought it was. I thought when his hair was growing out, they looked similar. I think he was just trying to create more... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I just say, uh, I sat with

I sat with Frank for quite a while before he came in. Vibes were strong. He's a great guy. Can I just say, uh, I sat with, I sat with Frank for quite a while before, uh, Oh, what was that? Vibes were strong. He's a great guy. I like him a lot. Yeah. I feel it. I told him he's a 92 baby.

I'm a 93. I was like, I can't lie, Frank feels like you're like 15 years old. You're, you're way ahead of the game. I'm fumbling over here. Nah, I mean, he got started very early. 14. That's what he said. I'm assuming he told the story on air. Yes. I mean, were you not listening to the show? No, I wasn't because I was kind of, you know, I mean he got started very early. 14. I'm assuming he told the story on air, yes?

I mean, were you not listening to the show? No, I wasn't because I was kind of, I have things to do. I mean, we just released a whole behind the scenes video of this thing where people see that I actually do shit. I just figured he's still listening. But then we get the stupid super chats every day. Oh, what does Eric actually even do?

I have to be a producer to show it. Does he even work here? He could just sit back here and heckle. Who's making sure that everyone's on the straight and narrow? It's hard to pay attention to my PC here. He would not stop all the heckling. You got making sure that everyone's on the straight and narrow? You would not stop all the heckling. You got this new toy. I'm like, what is this new toy?

He's like, I didn't say. You didn't say the new toy. I was like, no, I haven't seen it yet, man. What this? Yeah, what is that? Oh, this is from my good friend's override, Ghostrite. Look at this. It's a one of one, one of one.

Doing a deal with UFC, this is a big deal. Collectors love this sort of thing, the kids love it. And they said, who could we send to? What is so funny over there? Jesus, you've done impressions over the last two days. If you're going to be my Ed McMahon, you've got to keep it quiet when I'm having a monologue. I heard Andy Richter earlier. Is he Ed or is he Andy? Andy, Ed. he's a combo boat

He's a one-of-one. It's like this one of one. I want to plug It smells like a club in here yeah, I totally made that up because clearly unless you were smoking while getting this now I wish it was small. Oh, we didn't smoke anything all this back here. We're like lies. It doesn't smell like a club He can't it was waiting for GC to take away from them Marlboros and just go for them. I did notice, by the way, when you were doing the thing, GC, what is that thing called? The streamer.

Oh, yeah, yeah, streamer. Then as you were holding it, you were holding it like, you have such a fixation with the thing, you started holding it like. Lit something inside. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who doesn't love it if it's hot? We do have one more SuperShot. Oh, for fuck's sake. Like you have such a fixation with the thing you started holding it like lit something inside. Yeah. Yeah We do have one more

JD realty again, he's uh, hey JD, you're interested in selling a house in orlando. What is this orlando thing? What am I? It's JD realty like he's not lying. No, I believe that That's possible I'll hose you down at the back of here or something PC's just having his own conversations as a show So please go ahead. I just want to keep you guys in there and see how hot it could get We got another one from true dabber. Oh, I wonder if he is a true dabber. Yeah, that's like that's the thing What you wanna bring? Yeah, I guess so. What's up guys? How are we feeling about UFC Fight Night in San Antonio? Gonna be there for my second fight. My first one was protest versus Gary.

Loved it. Let's go on Kansas City. That's in September, September 13th to be exact. So by my calculations, we have about two months to talk about that one. Enjoy. Enjoy that one, true dabber. But that'll be a great night.

It's actually not called Fight Night, it's called Noche UFC, so. Oh, that'll be awesome. Please get it right. Gentlemen, I do have to go. It is time for me to go. If you want to see me front and center. Oh, are you doing something after this?

Yeah, I'll be at the theater. Should I give you guys a sign? Should I do a little like? Yes, yeah, yeah. What are we going to do though? You remember, who's the guy who used to take the, he used to take the free throws was a mark pride no Jeff Hornacek remember Jeff Hornacek would take free throws and he was sweet home his hair yeah that was his sign to his kids that's right I do something to you

guys should I go like this should I go like you make it up tell us though or should I just do quite literally what I did when I announced the Buffalo Bills draft pick when I specifically mentioned the whole team? I mean, who else would do that sort of thing? There I am. Mention their show. No, everyone's the boys in the back. You mentioned their show.

You think I should have? Boys in the back and the crack with pizza. I was afraid to say the crack because I was afraid that they would think that I was referencing crack cocaine. JD Realty wants to know if Shoe Dabber wants to buy a house in Orlando. JD Realty back in the Super Chat. JD Realty is a hustler. I like that.

I want to buy a house in Orlando. I think he's totaled up to about $6.96 in Super Chats with Mike. Okay. We appreciate that. Fair play. Well what a day it has been for you. What else do we have on the docket for today? Send in a lot of Super Ch chats with a crack, yeah?

Me and Jordan get on them. Anything else? Gavin Casey's gonna be there. We gotta get his tour on Saturday. Oh wow, you guys are doing everything. I could get dangerous. Are you guys going to Times Square as well or is that...? We already did that.

Oh, you did it? That was hilarious. Please call and leave voicemails for us and boys in the back tomorrow. There's a particular shot of GC leaving a certain place that I'm very looking forward to seeing on film. Oh wow okay did you go around asking people if they knew who... No. No I forget about it. Listen thank you very much all our guests today Carlos Silva, Frank Smith and the big man Big Mo himself back tomorrow say time place to say peace out.