The Ariel Helwani Show - Merab Dvalishvili, Arman Tsarukyan, Jiří Procházka, Renato Moicano, Josh Barnett in studio, John Wood, UFC 311 reaction

Episode Date: January 20, 2025

Ariel Helwani breaks down UFC 311 from all angles, including Islam Makhachev's title win over Renato Moicano and Merab Dvalishvili's remarkable performance against Umar Nurmagomedov (02:52).Merab Dvalishvili discusses his UFC 311 title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov, why Nurmagomedov wasn't his level, the champ's various injuries, how he tricked the California commission into letting him fight, his relationship with Dana White and more (33:49).Merab Dvalishvili's coach John Wood discusses nearly pulling the champ out of UFC 311, why the Umar Nurmagomedov fight ended up being "easier than expected," Dvalishvili's game plan and more (01:07:39).Arman Tsarukyan discusses the back injury that forced his UFC 311 withdrawal, Dana White's comments, potential fights against Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler, plus more (01:33:04).Josh Barnett breaks down Islam Makhachev's UFC 311 submission and discusses why UFC fighters are stupid, weight cutting in MMA, past experiences with Donald Trump, how he'd fix AEW and more in a wide-ranging in-studio interview (02:00:48).Renato Moicano discusses his UFC 311 title loss to Islam Makhachev, the whirlwind day that led to the opportunity, how his goals have changed, "spoiled brat" Paddy Pimblett's reaction and more (03:02:36).Jiří Procházka discusses his UFC 311 win over Jamahal Hill, why he was motivated by Hill's trash talk, sharing a drink with Hill afterward, shaving his hair for fan battling cancer, what it'll take to get a third Alex Pereira fight and more (03:33:40).EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/uncrowned Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R In 2025 Hello again everyone That fact was hot That fact was hot that it woke me up And I needed it You know why? Because I have to say I'm a little sleep deprived On this Monday afternoon I am sleep deprived

But Frank, you ever get You ever get, you know, not enough sleep? And I've been wearing my whoop recently And it's been telling me I'm at like 47% 65% I'm not getting enough sleep. And I've been wearing my whoop recently. And it's been telling me I'm at like 47%, 65%. I'm not getting enough sleep. But when you're in a tremendous mood, and you don't get enough sleep, you often feel as though you are kind of flying. You know, I'm not a, I'm not a, you know, I'm not a psychedelic kind of guy. I'm not a hallucinogenic kind of guy. But I feel like I'm flying right now. I'm in the best of moods. What a time to be alive. Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to all those in here, the United States of America. It's a very exciting day, Inauguration Day, Donald J. Trump, everyone's

there, Conor McGregor, Dana White, the Paul brothers. What a time to be alive, but it's also a Victory Monday, my friends.. Your Buffalo Bills marching on, marching on to the AFC Championship game for just the second time since 1994. Ah, you know yourself. Oh my gosh, it's our Bulls Pistons moment. And so I have lost my voice. I was going nuts last night. Your boy was over the moon.

Your boy was terrified. Your boy was squeaky bump time, pooping in his pants. How about Von Miller? How about the boys in blue? Commiserations to the Ravens. Commiserations to Mark Andrews. Commiserations to Lamar Jackson. Oh, yeah, you can have the MVP.

We'll take the Super Bowl MVP. And how about Bruce Buffer and I in that promo, courtesy of the Buffalo Bills? Fitzpatrick says he loves Buffalo. I love Buffalo, and I'm on promo, courtesy of the Buffalo Bills. Fitzpatrick says he loves Buffalo. I love Buffalo and I'm on cloud nine. So we are feeling good. Yeah, that's me. Moments after sweaty, exhausted, couldn't even react. My kids think I'm a lunatic. They think I'm out of my, my, my wife stayed like my wife stayed in the other room upstairs. She wanted nothing to do with me. Who me? You know, it was the best part. The best part of all that is you get to bed. It's now like 1230 because I'm pacing. I'm so

tired, but I'm like, I have so much energy. And the best part is I'm just in bed, just going through all the content, all the videos, all the memes, all the post game reaction stuff. I'm the DC picture. I'm the DC in bed picture. That's me. So a little sleep deprived. Then I have to wake up and shovel some snow. But I'm feeling good because it's a post-pay-per-view Monday as well. And what a night in Los Angeles.

What a night in Inglewood, to be exact. What an arena. Golly. Once again, MVP of Saturday night. Without a doubt, the Intuit Dome that place is primo forget the sphere it's probably a lot cheaper to run that joint this is insane this venue is out of this world the gold standard I love MSG I love the history I love I love the lighting I love how it looks the the ceiling, the mecca.

You don't get this at MSG, with all due respect. You don't get this anywhere in the world. Who would have thought the Clippers, the Clippers' home arena is now the gold standard. But it is. And it was on Saturday. We've never seen an event like that in a regular arena. The Sphere isn't a regular arena.

That was special. And Saturday, to me, first pay-per-view of the year, UFC second show of the year, incredible gate, the highest gate ever in California history, highest gate in Intuit Dome history as well. It's like five days old. According to Dana White, some way, somehow it went from like a $9.5 million gate to a $10.2. I don't know how they sold $700,000 worth of tickets in the span of 24 hours after the switch from Armand Tsuruki into Hanato Moikano. By now, you know what happened. Saturday and this past weekend was a reminder why we love this sport so much.

Another reminder why it's so unique, why it's so fun. Another reminder why we're all fans, why we all devote our lives to this, why we may love the NFL, we may love the NBA, we may love Major League Baseball, but there is nothing as unique, there's nothing as wacky, nothing as fun to be a fan of than the sport of mixed martial arts. And if I'm being honest, the UFC in particular, because look, you know, Bill's Ravens on Sunday. If someone gets hurt on Friday, the game continues. They don't bring in the Texans. They don't bring in the Raiders or the Chargers.

Here you find out midday Friday that Armin Sarukian is out devastating, but here comes Renato Moicano on 36 hours notice. Where else do you get this? You don't even get this in boxing. If Artur Mederbiev has to pull out at the 11th hour of his fight against Dmitry Bivol, you know, Hamza Shiraz isn't stepping in. It just doesn't happen. It does not happen. And so then when you get through the madness of those 36 hours, and then you get to the fights themselves, every single one of them delivered, storylines galore, drama galore, theater at its finest. Oh, you know, Peyton Talbot,

super stud, rising star, everyone's favorite, you know, different eccentric fighter, at least on this program. Oh, he's going to walk right through the old guy. Hey, Oni Barcelos, he's just going to, it's going to be a squash match. He's a, what is he, a minus a thousand? What happens? He gets dominated. This is pro wrestling.

He's winning that fight. If this is the NFL, he's winning that game. Gets thoroughly dominated. Oh, he's fraud checked. I don't believe it. But that's why that fight. If this is the NFL, he's winning that game. Gets thoroughly dominated. Oh, he's fraud checked. I don't believe it. But that's why you watch. That is why you watch. Yuri Prokhaska, what a freaking fight against Jamal Hill.

We thought it was going to be incredible. We thought it was going to be entertaining. It ended up being even more than that. And what a week for Yuri. With Ashley, the cancer fighter, the cancer, hopefully survivor, bringing her, cutting the hair. These characters, these emotions, you can't get this anywhere else. RDR submitting Kevin Holland.

What about Jalton Almeida starting off slow commiserations to our friend, coming back and then beating him up, flattening him out. I mean, incredible. And then you get to the main and co-main, Marab and Umar Murab, the underdog, everyone counting him out, everyone thinking that, you know, it's the Nurmagomedov's time, they are a dynasty, they get, all they do is win in the big fights, down two rounds to none, on two of the judges' scorecards, what does he do, he digs down deep, and then you find out that he's got, like, stitches upon stitches on his shin. Could have had his leg amputated. Bad back and all.

Digs down deep. Cardio for days. Beats the previously undefeated Umar Namarga Madoff. Shoves it down everyone's throat. Sometimes when you have these fights, when you have these moments and you feel like you're fighting the promotion, you feel like you're fighting the haters and the doubters and the world is out to get you, you crumble. We've seen it time and again. Umar, the golden boy, famous last name,

one ranked win, tremendous fighter, amazing fighter, well on his way. Questionable whether or not he did enough to deserve that title shot. Just ask Murab, just ask Bilal Muhammad. Ask these guys who have had to scratch and claw double digit victories, double-digit winning streaks.

Ask those guys if he had done enough. But sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles. Goes out there and does that to him. And oh, by the way, breaks, breaks GSP's takedown records. 30 takedown attempts, lands seven against Umar. What a guy. And then you get to the main event and Islam does what Islam does.

Nothing to be ashamed of if you're Hinata Moikano, but the anaconda and the darts choke from Islam. Just look at how he, I mean, the guy is just a freaking beast. This is Hinata Moikano who had been

looking unbeatable, 3-0 in 2024. Beats up, thoroughly beats up, dominates Benoit Saint-Denis in Paris. Locks that in, like he did against Dustin Poirier back in June in New Jersey, and that's all she wrote. Best pound-for-pound fighter? Maybe. Best lightweight? Maybe. Who gives a crap? The man right now at 155. And maybe in the near future, he gets a fight at 170.

So there is so much to discuss. And what a stacked post-pay-per-view Monday we have here on the program. Stacked, super stacked. Super stacked post-pay-per-view. This is what we do. A lot of you were asking last week, Oh, what? Oh, not enough 311.

No, I told you guys, I've told you time and again, we don't like to have them on fight week, but we like to have them after fight week. We like to have them on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday after. And that is what we are doing on this particular Monday. Super stacked at 1.30, we're going to be joined by the reigning defending UFC bantamweight champion, the pride of Georgia, the pride of New York, the pride now of Las Vegas as well, the one and only Murad Diwali Shafili. At 2 o'clock, his coach John Wood will stop by. He had a great night on Saturday.

We'll talk to him about some of the finer details of the dub over Umar Namagomedov. Looking forward to that. He was great on the show last week. We go back-to-back with him. At 2.30, we'll be joined by Armin Sarukyan. I can't imagine how he's feeling. Dana White saying afterwards doesn't think that he'll be getting the immediate title shot. The next title shot, a bit surprising.

Go back to the drawing board, he said. A bit surprising. All of it is a little surprising. It's the fight to make. He has a win over Charles Oliveira, but as pointed out in our post show on Saturday, when Oliveira was supposed to fight against Islam and got that gnarly cut and in-entered Alex Volkanovsky, Oliveira had to fight someone else, Armin Tarouki, and he lost. So it's a little bit, I don't know, poetic justice,

whatever the hell you want to call it. It's a weird thing. Let's see how it all plays out. We'll talk to Armin about it in, I believe, his first interview since all this went down at 2.30. At three o'clock, one of the best minds, a legend of the game, former UFC heavyweight champion, the one and only, the war master himself,

the baby face assassin himself, the one and only, Josh Barnett, he's going to join us. Looking forward to having him in studio. He is a day removed from GCW at Hammerstein Ballroom, a stone's throw away from where we are right now. Always love talking to Josh Barnett. Four o'clock, Hinata Moikano, 4.30, Yerry Prochaska. Where else would you rather be than right here, right now, as the great former Hall of Fame head coach of the Buffalo Bills, Marv Levy, once said? Look at that. Super stacked. Now, before we get into things, I want to give a big thanks to our good friends over at NordVPN. We love NordVPN. You know this by now. And I want to let you know that they are the fastest VPN in the world.

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Our link will also give you four extra months on the two-year plan. There's no risk with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee. We love NordVPN. Again, nordvpn.com slash uncrowned is the place to go. Please support them because they support us. Let's bring in the boys. Let's not waste any time. We've got a tight show.

1.30, Marab is going to be joining us. I want to talk to the boys. I want to get PT's reaction first because, of course, I got a chance to speak to the boys on Saturday. They did a great job at the watch party and post show. I mean, look at that. It's nice to see that Von Miller jersey back. I thought it was left for dead. I thought it was traded for that Lamar Jackson jersey.

Apparently, it still fits. I had to find it deep in the closet. Yeah. I signed the contract in 2022. Unfortunately, it didn't work out then but uh yeah now i hope the bills get it done welcome back baby welcome back and there's plans you know people are talking about february we're not putting the car i'm free i'm completely free i'm completely free i'm ready to go people are talking about things where is the super bowl this

year nolans oh right down the road yeah you have to that'd be great trip for me ariel thank you thank you people are talking. There's outreach. There's outreach. I can't believe you're bringing us all. This is crazy. Cart before the horse. Humble and hungry. Humble and hungry.

Gotta go to Arrowhead first. Humble and hungry. Humble and hungry, as Coach McDermott likes to say. Humble and hungry. PT, what about Saturday night? What about it? I mean, those are some quick thoughts for me. Incredible stuff from Islam.

Does what he has to do. Doesn't even allow Hanato to dream. He doesn't even like, he doesn't even play with his food, as they say. Doesn't even allow him to get some kind of hope that he can hang with the number one lightweight in the world. Obviously, Hanato takes the fight on short notice.

Obviously, it's a lot different fighting against Benil Dariush when you're fighting against Islam Makhachev. But when you saw that, your immediate thoughts of what Islam did. I thought it was incredible. And I know it's very different because Khalil Rountree had a full camp, but he's in around the same ranking as Hanato is at lightweight. And obviously he's been preparing specifically for Pereira. So it's not a good example um an exact example but to see Islam go through him so quickly knowing that Anato was preparing for a fight a different fight um it still kind of underlined his argument as the best pound for pound fighter

in the world but you mentioned the Bills game at the top of the show uh GC um was the first I saw to christen it the Mark Andrews game if UFC 311 is to take a similar kind of, it was to be named after one fighter, should I say, it should be Murab Divlashvili. I thought he was absolutely incredible. It embodied everything that he's about. I couldn't help but hear Chuck Mendenhall speaking about John Wood in his article, as I was watching the fight, John Wood, as Murab is hitting the pads, as Chuck described, John Wood said, if he doesn't get you out of there in rounds one and two,

he is fucked. And that's certainly what, it's such a dramatic shift in that fight in the third round. I think it's Murab's first successful takedown of the fight. And you could just see Nurmagomedov wilt as Murab just kept up his suffocating game plan i was worried about his state of mind um that was before i spoke to john wood last week john wood as we know has used these chips on these guys shoulders to really

invigorate them ahead of this fight and that's what it looked like to me a brilliant star making moment for marab as far as i'm concerned oh my god yes uh you have summed that up very very nicely let me ask let me ask rick you know we were reacting in real time and and i'm kind of moving things uh very quickly here because like i said super stack show but we'll be reacting to things with the particulars throughout the show as well dana white afterwards and i've gotten the chance to see the clip, it seems like he's mad at Armin. It seems like he's almost like saying, like, you blew it.

And without saying it, he doesn't actually say it, but it seems as though he is implying that Armin could have fought and they're upset that he didn't fight. He says he has to go back to the drawing board. He says that he is not getting the next title shot. Are you surprised by any of this?

No, because I have the same read as you. I think he is mad at him and felt like he could fight and even in the announcement saying that moikana would be in i it seemed like it was as if arman was opting not to fight as opposed to being forced out of the fight and so by the way i'm saying that as dana white presenting it that way i'm not saying that is what happened i'm saying it yeah in terms of what Dana White has presented. So I'm reading that same frustration. I'm reading that same vitriol seemingly toward Armin. I don't know what it means to go back to the drawing board. I don't know what that means. Armin was the rightful number one contender. Probably could have gotten a shot before even beating Charles, has beaten Charles. So I don't know what going back to the drawing board means because he's already a finished product and probably the second best guy in that division. Um, if it does, and the most surprising to me is Armin immediately coming out on social media and saying, I agree with Dana White, let's do it. Seemingly taking aim at Charles Oliveira. I'm surprised that it happened

so quickly, right? Because as I said on the post show and I've continued to say in the USC title shots are all about timing these days. It's like, when can you fight? We have a date booked in this, this, uh, uh, venue, this city, this location. And if the, if you're not available, we're going to the next option, uh, for this title defense. So I'm surprised that he was so quick to kind of relent on the idea of him being next in line. But I imagine you'll ask him about that. And that was the surprising part to me, not the fact that Dana was upset. You'd be okay with Charles getting the title shot, GC. You'd be okay with Charles leapfrogging arm in after arm and beat him at UFC 300? I don't know. It's kind of like what Rick said. It's circumstantial.

And we saw it happen, Charles, with Volk back in fall of 2023. But it also does feel weird at the same time because Armin's coming off of a win over Charles. And obviously, Charles has already gotten a shot at Islam and unfortunately came up short. I wouldn't complain about it, especially because Charles is such a star. But I don't complain about it, especially because Charles is such a star. But I don't know. I still feel like it should just be Armin. It's a messy one. Yeah.

To your point, because he beat Charles. He's never fought against Islam for the belt. This was a big fight. He came across as the star of the show at that press conference on Thursday. And obviously they're in Los Angeles and there's a huge Armenian population there. There's a lot of Armenian fans there. I mean, he just came across as a superstar. And I'm not implying, I mean, who knows? He maybe doesn't win the fight.

You can make a strong case that Islam is just that damn good and better at everything that Armin is great at. I wanted to see that fight. I still want to see that fight. And yeah, to your point, Rick, I'm a little bit surprised as well. I'm a little bit surprised that, you know, just on Saturday night that was conceded. Let's take his temperature here on the show today

when we speak to him in the second hour. But in case you missed it, basically what happened was press conference on Thursday is cutting weight, is around eight or so pounds over, I'm told. Severely injures his back. UFC medical staff goes to wherever he's staying, his Airbnb, checks him out. He's in a ton of pain.

He can't move. Once the UFC recognizes this, they start making calls. And the first call, the only call, is to Renato Moicano because he's the other lightweight on the card. He has a winning streak. He's got momentum. He comes across as a superstar. I thought he was the star of the show. I thought he was the star of the show at the press conference on Thursday.

Benil Dariush not in the same boat right now, even though he's a local guy. Deal gets done with Moicano. They say, okay, we'll see in the morning. Taroukian wakes up on Friday morning and is in worse shape. And so they tell Moikano, make 155. And the even crazier part in all of this is that Armin's coach, Pahumpa, is also Moikano's coach. He makes 155. But when he steps on the scale, we don't know what's going on.

We just think it's, you know, same old, same old. We find out, when was it? Like at around one, 1.15 Eastern time. Yeah. 10.15 or so on the West Coast. And there it is.

The switch happens. Switcheroo. Craziness. One of those crazy, it wasn't as crazy as the Hamzat Nate Diaz one, where it kind of like is drawn out and playing out over hours. ufc credit to them they kept the lid on this one and it and red corner mma were the first to uh to break it then la times had it but dana was was really quick with the announcement and there it was by you know by tea time on uh on friday afternoon we had a new main event. Now, Pizzi,

you may have had the tweet of the weekend because after the Islam Khachev win at the post-fight press conference, Dana White says, all right, Islam is number one pound for pound.

And he said, you guys happy now? I can't deny it. He's above Jon Jones. Now, let's see what happens when Jon fights. But he said on Saturday, it's on tape, everyone wants this for some reason.

Everyone wants Dana to say it. He's not the pound for pound king, Jon Jones. It's now Islam. You may have had the observation and the tweet of the weekend. What was it? Tweaking? Oh, it was that as soon as I heard that, and i listened to it the

next morning and so woke up put on dana's uh press conference appointment viewing um and he said what you just said and immediately my thought was like well this this jones v aspinal situation is not looking good um why is he saying that he has been so hard headed about this for well over a year, having open debates at press conferences, as long as John Jones is alive, he is the pound for pound best fighter in the world. Why would that change so suddenly? Why would that change so suddenly with Islam taking on a short notice opponent like that? Um, it says to me that this isn't going as exactly as planned. It's, it's exactly how we envisaged when we were forecasting what would happen this year. It's very disappointing. I believe the UFC are doing everything in their power to make this happen.

Um, I've checked in with some sources in Wigan and the ball hasn't really shifted since the last time we spoke to Tom on this show. Like, I mean, this is what he wants. The UFC said it will happen and it's not quite getting there. So, well, as far as we know, right, this fight hasn't been announced. We said that March in London would be a big media week because likely Tom would be there as the most recognizable UK fighter in the world at the moment. And there will be a lot of questions about that. I wonder if those kind of questions will come much sooner

based on what we're seeing. No fight official, and it's the fight everybody in the world wants to see. Yeah, we just had the uncrowned pound-for-pound rankings drop. I don't know if you guys saw these. But in case you're wondering what the team over at uncrowned.com thinks right now, it's Islam 1, Alex Pereira 2, Ilya 3, Merab up two spots to 4, Pantoja 5, John Jones 6.

John out of the top five. There's Tom Aspinall right behind him, 7. Francis Nganou, 8. Bilal Muhammad, 9. Hamza Chemaev somehow came up even though he didn't fight. These things happen. Crazy. Jonjo's

now down to six. Now, I don't think he's down to six in Dana White's rankings, but Murab is moving up and you can make a very strong case for Murab three. You can make a strong case for Murab two. Heck, you can make a strong case for Murab one. I don't think anyone can make a case two. Heck, you can make a strong case for Murab one. I don't think anyone

You had me up until that point. Yeah, okay. Maybe I got lost. That was where you lost me. I got a little crazy. I got a little crazy. What a performance. The guy has cardio for days

and they've got a bit of a problem with Murab. What's the problem? The problem is he had to fight so many guys en route to becoming champion. There aren't a lot of people left for him to fight. There aren't a lot of people left for him to fight.

There aren't a lot of fresh opponents. Yes. He cleaned out the division in his first title defense. Is it Sean O'Malley? Yes. Unequivocally? Yes. Why?

Biggest name, most sellable fight. What other option is better? So let me break the fourth wall if I can for a moment. I did reach out to Sean O'Malley and asked him to come on the program, not today, but sometime this week. And I was really impressed with his answer. You know what he told me?

Taking a break from social media, taking a break from interviews, taking a break from his own show. He does a show with Tim Welch, deleted all his social media, feels much better, doesn't feel like he needs to get involved with the stuff, is locked in, focused on one thing, and that's getting his belt back. Now, ultimately, does that translate into a win against a guy like Murad Dohaishvili? No.

I thought it showed maturity, evolution. I liked it. I was happy that he turned me down. I liked it. And quite frankly, I don't know who else is out there. He's so popular and so much more popular than the rest of the weight class. He had moments against Murab. I tend to agree with Rick. I tend to think that we're going to see it again. What do you think, GC?

Yeah, I mean, just looking at the rankings there there really is no option i mean i guess peter yan but he's behind o'malley and and he got 50 45 by by mirabe you guys are right he sort of cleared out the division despite this being his first title defense so yeah o'malley i suppose it's it's not unlike lightweight we were just talking about with this um right like the options seem to be charles and armin armin's a fresher matchup charles is another potential one but he lost to armin he's lost to islam before like so the you said that the ufc has a problem in that division i think there's multiple divisions where this is starting to become a problem the lack of fresh contenders lots of cont series, lots of prospects and people being rushed

into the big show at the bottoms of cards. A lot of Peyton Talbot. Yeah, a lot of Peyton Talbot. Not a lot of people coming up as actual legitimate contenders for titles.

Who's Alexandre Pantoja's next fight? Davidson Figueredo. Yeah, exactly. Here's what I say you do. I say you do O'Malley-Murab and then you book

Jan Sanhagen rematch. Winner of that gets the title shot after do. I say you do O'Malley-Murab and then you book Jan Sanhagen rematch. Winner of that gets the title shot after that. I like that. I guess what do you do with Umar, though? Well, I will say, by the way, I did see some people calling for an immediate rematch for Umar. Umar has said,

and he has shown us his broken hand. He showed it to us on Saturday night. He has since tweeted another photo. The hand looks very clearly broken. It starts swelling here, and then a day later, it's swelled up like a balloon. But this is the fight game.

Also, the supporters need to be careful with handbrakes, too. The O'Malley getting the immediate rematch is like, he was a champ, and he had a title defense. I understand it's not this deep resume that like a Volker and Izzy that warrants the, you know, rematch right away. But I mean, Umar has one top 10 win and he was the title challenger and he lost. And by the way, it wasn't even, to me, it wasn't even controversial.

Like, did you see anyone of note say that Umar won? Three, four, five were, I saw some people scored it for Umar. Of note? I didn't.ilbert burns below muhammad these are all the ali guys yeah of course they're all ali guys but i'm just saying three four five were so definitive for marab that like there there was no question that he won the fight also again it's not a meritocracy sugar sean o'malley has much more star power than umar namaga manoff, despite his last name. Look at that. Every single judge, and shout out to the crippler, Chris Lieben. How cool is that, seeing him up there? 3-4-5, all for Murab.

Lieben, I thought, had a perfect scorecard. I scored it the exact same way. First two for Umar. Looked fantastic. Chris Crail gave the first round to Murab. And Michael Bell gave the first two to Umar And I do believe the boys in the back Also gave the first round to Marab as well

We did But like very unsure about it Yeah very unsure It was a very close round I saw a lot of people being like One and two were definitive Umar Two was definitive Umar One was very close

Yeah it was close How about Umar versus Peter Jan I'd sign up for that one would love it that's a great fight but i do like you i like your the way you've built that get sandhagen yan rematch and then go with one thing that o'malley will have to be careful of is not ending up in the joseph benavidez robert whittaker situation um you know when you've got a couple of losses to the champion you can put yourself behind the eight ball for a very very long time which we've seen what max holloway and volkanovsky as well that is one thing that he would need to be aware of going into this um it can be a very lonely position being the number

one ranked fighter next to the champion in the ufc well that's why he's going zero dark sugar on uh i like that that's pretty good by the way i'm this this and it speaks to the problem I was talking about, this continues to happen, right? Think of somebody like Yuri. Amazing performance. Lost twice to Alex. This is the UFC at this point. He almost felt a little bit weird

doing the call-out on Saturday. They were like, what do you want? He's like, fuck, man. I want a third Alex fight. He's almost unsure because he already has the two losses. But Rick, how do you fix this? You need to develop

contenders and you need for cards not to be filled with people who are 9-0 and probably would be on the regional scene. Like,

you just need to change how the funnel to the top of these cards is working. And it's a very aggressive schedule. You have to fill it. I understand that.

But there needs to be more development of contenders it can't just be fast track to title every time and and no steps along the way it's like you become a guy and then instantly you're in a title shot i mean umar right we that the whole story for this fight was like did not face top ranked competition title shot this is what you end up with well the other thing is there wasn't an The whole story for this fight was like, did not face top-ranked competition. Yeah. Title shot. This is what you end up with. Well, the other thing is there wasn't an obvious choice. It wasn't like he really leapfrogged someone. No.

No. It's availability. Yeah. 100%. How do you think Murab would feel about Umar getting an enemy? Yeah. Oh, my God. He thought he was mad at first time. He would be pissed.

Chuk Bethenal just texted me that. I have to give him credit. He just texted me saying, my Rob's head would explode if they booked that rematch. He would be watching. I don't see it happening. I don't see it happening,

but you bring up a great point with Yuri. Here he is, fan favorite. Everyone adores him. Everyone loves him. He's getting all kinds of love before the fight, after the fight. What a fight. And afterwards, he's asked about

it. And to your point, I think that, you know, he was feeling a little bit weird, but he's also not the call out kind of guy. He's also not that type of dude. And I think he just said, of course, of course I would want that fight. Now, worth noting, by the way, some news and notes from the past weekend. On Friday, UFC officially announced that the London main event is in fact going to be Leon Edwards versus Jack Della Maddalena. We knew this. This was long reported. Everyone very excited about that one. The chief support is Carlos Alberg going up against Jan Bochovic.

That's a great fight. I love that fight at 205. That's March 22nd at the O2. On Saturday, we found out March 8th UFC 313 is going to be headlined by Alex Pereira versus Magomed Ankhalaev. That's the one

that we all thought should happen. And they're finally going with it. And so God bless. Pereira opening up as the underdog. Not quite as big of an underdog as Murat, but still, underdog nonetheless, which is fascinating. And we also found out the chief support slash co-main for that card is going to be Justin Gaethje against Dan Hooker, which is a tremendous fight.

What was that? No, just a celebratory whoop for me. That was all. You know what? Justin Gaethje really does look like Luke Littler, right? Well, I mean... Luke Littler's an older brother that... The darts physique.

Yes. Anyone that bullied Luke Littler for being so into darts when he was younger, they had to deal with Justin Littler. The knuckles. And I believe that's five rounds. Yeah, five rounds. Sick.

We also found out Tough Lives. Yes, sir. They're calling it the Ultimate Fighters Season 33 Helwani Sloppy Seconds. Winner gets their show back with me. Winner gets their show back with me. DC and Chell, love these guys. Winner gets their show back with me. Winner gets their show back with me. DC and Chael, love these guys. Winner gets their show back with me. It's like my two exes coming together to fight for my honor.

I love it. You know yourself, these guys. You like that one, Pete? Guest coach and role. Guest coach and role. Could you imagine if I show up? Who's more likely to call me? Medium training.

Chael? Who's more likely to call me to do a session a helwani boxing session chael i think what do you think yeah dc company man dc would never be exactly it's a bad guy move right chael would 100 be like oh we've got a a boxing instructor imagine he did that like you know he everybody knows about how important his uh microphone machismo was in the building of his career he's like this is a very important part. We've got a guest coach in today. It is none other than Ariel Helwani.

A little shoulder roll. Media training. A little, you know, I show them the Philly shell. Yeah, you can do a bit of that if you want. I was thinking more media training. Okay, all right. We can talk more about that

later in the program. For now, though, let us not waste any time. Let us say hello to the man who proved his point on saturday the reigning defending ufc bantamweight champion they say you're not officially a champion until you defend that belt well defend that belt he did on saturday the pride of georgia the pride of new york the pride of las vegas as well the one and only merav dohali shvili

hello merav how are you my my friend? Congratulations. Unbelievable. Well done. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much. How are you, Aria? I'm doing great. I'm doing great. I'm over the moon for you. What a fight. What a performance. You had to dig down deep, but you showed afterwards that you are the man. And so could I ask you,

now here we are, two days removed from the fight. You look back at Saturday and how you performed. You're a champion. You have high expectations. You're your toughest critic. How do you feel from the fight you look back at Saturday and how you performed you're a champion, you have high expectations, you're your toughest critic how do you feel about the fight on Saturday? I feel good I was very confident about the fight

I think it goes how I was accepting it was going I'm good and yeah like it's still it still it just happened and it starts it's hard to realize it feels for me like another sparring session like nothing nothing like i don't know like it's still hard to realize like it was like uh for me it was just another sparring session like i tell you man it's crazy but like and yesterday i was driving back from the california and then social media i had a little

bit time in social media that's what i feel more. And because now everybody make like lots of memes from the fight and lots of they make a lot of jokes. And but so yeah, like so I know Omar was good. He was top 18 and all, but I know also he was at my level. You know, I know what I'm capable to do it. And I'm glad now everyone saw. So I saw your coach, John Wood, say afterwards that he was actually easier than you guys thought he would be.

Do you share that assessment? Do you agree with him? Yes. But, you know, I have this mentality every time I fight. So, I respect my opponents.

I don't look at them as easy. You know? Doesn't matter who he is. Even I know that I always know that I was better than Umar and I know that I was going to win this fight. I was still, as a fighter, I was still respectful for Umar

and I was taking serious. But, yeah, I mean, that's up to John to say it was more easy than what he was accepting. But, you know was I was preparing for worse positions worse situation of course you know I was ready for even more more hard fight but I was controlling I was doing just enough to win this fight and I have yeah so um I actually want to go a couple days before the fight. When you did your photo shoot with the belt, it's on Getty Images and whatnot,

everyone starts talking about your leg. And it's very clear that something's going on with your leg, that there's an issue there, not really quite sure what it is. And then we come to find out that you had this very, very scary injury that required a lot of stitches. Can you tell me about what happened from beginning to end? Like how the injury occurred, the stitches, and whether or not this affected your feelings towards fighting on this date?

Yeah. So I was, after having the belt, I was traveling. I was in Georgia first. I was in a couple of countries, in France, Mo Salewo and I was trying to help him. And then in the gym, I hurt my leg. I got big cut in the shin. And it was just big cut. And I was covering.

I was trying to train, but unfortunately I got impacted. And it was so hard to train and wrestle. And sometimes it's hard to walk on my leg. But, yeah, with all that, I was, even mentally, I was thinking I will come back in March and fight Umar Nurmagomedov. But Umar said he wasn't able to fight in March because of Ramadan. And even I was dealing with this injury. I still take this fight, but I was dealing with this injury, all this training camp. Okay, and so this happened before the fight was made, right?

Yeah, my injury happened, yes, before the fight was made. So like injury happened yes before the fight was made so like when like mid-november October yeah middle of the November I believe but it takes so long to heal up just the the cut was still open and it was taking so long to heal up and it's finally closed up in fight week and I was worried to commission not gonna let me fight and I was doing everything putting creams every day doing massage and all the therapies and actually California has a very strict Commission and they check everything, my body. And Thursday, I have a pants on and the commission guy asked me to show him leg, to show to shin.

And I lift my left leg pants and show him the shin and he was to keep talking and then when second time asked me to show him another leg i show against left leg and then he don't what i know that yeah yeah you showed him the same leg twice yeah it is because yeah who knows maybe i can pass but i was worried that maybe you know because it's it like a fresh, but it's been a long time cut and just, just. Wow. That's a brilliant move on your part. Well done. So can I, you said, you said it closed up on fight week. So even like throughout the entire camp leading up a week before or so, it's still fresh. How are you training with it?

No, I was covering. If you go back to my pictures, every time I have something wrapped up, you know, at my leg, and I was training. And then I tell you, like, if somebody accidentally touched me, every time it was big pain.

And it's always, of course, when you have something, a little injury or painful area, every time, always, everybody touch you there. It's how it works, especially in wrestling and jiu-jitsu. How many stitches? 27. And could I ask...

I had two cuts. One on top, it was small, but the bottom was deep. What did you do to actually cut your leg open like that? Yeah, I was in the gym at the stairs. I was walking out and I hit the stairs. I was doing cardio training in the stairs, and I hit the stairs, like my shin. Wow, that is awful.

How did it feel in the fight and now after the fight, now that it's like just completely exposed? In the fight, nothing. After the fight, a little, little, little, little. If I touch, a little pain because I guess maybe I kick with this, but no problem. In the fight, nothing. Okay, and how does it feel now?

Good. Okay. What about your back? You injured your back as well. So yeah, what happened was, when I take this fight, as soon as I signed the contract, they sent me UFC countdowns to film everything, to documentary everything. They always do this, like beginning of the camp, they do interviews and then they leave you a long time. And so I was training at Syndicate MMA and I have a little garage in my house, a workout garage and I wanted to show more like training outside, training in the park with my friends and I work out, I lift some weights in front of my house and in the outside park I was lifting my friends, running with the

friends and doing exercises for the backs, like lift the guys for your back strong. But because I wasn't training hard before, once I started hard training, I guess I gave too much pressure to my back. And it got spasmed. And, you know, my lower back was so painful. And some next couple of days, I was in bed. I cannot even go get up. And I was so depressed. Like, I have a fight fight I know I will never cancel

this fight but I wasn't sure if this pain was gonna go away and thank god I worked with that and little by little I came back and I started training and I made finish this camp with this but like you know like I'm a professional fighter and I will always find a way to pick stuff and fight. At any point did you or your team talk about the possibility of maybe having to withdraw from the fight, that it was getting too worrisome, too painful? Hey, we need to really talk about this, think about this. Did that happen?

My coach, John, would say yes. If you tell me and if it's really painful, let's pull out this fight. I don't want you to take this fight with pain and injury. But no, I was not thinking about it. I was positive. I knew it was going to go away. It was hard to miss training. When you have a big fight, you need to train hard.

You need to prepare. Especially, I was just press champion and I have a short time to train in camp and I have a short time to tap opponents like Umar, Umar Gamadov. It's a different style. When O'Malley said he wants rematch and he doesn't feel he loses, I said okay let's go November because we both fought same day and we was both in same situation. But especially I have been against him and I can give him very much and if something happens it can be win a one and one and it's, you know, I know him, he knows me and it's easy but when you fight new opponent and top opponent like Umar Umar Gamido, you need a good training camp and you need to be healthy.

Yeah, no, 100%. And when you agreed to the fight, did the UFC know about this? Did they know about the shin, or did they know about the back when it happened? I did tell them I had cut on my leg, but I'm not going to

complain. I was thinking that it's going to heal up more fast because I still had six weeks and who knows if cut takes this much time and this much long and I just tell them but yeah but they they was also like thinking the mass gonna heal up they you know I don't even know that this cut will take this so long.

Right. You know, afterwards, Dana White was very complimentary of you and you went up to speak to him before the Joe Rogan interview and all that stuff

and he admitted to the fact that you guys haven't had the best relationship. Do you think now stepping up, taking this fight, winning the fight as exciting as it was,

you're so happy and so proud to be a part of the UFC. You represent them in such a great way. Do you think now the relationship will be better? It can be repaired? Whatever the issue was between you and the brass, and in particular Dana White. Of course, the relationship will be better, especially now I depend my belt and now I show fight of the night, good fight.

And I, in person, I always have a good relationship with Dana White. He was always nice and respectful for me. I think he was mentioning a moment after I beat Josie Aldo and I was very loud in microphone with Joe Rogan. I said, please don't ask me this question anymore. I'm not fighting my friend, Aljamai Sterling. And after the fight, then I was very mad, yeah, what I say. And I'm sure he still remembers that and that's why he was mad about me and I don't remember any other big moment I know like you

know other than like when I have and I post a cut before the fight against Sean O'Malley and I don't I don't did any other stuff that I remember I did bad and then it was mad about me but

everything is good he's you know I respect him so much you know and yeah of course

we have a good relationship and it's all good. What did you say to him in the cage afterwards? I said, when he wrapped the belt first time, I was so emotional and I dropped down and I cannot even hold myself. And after, when I get up, he wasn't there to shake his hand and talk to him.

And at this time I wanted to shake his hand after he wrapped the belt on me. And when I was looking, I don't see, I thought he left and I find it. And I was happy to see him. I said, thank you, Dana. I said when I take this fight, I was injured, but I was taking a little bit of risk in my head, but I said, for UFC, you know, I said, I know the UFC needs this fight, and I step up, and I'm, like, I never make excuse, like, I know, I said I was happy to take a little bit of risk for UFC. Even when I was injured, I never complained.

I was happy that I accepted this fight. I stepped up for UFC, that's what I said. Amazing. Umar Nurmagomedov has repeatedly said now that he thinks that he won the fight. What is your response? And also showing the injured hand, the broken hand. What is your response to this? Um, nothing. That's his opinion and who cares?

Everybody else thinks that I win the fight, win fight. And um, can you hear me or no? I can hear you, yeah sorry it's all good, right? yeah, we see you just fine by the way, I have to say, the sign behind you is fantastic the neon sign

this is an incredible look for you, Murab who made this? is this new? where did this come from? this is an amazing logo and sign. Yeah, it's my logo. I just ordered another. I don't make it. I make the black one myself. I put together this sign. I ordered it. I paid for it. Beautiful, beautiful. Okay, back to Murab. By the way, did you realize that he had a broken hand? Could you tell that he was injured? No, I don't realize. And maybe my opinion, he either broke his hand last round, I think.

Because as you guys saw, we had big exchange all the time. He was looking good. He wasn't trying to shoot me or hold me. If he has a broken hand, he cannot really keep punching you. But sometimes you don't really feel it. And also don't forget, when I was fighting Peter Jan, I was fighting with a broken hand. I had my hand like 10 days before the fight,

but a fight is a fight. You punch with a broken hand, no problem. Yeah. Did you have a feeling that you may have been down going into the third round? Two of the judges scored the first two rounds for him. Did you get the sense, okay, I have to win the next three in order to win this fight? Were you feeling that urgency?

No. You never know. Sometimes it was a close fight and I don't know exactly. I don't know. I was... The judges, he was winning first round. I don't know.

But I was... I was doing what I was supposed to do I was focusing myself and uh you know he's he's a good fighter and also I was very focused to hit him and not get hit because uh he cannot make mistake against him you. He's a good striker. And he can kick you good. He can punch you good. And he has good footwork. And he can take you down good too. And I was making sure I was doing more of that. And at the same time, not to over something to make mistake. And get either knocked down or get taken down.

Obviously, he won't be fighting you next again, but do you think he is someone who will be back in the title picture? Do you think you'll see him again? Do you think he is that good? He's only beaten one top-ranked guy, Corey, which is a great win, but do you think he gets by some of the other top-ranked guys to get back to a title shot? Yes, he's a good fighter, and I think he will be now in top five, and I'm sure he will continue winning streak,

and I'm sure he will fight for the belt again. And he's young, and I'm sure he's he's humbled now and he will continue good work because he needed the dough he need sorry I was called before the fight and you know when I start wake up tonight I was cold before the fight and you know when I start wake up and I was taking a lot of vitamins now I'm healthy I'm eating drinking now I feel it yeah I know I understand yeah no problem yeah He's still young and he will be entitled to conversation again because he will continue in his streak I believe. Sean O'Malley was there and it seems like there's no one else that really makes

sense for you. Do you think that he will be your next opponent? Yeah, I have no idea. But looks like, I guess, yes, looks like maybe he is my next opponent. But who knows? I want to fight for the next option.

Whoever is the best next. And I just want to be busy. Would you be okay with that? If they say it's Sean again, would you be at peace with that? Yes, sir. I will fight Sean again if UFC asks me to do it. Okay. And you said you want to fight three times, if possible, this year.

So if it was up to you, which months? How soon do you return? And then when do you have the third fight this year? If you can map it out. My original plan was to come back after six months. I win the belt in September. And I will stick with my original plan. I would like to fight March again.

And after March maybe maybe summertime and and then maybe hopefully New York November you know that would be my dream come true because I always fight well I always want to fight November not November New York and I never had the chance the opportunity to fight there and that would be my dream to fight New York okay so I have a feeling you're or opportunity to fight there. And that would be my dream to fight in New York. Okay, so I have a feeling you're not going to fight in March because they announced Alex Pereira in March and the co-main event, Hokurgechi. But even if they didn't, Murat, that's crazy.

That's in less than two months. And you have a leg that still wasn't healed and a bad back. You don't need to come back so soon now. Now you can take your time a little bit. Okay, if I need to, I will take it. But mentally, I was, like I tell you, this fight was extra. I don't have plans to fight, genuinely,

a fight this much soon. But that was extra, something. Something I wasn't prepared mentally. But, yeah. I wasn't prepared mentally. So whenever I'm ready, whenever it's possible. It's not necessary to fight in March, but if UFC 1 needs me, if UFC asks me, I would like to fight in March, but if not, I can fight in April, and maybe let's go. Okay, and we'll let you go in two minutes again.

Thank you so much for the time. It's all good. Were you counting, Murab, the takedowns? Did you know when you beat GSP's record? Like I said in the interview, I was not looking to break this record at the beginning. All I wanted to punch was Nurmagomedov's face. It was one moment. I must shoot now because it's going to help my record. I was thinking like this, that's why I should.

But I was not counting because I'm a professional fighter and I was more purposeful fight. Like I tell you, I was fighting top contenders like Umar, Umar Gamadovich, and I was trying to punch him and not get hit back. And, yeah, that's my simple game plan against everyone, you know, because it's a fight and you can fight number 300 guy and you can lose against him if you not be patient and um that's what i was trying to do okay there was a picture that i saw um on on on the internet that was floating around where it looks like he's trying to take you down and and and you've turned and it looks from the picture that you're saying something to his corner and some thought maybe to Khabib himself.

Is that what is going on here? Here's the photo right here that I'm talking about. Are you talking to Khabib in this moment? Yeah, like his team, like I was joking. Look, dad, you can't take me down. Like, yeah, like I was I was joking I had fun Like I had fun, you know, I like it's like I tell you I like positive man even I'm fighting I'm always looking for positive things and I was making a little fun of Uma

Okay, and speaking of that, you know, it was very personal for you. You were very fired up We talked before the fight that it felt like you were very emotional in the press conference in December. And given that, and given some of the stuff that was being discussed beforehand with Georgia and Russia, and all this now behind you, and the issues maybe with the UFC and the date, do you feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders now on this Monday do you feel like you can relax a little bit because like I said you proved your point you you made it happen you defended your belt you know I was mad about him it was personal I was so mad and uh you know I'm a professional fighter in the octagon I will still do thing, but it was very hard. I looked like an asshole all this time. I was complaining, but I was really mad. He really disrespected me, especially I know him as a person. And I was keep saying the same thing, and Umar's friend was keep making fun of me. That was a little bit of pressure, but it takes me a long time.

I will say, like even week before I was so pissed off at Umar because especially it happened a couple of times I wasn't able to go PI to because of him to training and I was feeling a little disrespectful and um and especially he take the picture with the provocate guy the guy who try fight me and the umar take a picture, I will never tell this guy good job. Even whatever. So fight week, I was already happy and I finally moved on. And I was not thinking my feelings. I was very I was kind of a very calm down and after

the fight I don't feel any big pressure come off now because like I tell you I was happy take this fight I I know you see need me and I step up and I know I was doing something for company and I was happy with myself even if I lost hey I'm doing my best and UFC give me everything now it's time to me do something good for them and give this fight people and give this fight the UFC. Okay last one I saw the video afterwards of you and Magdy Amakhov and it seemed like you, this was a huge story that he lived with you, and then he went to go train with Umar, and it seemed like you were telling him it's okay, that, you know, no hard feelings. Is that what the interaction was about? And could I ask your initial reaction when you found out that someone that you had brought in to live with you was was training with umar yes i love magdi amacho he's a great guy great kid really talented and i wasn't not surprised because he was in bad spam because he trainings with us, Syndicate MMA, and when usually Dagestani fighters come here in town, Magdy always hang out with them and training with them.

And he loves Habib Nurmagomedov, he loves Islam Makhachev, he loves Nurmagomedov because they are his country people and he always talks about them. We were talking highly about this team all the time and I know how much he loves this team and he was bouncing between us always before. And then when this fight happened and when Umar arrived, he was still training sometimes with us and with Umar. And it was the moment that he has to take a choice who he was training with. Because he cannot do that, training with both of them.

He decided to train with Khabib Nurmagomedov's team. Like I said, I understand. He's not a sneaky guy. I'm a thousand percent sure he doesn't tell specifically, hey, Merab has this one weak, Merab has this one strong. I was very confident about this. He wasn't talking like Ander or like he wasn't like, you know, I don't know what they call the spion.

I love him. I know he's a true guy. And it was never pressure. Even I find out that he was training with Umar Umar Gamedo. I was actually fine that yeah Umar has an extra good training partner that's okay and that's okay because I was also grateful for Magdy because I training with the guy he's really good training partner and also he helped me before but it's okay to if he helped Umar Umar Gamedo now that's okay you know because the guy is a good guy and

you know I do stop in my life and I don't even count you know I don't if I help somebody I don't do this one because of the person has to do it pay me back or something you know if I do something from my heart I do it That's no problem and I will do I will help everything I can With Magdy, I love him and whatever he needs is his life I will I will help him or it's gonna be it's gonna be the Financially with my house or if he needs to corner he needs needs a training partner, I will help him because when I need

a training partner, he helps me. It's all good. first title defense you break GSP's takedown record 12 in a row and I know you don't want to be included in that greatest bantamweight of all time conversation

but you are in that conversation my friend with the likes of Dominic Cruz and your good friend Aljamain Sterling TJ Dillashaw

as well you are in there right now so congratulations you've come a long way from the construction job on Long Island so enjoy it

get well soon and looking forward to your next one later on this year. Thank you so much, Ariel. I appreciate you. You are a real one. I respect you.

And thank you so much for covering this sport. And guys like you make this sport even great. And without you guys you know we are, you do your stuff, I do our stuff and that's why MMA getting better and we reaching another level

thank you everyone also for support and God bless. Thank you Marab I really appreciate that, that really means a lot to me, thank you so much we'll talk to you soon, there he is the reigning, defending UFC bantamweight champion. What an unbelievable story. Shades of Michael Bisping with the eye back in the day, showing the leg twice.

Incredible. Well done, Murab. Let's talk to the man who is in his corner alongside Aljamain Sterling and, of course, the great Ray Longo. Now joining us for the second time in the span of six days, head man over at Syndicate MMA. He is the one and only John Wood. We referenced him in our chat with Murav, and now he's back.

Look at this. Now you're a fixture on the show, John. Thank you, man. It's an honor. I officially made it in the world of MMA. Yeah, right. Well, congratulations to you and the team on a phenomenal weekend. So much that I want to ask you about, can I ask first about the story regarding Magdi? He trained at Syndicate. How did you feel when you found out that he was helping Umar train for Murab?

I feel a little bit differently about it than rob does you know rob's a is a very uh i tell people this all the time rob is the sweetest kindest biggest hardest guy you know he's got the biggest heart that he wears on his sleeve and that's great but um you know we had that talk ahead of time and um you know i told him i said dude like i don't think you know, I told him, I said, dude, like, I don't think, you know, there was videos coming out where he was hanging out with with those guys. And while they're watching tape of Rob, you know, and basically we have a very good, strong team family atmosphere here. So it kind of lit a fire under a lot of people here and myself included so you know i i had a conversation with him in the sense of hey you know maybe if you're gonna be you know hanging out with them and doing things then maybe you don't come to practice for you know for this camp you can come to the gym you can work with other people

you can do stuff but i don't feel comfortable personally having you on the mat knowing that connection is so tight and then seeing these videos it's just we ended up where we're at you know with the drama and all the you know the bullshit that comes with that and so i told him i said but you know with that being said if you do leave and you do go train with them then you're not coming back to this gym so you know that's kind of where i stand on it obviously i have a conversation with marab but um you know i think that's kind of a that's just a no-no you know that doesn't happen in any other sport like if you're a you know a chiefs player you're not going and you know training with uh with with the raiders and then coming back to the chiefs and you know it just this doesn't happen and and i just feel like

it was you know to me it's a little too much, I will have a conversation with Murab about it. But yeah, I don't look too highly upon that. Okay. Appreciate your thoughts on that very much. Can I also ask you about this story that Murab told us about the leg when he was being checked out by the commission? I'm sure you know about this, where he showed him the same leg twice. Are you watching this as it's happening? That's an unbelievable, that is a savvy veteran move. Are you watching this as it's happening? That's an unbelievable, that is a savvy veteran move. Are you watching this as it's unfolding? Yeah.

Oh my God. this camp was rough and that leg was really bad the entire time to the point where i'd be lying if i didn't say that i was thinking you know about pulling him off of it which i knew wouldn't fly for him you know i knew there was no chance in hell he was going to do that but it was it was bad you know in his back there was a week out of a six-week camp we couldn't even train for a week because his back he couldn't do you know half the time things with his legs but the crazy thing is is he he still ended up where he needed to be in sparring you know like he looked phenomenal so i was never lying to anybody about man this is the best i've seen him look it's the most violent i've seen him look so you know we were able to scrape through the camp. And then obviously California is a very, you know, they're a tough commission. And so it was a big worry that even, you know, that thing was a golf ball on his leg and still, you know, had a scab on it.

So I was really worried. Obviously, we're all really worried about that. Even getting clear, there's no active infection anymore, but it looked like dog shit. So it was one of those things where when we went to the doctor, I'm like, I don't know how this is going to go. Yeah. I sat back and watched them and, and Marab did his Marab magic and everything worked out good. And here we are. So I, you know, all of it worked out well. And, but yeah, that was just, that was, that was a scary thing the whole way through for sure.

Incredible. So you say that you'd be lying if you said you didn't have thoughts of pulling him out and you know that it wouldn't sit well with him. But how close were you to actually saying, like, I don't feel comfortable? Like, you're about to fight this guy who's supremely tough. He's undefeated. It's a pretty short camp. Your leg is messed up.

He said, I think, 26 stitches total. Your back is messed up. He said, I think 26 stitches total. Your back is messed up. How can I, how can I in good conscience send you out there to battle defending your title? And who knows if he ever gets a title shot again? Let's be honest, not the best relationship at the moment with the UFC. And sometimes, you know, if they don't love you, they ain't giving you another crack like some other guys. And so were you close to really having that conversation and trying to put your foot down?

Yeah, I actually believe I had that conversation. I believe I had mentioned it to him and kind of had seen, you know, wanted to kind of throw it out there and see what his reaction was to it. And I think, you know, honestly, there was a point in time where it was so bad that I probably could have said, hey, you know, let's call this and he maybe would have gone for it. But I know he would have been so upset and angry. And at the end of the day, you know, with everything going on,

I said he still looked better than he ever did in his sparring. He was still being sick, being hurt. He was still doing 10, a minimum of 10 rounds of hard sparring with some of the best guys in the world and taking it to him. So there was never, you know, when you're looking at that as a coach being like, how am I going to pull this guy out of a fight when he is firing on all cylinders when he needs to? You know, and the thing about Rob, over the years of really, you know, learning how to work with him, come fight day, when all the bullshit's done, when the weigh-ins are done, and when it's just about the fight, there's no more interviews, he's a different human.

You can see the spark in his eye. He loves it. He loves fight day. He's excited. He's just a different person. So come fight day, that's what switched on. And by God, I'm sure he's glad that we never had to have that conversation because obviously the results were what they were, and it's great for us.

So I'm wondering how you're feeling going into the third round because, to be honest, as I'm watching it, I think Murab is down two rounds to none going into the third. But I do remember, and we mentioned this earlier, you telling my colleague Chuck Mendenhall in that great piece that he wrote on Murab, like if he doesn't dispose of Murab in the first two rounds, he's fucked. And so are you thinking, alright, we took his

best shot, and we're still in a good spot? Because usually you're down two rounds to none, two of the judges had it that way. You might be panicking a little bit. What are you thinking? Listen, this was the game plan the entire time. You can go back and watch.

I'll repost it today, an interview I did. I figured we were going to give up the two rounds, the first two rounds that we would lose, potentially just because of the pace that Umar comes out. And Marab is very, very good at downloading information. Now, he gets out there, he sees it. You saw it with O'Malley. You sort of see it kind of turning and happening with with suhudo so we were going to take our time you know and i cannot tell you his that fight looked exactly what he does in sparring every single day to a t even

the first round two round down let me the information getting out there so we were always we were always expected the game plan was if we give up one and two, if it happens, so be it. That's probably what's going to happen. Come towards the end of two, we will start to pressure and put on. I wanted Umar to feel hitting Murav, trying to take him down and fail. It's more of the psyche of the, somebody who hasn't really ever been stopped to be stopped. And that puts a level of what I call, you know you know the mental cardio it puts pressure on the mental cardio so the whole

thing was was really part of the plan and and it worked out perfect you know and you could see by three obviously that's where we plan to pick it up that's where we plan to pressure that's where we plan to do what he did and And it was, there was never, I said it to him, Rob, every single day, I don't give a shit about the first two rounds, as long as whatever he's doing, he's failing at it. If he hits you, so what? You're still there. If he tries to take you down, you stop him. If he cages you down, you get up. And those are the kind of things to somebody who's never been defeated, who's never felt adversity that can really start to fuck with you. And it did. So on the night, Umar said he thought he won.

He has since said the same, assuming after watching the fight. What were you thinking before they read the scorecards? Did you think, all right, we got this, 3-2? Yeah, I thought we had a 3-2, maybe potentially 4-1, depending on what the judges said. But 3-2, no doubt. I rewatched it, still three to two easy um and you know one judge i think gave us all i gave us four rounds i believe the first and you know so i knew those yeah i knew the first and second were close but i anytime it's close for me i'll

give it to the other fighter so that's where once once i saw third round, I was like, okay, we're home stretch now. This is going the way we want it to go. And yeah, I really had no doubt in my mind when that card was being read that he was getting his hand raised. Okay. I saw you say to Submission Radio that he was actually easier than you expected him to be, Umar. What do you mean by that? I mean, listen, I said the same thing about al mali you know for for for rob i tell him all the time like you gotta believe in how gosh damn good you are like there's nobody that's gonna keep pace and you're just getting better so by saying that i mean it's gonna be

an easier fight than you think like there's a lot of pressure that comes with fighting these killers kind of because of fighting you know like i said this felt like this fight felt like we were the challenger again you know umar was was pretty much automatically handed the keys to the throne here and it and you know was supposed to walk through marab and he wasn't you know he's going to sub marab like that o'malley was supposed to knock us out these fights with the level and what i know what kind of dog i got that fight they're they're easier than we sometimes build up into our head you know by by i mean look at rob he's out there laughing having a good time while he's defending takedowns you know like can't tell me you know for me personally that's something we want to work on

is if you're having you know that much fun we need to start really looking at finishing these guys and putting a little more violence even more in there. And that's the next progression from Rob that we're really going to work on now that we have a little bit of time, but we build these fights up and we build these guys up to be this monumental task that is almost sometimes, you know, unattainable, but it really, with, with Rob and guys that are that talented in skill set, it's not that bad. It's not going to be that bad. You know, I thought maybe we would, you know, suffer through some more takedowns, maybe takedown attempts and things like that. But it just, you know, it was a little bit easier than expected.

So we talked last week about, you know, those sparring sessions, 12 rounds, crazy stuff, 10 rounds. You've been in this game a long time. And then when you see him in a fight against someone as talented as Umar and just looking like he could go another five rounds, it's absurd. Have you seen anyone in the gym in your time in this fight game with this type of cardio that has just a motor that doesn't stop? Is there anyone that comes close to him? I don't, you know, we've seen guys, right? We've seen the GSPs of the world, the Khabibs of the world. It just, it never seems like he gets tired. High elevation, no elevation, wrestler, grappler. It never seems like he's huffing and puffing. Yeah. The only person that I would say, honestly, that I can remember being as crazy as him in doing that kind of stuff would have been Forrest Griffin. You know,

Forrest had a hell of a motor at 205 and he he would be that guy that maybe wasn't as talented and maybe very much like marab is the underdog all the time but he would outgrind everybody he would put in the extra rounds he would do all that kind of stuff so force would be the uh closest version that i could come off the top of my head of watching in the gym be a bigger version of him. But Murav is insane. I'll tell you this. If we could move it up

to eight rounds or a ten round fight, Murav's finishing everybody. He will not stop. He is just as hard in the tenth round as he is in the first. It's crazy. I've never seen anything quite like it. he's a special human the the mental push the physical push especially even to through this camp with the injuries and the sickness and the illness and being on antibiotics

being on the back for him his mental cardio and that's a big thing we push around here is the mental cardio is is as, if not stronger, Kersina through this camp than his physical cardio. He's got both of those things and they just don't quit. His mind and body do not quit. It's crazy. It sounds like they're leaning towards O'Malley next. How do you feel about that?

I mean, you know, I find it weird that, you know, he's getting an instant rematch. You know, I would believe that you would probably need to go out and defend. It's not like he had a title reign that was anything to speak of. But he's also still one of the top in the world. And he is a draw. You know, the UFC, again, this is a business. So I never interfere with what the UFC does because they do it better than anybody. So at the end of the day, it's about what makes dollars and cents, and that one obviously still gets a huge drop.

O'Malley does a really good job of talking himself into these positions, and like I said, he's a very skilled fighter. So at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. We always, we, you know, we had a pretty easy path on him into victory. And I would expect those guys to come out and make some changes. Rematches are always tricky because somebody, you know, when you get in there with Rob, you have no idea what that feels like. Now he kind of does. So he's obviously going to prepare for a lot of the things that Rob brought to the table,

but that's my job to now prepare for those things that I think he's going to try to prepare for. And that's what makes this sport fun. It's just a constant chess match. So, you know, whether it's him, whether it's Jan, I love them all. I like all the rematches. And I think that, I just,

I don't think anybody's taken that belt off Rob for a long time. Okay. He told us that he wants to come back in March. I don't think that's happening because they just announced the Alex Perret title fight and Gaethje Hooker. Okay. So not March, he says April and then maybe in the summer and then maybe November. Can he chill out? I mean, what does he have to come back so fast for? It's crazy. If it was up to you, if he asked you, okay, coach, like how should we space this out?

When would you like to see him back? Man, I want him to take a few months, you know, take a month and chill at least. And then let's get back in without the pressure of having to train for a specific fighter and work on what he needs, work on having fun and training. That's where you really learn the most is between camps. Crazy enough, you know, even in this camp, he learned so much. The one thing with Rob and people like, oh, he's this crazy wild guy who doesn't, you know, have a brain or whatever, can't think. Like, the dude is smart, and he picks up things so quick. So I'd really love to see where, you know, we get into having no camp, nobody to train for, have some fun, chill.

I wouldn't mind, you know, the May, June-ish kind of time, if April at the latest, but I mean, I'd love to have him have a couple months before he doesn't even have to think about anybody else, you know, so if we got booked around, you know, the end of February or March, I'd be okay with that, but yeah, he deserves a break, man, he deserves, especially just the turnaround he's had, the last year he's had. He needs to heal up and take some time. But again, that's what makes this guy so special. I swear to God, if you called him and said he needs to fight next week, he would do it.

No problem. Incredible. Incredible night for you. 2-0 for the team. Gafurov with the big win over the previously undefeated Nakamura. I did see a photo afterwards. He was on crutches, it seemed like. What happened? So there was a knee he threw and hit that dude's head. That boy's got a hard head, Nakamura.

He hit him with a knee in the head, and I think he might have popped his burst sack in his knee from getting that one. And that just swelled up his leg and then a couple kicks i think landed in in the wrong spot and he was he went into that fight too banged up had a busted hand um you know that was a rough camp for him too but uh that was all that was all self-inflicted stuff uh what do you mean by that self-inflicted i mean he he was the one he threw the knee and hit the guy ahead hurt his own he kicked, yeah, it was nothing done to him, so, he, those were all injuries from damage that he was trying to inflict, so he's good to go. Sounds like, sounds like Murab on the stairs over there, I'm not, I'm still not quite sure what he did to have a gash like that, could you tell us your side of the story with the stairs, he was trying to to explain it to us it sounded a little kooky yeah i'm uh i'm gonna leave it with letting him explain that one that's uh that's an interesting situation and uh yeah i don't i'm not sure okay let's go with that all right fair enough

fair enough um could i ask and and i understand this this might be a tough one but i'm just curious like you're in there with with ray longo and he was with him for you know the longest Um, could I ask, and, and I understand this, this might be a tough one, but I'm just curious, like you're in there with, with Ray Longo and he was with him for the longest time, but now Murab lives in Vegas. And so how, who kind of takes, you know, like you have a minute in between rounds. How do you guys divvy that up in terms of like who speaks, who doesn't speak? You're, you're both such, you know, you're head coaches, you're both in there and you're usually the head coach, but here's the history with Ray,

but he trains day-to-day with you in Vegas. How do you guys divvy that up? Yeah, you know, I have nothing but the utmost respect for Ray Longo. Obviously, he's an OG legend of the game, somebody that I've looked up to over the years as a coach who's done it long before I've done it and he's probably forgotten way more than I'll ever even know. So there's a respect factor.

The fact that Rob came from that gym. He's been at Syndicate for, I don't know, four plus years now. Since a few fights before the Aldo fight. And been working with him. But that was something that he's always kept that connection. He always has respect for the guy that got him there. And so that's something that I obviously will not mess with. And I respect because I want him to have that kind of respect for the guy that got him there and so that's something that i you know obviously will not mess with and and i respect because i wanted to have that kind of respect for me at some point

too you know so um when we get in there we always just kind of you know talk i'll let ray have his his moment he lets me have my moment and we split it up you know there's no real egos there um obviously like i said it would be foolish for me to try to, to, to take somebody who's said such a wealth of knowledge and an OG in the sport. And that somebody that more Rob really looks up to and wants him there. You know,

so we all have our moments. Everybody goes in there and we're all there for Rob come fight night. We're all there to make that guy the best version that he is. So everybody gets their turn. It's not, you know, it's not a dick measuring contest to see who's better or this or that, you know,

we're there for one purpose and that's to support Rob. Okay, cool. Much respect on that. We talked last week as well about Khalil Roundtree and who could potentially be next for him. I know he was at the event and Yuri did end up winning and man, I would,

I would love to see Yuri versus Khalil. Do you, do you think that's the one we're going to see? Is that would, I would love to see Yuri versus Khalil. Um, do you, do you think that's the one we're going to see? Is that the one that you want to see now? Yeah, I would love to see that fight. I would love that fight. Um, I think it's a fantastic fight. Uh, I love, you know, Yuri is, is such a crazy dynamic dude. He's out there, you know, he presents a tough challenge to anybody but i i truly believe that khalil has a skill set that would match up great with him i think you're looking at another banger you know another fight of the night type of situation and i think that that's the fight

that obviously gets us back to where we want to be and that's a title shot so you know i'm sure that the ufc has their um you know ideas and you know who knows i don't know if Yuri has the position that way he can sit out and wait for the title shot. So it's going to be a while now, obviously, with Pereira and Anklov booked. So we'll see what they want to do. But it makes the most sense for me. I love the fight. I know that Khalil would love the fight.

So I'm all for it. You were a little reluctant last week, if I'm being honest, to jump on the Bills bandwagon, but surely against the Chiefs, you're rooting for us, right? I mean, Raiders got you. Yeah, listen, I'm a Josh Allen fan. I like the Bills. If it's going to be somebody in the AFC, I'd love to

see the Bills do it. I think Josh Allen is a stud. And they've got such a workhorse mentality team. And I'll never root for the Chiefs. Thank you. Thank you. All right. It's just, you know, Patrick Holmes, great quarterback, but, you know.

We're America's team now. I feel like America is rooting for us. I feel like everyone's tired of these guys. So we welcome you and everyone. Thank you. I'll be on board. I'll root for them for this time of year. Thank you. I appreciate that. Congrats. Great weekend for you and everyone. Thank you. I'll be on board. I'll root for him for the, I'll root for him for this time of year. Thank you. I appreciate that. Congrats. Great weekend for you and the team.

Amazing stuff. Really, really appreciate it and enjoy it all. I know there's no real off season or break, so it's right back to work for you guys, but on this Victory Monday, enjoy it all. Thank you, coach. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it, man. All right. There he is, John Wood of Syndicate MMA. Now on the Bills bandwagon, just like the rest of America. Love it. Even GC's back. Thank you, sir. I got to get it from home and from work. Don't even start. You had your chance. You were built in. Frank, you married a Buffalonian.

She was crying at the end of the game yesterday. As was I. I should have FaceTimed her. No one wanted to talk to me in my own house. I just see Ariel calling her. I'm like, did I be crying? Did you believe it, Tracy? Baby, we did it. We did it, Tracy.

She's born and raised, right? Correct. Come on. How could you not it, Tracy? Baby, we did it. We did it, Tracy. She's born and raised, right? Correct. Come on. How could you not be on board? I mean, because I was born and raised in Dallas. I don't know. It's her wife. It's her better half.

Have you ever been to a game, by the way? No. Not to a Cowboys game. Went to a Seahawks game. In Seattle? No. Oh. What do you mean a Seahawks game. What? In Seattle? No. Oh. What do you mean Seahawks game?

Where then? Arizona. No one says a Seahawks game if it's not in the home stadium. See, this is why I sit some of these games out. Because it's like, I'm just not cool enough to sit in a home stadium. Frankie. Speaking of Ray Longo, shout out to Chris Weidman announcing his retirement from the UFC during the weigh-in show, which was kind of overshadowed, if we're being honest, given speaking of Ray Longo, shout out to Chris Weidman announcing his retirement from the UFC

during the weigh-in show, which was kind of overshadowed, if we're being honest, given the whole news about the switch in main events. By the way, Hanata Moikano

and Yuri Prokhaska are going to join us back into the show. Josh Barnett coming up in 30 minutes. Armin Tsurukian, let the world know, I think in his first interview

he's going to join us in a matter of seconds. But Chris Weidman announcing his retirement from the UFC, hoping to talk to him on the show maybe this week or next. My feeling is he ain't done. I think he was very careful with the way he phrased things from the UFC, retiring from the UFC. So I don't think it's time, you know, obviously you can shower him with praise and talk about the run, but I don't think this is it for him. I said it's a legendary run. I said it's a Hall of Fame run. I stand by it. And I can understand if you're a new fan, you're like,

what? He beat Anderson Silva and then he beat him again. And I know the second time was somewhat unceremonious, but he beat Anderson Silva, who was on an insane winning streak prior to that, who was the virtually unbeatable middleweight champion for many, many years with many, many title defenses. He beat him fair and square. He knocked him out in the first fight way back in 2013, if my memory serves me correct. That's a pretty big deal.

That itself is Hall of Fame worthy, if you ask me. That itself is Hall of Fame worthy, if you ask me. That itself is Hall of Fame worthy. So congratulations to Chris Weidman on an incredible run. And by the way, congratulations to Craig Peligian. We found out that he will be the first inductee into the 2025 Hall of Fame class. They announced that on Saturday. He's the executive producer and the co-creator of the Ultimate Fighter. And right afterwards, they announced that DC and Chael are going to be

coaching in the Helwani Sloppy Seconds Derby. So a lot of exciting things going on. It was shocking. It was massive news on Friday afternoon when we found out that we weren't, in fact, getting Issam Mahatcha versus Armin Tsuruki in two. We had the press conference on Thursday night. The crowd was incredible. Armin was a superstar at that press conference. Obviously a lot of Armenian fans in the LA area. It felt primed for a very, very special evening at the Intuit Dome. And then we found out on Friday afternoon that he was out of the fight due to a back injury. Beyond thankful that he is agreeing to come on the show to talk about what happened and where he goes from here.

Let us say hello now to Armin Tsurukian, who's kind enough to join us on this Monday afternoon. Hello, Armin. Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it. Hello. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. It's great to talk to you. And again, I'm so sorry that this didn't work out, that you didn't

get the fight on Saturday. Could I just ask, how are you feeling on this Monday afternoon after everything that happened in the last 72 or so hours? I mean, it's difficult, you know, I've been working so long time and I missed my opportunity, you know, I waste money, my time, my just, that day, the Friday, they were like, so they felt so bad and they were worried about me, about my feelings, but I was telling everybody this is like a part of the game, I'm good, no worries worries i'm not like uh you know i i'm strong i have a strong mindset and i know like i come back and like be the best in this game and uh i believe myself every day and it just uh just happened you know yeah yeah yeah okay so um so if we can i'd love to just go through the timeline of things throughout the camp as you're preparing for this fight did you have any issues any injuries any problems specifically with your back no i didn't have anything like uh on my lower back something

like uh like with my sciatic nerve you know i didn't have anything i had like uh my my from my neck to my uh there is a nerve as well from my neck to my to my back but it's a completely different thing and uh of course every camp we have something like I hurt my elbow I hurt my knee you know but like it it it was not that bad you know that you couldn't continue your training camp every fighter has a injured you know a small injury so but uh everything was was good but like last day, Wednesday, after training, I went to sleep and I started to feel my lower back. And I couldn't sleep all night. And I thought something happened, took some pain cures and they didn't help. But the next day, I thought like it's going to be good.

And after press conference, I'm going to start my weight cut. And when I started my weight cut, I was doing bike and that moment my back stuck and I couldn't move. I couldn't move, I just laid down on the hot tub it was crazy pain I couldn't like a do cardio and then you see doctors came and started to help me do some PT and they said you're gonna be alright in the morning if you're gonna feel the same You can you can continue cut your weight so and I was like Six pounds left

why when I went to sleep and The pain was same and like 5 a.m. I just said to my manager, it's the same pain. I couldn't move my lower back. And it's just, I cannot continue. At the press conference on Thursday, were you starting to get worried about it?

Were you thinking about it a lot? Were you in a lot of pain when you were sitting there no it wasn't that pain it was it was pain but like not like a stock my i can move i can i can walk i can like churn my body you know but like when i started cut weight it's just stuck you know when you when you pull your back like uh it's the same feeling. I pulled my bag about two years ago or three years ago. Once, it's kind of the same feeling because when I pulled it long ago, I couldn't move for four days. And now it's the same exactly thing. So were you able to get an MRI or something to know exactly what happened?

Yeah, we did everything and the doctor checked me and I called to my physical therapist. the physical therapies he came and on Friday we right away started to do some PT work massages and the so the the problem is sciatic nerve from the from the from the body it's coming to the lower back and and now we we work on my on my back and today i already feel better okay so like on on saturday while you were watching the fight what kind of state were you in like were you watching it thinking oh man i i should have fought i should have fought through it how are you feeling in that moment was there any chance that you were able to even fight? Like the possibility of it considering this injury? You know, when I was sitting, yeah, of course I think I could fight. But like I, that moment I didn't do some exercise.

Maybe like if I'm like do jump or something, it's going to start again. You know, that's why like I, for sure i couldn't find because if i do some exercises or something it's gonna stop the game because my my lower back is so weak right now okay um there was a video that emerged of you training with uh nina marie doing the exercise have you seen this video and people pointing at that video saying, this is how you injured yourself. Is there anything to that? No, that thing I'm doing like every day

for my warmup. So if I had a problem during training camp, how can I do this exercise? You know, I didn't feel anything. I was good and I was ready. And like i was training very hard like during the week i had good energy uh no problem just uh uh just happened you know when you when i started cut weight it's because of the the when you dehydrated, you know,

or hydrated, how would you say? Dehydrated. Dehydrated, maybe because of that it's happening as well. You mentioned an issue with your neck. Is there any connection between the neck issue and what ultimately led to you pulling out? Like, is it connected in any way? No, it's completely

different thing. Completely different. Yeah. How is the neck way? No, it's completely different things. Completely different. Yeah. How is the neck now? No, my neck, I don't have a problem with neck. Okay, okay. And so when you were seen by the UFC staff on Thursday,

did they think, okay, you know, maybe some rest, you'll be okay? Or at that point, was it not looking good? And then you called them to tell them that it's no chance of you fighting when i called them i uh i was cutting weight and my my back

stuck and we called them and doctors came and said uh you will be all right and they were trying best to to bring me to this fight you know and they were trying like to bring me to this fight. They were trying to give me everything. They said I'll be alright in the morning, I can cut weight. When I woke up and I felt so bad, I couldn't move and it's impossible to cut weight because if someone put his back in his life ever he gonna he he knows like what's that feeling when you you can't sleep you can't move on your bed even like someone gotta help you to wake you up like to get you up when you made that call at 5 a.m. or so to your team that you you won't be able to fight how difficult was that moment so I've been thinking that moment like from 2 30 a.m.

until 5 30 p.m. away from 2 30 a.m. to 5 30 a.30am was difficult. It was the most difficult decision in my life. Because this fight could change my life and I could make good money if I step in the cage get good opportunity to be a champion and yeah so I'm assuming your team then relayed the information to the UFC at any point in those

conversations was it said like okay you know shit happens but you'll be next were there any type of guarantees given to you guys about what would happen to you after this fight? No, we didn't talk. We didn't talk after. You mean right now? No, no, I mean before.

When they said, hey, we have to withdraw. You guys have to do what you have to do. They picked Moikano, of course. Were they telling you guys? Was it said? Was it asked? We're obviously not able to fight, but we want to fight the winner. We want to be next.

We don't want to lose our spot, basically. Was that discussed before the fight? No, it wasn't before the fight. Just you see, like Hunter called me and said, don't give up, you're young, and we're going to do our best. So, just shit happens in this life, no worries. Okay.

At the post-fight press conference, Dana White said that you won't be next, and that you have to go back to the drawing board, how he put it. Are you surprised to hear him say that? No, I'm not surprised because, you know, when you have a big fight and you miss your opportunity, you gotta go back and, like, fight with anybody

and then to be deserved again to be contender number one. But, like, right now, I beat Charles Oliveira. He's number two. And, like, I don't know. If it makes sense, I'll fight with anybody. It seemed to me, based on watching it, that he was upset,

that he was stopping short at implying that he thinks you could have fought. That's the way I read it. Did you feel the same way when you saw the clip of him talking about it? Yeah, I feel the same way when you saw the clip of him talking about it? yeah I saw the same maybe like a doctor said maybe like he could fight I don't know but like

how I was training so hard I was cutting my weight I was dieting like 8 weeks and like just on my mind if i step in the cage made a lot of money on my uh like i wanted to be on this fight more than everybody you know even if if i lose so like but lose good and like i could make make good money so but i couldn't walk that night.

So are you hoping to maybe speak to the UFC, speak to him in particular, and say, obviously I couldn't do it, we did all the tests, I don't want to lose my spot? Because if you're looking at the rankings and if you're looking at, you know, who makes sense, you still make sense. You have the win over Charles. You were supposed to fight him for the belt. I'm still a little bit unclear as to why you aren't next. Why you

wouldn't be fighting for the belt next. I don't know, but like UFC, you know, whatever they said, I'm down. They said Chandler in April, May, and I'm going to take care of my back

and let's see when I come back but like I'm down with everybody because I know like I can beat everybody if they want me to beat Chandler and then again Oliveira and then fight for the title with Islam

I'm down because Islam is not going to come back soon, so he's gonna fight maybe in six months. Okay. So if it was up to you, and your first choice, I'm assuming, is to just fight Islam, but if that's not available, what would you do? What would you like

to see happen? If it was up to you, what's the path? If not Islam, it's a five-round fight with Charles Oliveira. Okay, number one contender. Correct, yeah. Michael Chandler said he wanted to fight you. What do you think of that?

I just go Michael Chandler. He's a tough fighter, but for me, it's good to fight him because he has a good name and just make little bit money and build my name, get some more experience from the fights. And yeah, I'm down for him too if Charles doesn't want to fight. Okay. Five rounds as well? Does it have to be five rounds? Yeah, I want to fight five rounds because it makes sense and it's a big fight and, you know, when you have a title fight next,

you got to fight. I want to fight five rounds because I want to see myself how I improve. Okay. When they announced, when you found out that they were doing Moikano versus Islam, did you think Moikano had a chance? Did you think he had any sort of path to victory?

Everybody has a chance, you know. It's a fighting business. You never know, like, one punch can change all fights. But, like, I knew, like, Islam, like, is a different level fighter. It's maybe a lucky punch. He has a good Reniki chop. Lucky punch or Reniki chop. But it's not enough to beat Islam. Were you surprised that Islam took the fight? No, I wasn't surprised because he made the way, he did the good camp,

and he was ready for fight, and it's a good fight for him, you know. It was easy fight, easy money for him. And so what did you think of the fight? Were you at all surprised that he finished it so quickly, that he won via submission? What did you think of how it played out? Yeah, I was surprised because we have one coach, and he knows jiu-jitsu very well,

and we work on this, defense on this mission so much and like I don't know how he missed that that choke because he's a high level grappler and I thought he could get out from there okay in in your opinion as you're watching and by the way you didn't go to the fight, right? I think you watched it somewhere else? No, I was watching at my home

and like with my friends. I mean, close friends. Now, when you don't fight, like in our house, I have like five, ten people, but like when you win,

like everybody wants to come and stay in my house. You felt a lot of people, a lot of people jumped off the bandwagon. I mean, like, when you win, like, everybody wants to come and see you. When you, like, don't fight or anything, like, everybody forgot about you. Yeah, yeah. But they'll be back.

They'll be back. I have no doubt. But I don't want them to come anymore. Sure, that's a good point. That's a good point. Screw those people. This is a good experience for me, you know, because I pulled out in my life first time,

and I never got injured so badly like now. I had 25 fights, and it's the first time in my life. It's a good experience for me too. Are you feeling that from friends, from people close to you, from fans? Are you feeling like people have turned on you? Yeah.

People who text me before fight, we're going to do this, we're going to do that. But right now they just forgot about me. So that's a good point for me. Now I know who they are. What were you thinking as you were sitting there watching the fight, as the walkouts are happening?

I can imagine it was probably gut-wrenching, right? It was probably very difficult knowing that this was your time, this was your moment that you had been training and waiting for. What was going through your mind as you were watching this? Yeah, I was super emotional and, you know, was sad and couldn't sleep that night as well because of my emotion. But I was super happy for Mirab, you know, Amirabh, he's a man and he just showed everybody like the guy who like work hard and like believe himself and who has no like crazy talent can beat everybody at like. In your heart as you're watching this and as you're

thinking about it afterwards, how did you think the fight was going to play out? Now seeing him, being around him all week, what do you think we would have saw on Saturday had you fought Islam? Before, I just was thinking, like, I'm going there, finish him, get the belt. But right now, I just couldn't even go to the cage you know and like now i gotta be a little bit humble and like don't talk a lot just uh win win fights and like deserve my spot again did you see that habib was offering some some nice words of support

um for you after this was all announced. Did you see his clip talking about you? Yeah, I did and thank you for that and he had the same situation as me and he knows what's going on and he knows that feeling so

that's why he support me and I appreciate it for that so what do you do now Armin like you have to do rehab what is the path for you to get back into training and not having to worry about this what are they telling you I'm gonna do PT two weeks my doctor said I need a PT two weeks I shouldn't do like some explosive running I gotta just heal my back

for two weeks and he said like in two weeks you can be able to start training light okay and realistically when do you think you can fight again I mean this is like a note. I didn't break my bones or arms or something.

It's just nerve. Like, maybe if I feel like in two weeks, my back is good, and, like, I could fight in April, and then March or March, I don't know, because I'm in shape, you know, right now. So I didn't fight, I didn't have, like, a worse weight cut, so I didn't need, like, a long training camp.

I just need right now to heal my, like, my back and, like, get back. So in two weeks I can tell when I... But I want to be back as soon as possible because i want to fight i have crazy energy you know i just want to show like what i've been working on it you know yeah and you've never felt anything remotely close to this before right no this is first time this is like that that night like someone died in our house you know no one was speaking you know like uh uh was was the worst uh feeling that that day so in friday yeah i can't imagine like depressing right do you still feel like you're depressed now no now i'm good because you know

i started like think about like different ways okay what I'm gonna think about just that that I miss my opportunity I know like I'm gonna be a champion I know like like people gonna forget about this thing and like when I'm gonna become a champion and just uh I I got good experience as well you know because now i know like when you uh when you like have a injured what's going on it was gonna be with you you know what's uh uh what people gonna say and like and uh and you can like you can tell like who is your close friend who is your just friend you who is your just friend, you know? Yeah.

But you're at peace with it. There's no part of you that feels like I should have just fought through it. You think you made the right call? Yeah, for sure. For sure. Because if I went to the fight and just do one explosive kick that I was supposed to do. It could stack right away and I just can't lose. Right now, I didn't lose.

I just missed my opportunity title fight. It's better than lose. Okay. Two last things before I let you go. Again, thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it. Can I just ask about the support in LA? I was talking about the the

press conference and they were going crazy for you what was it like being around those people and getting that type of love before the fight yeah it was it was good like people like text me a lot support me a lot and they were so excited to to watch my fight and no and i know i know when i pulled out everybody started to sell their tickets and like even my friends who who bought uh expensive tickets they didn't go and like stay at home because they just said like armand we we don't want to go because you're not there so we just want to support you. And by the way, I did notice on the mat, I saw that logo, the Dave's Hot Chicken.

They were now a sponsor on the mat at the UFC. Yeah. So what's going on here? Now there's people saying, Armin, that you're an owner of the company. What's happening over here? No, I'm out. I don't have even help right now.

They kicked you out? I mean, I don't have even health right now. They kicked you out? I mean, I don't have a contract right now. So maybe when I win next fight, they're going to call me again. But did they sponsor you for this one?

Yeah. Okay, great. All right. Well, sometimes that type of food when you're feeling down makes you feel better, you know?

No. I mean, right now, like, after a fight, you know? No. I mean, right now, like, often fight you enjoy when you eat, you deserve it. But right now when I eat, I said I don't deserve to eat this food, you know, because like, I feel like something different right now.

Yeah. Like completely different feeling. I saw the picture of you that everyone was talking about. It didn't look like you were eating a lot of fried chicken before this fight fight like your shape was unbelievable it was incredible i just uh had the the fire uh the chicken once at that that day and that's it because it was like close to my fight yeah i was i was i was uh eating so clean and uh i knew like i have a

biggest fight in my life and I did everything that I was supposed to do but that night shit happened and this has happened to a lot of people as you mentioned, no greater example than Khabib himself so you will be back, I hope

you get well soon thank you, thank you so so much thank you for support everybody who who texts me who shows me love and uh even you see hunter everybody doctors who wanted to to get me back and like to try to like do pd and uh to to say good words that I'll be back and just want to say thank you everybody sorry that I couldn't show my performance and

but next time I'll be back and gonna get a lot of victories for you Thank you Armin, much respect to you really appreciate you coming on, get well soon Thank you so much, bye bye Alright, there he is, the, Armin. Much respect to you. Really appreciate you coming on. Get well soon. Thank you so much. Bye-bye. All right. There he is, the great Armin Tsurukian. We were hoping to see him in action this weekend.

Credit to him. Appears to be handling it quite well, with a bit of a smile. What can you do? As he said, shit happens. Back injuries are an MF-er. They are an they are an mfr i've been dealing with a back injury myself and it's probably one-tenth as painful as as what a supremely high level athlete is dealing with and i can't even imagine can't even imagine how bad it must have been to withdraw from a a ufc title fight and and the the insinuation the idea that that he didn't want it. Imagine going through the whole camp looking the way in which he did. You saw those photos. Imagine going through an entire training camp and then morning of the way and being like, nah, I think I'm out. Nah, no, no. You know what?

I'm not going to get paid. My coaches aren't going to get paid. I'm probably losing money as a result of all this. You go to Florida. You train. You do all this stuff. You diet. Nah, you know what? I'm out. I'm probably losing money as a result of all this. You go to Florida, you train, you do all this stuff, you diet. Nah, you know what? I'm out. I'm out. For anyone saying he's ducking, he's already fought

Islam before. Oh yeah, by the way. He's already done three rounds. On short notice. And now he wants to achieve all his dreams, accomplish everything he's ever wanted in MMA by becoming the champion. He's just like, I don't know, man. I'm just scared. I can't do it. For sure. That's all you really have to say. Took the fight,

short notice, first time around back in 2019. And, you know, guy went through everyone, beats Charles at UFC 300, whole training camp, waits for his turn, and then has to pull out.

It's a crazy thing, and it's a crazy freaking sport. So our best to him. We'll talk to the man who benefited from this insane turn of events, Hinata Moikano, at about 4 o'clock, and then we'll end the day on the highest of highs with the great Yuri Prokhaska. So still much more left to do and accomplish on today's program,

but now let's talk to a man who knows a thing or two about being a UFC champion. In fact, youngest UFC heavyweight champion of all time at 24 years young. He won the belt, uh, way back when has,

uh, won fights in the nineties, in the aughts, in the tens and in the twenties. And just last night, uh, right next door at Hammerstein ballroom was victorious at GCW. Is he here? My old pal. Yeah. The war master himself. right next door at Hammerstein Ballroom was victorious at GCW.

Is he here, my old pal? Yeah. The war master himself, Josh Barnett. Good to see my manager. How are you, sir? Oh. You're doing really well. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Josh, good to see you. How are you? Good. I mean, God. I leave the burning, hell-infested, ash-covered hillsides of Los Angeles to come to the frozen wasteland of ice and snow, of black metal song lyric level New York. I mean, I saw a rat run across the street with a starter. Nice, right?

And it's just, you know, even there, like, shit, it's cold. Yeah, yeah, no, it is freaking cold. Thank you for doing it. Also, a snowstorm yesterday. Yeah. By the way, how is home? How is everything? It's good is everything it's good you're okay yeah you're not in that area uh i mean we had an evacuation order while i was in tokyo so we had friends uh come by and grab all of our valuables get them out of there just in case oh wow uh because i live in an area uh close enough to where the eaton canyon fires are going on. Okay. And we were in hills with trees and, you know, the stuff that likes to catch fire.

So, thankfully, nothing. So, good. And can you go back home now? Oh, yeah. No, no, no. I've been home. Okay, okay, okay. And, you know, I've been checking in with friends, and they're all doing well.

So, so far, so good. I mean, but it's been pretty devastating all around. Surreal. Tokyo, you were there for New Japan, right? Yes, I was. Yeah, that was's been pretty devastating all around. Yes, surreal. Tokyo, you were there for New Japan, right? Yes, I was. Yeah, that was a surprise. Yeah, big surprise. Even Nagata's like, oh crap, I didn't even realize you were going to be here. And we didn't say anything to anybody. And, you know, I was a second entrant into the New Japan Rumble on that day and got a little taste of Oleg Bolton and Okan and got to reunite with Eugene Nagata for a little bit.

Got to see Goto. But it was a nice little introduction back to the place that spawned my professional wrestling career. And it turns out fans were into it as I was trending like number one on Twitter in Japan. Wow. Yeah. It's amazing what you're doing at this stage of your combat sports life, of your career, all the success that you're having with Bloodsport. But I want to start with last night, you were at Hammerstein Ballroom, legendary venue. ECW back in the day. Sure enough, tons of

great bands have all played there. That too, that too. I wouldn't know, but you would. GCW, they're doing big things. We had Matt Cardona last week sitting right there talking about his match, and he's done a great job of promoting them. And you went up against the former Baron Corbin and won. Yes, I did. In a Bloodsport match. Yes, I did.

So we put together this Bloodsport match for the Hammerstein show, being that Bloodsport is a big premiere event under the GCW banner. And this is kind of like a GCW WrestleMania of sorts. At least that's the way I see it. So we needed something big. So 6'6", 6'7", 280 pounds, that's pretty big.

And it was quite the battle. He is definitely someone who has combat skills. I could tell that the boxing experience is there, Jiu-Jitsu Purple Belt. I guess he just won a tournament. So he came prepared. Was this his first match since leaving WWE? It was.

Wow. This is his first appearance outside of a WWE ring. And so he's going by Tom? Tom Pestock. That's what he's going by? At the moment, yeah. Okay. Things could change.

It is pro wrestling. Yes, yes, yes. He could become the diabolical, I don't know, swindler, or he could become like Repo Man 2. I don't know. How was the show? It was great, although there was a pretty gruesome accident when Alley Catch hit just a dive onto the outside,

but I can't really tell exactly what happened, but at the very least, it looked like a foot was put down probably in the wrong way all that weight in transfer and then uh looked like a some sort of fractured leg or dislocated ankle style do you remember that wcw oh yeah when he went for a top rope and then it just snapped yeah no not quite more like twisted up okay like spun so uh not good. But hopefully she's doing well. Oh, yeah.

Oh, wow. I mean, it's wrestling, man. Injuries happen. So Bloodsport, your promotion, it's under the GCW umbrella? Yes. We partner with GCW to produce this show. Okay. But you're not the sole owner? No.

Me and Brett Lauderdale. We put it together. So Brett, who also owns GCW. Four shows last year, right? Was it four shows last year? Well, I think it was three and then one in Japan. Okay. At Les Port Bushido.

That's right. I put together. That was the one that Rampage was on, right? Correct. Yes. How did he do, by the way? What's your assessment? I think he did fantastic.

Are you just being nice? No, I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. Because if given an opportunity to throw Rampage under a bus or heavy machinery of any sort, I will do it. Because giving him shit is something I enjoy a ton. However, no, he did a fantastic job. And in fact, a lot of people have been asking to see Rampage back in a blood sport. And I know he's got this fight coming up with a shot. But it's on my mind.

And I think I can get Quentin back out there. How did the Japanese fans take to blood sport? They loved it. They loved it. We had like an insane amount of press show up for our first show, like to a level that I had no expectation. And we, you know, the show was popular enough that the main event between me and Jon Moxley was one of the handful,

because every bout has to be nominated by one of the panel. Like that's the only way it gets into the Tokyo Sports year-end awards. And our bout was put up for, was voted as match of the year in Japan there. But we didn't win it, but we were in the running. How many times prior to that have you worked with Jon Moxley?

I'd only met him in the ring once before that, but I have worked with him outside of the pro wrestling ring on the training mats and having him in the gym. And we just have a very easy rapport. Like I could wrestle him every night of the week. We could do hour long. We could do, it doesn't matter. Like wrestling that guy is just simple for me.

Intense dude? Yes, but really, really, really solid guy. Like the kind of guy that, you know, like that movie, The Town, right? Where Ben Affleck comes charging into the room and he goes, look, I can't tell you what we're going to do and you can never ask me about it ever again, but we're going to have to go and hurt somebody, hurt some people. And the guy just turns and goes, well, whose car are we going to take? That's Jon Moxley. Okay. He's that kind of guy.

Yeah. He's great. When we had you in studio back in March, it was around the time of your WrestleMania week show in Philly. Yeah. And then all of a sudden you made a lot of news because Nick Khan's there. Yep. WWE president. Yes. And the relationship that you have, I know you're very proud of the fact that WWE guys, TNA guys, AW guys can all compete under the Bloodsport umbrella. Getting Nick to show up to one of your events seems like a pretty big deal. How did that happen? I just asked him. I said, hey, you know, bring Sonny out so he can come watch me wrestle. His son? Yeah. Yes. And Sonny had a blast. Nick really enjoyed the

environment. I mean, we had practically half the WWE locker room behind the curtain trying to watch the matches. And, you know, it's just I believe in what I do. So I want to bring anyone around to just, hey, watch it. If you think it sucks, tell me it sucks. Like you're not going to hurt my feelings because somewhere in there, in that criticism, I'm going to find something valid that I can use to make something better. And having Nick there was fantastic just so he could see exactly where some of his talent is going and putting their efforts in and why.

And you talk about how we've got, I know that the concept of the forbidden door is a big idea. Truly, if you know professional wrestling history, it is pretty substantial. But all these fans will often come on on on social media be like but look at look at blood sport it's gotten literally everyone it'll have new japan aew mlw uh tna wwe all these different folks and it's because i try to make this ring a neutral ring that is wrestler first and the the the people that hit me up

that want to do this show will blow people's minds. Just like, they want to do this. And they know that the pay scale and everything, you know, we're not the WWE, we're not AEW, we don't have those kind of budgets, but they're still drawn by the fact

that they could be main eventers in New Japan Pro Wrestling or some other major organization and then see what we do in Bloodsport and go, I want to get in that ring just because this has something in it that is not found anywhere else. So how do you pull this off?

How do you- Duct tape, twine, paper clips. How do you end up being the place where everyone's allowed to go? Where there's no drama, there's no politics? Well, part of that is i just try to be as professional as absolutely possible uh to be as welcoming and understanding that a lot of folks especially on the bigger side they have big contracts there's no reason for them to come

and work this indie show which is what it is um so I want to make it the kind of place that would appeal to their sense as a wrestler, as an athlete, to go out there and maybe get to do something that doesn't involve writers and scripts and vignettes and, you know, and all that stuff's cool, but sometimes the guys and the gals just want to get out there and they just want to get on the mats. And with that also is, I don't, I'm not yielding what I do and I'm not bending what I do for anyone, but I build what I think is the best platform to showcase that vision. And people respect somebody that stands behind what they're going to do. And, you know, it's not an adversarial thing to build what I'm building. It's just,

this is what I want in the world. This is where I think, uh, wrestling is not being touched or developed anymore. So here it exists. And if you want to be a part of it, sure. Let's, let's see if we can make that happen. If it's a good fit for both of us. And if not, hope you still like it. Come watch, support in any way. But we're out here to build our thing and not to try and diminish any of what that vision looks like, just to be more popular or to gather this person's attention or that. It's just not that way. And people like something that's sincere. In a world of so many just fake and false ways of approaching the world. So for those that don't know, no ropes, right? No ropes.

Win by knockout or submission only. Ten count on the outside. There's a standard set of rules like no body, no eye gouging, no hair pulling, no foreign objects and only singles matches. Only singles matches would you ever do tag team? I guess it doesn't work I have a process for it and I think

you know somebody asked me the other night about like tag teams like we don't do tag teams there and then someone said well you know maybe you should try to think about expanding I go hold on you don't understand I have gamed this through so many different iterations. You know, just like when we first started doing the American Catch Wrestling Association, I just game. How does this get gamed?

What are the gaps in which we could make mistakes and things could be left out? So I think this through over and over and over and over and over to try and create something that has the best foundation for what we're going to do that would need potentially the least amount of adjustment if possible. So, you know, I have thought of a lot of different ways through this, but, you know, some of that is also where can we push the envelope if possible that still falls within the realm of what we want, but also if we ever do want to do something like a tag match like i've thought of a way to do it but at the at the moment i just don't think it's necessary what about triple threat do you do anything like that i could figure it out but no you know one-on-one i want singles matches i want

people to go out there and have that moment to just be in the ring and wrestle that's it like it the simplest way to do it if we're stripping it down if we're making this the rawest um professional wrestling environment possible then i think yeah just keep it with singles if anyone ever come and say like whoa this wasn't this was tougher than i thought it was going to be like this isn't just your regular quote unquote indie show. I didn't expect this to be as challenging. Yes. Yeah.

Actually, I have had guys just go, oh man, that I think I sucked. It's like, oh no, no, that was all right. However, you know, this is where you should look at if you're going to keep doing these. And also just in wrestling in general, I give my critiques back to help folks get better at their craft. But, oh, yeah, I've had people go like, OK, this was I thought I had one idea of this, but I really try to do my best to guide people along. I agent all the matches. So because I don't, it's a professional wrestling card.

It's not just about the style of wrestling. It's also the idea that there's a main event and there's an opener and everything in between there, everything has to fit

in there for a reason. Everything has to, has its place and its purpose. And, you know, the purpose of everything below the main event

is to lead to the main event. So even in that one metric, making sure that match one doesn't have literally is to lead to the main event. So even in that one metric, making sure that match one doesn't have literally everything that would be in the main event at the same time, not to mention match one shouldn't be going an hour when the main event is five minutes or whatever.

It's just structuring things in a way that all makes sense where every match and everything in there has its place and it's all leading you to one culminating moment. I want to get your thoughts on the state of wrestling and MMA because obviously who better than you and I always love to hear your thoughts from a business perspective. First of all, from a wrestling side of things, just last week we found out WWE and TNA working together. Who would have thought, right, some 10 or so years ago that this would be a thing? What was your reaction?

Well, it's incredible to see that wrestling is not just buying up competitors and in fact having um working agreements with with with people uh because i think that if you're if you're really strong enough you're not worried about the competition in that way like they're not going to overtake you but what what, but what is good is if they are strong, if they're also capable enough of, of developing high level wrestlers and having people under contract and paying them a good wage, then okay, now there's more potential stars in this space. Stars that might want to go and maybe wrestle for you. Stars that maybe will never be in your organization they might not even fit but they're drawing fans and the thing is the more fans that are watching all wrestling

the more fans you're going to have in your individual show as well and i really do believe that that rising tide uh raises all boats in that sense so it's nice to see the cooperation and to see what can come of that. Obviously, it's one thing to initiate such a thing like we're going to cooperate and work with TNA. It's another thing to see how that all plays out because you could see it being extremely one-sided, which in a way, it's not like people won't notice that and that in a sense can kind of ruin the magic of the cooperation you know what i mean um and wrestling stuff because the business is exposed there are no territories so everything that happens everyone sees it every time um it's more difficult to work around in its own way but i still see that there's a lot of

strength in professional wrestling these days um there is a lot of strength in professional wrestling these days. There is a lot of what you see the new media, what do you call it, playbook. So now you start working on rights deals and this and that. And that is – I understand the way of doing business like that. And that is a huge part of the way the models are done these days. But I like to see it where the business is more focused on just having the talent that is just undeniable. Like, you know, your Hulk Hogan's and your Macho Man's and the Undertaker's that just, no matter where they just, they just pull in things like a vacuum. They just, they just bring it in because their presence does so. And then you see them in movies, you see them in other things

because they're just in demand and that drives your business. I understand that that's more volatile. I get that. It's safer, um, to do things in the grand media, uh, octopus kind of scheme and like being, having your tentacles and other things. And it's like the idea of diversifying your portfolio. And, and it is, again, this is the way things are moving. So if you don't want to do it that way, you risk being shut out of folks that are more comfortable with you operating in that fashion. And when I say folks, I mean like your Netflix's and your big companies and sponsors or whomever, right? You know, if you're widget, by the way,

how is this not sponsored by an energy drink of some sort? The shadiest, dodgiest one. Oh no. Okay. Celsius. Now that seems like way too upfront for anything having to do with MMA.

What are you trying to say? What are you trying to say, Josh? Jeez Louise. Condom Depot, right? I mean, we've graduated from those days. We've come a long way. But you see that with wrestling and you see it with MMA now. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So you have the wrestling side of things, which I think is, I mean, I think wrestling right now is so healthy when you look at Netflix. It is, but I think AEW needs to consolidate a bit in that, like, if they have some certain shows that are not their main shows, look at how-

Well, they got rid of their Saturday show. I know, but look at how to build some of these shows, like even Zero Hour and all that stuff, just in ways that would be better used maybe by them. But also, don't look at everything. It's just like, if it's not winning yet, get rid of it. I can understand that. I get what you're saying. But I want to see those sort of things for AEW so that they have these other ways at which they can approach wrestlers, wrestling fans, and they have a pretty substantial roster. It can keep people busy, which is good for them. And it's just, in this day and age of social media age, I'm sure AEW has their reasons for why they cut certain programs. And I'm not acting as if I know why those are, I'm just speculating. But at times, and really quite often,

people see somebody, oh, well, they cut show X out, right? Well, that's, they just do nothing but throw scorn and negativity and say it was all because they're sucking or they're this or the it's just that's the that's the route to the easiest route to take the easiest route to get uh someone to pay attention to what you're saying so in that sense it's like creating a potential backlash or negative talking point for something that maybe was isn't isn't necessarily um done out of any of the reasons that somebody comes up with so but here's my point they just scored a massive deal with wbd so this idea that they're going anywhere that they're dying is is bs right

you have tna that's enjoying this resurrection you've got the the new japan's of the world the gcw's of the world the blood sports of the world. Like it feels like the business is thriving. And then on the flip side, I feel like there's the UFC and nothing else in MMA. The gap has never been bigger. This is true. And I've had plenty of conversations also when I've explained to folks like, you know, part of the reason the UFC won isn't because they were always winning. Now, they were the first. They were the first brand name.

And they were always kind of the Q-tip from the beginning. But you'd be surprised if, especially these newer fans, to understand that things were not really as stable as they thought they were and that there was potential competition, serious competition, that really could have either usurped or at least been at pace with. Pretty much every other competitor screwed it up so hard, ruined the folks in the office, the head, the higher ups, and you could just tell that they knew this had no legs, but they were going to get as much funding as possible, make sure that their salaries get covered and their severance packages and whatever came with whatever, when, when these companies get bought and, or what they get out

of it when it gets bought up and then move on. Like they weren't really there to build a serious, giant MMA company that was going to field and have athletes there for years on end. No, they were there to build a shiny diamond to get somebody else to gather a bunch of financing and buy it off of them. With all due respect, I feel like you're talking about the PFL right now. I'm not talking about PFL. I feel like you were literally talking about the PFL. No. In fact, I don't know the inner workings of the pfl i'm actually talking about long before because see by the time pfl came into the play ufc already had had its uh the ultimate fighter runs it had

already had its revival under the zuffa era and them really getting their feet in in step and moving forward and not really taking too many steps backwards and becoming the media giant that they are now. PFL jumps in, well, they're already there. I'm talking about your Elite XCs, your other companies. They had so much funding to pull stuff together. And just, I've sat in these meetings. I mean, even when it came to Affliction, I sat there and I'm like, whoa, you cannot pay these people that much. I want fighters to make as much as possible, but there's no way that's sustainable. Not to mention, you know, that fighter whose manager is asking for whatever, that guy's never made more than 40 grand ever.

If that. You don't – paying them what you're going to pay them is absolutely suicidal. And it's not because I don't want the fighter to make money because it's not like the money is going to me. It was just – it's not tenable. You want them to stick around. You want them to survive. And not only did they, like in this example, pay that person more money than they needed to. They paid them more than they originally were.

And I just go, come on. I just, all right fine if you if you don't want to listen anymore you know if you have me in in these meetings i mean affliction wouldn't have even started if it wasn't for me so you're the one that convinced tom no tom wasn't about being convinced it was it was uh oh god rest in peace oh yes yes it was him i remember the interview with the big beard yes yes well here's todd it was todd todd um freaking i used to have these conversations with these guys my original idea was for us to run small black tie shows uh leverage against all the nice uh new connections they were making through the world of fashion and media and what have you. And let's do black tie shows. Let's use Total Combat's license if need be, if anybody remembers who they are in the West Coast or someone like that. Let's run four, five fights on a card and

make it a social cool to do, right? Each ticket is big money stuff. So you could be at the back warehouse, private invite only Affliction MMA show. Yeah. And Todd would always go, well, you're going to fight on it, right? And I'm like, no, Todd. I fight in Pride. I fight in Sengoku. Like, no, that's insane. And that's not what I'm trying to say.

I'm saying we could build something really cool. And we would keep going. And he's like, well, you're fighting on it. You're like, no, no, no, no, I'm not fighting on it. I brought Fedor to Affliction. And, you know, you sit there and then eventually this whole thing happens between him and the UFC. And then it was just like, you know, Todd was on fire. That's it, man.

This guy, boom, I'm going to war with these dudes. And, you know, who is one of his generals but me. So, like, near half the matchups on Affliction 1, I made those bouts. Oh, wow. So it's – and then at some point it's like I start – I'm sitting there telling them like you can't do this and you can't do that.

That's too much money. Like let's do this. I mean even little things like originally it was going to be Ozzy Osbourne is where they were trying to get to do the like musical part of it right is it metallica no it was megadeth megadeth and uh what i said to me really what i said was oh well you know if they start the show with like no more tears or whatever then let's do like an extended bridge or solo and then that will lead into the fighter entrances. Well, that was exactly what happened when Megadeth was brought in.

So, I mean, I don't, I don't know what happened in that whole shuffle. I mean, you know, at some point it's like, okay,

now Randy's going to get involved. It's like, Oh, okay. You know, he's still under, that was like another thing where I was like, I don't think that's really the best idea because there's so much legal

liability there that there's no way to necessarily make that to be put together. I mean, the original thing we were working for was me versus Fedor, the first show. And then it started getting shifted around. Then they wanted to do Fedor and Randy. And I'm like, okay.

Why didn't they do that for the first show? Why'd they go with Tim, Tim Sylvia? Well, they couldn't have done Randy. No, no, no, you. Oh, I don't know. But, you know, you got to remember. So if let's say this is a six-month lead-in from when it's like, okay, we're going to do Affliction MMA. Like four months in, all of a sudden, I'm not being brought back to the office meetings anymore.

They got somebody else. They got other. I'm like, okay, I don't know what the fuck this is all about but you know i gave them my two cents i i linked them up with all these different fighters and made these matchups for them uh you know i was also a guy that said don't go to vegas ever there's no reason to like like there was like some stat like 50 to 60 percent of people that go to attend events and shows in vegas are from southern california anyways so let's just own socal second event me versus arlovsky at the thomas and mac i'm like yeah ufc owns this town there's this is absolutely stupid and of course it was a huge failure and didn't even happen yeah yeah i i i could listen to these stories all day

i got lots of them but but the crazy thing is you look at it now like i looked at gfl yeah i didn't see your name there no but you're in the demo of guys i mean with all due respect i'm not doing this you're but you look at them come on be honest yeah this seems this seems doa does it not it does i have to be honest but i don't be honest, but I don't want it to be. I don't want it to be either. But it's just, but you, look, we remember Battleship. We remember IFL. We remember all these things.

Bodog. Yeah, but, you know, please win. You know what I mean? How about just be smart? Well, there's that too. But we'll see what they're able to do with this and you know i wish them the best of luck and you know even if they want my help in some degree 100 i'll be right there like i'm of course i have to get paid but yeah you know i want to see MMA to succeed as much as possible. I want places for fighters to be able to compete for their services.

And again, I think if this GFL is able to really put together what they say on paper and really make it work, that's just better for MMA altogether. it gives another place for people to go and watch the sport but I still think without if you stick to the unified rules you're just going to be UFC light I think you got to do something that makes you stand out and makes you differentiated from what the UFC is not just because it's the UFC but because being the, that means it's on every network. It's having fights literally every weekend. If not two, it seems like. Jeez, hard to keep track. So you are going to get swamped out because MMA is literally everywhere now.

What do you think about how PFL is handling things? Like they got rid of their season and their standings. They're doing tournaments now. They're getting rid of Bellator. they got rid of their season and their standings they're doing tournaments now they're getting rid of bellator they got rid of bellator yeah it doesn't feel promising when they were the de facto number two this time last year it feels like they have no momentum it feels like they shot themselves in the foot with bringing this the fact that they won't honor certain bellator contracts is a really, really bad look. Because what good are you if your contract doesn't hold the value that you agreed to?

If they want to do tournaments, I love tournaments, but do them in one night. Oh, wow. Do some preliminaries and then settle your eight and then do them in one night. Don't be a coward. You know, I mean, I understand why a lot of people don't do these things. Why? Because these athletic commissions will, will get right in the way. Um, you know, ABC will do it. Like I'm not the biggest fan of the ABC. I think they're not nearly on task and understanding of what MMA actually is. I feel like it's just more bureaucratic crap

that plays as safe as possible. I mean, the fact that it took them this long to change the stupid 12 to six rule and knees, and it's still not knees to the head of a grounded opponent, and by the way, just because you have rules

that you can do something doesn't mean everyone's gonna do it. I knew it was unpopular where pfl wasn't allowing elbows in tournament matches yeah no no duh because elbows cause cuts so if you got a bunch of guys and gals that need to go ahead and fight over three months or whatever the length of these tournaments are six months months, and they're getting sliced up, that means the likelihood of them being able to return to the ring or be able to return back to training and so on and so, you create more reasons for that tournament not to finish than less. And then allowing elbows in the finals, great. Allowing elbows in normal standard matches,

I think that would be the way to go, go of course but i understood why they didn't allow elbows but but see some people online would literally just lose their their mind about it and think it was this is the dumbest thing ever and it's like well think about it from a production's perspective a producer's perspective how to what what is more important people throwing elbows in matches that don't really count yet or when everything counts, right? And you can even make a thing about like, okay, and now that we're into the finals, we're at the end of the road here. And now we're even taking rules away to make it even more impactful, right? But I still think, yeah, do the tournament in one night.

That's far more dramatic. That's far more dramatic. It's far more interesting. Have you thought about having your own MMA promotion? Yeah, I definitely have. And I've created rule sets and things of that nature. I think one of the biggest hurdles would be, one, doing one-night tournaments. Number two, when you talk about eliminating weight cutting, it would be working

on having same day weigh-ins and because i think weight cutting is the number one most dangerous element to the sport of mixed martial arts and the biggest legal cheating method that has ever been allowed in combat sports wow so what would you do like 9 a.m weigh-in on the same day something like that or anything that would stop people from extreme weight cutting and of course you know the argument well people cut weight anyway then they'll get hurt and it's like well they'll do it once won't they right right you know i mean i can't help it if someone wants to be stupid until don't do that right and it'll this is all the ways in which it's going to be detrimental but hey if you think you know better go ahead shut your liver down or you know cause some other internal injury or what have you but i mean you don't get

armisurkian having back problems if you don't have insane weight cutting what did you make of that when you heard that he pulled out wow how heartbreaking how awful and that's because i truly believe that in doing his weight cut he probably did hit a huge back spasm out of nowhere that completely took him by surprise and was bad enough that, one, it was obviously going to impact his ability to cut weight. So how is he going to make the weight class? And two, could be severe enough that he wouldn't feel up to being able to compete the next day. And this all comes from working or fighting under a rule set that encourages you to game the system because everyone is doing it, and there's no way around it, really. But I think if people, especially the CTE creators out there, or crusaders, the biggest thing is not going on and on and on about cte and sparring and

yeah yeah yeah yeah these are all valid things too but honestly you get rid of the extreme weight cutting you've got more water in all your tissues and you've got more water surrounding the brain uh you will see less injuries you will definitely see less concussions not none not zero but you're never going to see zero when we're punching each other in the face and and the only way to get rid of cte entirely don't let people fight but you know what that's just idiotic but you you've seen it all you've done it all uh the decision to not give him the title shot now like to make him you know i don't know about that but uh no not necessarily but i don't have all the information so who knows but i feel you know i've actually uh taught some some some sessions to

armin in russia before really great guy what circumstances uh i was over there uh as a guest for modern fighting pancreation which runs mFP, which was also Far East Fighting Federation, maybe at one point. They had a different name, but they run all over Vladivostok and Khabarovsk and all that area. And their big shows look incredible, like fantastic.

And Armin used to have fought over, was fighting on a card there. And he was going to the gym that is owned by the owner of MFP, and I'd go there and train. I taught a seminar, master class, as they call them over there, and Armin's there getting his workouts in, and so it's like, hey, let me work with you on takedowns on the wall and defense here, these little things, and he's a great guy, yeah.

Okay, so can I ask, given your expertise, Issam Hachev and how good he is? Very. Yeah? Very good. You're impressed? Of course. Yeah. I mean, how could you not be? I mean, the guy doesn't just win. He wins in dominant fashion. And he has that mentality of seeing that clip of him. Oh, I'm the king. If the king doesn't

just get to choose you know i only fight this guy or that guy you know whoever the guy is then i have to go out i step forward and i defend my crown very very very admirable in a day and age where people are so they just like want to fight connor all the time because they think that they're just going to make a fortune off of it instead of thinking about why you even got into that ring in the first place. I don't begrudge people who want the money because the money is quite important if you're putting your life on the line. But there is this balance. Why are you in the ring? Are you in the ring to be rich and famous? It's the wrong reason. Are you in this ring because you are a severe competitor and you saw this as a way to flex that competitive aspect of yourself in the most competitive environment possible

laudable are you a heavy metal bread maniac this wants to go out there and destroy people yeah well then this is the place for you i mean but in any way, go in there for a reason of sincerity, I think. And it won't be because the likelihood that you're going to be the champ is very, very, very slim to almost not. And you don't know what that journey is going to look like and where it's going to take you. But it needs to be the sort of thing that your life is made better by taking the journey than by not. Well said. We had a guy on the show last week in studio named Action Bronson, legend. You know Action Bronson? I know of him.

Okay. He's an absolute legend and a hardcore fan. He says he needs more demonstrations on the show. He wants more breakdowns. And I was like, wait a second. We have Josh Barnett in studio. Islam just pulled off this D'Arce choke. Can I i show you we can't show the footage a series of photos and you tell me from your expert mind how he pulled this off it feels a little pro wrestling esque where when you know he's about to pull it off it's like it's almost like his version of the jake the snake roberts ddt it lights out when he's when he's sinking this in okay so let's start here and we'll get josh barnett okay this is the give me everything you good so you see he was working a single leg and he came up, head on the opposite side,

normally where you would see a double leg, using that high left hand to now shift Moicano's weight back over that remaining, oh no, I'm sorry, I'm looking at it a little reversed here. So he looks like he maybe has started with a double leg and he transitioned to throwing that high arm up and now he's going to knock that head and his weight back to where his right – where Morcano's right leg or left leg, which would have been his post used to be. Now he's going to take him at an angle straight down backwards behind him with a slight bit of rotation.

The left arm being above the shoulder. Yeah. You like that? Well, if you hit it at the right timing it's an excellent move um but keep in mind anytime you're trying to go split your your your attack or your attachments across two different planes you run into a lot of trouble because your arms are not nearly as strong on their own okay i always say long arms are weak arms short arms are strong arms but as you can see here uh islam has a good hook behind that right knee.

And then whatever was happening in this transition, or maybe he went right to it, but at the right timing, as you can see, because Moikano's head's going backwards, that weight, that power transfer is going backwards. To stop from losing balance, his feet have to catch up with that weight shift. Well, they can't here because he's got that right leg and down he's going to go. Okay. Next one. Next one.

All right. You see him finishing that takedown there. And it even looks like he may be positioning to rotate off to the left-hand side and get past Moicano's legs before they hit the floor. Straight into side control. Yeah. Okay. Let's see if he does that.

Well, he does that. Well, he might have. We've skipped a step. But now what we see here is Islam. So a lot of people will use like an S grip. Okay. This way. Or even a gable grip into basically what is a three-quarter Nelson. So that's really, the D'Arce choke is a three-quarter Nelson.

He's holding onto his wrist. Yeah. His forearm. So instead of going here, he's shooting that arm across as a bar and just locking on it this way and underneath. Or actually, I'm sorry, this way and underneath. So as this arm, oh, no, it is this way. Boom, like this.

And he's locking on this thing. And he's, by grabbing this part of your forearm, it's like grabbing a bar. So he can put a lot of pressure down on top of this guy's head this way. Boom. And use that left elbow and his lat to drive the head down with a ton of power,

but as you see, that right hand is already in that V position, which means he's really trying to catch that neck into that wedge and get both sides of the carotid. And how do you feel about the darts? Is this what you like? I think it's, if you're a heavyweight, you need to have particularly long arms and you can't be fighting Derek Lewis per se, because- Or Brett Rogers. Just super thick neck and shoulders shoulders which makes it really difficult to to create the connection however um it is definitely possible it's not a move i use a ton

of but i definitely teach but i think at the lighter weights uh it can be an incredibly effective move because it's not just about hitting a choke it's collapsing the head position and it's giving you um a type of control that you can turn a guy over you can rotate him you can move him it's collapsing the head position and it's giving you a type of control that you can turn a guy over, you can rotate him, you can move him. It's not just a choke. It's a great attack on the neck and the neck position, head position itself. And you can see Moicano's got his left hand out there and he's trying to keep that extended so as that shoulder doesn't get collapsed across his carotid artery and cut it off. Okay.

Let's see. Let's see. Where do we go from here? Oh yeah. There he is. He's locking it in. And now he's got that bar arm and now he's just working that left as tight as he needs to.

And now he can work that right hand up further up the arm and keep closing it down and closing it down. But as you notice, he's dropping to his left hip and he's dropping moicano's head to the mat yeah and breaking moicano's position which is going to set him up for the when you see this at this point you know it's it's it's all sure not necessarily but knowing how good islam is with yes yes then how can you get out at this uh well he needs to start rotating uh and one he needs to get off of his his right hip and his right knee moicano and he needs to get off of his right hip and his right knee, moicano, and he needs to start getting to his knees and rotating and reaching up and grabbing for Islam's hand and bringing it down. The other thing he can do is start rotating, rotating, rotating and getting so he's parallel with him or in line with him.

And then you can shift your head and maybe find a peek out or a drag out of there. Okay. Let's keep going. I think there might be one more. And this is just about, he's all over the top of them. Now he's got his rib cage onto the top of Moicano's head, breaking that head posture and helping collapse his head into his own body. And he's setting that choke completely tight. Textbook. Beautiful. Beautiful. But it all all came from he basically broke him down with a three-quarter nelson smashed him into the floor and then he was able to ratchet it up until he needed what he what was available what he was looking for and then catch that that choke and finish it it was beautiful who is your favorite grappler right now in mma uh that's a good

question um i do like the dagastani's heavy wrestling-based attacks with wrist rides and punches and simple double wrist locks and three-quarter Nelson chokes and stuff like that. It's great to see. Tom Aspinall. Wow, look good submissions. Of course, his striking has gotten him a very far away, a very long way in, in MMA, but I like it when I see him grapple. Can he beat John? He can. He absolutely can uh the thing that i think people obviously john is an incredibly gifted athlete and very very capable in his skill sets but he's really cagey and that's the thing that being as good of a striker wrestler or whatever the individual area of expertise we may talk about is

he puts it all together well i mean like watching his first fight with dc how did he beat him well you know his striking is good but he just kept putting dc up against the wall the whole time until he got tired and then he was able to double leg him and do what he wanted to and take him apart up to that point you know john's using his distance his striking he's picking his shots but every time they get into the place where dc is within range to fight him he just clenches and puts him on the wall and puts him on the wall and puts him on the wall and puts him on the wall. And I'm watching this going, okay, that's just having the kind of in-ring smarts, the sort of ring strategy to find a guy, you know, fighting Gustafson the way he did, wasn't smart, fighting the, what is his name, that light heavyweight who actually got his Reyes.

Dominic Reyes, yeah. Fighting him that way wasn't good either. But the way he fought DC, especially that first time it was text it was brilliant um and i'm sure dc wasn't didn't see at the time where this was going but then when john jones is dropping down up against the cage and double-legging him and he's like oh oh no okay crap the moralizing for someone like yeah of course at that point because it wasn't that he went out there and out-wrestled him. He used strategy, kept things in the vein of his advantages with his reach and his striking, and then brought the wrestling into play after he'd been employing this wall and stall kind of game plan. And it worked out now against Aspinall uh Aspinall is a quite experienced guy but

could John Jones use that ring generalship to even take an Aspinall and you know make him look not as good as he I mean because Cyril Ghosn can fight but John just went right at him boom hit him with that single and immediately took him down and as soon as that was the case, he just rode the head, and then, bang, there was a choke. Made Gon look like he didn't know anything. And that's pretty impressive because even if it was a grappling match, I'm sure Gon would have – I would bet that Gon would have asserted himself better in straight grappling than in that fight.

But the way things got put together, bam, there you go. We had Kane on a couple weeks ago, and he said that Tom fights in patterns, and he's a little bit too predictable with his striking. Do you see that when you watch him? You know, I'd have to do a real breakdown, but I just watch it. I mean, to be honest,

unless you're fighting like Victor Henry or one of my guys, I ain't watching. You ain't watching at all? I'm not watching. Really? I read play-by-plays. Okay, wow. But that's about it. You're one of those old school guys who go on the websites and read the play-by-plays. That's it. Yeah, I'm burnt out on MMA. It's not interesting to me anymore. Last time I was on this show, I rattled off MMA had been gamed out. Here's the way I thought things would change. The comment section is hilarious to show exactly how ignorant of not only the concepts that I was bringing up,

but also with even the concept of gaming a system or game theory. I'm like, ah, well, rock on then. Yes. I can't wait to see what brilliant philosophical treatise is going to be said about what I had to say today. No, no, nothing. Nothing at all. I mean, this is tremendous stuff. I did want to ask you, I don't know if you saw Murab, because he has, I mean, he was going up against a Nurmagomedov. Honestly, I'm surprised he won. Really?

I really thought Umar was going to be the guy to walk through and beat everybody. Wow. And you can see that he could have beaten Murab, but Murab's gameness, heart, and boy, that cardio. He's a great champ. So likable, honestly, Murab is. Umar in his own ways as well. Like I really dig that kid. But you just see the experience of an older fighter,

but also someone that just has zero quit in him. Like it's not that Murab is undefeatable, but when you can't slow that guy's motor down, it's real hard. It's real hard. And Umar was having a lot of success early, but couldn't keep it up. And to no fault of his own, it's just tough. You got to keep a guy like that. I mean, look at what Clay Guida was doing to all kinds of different... It's very similar with just this unlimited amount of cardio, just constant pressure, constant action. By the way, it's crazy that we're talking about affliction on this day. I don't know if you know

this, but a former investor of infliction was sworn in today to be president of the United States. Have you heard this news? Yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's happening everywhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember- Any great stories about the time that you worked with Donald Trump? Great? I mean, no, they're really, okay. Here's the greatest story about DJT. Okay, yes. So it was a few years ago. Someone from the Daily Beast calls me and wants to ask me about Michael Cohen and Donald Trump. And I'm like, first off, how'd you get my number?

Second, I don't have anything to tell you. Like, yeah, I've met Michael Cohen. Did he like create dummy shell corporations? No, I don't have anything to do with that. You know, he didn't pay me off for having sex with Donald Trump or something. Like, no, there's none of this. Whatever the claims may be, like I'm so far removed. Well, what can you tell us about Donald Trump?

He's bigger than you think he is. He's a lot taller. He's very nice. He was very personable. He's bigger than you think he is. He's a lot taller. He's very nice. He was very personable. That's it? Like, what am I going to tell you? I mean. You were never in the war room with him?

He grabbed me by the. No, no, no. No, he just, it was just, we were doing these, you know, he was part investor in this and he was, you know, doing his media thing. Yeah. And, you know, i guess the coolest thing may be i addressed the press from his podium at uh trump towers yeah and gave a big speech where i said you know fighting isn't you know we don't you have all these other sports you have the nba you have the nfl and mlb and all this and that's fine you

know but this is this is fighting and in fighting we don't play fighting this is for real and of course i never get credit for it but whatever that's a good one yeah well that's a good one it was in its time now i'm sure everybody else is going to say somebody else said it but whatever um do you think we ever see ronda back no i think she's super happy with life, which is great to see. Just had another kid? Yeah, a mom. Travis is just a great dude, and their ranch is going well. I buy meat from them.

No way. I support Travis and what he does and all that. And Rhonda has been more than gracious to us plenty of times. I had a fighter who we were invited we were invited over me. I was invited over for Thanksgiving one year. And, uh, I'm like, well, yeah, but I got this fighter cutting weight. Cause they're going to compete this weekend. And they're like, just bring them. We'll take care of them. And Rhonda had purified water and all this kind of stuff and knew exactly what she was going through and was more than hospitable. And, you know, they got a beautiful ranch out there and, you know, I don't, she's made her money. She's done her thing. And

just because people can operate in the public spotlight, in that limelight, and she really was in the limelight. She was full on in the machine, as I call it, that PR, you know, monstrosity that'll put you everywhere, having you say the same thing 80,000 times on every different show. And it's just a dizzying kind of experience, really. So just because they end up doing that, because that is part of what you sign on for when you're a public person, when you're an entertainer. We are entertainers, even though we're sportsmen.

That doesn't mean that that's what they like to do, you know? Um, and people can reach their fill and just be like, yeah, you know what? I've had enough of this. I've done this before. It didn't really sit well, all that well with me. And in limited amounts, maybe if need be, I could do something, but otherwise, you know, you know, no way I'm not interested. And I would say, you know, Rhonda comes across as somebody that is just like, I've had enough of this. And I personally think that's fair play. You know, why complicate or create stresses in your life, especially when you're a mom that you don't need if, if there's not like a real driving interest and passion,

and she was top of the world at one point, and I don't care about those two losses. When she was winning, she was massively dominant. And there are matchups I would have liked to have seen just to see how they would have played out, even a rematch with Nunes. But, you know, sometimes you just, things happen and you just leave them where they were and you move on. And to me, it seems like she's got plenty of reasons not to have any interest to go back into any of this. You know, being a mom trumps being in the WWE

or being in the UFC or whatever, you know. That's a pretty, that's a pretty massive win. Yeah. Um, one of the few to have success in both organizations. I wish she would, um, she thinks that I, I think she thinks that MMA fans don't like her or want her. She says like, I can't go to an event. They'd boo me. I think she would be surprised. I think a lot of people would show her a lot of love if she went back. Well, and I think that's part of what I'm saying here. And that is some folks go to an event, Chell Sonnen, if he goes to an event and they cheer him,

he can roll with that. If he goes to an event and they boo him, he's just as happy. Yeah. And he knows how to play with that too. Let's say Rhonda isn't really, you know, doesn't want to even mess with any of that, right? Yeah, no, I get it. Yeah. And to be honest, if that was Rhonda's position and the way she felt about that approach and all this, that's the more normal way of dealing with these things.

Chael Sonnen, or even someone like myself, we're not the normal way of dealing with that. We kind of like being in conflict and contentiousness or even, you know, being in the limelight if we have a reason to be there. You know, most people don't. And that honestly makes sense to me because being in front of cameras and all this crap for as long as I have, I always remind – it's always so clear to me that this is absurd. So just enjoy it, you know. So GCW last night, you had Bloodsport. You had NJPW, New Japan Pro. What's next for Josh?

Well, I've been – I'm a coach at New Japan Pro Wrestling right now over in Japan. So I'm going to continue to go over there and train their students in the old school, gotch, Carl gotch, Billy Robinson, catches, catch, can style, and bring back the kind of enochism, strong style element to New Japan Pro Wrestling and help blend that in with what they're doing now and try to continue to push these athletes further and farther so that we can have the best wrestling possible. And I'm still going to try and hold another Bloodsport Bushido in Japan when possible. We've got WrestleMania week, of course.

We're going to have Josh Burnett's Bloodsport Thursday, April 17th. Who is going to be on that card? Well, that's going to be something to see over the next few months, but I promise you we will have some amazing matchups. We will have some announcements and some athletes that maybe people will be completely taken

aback by. I've still got Warbringer Whiskey and everything out there at Cespi Creek. We just brought on John Campbell, who used to be the head guy behind LaFroigue, um, behind like the Cargis line and a bunch of amazing releases.

Um, he is going to help take us to that next level. And we have plans for new things, new ideas, and we're not gonna, we're not gonna change or, um, or mess with what's already made us popular and what's already won us so many medals

but uh we just we know we can do better and we're always going to do better and with john campbell like better than you is is just right around the corner in every single way which is fantastic and then uh i've been developing catch wrestling as a new a modern sport to help bring it back. Uh, I've been bringing teams over to, uh, England for the snake pit, uh, catch wrestling world tournaments and helping them with what they're doing and vice versa. They've even came over and done, uh, and wrestled and done some camps with us here. And so I have the, the American catch wrestling association, and we've been doing these tournaments for quite a while. We just held our second national championship tournament. We've had D1 athletes, ADCC guys, Jiu-Jitsu black belts,

like you name it, 10th Planet guys, people, MMA champs, all over the place. And we're developing this style and bringing it up seriously, and we're going to make this a real sport that people, especially these amateur wrestlers, if they think you have to go into jiu-jitsu, well, you don't now. Now there's catch-as-catch-can, and you can go and do your submission wrestling, which also includes the aspect of the pin, but it also includes elements that are more from standardized international and collegiate style wrestling. Because to be honest, who's ran more games than them? I mean, far more than IBJJF ever has. And so I'm going to go off of what has been a standard

in combat sports for so long and use that blueprint to help embed catch wrestling back into American wrestling and competition all around. And that's not an anti-jiu-jitsu or a pro-jiu-jitsu. It's just I believe in catch wrestling as a sport and as an art, but also it's just another environment to compete. And the more BJJ guys and sambo and judo and whatever, it's a mat to take everybody in and have them compete

and see what it is that we like about this rule set You're the man Always love talking to you Always love having you in Well likewise I appreciate it You know we're It's funny because we're talking to you about pro wrestling

You're like wait a second Do I gotta get out the Do I gotta get out the scepter and the Nah The gold coins You're gonna come take me to the ring This is a shoot interview This is a shoot

Not a work But I appreciate you sticking around I know you were here shoot, not a work. But I appreciate you sticking around. I know you were here last night and could have gone home. So appreciate you sticking around. Nah, not if I had a chance to come here. Thank you. That means a lot. Good luck with everything.

Keep in touch. We are watching from afar. We're going to take a quick break. Last week, I mentioned Action Bronson. He was sitting right there. He was in studio. We'll play that interview, and then we'll be back with the aforementioned Hanato Moikano and Yuri Prokhaska after him. Still an hour to go. Don't go anywhere. We'll play that interview and then we'll be back with the aforementioned Hanato Moikano and Yuri Prokhaska after him.

Still an hour to go. Don't go anywhere. We'll be back right after this. All right, back on the show. Wow, crazy to go from that shot to this shot. Here we are today. Great stuff with Josh Barnett.

Appreciate him very much. He's doing amazing things in particular in the world of wrestling. His insights were great. And shout out to Action. He said he wanted more breakdowns. I would say that breakdown was pretty damn good of what Islam did. So great stuff there from Josh Barnett.

I appreciate him very much. By the way, we were so into the whole UFC 311 stuff, we failed to mention Darren Till beating Anthony Taylor on Saturday at the Misfits event. Big win for Darren. If I'm being honest, the size differential was quite apparent, and then you find out afterwards that Anthony Taylor collapsed

while walking out of the ring. They need to be careful with this stuff, man. They really do. And, you know, I really like Misfits. I like MAMS. I have a lot of respect for what they built. I like KSI. But you can't...

There's weight classes for a reason. Anthony Taylor has fought at 145. This is a heavyweight fight. I know he's bigger in the world of, you know, boxing and influencer boxing. But, like, you really need to be careful with this stuff. You need to be careful with this stuff. And it sounds like he's okay. I texted with him afterwards.

But Till looked massive, massive compared to him. So thank God Anthony Taylor is okay. I texted with him afterwards, but Till looked massive, massive compared to him. So thank God Anthony Taylor's okay and hopefully no lasting injuries. He knocked him out, I think it was in the sixth. And Wade Plemons, by the way, won his debut. So congratulations to him, but felt uncomfortable a little bit watching that because of the size differential. This isn't pro wrestling. You can't fake that stuff. In any event, we've been talking all day long about UFC 311. Obviously, one of the stars of the show was Hinata Moikano taking this fight on 36 hours notice. He was very upset afterwards. And the line that stuck with me was, you know, him saying that, you know, this was not just, you know, a moment. What was the exact quote? I'm screwing it up now. Let me get this right. Let me get this right. Where he said that it wasn't on one day's notice. It was a life's notice. And that really, really stuck with me. And my heart went out to him. He's one of our favorites on the program and he's kind enough to join us. So let's go to Hinata Moikano right now, I believe is back home Hinata my friend all clean shaven you're good to go like nothing

happened yeah nothing happened it's okay okay um how are you doing Hinata it was hard to see you after the fight like that you look obviously very upset and very sad um how are you processing everything two days later uh I'm okay you know know, I am always trying to be very rational about everything. I try to be not emotional. And of course, I am disappointed with myself, with my performance. I didn't want to go like that, like first round. That was not my best performance for sure. But what can I do, right?

I just can go forward. I just can do my stuff. I just can try to be better and keep going, you know? I don't have anything else that I can do. I have to go forward and I have to win my next fight. That's it. Okay. So can we go in order of how things went down? When did you first get any kind of notice that there might be a switch here? Thursday night, I started to cut my weight around like eight or nine o'clock. And then

when it was midnight, I finished i i lost something like eight pounds so i was two pounds away from the weight i had to cut 10 pounds and then like at midnight hunter called me and he said hey tomorrow i want you to make 155 and i said why everything happens everything is good and he said no everything is, you know, the both fighters are very heavy and I don't have a and I don't have a backup. You're going to be the backup. So please cut to 155 tomorrow. And I say, OK, I will. But then I hang the phone and I was thinking to myself, there is no way somebody is going to pull out of the fight. Zlan is not pulling out. And Armand, being the challenger, being the guy to challenge the belt,

I don't believe he's going to quit right now. And I say, okay. So I woke up on the other day, 5 o'clock, to cut the two pounds off. And I thought to myself, I'm not going to make 155. I'm going to make 156 because I'm not fighting for the belt today. There is no chance that I'm fighting today. He just said that so I can be on the weight if something happens. But if you remember, I was the backup fighter for Max Holloway and Brian Ortega.

And I cut the weight and I was with that stuck to my head so nothing's going to happen I'm not gonna cut weight I'm just gonna lose two more pounds so I'm gonna be 156 and it's okay and I had only two pounds to cut left so I thought I'm gonna do by myself and I don't need coaches I going to cut this weight on the hot tub over here in my room. And I start to cut my weight alone, you know. And then my coach called me and said, hey, are you up? I said, yeah, I'm awake. What's up?

And he said, you're fighting for the belt tomorrow. And I said, why? What's going to happen? He said, Armand hurt his back and he's having trouble to cut the weight. He cannot cut the weight. So he's not going to be able to make the weight and not going to be able to compete. And I said, are you sure?

Are you serious? And he said, yes. And then I was so happy. And then I thought, tomorrow I will become world champion. I was so happy with the opportunity. I was so... To be honest,

that when he called me and he told me that I was fighting for the world title, that probably was one of the happiest moments in my whole life. And I cut the weight and then I fought on Saturday and unfortunately I lost on the first round. When you got the call from your coach, was that before you went on the scale? So when you went on the scale? No, no, no.

I went on the scale. No, it was before. It was 5 in the morning, I'm sorry. It was before because like I say, I wanted to cut to 156. I just cut to 155 because they told me so. And was that Pahumpa that called you?

Yes, it was Pahumpa. And that's Armin's coach, so he gave you kind of the heads up, which was great. Yeah, he gave me the heads up. No, but actually, I think he knew everything that was going on, but I didn't. And the whole week, I was telling him there is no way that fight is going to be canceled or something like that. And he didn't tell me that he was hurt. Of course, that would be very not good, right? That is a conflict because even though we have the same coaches, I don't talk much with Armando.

I'm not his friend. I don't know much with Armando. I'm not his friend. I don't know what happened to him. But in reality, the coach knew everything that was going on. Were you surprised, and especially now that you've digested it all, that he pulled out? It seems like Dana White is upset about it. He said at the post-fight press conference he's not going to be next, and he seemed to imply that he was mad, that he could have fought are you surprised um if that would have happened to you obviously

you're not him you're not in his body yeah but what as a fighter what do you think to me is irrelevant what he thinks or what he does that that like like you say he is not me i'm not him and i don't have any control of his thoughts on what he does I don't know how bad was I think it would be very bad for me to judge if I'm not his body I don't know what happened I don't know maybe he couldn't move but to me it doesn't matter you know I was I was not thinking about Armand I was happy to be honest that he got hurt and I could step in you know so in my opinion I don't know what to think about that. That's fair.

You're a great businessman. And so you say that your coach calls you and says you're fighting for the belt. I'm assuming you did negotiate a new deal or something like that, right? This was worth your while. Yes, of course. I was in a good position to discuss numbers. But at the same time, I'm telling you, I got a huge deal. I got money. You know, money is not the problem you know and not only that but what people don't realize

is i fight for money i love money but there was something else right there was the chance to to be world champion and the amount of money that i would make after the fight if i become champion that would be unprecedented for me you know getting the pay-per that I would make after the fight if I become champion, that would be unprecedented for me. Getting the pay-per-view points and even the fame and everything that goes with the belt. But at the same time, I'm not mad at that because I didn't want to be famous because of that too. I want the money and I want the accomplishment. I wanted to know that I was the best fighter in the world on Saturday, but unfortunately I couldn't.

It's a crazy thing because then later in the day, we see you facing off with Islam. And then obviously the next night you're fighting him. Friday night, how are you processing everything? Are you feeling nervous? Are you feeling anxious? How are you feeling after this whirlwind? Not really, not really. I was feeling, I was feeling okay, you know, I thought I'm not fighting Islam Akhachev, I'm fighting another fight, you know, that is no, it was not beneficial to me overthinking about that so i i did what i could you know i did what i could was make the weight and tomorrow i'm gonna try my best and tomorrow i'm gonna try to knock

him out on the first round because i knew i was not prepared for five rounds and i knew uh ben yudariush style was so much different than Islam, you know, especially on the wrestling side, especially on the control. And I didn't have time enough to think about strategy, you know. But I don't want to take anything from Islam. To be honest with you, the takedown was so fast, I didn't even see the takedown. And I am very good at defending takedowns,

especially because I had a training camp but like I say I was not I was not I was training to a softball but not a softball like Islam and but it is what it is you know he is the champion and and I am glad that I got my shot at the belt unfortunately didn't go my way are you replaying things a lot in your mind? And if so, what are you focusing on? What moment? Obviously, the takedown was a huge moment, but are you fixating on things?

Are you replaying things? No, no, no. Like I said, I'm very practical. There is nothing that I can do to change the result. There is nothing that I can change to people stop talking shit. I only can focus on on what i can do and right now i deserved all the hate i deserve all the bad comments like i say

last year i talked a lot of shit and i and i hurt a lot of people worse than i did that worse than island did to me so it's only fair if people criticize me they're not gonna hurt me i don't even care about that and and what can i say i got good money i will buy a lot of fucking bitcoin and this year is not fucking over for me that's not fucking over i want money you know but now more than money i want my chance for the belt again you know that was what i felt when i was uh stepping to the cage looking his lung I was not afraid I never I never afraid I'm never afraid I don't I don't fear any man on this fucking world and not even the the best pound for pound I was over there and I thought man I'm gonna put pressure I'm gonna knock him out I'm gonna walk forward and uh I thought I didn't remember that he's a great wrestler, you know.

So right now my focus is to win my next fight, like I said. And like I said after the interview, I don't know if I'm ever going to get the shot again to the title. I'm starting to get old, but I'm still on my prime. I still can beat a lot of motherfuckers out there. And if I can put one, two, three, four wins in a row beating contenders

I will get my title shot again and before I won money but now I want to be champion. I want to fucking be the best in the world and I know I can. Are you really getting a lot of shit? You stepped up, you fought arguably the best fighter in the world.

Of course, of course. But this is the game, you know? Because I know I'm getting a little bit of shit, but that's the way, because I like to talk shit to people, you know? I like play. It's only fair if people do.

With me too, I don't care, you know? It's fair game, fair play. And it's only fair if people do. With me, too. I don't care, you know. This is the, it's fair game. Fair play. What about Paddy Pimblitt? He's coming after you. Yeah, yeah. And that's fair, you know.

That's fair. But let me tell you something, brother. He's unbelievable. Paddy Pimblitt is unbelievable. He never beat anybody that is good on the octagon. UFC always favors him for a reason, you know? He has millions of followers. That's a spoiled

Brad motherfucker, you know? They give him everything that he needs. He never took a fight on short notice. Never. He never did. And he never will. Because he doesn't need. He has like the silver spoon. They're going to feed him the best matchups.

They're going to do everything that is good for him. And fair play. That's not my business. I'm just calling out, you know. And to be fair, I did tap pretty fast. So he might be right on that one. But let me tell you something. If I fight Paddy Pimbley, I will finish him in the first round just for this disrespect.

By the way, did you see the video that emerged? I know you were busy this weekend, but there was a video of him at the gym with some guy that he was going back and forth with and he choked him out and he held on to the choke and everyone went crazy. Did you see this video? I saw. I saw the video. What do you make of that i don't know man that's crazy he went to to the gym to to spar with a guy they say they are fighting but they have team guards and they have like gloves that doesn't make any sense to me but he held on to the choke

as he as he should right i don't i don't i'm not gonna yeah i'm not gonna give a shit for him to him to that they because if they supposed to be fighting they supposed to have no rules and don't have gloves you know if you're fighting you want to hurt the other guy right that that's don't you don't have sportsmanship on a fight so if there is something good on this video is he nodding let go the choke wow but i didn't want to see gloves and shingles if you fight you fight you know um in the cage afterwards you told joe rogan that there were things that you wanted to say but um it wasn't the right time so can i give you the floor now henato what did you want to say to the world in that moment yeah i did I did say on my Instagram, on my next, right? Because the book that I was reading,

Murray Rothbaugh, what has government done to our money? And just like I say on the post, I wanted to talk about that because most of the people don't realize they think money, this print money and fiat currency was always like that. But on the book, he explained why money should be a commodity with fluctuation prices, you know, with fluctuations of prices that should be choose and free and choose by the free market and how the government, they hijack money and they create central banks to control the interest rate. But like I say on the post, they are just slavering the next generation to debit. And that's why every generation, things are getting more costly, right? So the houses, they went up,

the cost of living went up. but if you think about with the technology should that things should cost less you know are you like uh let's say your studio 10 years ago we didn't have the technology to have all these cameras and all that stuff so the production and uh the inventions they make stuff. But why the stuff keep getting expensive? And it's just because the central banks can control the interest rate, they low artificially the interest rates, and they do quantitative easing, printing money, and it's just supply and demand. So they put more money than they produce and the cost of living is going high. And that's why we see the boomers, right? People that are in the old age, they are the richest generation of all times because they got the benefits of all this printing money and these

lower interest rates. But from here now, people are not having kids and the demographics are going down all over the world. So the interest rate, they should go up, right? Because we don't have much people to work. But with these central banks, they control the price of the money and then they print money and that's why things get uh uh more

expensive every year so your son and your grandson are gonna be poor because what they are doing now because the policies they are doing now and on this book you're gonna understand how they did that they explained very very very well and at time, the author was not talking about Bitcoin. He was talking about gold, right? A real commodity that fluctuates in price and that the free market choose over the millennials. You know, gold was chosen by all his capabilities. And Bitcoin has all the capabilities of gold but

but much better because it's more divisible you can carry around around countries it's very costly to move gold from one place to another it's very heavy and with bitcoin you can have everything that gold has but much better and this is the fucking internet money is the best money that you can have hard and sound money and works like should be you know it's not the government that should decide the price of the money the dollar the chain the exchanges this is just like bitcoin supply and demand and that's what i want to talk about i want to talk about people to read uh cypher d amos the bitcoin standard he explained explained very very beautiful beautifully what is money and and how we got over here and that was i think that that's the most important thing that i

could say that's more important than the fight itself because most people knowing about money and about what central banks do, we are escaping the enslavement of the governments and of the banks. You can see throughout Latin America, people are starting to understand that. And that's why they're choosing another leaders like Bukele and like Millet. You know, they are free market advocates and they are Bitcoin advocates. The Austrian Economic School is the only school that talks about the truth of money. And I think people really should try to understand. And if you can start with one book, I would recommend What Has Government Done to Our Money? Okay.

This is what you were going to say probably if you beat Benil Dariush, right? You were going to say this on the microphone. Yes. Yes, exactly. Well, I'm happy that you were able to say. Now, speaking of money, the money that you were shooting out there to the crowd on Thursday. That was incredible stuff. I love that. You made that? I like it.

Yeah, I like the press conference. It was nice. You were amazing. This was your finest hour of the press conference. I thought you were stellar. Yeah, I think people don't give me enough credit for that, but you see, look, that's a good $1,000, right? If I had won that belt, that $1,000 now would be much higher. But you know what?

I was having my moment. I liked the press conference. I think I found my way because I'm not trying to be disrespectful to anyone, but at the same time, I'm trying to make my presence be seen you know I want people to know me, recognize me for the right reasons and I don't know, the whole stuff

was set up for a final and good ending of Moicano being the champion but this is life you know, this is reality Islam is better than than than me especially that night but like i say i am a dreamer i am a believer and i want to be better

and i will try to be better but this is the reality and this is the free market i choose i choose uh a technique that was not good at the moment and I pay the price, you know. And I think life should be just like that. If you do a mistake, you have to pay and you have to be held accountable. And that's why I'm doing this interview right now, you know. I'm sad. I'm not happy. I'm not in the best moment of my life.

But I have to deal with what I choose and with my consequences. And I have to be better. And I will. I do everything on my power to be the best fighter that I can be. And I just hope God help me to get a title shot again on this life, on the next one. If it was up to you, you when you fight again and against two ah patty pimbley cheesy money he's talking a lot of shit book that fight already you know i'm gonna i'm gonna i'm gonna make him pay for saying that because that's what drives me crazy you know

he's talking about man he never got a fight on short notice and i fought the the pound for pound in one day. And he's still talking shit. Who this guy beat in the UFC? Imagine he fight Islam Makachev. Tell me that you think Paddy Pimbley will beat Islam Makachev. I don't know. I don't see him beating Islam Makachev.

I don't see him being competitive. But what can I do? I was not competitive too. So in the perfect world i would fight paddy pimbley in brazilia i know the ufc is getting back on i don't know if it's on april or may to brazil and i want that main event against paddy pimbley that would be incredible that would be absolute drama um by the way uh armin doesn't look like he's getting the title shot how do you feel about this? I feel right, I feel right, he doesn't, I don't think he should be fighting for the title if he didn't, if he couldn't compete, I don't know the reasons, like I say, but as the UFC perspective,

you cannot rely on the guy, right, because that was a huge show everybody was promoting the show there was a huge card and unfortunately for UFC and for Aman he could not step up and fight like I say I'm not on his shoes I don't know what was going on but as the UFC I don't think he should uh fight for the title next okay um I think you're getting a lot of love I really do I hope you're not too down on yourself uh and I thought you know obviously the fight didn't go as planned, but you came across as a superstar, the walkout, the Tupac song. It was amazing. Like you were, you were owning the moment, my man, you look like you belong.

Did you allow yourself to enjoy any of it? Did you smell that amazing arena? You had made it to the top. You had made it to the main event. You, they didn't ask Benil Dariush to step in. They asked you and only you and so yeah there's there's a lot of good that comes from this yeah but there's a mad area you know uh we we are in a game that the only thing that matters is the win you know is the winner and uh even though that

sounds very bad it's just the way the life is. The winners talk, the losers should not talk. And I believe that too. So I'm not defining myself as a man, as a human being, as a fighter, because I always say that even if I lose the fight, you know, I have my family, I have money, I have money, I am take care of, you know, I have my own house i have investments i have everything that i and i'm fine with that you know if i stop fighting today i don't care about fighting but when i'm fighting i have to to i have to look at my my measurement is my

fighting right one thing is personal life one thing is is professional life and as a professional last saturday i failed and i failed bad you know because i had the chance of a lifetime you know gotta fight like that against islam but again i'm not being hard on myself because i know how good islam is but that is just the way i think i think i am in the best in the world and i'm getting a lot of hate for that, especially in Brazil, because Brazilians are fucked up, you know? They say, how you dare to think that

you're great if you lose? Fuck you, brother. I believe in myself every day, and I will die believing in myself as a fighter. I think I am the best fighter in the world. I tried to prove it Saturday, and I failed. But I on Saturday and I fail but I will have my chance again I will have my shot on the next time I will beat whoever is and I will keep

going you know and I don't fucking care what you think it's just the way it is you know as a fighter I fail last Saturday to to get a title but I'm to stop. I will see what I did wrong. And I know what I did wrong. That was very dumb. It was stupid to try to stand up like that, you know? It was very stupid. I should have kept my cool on the ground. Islam was not hurting me. So maybe I will get back on the second round.

I was doing okay on the feet. And then the fight goes on. And I was ready. I was in shape. But I made a dumb, stupid decision, that's okay, that's how life is. But we haven't talked about Benil, would you like to fight him? It kind of sucks for him, he didn't get a fight, right? That's life, he got paid it seems, he says the UFC is taking care of him, is this a fight that you would like to revisit uh uh Ariel I don't care too much about Benio Darius you know if I fight him or not I

don't care I don't think he's a draw I don't think he he brings people uh I don't think nobody wants to see him maybe maybe they do maybe I'm wrong but uh when they offer me Benio Darius I didn't take because it was was Benio Darius I take because I want to be active. Remember, the last time I was here, I say, I want to fight as much as possible because I'm getting old. So I would talk the same thing to the UFC. Give me a fight.

I don't care who it is. If it's Benildar Yush again, okay. If it's not, if it's Paddy Pimblitz, okay. I don't care. I just want to fight to get paid. You know, I want to fight to get paid. And now, more than ever, I want to fight for the title again. So I want to fight top contenders, and I want to put some victories, you know?

I want to put some two or three victories and make my case to fight for the belt again. Of the other guys up there at 155, there's Charles, obviously, Armin, yourself. 155 is one of the best. Do you see anyone, let's exclude you, you're going to get back in there, of the guys up there who can beat Islam? Do you see anyone who could beat him

based on what you felt from him? I think so. I think everybody has a chance it's a fight when you go over there you can you can you can you know you can have a shot i i i touch him with my with the left hand he felt that you know so i think i think armand has a good chance to beat him being being arrested i think charles has a good chance to beat him, him being arrested. I think Charles has a good chance of beating him. Even Gage, you know, even Gage. I think Islan is very good, but he's just a human, you know.

I think everybody, anybody has a chance when they step in the cage. But definitely, he is a very good fighter. He's very tough. He's very well-rounded. He has very good IQ, you know. And his takedowns were great because, like I said, again, I didn't see the takedown coming. You know what? The RDA fight didn't count in the streak because it was short.

This one doesn't count either. So, in my opinion, you're still on a winning streak. It doesn't count. These are all the short notice ones don't count. Ariel, unfortunately, that that's how it works i wish i could i could agree with you but then i will be a hypocrite right i'm saying that the rda didn't count because it was not 55 right right so i give that to you so if you say that i was don't know, now six or seven win streak on the lightweight, that would be true because RDA was 165 or 160. But I just lost a championship fight in the 155 division.

But again, I'm not being too hard on myself. I like the opportunity. I'm very happy for the opportunity. And I will make my case again. I will keep, especially now that I'm getting more fans, you know. If UFC can understand that, that I have fans and that people want to watch me fight and talk, they will give me good matchups and they will push me to a title fight. And I'm taking care of myself, of my body, of my training camp,

so I can be competitive as much time as I can. Keep your head up, my friend. Great job. You stole the show on Thursday. You stepped up. It was a lot of fun. It was a very exciting 24 hours for everyone who has supported you and watched you and followed you and looking

forward to your comeback. So it takes a lot to show up on the Monday. I really appreciate it. It says a lot about you. You're handling it with great class and grace and you take some time off and you get back in there. It's going to be a big year. It's going to be a big year. This is going to be a good story to tell at the end of the year for you, Renato. So back on track you go and I wish you nothing but the best. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here in your show. And I want to like to show some stuff that I'm working, like Big Supplements, you know, that's a brand that I'm creating with a lot of supplements. So if you can help, and thank you for the support on the show. But if you're watching this, go to bigsupplementlement.com and use the code GOBIG and you're going to get 10% or 20% of discount.

And go over there, please, and leave the review, you know. It's a tough time to start a business company, but I want to make money and I want to sell you a good product. So go to BigSupplements.com and thank you so much for the audience and for the respect that you always show to me, Ariel. Thank you so much. My pleasure. Really appreciate it.

We'll talk to you soon. Thank you, Renato. All the best to you, my friend. There he is, the great Renato Mani Moicano. What a story. What a guy. Saves the day.

Look, he doesn't take that fight. Who knows? Who knows what happens, right? So he saves the day as far as UFC 311 is concerned and looking forward to his comeback. Still supremely popular, more popular than ever, one might say. He went in there, he dreamed big, he dared to dream, didn't go his way. But even when I'm trying to give him the out, I'm trying to give him, you know, a sort of, you know,

entry to say, he's like, no, I'd be a hypocrite. How do you not love that guy? How do you not love our final guest of the day as well? He had an incredible appearance at the press conference on Thursday for different reasons. We see him showing up with hair like this, not his familiar war hair, if you will. And he explains that he shaved it off earlier in the week in support of his friend Ashley, who we had talked about the last time Yuri was on the show, who was going through chemo and in the midst of losing her hair, did that in support of her favorite fighter, Yuri Prokhaska.

And then you see Ashley showing up to the weigh-ins with Yuri. And then you see Yuri show up on Saturday in an incredible performance, an incredible fight, an entertaining fight against Jamal Hill, eventually knocking out Jamal Hill. What a guy, what a fighter, what a performer, what an entertainer. He makes being an MMA fan truly fun. He's kind enough to join us right now the great Yuri Prochaska the pride of the Czech Republic hello Yuri how are you my friend congratulations on the win hey Ariel thank you so much thank you really uh incredible performance incredible win incredible week for you as well um was that off the bat was that how you thought the fight was going to go um I thought it was 1-1 going into the third and then you eventually knocked him out with an amazing combination.

When you were thinking of the fight, is that how you thought it was going to play out? Yeah, sure. I thought first it can be, I will be much, much like more dominant, but, uh, I was ready to not press that fight so much because every time when I'm trying to keep the fight under the pressure, then every time I eat some punches too. So that was something that I wanted to change a little bit. To be more precise, more patient and to be precise in the punches, in the changes of the striking between us. So by myself, I can can say like mission was successful and I'm happy Buddha yeah I'm happy but I'm not so happy that was it was not like 100% precise performance like I'm still what I'm still looking to to realize that, but it was a good one. Good fight.

I'm really happy for that. I'm happy to hear that you are happy. One of the big things that people have been talking about with you is protecting yourself and not getting hit and keeping their hands up. Sorry, especially after the long time of many speeches from Jamal's side to my head. And a lot of his speaking about the Pereira and all these things. And I was just quiet and I said myself don't don't I don't want to be that guy who who's talking too much and then showing something in a performance no I will speak just about what I can perform what I'm just right now focused on and that was a fight with him now we can talk about other opponents now we can talk about the next challenges about the alex about the uncle life

about whoever but this is something what i'm what is my what is stance, really, to speak the same before the fight and speak the same after the fight. No talking the bullshit. And after the fight, okay, it's behind us. And now I can change some, my opinion. No, my opinion is the same from the, all the time. So, so did you listen to a lot of his comments?

You know, he, he does talk a lot. He has his YouTube and stuff. And did you, did you feel some sort of way about them? Did they, I know you didn't talk about them,

but did, did you use them as motivation? Yes. I knew that I knew this i i know i knew this uh all his speeches about me about my style about whatever about how he's good or or i just i knew that also i knew that uh this is just uh the showing off he's just we are we are all we needs to be we have to be like how to say adults real adult real man's and this is a boy's talking, you know? And I don't want to have these boy's speeches. I want to speak like a man, doing like a man.

That's all. Your face-offs, especially right before the fight with Alex, both times, legendary stuff. And I'm wondering if the energy that you feel from Jamal, after what you just said, I'm just wondering when you had the face-off with him in the cage as you're walking in and he's looking at you and you're looking at him, is it the same type of energy that you're feeling with Alex or is this a different type?

You just said these are boys' speeches. And so I'm wondering, do you feel something different when you're looking at him as opposed to when you're looking at Alex? Do you understand what I'm saying? I understand. I understand 100%. No. It was totally different energy.

Could you describe that energy? You know, I don't want to be rude for anybody. So, but you can understand when somebody means that if he's going and doing to do something and mean, and he's mean that seriously then you can feel the right attitude from that man in that in other case you can feel just that there is a somebody who somebody who who will go Till some moment really seriously, but after some hard moments or whatever They will just stop and They will change if you will if you will endure through these hard moments I'm not saying about myself I'm every time 100% in that but this is the work what we needs to do can I ask like the the fighters this is it this is it this is it this is what we

what we chose to to endure in a hard moment be the be the strongest be the be the people with the strongest focus in every situation can i ask your assessment, of Jamal as a fighter now that you've been with him? Assessment? Like. Meaning your take on him as a fighter. You fought some of the best fighters in the world now, right? Champions, former champions. No, man.

He's a, he's a, how do you say? He's a, he's a great fighter. He's a great fighter. fighter he have these these at when advantage that he knows how to stay relaxed in hard moments how to see opportunity in the hard moments to catch the opponent with really heavy hands because he know he really has this attitude to stay calm and relaxed in the hard moments. And you can see these things on him in many fights. And I saw that. And this was the main thing when I thought this will be the hardest thing what i if if if it will come

to overcome this to defeat him especially in this this one because i like to fuck i like to defeat my opponent in his strong sides. Yeah. At the post-fight press conference, I saw that you gave yourself a C. Do you feel better about the fight now? It feels like you do. No, no, no, no. Still the C.

Still C? C. Yeah, C. Good C, C+, but still C, yeah. Oh, wow. Well, I did see you and Jamal backstage afterwards. Can I ask what you guys said to each other? It seemed like everything was okay that you you know there was respect no no we we saw each other after the fight and in the bar uh uh uh when we were back on the hotel i i bought him the the glass of vodka so we took a we took a shot bob and i just told him

like we drink together we fight together we drink together all good between us and he's he's the same so he's a good guy man he's a really really good guy and and uh but in some situations uh i don't know why he's why he was uh before the fight so he like we spoke about his speeches and all these things so but, but I don't care right now. It is behind us. Yes. And the, the fight showed most. Um,

one last thing about the fight. Uh, how much did the eye poke affect you? How difficult was it? It seemed there was the back and forth and then it seemed like it was bothering you. Still feel that, still feel that still feel that and in a fight only one thing i can say like i i i was able to to see everything but my eyes trying

is starting to close close close close and so that was that what I was a little bit angry for like man I wanna I wanna see everything but but I need to adjust every time it's about to accept adjust and use it against your opponent whatever if it even if it is something bad yuri when did you decide to shave your hair i decided uh one week no no one week like two days before we fly we float to to us. Uh, so it was like one, two weeks before we, I met with Ashley. Yeah. So, so before I did, so two weeks, two weeks before that. Yeah. When, when we spoke last on, on the show, that's when the, the post from Ashley came out, it was actually on that day and, and, um, it made all kinds of news.

And you said that, you know, you wanted to reach out to her. Had you guys been talking, like, how did it get to you inviting her to come to Los Angeles to be with you at the weigh-ins? How did that all happen? Uh, just, uh, it happened by, by UFC, by my manager and, uh, they contact you, uh, and just, they, they told her like that I want to visit her and invite her for a fight. And there was nothing special about that. I just wanted to do that, to do something good just just to sending a good energy but

not just right now especially when we do we are doing the show so we have the power to to send it to all people so that's why we we we we chose with u with UFC to to make it bigger to have these two to send this message to do to all the people what was it like when you when you saw her for the first time and especially her realizing that you had had cut her cut your hair in solidarity with her yeah it was a good it was good man i was i was really happy because she she she made she made up first she made her by myself like it's inspired by myself and then i did the same so it was a little bit funny and i felt like just a positive energy from that. And it was beautiful to hear that you were going to donate money and then Dana White matched it as well.

Everything about it was really beautiful and speaks to how special of a soul and human being you are. But we know how much that hair means to you. It's not just a hairstyle. You've talked about it on this show. So was it difficult? Did you feel different not fighting with it yeah uh yeah that's that's right that's right i feel i felt like i cut something from myself yeah and uh game, you have to be really tough. There is no time to think about how much I can be bad like how much I can be better or how much I can be I can be or horse you know can be bad without without this hair so I just took it like fuck it I'm

a warrior I'm going to the war I'm going to the battle no matter if I have the hair or shorts or without shorts or gloves, without gloves, doesn't matter for me. Yeah, took it like a man. That's all. And will you be growing it back? Ooh, right now it's starting.

You don't see that? So it's coming back, the famous hair. I didn't think about that yet, but I want to have some hair. So I'm looking forward to new war hair. Okay. By the way, in your post-fight interview backstage, you talked about the reporter, Megan Olivi, asked you how you were going to celebrate

and you said you had two friends from your village and it seemed like a crazy time was going to happen. By the way, are those the friends back there in your car? No, no, no. They're not. They are already back in Czech Republic and

I have to say, I'm glad. I'm glad that they uh they went back to the hotel because they they were they were totally uh they were totally uh say pirate from from the jet lag and and all these things because because every time the party with them poor it's going to be crazy and i because it's my friends from my childhood man so so we dre we drank a lot in in our lives together we celebrated many times like really crazy so so i'm glad that uh we didn't do that like before the ufc fans before the ufc people because let's keep the i get the right attitude there yeah um speaking of backstage we also saw you seeing um alex backstage and it looked like you were staring at him what are you feeling in that moment when you see him?

Like we can go to the third part of our, of our cycle. You were asked about him or you were asked by Joe Rogan, what was next? And it seemed like you hesitated for a minute and then you said, screw it. That's what I want. That's what everyone thinks you want. And you said it, but it felt like you didn't really want to say it initially you didn't want to call them out why were you struggling with that because you know i'm every time when i'm saying something i'm i'm standing behind these words yeah you know and when i when i when i said that one time you don't need to ask me in a few weeks again for that or in a month no i'm already decided you know i'm already decided

that i want to win the fight i want to beat fight one more last time. Doesn't matter for me. I will win. I will lose. I will whatever. I will go there and show my step-up performance

and I believe that I will take it to victory. I'll just ask you a couple more questions and we'll let you go take it, the victory. I'll just ask you a couple more questions, and we'll let you go. Thank you so much. I know you're very busy. They did announce on Saturday,

Ancalaya versus Pereira, and Pereira is actually the underdog, the betting underdog as of right now. Who do you think wins that fight? Who do you feel? Who? Let the better win. Let the better win let the better win

let's let's see if uncle life will if he's bored that he will fight alex justin stand up if he will make it i think there if he will try to put him down and use the ground game. But like I said, when we met after the fight with Alex, I told him good luck in a fight with Ankaliev and he just told me like good fight congratulations and that was our conversation. Okay well are you hoping to fight the winner or do you think you'll probably have to fight someone not named Alex or Ankaliev next? I didn't spoke with the UFC yet about that. Like I said, I'm always looking for the top. And right now I feel like I have the right attitude to

show it in the cage. So, let's speak about that. Do you like the idea of the round tree fight? With the Kadel round tree? Yeah, do you like the idea of the round tree fight with with the color round tree yeah do you like that idea for me is uh um kyle round three is a good warrior he's a great warrior. That will be again. And some I think a great fight. It will be a good show. But right now I'm focusing for Alex. Okay, no, no, no, like focusing for just for

Alex. But this is my I'm fighting because of a reason, because of some reason. I feel that there is a true challenge. In Call of Duty Round 3, I don watch him not like a prey, but like somebody who I need to, who I will, who I want to hunt, who I want to... I saw his fight with Alex and he's fast, he's smart. He has the cardio endurance. But like I said, I need to see some reason in this fight. Last question.

I saw you met the fan who likes to dress up as you. Do you like this? The fan who had the thing and he did this guy. Do you like this? Is this a compliment to hello how are you like be nice for him uh that was my thought before before our meeting but he's just uh he's a from europe from switzerland like i like like i saw him so There will be every time some guys who are trying to show up, to give you something back or speak about you badly. badly I don't know how I can how I will take this one guy because he's a trial sometimes I feel like he's trying to do to show my like myself like in a bad bad view but you know that's me that's me I'm always looking for power, for challenges. And if he wants to make it funny, I have no problem with that. I love the people. I think he was showing you love.

That was my read. He was showing you respect and love. And it's amazing to see the respect and love that you are receiving. You are a beloved figure in our sport. And you really do make being a fan fun. And you, to me, represent the best of mixed martial arts. Your spirit, your soul, your fighting spirit, it's amazing. That's why we do that.

We have to have under control the biggest power what the human can achieve you know and the best way is we the best think what what can be is to achieve that to keep this power and also be be nice to others because the power give you the self-confidence, total self-confidence, so big one, that you don't need to be rude to anyone. That's like when you have a weapon, the gun, then you don't need to be afraid from attacking others because you already have

something, what can make a pain to every, to, uh, to anybody. But there is a, just about your moral to not use that, to not, uh, use that in a bad way. This is it. Well done Yuri. Congratulations. Thank you so much for the time. Really, This is it. Well done, Yuri. Congratulations. Thank you so much for the time. Really, really appreciate it. Well done.

Thank you. And well done on representing your country and the fighting spirit so well. So thank you so much, and we'll talk to you soon. Thank you. I just want to say one more last thing. Please.

Thank you for all the fans. Thank you for all the true fans who stayed behind me in my hard times. And really appreciate it to all the people around me. Thank you. Thank you. We'll talk to you soon. All the best, Yuri.

Safe travels home. Thank you. All right, there he is. The great Yuri Prochaska, the pride of Czech Republic, BJP. What a guy. What a performance. What a win. What a fight. Very entertaining, both of them. Shout out to Jamal. He is, you know, he's involved in fun fights. Win or lose, kill or be killed. There's something to say about all that delivering and and and that has really become the difference between you know mma fighters and and boxers so to speak mma fans will love you if you lay it out on the line you lay it all out on the line win or lose kill or be killed some of the most popular fighters of all time don't win them all but you just entertain, you deliver, they will love you. They will have your back for a very, very long time.

You can win five in a row, lose two in a row, win three in a row, lose one, come back. It's not the same. It's a really cool and special thing. Tajir Ulambekov kicked off the night picking up a win.

That was big for team Nurmagomedov our guy Action Bronson was very happy with his countryman Bernardo Sopaj beating Ricky Tertios who looks so very much like E. Casey Lydon of MMA Fighting Fame we told you about Gafurov defeating Rinyan Nakamura

the unanimous decision, what about Aileen Perez, the winning streak continues for Argentina's own, She was an underdog. She beat Carl Hossa. The unanimous decision win for him, a second-round guillotine choke win. Azamat Bekoev beat Zach Rees via ground and pound in the first round, and a vicious finish in that one, one that did seem to have a couple shots to the back of the head, if we are being honest, but these things rarely get called in the flow of a fight. So congrats to Azamat, who improved to 19

and 3. Juani Barcelos, like I said, a massive underdog, plus 710. Peyton Talbot, minus 1150. A lot of people say, oh, Ariel, oh, what are you going to do? Listen, Peyton Talbot minus 1150 a lot of people say oh Ariel oh what are you gonna do you got listen Peyton Talbot is how old 26 relatively new to the UFC does he end up being breakout fighter of the year maybe not maybe comeback fighter of the year um but there's a lot of things that he obviously needs to work on the Barcelos had the perfect game plan took took him down, controlled him on the ground, went for submissions. Peyton was hardly in the fight. 50-minute fight, went the distance. He didn't have much to speak of. This was a dominant win by a veteran who was in this fight on Saturday, 11 years older than Peyton Talbot. 11 years older than him. And he just absolutely dominated.

Showed, you know, his veteran IQ. Perfect game plan. Kept taking down Peyton Talbot. I was watching with some people. I was like, oh, you got to see this guy, Peyton Talbot. I'm not jumping off the bandwagon. I know it's cool to say fraud check. I know it's cool to hate on young guys who perhaps talk a big game and slip. Like I said,

people lose all the time. That was his first professional loss. Now nine and one. Big freaking deal. Learn from the mistakes, get back on track, but shout out to Barcelos. That was an incredible win. Maybe the upset of the year by the time all is said and done. Rainier de Ritter had a phenomenal win over Kevin Holland. The type of performance that we were maybe looking for in his debut against Gerald Mearshart, he got it in his second UFC fight, winning at 331 of the first round via a rear naked choke. He's very good on the ground, and he was a favorite going into this fight. Kevin, you know, obviously a very popular fighter who has shown to have trouble on the, uh, on the ground in the grappling department and RDR capitalized in a big way. Uh, great personality. He's got the look, he's got the fighting style. He could be a player in this, uh, in this middleweight division. Jolton Almeida, as we said, beat Sergey Spivak.

That was another pick. That one didn't go action's way in his entry into the Parley Pals world. Spivak was a huge underdog going into this one and actually looked good early on, but Almeida flattened him out towards the end of the first round, had him in back mount.

It was just raining blows. Great win for the big man who improved to 22 and three. We told you about Yuri. We told you about Murad. We told you about Islam. The boys in the back had a watch party on Saturday, as they always do for each and every one of these big events. This was GC's reaction when Yuri Prochhaska got the win over Jamal Hill.

Nice knee to the body from Hill. Nice knee by Hill. Yuri out of the way of some of these shots. Ooh, big swing. Oh! Huge fucking shot from Yuri. Now he's trying to pound him out. Big shot from Yuri.

Landing to the back. Hill covering up. Oh, he's trying to stand back up. Oh, he's back up to his feet. They're swinging it out. Yuri lands a left jamal trying to throw yuri uppercut he'll fall in on his face yuri he's got big shots big shots two minutes to go he's landed hammer 50 he's about to call it call it Let's go! Go, Oscar! Woo! Let's go, Yuri! Woo!

The samurai! Let's go! Let's go! Oh, that was sick! I love this man. I love this man, Yuri. God, I love this man. Damn.

That's the best. The celly is the best, GC. Just for those that are wondering, did you have anything on this fight or were you just happy for Yuri? I mean, I was happy for Yuri first and foremost. I mean, every time he fights, it's just absolute chaos. I mean, I did have Yuri Moneyline as an underdog and I had the fight doesn't go to a decision. So, yeah, I mean, that just helped along the way, but yeah, I mean,

every time he fights, it's just pure chaos. It's pure magic. Win or lose. It's, it's incredible. At this point, I'm just waiting for the UFC to go back to Prague.

Oh my God. That would be incredible. It's been a while. I think it's been, uh, seven years now. Six. Six.

Yeah, close. 2019. Yeah, it was right at the beginning of the, uh, the ESPN deal. By the way,

um, Yuri Prokhaska won at 301 of the third, you're right. Yeah, it was right at the beginning of the ESPN deal. By the way, Yuri Prokhaska won at 3-0-1 of the third round. I was getting ready to write you guys, because remember, my prediction was that it was going to go the distance. Sometimes when you have these crazy guys, they don't end up knocking each other out, and I was so close. There's something about Yuri.

Frank mentioned to me he wanted to do the over one and a half As his parlay pal pick That obviously would have hit But there's just something about Yuri fights Even if they go long The Glover fight Is a perfect example of it Even if they go long it feels like they just never go to a decision One decision

In his 36 professional fight career One decision Guy always delivers Interesting to hear his reaction to Roundtree 36 professional fight career. One decision. Guy always delivers. Interesting to hear his reaction to Roundtree. Yeah, Roundtree and Boy Talk from Jamal Hill. Boy speech. Yeah, yeah. Boy speech.

I was interested in his not immediately saying yes to Khalil. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, he's focused on Alex. I get it. Just curious. Was that smoke? Yeah. It was absolutely smoke. No that was just like. No because

sometimes when it's sunny. You see the particles and stuff. That's what I thought. That's what it was. That's what I thought. That's what it was. Particles. Because everyone was passing around that video of him saying that he's got these friends. That he's going to show them something. So. And they had jet lag and went back to the room. So they didn't even do it. Yeah it No that was

That was his aura Yes that was his aura A guy can't have a nice Listen I love a good vape You think Yuri's vaping? No his boys You think his boys are e-cigging?

I don't know There was a story back in the day When he was a youngster. Isn't there a story that he drank out of a gas nozzle? I hope not. He drank out of one? I hope that's not a story about Yuri. I don't know, man.

He was talking about him and his buddies used to drink a lot back in the day. Reminds me of myself back in the dizzle. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes, Frank? That was just my reaction to your Back in the Dizzle. Oh, people don't do that anymore? I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know if I've ever heard anyone say it. I've got range. It's one of these Dizzles, you know? No, of course. It's nasty work. Listen, you said it. Listen, we have a full week of shows.

We don't have to cram everything into one show. It's well past the 5 o'clock hour. Do you want to check on the- Oh, geez, it. Listen, we have a full week of shows. We don't have to cram everything into one show. It's well past the 5 o'clock hour. Do you want to check on the... Oh, geez, it is, huh? The Knicks game, 103-97. Knicks-Hawks MLK special at the Garden, 7.54 currently. Shout out to Forrest, of course. Big win for them on Sunday morning.

Ended up being a great Sunday for me and my clubs. I would be remiss. I'm actually embarrassed. I'm embarrassed that it took me this long to bring up probably the biggest story of the weekend. Obviously, there was 311 and Moicano and Islam and everything, Darren Till. What about the announcement that we completely missed of Wayne Bridge

stepping into the ring. Wayne Bridge, the former footballer now stepping in to fight KSI in March. It's off now though. Oh, is it? Yeah, he pulled out this morning.

Get the fuck out of here. Is that true? I can't tell if he's rolling. Isn't it off? I don't know what's going on. I'm pretty sure, I'm pretty sure, what's his name? Wayne Bridge? It's off already?

Wayne Brady? Rick, is it off? What is this? I only... Yeah, he's out. I only know because Connor read it out this morning that he was out of the fight, but I don't... I did a whole thing this morning. I was like, oh, fuck. Wait, you did it off? What? Where was I? the fight but i did a whole thing this morning i was like oh fuck wait you did it like what where was i like you weren't here yet

no yeah we uh early you know this is for the for the morning crew the the trench work uh wow yeah i was like oh i was like oh shit everyone was like what i was like wayne bridge out of the ksi fight big pop we hardly knew you, Rainbridge Okay, so Shaheen just sent me this article from the BBC Saying that KSI crossed the line Talking about some personal family stuff Which, you know, in the moment

I was like, oh damn Isn't that the whole point of the fight? I will never understand What was the point of the fight? I would like to suggest to KSI and Mams that this is a blessing. Who cares about this fight? I have never understood the like, you said something too personal about me. So now the one opportunity for us to get into the ring and settle it with physical violence is no longer on the table.

I withdraw. It's like the exact opposite of what you'd think. Like if somebody says something about you, if you're Tommy Fury and Darren Till says, I'm going to beat the living shit out of you, you welcome it and you try to beat them up instead of just being like, nah, nah, too spicy for me. Yeah, you're just like, please don't kick me.

You're not allowed to do that. Let's settle this out, not just back out of it. That's funny. The whole honest. Oh, it's from comments during their face-off. Yes, yes. In the face-off, KSI mentioned some personal stuff, which when I'm watching this, I'm like, oh, damn.

But honestly, the whole thing felt like pro wrestling. Like he walked out there, he said, you know, I had a big fight. It's fallen through, So I'm looking for an opponent. And, and then they showed Tony Bellew and he's like, nah. And then they showed the other guy is he sort of looks like, I don't know. I think he's like a comedian rapper type in the UK. And he's like, yeah, let's go. And then who else did they, they, they pointed at someone. And then all of a sudden Wayne Bridges, like, which I'll be honest, you know, I fancy myself a football expert at this point.

I don't know if you saw my red carpet appearance at the Club World Cup. I mean, I was dropping gems on them left and right. And then he just is like, oh, I guess this is what I'm supposed to walk into the ring. And he just, like, walks in. And they're like, OK, Wayne Bridge, you want this? And then he starts talking about his family stuff, his personal stuff. And I was like oh shit but the whole thing felt very phony and scripted and uh and i was like wow wayne bridge

feel like ksi is past this point he just he fought tommy fury not that long ago i was on i was in my car on the way to the studio for the watch party did the crowd react no there was no reaction so it was like the justin mulley from back in the day? Well, that's why, to a degree, I mean, yes, that was awful. That was awful as well, and that was weird because of the masks and all that. Pulls off the mask and nobody knows, and then they're just like sitting there. I think more people

in the arena, the co-op live in Manchester knew who he was. I'll be honest, I had no idea who he was, and I had no idea why KSI would want to fight him. He's past this point. If you are trying to be in the Jake Paul sort of conversation, you can't be fighting Wayne Bridge.

I'm sorry. And say what you will about Tyson. At least Tyson's a former fighter. I don't know which is better, but come on. Just fight Darren Till. That's the one. That's 1,000% the one. That's a thousand percent the one.

And that one will actually you know sell itself. Right? Yes I Till. That's the one. That is the one. Why not just wait this happened

before Till fought right? It was before the meet and greet? Right before yeah. Yeah so now maybe it's just like alright change of plans. That should be the one. One million percent

that should be the one. Yeah that was weird. Speaking of Well he's out Well, he's out. Yeah, he's out. Okay. Honestly, I didn't know that. Where'd you guys see this? Where was I?

I'm big on it, man. Come on. I was just, I had just been watching. I was watching Wayne Bridge highlights from the year he won the Prem. He was great. He was absolutely great. He started a Wayne Bridge fan page, and then the news broke.

And speaking of pro wrestling And breaking kayfabe You know there's Conor McGregor with the Pauls I am not shitting you when I saw this picture This morning I like had to zoom in on it Three times I thought this was photoshop It's all very real I mean Jake's face

Is actually the funniest part Couldn't Logan have gotten Jake to do like a little bit of a better face No I think the face is actually perfect You think it's intentional Logan have gotten Jake to do like a little bit of a better face? No, I think the face is actually perfect. You think it's intentional like this? Yes, he's saying going great like oh look at me, I'm having a great time. Sarcasm. And my understanding is that's Jake

Paul's mother? That's his mother and Connor's got this huge smile on his face. He probably doesn't realize that Jake's making that face. The whole thing, the weird thing about it all Is like you see this footage of all these guys On this coach bus Like they're on a tour in Japan

Or somewhere in some foreign country It's like there's Theo Vaughn and there's Nelkboy's guy And there's Conor McGregor in the back of the bus With Logan Paul and Jake Paul What is this? Yeah what was the designation to get on that bus? They were going to the inauguration No I understand that I'm saying

This is like the podcast host Cause yeah like Nelk Boys Influencers I think Dana was on that one I don't know I think Dana got the presidential suite man He was sitting right behind Barry O He was scratching George W. Bush's back Unbelievable right

Like he's literally sitting next to Former presidents Current president He could have tapped Big Barry and been like what's up man What's up He was that close to him What was so crazy about it was in the inauguration

In the speech And there's you know there's all these people Trump's like, and we're going to figure out the Hamza Chemaev situation. He's going to fight in the United States. I mean, I thought that that was, that was massive.

Big news. For like two milliseconds, I actually believed you there. I was like, wait, he actually, he actually said that? In the middle of the inauguration, he's booking it. There's going to be peace

in the Middle East. There's going to be peace in Russia and the Ukraine. And we're going to figure out Hamza's situation. It's all going to be good. And the. There's going to be peace in Russia and the Ukraine. And we're going to figure out Hamzat's situation. It's all going to be good. And the Furies are going to be able to fight in America again. We're going to clean all this up. I love it. What a time. Don't mention Darren Till

though, huh? He already figured out his situation. Everyone stop chatting shit. Man, Darren Till. Remember UFC 244? The event that Trump showed up to. The first one. The BMF title fight. He couldn't get into the country until the Thursday before the fight to fight Kelvin Gaslam. And Darren himself said it was Trump that got it done. So you may laugh.

You may think that I'm making this stuff up, but he's done it before. There's precedent. Yeah. Anyway. President, precedent. That too. That too. That too, Frank. Any big plans for the evening, Frank?

No, now that Wayne Bridge is backed out of the fight, I am no longer. Miserations. Yeah, exactly. I guess a bottle of wine. Well, Wayne Bridge KSI lasted as long as the TikTok ban, huh? Yeah, what the hell? Yeah, the TikTok ban Yeah what the hell How'd they get it back by the way

How'd they get it back They never really needed to get rid of it Was it really him They thanked him in their welcome back Little message When's the last time you opened up TikTok app Okay When you open it up next

There's going to be a little message That says We're back thank you to Donald Trump Okay, when you open it up next, there's going to be a little message that says, we're back. Thank you to Donald Trump. Stop it. I legit never open it. I'm going to see if it pops up. Even my TV was like, TikTok is no longer available. I'm like, you're not on my TV. Welcome back. Thanks for your patience and support.

As a result of President Trump's effort, TikTok is back in the U.S. Wow. You can continue to create, share, and discover all things you love on TikTok. They had to kiss the ring. He told them before the ban that he wasn't going to enforce anything. So I don't know. Like, surprise.

All that matters is we're back. Yeah. That is amazing. By the way, it didn't happen for me. I had a nice stint on TikTok. I feel like maybe you opened TikTok before and maybe just skipped that message. You think I'm lying, bro? I don't think you're lying.

I think maybe you woke up at 3 a.m., you rolled over, you opened up the TikTok. Oh, you know what it was? Spence. Yeah, it had to have been Spence. Oh, there you go. Yeah. How do I get big on TikTok? I got three posts right now.

Talk to Spence. You got that message and didn't pass it along? A personal message from TikTok about Donald Trump to you and he didn't pass that along? Yeah. And then Wayne Bridges straight from Spencer. I feel, I feel,

honestly, I'm slipping. I didn't know about Wayne Bridge. I didn't know about TikTok being back. I thought you were trolling about the Wayne Bridge shit. No, I swear. There's people who didn't even know

Wayne Bridge got the fight and then he's already out of the fight. There's people who don't even know who Wayne Bridge is. Yeah, I'm one of them. I mean, I don't. It's us. I mean, I remember the historic Chelsea season.

No, that was great. He got 12 minutes a game. Is that true? He wasn't even a starter on the team? No goals. Oh my dear. Where'd they find this guy? I think he only played like two caps for the World Cup teams. What does caps mean? What did KSI say about... The 0-4-0-5 Chelsea game.

There was some sort of thing with a teammate and a girl. Okay. It was a lot of stuff. It went low. So clearly, the only thing you can do when somebody goes low and you're scheduled to fight them is to pull out of the fight. That's the only thing left. Pulled a Tommy Fury. Was it right there in that moment? He's like, you know what? That's too far. I'm done.

No. I'm hoping... Apparently not. I was watching. They just said, hey, Wayne, we're going to slip you a little bit of money You're out Darren Till got the dub That would be the move Wayne, here's a little quiche Step aside, Darren Till vs. KSI

That's the one Shout out Wayne Bridge Shout out Wayne Bridge jersey And shout out to the Ravens Where is your Lamar Jackson jersey? That's the one you should be wearing It's in my dirty clothes

You wore it yesterday Did you really? You have to remember one of my best friends Who I lived with for three years The die-hard Ravens fan ever I was torn I'll explain that You could have cut it Ravens fan ever. So, you know, I was torn. I'll explain that to you. That hurts.

You could have cut it. You could have cut it. It was more of a... Yeah, I know. He wears the hat together. That hurts. Do the 48 jersey? No, because then

if he cut it, he wouldn't have the full bills on it for today. So now he's representing properly. I just want to say, you know who didn't wear their Lamar Jackson jersey?

Pizzi. Yeah. Yeah. Well, for all we know, he had it underneath something. Pizzi's like a big Lamar guy who didn't wear their Lamar Jackson jersey? Pizzi. Yeah. For all we know, he had it underneath something. Pizzi's like a big Lamar guy. Yeah, he loves Lamar. He took a minute for MVP last year and won him a bunch of money. He was the MVP of the season. Yeah, I'm hoping.

He didn't get it done when it mattered. I'm hoping Bills commanders, Bills win. I would love that. And why commanders? I just think it's a cool story. I feel like you've got to stop talking about the Bills if I'm being honest. Just stop talking about this? It's set up so perfectly, I don't want to put the bad juju.

You know what I'm saying? But because I want to put the bad juju right now. It's there. It's right there. I don't want to put the bad juju. If it's Chiefs-Eagles, I don't know if I'm watching. Oh, God. I don't want that again.

That's just like... Shoot us in the head. That's such a man bleh. All of it. But come on. Chiefs versus either of those teams. The world... I can do Chiefs-Command world, the country wants the Bills.

America's team. Red, white, and blue. I mean, just look at them. If the Chiefs win, there's a chance I'd cheer for them just to see the three-peat. It's too perfect. We need to chill out. We need to let it happen. By the way, I didn't even think of that.

I didn't even think of, okay, so I'll be depressed if they lose. But I didn't even think of, oh, at least the Lions might win or something. No one wants to see these other loser teams. Commanders. Commanders would be cool. Come on, man. What? Commanders, one of the worst names in the history of sports.

If they win the Super Bowl, do they get their old name back? No. Definitely not. Maybe go back to WFT. That was way cooler. Washington football team? Way cooler. You didn't think? I agree. That's a pretty WFT. That was way cooler. Washington football team? Way cooler. You didn't think?

I agree. That's a pretty cool one. I thought that was amazing. I love that. What about the Washington 47s? We'll workshop it. We'll workshop it. Washington 47s?

Oh, my gosh. Imagine they come back and say, we got to Donald Trump. Sponsored by TikTok. Oh, my gosh. Oh, yeah. That's their That's their The patch is

TikTok Let us pray Let us pray Six days For the Washington 47 No not for them For the good guys

For the boys in blue Gentlemen Great day Great show Back tomorrow To do it all over again I like how it's gotten Considerably darker

Over the last five minutes That's what happens in winter The sun goes down 5.30 in New York It's getting it's getting darker later let's get us to march man just get us i think it's march 9th is that when the daylight hits is that changing too i hope so dj said he's gonna change it if dj does it then let's get that man a third term i love how now we're on dT because Barnett said DJT. I mean, it was a nice drop. It was a nice reference.

What a great story. They're calling him up. What kind of dish you got? What kind of dirt you got on Trump? And he's like, I don't know. He's a nice guy. I got nothing. Yo, let me tell you something.

I don't know if I mentioned it ever on the show. I think I did. You know how now, like, oh, if I want something on PFL, I call Don Davis. I call Darren Owen. You call Dana White. Michael Cohen was my affliction guy. And so I used to talk to Michael Cohen all the time. Be careful. They're going to be calling you now. Daily Beast is coming

straight to Helwani. I watched an interview of you with you and Trump one time. About Strikeforce? No, about affliction. The press conference he was talking about. I think it was about Strikeforce. It was at Trump Tower at the press conference Barnett was talking about.

I think it was in Atlantic City, wasn't it? No, it wasn't. Are you sure? Yeah, I'm pretty sure. No, I do. Don't you have a Trump in Atlantic City? No, I have a Trump at the Affliction press conference. I thought there were multiple.

We're fighting Atlantic City. Get them off the screen. Get these guys off the screen. It's been a great day. Thank you to everyone who joined us. Wow, what a show. What a day. What a lineup.

Super stacked like we always do, baby. Marab, John Wood, Yuri, Armin, Josh Barnett, Money Moicano. Thanks to them. Thanks to you. Back on Tuesday. Say time for this is a piece. I'm out of here. Moikano. Thanks to them. Thanks to you. Back on Tuesday. This is a peace.