The Ariel Helwani Show - Michael Irvin, O’Shea Jackson Jr., John Martin, Jake Babian all in-studio, plus Junior dos Santos, news & notes

Episode Date: May 13, 2026

Ariel Helwani kicks off the show with movie star O’Shea Jackson Jr., who joins him in-studio to talk LA sports, his latest film projects, pro-wrestling, fatherhood, going on tour with his father Ice Cube, and more (03:34). Junior dos Santos is back on the show, previewing his fight against Robelis Despaigne on Netflix, then talking about fellow Brazilians Philipe Lins and Adriano Moraes also competing on the card, potentially rematching Francis Ngannou, significant moments from his illustrious career, maintaining his motivation, and more (1:05:44). PFL CEO John Martin is in-studio to discuss the promotion’s plans and upcoming schedule, their media partnerships and rights, then breaks news of Thad Jean and Shamil Musaev fighting for PFL’s welterweight title in Washington, D.C., the use of AI in promoting fights, and more (1:31:41). Jake Babian joins Ariel in-studio ahead of his big show debut on the undercard of the Netflix MMA card, talking about his rivalry with opponent Namo Fazil, his early life and combat sports journey to this point, and more (2:07:42). Next, video of Ariel’s visit to Dodger Stadium, where he spoke to Dodgers fans about last year’s World Series against the Blue Jays (2:29:45). Petesy Carroll calls in to react to the team’s LA adventure and express his frustration with not being there, then cover some news and notes (2:48:19) and answer your Super Chats (3:26:58). Hall of Fame NFL wide receiver Michael Irvin crashes the studio to tell tales from his playing days, discuss his massive combat sports fandom, touch on football stories with names like Jerry Jones, Bill Belichick, and Mike Vrabel, and more (3:29:50). The Boys in the Back join Ariel for a final meal, before ending the show (4:24:28).

Lights. Camera. Action. The Ariel Helwani show has gone cross-country to the West Coast. Live from beautiful sunny Los Angeles. Here's your host, Ariel Helwani. Back in your life! On this Wednesday, May 13th, and 26. Hello again, everyone. I sure hope you're doing well.

Three of our shows out here in beautiful La La Land, Los Angeles. What a time we are having here. I mean, an absolute star-studded week of guests joining us in person. Yesterday was tremendous. Michael Hearn, Travis Barker, Nikisa Badarian. Obviously, we're here for the MVP. MMA debut, not only its debut, but its debut on Netflix. The very first MMA cartoon ever air on Netflix.

This is Saturday, and it was just announced earlier this morning, Mora Rinalo, Kenny Florian, Sean Wheelock, Tyron Woodley, Ariel Hawani, that loser, L. Duncan, and others, John Jones, Kane Velasquez, what? Katzangano? Sibley Skoles? It's a star-studded lineup. I'm going to be a part of the broadcast team. I'll be on the desk. I'll be doing the post-fight interviews in the cage. What a massive, massive, massive, gigantic honor this is for me. First time I get to do it for an MMA event in the cage. What a crew of individuals that we're working with. Like I said, A++, huge.

We'll shift our attention. My attention to that after today's show, BITB tomorrow from this studio. But it's been amazing being here. Last night we went to the Dodger game. Did some content there. Got this amazing bobblehead. It was Ice Cube Bobblehead Day.

Could you believe that? this might be the greatest bobbahood of all time in the low rider i felt some sort of way being at the dodger game and you'll see that addressed in our video later in the program and so that was a lot of fun we're killing it out here there's so much excitement and love being thrown our way i feel it bursting out of my soul so thank you very much to everyone who continues to watch and consume and send in beautiful messages and comments peace and love peace and love love love you all so very much Nate Diaz yesterday was tremendous as well. Today's program,

Jake the Barbabian, Jake Babian, fighting on the feature prelim spot on the card on Saturday against Namo Fasel. A bit of some bad blood between these two guys. He's a great young prospect

fighting out of the LBC, fighting under the likes of Antonio McKee and his great team over there. He's going to join us in studio. Prior to that, we'll be joined by John Martin, the CEO, PFL.

He's got some news to share. Breaking news. Stay tuned for that. prior to that, we're going to be joined by Junior Dos Santos, who's fighting on this card against Robelis Despan. He's going to join us as well. Pizzi's going to join us on today's program. But first things first, my friends, let us start.

Well, let me tell you the lineup because I think we need to show the lineup, right? Yeah, there it is. There's the lineup right there. I am so excited. We were planning on going to the Dodger game. And I was like, oh, we got to go to the Dodger game. And then I saw it was Ice Cube Bubblehead Day. And then I was like, you know what?

We're in L.A. We're in La La Land. We need to have O'Shea Jackson Jr. here. He is Mr. Los Angeles Sports. Of course, he is the host of the no contest wrestling show. He's been on the show before, but never in person. And so without further ado, let us say hello to Hollywood Superstar, the one and only the inimitable. O'Shea Jackson Jr.

My man. How are you? You have incredible paws, by the way. Has anyone ever told you that? No. Your paws are unbelievable. Thank you, man. They're like catcher miss.

raised. Hollywood superstar. Yeah, what a beast. This is one of the all-time great bobbleheads right here. We were there last night. Oh, nice. This is, look at this. This ain't no cheap bobblehead that you get at like, you know, a Brooklyn Cyclones game.

This is legit. Have you seen it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have it? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sure his garage is about to be filled with it. You know what I was impressed? I'm going to put it right here next to my boy Kiki who told me to suck it after the World Series.

We'll dress him later. Yeah, he's some can of piss, as we say. You know, you know what I was impressed with? They gave out 40K of these yesterday. yesterday. Wow. 40K. Like usually you go to Bobbahead Day.

It's like first 10K get the Bobbahead. Dodgers got that money, huh? I mean, yeah, Shohei helps. Yeah, he does help. What a guy. Your dad was on the air. He hits the Homer. Yeah.

My dad is like he's become their mascot. They haven't officially named him. But I mean, every time he is around or like on camera, something good happens. It's the best, man. Our family is so happy for him. and we got a bunch of little dads around now. Yeah, what happened the rest of the game, though? Oh, he probably went to the bathroom.

Yeah, okay. The Giants, right now, when you're the villain of the league, everybody is, every eye is dotted, every T is crossed against you. You know, the Dodgers right now, we're just waiting for October. I hate the Dodgers. I'm so happy for you. Yeah, I really do. It actually felt very weird for me being there because of the pain.

The pain still exists. The band is coming. Is it? Yeah, yeah. We'll make sure that we get your band. Yeah, no, I would like, I would like not to be banned, because it is a beautiful stadium, I will admit. Like, it is absolutely gorgeous being there with the palm trees, the suns setting, Vince Scully, all the paraphernalia.

It's amazing. But the fans are very, you guys are very rude. But I get it because all the other teams, like what's, I'm just curious, like, what's it like to be a fan of a team that gets swept in the NBA playoffs? Because my team is doing the sweeping, and I'm just wondering what's it like? being a fan. The New York Knick-O-Bockers. The Knicks, the last championship you guys won was four years after Martin Luther King was assassinated. 1973, to be exact. But that's yesterday.

But we're doing... I'm happy for you, you know. Which y'all got two? Two, yes, in our history. That's nice. I just want one. Sparks got three. I just want, yeah. Don't make me say something. I just want to won. They're playing pretty good. They're playing pretty good. And they got Josh Hart over there. That is former Laker.

I love Josh. Yeah, yeah. I hold Josh Hard dear to my heart. So, yeah. I love the Knicks because Nix fans are crazy. Bing, bong. I love Nix fans. And we're loyal.

Yeah, 100%. Whenever it's a Lakers Knicks, like, it's packed in there. It's actually more Nix fans there. We invade arenas like we did Philly. Philly no longer a sports town. That title is gone. Yeah. That's what Josh said.

You guys is beef with Philly. You know, Philadelphia has a, place in my heart because they destroyed Tom Brady for me. So like I love the like I love them for that. But yeah, destroy Philly. You know, who cares?

They gave me Kobe and that was it. Didn't even show up. Rolled over. Didn't even show up rolled over. They'd be Boston for me though. What about my Canadian boy, Dylan Brooks, showing up in the front row? He got sweat, which makes sense. I iced out. Yeah. Just to be a part of the hater parade. Yeah.

Come on, you have to admit, that is Heal 101 right there. It's for sure Heal 101. How good is this? How good is this? How good is this zoom out? Like, talk about cinematography here. Right. This is, this is villainous.

It's the ultimate loser. And heel. Yeah, ultimate loser and heel. You got to, oh. You hate him. I mean, I don't hate him, but I mean, like, what do you do? What are you? Sitting front row?

Yeah. What are you doing? Just to watch him lose. After you got swept, though. It's not like, oh, I got a game on him and you didn't, like, if he, if they were to one game and we got swept, all right. But you got swept too You don't respect the game

You don't respect the fact that he showed up Just to partake in the parade No, you look ridiculous Really? But if he would have got one game And then we got swept Yeah, okay, I'm applauded Oh, so if he would have lost in five

Would have been okay Yeah, that makes sense Because it's like, uh, But then like, bro, you got swept earlier Is he a better? Is he a better LeBron heel Than Lance Stevenson? I mean, he's going up against

40-year-old LeBron Like, come on, bro, What are we doing here? If you weren't, you're not talking to him at the height of his powers. Stop it. Is he coming back to LeBron? I would. Yeah? It seems like it's kind of ending.

There seems to be something weird happening. I feel that, why not? I mean, at the end of the day, it's the Lakers, bro. Like, people get on me for saying that, but... And what does that mean when you say it's the Lakers? We are the greatest franchise ever made. You know, we are

the logo of the league. More championships than the Celtics? Every... Well, I mean, like, they were winning championships when it was like 18. in the league, segregation, things like that. So like the Lakers,

we're the logo of the league. Every ball, every basket, every camera, every sock, every jersey has a Laker on it. Yeah. We are this league.

And so you want him back? Yeah. I love LeBron James. You want him to retire a Laker. Yep. And you're not bad, right? Put it up there.

Put whatever. You want 23 and 6, I'll put them both. You know, just put him up there. Yeah, absolutely. He's going to the Raptors. You like Brani?

I love Brony. Yeah, you're cool with him. Fight on. USC Georgians like me as well. Is there a kinship there? You know what it's like to have a famous dad and people try to hate on you? Not saying your past are the same,

but you feel like some sort of love for him because of some people talk shit about it. There's no two letters heavier in the alphabet than J.R. Yeah. So like for him to go into his dad's footsteps and to be in a position where he's on the team with his dad and it be the Lakers, like it's already going to be media all over you

because you're LeBron James Jr. But the Lakers, anybody who's over here, they are going to be in the media more than they've ever been. And so, like, yeah, I'm never going to have anything unkind to say about Brony. And he's shown that he is still growing as a player, undefeated in the G League. Yeah. Undefeated in the G League. So, yeah, you know, Bronny all day. I do have to say the way he conducts himself is actually quite admirable.

Yeah, he's not out here while and out. Like there are, there's something to be said about anybody that a second or third generation, because you could definitely be out here while and out. You got the means for it. But no, he handles his business, goes home, you don't hear nothing from him. Head down. Yeah, and like what more do you want him to do? You want him to quit because of some people on the internet?

It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. DeAndre gone? DeAndre gone? I'm so happy he got a new necklace. Oh, okay. I was so happy for him. I wish he would have got a victory at any point in time during the series. But that series was wild.

It was five versus eight a couple of times, too. That game two, that game two. Sports is such a momentum thing. Like, when I think about the Dodgers and how they stomped out the Yankees and the World Series, if they, if Freddie Freeman doesn't hit that, that game one, Yankees with that game one, that's a different series. it feels different because the momentum is going that way. Even the game, I believe it's game five,

like that's a heart, you're ripping hearts out right there. If that series has to go back to Los Angeles, it feels different. And so when you have these moments that are rip your heart out moments, all of our heart was in taking the momentum in game two. And then all of a sudden when it's so close and then they get 14 free points, It takes out your heart.

I know all about that. When Tyrese hit that shot in game one against the Knicks last year, changed everything. I admit that it changed everything. And we lose game two at home and now we're... Your heart is kind of like, can we beat these guys? And then now you're done. You lost.

Are you rooting for us? Like, it's good when the Knicks went. Absolutely. Oh, you are? Yeah, 100%. Oh, hell yeah. You want the Knicks to win? No.

So of the teams remaining, you want the Knicks to win. Go. No. This is huge. Yeah, man. Okay. Wow. I wasn't expecting that.

Shout out to Scar's Pizza in New York. Okay, where's that? Where's that? I don't know. I don't know where nothing is in New York. It's all numbers. Okay, but it's in the city? I'm going to look it up.

One more sports-related thing, and then we get to the real stuff. The Thursday skit that you did for the draft. Yeah. Your idea, Ram's idea? Who came up with that? That was amazing, by the way. Ram's idea, but after we lost in the playoffs, I text my connection.

Shout out to Kat. I texted and I was like, we need to figure out how you guys can take over it. LA. Because you're LA's team. You brought a championship. These are the things that usually get the ball rolling, but we need something to make them feel like, no, this is LA's team. You guys got to win the fans before we win a game. And she agrees. She was like, all right, well, you know, give us some time. A couple months later, they sent me this idea. And of course, I was all over it. There was a, they were super collaborative. and, you know, because they know how important that is to my family. And all that I asked was like, don't put a bunch of AI in it of my dad or anything like that. And we're not, don't do anything that tarnishes Friday or makes fun of my dad or, you know, you don't got me. They were like, of course, done.

And from there, they found gold. And it blew up so, this is around WrestleMania. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm in Vegas. I'm not even thinking about it. And then my phone is blowing up. And it worked out really well. Then we drafted a quarterback.

And I was so confused. How do you feel about that? It seems like Sean McVey was confused as well. Yeah. Like you made coach upset. It's troubling. But I'm not a Chargers fan. Right.

I got to go Rams. And does anyone, like, who's more popular in L.A.? Chargers or Clippers? Oh my God. For sure, Clippers. That Lobb City was huge. Just because they'd been around long. I feel like no one cares about the charges here.

Yeah. And it really hurts because I used to care about the charges a lot. Like I loved the charges. In San Diego. Yeah, in San Diego. Because it was a whole thing where I asked my mom, I was like, why are we going for Oakland? Like, you know, why? Well, they used to be in L.A.

Now, my parents hate when I use their sayings against them. Okay. And they have a saying where Yusta is a rooster that don't crow no more. Wow. All right. I love that. So when I hear that, I'm like, what's closer, San Diego or Oakland? San Diego.

I was a Chargers fan. It was a great decision because my father, like, hadn't beat me. I think I'm 16 and 1 when I was a Chargers fan and it was like Chargers' Riders. And when it came in 2016, it was between the Raiders, Rams, and Chargers. I really wanted the Raiders because of my dad because of the history. And I went on NFL Network with L.A. Raider gear on. but I said whoever comes here first I'm giving them my all

I'm giving them everything because they left because we didn't support so I'm giving them everything Rams came first those Raiders stuff got to go I cheered for Jeff Fisher all right that's a real legend right

can you just drop it like that when it's in your blood when you grow up being a LA's in my blood more but when you see that Raider logo it's still the same colors Still the same. Any Raider's success, I'm happy for my dad. Because I know.

Because he's for them now over the Rams. No, he's a Raider. He is damn near the logo. Like, that is his thing. Now, he, I'll see him, you know, give a nod to the Rams because of me. Like, we all have had our respected teams. But, I mean, he's a Raider. It just won't, that won't move.

I did get him to play halftime at a Rams. games. Oh, for real. Yeah. So they can't, don't say I never did nothing for him because that took a lot.

And with that skit, did you show it to him before to get his blessing? No. Nope. Didn't know about it. Really? Yep.

Didn't know about it. I had like whispered it to my mom. Like, during the whole process I was telling my mom, I was just like, you know, I told them, blah,

and then I think it was like the day after I had filmed because we were on a family vacation. I had to leave to go film that and then come back. And yeah, I let him know who was there. And he was like, yeah, oh, oh, yeah, oh. And then once he saw it, you know, him reposting it and, you know,

telling me good job and all that stuff. That must have felt amazing. That's the best, man. Anytime I can make him proud, it's like, it's cool. I saw you mention it while you were at mania doing all the stuff that you're doing with no contest. You're Mr. ESPN now. Bro, I'm out here.

Bro, you're on linear television talking pro wrestling. Yeah, crazy. Is this wild? You're like living your best life, truly. Yeah. And it happens so fast, but like, I knew it. You know, like, I knew it. I knew it.

Like, just, if you just give me the ball, I know I could do great with it, you know? And I was going to just do it, like, be on Twitch, you know, talking wrestling. Yeah. You know, get some donations. But how the pot came together was after the actors went on strike, I got scared, dude. It's like, at any time. they can just cut my income off for seven, eight months,

you know, and it wasn't just like the actors go on strike and then once we figure it out, cool, the writers did, you know, producers, like everybody.

So it was, I was at a standstill, like frozen. And I didn't like that. My dad, he has acting, yeah, but he's also ice cube.

He can just go rap, you know, like he has a second thing. So I was like, I need a second thing. And then I, I looked at what I do on a daily basis because I always say that people aren't paying attention

to what they're good at because it comes too easy to them. They think that like making money got to be hard. So I'm talking crap on Twitter every day about wrestling. Maybe do it in front of a camera, do it in front of a microphone. So, you know, that was the goal. And then lo and behold, Rich Eisen at the same time was putting together a podcast network.

and he wanted to do a wrestling show. T.J. Jefferson, my co-host, is the one who suggested me. So then, once I got over there, we've just been moving. And of course, it helps when Sam Punk is your first episode. Hell yeah. But to end up on TV with ESPN,

that's kind of unexpected, right? Yeah. That would be happening. But ESPN, once Rich and all his properties made the move to ESPN, we were kind of like, we're the only all wrestling show on here. So we kept like trying to nudge them.

And I personally feel like we were getting blown off. Sorry, Mickey Mouse. Yeah. Getting blown off. And now they're starting to pay attention like, oh, no, these dudes are, you know, they're entertaining. They know what they're talking about. Let's put them on TV. And then so, you know, they had us do wrestlepalooza.

They had us do the WrestleMania pre-show. And then it was like, can we get a couple of episodes to put on television? Yeah, absolutely. And then now we do it that way. definitely going to look at how payment works for that yeah yeah yeah now we're on TV do you enjoy doing that stuff more

than acting because you're a fan you get to be yourself freestyle I would say yeah like acting is so cool yeah like it's so fun I get to do stuff that I wouldn't usually do

you know I've learned so many things because of acting you know like whether that be weapons training I could, when I tell you, I could do work to somebody in a vehicle. Like, they taught me how to fight in a car for dinner thieves. Like, bro, like, I could.

Legit. I could really hurt somebody in. If someone jumps you? In a car, it's like, that's home field. Like, I know, like, I can work you in a car, bro. Wow. Yeah, it's really random skill. Have you ever seen car jihitsu?

Yeah, yeah. You do that? I watch that all the time. Really? Do you do that? You know how to do that? I mean, similar, yeah. Okay.

But the key is to get the head. rest off. If you get that out, you can do a lot of... From the back? Yeah, like, you're yeah. If you get that out of there? Where are you sitting? Are you sitting behind the guy? If they're going to a driver's seat, first of all, you're driving and someone comes behind you and you get the headrest off? If that were the situation, you're supposed to be in there without headrest. That's how they taught me. It was because, like, in the situation where somebody's attacking from the front, you can get into the back a little quicker if the headrest isn't there. But it's not practical for me to drive without my headrest. So I would have to take it off during that fight. But no, in that

situation you're just first of all make sure that belt is off get your belt off okay quick as possible because it restricts you yeah okay you're you're done but like also why are people sneaking up you yeah yeah why are they why are they i was wondering when is this going to come with the place exactly that's how i feel about this rant this is how random my mind goes when is that situation going to happen that's exactly how i feel about like a show naked and afraid i don't know that one you don't know naked and afraid no but i'm really bad what does this rock you live under bro how big is I don't watch TV. I don't watch TV.

I only watch sports. Negative afraid is probably... Where is it playing? Please don't tell me it's your show. Because I'm going to feel... Okay. But, yeah, so negative afraid, they take two strangers, put them in the wilderness for 21 days. Bucket, naked.

Legit. Neket. No clothes. Neked. And you're allowed to bring... Well, now they got like a list of things that they give you, like a pot, a knife. And... Opposite sexes?

Yeah. Yeah. Like Adam and Eve style. Yeah, exactly. And before, like in the early seasons, you would have to bring something from home. You get to bring one thing. And like, it would suck when the dude is like, I brought a lighter. And then it's like, yeah, you brought a half empty lighter.

Or a fire starter that they don't know how to work or, you know, they'll bring dumb stuff. This one lady brought goggles. Why? Because like they were on, like they were by the ocean on a deserted island. And everybody, they laughed at her. But when she used them goggles to light stuff on fire, it was great. genius. So, but anyway, negative and afraid, I always watch that show because, number one, I would never do this.

I would never do this. I know my limitations. Being in the wilderness for 21 days is already crazy. But naked? Yeah. What situation am I in where I'm naked? What happened to me before? Like, you're naked?

What happened? So, like, it's just like some producer was like, make them naked, you know? It doesn't make sense. Yeah, it makes no sense. What are they blurring it out the whole time? Yeah. Are they good-looking people or is it... You know?

It's good? It's all about inner beauty. Okay. Okay. I need to see. So, just one episode to do you have my dad tattooed on his leg. What? Oh my gosh.

Is that weird? Yeah. It's trippy. And when people show me, I don't know how to react. Is that like a compliment? I guess it's a compliment. Yeah. But it's like a weird compliment.

Like, my dad, whatever you needed in your life, my dad gave to you so much so that you wear him him as a badge of honor. I tip my cap. But then like when they like, hey, look, I'm like, there he is. Yeah, there's pops. Like, what do we want me to do? You know? Okay, now I got to get your take on the state of the game.

Okay. Right now, pro wrestling is on fire. Is it? Yeah, I feel like it is. I feel like. What's on fire about it? I feel that, number one, it is doing crazy numbers. Like with the Netflix thing.

Yeah, and even AEW over there, stand with Warner Brothers Discovery, the fact that there are two legit, hell yeah. Two legit promotions going head to head. AEW coming into creation made WWV have to show its fangs again. Agreed. You know?

And so like they are really two promotions making sure, no matter what each other says, that they outdo the other one. Couldn't agree more. You know? And that right there is what makes it fun. It's what makes it they're constantly trying to grow. And so I haven't felt this way about wrestling since I was a kid, dude.

Like there was a time frame once WCW and ECW are gone and it's just WWE on your television. We're like, it's like Madden. Madden is the only football game. NBA 2K, the only basketball game. There is no competition. They could sell you the same game every year and you're going to buy it because you want to play basketball.

You want to play football. There's no comedy. Like there's no NBA 2K used to have to battle against NBA law. Like it used to have to be a thing. But once you don't have a competition, they can do whatever they want. You're going to show up. Mania was disappointing.

Night two was fun. Okay, see this is what people say, but as a whole, it was very disappointing. Were you there or did you watch on TV? TV. See, I got to watch on TV. Being there, it's fun every time. You were there?

Both nights? Yeah. Now you're just trying to flex. Always flexed. I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, that's gonna, do you think, do you think they had to stick with that? I mean, I don't know what type of ink they used on that contract, but I'm pretty sure it's permanent.

Like, I gotta, you know, I got a, I just feel like there are a certain, like when they cut to, I know you were right there, but I'm sure you saw, when they cut to the dude in the, in the broadcast booth, he didn't say a word, Adam Whiteman, the fan, Oh, yeah, I kept hearing about that guy. There's certain things that aren't for sale. Yeah. They would never go to Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in the booth on ESPN on Monday Night Football and be like, yeah, we're being joined by Joe Smith here who's a super, you know what I mean? And it just feels like everything is for sale.

Yeah. You know, so many, can't be commercials during WrestleMania. That is where I draw the line. Like, they're the amount of, and I talked to, I told this to Triple H and Stephanie and I get Stephanie shot. Oh, look at you flexing left and right. They text me happy, they text me happy birthday too. Bro. Was it your birthday?

February 24. Oh, it was like three months ago. Yeah, but they did it. But it was in a group chat too. Yo, just the three of you. Yeah. You trips and stuff? Golly, what a life.

Yeah, yeah. What's so? They, I told them it was like the ad and like the timing of them are horrendous. Wait, you said this. So it's, yo, happy birthday young man? No, no, no. This is when, oh, okay. Thank you.

And by the way, the ad sucks. No, I have six months ago or something crazy like that. I went to go do Stephanie McMahon's Pond. Tell me your story. Yes. And afterwards, because I did it at WWE headquarters, Triple H comes down. We're all, you know, we're talking, yeah, yeah.

Then I brought up my transgressions. Okay. You know, and I was like, dude, the ads are crazy. What do you say? What he said? It's almost unwatchable. Can you tell you? And like, they know.

They agreed. You know, it's just about they're working on, placement of them maybe you know like i get it roman rains's entrance is seven minutes long but that doesn't mean that it's a time to throw the ads in i should not there should never be a moment where i miss i miss i oh sky's entrance because we are back from commercial break you know it's just it's a it's a level of respect for them you know it's fine you know in the middle of a match but like at least picture and picture me yeah you know uh you know you know Backstage, you know this, you're an old school fan.

Bob Euker and Andre the Giant backstage, those backstage promos with mean gene in the locker room. Yeah. We didn't have enough of that. None of that. Like, it was all cut out. That's why I said it felt soulless. It's for sure solace, but I mean, like, to get to a billion,

I don't know what you got to do, but it sounds pretty soulless. Like, you know, then we're dealing with Bs, not M's. We're dealing with B's. What about the product right now? Because people are getting, I have great respect and admiration for Triple H. I think he's a tremendous guy, by the way. I've gone to know him a little bit, so this is not a knock on him.

And I think he might be handcuffed a little bit. That seems to be. But what do you think about the product right now? When you watch it, people are very down on SmackDown. People are down on the product. What do you think? I feel like SmackDown is fighting for its life. A lot of it is because Netflix gets all the cool toys.

Like, when I saw it, when like, Javon and Trick and Obah came over, I was like, all right, surely, surely they're going to give them to Smackdown. No, two out of the three go to Raw. And then, you know, they pass off a trick to Smackdown. But it was just like, man. And then when you look at it right now, Netflix is doing such a chokehold on, like I say, the cool toys, all the fun stuff. The World Heavyweight Championship used to be the second place.

You know that like the number two. Cody Rhodes has the title with the company logo the biggest. And like that's not number one. Yeah. It just feels it feels off. Smackdown needs a drastic help. It is the layoffs, you know, there was a couple that really stung, but you kind of carved out your entire women's midcard.

There's just a lot of decisions there where I'm thinking like, all right, a bunch of Nxti people are coming, but they all can't go to Raw. Smackdown needs help. And I feel like once they figure that out a little bit, you know, then they'll have smooth sailing. I know a star that's over there that I know needs

some sort of storyline is Julia. You know, Julia's over there, and it now seems like her muscle, which was Keanu James, is about to be the star. You know, and they got, to figure that out. They've always had a little trouble with Japanese wrestlers, but like when you

Eos over there, killing it, so I know you know how to do it. I think in a situation like Julia, she needs like a money in the bank. Not as far as even winning, but a steal-the-show moment or elimination chamber. Those

two matches have the ability to win crowds over. If it wasn't for elimination chamber, I don't know if we get Kofi mania, you know, because Kofi was going crazy in the chamber. And you can make a star without giving them the victory in money in the bank. And she can do it. She's got the moves. So that's somebody that I'm looking out for, but yeah, they got to figure out something juicy for Smackdown because we're all, taking all the cool stuff. They got Roman now. Roman is back. Yo, Roman is on fire.

I will admit, I was a little lukewarm to him in the early days. He is, like kids talk about Or, like, yo, he is on fire, man. The promos are amazing. The promos leading up to mania, I thought were amazing. The aftermath. Him on ESPN was great on first take, as Rick Flair said. There's something different about him. Even after the Jacob Fai 2 match at Backlash,

like that little short thing, like, that's why you shouldn't be here. That's why you, I wish you were never here and you're not going to be. There's just something about this guy. I think it's maybe the confidence that he knows he's the freaking man now. Yes. You know what I mean? helps so much. It helps so much.

And he's, once he, in 2019, when he really, like, cranked it up, like, oh,

this Roman is different. Because Roman in, you know, what is known as a, like, big dog era for his character. He's getting booed. And it felt like

they were trying to force this, this face character. But I've always had the ideology that, if you're going to boo me, I'll give you something to boo. I'll give you something to boo right now. And the same thing happened with his cousin,

The Rock. You know, The Rock tried to come out, you know, Rocky Maivia, you know, smiling all the time and all that. And then at one point,

he just flipped. Like, all right, I'm going to give you something to boo. And the Rock is born. So I was begging them to do the same thing with Roman. And it just never happened until one day he came and wrecked everyone and left.

And this is when the tribal chief is starting to be born. And then the pandemic happened. And, you know, with Roman's health, it was probably not the best place for him to be around. So he left again. Then he came back. And his work in the Thunderdome with the Uso's. So good. When it was just something special about as crazy it is to not have a crowd.

But to be able to hear every word that they're saying in. ring, they were allowed to like really have some monologue, some like scenes happening in ring. And he ate that up. He ate it up. And he just, he kept that, he kept that

energy and was able to go on that four year run. Could win a little longer. I think so too, by the way. Could have went a little longer. It was so good. So good. I was not getting tired of it. Yeah. And I'm still mad at WWE for not making Roman 1, 316 shirts. Oh.

That would have been so hard. Yo, I was in Montreal for Sammy versus Roman. You remember that? Yeah, that was a good one. I really thought Sammy was going to win. But the place was on fire. They were going on fire. When he turned on Roman and hit him with the chair at Rumble.

Oh, that pop is unreal. It was unbelievable. What a run that was. Yeah. What a freaking run. You mentioned Kofi, by the way. Yeah. What was your reaction to that?

Kofi and Xavier. It broke my heart. But when you find out the news as to how it all went down. if we are to believe the reports. If we're to believe the reports, then absolutely. Absolutely what? That's the right decision on their part.

If I did, if I signed up for a TV show. Yes. And after episode three, they're like, Shea, so we're thinking about revising your contract. I am out of there. Are you kidding? Who do you think you are? We had an agreement.

Why do we have a contract? Yeah. What is this? Yeah, so in a in a world where the amount of times I'm on TV, literally my wins, and all of that is controlled by you, how can you get upset at me or like make me take less money because of what? Like you control my whole narrative. So like now you're telling me to take less money. It doesn't make sense.

You control everything. and they have the right to be like, all right, we're taking our ball and go home. If this is the ultimatum, choosing us. It's hurting, though, right? They're legends. Yeah.

And two of the most beloved guys. The way that they're created was because they bet on themselves. Yeah. Big E. Cofy, Xavier Woods were both at a weird crossroads in their career. Xavier Woods has this idea from a stable that he had thought of, I guess, and then changed it to make. it the new day. He tells Vince McMahon, because Vince was nervous

about people booing Kofi. He tells Vince, if you put a microphone in my hand for four weeks, I guarantee I'll make them boo Kofi. If not, there's other guys that deserve my spot. Like, bet on himself. Love it. And they become one

of the greatest tag teams of all time. So I cannot be mad at those guys for betting on themselves when they're at another crossroad like that. I'm mad about the fact that, as you say, you sign a contract. Yeah. As the talent, I can't say after a super hot year, one year into the four-year deal, let's say, five-year deal, hey, can I get a raise?

No, you sign the contract. That's what the corporation would tell you. So why do they get the ability to say, yeah, actually, we don't have anything that's worth this money. We can't come up. It's insane. It's not. It just, that bothers me. Yeah.

And it makes, it makes TKO look like they don't know who the new day. It makes it feel like you guys just bought this thing And we're like, oh, this piece isn't doing like, No, this piece is special. This piece is one of the locker room cores. Like this is like to take this away, you can't be so hot that you burn down our foundation. You know, the house can't fall apart like that.

And it really feels like you are the suits who don't know what you have and you're moving pieces because they're just numbers and not the people. And it's not a good look. And it's also not a good look for future business. Because like now I know that's how you guys negotiate. It makes you hesitant. How do you come to terms with that?

As an Uber fan, but you love the boys. Yeah. I mean, wherever they go, because they are a box office. They are good TV. They got the chemistry. They got the charisma. Wherever they go, I'm going to watch. So just make sure you have them.

Does it make you sour on the Fed, as they say? I mean, yeah. And like, I've been mad at them a few times. Yeah. You know, I've been mad at WWE a lot. If you're a fan, you know you have. You know, I'm still mad at Triple H for beating Booker T when I felt like Booker T should have won that title.

It's like you hold on to those things. but like I'm not one of these fans I'm not watching because then I'm not supporting the guys who are there sure and so it puts you in a weird spot now I'm in a position where I do have a platform and I'm going to talk about it if you're going to pushback because I give you props I feel like I have you have perhaps you know sometimes where I was like oh yeah you don't have a guest this week it's like all right you know you never know

you can never fully know so like I've never come out and said nothing like like that because like it's it's just does that ever make you think twice like hey let me just chill a little bit for the good of the show for the good of the platform I mean we haven't you know anything that we really felt the only thing that we were like how do we handle this

was when Hulk Hogan passed okay we were like as wrestling fans we know we have to mention Hulk Hogan as a a show that is hosted by two black men,

we really could talk about something else. You know, it just, it was a weird situation. So we handled it respectfully and kind of moved on. Okay. You didn't mention it? Yeah, we didn't spend a whole hour talking about it. No, no, no, no. Yeah, we didn't, you know, we didn't dedicate an episode.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's just one of those things where you will recognize how important somebody is to the business, but you know that you have your own personal belief. And so, like, what are you going to put in front at the time? And we thought we found a nice middle ground, but anybody who knows me knows, I really know. Do you watch the Netflix doc on them? No, I have a problem with watching those docs because I've heard, I've watched so many other docs that have told me these same stories. Yeah.

You know, and I don't expect, even though the trailer was great, I don't expect Hulk to tell me where the bodies were buried. No, that did not happen. Exactly. It was surface level. It was like I watched it on a flight to San Diego. It passed the four hours, you know. But I didn't learn anything new. It was kind of eerie to see him do new interviews knowing he's dead.

Yeah. His wife is actually a fascinating character in the, in the daughter, or his ex-wife, excuse me, Linda. But yeah. Yeah. If you feel some sort of way about him in a negative way. Yeah. And I was surprised they let Brett Harden on it. Yeah, but he wasn't showering him.

with praise. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bread is the man for that. Freaking love Brett. Idiots coming out, huh? Yeah, you see my promotion? This is a nice little promotion right there. 828. That's nice. Oh, the jacket? Oh, yeah. Oh, thanks, my man. Tell us about idiots. This is a good way to get off Al-Cogan for you, huh? Yeah, you see. See me? I learned from my dad. But so, yeah, idiots formerly known as Shathids. Okay. But idiots is a funer ride. It is a road trip comedy, which I feel like we haven't seen in a very long time. Me,

my buddy Dave Franco, who's one of my best friends from acting, you don't really have, like, actors record with each other. You get each other's number, and it's just like, and whenever I need you, you know, I'll call you. Me and Dave, like, we really talk. Like, you know, like, that's my

guy. And he told me, like, yo, I got this script, and I know you'd kill it. My first response is, do I do anything weird. He was like, no, I do all the weird stuff. I was like, all right, great. Black people comedy is different.

You know, so I can't, I just can't be explaining to the black community for you. You know, it's weird. I don't know. Weird stuff, man. They'd be doing weird stuff. So, I get on the playing against Georgia for him. Mason Thames plays the kid that we have to ship across state. He's basically a billionaire son who is out of control and we have to take him to rehab.

And he's insane. He's insane. He drives us crazy. He drives us up the wall. Peter Dinklage is in it. He's awesome. Legend. Love Game of Thrones.

Yes. I just recently started, my sister really took the helm, but it was our joined idea to finally show my mom Game of Thrones. Okay. She is so locked in. It's crazy. Would you believe I've never seen it?

Bro, I'm just locked in on the sports. You know, there's just a lot of sports to be watching. My team here makes fun of me all the time, because they talk about movies all the time and they're like, I don't know. How do you not? They were talking about some sheep movie.

What's the sheep movie you just saw? What's the sheep detectives? Don't listen to their nonsense, okay? Okay, because I was late on the Game of Thrones train. Never saw a second, literally a second. I don't even think I've seen a trailer. That's nuts. I'm not into this fantasy Harry Potter stuff.

God, we can't go into the conversation I was prepared to go into that. Well, I'm just giving you the heads up that I've known. You got to watch. For real? Yeah, like you have to watch. Like first episode, because I'm going to tell you, I was like, all right, another nights at a round table show.

It's not that. I didn't start watching until a month before the last season came out and I couldn't put it down. I couldn't put it down. Dragons and stuff, not my thing. Bro. I'm telling you. Real. There's nothing realer than this, bro.

Like, the first episode, they push a kid out of window. I was locked in. I was like, I've never seen that. before in my life they pushed that poor kid like medieval people on horses there's a couple horses yeah not for me i'm telling you not for me it'll change your life i it's not like every other thing you've seen before next on my list is sopranos i need to watch sopranos i'm with you there i just got to season four wow okay all right all right so i'm not that late uh no in a break it bad you've seen breaking bat what a freak dude it's just you just you just you just want people punching each other there's a spin

What's the spin-off? Oh, better call saw? Cool. Wouldn't know anything about it. Bro. It's actually one of my claims to fame that I don't know. You rip me out. Isn't that good?

Isn't that good? I mean, it's great. I like what I like. There's too much great Knicks basketball to watch. Bill's football on Sundays. Great Knicks basketball? What's that? What's that?

What's that four years of your life? What do we got here? Napkins for O'Say? Okay, that's very kind of. See, Minches. You're right? Yeah, my, bro. I'm a father, bro.

So, you know, the little ones, they bring germs from school. And like, you know, my nose has been running. I'm like, you got to go to your moms. How old? She's eight. She'll be nine in August. Just one? Just one, bro.

I'm still reading the manual. Respect. You know, not trying to just, you know, figuring it out. But yeah, my baby girl, Jordan. I haven't taken her to wrestling yet, but I cannot wait. Has she watched it? Yeah. Into it?

Yeah. And surprisingly, like, she kept it a secret from me. Because, like, she doesn't like when I make, I'm a big personality. So I get really happy when, like, she told me. this stuff. But yeah, me and my sister, we're watching we're watching AED actually, and I kept hearing

like another match somewhere. Like I was like, is there a delay? Like, what am I hearing? My daughter was behind the couch on her iPad watching Seampunk versus Drew McIntyre. Wow. And I was like, on her own. I told my sister, she was like,

that's the fourth time she's watched it. Wow. She was like, she called me one day and said, Auntie, what's the man? match with the blood. Wow. Yeah, and that's that. That's her favorite. Have you shown her Danhausen? No, but I love Danhausen. Okay. Some don't, some do. I don't get why. I think he's killing it. I'll admit, the debut was a little bit rough. The debut was crazy. It was very WCW, like 1994S. It was that. It was gobbledy gooker. Yes, that's what I said. He's been killing it. Monster. Is there, is there like a line, though, like of over-exposure that they need to worry about? Is there too much Danhausen? Or we're not there.

yet. I was surprised he got a match. Yeah. How'd you feel about the payoff there? The mystery opponent. No. Or a mystery partner, I should say. I didn't like it. You didn't love it? I didn't like it, but they found a way to make it work. Once, my man Kit Wilson. I like him. Once he put an old boy back into the cloning machine and then I, I laughed so hard

because I was like, of course. Of course that's what happened. Like it makes sense. You know, it's ridiculous, but it makes sense. And like, that's the best side of wrestling. So you enjoy him. A little comedy. I love it. Like a huge pop every time he comes on.

Yeah, he's good. I wasn't expecting this. Honestly, he felt very indie to me in AEW. Here he feels, I don't know. He feels like the- AEW, I feel like I was confused on his, on his usage. Excuse me. No problem, no problem.

On his usage because, like, I hear nothing from him for months. and then randomly he'd just be under the ring or something and then disappear. And that was it. That's all I really knew about him. You know,

I'd had to, like, do research. And, you know, when he debuted, I got on Twitter and I was like, there's no way this is how they debuted him.

Like, what was it? What were we looking at? Survivor Series? What, SummerSlam? When he came out? Yeah, what, PLE was there? Chamber?

One of them. Yeah, yeah. And yeah, I was like, like how to set him up for failure right there. But then he comes out and he does his thing. And like you said, he's incredible. I got a really blow my nose. No, go ahead. Go ahead.

Do your thing. Dan How's in the man. O'Shea Jackson, the man. We'll keep for a few moments because I think you're going to tape your pod after this, right? Who do you got on this week? Comedian Brad Williams. Brad Williams. Brad Williams.

Is he related to cat? Not at all. There it is. Not even close. Can I ask you about this? Yeah. I think it's more of a question slash statement. The best thing in wrestling right now is not even a debate.

Okay. Do you know what I'm going to say? The best angle, the best storyline in wrestling right now. Yeah. Do you have a feeling as to what I'm going to say? Is it over? El Grande Americano versus... There's no way we're about to have this time.

Bro, I can't get enough of this. May 30th. Yeah. I'm locked into AAA. I don't even know what. they're saying when I'm finding like the stream initially. And then I see Ray doing the commentary and he's great. JBL.

Taker is killing it. I actually had to, this is my subtle flex. I wrote to Taker and said, this is the best thing in wrestling. This reminds me of like 1987 wrestling. Pure, fun,

innocent and makes sense. The pull apart brawl that they had. Yeah. When the girl's there and then this dude, Ludwig Kaiser. Yeah. Speaking Spanish. Allegedly.

Yeah. Allegedly. It is so good. Do you agree? I agree. It is so good. And in the beginning, you know, when it was just like, when they were doing the whole Gulf of America. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like, everyone thought it was going to be something completely different. And kudos to, first of all, kudos to Chad Gable because it must really be something when you get hurt. And they, you know, they have somebody covering for you and you see the dude's success and you still have the gusto to show up for work and now making this. Yeah. So I want to shout out to him, give him his props. He's been amazing. But Ludwig, when he took over and he, like, you know, over there in Europe, they know a few languages, he came out to that crowd in Mexico and did his thing. The pop.

I was like, this dude's a king. And now, now they add allegedly the Creed brothers. And I don't even know who the other guys are. But, like, there's so much Americano going on. It's just nonsense. It's fun, though. Just fun nonsense. And why is it working so well there?

And then they show up on WW programming and like no one cares. Mexico loves the, Mexico loves a good shout out. Yeah, yeah. I think, you know, we were just talking about the Saudi mania. Yeah, yeah. The mania in Mexico City would go insane. It would be crazy. Like, I'm talking almost dangerous.

When they bought AAA, I was like, you know, this is just another thing under the umbrella. But it's actually been on fire. Yeah, I thought they were. were going to, I thought it was just them taking a dig at AEW. Yeah, for CML. It was just like, you know, but yeah, they're doing their thing over there. I love it. It's people who deserve, like, the luchadors over there, like, getting extra shine.

Like, you got to be happy for them. Darby Allen, A.W. champion, good or bad? Great. Great. Yeah. Some don't like it. Why do you like it? Because I, it's one of those guys that, like, you got to respect.

Like, Darby, I worry about him, you know? like the crazy shit that he does he's insane he's nuts dude but he's doing what he loves so who am I say anything and he's one of their guys you know one of their guys that I didn't even think would get the title

every time they talked to him about he said he didn't want it you know but I love the weekly challenge for leaving WWE but once again I'm going to always support they put on a crazy match great match for Brody King

he's doing his thing Oh, you watch it all, huh? I mean, like, now I've got to be able to talk about it. Like, people ask me, you know? It's work? Yeah, I mean, at some points, like, AEW, bro, they, like, their pay-per-views are so long. And I'll be like, TJ, you got to cover these last three matches, bro,

because I can't, I got to go do stuff. You know, I'm an actor, bro. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, AEDU, bro, y'all, y'all. And plus, those people have been sitting there for, like, three more extra hours because they're looking at the stuff that's not on the pay-per-view. They're nuts.

They had an event on a golf course or something recently. Did you see that? Yeah, that was hard. It was actually kind of fun. It was weird, but I enjoyed it. Oh my God, magic. No, magic. Yeah, yeah, much love.

Okay, just a couple more for you. This has been great, man. We're vibing here. Are we vibing? This is exactly why I knew. You should be doing, like, I feel like you should be doing like drive time, sports talk radio in L.A.

You are Mr. L.A. Has anyone to approach you about that? My man, my people over at Mason and Ireland, that was the first people to put me on, like, any type of ESPN, anything. and yeah, I would co-host for them for three hours, 12 to 3. You'd be perfect for that. Would you want to do it every day, though?

Every day is crazy. It is hard to commit to something every day just because of my primary job. Right. Like, even with no contest, there were some days where I had to do an interview from set. You know, I'm just like, you know, in my costume talking to Grayson Allen in a car, you know. and he's bagging on me and I can't tell him why I'm dressed like this because of NDAs and stuff like that.

But yeah, it's... Isn't Grayson Allen the basketball player? No, Grace and Wallet. Wow. It's like, wow, you're Grace and Ellin? That's crazy. Yeah, with Grace and Waller. Yeah, I love him.

And, uh, yeah, bro, I just love Australians. When I was, back of my first job, which was going on tour with my dad, Australia, I really found my back. Okay. Because my dad didn't know about the Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy. So I used to do that. The crowds go nuts.

You'd come out. Yeah, my dad would bring me out, me and my brother do a show. I would do a song or two with him. And then that turned into us kind of being his hype man throughout. And so when I get that crowd, Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy. He would look. Like, yeah, man, play some FIFA in your life. Yeah.

Be world. How long did you do that for? How many years? I was 18. And then I think the last. time I went on tour with him, I was maybe 21, 22. Okay. Because then I started auditioning for straight out of Compton, and then I became an actor.

What's it like going on tour with your dad? Because there's crazy things that happen on tour, but you can't really go crazy because your dad's there. Oh, man. You find your ways. You do, okay. Yeah, because, like, you know, me and my brother back, you know, in our yoga times, about 18, 19. people love

throwing bags of agriculture on stage and it'd be a funny game of like trying to keep it under your foot the entire time until you can reach and grab it you take it though you

I mean you know when you can sneak it away but it's like it's your dad what if someone put something in it I mean that's always it's a riz okay you roll the dice tour baby you're going to be all right You're not smoking with them.

That's crazy. The sketchest thing we ever did was we were in Canada. Which part? Which part? Where were we? Chictoria, aka Victoria, BC. What's Chictoria? Victoria is an island.

No, I know. I'm Canadian. I know. But they call it Chictoria because of the ratio of women to men. Is that true? Yeah. I never heard of that. They told us all about it.

Wow. Okay. So we were over there in Chick, Chik Toria. Yeah. And yeah, we were being in the Greyhound. that we were in. We smelled the aroma. There was this guy in the crowd by the name of Shames. Shout to

Seamus. Yes, we do remember you. We talk about you. The wrestler? No. Okay. Just this random Canadian guy. And he was like, yeah, you got you know, you guys want some. We're like, yes. And yeah, we got his number. He was like, he's talking about, you know,

hooking us up. And so he got his number, waiting for him to Texas. He texts us and like, he was like, oh, we, you No, we didn't want to do it in the hotel. So he was like, we just do it on the street. And so, well, we're just fucking on the street. And then he was like, yeah, we're actually about to throw this party at my house, blah, blah, blah.

We went with this random dude in a cab to his house in Canada. Doors were unlocked. Everyone was nice, friendly. The nicest people ever. That's Canadians. That's Canadians. When we went back to the hotel, me and my brother were like, this is the dumbest thing we've ever done in our life. lives. So yeah. I love that. Great representation. You're an actor, obviously. Are you part of a

like a SAG after? What is that? That's the union, right? What's the after part? Is that? Bro, I just found out with Sagment. Screen actors guild? Yeah, no, yeah, the screen actors guild. Yeah. I don't know how to use that. I have to pay dues. Yeah. Annoying. But it is a, you get benefits. Okay. know, take care of your dental work and all that type stuff. For real. Yeah. And then you could also do things like get, if there's a premiere or like, you know,

if there's like some sort of anything that is actory you can go to. I didn't know that. I don't use, I'm terrible at using my benefit. The reason I ask you this, Kevin Nash. Oh, I saw that. I was reading that. On his pod said he thinks the wrestlers should finally unionize. So who better than someone who is in an actual unionize?

and obviously a different industry to weigh in on this who obviously loves wrestling as well. What do you make of that same, man? I mean, it definitely is something that they can use as leverage when these contract talks are happening. I'm like, well, we also could do this if you don't want to play ball. Right. But I do also know that, like I said earlier, once SAG went on strike, we all go on strike. Right. and I literally got this job because wrestling don't give a damn and they never went on a strike.

You unionize them, that strike is a real thing. They'll go and they will not wrestle. But they've given me so much. They do such crazy things that I would never do just to get a couple of claps for me. anything that benefits them I'm for. Okay. Do you think we'll ever see it?

People have been talking about this for a while. I don't think it'll ever happen. It's a Hulkgoat. But, you know. Yeah, it goes back to the Hulkster. Come on now. Shout out to Jesse's body mentor. Yes, shout out.

That's a deep cut right there. Yeah, man. That is a deep cut. That dude's got some stories. Same with the MMA fighters. Same with the UFC fighters. People have been talking about it for years, but there's just too much division

among the boys, among the lockroom. It's very hard for them to all come together. Yeah. I mean, yeah. And it's going to be like that. But it is a card that I don't think TK.A. thought that they would pull. What do you mean?

Like, I don't like. Don't worry about it. I know, but it's magic. I know. It's magic in Korean. I can't just let them on the floor, bro. Isn't it amazing, though, a New York show. Our show is showing so much love to L.A.

I mean, they're, are they facing camera? Yeah, okay. Yeah, that's fun. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know where you are, bro. KK. told me to suck it on Instagram. Literally told me to suck it. And here I am paying homage.

I agree. Oh, Canada. Blue Jays, man. Y'all got lucky. You talked about this Knicks, Nick, so I'm thinking like, he's a Yankee. Y'all got lucky. You got lucky. You have to admit this.

The better team won. Statistically. If you actually look at the stats from the series, the better team did not win. The team who played better did not win. Now, I understand these things happen. But the ball getting lodged, nonsense. I mean, it's in the rule book. I mean, dude, put his hands out.

He could have just taken it. It was like, it wasn't really large. It was like, it was like resting. It was literally resting. It went. It was like, he could have picked it up. Listen, yeah, he could have grabbed a ball, but like, it's wet. He got his ass saved by Pahas with that catchover.

His ass saved. Again, luck. Let me tell you. The luckier team won, not the better team. I think that's a fair statement. Once, old boy slid in with that, you know, I forget who's on your team. Yeah, when he did that slide and that turn. He could taste the champagne.

Bro, I know. And that's where you're missing. I'm still salty. You should be forever. I went last night and I'm seeing back-to-back champs and it actually legit hurt. Yeah, dude. First, the Kendrick thing and now this. May 15th, two days away.

I know, I'm excited. He's back. Are you? Yeah, bro. I'm a fan. Like, if people on Twitter, like, all you people who like Kendrick, you better not listen to drinks out or what. But Kendrick, that's what I say. Am I not to say that?

Of course not. That's my guy. What? The sixth God, come on. You have to admit. Greatest rapper alive right now, active. He's quite the entertainer. Who is the greatest rapper alive?

Oh, a lot. Ice cute. Okay, I do. I was, I was putting you on this. Who's the greatest rapper of all time, in your opinion? Ice cube, bro. Hell yeah. Gave me life.

You have to say that. Yeah, man. You should have to say that. I'll take that to them. Bank. Why weren't you at the game yesterday? Because baseball's boring. No, I have my daughter, bro.

I had my daughter. She's doing the California state test. So like I just, you know, kind of make sure that's taken care of. Okay. That's one thing that my parents stressed into me. So I have to stress it to my kid is like school. If you, if you crush school, I will give you the world. And that was always the rule.

So like, yeah, man, I see. And girls, you know, at least the ones that I've met in my life don't like math. So I love math. Math is money. Yes. I had to make sure, you know, my baby was taking care. You're the freaking man. Thank you so much for coming in. Thank you for having. By the way, Denny Thieves 3.

Yeah, yeah. I got a call from Christian Gutigas on WrestleMania weekend. We're putting together the story. It's happening. Yeah. What about your boy, Rico? Oh, man. You know Rico's fighting next week in freaking Egypt. Yeah? You didn't know this. No, no. That's my boy. Your boy, apparently not. I mean, I don't know.

He's fighting in front of the pyramids in Giza against Alexander Usik, the heavyweight champion in a crossover match. He's had one boxing match and Turkey, you know, of Saudi fame, put this fight together. It's a crossover. RICO against Usik on Saturday, May 23rd, afternoon on his own. You should watch it. I never know when Matt, like these are my boys who fight Max Holloway. Yeah. July 11th, Connor McGregor. He went up against Justin. Gagee, yeah. UFC 300. Broke my heart. Yeah. Because Max is my friend. Gigi's my favorite. And like, it's your favorite. Yeah, because like, I've never seen a bad match for me.

I've never seen a match where I was like, turn this up. You know, he's fighting on the White House lawn? Yeah, that's going to be crazy. You're going to watch that? I got to do. Trump front then. I just started to get, I just started to get like really locked in the UFC after I met a bunch of these guys. Okay, okay.

Tyron Woodley is in straight out of Compton. Yes. You know. He's working the card this weekend. That's why we're here. Are you going to go? I mean, Ronda Rousey back. You know her, right?

I got, you know, if my buddy's over at Netflix. Yo, you want me to put in a word. Put me a word for me. You don't need my help. I see you front and center in back of the freaking broadcast. I just asked you. They have a sign at WWVeds. Don't let this guy in.

Isn't that crazy how they turned on me? Yeah. It's crazy. Freaks. I brought them up. I brought them to the dance. Yeah. But not everyone can handle Hilwani.

I mean, Hillwani. Bro, is that coin? You got to. For sure, trademark. Oh, yeah. Go to my store. I have Hilwani merch. I have it.

I'll hook you up. You're the man. No contest wrestling. Check it out. Every Wednesday. Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. And on ESPN 2. Yeah. Freak in hell. O'Shea Jackson Jr. Hollywood superstar joining us. We're coming back with Junior Dos Santos. Don't go anywhere. August 28th. Yeah. All right. That was the legend, Michael Hearn. Are we having fun here? Are we having fun in Los Angeles, Frank? Absolutely. I think we might move the show to Los Angeles.

Let's talk after the show. I'm having so much fun. You get a different kind of guest in Los Angeles, right? A-list Hollywood superstar, like O'Shea Jackson, Mike O'Hern, Travis Bart. You get different kind of guests. I can't lie, the vibes here at West Coast Creative Studios. It's very nice of you. That's very nice of you to say. And I agree. I concur. I thought you were going to say the vibes between O'Shea and I. I felt like we were doing like a real show there. Until you admitted you hadn't seen Game of Thrones at Breaking Bad. I am. I am. I represent all of us. I'm unapologetic. I don't back down. I double down, Frank. That's my new saying. Still to come.

John Martin, CEO of PFL, Jake Babian, aka Babian, the Barbabian, who is fighting this weekend on the MVP card. And I might be missing one. No, I'm not.

Oh, our trip to the Dodger Stadium, that's amazing. Stay tuned for that. Ptzey's going to join us. A lot to come. But I'm so excited to be joined by our next guest. It has been a minute since I last spoke to this man.

He is one of the greatest MMA heavyweights of all time and it's so great to see him back on a very big stage and that stage is Saturday on Netflix, Intuit Dome, you know the drill by now. I do believe he is kicking off

the card on Netflix, the main card against the Cuban Olympian Robeles Despine. He is the former UFC heavyweight champion. He is T&T. He's dynamite. T&T.

Yeah. Junior, my old friend. It's been a while. How are you? That's true, Ariel. I'm doing great. How about you? I'm doing great. It's good to be here. It's so nice to see you. Your big, beautiful smile. I love this. It's really great. Congratulations on getting this opportunity. What was it like when you got the call of the offer to fight on such a big stage? It was good. I was already paying a lot of attention on the MVP, you know, because they are doing a lot of this boxing things.

and as a boxing. I love boxing. I was seeing like many good things happening, you know, and especially when Jake Paul started doing like fights with the heavyweights, like the last one. I said, oh, that would be interesting to be part of it, you know. And now you're here. I know you wanted to fight Jake Paul at one point, right?

You were calling him out. I offered, you know, when he was a little without an opponent, I offered myself to be his opponent. And, you know, but then he got the deal with Anthony Joshua, but he did great, you know, I think, you know. So, yeah, but I offered myself, I said, oh, that would be a good thing. Did you think that you would get an offer to fight on one of his cards after you're calling him out? Not really, not really, you know, but I'm happy to be here. I felt like it was the place I would love to be in, to be part of, you know.

And after they are doing this MMA thing, especially having also Francis Inganu on the card now, who's also doing MMA and boxing, I said, that's very interesting, you know. So I said, I would love to be in there as well, you know, and finally things worked in a good way. Yes. And so we haven't seen you compete in MMA since March of 2024. And that was bare-knuckle MMA, right, for Jorge Mazzvado's promotion, game. Bread M.M.A. That's right. Were you done?

That's right. And they called you out. Why haven't you fought in two years? Actually, we didn't have like other shows happening, you know, to defend the belt. I'm still the champion for game bread. And yeah, as always, right now, Ariel, I'm kind of not trying to rush to make things happen. Of course, I want to fight as much as I can. I'm 42 now.

And I still want to do this. this as long as I can because I love it, you know. And so, like my wife said, you know, she said at some point when I was in the UFC yet, she said, oh, we should start doing something else. Let's stop with this now. I said, my love, if I stop now, you're going to have a sad husband for the rest of your life. So let me do this thing, you know, to where I can. So when I, I enjoy taking good opportunities. And this is a good opportunity. You know what? I'm happy to be here. This is a gigantic opportunity. What

would you even be doing? Like when your wife is telling you, hey, let's start thinking about something else. What would that something else be? I have some other, like, I try to pay attention on other things. Some investments we do, some real estate we do. We have

opportunities there to make this this connection Brazil and USA. You know, with some wood things. So we have many possibilities that I never put a lot of effort on that because it was always the second plan. You know, but now I'm starting to put a little bit more attention on those things to, as soon as I feel like I have to kind of stop fighting or, you know, moving forward for something else, then things are rolling already.

What is the motivation at this point? You've accomplished so much, you've done so much, you've beaten them all, you've wanted all, you're in your 40s now, you have a family, multiple children. I think three kids, right? Three right now. Yes. So what is the motivation? Why do you keep doing this?

Why do you keep putting your life, your health, your safety on the line and still fight? Oh, well, the motivation area, like I said, is because I love this thing, you know, and I love to be doing this. And also, like, I cannot, when I look to myself, or even when I'm staying too much, spending too much time at home, even my wife tells me to go to the gym, spend some energy and things. So that's my motivation right now, you know,

to keep doing what I love to do as long as I can, because I know soon I'll not be able to do it anymore on the high level. So then it's going to be, I'm not going to feel that. You know, I think it's very personal. So when I feel like I cannot perform in a high level anymore, then I'll tell myself, you know, it's time to step aside, you know, but until I can, you know, if I feel like I can still perform in a high level, you know, and have some good victories like I'm looking forward to have on this Saturday, I'll keep doing it

because man I probably you talk to many many guys it's a hard part I remember back in the day when I was talking to

Nogera Big Nod he was telling me how hard he was back in the day to really understand that you have to stop so now I'm at this point

and I now I understand what he was telling me about a long time ago you know I I'm not suggesting by any means that you should be stopping. You've won your last two fights in a row, and it's a big opportunity against a really interesting opponent.

A guy who started 5-0 in MMA, then lost to the UFC, but has had success in karate combat, rebellist despond. A bronze medalist in the Olympics, 2012 in Taekwondo. How familiar were you with him when this fight was offered to you? I'm not very familiar. I saw some of the things.

Actually, he spent some time at the American Top Team. training over there as well. So I saw some of the things, some of the things that he was doing, but not very familiar, you know. But of course, now I understand more about him, about his style of fighting. And I'm looking forward to eat. He's a big guy and very fast, you know. So I really liked the fight. And I think MVP did a good job on this match because, you know,

I'm a striker. I love looking for the knockout. This guy, he's always, he's fast. He kicks a lot. He's always looking for the knockout. And even, I think, he's the first guy on M&A to have a longer reach than John Jones. Wow. So, yeah.

He's a really intriguing guy, and I don't think that he is done with MMA, even though the UFC run didn't go his way. When you were with him or saw him at American Top Team, did you actually train with him? I did a little bit. I don't really remember how was it because he was only once and it was in a long time. But yeah, he was like I saw,

like I said, he was a big guy, you know, moving well, throwing some good kicks, you know, good punches, you know, like a striker, you know. I like his style, the way he fights and everything, you know. And I'm looking forward to face it. him on this Saturday. I saw a great photo of you, Philippe Lins, and Adriano Morais, all three guys, all three Brazilians fighting on this card, this MVP card, all three with very big fights and opponents that they're

facing off against. Obviously, Philippe, with a massive one against Francis and Ghanu. You know about Francis as well. What do you think about Philippe's chances? How do you beat Francis and Ghanu if you're Philippe Lins? Oh, yeah. Man, that's what people don't understand about Felipe. Of course.

Francis Inganu is the favorite. And, you know, that's all good with that. But we cannot count Philippe out of this. He has a style, a very good style, actually. You know, and he's best. So I really believe he implements well, his strategy. He's going to be a problem. for Inganu.

And maybe we can see some some interesting things happening in this fight, you know? I was also, I shared with him a little bit what was my experience in fighting with Francis Inganu. You know, I, because on my

strategy at that time, and I went out of the strategy, the strategy was not collided at the beginning. You know, just to move around and take advantage of my speed and everything. But the first the first kick I threw on the first thing he fell down and then I was

moving around finding angles and I was feeling comfortable so I said oh my gosh I'm gonna try that big punch and that was my mistake you know because I tried the big punch he connected he connect he counter on top of it and enjoyed the moment to finish the fight so I told him you know you gotta stick to your strategy

what's the strategy so stick to that and make it happen you know I really believe you know, Felipe will bring some very good excitement for this fight. And I don't think it's too hard for him to really win this fight, you know, especially if it takes longer than when expected to take. Okay, wow. I know you want your friend to win fellow Brazilian. Of course.

But let's just say you win, Francis wins. Is that one that you're looking at? Is that one that you would like MVP to put together? Yeah, that's the thing, Ariel. One of the things that I was telling you about, you know, to be part of it, you know, it was also that because I wasn't like considering that a rematch with Francis Inganu or some other fighters that I faced on the end of my career in the UFC, it was possible to happen again.

And somehow, you know, suddenly I have the opportunity in front of me to maybe have my rematch against Francis Inganu. That brought some very good excitement, you know, to my heart. And I felt like, oh, my gosh, this is, this will be good, you know. And now I'm here, you know, and being part of it. Of course, I'm looking forward to have a good victory on this Saturday. And it depends on how. MVP sees the things, I think it will be a great time to have this rematch happening. A rematch for me.

I'm sure there's a lot of fights you want to have back, a lot of fights you'd love to run back. But would that one be at the top of your list? Oh, yeah, 100%. Especially because the possibilities of it to happen are high right now. Yeah. And I feel like very excited about it because today, I'm a, I, I, I, I, I, feel like in another stage area because finally i'm of i'm understanding a little bit more what uh the experience brought to me you know like the maturity as a fighter you know because they were always

telling me yeah you got to have fun you got to enjoy your time in the cage and have fun and show people yourself and i'm finally understanding this and i'm not putting that much of pressure on myself anymore. I'm not fighting myself before the fight. I'm just going there to show myself. And that only comes with age. Do you look back on moments in your career and say, man, I wish I smelled the roses. I wish I enjoyed the journey more. I wish I didn't put as much pressure on myself. Do you look back on moments and fight cards and fight builds in that way? Not really. I look forward. Actually, I look backwards on the things on the experiences I had to learn from it and to kind of understand where I am today, you know, but I don't regret anything and I don't

think I should do this, I should do that. I am who I am because of my past. And I love to be who I am. So I'm all good with that, you know. But today, it's good to understand the things in a better way and to take advantage of that because it makes me stronger, you know, and like I said, with 42 years old today, you know, and feeling the way I'm feeling, it's great. I'm in a great point on my career. And I'll, like I said, you know, I'll keep doing until where I can. And if I keep feeling the way I'm feeling right now, I'll keep doing for a long time. How do you feel about MVP trying to get into the MMA business? It's still unclear if this will be more than one event. Do you think that this

would be needed? Do you think that this would be welcomed? Do you think they can succeed as an alternative to the UFC? Oh, yes, a thousand percent, I think, you know, this is going to be huge for the MMA, for the fighters, for the sport itself, and also for the fans, you know. We are like MMA in the biggest streaming in the world, you know, Netflix. UFC is already there on the Paramount, you know, now we have MVP on Netflix. This is huge for the sport. This is the base, the pure capitalism, you know.

You have to have some competition for the things to get better for everybody. So I see as a very good thing. And I really hope, and I invite as well everybody to watch, to be part of the things, you know, to get involved in this shows. Because it's going to be great and big for the sports. like itself for the fighters but also for the fans you know so i'm looking forward to to it i want everybody to be watching you know you just if everybody has uh netflix today you know so you just gotta go in there and watch the fights i think correct me if i'm wrong you were the

first fight on the main card right oh yeah is there a pressure that's the you junior and it's amazing what what an honor you were a part of the first card and the first fight on fox in 2011, and you will now be the first fight on Netflix, because you're kicking off the main card, obviously back in 2011 against Kane. There was just one fight on Fox, we all remember. Is there a pressure that comes with that to try to do something spectacular

to grab the audience's attention and get this going on the right foot? No, yeah, it's a privilege for me, Ariel. I'm a blessed guy. I'm a very blessed guy, you know, but no pressure. No pressure at all. At this point of my career, at this stage, and the way I understand myself today,

I don't put pressure on Mima anymore, you know. I just got to go there. I have a good friend, an Argentinian friend, Rodo. He told me, when I was, I did a very good psychologically work, you know, to not worry too much about the result of the fight. We don't control the results of the fights. We got to just control what we can do in there, you know. And he told me once, when I was fighting Verdun for the second time on the bare knuckle,

and I was kind of getting nervous and things like that, he said, Jr., you think people are coming from Brazil to watch me and things, and he said, Junior, you think people are coming to watch you win, to see you winning? I said, of course. They said, Junior, you're coming from five losses. The last one you lost as well because your arm was out. It's a loss. Who would be coming to watch you again from Brazil and spending money and time to watch you win again?

Nobody would come to watch you win, Jr. They are here to watch to see you. So show yourself to them. I never thought about that. Wow. You know, I said, my gosh, you got a good point. Nobody, you know, I'm coming from five losses. People will not spend money and time to come see me winning.

And then he said, you know, they are coming to see you, to see you. Doesn't matter what happened, you know. Show yourself to them. And then I kind of understood something magical about the thing, you know, just got to go there and do my best. And that's it. And that's what I'm doing today, Ariel. That's how I'm feeling good and well enough to keep doing it.

By the way, that's beautiful advice. And I love that. And I love that it resonated with you. I did want to ask you, Jr., about someone who you'll always be linked to, always be connected to, and that's Kane Velasquez. He's obviously had a few tough years. And you're a family man to see what he's been through and what he did for his family. What was your reaction to that?

Oh, that was terrible. Actually, I felt very bad. I tried to connect a little with them, with Javier, with the coach, everything. That was a terrible thing, especially for him to stay far from his family, from everything we have in life. The most important thing in our life is our family,

of course, I believe that he was trying to protect his family. family and somehow he they like that thing put him away from his family even more yeah and that was terrible but finally he's uh he's with them again and uh you know things are are going a better direction i think that was i i hope that was a good um uh lesson you know for him to to i don't know maybe uh this have better decisions but it's it's so hard you know I don't want to say anything like this, because even if we try to put ourselves in his situation, we cannot. It's too hard, you know. I agree.

But yeah, like I said, I'm happy that he's with his family again and trying to move forward. And by the way, I don't know if you know this. He's going to be at the event on Saturday. Yeah, I didn't know. but that's good, you know. It's going to be good to see him over there. Maybe part four. Maybe we get part four between you guys down the line.

Oh my gosh, can you imagine that? That would be amazing, actually. I'm looking forward to the fourth one, you know. Today, with the head I have today, I think things would be better for me. Okay. We'll see. I mean, the first one went great for you. So that was one of the greatest moments in obviously your career.

in heavyweight MMA history. What a time it is. And man, it's so great to see you smile. It's so great to have your energy back in the sport, Jr. We missed you, Jr. You are one of a kind. Thank you. I'm happy to be back here with you guys.

And always moving forward, trying to keep building things, making things happen. Can I ask you right before I let you go? Fellow Brazilian Alex Pereira moving up to heavyweight. How do you think he's going to do against the big boys? Oh my gosh. I think he's going to do well.

I think he's going to do very well, actually. You know, especially his debut against Gunn, you know, I think it's a great fight for him, especially because of his style. He's always putting pressure on his opponents, taking their space. Of course, Gunn is very fast. He has good skills, you know, but the way Alex fight is like putting a lot of pressure finding a good moment to throw those hard hands on the opponents. And that's what I think it's going to happen on this fight, you know.

And at some point he's going to knock a gun out on this debut on the heavyweight. And also, like, for the first time, we have the possibility to have a champion on three different divisions. That would be amazing. That would be amazing. Of course, a return to prominence for Brazil. Can I just ask you also, there are people who say, man, that era with you and Kane and the all heavyweight card and Roy Nelson and Alistair Overeem and Brock Lesnar and all those greats, it's just not the same. The heavyweight division isn't the same.

In your opinion, what is missing? What is the difference today between the heavyweights and the top of the sport and the heavy weights from 13, 14 years ago? Well, I think, you know, we, it's hard to say to kind of analyze those things, you know, but I think at that time, everybody was putting a lot of, a lot of hard on the thing, you know. It was like I can tell for myself, you know, it was everything to me. I have to do, I have to make things happen in a good way to kind of take advantage to leave the dream, to leave what I want to live. which was to be the best fighter I could be. You know, I see like many good guys. But today, today some of the guys, what I understand, you know, some of the guys, not all of them, but some of them, they're just part of the thing because they want to be on the big stage.

They want to be on TV. They want to be talking to the people, having a lot of space on the media or something like that. you know, they're not really focused on fighting, on putting in great wars. You know, maybe it can be a little of this, but it's hard to analyze, you know. But back in the day, when we were fighting, like we couldn't make any, like, a little mistake. You know, we had to train very hard. And it was a, it was a privilege for me to be part.

of that time, you know, to fight with King Velazquez, to fight with so many guys that I admire. A privilege for you to be a part of that, a privilege for us to watch you and to cover you, and it's so great to see you back. I wish you nothing but the best, Jr. Good luck in this fight. Congratulations on the opportunity. So great to connect with you once again. I look forward to seeing you throughout the week here in Los Angeles as well. Thank you, Jr. Thank you. is Cigano dos Santos, one of the all-time greats, a legend of the game, and one of the greats who will be competing on this Netflix card on Saturday, kicking off the card at the Intuit Dome

on Saturday. That's a lot to handle right there. That's a lot to handle. And it's a great way. I mean, these two guys, they are allergic to going to distance. I mean, I saw some sort of stats here. I just want to read this real quick. between the two of them,

they owned 16 career first round stoppages between the two of them. And obviously, JDS has been in the game for a long time. He does hold the longest winning streak in UFC heavyweight division history. That's nine, 14 career knockouts, 23 wins overall, wins overall.

Robeles. Robeles. Five and two, but started off with five straight knockouts. Cuban Olympian 2012 bronze medalist Taekwondo All right

Still to come Jake the Barbabian Long Beach Legend headliner of the prelim card So he'll be going up against Namo Fasel

And there's some bad blood there Looking forward to meeting him For the very first time Also my trip to Dodger Stadium Stay tuned for that PT's going to join us Rick GC A lot more to come

We're having a blast here in Los Angeles. We have the opportunity to reconnect now for the first time on the West Coast with the CEO of the Professional Fighters League. They have a huge event next Saturday in Belgium. Patrick Habirora, who is someone that I'm very, very high on, someone who I think is going to be a major, major star in this game. He's back in Belgium. We've got John Martin here in studio to talk about that. And a whole lot more. Great to have him.

Is he here? I do believe he is here. Yes. joining us on the West Coast, his home away from home. How are you, sir? Great to see you. Please have a seat. Here's your chair right there. Thank you. You could just slide right in. It's a different look here, John, but we've set up shop here on the West Coast. Thank you for doing this. Welcome to L.A. Yes, thank you. Is this your home? Are you back and forth? Are you back and forth, mostly in New York, but I still have a house here, so I'm living in home being here. Okay. I spent the last decade here. Of course. Are you going to the card on Saturday? I'll probably go. Really? Yeah, I'm excited. invited. Invited guests? Yes. Okay. Interesting. How did that come about? Oh, Nukisa and I have friends.

We know each other. Yeah. I'm last time I was on your show, we talked a little bit about it. And I haven't changed my mind. I'm really interested and fascinating with how the card came together. I think it's fantastic for the sport. Obviously, it's something that, you know, could be a, I heard you talking about, you know, is MVP going to be in the MMA business? Yes. going to go deeper. It could be an additional competitor for us. But on the flip side, what Netflix enables is casual viewers and growing the category. And I think that could be really good for us. So you feel like it's a rising tide lifts all boats type of thing for the sport? Yeah. I mean, obviously, I'm not, you know, I'm not blind to the fact that it could be a competitor.

Sure. But we're doing different things at the moment, right? I mean, we're not putting together cards along the lines of what MVP is doing. But, you know, if the future, like, lends itself to that, could we? Of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, the key there is the Netflix relationship. Of course. Let me help you out here, guys.

You want it to go a little bit to, is this good, Andy? Guide me here. A little closer to the microphone. Yes, we're doing this on the fly here, John. All right. It's a makeshift operation. We good, guys? Is this better?

Is this better? Yeah, that's much better. All right. I take direction well. I appreciate that. You've been in this game for a long time. Can I ask, do you feel like what they're doing is sustainable? They're obviously paying a lot for this card. It's big names.

Is this sustainable? Or do you think this is like a... I think, you know, it's interesting. Better them to say whether they think it's sustainable than me. Yeah, but you're in the business, right? But I think they're paying a lot for the card, but I think where they are as a brand and now with the debut in MMA, it's about brand building. And it's about making MVP stand for something in addition to boxing.

And I think MVP's done a good job with all the Jake Paul fights, and now they've got a really interesting position in women's boxing. And now they're going to make a statement in MMA. You know, I think what we have is something that's also uniquely interesting, which is that we have a roster. We have over 200 fighters under contract, and that's hard to replicate. And if they choose that they want to start signing fighters, that's a different ballgame. Right.

So I like what we're doing. And I couldn't help. I was smiling when I heard Jake Paul talking about Rhonda and Gina and whoever wins, maybe they fight Chris Seibor. It was kind of funny because she signed to us. Sure. And you could co-promote. The last time Gina Carrano fought, who did she lose to?

Yes. Chris Seibor. Correct. Who has never left M.MA. So Chris has been fighting all these years. Unbelievable. Has been beating everybody in her path. She's pretty much.

in every goat conversation ever. And I think if they, if she fought either Ronda or Gina, it would be a fantastic fight. And I think Chris would beat this shit on a Baltimore woman, but she's, she's that good. You should go to the fight with, she should be there in the front row. She's got a history with both. Yes, she does. She welcome. I don't know if she's getting the invite.

Like you got the invite. But I think it's great for the sport. I really do. And look, for me, we've talked about this. I mean, what we suffer from a little bit at the PFL is we are a legitimate second highest quality fight roster in the world. But not a lot of people, not enough people know about us and not enough people are paying attention to us. And what MVP does, honestly, maybe better than anybody in the world right now is grabbing attention. Yeah.

And they're doing a great job. So we've got to learn from that. We've got to get better at that because, you know, one of the things I paid a lot of attention to, I know, you've been jawing back and forth with Sean Strickland. but Strickland calling out Johnny Eplin as part of his training camp and saying, hey, keep Johnny out of the UFC because here's a guy who could legitimately fight for a title almost immediately. That's how good our roster is. I mean, I would put our middleweight division up against the UFCs today. And I think we've got a deeper and depth that the UFC can't even match. So how do we at the PFL get MMA fans and then casual fans to recognize the quality that. that we have is the challenge. Okay, so I know you raised it. Can I ask you that question?

How do you do it? Well, it's by continuing to put on, again, we changed the strategy, we moved away from the tournament. So we've now done so far this year, we've done three events outside the US and three events inside. Yep. And there's early evidence that the new strategy is working.

So if you look outside the US, the three fights, our ticket sales are up 17%. Okay. And that includes we went to Spain. Nobody had ever gone to Spain before. And we went to Belfast when Paul Hughes, who was supposed to be the main event, he dropped out early because of an injury and we're still up ticket sales 17%. If you look inside the U.S., we sold more tickets for the first three events than last year we sold for the first six. Wow. So and 99% capacity utilization, meaning that we've sold out the three. That to me is evident. That to me is evident.

that the fans are starting to catch on and the events, you used to say that PFL feels like a different promotion outside the U.S. than inside. I want to bring that level of energy and excitement into the U.S. And I think that's evidence that it's starting to work. If you look at audience numbers, by the way, ESPN is not doing really anything to promote us. Disappointing because I was really hopeful coming into the year

that they would really help us. They've done virtually nothing. So against that backdrop, our audience figures year on year is up even though our lead-in going into our fights is down 50%. So we're bucking bad lead-in and we're actually our average audience is up. And if you look at the top of the card, which is, as I said, we're going to showcase our most elite fighters. Our peak viewership is up 37% so far year-on-year, three events. And for the co-main and the main viewership's up 33%.

Now, I would submit those percentages are huge, but the numbers are still too small. Okay. So we've got to continue to build on that and get people to recognize that we actually have really quality fighters. So if you look at this part of our event schedule, we've got Brussels a week from Saturday. Yep, love it. And that we have, you know, a true veteran in Benson Henderson fighting Patrick Harbourora. And Patrick is somebody, when I first showed up, people were saying, well, you got to keep an eye on Patrick.

I don't know if we're keeping an eye on him anymore. He's knocking on the door. He's ready to take, you know, Benson's legacy. And I think a lot of people are saying, well, can Benson, Henderson really still win and fight at that elite level? We're going to see, I mean, Benson has fought the best of the best throughout his career. He's been a champion. And I think he's going to give Patrick a real difficult challenge, the most difficult

challenge he's had thus far. And then when you look past Brussels, then we come back to the states. And we're going to be in San Diego. with a headline by AJ McKee. And then we're going to do three weeks in a row of three championship events. When's that? Well, the first one is going to be in Austin, Texas. Announced last week.

We announced last week. And that, to me, is going to be a banger of a fight. I mean, it's the rematch between Costello von Steenis and Johnny Ebblin. And Costello successfully defended his belt against Fabian Edwards in Spain. And he knocked him out. with a bunch of elbows and immediately called out anybody in the middleweight division because he's feeling really good. And he looked great in that fight.

And then you had Johnny Eblen, who before he fought Brian Battle, who was on a five-win streak from the UFC, came to me and said, him, getting my belt back. That was before the fight. He then tossed around Brian Battle like a rag doll and submitted him in the first round, came to me immediately afterwards and said, I want my belt back. He's hungry. He's got something to prove. you know, he lost with nine seconds to go by a real naked,

naked choke in Cape Town South Africa. He was winning that fight. So he was 10 seconds away from remaining undefeated. I mean, I think he's 16 and 1. That rematch is going to be outstanding. We go from that event. Then I guess I'm announcing now. Oh, we love that.

Breaking news? Yeah, we're going to be going to Washington, D.C. Okay. And first, I'm stripping Ramadan. of his title, a belt. The welterweight title. And his welterweight

because, you know, he beat Shamil Moussayev and immediately announced his retirement. He got injured and he said he didn't want to fight again. We thought maybe we'd talk him out of it. He still wants to stay retired. Great. We're taking the belt away.

So it's going to set up a title fight. And we're going to put Thad Gene. I love that. Who's going to be back. Love that. Superstar. And he won the, 2025 world tournament

impressively. He beat Jason Jackson. He beat Logan Storley. I mean, that was a tough road to win that. And we're going to put him against Shemil Mousai again. Because I think Shemil deserves a rematch for the title because he fought Ramazahn. That was an outstanding five

round, really elite technical fight. And he barely lost that. He's 21 1 and 1. He's a great fighter. And so the winner of that will be the new Welterweight champion. And that's the following the week? Yeah. Oh, there it is. Look at this. We even have graphics.

That's in Washington, D.C. Yes. Okay, for the welterweight title, the one thing, and thank you for that. I love that, by the way. He's another one of those young guys

that I want to see push to the moon. I've lamented the lack of title fights on these American cards. Pittsburgh didn't have a title fight. Two falls. Okay, we're building up. So, well, we've got Austin,

D.C., and we're going to be coming out and announcing a third one. We haven't announced it yet. Where's that? Where's that? I haven't announced it yet. Well, you didn't announce this Washington one

until two minutes ago, so announce that one too. No, that one's coming. That one's coming? Is that an American card? Yeah. Okay. Which division? You got to put Dakota on the title fight already.

What are we waiting for here? Dakota will be back this summer. She's healed up nice. But not in the title fight. She's like, I'm not announcing it yet. Okay, all right. I think she should be fighting for her belt. Well, if you look at that division, though, the 125 pound division, so there's

Dakota. Yeah. And she's 15 and 0, and we're waiting for her to get back. because she's been on a long injury. She's been out of the cage since, well, I guess last time was last summer. Yeah, South Africa, right? South Africa, exactly. But if you look at the rest of the division between Liz Karmouche and Rihull and Lipski

and we've got four women that are creating a little bit of chaos in that division right now. So we want to see how that plays out. And I think, you know, if Dakota comes back and if everything goes well, like, I think we're going to have a great championship fight definitely before the end of the year on that weight class. Yeah, I just think she's such a big star. It seems inevitable that she will fight for a belt. What is the, what is the hold up? There's no hold up. I mean, we've said already that, you know, she was meant to fight Denise Keelho's in Dubai and she got hurt. Denise won. And I think Dakota still feels. like she owes Denise that fight. Okay, okay, fair enough. I like this.

Okay, so, you know, it's interesting that two things I just want to say. It's very refreshing to see someone in your position. Rifle off all those names, those records, those dates, those shows. Sometimes we have people who are put in your spot and you can tell very much off the bat that they don't truly love it. Your passion is undeniable. I appreciate that. No, it's real.

That's why I like this job. I like doing this. I mean, this is a great sport. You're almost a year in. Eight months. Eight months. We're getting there. I feel like we've talked like a few months in.

Yeah. Yes. Are you where you want to be? Are you where you thought you were going to be? I think ahead. Well, I think from, you know, it's interesting. I'm very self-critical. I think from the vision of the new product, bringing bigger events into the U.S.,

getting fan feedback, which is mostly positive, selling more tickets, having some audience growth against the difficult backdrop with ESPN, I'm thrilled with that. that. Okay. And I want to continue to build on that. And I want to continue to build even more internationally. And you're going to see us in a couple of international venues in the back half of the year. But I always want to get bigger, faster. And I think the one thing that I'm very aware of is that, you know, when you talk about the world of MMA right now, yes, UFC is always going to be front and center in terms of everybody's conversation and the White House card is coming up. And that takes up a huge. And now MVP with this event, this weekend, has taken up

so much attention of everybody. And I feel like we're still sitting there in the background a little bit when I'd like to be showcasing our talent in a bigger way. And I'm confident it's going to come. I just wish it would come faster. And I, you know, I'm a fairly ambitious guy. I mean, I'd like to create a true global juggernaut in combat sports and entertainment. And we've got ideas about how we're going to do that. But it's been a fun job. It's been, it's a hard job. But it's been very fun. It's hard. Yeah, you're scratching and clawing.

You're trying to find your spot. The other thing that's super interesting, just being 100% candid with you, you don't often see someone in your position speak about the relationship with the broadcaster, the way in which you do. You are clearly not happy with the relationship. Is that a fair thing to say you don't get the love?

You just said it. You don't get that promotion. You don't get that push. You want to be on ESPN to get the rub and the push and you're not getting that. Is that a sign that this is coming to an end? Well, I would never say never. And I mean that.

I would say, let me just give you the fan experience that I experienced. So I had a conflict in my schedule. I couldn't attend Sioux Falls. So I started on the ESPN app to watch the undercard. And a year ago, they let the undercard roll into the main card on the app. So if you're a fan and you're watching it,

you don't have to move. And this time the experience was I get a scroll that says right at the end of the prelimbs. it's like your your your event has ended yeah and they go okay well that's great now where do i have to go i have to find esPN 2 i'm on youtube tv well that's not easy to find espn 2 on youtube tv and i'm scrolling around and i'm trying to find and then i go to esPN 2 and the pfl's not on a baseball game is on that went long yeah and then there's a crawl on the bottom of the screen that says hey if you want to watch the pfl it's on espn you're not on yespn you

You. Well, good luck to anybody on YouTube TV that can find ESPNU because I'm about the most motivated viewer that anybody could have a CEO of the company. I couldn't find it. Wow. So then by the time ESPN2 joined the program, I missed half of the main card and it's beyond frustrating for somebody. Admittedly that I've got a lot invested in making this work. But for your average fan, I think it's a statement of just watching sports in general in this country. It's not specific to MMA or to the PFL. There's so much incremental discovery required now. And it's just not easy. It's not frictionless. And I've read some stats that say that, you know, half of everybody that wants to find a particular sport, they don't know what streamer it's on. And you take sports where they've sliced and diced the rights

up into thin little elements. And you go, well, okay, NFL's Thursday nights here, Sunday nights, here Friday and the NFL does fine because they just bombard everybody with marketing and promotion. We don't have that kind of marketing and promotion budget at the PFL. So I just wish it was just easier for the fans that want to see our show that they could find it easily. Where are we at right now with the contract talks? Still ongoing. You're free to talk to anyone, right? Yeah, we're free to talk to anybody. It's May. I fully expected that we were going to be discussing with multiple broadcasters at this point of the year. And we are. Okay. And it's constructive. I I think right now we're in the middle of the upfront advertising.

That's a little distracting for folks. And for anybody who's, you know, the market is a little bit strange because for anybody who's a partner of the NFL that waiting for the NFL rights to drop. And so the good news is our rights fees are not at the level of the NFL yet. Do you want one home or do you want to slice it? Well, ideally it would be one. Okay. You prefer that.

Yeah. I mean, what's what I like about our product and what has been received, pretty well is because we don't come with a season, we don't come with a predetermined schedule. We say, well, we put on events Sundays between 2 o'clock and 5 o'clock. Can you accommodate that? We can work with any particular broadcaster and give them a product that works around their own programming and their own scheduling. And we're also free to go anywhere in the world.

And we could also ramp up and do more events. We can do fewer events. We can, so we have tremendous amount of flexibility because we own and control everything in the league globally. Do you still think it will be back end of the year when we find out? Probably. Yeah. I hope not, but probably. Yeah. These things take long and there's no reason to finish something now. You're free to talk to everyone. Are you talking to ESPN as well? Are they a part of the conversation? They've been, yeah. And they've asked this. Been as past tense. Well, we had an exclusive period with that. And now you can go out. We're outside of that.

We're out talking to others. But that doesn't mean we don't come back. Got you. Last time we spoke, the internet was crazy afterwards because you talked about the rebranding. Oh yeah. I have nothing more to update on that. Nothing? Yeah. Is it still a possibility? Yeah, we're still, we're still thinking that through. I did report and I didn't ask you about Bellator coming back. What could you tell us about that? It's one of those that are in consideration. But you know, it's kind of interesting. Did you hear what I said about it? Oh, you didn't like it. I said I thought it was a huge mistake. I did, I did see that. Yeah. Do you disagree? Well, we were just about to announce it. And then I read that you were against it. And we pulled it back. So I did you a favor. You're welcome. But you know what was interesting about that?

And I used to work at a public company. And a lot of times public companies will float an idea to the market. Yes. And they'll look and see what the stock price reaction is. And they'll either give them conviction to go ahead or they'll make them nervous. On this one, it was almost split down the middle with the name Bellator. There were people that was like, this is great. And there are other people who be like, hmm.

Where do you stand? I could see both sides. Okay. because it caught, well, if you're going to rebrand, what does that mean? It means it's time and attention and it's money. And you got to be convinced that a rebrand is really, uh, it says something about where you're going. Lots of companies that rebrand do it because they have a big problem. Right. We don't have a big problem. We just want to make sure that the brand is reflective of what we're going to be doing and what we want to do. So it's been a fun exercise. It's, it's evoked a lot of

spirited discussion internally, which has been very fun. And we haven't made a decision. And externally. And externally. Do you hire a company to help you with this? Just you guys? Yeah. Wow.

How many people work at the vehicle? Do you know how many times I've done, I've done five rebrands myself? And we've got, oh, Time Warner, Cartoon Network, TNT. We've rebranded all of those. Okay. And when you say rebrand, because they still exist as a brand, TNT still, what did you mean? Like logo? The direction.

Yeah, got you. The tagline. Yes, yes, yes. TNT went from Monday. We know drama. Right, right, right. TBS we made. It's all about comedy.

I mean, Cartoon Network, we actually changed the brand image. So you enjoy this thing? I don't say I would enjoy it. You've been there. Yeah, I've been there. And I have people working at me now, well, working at me, working with me and for me. Sure. Who came from Turner, who had done multiple rebrands.

We have a little over 70 people work globally at PFL. By the way, correct me if I don't have the time. correct, but obviously last week we found out about the passing of Ted Turner. Yes. When you were at Turner, was he still around? Yes, I briefly worked indirectly for Ted. I've spent a ton of time with it. Can ask you about your experiences with him? He was a one of a kind. Really?

I mean, I've been blessed in my career for working for what I would call true entrepreneurs. And, you know, when people mention the word Ted Turner, the word that often gets associated with him as Maverick. He was. But I worked with a number of Ted Turner's, like the people who really, whether stringing cable across America to all of a sudden create the cable industry, and you have John Malone and Chuck Dolan and all the Jerry Levine, all these original entrepreneurs that built the cable infrastructure. And then whether it's being, you know, having the privilege to have met and spent a little bit of time with Rupert Murdoch, never worked for him. But working with Jeff Bucas who redid HBO and completely remade that and rebranded that network to what it was.

Ted was extraordinary, though. I mean, you know, he said whatever he felt, never apologized, was one of the biggest risk takers I've ever seen in business and was usually right. And he had just incredible instincts. And I've also rarely worked with somebody who had so much fun doing what he did. And I try to remind myself of that. every now and then. Yeah.

Because this business is hard. Yeah. And we're not yet where I want to be at the PFL. So I kind of remind myself, he wants and all. Like, it's still, it's got to be fun. And, uh, and Ted reminds me of that. I mean, he caused me a lot of headaches to like the stuff that he would say. Because I ran, I used to be the contact to Wall Street.

Okay. And when you got a guy saying crazy stuff all the time, you know, you're in the, like what? Well, he called, I don't want to, but he once made reference to the not, 9-11 hijackers and said that in some respects, you got to admire their conviction to die from what they believed in. So he referred to them. And I believe what he said is in some respects, they could be called heroes. And so that became a headline.

And so all of a sudden, all of our investors were like, we're selling our shares. And I talked to Ted. And Ted's like, well, what did I do? He goes, all I'm saying is that if they believe that much, I don't, I don't agree with what they did. Right, right, right. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I love your insights because you come from this world that I'm fascinated by Paramount, WBD, whatever it is called now, or will be them taking over HBO rolling. How do you think this plays out? Do you think this is good? Netflix in, out, saying thanks, but no thanks. How do you think this plays out? I, you know, nobody is asking my opinion anymore. I am. I think it's good for Netflix that they didn't get WBD. Why? Well, they got $2.8 billion of a breakup fee. for doing nothing. Yeah, yeah.

That's number one. Not bad. And number two, there's, there's an overwhelming amount of the business at WBD that's still linear TV, which is very, very challenged. HBO, great asset.

And the streaming service, Warner Brothers is still probably the best big Hollywood studio in the world, but Hollywood is not what it used to be. And AI is going to disrupt the hell out of all the studios. We are at the top of the first inning to use of baseball.

of what AI is truly going to do is going to gut that whole industry. That's scary. How long do you think that takes? Well, we saw it happening on the distribution side. And from the time we started to see it till the time it really took hold, it saves 15, 20 years. I think this will be under 10, is my guess. So I don't wish badly on them. I think for Paramount, they, you know, a lot of debt and a lot of linear TV.

So it would you make that deal if you were them? Like, would you go after this? would I if you were the Ellison's if you were in their position right now would you have done this I don't know I don't want to have that much hubris that I would say I'm just curious because it seems like it's a big undertaking it's an enormous under yeah they have a lot of debt yeah so that that can get tricky very very quickly I mean another interesting thing though is just to see how quickly and if it passes right I mean because it has to go through government review and I think a lot of people are just very flippantly saying well it's a Trump administration it's going to be easy I don't know we'll

see. I mean, let's see what happens in the midterm elections. And if the Dems win back the House and if they win back the Senate, I think it becomes, you know, I think this is a political situation between the two parties in terms of trying to potentially block the deal. So our little deal, when Time Warner sold to AT&T, that took 18 months. That took a long time. I was a witness in the trial. And so this, you know, it's going to be fascinating to see how it plays out. I wish Paramount Well, It's a more difficult business today to navigate than when I left in 2018. Do you think that they'll just roll everything into Paramount Plus? Like HBO Max will be gone.

I think there'll be one. Just one mega go after. That's what I would do. That's what I would do if I was done. Listen, this is a business where the best economics accrues to those that have the biggest scale. So why would you keep all of these sub-brands if you could consolidate it into just massive scale. And look, I think one of the things we didn't talk about is just why is everybody talking about MVP? Well, I'll tell you, it's one word, Netflix. Of course. And Netflix,

as the biggest single global video platform in the world, has enormous power. And that's why when you put on the great events that MVP is putting on, whether it's the Jake Paul boxing or the, or the non-Jake Paul boxing, or now this MMA event, the amount. The amount, of extra adrenaline that gets pumped into that because of the Netflix relationship is it cannot be overlooked. And kudos to MVP, they've delivered for Netflix. And I think it's been a really nice, it's a relationship that I'm a little bit jealous up, to be honest. Are you talking to them to Netflix? Yeah, I think I've mentioned on the show, we've spoken to them in the past. Okay. And we'll continue to do that. Okay. Ongoing. Yeah, because there's, you know, again, if you look at, we have

over 200 fighters that are fighting in the prime of their career. And the Netflix card is a little bit different than that, right? Yeah, of course. It's just a different take on. But by the way, I think it's fascinating that, you know, you see casual fans and fans that remember all these greats and Gina and Rhonda. I mean, they were two absolute legend. They still are.

Legends in the sport. And the fact that they can fight after all these years and people are still talking about it and are interested to see what the outcome is. That's something that's interesting about the world of combat sports. You mentioned AI. Just curious, Dana White got some flack for using AI. He pushed back. Just watch the fights. What is your take on using AI for promotional work and all the stuff that they're doing? I could see both sides of the argument. I'm more in favor of growing up in the media and entertainment business, technology always wins in the end. I'm more interested in the local L.A. mayoral race where Spencer Pratt, who's running as a

as a reality TV star because his house got burned down in the palisades and he's pissed off about that. So he's using all these AI ads against his competitors and he's killing it right now. He's gone some trouble today. Did you see that? No, what did he do? Because TMZ asked him, do you really live in a trailer because he insinuates that? Oh, does he not? He does he does insinuate that. So you got to be authentic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When AI is not authentic. That's true. So you're not It's innovative. I don't like it. No, so I get from a purist standpoint, look, back in the day, and I've heard you talk about this,

the promotion that UFC used to do back in the Connor versus Aldo, I mean, they spent a lot of money, they spent a lot of time and creativity around that, and that was for a fan, that was epic. Amazing. And when you use AI, it loses a little bit of authenticity, but I can appreciate putting my entertainment lens on, you know, seeing those promos of, of the UFC AI fighters, but walking into the Coliseum in Rome

and evoking that like, these are the modern day gladiators. I appreciate that. You could still do it. Like they had those guys on the White House lawn. The promo should be that in real life. Having them walk out of cars AI is just, it's cheap.

It's fake. See, it's just a creative opinion. And then Dana's touting the fact that his voice was AI. He couldn't even do a voiceover. You can literally do it. You could set up a microphone anywhere in his car.

You can do it. I feel like that's out of touch. I don't know. I don't know why he's being so defensive about it. I mean, listen, I grew up. He's being defensive because he's being criticized. Well, my whole, but my whole industry was about having creative differences

and doing what makes the most sense. I'm sure these AI promos, they can crank out like that. Easy, but they feel cheap, at least to me. So what we see, will we see PFL AI promos? Not at the moment. At the moment, you're sticking with what you have. I like that.

Are you going to Belgium? Yes. Those crowds are amazing. No, I can't wait. I mean, Patrick Harborough is from Brussels. Of course, I know. They have like the smoke things. It's like a soccer match in an arena.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And is it going to sell out? Yes. Okay. That is the, that is, how big is this stadium? It's about seven. Okay. I feel like he could do more than that.

Might be able to. Is there a bigger one there? I don't know. Okay. Did you go to the last time he fought there? I did not. That was before my time. This will be your first time.

Well, I saw him win in Lyon. That's right. That was a pretty explosive finish. She's an exciting fighter. Yes. I like him. He's got, he's got that star power. I'm still waiting for Cedric Dumbay to come back. We have to get him to fight in the U.S. I can't wait to introduce him in the U.S. And that might be the plan after. Let's see if he wins this one. And then you bring him here.

Because, you know, he was in Paris fashion week. He's a runway model in addition to being an outstanding prospect. Him versus Dubei in France. We got to get Cedric to fight. Have you talked to him? Because the last time he swerved us, last time you were on, he swirved us with the fake announcement. Yes. I remember that? Yes. And we got all. Is he fighting with somebody else? No, it's like a movie. Is there anything on him? Any update? No update.

No update. He's such a star as well. He is. That's a frustrating thing about this business, though. We can't make the athletes, like, fight. But I think he's a star. And we'd love to get him back in the mix again. Francis is fighting this weekend.

Obviously, you had the relationship. Any... I wish Francis well. I really do. I mean, listen, you know, I think I said that the last time I was on. I think Francis was on your show the same day that I was. He was. He was. Yes. And Francis, look, it's the power of the Netflix card and they're paying a lot of fighters. And so Francis is making money and I wish him well. Okay. Well, I wish you guys well. Thank you so much for stopping by. It's always a pleasure. This is a fascinating time. To me, it's like one of the most interesting stories to follow. I love the media business where you guys end up, what the deal looks like, how many fights, what platform? Is there a linear component? Is it streaming only? I really, I really want to see how this plays out. Well, I appreciate your support of the PFL. I mean, one of the things, I I didn't appreciate before I joined.

And now I really do is whether you talk to the fighters themselves or the managers or you listen to the fans or you talk to the fans, the sport really needs a vibrant alternative to just the UFC. Oh, yeah. And MVP, while they're doing their thing and they're doing a good job, and I wish them well, you know, starting to sign fighters and to build up a real competitive roster where you could replicate it over and over again. That's hard to do.

It takes a while. It's expensive. still have those uniforms that I want to. I don't like the uniforms. I keep getting beaten back. How long is this deal for? Can we cut it? Can we just pay them off?

Not yet. That's something that I'm excited about on Saturday. They'll have shorts with sponsors because it tells part of who they are. It tells a story. You know, I'm with you on. Yeah. And yeah, I mean, you're the boss. You can't make these.

There's just certain things grandfathered in to what you took over. But eventually, part of the rebrand. We'll see part of the rebrand. Thank you, John. next week looking forward to it and that main card is that going to be on because the the the belgium main card is it going to be on plus unlimited so belgium will be on on on the app on espn app yeah because you're in america yeah it's the u.s events are on ESPN to the main cards okay and i can't wait for july 18th in austin those two guys killed it last week ebblin strickland's rubbed off on ebblin because

he was bringing it in the trash talk yeah i did see that i like to see that too we need to do more than that i agree i agree thank you you for coming in, appreciate it. Hopefully you'll be at the event on Saturday and enjoy it. And good luck next week in Belgium. He is the CEO of the Professional Fighters League, Mr. John Martin. We'll be joined by Jake the Barbabian. He is headlining the prelims on Saturday right before the Netflix main card that is going down at the Intuit Dome. We'll be joined by him in studio. Right after this, don't go anywhere. What a legend, Travis Barker is. I want to give a shout out to Barker Wellness. He gifted us these. Didn't ask for the plug, didn't ask for the love or anything

like that. Vitamin K2 and D3 gummies, strength, immunity, balance, all natural, vegan, no preservatives, heart health, bone strength. We had a bunch of these. They're phenomenal. Travis Barker, being a bastion of good health and wellness. Love it. These aren't like gummies to get high. These are gummies to get healthy. All right, Frank? They'll get crazy over there.

Well, why did I eat four of them? Well, now telling me. Yeah, well, now you're just super healthy. And your bones are very strong. We're obviously in L.A. I'm getting a little sad because my time in this studio is soon to be coming to an end. But don't worry, boys in the back here tomorrow from the studio. Pizzi back at the Irish HQ on Friday.

Pee, will be joining us back in of the show. We may have a surprise for you as well, back into the show as well. Do you have the Dodgers field trip to show you as well. A lot to go on. But our final guest here in studio for my portion of the week is a man who will be competing on the card on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. He is originally from Hawaii by way of Long Beach, California. He is the lights out extreme welterweight champion.

That's Sean Merriman's promotion. Six and one actually lost his very first MMA fight and has proceeded to win his next six MMA fights. He's going up against Namo Fasel, who has won in one championship and UAE Warriors. There's a mosquito in here. Those are the perks of being in Los Angeles. And I think there's a bit of bad blood here between the two of them. We're talking to the barbarian, Jake Babian, who,

who is fighting in the featured prelim spot on Saturday evening. And he's kind enough to join us right here and now in the program. Hello, sir. How are you? It's a pleasure. Have a seat. Oh, man. Thanks for having me.

Welcome, welcome. Thank you for coming. I love the hair. Thank you. I've never seen this before. The line goes from the hair to the eyebrows. Is this your thing? It's my thing.

Holy week, baby. Golly. He does that for you. Yeah. Every time you fight. It's my trademark move. Your trademark. I like this.

I like this. How are you doing? Doing well. A lot going on. arrived to the hotel yesterday, but ready to handle business. You see your picture on the wall and all that in the hotel? Crazy, right? There's legends that Ronda Rousey, Gina Carrano, Francis, Perry, Diaz, and your face is right there. Yeah, I mean, if you would have told me I would have been fighting on a card like this a few years ago, I would have laughed. But, man, this is a big fight even to get

for somebody, like, well off into their career. Nevertheless, coming up, opportunity is amazing. And so how did the opportunity come your way? I was actually, I was working, I was bartending, and I had a couple calls on my phone. I didn't answer. And later on that night, my coach called me. I said, I answered the call. He's like, yo, we're trying to get a hold of him. What's up, coach?

He's like, you know, Netflix has got an offer for you the fight, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, just shoot me the opponent. Like, I'm in and sent me Namo Fizel. Great matchup, really looking forward to that fight. But yeah, here we are. That's unbelievable. And by the way, do you mind just talking into the microphone? So we heard you hear you loud and clear.

Did you know who Namo was? Never heard of him, no. But I'm pretty familiar. kind of an up-and-coming superstar out of the Middle East, a good fighter, striker. Is there bad blood there? He's creating some for sure. He had some nasty words to say to me yesterday

when I went to shake his hand. Can you tell me what happened? Yeah, I was checking into the lobby and, you know, where I come from, you know, respect people and from Hawaii, you know, it's all about love and Aloha. I get he's got some drama going on with Armin, but I'm not a fight to overlook.

Like, don't throw me under, you know, he just came up to me and said FU you know there's a couple other things and you know just eyeing me out just ugly energy nasty energy just didn't like that I'm just here to put on a show for the fans and give the audience what they want but

Why is he saying FU to you? I think he's trying to create like some anger from a few breeds anger that's um something for sure but it's all business for me you know we got like a young audience tuning into this and stuff so so you feel like that's a sign of weakness. It could be for sure. Is that the sense you got from him? For sure, yeah. Did you respond to him when he said this? No. So what? He's just

yelling at you, saying F you and what, you're just keeping it moving. Yeah. You didn't even look at him. Yeah. I handle my business on Saturday. Is it hard to ignore someone when they're doing that? No, man, I don't I don't really pay too much attention to it. Wow. In fact, I find it a little entertaining because I know the fans, you don't turn on MMA not to see like blood and violence. You know, It's a crazy sport, and I think that entertainment fuels a lot of interest for the fans, so I embrace it. What's the issue between him and Armin, Armin Taruchin? Yeah, I believe Armin said something out of place from his origin, and he clapped back at Armin. He's like, after I beat Jake, blah, blah, blah, blah, Armin, I'm like, well, don't overlook me, man.

I'm a very formidable threat, you know, in front of you. and I've put a lot of training and time into this camp, so it's all. He's wearing about the wrong thing five days off from the fight. And you are, correct me if I'm wrong, of Armenian descent. Yes, sir. Do you have any connection to Armin? No. Do you know him?

Do you train with him? We've trained through the grapevine with each other, but not directly or nothing. So I was trying to wonder if his beef with Armin had anything to do with you and him, or is it just, I know Armin said some stuff about his background, and now he's going back at him. I'm originally born and raised in Hawaii, so I'm not too culturally familiar with everything going on. However, like, I try not to drag stuff like that into these fights and stuff, you know. We can keep it between us, leave that stuff out of it, but, you know. Are you expecting, so all of you will be at the press conference tomorrow, are you expecting

him to come with high energy? I'm definitely expecting an intense press conference. He's a mouthy guy and emotional, so, you know, that's all. And how are you handling all of this in terms of being on a stage Like, you're relatively young in your career, right? Like three years into your pro career, six and one. Six and one. Six and one. But, you know, you fought for lights out. I know Sean Merriman's promotion.

You're their welterweight champion still? Well, yeah, yes. As of now. But it's a big stage, man. There's a big difference. Do you feel extra nervous? Do you feel some pressure? How are you dealing with this?

You know, the production's huge. There's a lot going on. You know, a lot more viewers are tuning in. But this change is nothing for me. I'm still going to go out there and fight the way I fight. I'm an aggressive person by nature. And, you know, I got a really good team behind me, good supporters. So I feel completely prepared.

Aggressive person by nature? You seem very kind. You don't seem that aggressive. Where are you aggressive? You mean in the gym? In the cage, I just, I feel like I'm able to just kind of let my, like, natural self out in there. You know, I'm comprised. Just like high athletic ability, like to move, like to fight.

I've got a high pain tolerance and all these factors just, create like a good fighter. I also have huge hands, by the way. Yeah, they're gigantic hands. Heavy to hold up. Yes, yes, yes, I can see that. How did you get into MMA? Well, again, circling back to growing up in Hawaii,

you kind of got to like, you know, watch your back out there growing up. I had a younger sister Jay. We're kind of always protecting each other growing up. And, you know, all me and my friends always scrapping after school, fighting. Shout out Kelly Kayehae mailboxes. Hell yeah. We had a lot of our streetlights. What's that?

What's that? What's that? That's where we'd fight after school and stuff. So over the years, you know. That was your cage. That was your platform over there. That was your Netflix before Netflix. So over the years, all these skills kind of comprised. And then putting them together, it just kind of had like kind of like a good foundation to start. And I met Antonio and A.J. McKee and Y.L. Watson. And they've been my coaches at the gym team body shop that I train at. In Long Beach. Yeah. So did you move to California for them? Okay. Yeah. Wow.

Originally to take care of my grandfather, but at the same time pursue a career. in MMA. Correct me if I'm wrong, your grandfather, an LBC legend. Yes, yes. Mr. Babian, is it Babian? Babian. Babian, excuse me, Jake, the Barbabian. Yeah, right? Got it. There he is. There's your grandfather, right? Yeah, that's him. Dickie was his name? Dickie. What a legend. I've read about him. You did some good research. Of course. It's nice to see his face. Add a little salt to that, I believe was his line. Made my day. Needs more salt. Tell me about this, this amazing man. I've read such amazing things about him. Yeah, you know, I was separated from that part of my family growing up in Hawaii, so moving out here the last five years and getting to take care of him and be with

him for his final stages of life, taught me so much about my family, like my history, my culture, and just a lot about myself, like my ability to, you know, care for somebody and my love for him. But he came to a couple of fights front row. He's kind of, he kind of was my rock when I first moved out here introduced me to a lot of people. So he had a restaurant in the area? A bar. Yeah, crow's cocktails. Is it still around? It's still around, yeah. Part of the family or? We actually sold it to Legends. Okay. Which is another local bar and they're doing a great job with it. I read that he would show up with like wads of a hundred

dollar bills, right? Yeah, yeah. Not to necessarily make it rain, but perhaps he called it that, but just to give it to the workers, the bartenders. He was generous to a fault. may say, but man, he was definitely a fun man to be around. Unbelievable. What a spirit. I was just going to say that. It seemed like someone who just like everyone wanted to be around. Yeah.

And perhaps he would be very proud of you as you're about to embark on this journey. Do you think about him a lot in these moments? Yeah, I know, he's, you know, our bloodline, we're really close, all of us. So, yeah, he's definitely always in the back of my head for sure. And so how do you decide that you're going to try to make a living out of this? You're going to go and try to be a fighter. It's one thing to scrap with your friends and be athletic, but to say, I want to be a pro-MMA fighter.

Yeah, so that one, since I was a young kid, my dad was always, like, find something you love to do and become the best you can be at it. And we all know, like, it's hard to get into this sport. There's not always a lot of money, especially at the, like, lower level. And just one thing fell into another, you know, between the support, the sponsorships and, like,

just having the success in MMA. That's when the realistic idea of creating a career came about. I was able to kind of put things to the side. Finances are a big part of getting on your feet. Of course. We're generous enough to give me a little support and stuff to help me get started. But yeah, it's pretty much full-time job. You're six and one.

You did lose your debut? Yes, sir. What did that do to your confidence to lose right off the gates? Right off the bat, you haven't lost since. you look very good, but to lose that first one, did it mess you up? Oh, great question. And actually in my amateur career,

I lost my first fight too. Wow. So you'd think about, like, learning from your mistakes, which I did, correct it a lot. But going into this first pro fight, I took it on somewhat of a short notice. I didn't have the best weight cut,

and I fought up a weight class. So I put myself at a disadvantage, not to give my, not to say I didn't lose the fight, just I had to learn. I went down to Welterweight, made a couple adjustments on my fight camp, And that's what you got to do as a fighter is just sit back and make adjustments.

And now I'm in what I'd say is by the best point of my career right now. I feel great, having a great weight cut, and good camp. Yeah, the reason I ask about that is sometimes you start something new. You don't get off on the right foot. You start questioning yourself. Am I good enough? Can I do this? Did any of those thoughts into your mind?

Yeah, of course. It can be discouraging. Yeah. And when you got a lot of people, I feel. I feel like I had a pretty big fan base for as early as I was in my career. So it created a bit of like, not an ego, more of like I feel like I got approved to everybody, you know, because there's just that much more people there to see you lose. But again, the support and the reassurance and people have my back and kind of, you know,

supported me. Don't give up. Yeah. And plus it's fighting. Brow shit happens. Yeah, hell yeah. You know, I spoke to Nate Diaz on Sunday and he lost his second pro fight and he told me when When he lost that fight, he said to himself, I now need to win 15 in a row to kind of erase that one.

So people don't see it. It's all the way down on the bottom of my record. You think, you know, because we're so programmed, especially early in those days, boxers, you're 20 and O, you're 30 and O. If you lose your first one or second one, you suck. Obviously, that's not true, but fighters may think that way or fans may think that way. Did you say to yourself after that one, like, I'm going to go on a crazy winning streak now to show everyone that I'm not that guy? Yeah. it definitely played a part exactly what you said but i had a chip on my shoulder after i was like i

got to turn it up a notch like i think i was training it hard before like you see what i'm doing now um but you know i i i got that like just 120 percent like light practice i'm like but i do that like practice 120 percent you know but it's about like tuning back a little bit now as you've become more of like a professional working more with these higher these higher up um athletes and stuff you pick up on their habits their structure their nature obviously recovery was never like a big priority early on but now that's something i prioritize you know yeah how old are you now at 28 28 20 all right these knees aren't 18 i know i know you're still a youngster but do you feel like now's your time do you feel like you're entering your prime this is the time to go for it yeah i mean i feel like

i'm i feel like i'm still just just scratching the surface of my abilities but i do feel like i'm entering a good period of my time. Like, bodies developed, healthy, not many injuries have affected my career. And what an opportunity. I'm assuming you've watched now most fights. What's the scouting report on him? What do you expect him?

Yeah, he's a very heavy striker. He likes his boxing. Seems to show a little bit of weakness in the grappling department. But, man, you know, I'm expecting a good fight. Looks like he had a good camp. I did some training at ATT. When you say it looks, you're keeping tabs on him?

Yeah, yeah, you know, just keeping an eye out. The media and stuff pushes everything into my algorithm. Yeah, it's a weird thing, right? But yeah, just I'm focused on what I got to do to win. Speaking of social media, I did see maybe three or four years ago you met Jake Paul, right? Yeah, yeah. Where was that? Young Jake Paul.

Yeah, we did a video down in Long Beach. We shot the Dana White Rap video. What? And so, yeah, I was just the background. This one? Yeah, that one. Golly, look how young he looks. Yeah.

And you look different with that kind of hair. Yeah, it's not the fight camp cut right there. Wait, so you were in the backdrop of the Dana White Rap video, the infamous one. Yeah, with Chris Cyborg and all the. Oh my gosh. What was that like? That was cool, man. How did you end up in that?

And my coach was looking out for me. Yeah. So it was cool, man, like just to see the way that this was my first time meeting him. And the way he like pulled up, security, the way he handles business, it just gave me a different image. you know everyone you think what you see sure um but yeah just like total just professional whole crew they got like everything so well organized and and now you're fighting on his first ever mama car yeah yeah crazy how life kind of full circle yeah it's wild um what do you think do you think they're going to stick around because that's one of the big questions right is it

going to be a one and done are they going to stick around are they going to be an alternative to the uh the UFC what do you think that's funny i was watching your podcast earlier where you guys were talking about the boxing and MMA. Just like, I think they've got such a strong platform right now. They've got a good network of like creators and media and all this stuff. It really helps generate more,

more audience. And I think it's, it's gonna, like if you're asking if they're going to get involved in MMA, I'd say they look like they're pretty involved with Ronda Rousey, making our condes. Like, you got two of the hottest prospects coming up right now on the card.

Like, you got a stacked card. it's a very good card top to bottom for a first offering now the question is can they do it on a consistent basis we'll see had you before all this talk to the UFC

so we've spoke to like management companies and stuff that are linked with matchmakers but my game plan was just to have like a couple more fights on the regional scene before embarking on that but it hasn't been an issue really like reaching out to the bigger scene

or the bigger shows it's been more of like personal development, like maturity. Okay, so right now you don't have a manager? Well, my coach and everything. Antonio, yeah, we're kind of. He's guiding you. Yeah. I like this.

I mean, man, he's been in the game for a long time. He takes care of his son. Of course, AJ's great. Yeah. Coming back next month, I think, in San Diego. Yeah, San Diego. Yes. He's one of the best fighters of the last 10 years, obviously doing what he did in

Bellator now. This, I love their relationship. The father-son relationship in boxing is common, not so much in MMA. It's a very unique one. Is Kimbo Jr. still there? Has he been around?

He's around. Yeah. We had that whole old school team body shop, but things have kind of turned into, like, the new generation now is coming in. So it's a lot of new fighters. Does Rampage ever show up? Yeah, he does. He does.

What's he like? Oh, man, he's a character on him on that stream and stuff. He's unbelievable. He can't get enough of them. Does he help with the guys? Like, does he? Not so much involvement anymore. We're kind of like

We've gotten a lot smaller over the years Just coaches focusing on just a few fighters And what's Antonio like as a head coach Because he seems tough Man, it's you get the whole father-son duo You don't just have Antonio You got AJ too So he's coaching you as well

Well he's yeah he's kind of like been on my side Love that He's really helped me with like my sparring and striking And just pushing me One thing I found in this camp Was I went into a new realm Just like When you're in an uncomfortable position

or you get and you know you have bad day you can't breathe out of your nose you're hurt and like it's just in my ear just keep going keep going and I reach this whole new like level of just like mental fortitude and yeah I got a lot of love for those guys wow wow wow are there moments where you think it's too much it's never too much never too much and I wanted also give a big shout out to uh George Lockhart legend is he here by the way outside he's outside yeah he's uh he's doing my nutrition and stuff. How did you link up with George? After my last fight, I did have a little bit of a trouble with my weight cut.

Okay. I, you know, I got, I had gotten a little heavier on my off season and stuff. But I just figured, you know, with everything going on, this is a good opportunity to bring somebody in, you know, watch how they work, learn as much as I can. And him and coach have been working in, like, a good dynamic. And, man, like I said, feel the best I've ever felt. I just can't wait to get out there and show the world what we got Saturday.

You've got some real OGs. in your corner. George has been in the game for so long, has worked with the best. Obviously, the McKee family has been in the game for so long. I think you're in a really, really great spot. Do you feel like this is the beginning? Like, let's be honest, maybe you're not a household name just yet.

You're fighting on the regional scene. Do you feel like this is the beginning of a new chapter on Saturday night? People are going to be talking about Jake the Barbadian. Yeah, I think we might even get some good attention Thursday night. But leading into Friday, Saturday, I should expect a lot of intensity. I know there's a lot of animosity on his end. So I'm going to just match that energy, bro, and, you know, make it fun.

Okay. And by the way, for those that may have never seen you fight just yet, only seven pro fights, what kind of a fighter are you? Give us the early look, if you will. So I spent a lot of my life grappling, well, street fighting and scrapping, but like I got into training through grappling, jihitsu, wrestling, went into Muay Thai, boxing, and then did my full transition into MMA. And I'm a heavy, heavy striker with strong takedowns,

and I'm just looking for the finish the second I step in there. Gosh. Yeah, to either you or me, and I'm not trying to fight till a decision, you know. Killer be killed. Yeah, I like to see it. And how long have you been doing this? So, yeah, this has been like, Is it a good luck charm?

Three or four years. Okay. It kind of just goes with my whole, like, tribal, Hawaii thing. Okay. Got the triangles in the bag. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, so, and as far as, like, the tribal, like, you mean tattoos and stuff like that?

Yeah, we got the, Oh, damn. Okay, I didn't notice that. And what does that represent? So it's more of the aesthetic version, but a lot of it's just the roots in Hawaii. And shout out Cheapalago for the beautiful ink. Unbelievable. Tattoo artists out there, the big, big deal out there. Well, I have to tell you, in talking to the people at MVP, I was like, I want to try to showcase someone who's on this undercard because we're talking so much about the main card. And you were the name that was brought to our attention. So it sounds like they're high on you.

And it sounds like they're putting you in a really, you know, in a great spot, the feature prelim spot. And I feel like between you and Namo, there's, there's, as you say, some friction there. So I can't wait for tomorrow. I think you're actually going to be at the open workout today, right? Yeah, we'll be there. Venice Beach basketball court. So if anyone's in the region, pull up, are you going to be playing basketball? No, I'll be doing my open workout.

Yeah. What a scene, though, for the open workout, right? It made my day when they hit me up the other day and they're like, yo, we got an interview with you in Ariel Hwani. I was like, no way, man, I've been watching you. I mean, obviously, like you're the cream of the crop when it comes to interviews and stuff. And everything you've covered, I've just been a big fan. That means a lot. Thank you very much. And I want to tell people that we had Jake on before his big MVP debut and you're going to be a superstar. And I could say, oh, we had them on, you know, before anyone as far as like the big dogs. I know you've done a bunch

of interviews and stuff like that. You're not necessarily a rookie. So I want to wish you the best. Congratulations on this opportunity. Good luck to you. By the way, are you a Dodgers fan? I'm a Dodgers fan. You are? Yeah. Damn. Well, it depends what I'm talking to. Okay, well, I'm a Blue Jays fan.

Oh, you're a Blue Jays fan? Yeah, in October was a little rough. But we went to the game yesterday. Oh, sweet. Look at this. They gave out Ice Cube bobbleheads. Man, that's tight. Look at that.

That's one of the best bobbleheads, I have to admit. In the low rider? If I had time, I was going to bring you one, but... You got a Jake... I got to get you an action figure. Do you have a Jake Bobblehead? I'm going to get one. I got a couple coming, so they didn't make it in time for the fight.

Well, last October, when my Jay's lost to the Dodgers, the Dodgers fans were nasty to me, talking mad shit. Like, it was the weirdest, meanest stuff that I've ever heard. So I pulled up to Dodger Stadium yesterday with my Blue Jay's hat. And I was looking to see if they were about that life, because I am. And so we're going to play that right here. As we say goodbye to you, I'm going to play it for everyone. And you'll see that I don't back down, Jake. I like it.

I double down. I like you understand? Yeah. My man. You the man. I look forward to it. so much. And we'll do a post-fight interview in the cage. No, I was going to say, this is my hand around you in the cage after. This is it. You feel me? You feel me? Jake, the barbaby, and he's

fighting on Saturday against Namofazil. But check him out at the Open Workout, Venice Beach, basketball courts tonight at 6, and then press conference tomorrow at 6. These guys, there's some friction there. So let's see what they bring to the table. Love the chat. Enjoy my trip to Dodger Stadium. Be right back with P.C. Carroll. Ah, yes, the iconic Dodger Stadium. for the all-time great stadiums in North America. And, of course, sight of the 2025 World Series. To be honest, I'm still not quite over it. I'm still heartbroken.

The wound is still very fresh. And you know, that's the theme this week here in Los Angeles for us. Healing the wounds. Fences being mended. Peace and love. Peace and love. You know the drill by now. And so I have come here in hopes of getting to that place

where I can accept what happened back in October of 2025. And we all remember. those Dodgers fans were sending me some nasty, nasty tweets, some nasty messages in the aftermath as I was sulking, as I was mourning the defeat. We all remember that, right? We remember Kike Hernandez telling me to suck it on Instagram. We remember that, right? And so I have come here. Lou Jays had an all to see if they are truly about that life because I, I don't back down. I double down, all right? So let's see if they could say this all to my face. Watched the World Series?

We did. It was yesterday, right? No. Oh. This guy's fucking with me. See? Typical. I'm just a salty Blue Jets fan, as you can see.

You know we were the better team, right? Yeah, but you know we were the better team. Like, on... No, you can't say that. The luckier team won. There's a big difference. Ernie Clement said, the better team won. No, he didn't say that.

Yamamoto, you were not very nice in the World Series, my friend. World Series, my friend. That's true. Game six, awful. Game seven, even worse. That's true. Come on, you have to admit, statistically, the J's were the better team, yes? I don't really care about that. I just care about who won four games and who didn't win four games. Did the better team lose the World Series? Yes or no? Did the better team lose the World Series? Yes. The better team did not lose the World Series. The better team won the World. Nah, come on. Didn't Kiki get lucky when that ball went over his head game seven and the other dude saved them.

Yeah, he did get lucky. You know he got lucky. You know he got lucky. He would have caught it. But it's okay. I'm happy for you guys. LA, LA, maybe. No, LA.

We've got Drake. Who do you guys have as far as rappers here? Come on. Yeah, what's up guys? Go Jays. A better team won the world soon. For real, you really think that? Yeah, seriously, seriously.

No, like that way they outplayed them and, you know, you guys got lucky with the ball being lodged and all the, but you admit, Like, no, you guys got outplayed by the team. For real? You think so? Yeah, wow. I know so. You're like the first one here.

Everyone else has been acknowledging. Well, too bad for them. Why was everyone so mean? I mean, you guys were saying that you guys were about to win and then we took over and then the better team won. Kike Hernandez told me to suck it. Do you believe that? I don't know about all that, but you know, whatever he said.

Can you apologize? Hey, my, take it up with him. I have to say, the Dodgers fans were very, very rude to me. in the aftermath. I've never been harassed like this before. I'm calling me all kinds of names. Even Kike Hernandez himself told me to suck it. He said that to you to your face?

No, on Instagram. Typical internet tough guy. Kiki Hernandez told me to suck it. Isn't that rude? His big banana? Yeah, did he get here? I don't know what you're talking about. I don't want to know bananas from him.

Everyone was so mean to me. Really? Yeah. I'm sorry to hear that. You guys are actually nicer in person than you are online. So many mean comments. Everybody's a mean online. Yeah, right? Kike told me to suck it.

Rude. Right? Rude. Is that not rude? That's not classy. Kike's a weird guy. He's a... Okay, thank you. All right, we're good. Thank you for that. Kiki Hernandez told me to suck it. I mean...

Rude, no? What kind of a role model is that? I mean... That's a great role model, you think so? Yeah, definitely. That's how you should act when you win? Yeah, definitely. You act however you want. That's the chance.

The ball went over his head. He got saved there. The whole champ does what he wants. Ah. Ah, you know, you're a son. yourself. I feel like I'm in enemy territory here. There's way too much Dodgers merchandise here and it's making me feel very very very uncomfortable but we're gonna power through. I'm here on behalf of the the great people of Canada to see if we can mend the fences after what happened in October and so everyone was very

mean to us in the aftermath and I'm wondering why are you walking away I just want to know can you oh that's weird you do you know yes you recognize this hat Yes, look at look how shook she is. We gave you guys some nightmares in October. Did we not? You did. That was quite the serious. I'll give you a couple. I was in disbelief. Yeah, because you knew that you got lucky and you snatched the victory away from the jaws of defeat. We were tough.

You guys were tough. Why are you guys here so early, by the way? Are they giving out Bobbleheads? Drake Bobblehead Night? Drake Bobblehead Night? They're giving out Drake Bobblehead's here, the best rapper alive. It wasn't nice. What do you have to say about this?

to say about that. You know, that's how we are. You're from L.A. You got to know what's up, man. You got to talk shit when you win. Especially if you win, you know? Yeah, I know, but there's something about being like a good sportsman, right? I agree. I agree. To a certain point, though.

Kike Hernandez told me to suck it. Believe that? My kids had to see that. All right, well, I'm trying to get an apology. It's not happening. I'm trying... Big Daddy? Oh, I think...

Big Daddy, my man. You seem like a lovable soul. On behalf of Dodgers Nation, you would like... like to apologize for all the mean tweets, all the mean things that people said, the fact that you guys stole the World Series by buying it, by cheating, the ball being latched. We were smart and we invested in our team and our fans, not on our stadium. Oh, that feels like a low blow. Well, you know what?

It is what it is. We won't. How would you guys have been if you guys want? We would have been kind. We would have sent you all maple syrup. We would have taken your tears and put the maple syrup in the tears. We were ready to go. I doubt that.

This guy, when the Dodgers won, he went onto Instagram and told me to suck it as I was sad crying about the Jay's losing. Is that honorable? Is that someone that you want your kids to look up to? Yeah. But do you acknowledge that at least sometimes the luckier team wins as opposed to the better team? That's how sports work. Okay, but you acknowledge it? Yeah.

Okay, thank you. Wow. I think we're accomplishing a lot here today. It actually feels, it's actually making me feel better about things because I'm still salty over what happened seven months ago. Yeah, I don't blame you. Do you think he should have told me to suck it or do you think that was too far? I think he should have told you to second. We were not supposed to win that world.

Oh, that. Wow. I'll be honest. Finally. It's called luck and timing. This is all I wanted. Can I get an apology too for all the mean tweets? Absolutely not.

Come, really? You brought me for too much. I was just told you as my brother. Look, we've had this conversation multiple times. This is the only. This is the only. Absolutely fucking no one. Yo, this is the only guy.

This is the only guy that's speaking sense here. You admit. Thank you, sir. That's the love of baseball. You have to admit when you have the better team. You have to admit when you have the better opportunity. Unfortunately, we didn't have the greatest team for the World Series, but we did have a better opportunity.

Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. I'm going to take that as an apology on behalf of the good people of Canada. No, I'm accepting it. Thank you so much. And you know what? All the mean tweets have now just washed away. The succet is gone.

And the acknowledgement... It's very kind of you. That's very kind of you, sir. And I love your great mystery. Thank you. Everyone's very nice. All right. I feel good about what we've just accomplished there. I just want to let everyone know in case you are not paying attention to that. The Dodgers fans have apologized for all the mean tweets. You heard it here yourself.

They've acknowledged that the better team did not, in fact, win the World Series. They acknowledged that the Js outplayed them. I feel like we've accomplished a lot here on this Tuesday evening here at beautiful Chavez Ravine. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. Absolutely. So can you also, on behalf of the Dodgers fans who sent me nasty messages, can you also say sorry? Yes, I will. Wait, wait.

Say sorry. Sorry. Thank you, sir. By the way, can we just acknowledge the fact that the whole team is here, GC is here, Rick is there, Esther, not a single person has my back. They're letting me walk into the belly of the beast, and they're like, we want nothing to do with this right now. I don't know what ended up happening, but I saw in a lot of these lines, you were just like, how about my blue jays?

And they were just like, you guys lost the World Series. What do you want to? Nah, no, no, no. They apologize for the mean tweets. They apologize for the dirty tactics. I saw another guy go, what did he say? The Blue Jays aren't playing tonight, bro. Why are you here?

Not very welcoming. I agree with you on that. It's all right. We are here inside the stadium. This is a peace offering from Dodgers fans. They got this for me. I'm so thankful. The classic Dodger dog.

Nachos in the baseball helmet. I mean, what's better than this? I just want to thank all the Dodgers fans out there. You are so kind. I accept your apology. I feel good about where we stand. Water under the bridge. Kiki, all good.

The sucket goes back to you. And we'll see you in October right back here for Dodger baseball. First hot dog I've had in over a decade. It's a solid three out of ten. just like the Dodgers lineup in the World Series. That was a great time. Look, I have to say they're a crappy organization

and they buy their championships, but it's a beautiful stadium. I got to tell you, as the sun is setting over the stadium over there on the left side, we had a great, great time. Look at me. I mean, you know what's so funny? Like, he's like, oh, Ariel, he's such a weakling.

I show up with the hat. And I just wanted to know where was all the hate? Everyone was so nice. They even apologized. All right. I thought you guys don't apologize. It was so nice. It was lovely.

Dodgers lost. Giants look great. We'll be there in October. I wonder if the Dodgers will be there as well. And I do have to say the highlight wasn't that. The highlight wasn't anything that you just saw. The highlight of my trip to Dodger Stadium just the second time. And there's a whole freaking, like there's a lot going on in the universe right now.

There's a lot going on in the universe. The last time I worked an event in Englewood was June of 2016, UFC 199. We know what happened then. We know what was said, you know everything that transpired. The last time I was at the hotel that I did the Nate Diaz interview was for the morning way-ins, the very first prior to UFC 199. You know everything that happened and all that stuff. And so it feels like there's some cosmic.

energy. And so eighth inning, I like to see state, I love baseball stadiums. And so I say, I'm going to go for a walk. We were, we were second to last row of that place. And I got to say, the view was phenomenal. The view was amazing. So no hate there. Peace and love, peace and love. I say I want to go for a walk. I wanted to see what else was there. Dodgers stadium. I love old stadiums. I love old baseball stadiums. I love the history of baseball. Brooklyn Dodgers, Vince Scully, Roy Campanella, Tommy Lasorda. On and on it goes. Blue Monday, of course. My hatred for the Dodgers extends to 1981 even before I was born. Blue Monday, look it up, NLDS, Montreal Expo, Steve Rogers comes in in the ninth. I understand sports history, not like you,

Gibranes. Point is, I went for a walk, two levels down. I don't know why I went two levels down. And I'm walking, and I'm reflecting, I'm thinking about this has been a, this has been an amazing week. This has been an unbelievable week. This has been, this has been, this is been one of the best weeks that I've ever had professionally and more importantly with my friends, with my colleagues, and we've met new friends here, and we've had all these amazing chats, and we've taken our whole freaking show, and we brought it to Los Angeles, and we're here, we're doing it. This is everything I've dreamed of. But at the same time, there's nonsense and there's noise and there's haters and there's people, you know, making videos about you and

talking all this crap and all that. And that comes to the territory and that's fine and we keep moving and we're here and we're doing it and we stand by everything that we say. But you get in your head a little bit and you start overthinking things and debating and over and analyzing and all of a sudden as I'm doing this all of a sudden a young man comes running up to me from behind taps you on my shoulder out of breath and he's like I can't believe I'm seeing you I can't believe I'm running into you I heard you guys on Monday talking about going to the Dodger game on Tuesday and I told my girlfriend we need to go to the Dodger game on Tuesday because the boys are going to be here. The on Crown crew is going to be here. And I got to find you. And I have to tell you that when my

mother was on dialysis for eight years, we would listen to your show almost every single day. And she would ask me questions about you and about your team and about the fights and say, put on the baldheaded one and ask about your name and ask about your passion. And we bonded together. And so when I was talking to Oscar Zavala, shout out to Oscar, who stopped me, I started to see the tears in his eyes talking about his mother. And I told him, I'm a mama's boy too. There is no one on earth that means more to me than my mother. And I felt his pain and I felt the memories and I felt the connection that he had with his mother. And he told me that his mother died a year ago. And he said that his beautiful mother, who we have a picture of that I want to show.

May she rest in peace. Sylvia, and I hope I'm pronouncing her full name correctly, Bessera de Zavala, who passed away a year ago. May she rest in peace. He told me about what she meant to him, the days that they spent together, the time that they spent together, how our show was an escape for him

while she was on dialysis for eight years, and then her subsequent passing, how we were an escape. It's hard to explain what that means and how that makes you feel. And I'm just being honest with all of you because I sit here and you read awful things, nasty things, horrendous things. I get more hate about who I am, my religion, my people, my family than I've ever gotten in 17 years. You may think it's deserved. I disagree. It's all good. Unbothered. But it fucks with your mind. I'm not going to be like, oh, it doesn't, no, it fucks with your mind. Absolutely. And I'm not playing

the victim here. I wasn't even going to talk about all this. We keep a moving. We double down. No problem. I believe in everything that I've said on this show. And if I'm ever wrong, I will say I'm wrong. And I don't think I was wrong. And I think everyone has misunderstood everything that I've said. It's crazy to see the takes. The point is, you meet someone like Oscar, and he tells you what the show means, how it makes him feel what it did for him, and all of that goes away. And so I told Oscar to come hang with us. There he is in the middle. His lovely girlfriend took this picture. There's oner Jordan, Rick, Connor. It's a good thing Frank was in there because he would have been in the picture and we'd had to edit it and kind of made

our lives easier. So isn't that great, Frankie? And he told me, Frankie, that his His late mother used to always say that her favorite drop was, Who's to Check? He specifically said that. And so that's in honor of his mother. And he would explain to her what Who's to Check was and what it meant in the history. And what I loved so much about Oscar and his spirit was that he was a real fan. Like he was mentioning things about Pizzi, about G.C.

He knew who Jordan was. You know who on air is. you're a hardcore fan. He knew exactly who he was. And it was by far the highlight of my trip, getting to hang with him, getting to hear about his mother, and getting to hear about how much she meant to him and how much he misses her and how much their time together and how we may have helped. And so, as a result of that, we have two tickets to Saturday night's fight at the Intuit Dome. And we have his information. And so, Oscar, if you are listening to this and I pray you are, we got tickets for you and your and your girlfriend

and I hope that you guys, because I asked you if you were going and you said you were up in the air, we have two tickets and New York Rick is going to reach out to you and he's going to send you those tickets to Saturday's fight at the Intuit Dome, Ronda Rousey versus Gina Carano, because fans like you are why we do this, fans like you are the reason why I love doing this job

and the reason why I will never stop doing this job. And I've heard from many of you throughout all the bullshit, all the noise, all the people trying to celebrate our demise or anything like that. no demise. Don't listen to that bullshit. Don't feed into the algorithm. It is not true. There are beautiful, beautiful, beautiful souls like Oscar who get what we do, who understand the show, who understand me, who understand all of us, who appreciate all of us. And trust me, as I said to him, meeting him meant more to us than it meant to him. And I know it meant a lot. I'm not trying to

diminish that, but it made my day. I call my wife. I told her about him. And yeah, man, much love Oscar much love thank you and as I told him I believe it was his mother who guided him to me two levels down in the eighth inning so that we can meet and so that I could give you those tickets and I hope you enjoy and I hope you have a great time and I hope you bring your girlfriend because she was lovely as well and I know that she she was feeling the emotion as well so shout out to you Oscar and once again may your mother rest in peace and shout out to your beautiful mother who I hope is smiling down and is very proud of the man that you are. Sylvia Zavala, it is great to have her featured on this program.

With that said, we say hello to Pizzi. We have been missing Pizzi in our lives, and I couldn't do this show without Pizzi. And it's messed up for you to come here wearing Dodger Blue, that nasty, nasty hat. Where did you get that? I've never seen you wear that thing, Pizzi. Listen, listen, listen, listen. I have all kinds of things here. And I felt, you know what I mean, I can't be there in spirit.

The flat brim, Dodger hat and the blue hoodie as well? You know what I mean? I'm just trying to attach myself somehow to the greatest trip with all your friends, with everyone you love. You know what I mean? I'm just trying to somehow vicariously be. being myself over there. I mean, Rick's on the phone area.

Oh, we're going to the magic house tonight. Everyone's going to be doing the magic tricks. There's such a great time. Oh, we're at the Dodger Stadium. Oh, we're doing all this. Santa Monica Boulevard. Whatever it is, all right? I'm pissed off.

Can I be honest? Yeah. I miss you and your presence has missed. Did anyone say that at any time? Was anyone like... I keep saying it and it's weird to be... Who else is saying it? Well, I was just going to say, it's weird how Frank keeps saying like,

he actually makes it, it's too busy with him. Like six is a crowd. Did you say that, Frank? He wouldn't even speak to me today. I was trying to log in. I was like, Frank, I can't hear on text message. Count of five. What a dickhead.

Pee, can I also say, what's fascinating about this setup is Frank is right in front of me. Jordan's here. I see them all. So now I can see their reactions to your rants. I can see Frank's idiosyncrasies in front of my eyes. It's giving me a whole new appreciation. You know the term how the sausage is made? I'm literally watching the sausage being made.

Like he's trying to speak right now. He's trying to chime in and you keep interrupting him unknowingly. Do you know that the phrase kind of piss was actually formed for Frank? Yeah. He still doesn't say anything. You're barraging him with jabs right now. He can't even get a word in. Oh, he probably sent me fucking five text messages because that's better than talking to me,

isn't it, Frank? Huh? Yeah, man. Fucking Frank. I mean, how is he still? here. How is he still here? Can we talk about this studio here? Can we talk about the West Coast operation? I mean, it's some scene here. Look at this. Billy Madison poster and all. Travis Sehantin when he came his office, pizza here, something like that.

He was asking, he was asking about the guy, the British fella on Fridays. O'Shea Jackson was asking, where's that guy with the hot takes? O'Shea Jackson and you could have a spinoff show. I felt it. I felt it as well. And Frank gave you no love after that. You're like, he goes, the voibs in here. And you were like, yeah, and he was like in L.A. And you're like, no. No, like right here. Right now when being O'Shea.

Did you happen to see Michael Hearn do the thing with his pecks? Do you know what? Another thing you know about that, he kept on saying, oh, the best physique I've ever seen. You've said that to me countless times. And then this guy comes in and it's like, oh, fuck it, he's in front of me. I may as well try the same compliment of matrona peasy for the last decade at this guy. No, I miss you. I believe he's 57.

It's really hard to believe it. What the fuck is he taking? I'm not taken. I'm not accused of anything. No, no. What's his skin routine? I think it's actually just the Barker Wellness Gummies that he's taking. Yeah, yeah, that's it. I mean, we're rolling in the free.

He did. Leave on there for me at all? But as Nate Diaz told me, there's no freebies in this life, Pizzi. This is all blood, sweat and tears. This is hours upon hours upon hours of podcast work. That's what this is. So don't think that we're getting freebies. here we're actually putting in the work you understand me right listen you know what i mean tell

travis to reach out i'll start something out you know what i mean yeah yeah yeah yeah and the stash is looking phenomenal what's good about this is it's been a few days since we last spoke so we're sticking with it is this going to be like one of those things like that man united geyser not shaving his his head what do you think though i like it i got to be honest i like i actually feel like you have something here where you could do like a two really big pieces that curl up if you're If you stick with it. Thinking about that. The question is, will you stick with it?

Do you have the patience to stick with it? Do you know what? It's really challenging me in ways that facial hair hasn't before. You know, trying to trim it to keep it over your lip, but it's still got this volume. And then sometimes one will just, you know what I mean? And you're like, how do I manage this? And then I could have really shaven this back, I feel.

G.C. warm me about this. And I feel like I've letting it go because, you know, wasn't needed this week. Wasn't needed this week. So I didn't really feel like I needed to start it out. You know, everyone's too fucking busy eating hot dogs and doing chin-ups with Casey. You know what I mean? So here I am.

Enjoy it. No, I think it's great. Please stick with it, all right? I'm doing my best. All right? How are you getting on? You're going to all these VIP parties? You're going to Playboy Mansion tonight?

I haven't done that. I did cover one event at the Playboy Mention in 2008 for MMA rated a strike force. No, we've been working. I've been working like, I mean, first of all, you, Chuck, Ben, you took the baton, did a phenomenal job on, uh, on what was it, late Saturday night. That's not what I saw. Did not see most people think it was a phenomenal job.

Oh, trust me. I think one of the themes that we learned this week is that you, if you're any bit critical of certain fighters, they will come after you and that's okay, PT, because you know what? We don't back down. We what? What do we do? We don't back down. We double down.

Okay, sorry. Anyway, then we did the face-to-faces on Sunday, which a lot of people seem to have enjoyed. Then it's been show after show after show. And as you may know, Los Angeles is three hours behind New York. So we're starting this show. There was a movement by some members of the team. Frank.

There's a movement of doing the show at 1 p.m. Pacific just to stick with the 1 p.m. But I said, no, we're a 10 a.m. Pacific show because we're a 1 p.m. Eastern show, right, Frankie? That's right. Frank, trying to sleep in. What? Trying to sleep in there for. Yeah, he's been working so hard. He did on Crown Wrestling.

He helped out with our Dodgers trip. He helped out with our Santa Monica trip. Oh, is he? Is he co-hosting that with the Solomaster now? Is he called out of the restaurant? No, you know. Ariel repays me? Oh, he just pressed record.

Did he press record again for reply to him? Ariel repays me by asking the group this morning. Shout out to him. I'm going to get some coffee. Does anyone want any? Yeah. Respond within seconds. Cappuccino, exclamation point.

MFR shows up. Coffee for everyone, nothing for me. PC, I missed. You know, no good deal. I missed the one text. The one text that was... I'm at 6.15 this morning. Can you work on the Dodgers thing?

You know, Casey just finished it at 3 a.m. I'm like... The audio was a bit hollow. What do you want me to say? You know? Maybe, Frank, I got a cappuccino with your name on it. Can we talk Dodgers real quick? That's not what you did.

Can we make a point about the coffee order? No, or something. Every morning, right? You see it, right? You see it, right? whatever. Just all have the splash it is and fucking give me a show on it, whatever.

And I'm just like, fuck's sake. these people. And then, Ariel, you switched up your milk, mate. And what is happening there? You are very loyal to the out there. And I noticed today you've gone for a whole milk. What's happened to you on the West Coast, huh? Okay, you must be misreading something because I am still on the

almond milk train. I've never... Sorry, almond milk. And by the way, I'm not putting my own order. I'm not putting my own order in my group chat. I'm the one getting them. You're not going for that name as well? No, I'm the one getting it. I go to this coffee shop and they're like, wait a second, Ariel Hawani? Like, do you need, like, where's your, where's your, like, where's your assistant? Like, you do this? You're that humble?

I saw a new guy in the video. He must be the guy. There's no guy. They were like, wow, stars, they're just like us. That's what people said, you know? All kinds of piss. Yeah. We do miss you, though. And I want you to be included in this chatter because I want you to feel a part of it by proxy. Can we talk about some news and notes, PTC? I mean, we might as well talk about some stuff. What about this quote here from Zabee? Mahomet Sharipov. You know Zabit, one of the great what-ifs in the history of mixed martial arts.

He said this to ACBJJ. They, the UFC, just didn't want to make me a champion in explaining why he left the sport. Rather abruptly, as you may recall, because at the time, there were already a lot of Russian champions. Habib was champion then, Yantu, they didn't like the idea of a third champion being from Russia.

Do you believe this? I don't know if I believe this, to be honest. This is definitely something that's been said. Like, I've definitely heard people talk about this that they, you know, UFC are intimidated, but they're concerned about the idea of having all of these Russian dudes who can't speak English, all this kind of stuff. I don't know. No one official has ever said it to me.

But there is certainly a feeling in that part of the world that that is an issue. Now, interesting to be saying this now, so much attention, so many years, I wonder why it's coming out now, you know what I mean? Like, I'm sure Netflix would be interested if there's a beat through his name on the hat, you know what I'm saying? I do wonder. So be Saladin Pernasse. Oh, my God. Could you imagine? Could you imagine?

Could you imagine? If he gets true, Ken of course. A lot of people, right? Can I just say? Yeah. The blower has been gone. Okay. All week.

A lot of people telling me this, this kind of cross shouldn't be slept on against Salady. A lot of people saying, Pizzie, your boy is going to get the business in L.A. A lot of people. Well, they're very high on Kenneth Cross. He does train out of, uh, syndicate MMA. So yeah, a teammate now of Gina Carranos and obviously coached by John Wood. It does feel like historically we've seen this a lot, not suggesting it's going to happen that someone comes over, a lot of hype from overseas and their big American debut doesn't go as

plan. But that being said, I don't know what his contractual ties are to the UFC just because he's not fighting. It doesn't mean he's free and clear from the UFC. We obviously know that. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. I think that that may be a thing now in the UFC where they don't want too many champions from one particular part of the world. I don't know if that was a thing when he was active in the UFC. So I think it might be today's mentality, which has been suggested being applied to, what, three, four, five years ago. So I don't know. Obviously, if he feels that way, he feels that way. And, you know, no one can begrudge him for that. But I doubt someone told him, hey, we don't want you to be a champion. He wasn't knocking on the door of fighting for a

belt just yet, right? He got out before he can get to that point. I think we all thought he had the promise and the ceiling, but it wasn't like he was knocking on the door, like he was one fight away and couldn't get that fight. Nasr Dene Imov should be fighting for the belt, right? He wasn't in that position, and we've seen other guys, Balal and Leon and on and on it goes.

He wasn't quite in that position just yet. By the way, another guy who was in that position was Arnold Allen, and he never got that opportunity. Now, there were other things at play. He was injured. He wasn't fighting actively, but he won 10 in a row and never got that title fight. He's fighting this weekend, Pizzi,

against Melchi Costa, a fight that's somewhat flying under the radar. But did you happen to see Big Pace over in Las Vegas? Did you see this tweet? Actually, I have not, and I'm very excited to see what Big Pace is doing. Oh my gosh. This is a tweet from Arnold Allen of his dad. Pace didn't come to Vegas to fuck about. Look at that.

Who's got a better physique? Pace or Michael Hearn? I don't know. One may be natty, one's not. Yeah, obviously Pace has never taken any kind of performance in hands and drugs. That's a completely natural body ever have ever seen one. And for me, it's pace. What a, what a weapon he's holding there as well. It's very Americana.

What kind of, Frank, are you familiar with the weapons? Yes. What is that? You don't know what that is? No. See, now he's able to talk to me without talking. He's shaking his head, but no one else can see this. What is it?

An AR. Picking up the microaggressions from him because I know. A lot. He's giving me a look. An AR-15? Is that? I don't know. Yes.

It is? An AR-15 is. a weapon. No, no, no, what that guy was holding. Or were you just not looking? I'm sorry, we're still producing back here. I mean, it's literally in front of it. I can't see from over here. Well, you don't have a monitor in front of you. No, I have a PTC's beautiful face pinned up on this monitor. What kind of a gun is that? Is that a, is that a newsy? And honestly, from what I could see, and for the people at home, it's very far away. It looks like a shotgun. Oh gosh. It looks like a shotgun in there. Is there a little bit of brown in there?

So it's either that or a AK-47. It reminds you that song, shotgun. Bang. What's up that, remember that song, guys? Is he going to stop that there? I thought he was going. I want to know. No? Anyway, this flew under the radar.

We didn't get to it yesterday, PTC. Hamza Chamaev, June 13th, in RAF against Dylan Danes? What's the line at in terms of this actually happening? It feels like no one's even talking about it because they think it's like not real or something, but I confirm with RIF, this is a real thing that's happening.

Main event to Armin versus Tony Ferguson. And again, Dana White said last week, that Armin is the backup for the White House. I think what he meant to say is like, we'll call him if we need him. He's not the actual backup. Like, he's not going to be weighing in just for the sake of weighing in.

And I think that was misconstrued or maybe not explained properly. Anyway, Hamsat versus Dennis, odds this actually happens. It's not, it's not promising, is it? Like, you know, if you were to put maybe two lads with track records who, you know,

who have a bit of a rep for it. the boys the boys I would love to say it though I will say that I will see that I will be watching the shit out it's a nice little teaser for the way house event who wins shum my eff come on yeah Dylan like to be fair to Dylan he an amazing brown bell tenure as uh in BJJ like he was a wonder kid people often forget about this he's on that uh Marcelo Garcia brown bell team uh dinnas munch carra all those guys like he was a wonder kid like he was a wonder kid people often forget about this he's on that uh Marcelo garcia brown bell team uh dinnis munch carra all those guys like he was like he was He was a genuine savage going into the black belt world. I don't know. I might be misremembering this. I don't think he kind of had the same activity as he did at Black Belt, but he was considered one of the guys who was going to be leading the sport for a very long time.

So he's a, and I think he did a lot better in his previous RAF match than people credit him for. But I think Shmoe F will be, if this, if this happens, if this wrestling match happens, I don't think she might have to be fucking around. I do not think so. Good way for him to get back on track. He did P.C. talk about the apology that Sean Strickland gave him in the cage afterwards. Here's a video of Hamzat speaking about their interaction in the cage. It is, I do believe, in Russian, and I'm going to read the text underneath. That guy said a lot of stuff. People are asking why I shook his hand and why I put the belt on him. There's no point in fighting. after if we fight, we fight inside the cage. We did everything we could.

There's nothing else we can do. What God has decided is no longer in our control after the fight. He bowed his head and apologized. If a man asks for forgiveness, I can forgive him. And so, Pizzi, I'm not saying, and I've never said that Hamzat shouldn't accept the apology. and I think that everyone is conveniently ignoring the fact that my issue was never necessarily with the fact that someone can't apologize.

I never said you can't apologize. I never said I wanted the hate to keep going. In fact, we were the one saying we didn't want the hate to begin with. So the idea that we would be suggesting that we want the hate to be going, keep going when we were saying to begin with that it was going too far is ludicrous. My single issue, and no one is addressing this, is the fact that in the immediate, aftermath, and I don't even feel like I don't even have the energy for this, but since he brings it up,

the immediate aftermath, we did it to sell the fight. That's not an apology. There's no honor in that. There's no honor in taking a fight to the gutter just to sell the fight. If that's truly how you feel, then I say, stick with it. If you're going to tell us that, hey, I said all those nasty things about his religion, about his family, about this, that, all these things that have no place in any type of sports promotion, then my reaction to that is, you can't just say that was to sell the fight and no one's bringing this up. And so now we're all going to pat each other on the back and be like, oh, look at the maturity, look at this and that. What? Because now the fight has been sold and now we can admit that it was all not real and authentic. I'm not the one trying to keep this going. I'm not the

one buying into the trash talk. I was the one saying the trash talk had no place in the buildup. These are two great fighters. And conveniently, no one's bringing up the fact that I praised John Strickland so very much about his fighting ability, which just goes to show everyone only cares about the drama. They don't care about the actual sport analysis. But my issue has always been, you told us that you did this to sell the fight. Not that you had some sort of epiphany,

not that you had some sort of like, oh, conversation and you realized that the things that you said about these people were heinous. No, it was all to sell the fight. I don't think that there's honor in that. Yeah, it's, it's, I feel like, I said this in the later, we're talking about this when it happened when

Strickland was saying if the lads roll up on him, he'd shoot them. He always kind of does this thing where he and I do think, and I know a GC said this as well on the show on Monday and I said it in the lead up. I feel like he does this thing where he

intensifies the issues between them to the point where like, it's almost like he's not motivated to fight for the belt alone. He has to make this kind of cultural disparity between him and his opponents. I mean, you saw even with Israel at Asanio

when he fought him. Now, it wasn't as direct. You know, it was more of him and dogs and all this kind of stuff. But for this one, especially, like, he said at one point in the press conference, like, these guys in this sort of room and these guys on the other side of the room, I feel like he feels like he needs to

like almost feel like he is fighting some kind of thing that he is diametrically opposed to. Like, I need to fight this guy and beat this guy so guys like me can can survive and live in this world like this means more than just me and this guy having a fight and we've often seen him as well immediately in the aftermath of he kind of completely just that the relief come out of him and and you know him saying like you know

of taking too far certainly a camera stricken in the aftermath all those things aren't surprising that happened because we've seen them happen previously but it is because of of the things he said in the lead up that that makes it such a like a light switch nearly like you know it's it's i think it's it's hard to swallow in that regard like he was so ruthless and the hatred was clearly there between both of these guys and then it's gone in a second now what's better what's the alternative is a hobib dana situation where it's a mass brawl and personally when that happened over here that was a black guy that i never really recovered from that here like i can remember like to be fair to Connor in that situation

and I'm not pitt and Strickland in a role as either as these guys. I'm just saying Connor afterwards, he was attacked by these dudes and he had said some awful shit about Habib's culture, his life, everything like this. He was attacked by these guys and then in the aftermath of that, every paper in Ireland

was saying, this isn't a sport, ban this stuff. Like, how is this happening? I prefer this than I do that. Now maybe that's me living this vacuum in Ireland and and seeing the ramifications of what that post-fight brawl did. But I certainly understand, you know, the next time Sean is the fight,

is he going to drum up this kind of thing? And how will the audience swallow it at this stage? Or do they just like that buzz? Like, are they like, this is what we're here for? We want him to say to sell outland this shit. Like, this is what we're about. I think there's an element of that to it too. It's very of the social media age, of the age we're living in.

Guess what I'd prefer? Let's just not go there to begin with. Let's just not use that to sell a fight because that's real stuff. You're offending a lot of people. Again, he wasn't talking about my religion, but I felt like it was too far. He wasn't talking about my mother, but I felt like he was too far. I was trying to put myself in Hamzaa's shoes, and Hamza seemed to feel some sort of way about it because he kicked them in the groin when they faced off.

But I never said that I wanted the hate to continue or all this stuff. I just didn't want it to start, and then you did all that just to say you were selling it to me there's no great like oh wow you deserve a medal for that and i'll repeat a million times and hopefully the aggregators who cut this up say i have a million times respect for him and i thought what he did was amazing and he's one of the great success stories in the history of the sport and one of the unlikeliest success stories in the history of the sport um but to see all these people who i never even spoke about just try to chime in and jump on this and try to make this into a thing try to make this into like this whole like let's shit on Ariel parade is absolutely absurd, especially when you're

being critical of a guy who is so critical of others. As I said at the very beginning of all of this, PTC, I feel like he can handle it. I don't know if that's the case after this week because all the buddies are coming after me, but like, you know, we're just talking like, man, let me tell you something, you guys. This is a guy who called his boss a sociopath. This is a guy who called his boss all kinds of crazy things after that White House, you know, shooting that correspond. I feel like a, a, a, a, a, a little bit of criticism is fair game. But I think what I learned this week is that maybe it's not. Maybe it's not what it appears. Well, they chum the waters, Ariel. These are all the people that, you know, they've been looking for a reason to have a pop with you. You can't chum the waters like

this and say, come and get Ariel. They're going to do it. You know what I mean? The bat signal. The bat signal was put out, Pizzi, but it's friends of ours like Oscar. It's friends like Oscar, who we met yesterday, who was complimentary of you. And Fridays, he told me he would watch on Fridays with his lovely mother that was an interaction that I'll never forget. I will never forget. I have made a vow that the next time

we go on one of these trips and our plan is to go to Las Vegas in two months' time, you will be with us, Pizzi. So hopefully, let's not forget Las Vegas last year, you had other plans. You were invited.

You couldn't make it. Let's not forget. What was he doing again? You had some sort of vacation in Croatia or wedding you went to or something like that. Yeah, all right. Yeah, you're some can of piss.

You're some can of piss. But we love you and we look forward to the crack. Make sure, but you just more people, just like we counted tonight and send me a text message out the night, like, how many people said, like, oh, Pizzi would love this. You know, oh, I miss Pizzi. Just tally it, like, as you can see it at the other way. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to do that. I know Frank is zero, obviously.

But like, if it's not an impressive number, I just won't send it to you, okay? Yeah, cool, cool. That's fair. I'd feel better about that. PTC, Friday will be the crack. BITB tomorrow, but our very own G. Connor Birx is standing by, is standing by live like a real life reporter,

a real life correspondent. I need him to put his finger to his ear over there. This is what they do. You stand by live, you put your finger to your ear. He is live right now, IRL, in real life, showing us the sights and sounds of Los Angeles.

G.C., where are you? Take it away, please. I'm on the air right now, Rick. Yes. Okay. Hollywood tour buses. What's that? Oh, this is amazing. Yes.

You are on air. Can someone tell them that he's on air? All right, thanks, Ariel. We're here live at the Chinese theater at the Hollywood Walk of Fame akin to the hit you did about 11 years ago before the UFC's premiere on Fox. You gotta give me some grace here. I'm completely flying blind. I can't hear anyone back in the studio or have any communications of sorts. So I'm just going to start walking. and pointing out different stars.

You know, we're building up our production here at Uncrowned Studios. We're adding things as we go. Casey's got the backpack on. We're live streaming. We're walking. We're talking. This is live to you and in beautiful living color and HD here on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sherry Lansing, one of E.K.C. Lydon's favorite, Tommy Lee Jones.

Shout out. Queen Latifah. Shout out to one of my favorites there, Queen Latifah. Annette Benning, shout out. We got the premiere of the Mandalorian and Groves. going on tonight on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sir, what is this? Custom, uh, custom Hollywood stars? No. No? No. Shout out. Didn't seem very interested in wanting to do any business with us here.

Casey, you're in, you're in LA local here. You, uh, you come to the Hollywood Walk of Fame often? Came here once, never came back. Yeah, I could probably see why. There's not a ton going on other than, other than stars on the ground. Here we go. Oh, shout out to this, Casey. Look at who we got here. out here big bruce lee in the house one of uh acting's most famous combat actors bruce lee that's a big one to see what we see jacky chan maybe i'm ahmahmah lee oh jacky chan back here yeah feels like a good spot to turn around kane shout out uh we've got the newest member of the team andy two here with a shout out andy on the air you come to the hollywood walk of fame often often actually uh where are you born and raised

one, Ariel? I'm from the mean streets of Westland. The mean streets of Westland, Oregon. A Chale P. Reference there. She is one of our own. She is a fan of mixed martial arts. Situationhip right now, big fan of the show. Do you want to say hello to him? I believe his name's Andrew Foster, actor on the bear, very L.A. that she dates inactive. Do you want to say hello to him? It's okay. Always going to see it anyway because he's a big fan of the show. She says the top one percent listener. We continue to walk here on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Rick, get in my ear at any point if you just want to cut me. If this is just so bad that you just want to cut me, you know, feel free.

Oh, Michael Jackson. Small singer, just got a movie made for him. Continue to walk here on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Looking for maybe an Adam Sandler, a Jackie Chan, maybe a fan who's going to the fights on Saturday. No real interest here on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kind of just, kind of just rambling now. Casey getting very separated from me.

I saw Mickey Mouse earlier. I saw Spider-Man. we can we can talk to them who else we got here uh marian martin never heard of them out and john shout out dick powell i know that's one of ariel's favorites zazaa gobor and all the buses part glen miller you know and shamroy shout out so you're going to the fights on on saturday ronda rousey jena carano all right all right go ahead take it away guys thanks for having me amazing stuff there gc wow you're a real life uh news reporter that was phenomenal well done live from the streets of los angeles live from the chinese theater i do believe it was actually

15 almost 15 years ago that i actually was at that exact same spot do we have that clip i'm not sure if we have that clip maybe we can show that as a fun little look back there's a funny situation happening here where on air jordan is to my right and he's trying to wait for the crossing guard to let him through. And so maybe we could show it and he could cross because he's waiting there. So just how mainstream is mixed martial arts? Well, with the UFC set to make its network debut this Saturday night on Fox, we've come to Hollywood to ask the people here that very question

and to find out if they're excited about Saturday night. Do you know what MMA stands for? No. Is that a mixed martial arts? There you go. This guy knows. Are you familiar with the sport of mixed martial arts? Are you a fan?

I am a fan. Yes I am. MMA is for mature audiences. Close. How about you? Do you know what it stands for? Yes, of course. The Cookie Monster knows it's mixed martial arts. Are you an MMA fan? UF.C. fan? Um, I watch it like, you know, when I'm flipping through the channels, yeah. First off, why do they call you Mr. Mussels? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Do you know what MMA stands for? Mixed more shorts. You're here for the Junior Dos Santos Cane Velasquez fight. Wow, finally an educated man here in Hollywood. Have you heard of the term MMA? No. Are you a fan of MMA? Mr. Mussels. I used to be in UFC. You used to fight in UFC? I didn't fight. I had a coach. I trained. Who'd you train? I trained under... I don't like to use names, but I trained under one of the fighters that went to Russia and brought back the belts. Fyodor O'Mlienenko? No, it wasn't Nico. It wasn't Nico. It was his partner. Alex?

No. Sorry about the whole doctor thing, but I just... You did win, sort of, in a weird way. Have you heard of the term M.MA? Mixed martial arts. Wow, are you a fan, Mike? I was a multi-fighter for six years. Wow.

Who knew? Do you know what MMA stands for? Martial arts. I don't know what the A is for. Mix martial arts, because A is for arts. Oh, okay. You're nervous. I know what MMA stands for. What does it stand for? Mixed martial arts.

Do you know what the dominant league in that sport is, what they're called? I think it's UFC. Yeah. What does UFC stand for, do you know? Ultimate Fighting Championships. So you're a fan? I'm not actually. I'm not. I just know, I guess. I watch a lot of ESPN. Do you know what the big organization in MMA is?

What's the top organization in that sport? Yes, UFC. UFC? UFC. Ultimate Fighting? I don't know. Close enough. Are you a UFC fan?

A little bit, yeah. I don't mind it. Have you ever heard of the UFC? Yeah. What is it? Uh, let's see. You know how the football association? Ultimate Fighting Championship?

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Fighting the cage. Yeah, yeah, that's kind of brutal, though. Those guys are really vicious. Well, I know it's all about fighting both of them, MMA, UFC, and all that. Are you a fan? Pretty much.

I play on PS3, UFC and all that. Do you know what MMA stands for? I do not, no. Mixed martial arts. There you go, mixed martial arts. How about UFC? What is that? Fighting association.

UF. Unalcumphantment. Oh, so you know what that was, but not MMA? Yes. Yeah. Do you like watching it? I like Hayward. One of the girls from USC is on it.

Gina Carrano. Did you see it? Yeah, I saw Hair Wire. Was it good? That's great. She does a good job. Did you hear that the UFC is having a very big and important night on Saturday night? Have you heard about this?

Yes, yes. What's going on? I think Kane Velazquez is fighting Junior Dostas, right? Live and Free on? Fox. Will you be watching? Yeah, absolutely. Did you buy any chance here that the UFC is going to make its network debut on Saturday night?

No, I wasn't aware of that. On Fox, live and free, heavyweight title fight this Saturday, this Saturday, 6 p.m. Pacific? No, I was not aware of that. Did you know that the UFC is making its network debut this Saturday night? No, I did not. You didn't hear about it. So you're a fan, but you don't even know that they're making their network debut.

I have a... I have... They're going to be on Fox with a heavyweight title fight. Sweet. Where will you be this Saturday night when the UFC makes its network debut on Fox? Watching on my couch watching it. That's where I'll be at, yes. Do you know who's fighting?

I do not know. It's free? Free. 9 o'clock on the east, 6 o'clock on the west. Oh, yeah? Heavyweight title fight, too. Word. Do you think that enough people,

that the mainstream audience knows that this is actually happening on Saturday, because this is a big deal? I think Fox has been given a pretty good push as far as NFL Sundays with the commercials. I think it's a building. I don't know if it's quite mainstream yet, but after this fight, I think it will be, because it's going to be a good fight.

So what is on paper view, though, right? No, Fox, for free. Fox. Yeah, yeah. Man, I'm up. Well, man, what's like with Kimbo Slop? I want Kimbo's slice, man. His first fight he crushed dude.

He bust his, he busts and pus things on his air. Bust his air, remember that? That was on CBS, James Thompson. Yeah, exactly. Bust them joints. So Kimbo the man, whether he went or lose, man. Did you know that the UFC will be making its network debut on Saturday? I did not know that.

You didn't know that. On Fox, live and free on Fox. Wow. That's a big deal, right? Yeah, I used to watch it on Spike TV, so that's... Now it's... ...by TV's out. Fox is in. Fox is in.

It's historic. I would watch you because of Kane Velascus. He's awesome. Your fan? Yes, I am of him. Why? Why? He's got speed agility and the way he just rips those guys apart is just awesome.

All of a sudden, she's like breaking it down like Joe Rogan here. Now, what if I told you that Saturday night, you can watch it on Fox at 6 p.m. Pacific, heavyweight title fight for free. I would. I'd say I would. You're gonna do it? It's a promise. Picky swear. Thank you.

What do you think of my muscles? Where are they? Wow. Let's ask you, what will you be doing this Saturday at 6 p.m. Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern? What will you be doing, Cookie Monster? The Cookie Monster will be getting ready to watch Manny Pacquiao kick the crap out of Marquette. Saturday night, what will you be doing since you're clearly a UFC fan? Actually, I'd be watching a Pac-Yau fight.

Wow. Did you know that the UFC is making its network debut on Saturday? No. Do you watch UFC from time to time? No, I've seen it. My brothers are more into it than that. I like boxing. So are you going to watch Manny Paci out on Saturday?

Of course. So on Saturday, you're going to pay. the $60 to watch Paki-up but not watch the free UFC fight? Yeah, with my friends, yeah. I would watch boxing all day. Are you a UFC fan? Isn't there like a fight going on? They have to like order that Paki something. That's boxing. Oh, no, it's UFC, isn't it?

Do you name one MMA fighter? Kimbo Slice. There you go, Kimbo, the guy with the beer. Popular one, isn't he? Yeah. Who is the most famous UFC fighter in your opinion? Probably Brock Lesner. Kimbo Slice! There we go, Kimbo Slices.

This man knows what he's talking about. I like Kimbo Slice. Do you know, can you name any famous fighters? Of the UFC? I remember a guy on Entourage. I can't think of his name, but I... Chuck Liddell? Yeah, yeah, yeah, with the Mohawk.

Can you name any fighters? In UFC? Wow. That's real big right now. Yeah. Damn, um... You can name Pro Lead or Strike Force or any of those guys if you want to also. It's a dude named Rock something, right?

something, right? Rock Leslie, a lot. Brock Lesner. You think Kimbo could beat Brock Lesnar? Kimbo could beat all of them cats. I'm putting my money on Kimbo. I agree. When lose a draw. You know why? Because Kimbo was out the backyard. All right, so there you have it. Clearly, there's still some work to be done before the sport reaches mainstream status. But I think it's safe to say that on Saturday night, MMA will be one step closer to reaching its final destination. In Hollywood, Ariel Halwani, MMAFighting.com. Well said, my man.

Thank you. Kimbo's crazy. All the rest of them, cats, Brock Lesman. Get out of here, man. Yeah, get out of here. King Velasquez, get out of here. Los Santos. Casanto, get out of here.

Over him. Oh, get out of here. All of them. All of them. Get out of here. All right. Thanks, my man. Appreciate it.

What a trip down memory lane. 15 years ago in November. Now 15 years later. Still here. Still here. Still doing the thing. Grown a lot. Three kids later.

and Dos Santos is still fighting and now he's on that card. Isn't that amazing? The card this weekend. That was a fun trip down memory lane. Amazingly, Casey was the one who shot that. And now here he is still a part of the family, a little bit of a hiatus there. And back with Connor, we tried it.

I understand that there were some technical difficulties. We've never done the IRL thing before, as the kids like to say. No, no, this is not my fault. Definitely wasn't Frank's fault. I saw a lot of people in the comments in the chat. Hey, chat, lay off Frankie, all right? He's working hard. He's freaking working hard.

He's working long hours. Sure, he likes to keep to himself and not go on the field trips. But we don't mind. We prefer the fact that he is all about that business. Because we remember that other. Now, I'm just trying. I'm just joking. What the head is?

I'm just joking. I'm just joking. Much love. Peace of love. Peace of love. I do have some breaking news, guys. We were just about to land the plane here and say goodbye. And then things happen in Los Angeles.

As the uncrowned HQ West Coast operation is about to say goodbye to day three, I get a call that one of the greatest wide receivers in the history of the National Football League and a massive combat sports fan and a man who has a podcast that airs on Netflix, Mr. Michael Irvin is going to be joining us in studio in a matter of seconds. Michael Irvin, one of the most colorful and entertaining and outlandish personalities in the history of the NFL. And of course, multiple times Super Bowl champion. I do

believe three times Super Bowl champion. And unfortunately two times against my Buffalo Bills will be joining us. And that is why I have, do we have enough space for this here on the desk? It is such a beautiful. If we go to the two shot, do we have the two shot? This guy right here. Yeah, you know yourself. I have to represent the

716. Are you kidding me? So I brought out my bills hat just to let him know where we stand. All right? We're not D1 Glazers here. We still keep it real. We still keep a real, as you saw with my trip to Dodger Stadium. We do have some time for some superchats here, so let me go to them.

And this is not an indictment on Frankie by any stretch of the imagination. I just kind of want to read them myself. Ariel, man. What the fuck is this? Quinlan O.1, do you think UFC will announce

Connor versus Max on Saturday to try to take attention away from the MVP card? GC is the man and we want more takes from him, you know, it's not a bad shout. It's not a bad shout. Imagine if they drop a Connor is back promo on Saturday night at the same time as the Netflix card. I think it would take some attention away. Now, I don't know if that's the plan and I don't know if that's what they're thinking of doing, but it would be an interesting move. The interesting part about all this is, as you guys know, TKO is the parent company of the UFC and they're also the parent company of WW, and they're also in business

with Netflix. And so do they want to play that game with a big partner of theirs? Also Zufa Boxing and Anthony Joshua all that stuff. So it's a great old school petty shout. Do they stick to it? Do they actually do it?

I don't know. Here's Quinlan 01 again who says Oliver Twist versus James Tihuna would feed families. Now does he mean Daniel Dubois versus James Tuhna or just like the drops? I don't know.

Remember when he said I look like Oliver Twist? I'm still not over that one. Here is Dylan Bevin 835 who says, shout out Ariel and the squad was great to attend the live show Friday. Where's iPhone boy? My son's at school. Actually, school might be over.

Yeah, it's over. West Coast. He's loving the new phone. Everyone's hitting him up. And now we have a new argument. And that is, can I get Snapchat? Apparently all the kids have Snapchat these days. We're not doing Snapchat.

I'm sorry. Right, Frank? Right. Too much. surprised Snapchat is still popular amongst... Oh, my understanding is Snapchat is the popularest. The popularist? The most popularist. It's unbelievable Snapchat. It's unbelievable.

Okay, one more here. Moranallo getting a call. Getting to call, a Nate Diaz fight. Shout out, Elijah on Dream. I'm very excited. Ask John Martin, if and when, PFL will come to Toronto. Too late for that. I wonder how JDS is smelling ability is. Okay, that's very nice. And shout out to our good guy, our good friend, Oscar. Thank you so much for not forgetting. May my mother live on. Oscar, you're the freaking man.

And I can't wait to see you at the event. One more. Last one from Tacky poll. It's 2009. And you're in an elevator with McGregor, Habib, Rhonda, D.C. Strickland, Nina and even Ali. If Dana walks through those doors,

you're the only person he hugs. He wouldn't know who the rest of them were. Don't let anyone disrespect you, Ariel. Right. You write that, Frank? I did not write that. We want to bring this in now? Let's just bring it in.

Yeah, just bring it in. Who cares? Bring it in, see how the sausage is made better than me bringing it in. Without further ado, let us say hello to one of the greatest wide receivers in the history of the national football league. Michael Irvin is here. Holy shit, my man. How are you? It is nice to meet you.

I'm just getting to look. You're actually Michael Irvin. Hey, stop playing. Come on, Michael Lervyn. This is wild, man. With my, with this new found hair dude. Your hair is phenomenal. All the time, like, man, is that really you?

Like, yeah, dude, I'm an old man with hair. You look fantastic. Many old men can't grow this kind of hair. So when I walk in the room, I'm already fucking with the head. It's all real, too, right? Come on, man. I'm just, I'm just saying. I'm just saying.

This ain't no wig here, bro. Bro, this ain't no wig. I tried to wear a wig one time. I had this little buddy of mine, you know, I was married, but I had this little buddy of mine. And she had a kid, and I wanted to take them to Disneyland. They had never gone to Disneyland. I said, oh, man, that's a shame.

I'm going to take your kid to Disneyland, and I'm going to go with you. Sure. She was like, no, you can't go. You know, some people are going to see you. I said, no, no. I'm going to buy a wig. I bought a wig and went to Disneyland. Every damn body was walking by me like,

damn Mike Irving you look funny with that wheel I'm like this is not even working wow wow wow wow wow it was so funny yeah that's a true story too that's ballsy yeah it was yeah it was a little crazy that was that crazy Michael what year was that like what era are we talking about it was 90s yeah yeah around the White House time

okay yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I feel you with everything was who woo woo woo ride and how Michael Irving can I just say something Michael what's that buddy this is amazing this is amazing Thank you for coming. Oh, man. Listen, man, I'm a big fan of yours, man.

You know who I am? Stop messing around, man. Stop messing around. This is crazy, my man. I love him on me. I know you do. I'm going to ask you about that. But I do have to say, in the 90s, I'm a 43-year-old man.

Yeah. Can I just be, can I be real with you? Can I be real with you? Yes. I fucking hated you, man. I can understand. I'm a Buffalo Bills fan. I whipped that hand.

Born and bread. Fuck, man. I hated you. And my whole family were Cowboys fans. My older brothers, Mark and David, were Cowboys fans, man. And you killed me. Bro, Pasadena, my one highlight was Don Beebe hitting the ball out of Leon Let's hand.

That's all I had. That's all I had. Atlanta, the following year, I'm a real true Bill's fan. The following year, we were up at halftime. We were up at halftime. I thought, please, God, just won. All I want is one. All these years later, Mike.

I'm still searching for that one. And that's why I do, I'm going to tell you some, Mario, I swear, I felt, oh my God, I felt Josh Allen after that game last year. It's Denver. Man, I felt that, man. He was crying like that. Oh, God, man. And that makes me love him.

I love him. I love him. I love him. He cares that much that it matters. Even watching basketball right now, you see him Wemby. Yeah. After he won his first playoff game, he's, I want, that's what I want. That tells me something about a dude.

That tells me he has something different when he, when, you know, matters that much to him. I was like, man, that's going to be greatness. I hope Josh Allen completes that time. Can we finally do it? I really do. Because it'll mean everything for him. And those people too, man. We've suffered enough these years. Yeah, yeah. Dude, I know. That's why think about this. Tell me, tell me. Scott Norwood had a great career. He did. It's that one damn miss. Your kids, according to this, all they're going to hear about is your dad, miss dead. miss that damn kick and we never won

because that's the one you should have had absolutely lost by one 2019 we weren't going to participate in a lady and you get one after that you should have gotten that one with the giant and you know what if we would have gotten that one I think everything changed

I think everything would have been different I think we beat Washington and I think we beat your asses I can't believe I'm sitting next to you here you would have never be none no but you had a shot at the russain maybe the fourth one you don't think so

no chance Thurman lost his helmet that fourth one yeah had a chance We had a chance against you. We came out. Remember that second half? We came out.

Yes. And we were like, we're just going to run in it right up the middle of the field. Then we ran right down to the fifth. There was no worry. There was no cause of concern. Yeah, it was. At halftime, I remember walking in with Big Eric Williams. And we were down, like you said at half.

And I was like, I looked at Biggie. I said, big fella. You think we enjoyed a little bit too much Atlanta? He said, I don't know about that. But we better get our ass back down. out here and do something and win this game, you know, because that was a hell of a game. And Biggie had missed a meeting that game. And Jimmy Johnson, if you miss a meeting, you don't play.

And he came in and he was like, Biggie missed the meeting. You know the rules. And everybody was so down. And we were depressed. And then he finally said, fuck those rules. Not right now. Wow. We need him.

Really? Because Belichick did that. All those years. later. Yeah. That's what Belichick gets it from. Yeah. Belichick and Jimmy, they're great friends. But winning is most important. That's it. Jimmy is a grave that instilled that is. I used to tell my boys, listen, man, I don't need any friends if you can't help me win. That's just what it is. I will go in there and tell on you in a heartbeat and get you out of here if you are messing around. That was the reality, man. And that's what it takes to win at that level.

Which was the best? I believe it was Pasadena, Atlanta, and then you were Tempe, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which was the best, which was the best Super Bowl week? Which one did you enjoy the most of the lead-up? Everybody will tell you, it's always the first. The first is the first. And it happened to be right here in Hollywood and Pasadena. And, you know, man, I'm going to see Ronda in Venice right now.

We'll practice this later on and say it today. You're going to be open workouts. Oh, yeah, I love Ronda, man. I love her. I love her. And I'm going to go see some workouts and go be about like a man on the streets. Like, what you do? Oh, I love this.

I love that stuff. and I used to stay when we did the Super Bowl. I stayed right there at the Santa Monica, right there of Santa Monica. Oh my God, it was that Super Bowl? The buildup. It was the best thing. When did you go to bed? Was that?

Did you go to bed even? Yeah, I did that one. Now, you know what? Because, remember, I thought that. The third Super Bowl is the one that I say, Miss Arizona calls me my MVP. You know what I mean? I kind of, yeah. I had a rule, like, you know, after Wednesday, you know, no weakening the legs.

Yeah, yeah. No handker, pancake, pancake. After Wednesday, game weekend, it was Miss Arizona. I went a little later in the week. What was it, Friday, Thursday? Thursday night. Thursday night. That one day makes all the difference?

In my mind. In my, because you were thrown off. And I got a pass and a finance. Yeah. Cornell Lake on Action 8. If I score that touchdown, maybe I get the MVP. And I got a passing offense. I was arguing with the ref, like, you mother, you, how you started?

And then later on, I was like, damn, how did you see that? That was certainly a passing interference, right? You know, he was like, well, it was, right? I said, yeah, yeah, it was. Because I grabbed him and yanked him down, and I don't know how the guy saw it. You're like those fighters, those fighters, you know, GSP says weeks before. I love Gn't. No hanky-panky.

But your rule was Wednesday? Yeah, you know, because Wednesday was my rule. I didn't get a right. fighters go weeks in advance. You can't do that. I'm strong, man, but I'm not Hercules. I can't do that one. No, I don't know about that one right there.

Not weeks. That's what they do. They believe in it strongly. Yeah. And I do too. I tell people I do too. Usually I'm pretty good. But like I tell them, sometimes the IA.N. can get me, you know,

a Colombian, Brazilian, Italian, Puerto Rican. Sure. No, usually I'm pretty strong unless I run into an IA. Oh, an I. Yeah, yeah. I didn't know what you were saying. A Brazilian. Italian.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. That's why, that's why it was, once I got the money, it was good that I got out of Miami and went to Dallas. Yes, yes. All the IAIs are in Miami. You know what I love about you, Mike? You're a true fight fan. I saw you tweeting about Josh Van and Tatsuro Taira, UFC, Flyway title fight on Saturday.

night. Dude. Did you see that fight? Of course, yes. Dude, that was. The output, the action. Oh, my God. It was crazy.

I was like, I don't know that I've ever seen about a fight in this right here. It's some of the greatest stuff I've ever. And fighting is different, man. And remember Dana brought me in a while back to do a speech up at, you know, in Vegas. And I was telling them, man. To the fighters. Right, to the fighters. And, you know, and Dana's my guy, man.

I love Dana. He's always been a great man. Sometimes I feel bad because I'm calling them all the time for tickets. I'm like, Dana, let me do something. Let me give something to your chat. Oh, Michael, don't worry. Just keep coming. I know you love the fight. I went to Brazil. You know, Dana helped me set up, go to Brazil to see. That's when run the fault.

Bechkoheer. You were there. Dude. What? She starched her. And that was the first stand-up hands-up fight she had. You went all the way for that? Yes. Are you joking?

I didn't realize you were that hard. It was one of the greatest moments. Wow. I was there, too, in Rio. In Rio, it was electric. Wow, man. I was like, whoa, that was me. I took my sons over there, man.

We had a great time. That was my first time laying on Rio Beach with my boys and going to that fight and then watching her. Because remember everybody was saying to Ronda, talking about Ronda always arm bar. She always armbars everybody, right? But they will quest wondering about her hands. that was a straight stand-up beat down. And Beth called her one time pretty good.

And they stayed and then Beth hit head for on that canvas. I was like, that place went crazy. It was unbelievable. They loved Rhonda there, even though she was fighting a Brazilian. I know it, which was shocking. You know what? I had run on my show, the White House. On Netflix.

On Netflix. And area, I was asking about it because, you know, I loved her. I followed her around like. sat and watching these fights. And I used to always say, man, she was so big. I don't know people, I don't know if they understand how big Ronda Rousey was at that time.

And I can only imagine the kind of pressure that she was under, you know what I mean? That was actually her last win, by the way. Right. The next one was Holly Home. It was Holly Home. And then Amanda Nunes, and she didn't fight since. So that's actually her last win.

And it was her greatest. Her last win was her greatest because it just set her apart. And then maybe even gave her overconfidence in her hands when she's going up against Holly and Amanda and she tried to stay and fight instead of... I didn't know you knew this much. You know, a lot of these celebrities,

they just show up to the fights. You know everything. No, I'm watching the fight. You flew to Brazil to watch that fight. I didn't realize that. What do you like better? MMA or boxing? Oh, God.

Not even close anymore. It's not even close. Which one? Which one? MMA? MMA is not boxing. boxing totally out. Dana's going to try to make the fights

that people want to see. And in boxing, you just don't ever get that. You don't ever get it anymore. And, you know, boxing used to be, I always used to the Mike Tyson's. Those were not just fights. They were events. Those were events, you know.

And now they just don't have that. So, yeah, I always know I'm going to get something great when I go to the MMA arena. Were you surprised when you heard Rondo was coming back? Ten years later as a pro athlete. I was. Gina, 17 years since her last fight.

Right. How difficult is that as an athlete to come back after a decade plus? I couldn't even imagine. And you know what my concerns would be? Is not just my skill set, but my heart, like my cardio,

I would be worried about pushing myself and how can I push myself like that? You know, because I never used to get tired. But now I get tired. You know what I mean? I'm like, man, I don't know. How do I get this tired? So I wouldn't be worried about that.

But Ronda, if Ronda, like, if she sticks to what she knows, and that's, you know, grappling and everything in this fight. And I don't know. She says it's won, one and done. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You believe her. She's a competitor, right? She goes in there and wins quickly.

She's going to want to do this again. And now you got babies. Yeah. And now, you know, I ask her about this. Like, you know, your baby or no, they know who mommy is. They know who mommy is. Do they really know who Runderowsy is? You know, your mommy did it.

And now they're about to go see you do something. They never really. Why is mommy hurting her like that? You know what I'm saying? So it's going to be interesting to see that and see what comes out of that. You think she wins? I think she wins. Absolutely.

rooting for her? I am rooting for it. I'm rooting for it. And I like Gina. I do. I really like Gina. But this is a hell of a story. And like you said, those last couple fights she had and the people she were fighting,

like Holly Holmes at the time was, you know, was on a level. And Amanda Nune is, she is on a level. That's my girl, too, now. I love Amanda. You do. Yeah, Amanda and Nina. I communicate with them all the time. Really?

Wow. Yeah, yeah. We DM and text each other all. all the time. But man, you remember Amanda was in Dallas? Yes. And when she won back her belt in Dallas. Yes.

And at that fight, after the fight, oh my God, I was so upset. I had, because that day, they kept, I had gone on and took a flight to New Jersey and to do an autograph show. They kept asking me and asked me, and I said, no, I know because I knew the fight was coming. And then they just kept taking the number up,

or did I, I said, okay, okay. And then Amanda came, She came in, she won that fight, and went in this octagon, and she said, I know, you know, I knew I was going to win, you know, 88 is my favorite number, and it's Mike Orvin's number. If you're here, come up in this, come up in the, and I was in New Jersey. I wanted to jump through the TV. I swear I was hurt. I was like, oh, my God.

I wanted to die through the TV at that time, man. Oh, then, you know, I texted her and Nina and said, I'm so sorry, guys. I took this appearance at the last minute I was going to be at that fight. What an honor. Right. And I would give it all back just to get back in that seat

and being a run up in the Arctic Guard. Because have you ever done that? You've never done that, right? No, I never did. And she was in Dallas. Oh my God, man. The crowd went crazy when she said it. So I love her, man.

I love Amanda. That's my girl. You think she beats Kayla Harrison? I can't wait for that fight. That's going to be great. I can wait for that fight. We hope that it was going to happen in January. It's now been delayed, maybe September.

But you think she could beat her. Man. I think the world of Amanda. But there's some doubt? That's my girl. Is there a butt? Is there a butt? No.

There's no but. No, I think she can beat her. Okay, okay, okay. Oh, I think she can beat her. Now, I think it's going to be a great fight. And, you know, so, Aria, look at the, look at how the progression of that fighter, that woman fighter now, you know, the Ronda used to do the great grappling. but the women fighter now these i mean they got hands dude these are this a different set of hands

you know um the tiborgs the man the nunez and all of those brought into the game and it took it to another level you like the women's fighting some people don't i love it i love it me too me too i love it no problem i love it i love it i when i first started you know yeah it was funny i i remember going to my first fight like oh my god what was it you remember you remember Watch it like this. I don't know. It might have been like a, I don't know who was fighting. Was it UFC?

Yeah, it was UFC. It was UFC. And that, and when Nick, when Nate beat Connor, was it, yeah, in Vegas, in Vegas. Were you there? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. I went to party with Nate and Nick afterwards. Come on. What was that like? Yeah, man, that was, that was pretty interesting. Man. Yeah, you know. It's so funny because somebody asked me one day,

who would I want to have in my White House, you know, the White House I had in Dallas. Yeah. Who would I want to? What athletes? And I was like, oh yeah, definitely Nate. Definitely Nate, no, man. We're bringing those guys in with us.

You know, guys that I could have hung out with and had a great time. He's on this car too on Saturday. Yeah, I can't wait for watching. You think he wins. Yeah. And he's such a fan favorite. You know what I mean? Because Nate's going to give you all he has,

and he'll walk right through a storm. to try to get it to you, to try to give you that great fight, he'll walk right through a storm, beat down, beat up, and just keep coming. And those kind of dudes I love. But Father Time, as you know. Gets us all. 42, I think, 41, 42, his opponent 34. Right.

And that's what I'm saying, too, because at some point, at some point, even now when I'm conditioning, you know, I'm like, oh, like I wouldn't be, when I was 22, I wouldn't be tired right now. But at 60 is different. You know what to me? You look unbelievable. Well, I appreciate that. What's the routine?

How do you stay in this kind of shape? Well, I like working out. Do you every? Every day? That's how I study. That's how I study. Okay. Like, so if I'm going to watch a fight,

I'm going to be on a trampoline, doing some resistive work watching the fight. Trampoline? Yeah, yeah, because I can't run outside, so I run on a trampoline. Wow. You know, because I got to get my heart rate up. Got to get the heart rate up.

I always say to people, my job, I'm going to get every bit of my time and every damn dime out of this body before it leaves. I love that. You understand what I'm saying. I freaking love that, man. So are you doing this every day? Well, every day I'm home or any day I can get to a workout. You know, I'm working.

I'm like you. I'm studying. But since we have, we study so much and there's so many opportunities. Like, you know, you talk sports, you know, that's the greatest thing in the world. always something to talk about. It's not just the game. It's the game inside the game, especially for men,

because we're not going to counselors or getting any psychiatrists, but sports is our way of, you know, counsel. Yeah, it's an escape for us, right? We bond over this. The only way we're going to take anything now. We can talk emotions. We can talk anything as long as it is put around a sport.

you know, but you can't get me into this stuff. You're 100% right. Right. If it's not around sports, then we're not doing it. Can I ask you, when you were in your prime, prime, prime, Dallas Cowboys superstar, Super Bowl champion, as much as it paints me, but it's a huge honor to speak to you. How did you feel about the media?

And did you ever think that you would become a media member? Always. You really believe that? Always. You know, I went to Miami and the University of Miami. I, you know, I graduated after my junior year. Back then, you had to graduate early to go to the league. I had another year of eligibility,

but I did it to control my draft. You know, I wanted the, I was going to play in New York, I was going to play in L.A., I was going to play for the Dallas Cowboys, and that was it. So when Green Bay, you know, other teams called me, like Green Bay called with the seventh pick,

and I said, don't draft me. Really? Like, don't do it. Don't do it. And they listen. Yeah, they went and drafted Sterling Sharp. Yes. I was like, I'm not coming to Green Bay.

I'm not leaving Miami for Green Bay. We gotta take a little. Let's just pick something else. You know what I mean? So it worked out. My dad was a huge cowboy fan and he had never seen me play, you know. And so he was, and I also, I would always make, when I made a catch, visualizing my mind, he and I sitting watching Drew Pearson make the play.

Wow. And Drew, every time you say, son, that's clutch, I told you, he always makes a play, you know. So I would try to replace that moment when I made a catch on the football field because he never watched him play. Wow, wow, wow. You know, so. Yeah, yeah, it was. And it was so amazing.

It was amazing that I got number 88 when I got to the Cowboys because he was such a big, big Drew Pearson fan. And then Drew and I got very close to it. For me, it was almost like, you know, having a little bit of a relationship with my father again. What was the relationship like with the media when you were playing? How would you describe it? on my relationship with the media was good, you know, until I got caught up in that hotel room and everything went a little, went a little sideways then. Did you feel betrayed?

No, no, you know what? I didn't understand a lot. I remember Dale Hanson, who was the big guy and a very good friend of mine in Dallas, sports guy. And Del and I had been hanging out and having fun and drinks before, and all of a sudden now this coach. comes down, I'm watching TV, and Dale's killing me. Man, that's a problem. I said, what the hell is he killing me for? He was there sometimes.

Not at the White House, but we've hung out and had a good time. And I talked with Dale after that. I said, man, why did you kill me? He said, well, you got caught. He was like, my goodness, it's the business now. I can love you, but you got caught. I got to do my job. But did you not feel like, yo, man, like you're being a hypocrite?

Yeah, yeah. You do feel that way then. But I understood now. I understand more now. You know what I mean? in the business. I try not to be that way because in this business, it is

crazy. And, you know, what I try to do is say, I understand now when I see young men and the pressure we put on young men, because I used to think about it when I was playing. I was like, dude, you guys know where I come from and what I've been through and what

I've done to get here. And a lot of young men have come out of hellholes to make it in the NFL. and went through stuff. I said that's to be applauded. A lot of times we put a lot of pressure on 22, 23, 24-year-old young men and it's coming to money,

be like, you got to be better, you got to be this, I can't believe you're doing this. Are you shitting me? All of you guys did all of this. You did all of it, but now you want to make me the antichrist because I'm at 23 years old.

I'm doing it. But that's the pressure we put on athletes. That I think is a little much. We should be giving these guys great praise for coming out of some of those hellholes, but we put a lot of pressure on these 19, 20, 21-year-old kids. It would be perfect with all that money, and it's just not going to happen. And so even in your playing days, you knew you believed you'd be a media member. You wanted to do that.

My major was BMO business management and organization, but my minor was in communications. You know, it's the most powerful thing in the world Right here, what we're doing. Yes, sir. Think about it. Wars, everything in this world that has happened starts with the conversation,

starts with this right here, communication. And if you can't do it, it's going to be an issue. We got wars going on because two men can't communicate correctly and we're losing millions of lives. Yes, amen to that. Can I ask you, do you ever have trouble being critical of people you may like, but you want to tell it like it is.

You're known for being someone who tells it like it is, but you know what it's like for them, but you got to keep it real and you got to do the job and you got to ask questions and you got to be a little bit hard. How do you balance all that

knowing what it's like in your prime? Because there are ways to deliver anything and even in business, you know, you keep the main thing about the main thing. Speak to the issue, not at the person. And there's a difference there.

You know, you get people sometimes speaking, not to the issue, but even at the person, come on, you know what, you're always late. And it affects, and it shows in your work. And this kind of, you know, just say, hey, the tardiness is a problem. You know, you're always late. It's a whole different thing. If you start getting personal, you say, we're having an issue with the tardiness. And don't speak, you know, we're speaking to the issue, not the person.

Like, what's going on with you? You're always late. these problems, now you're talking about a person as opposed to, you know, this is our third time being targeted. What's the issue here? Why is this happening? Just try to stay focused on the issue. I'm trying to help the person, but I'm staying focused on the issue because we take things personally. Who's a dream interview for you, someone that you've not spoken to that you'd love to that I would love. That's a great question. That's a great question. There's, oh man. And who would I love to sit down with, actually, actually,

if I could sit down and interview anybody and I know people, it would be Bill Belichick. Wow. Because I thought this, I think this is fascinating. Tell me, what's fascinating? Everything about Bill. Currently? Everything.

I would love to interview him right now. What's going on in North Carolina? I was doing with Willie McGinnis. And I was saying to him, when they were playing man Bill Belichick had them so buttoned up Ariel I remember before the games guys

I would see I was like hey man he'd be like um don't say hi I was like you can't say hi Bill got you all they're scared over here I'm like hi man don't look at

and I said now you have Bill had you guys scared to say a word to me on a football field I'm like He had you so buttoned up. He was a sledgehammer.

How do you feel now that you see him on the beach with his feet in the air holding up a 24-year-old? What are you thinking like, the king has fallen? Like, what the hell is going on? She's on the sideline making calls. You know, I love Bill. Did you ever think Bill Belichick would be in a situation like this? Never. Surreal, right?

But, hey, I understand. But I got it some situations. It's undefeated. And it's been beating us down. ever since Adam. Ever since God said, Adam, don't bite that apple. And Eve said, if you don't bite that apple,

you'll never bite this apple. He'd beat that apple. We've been falling ever since Adam fell. Will Mike Frable be the coach of the Patriots in September? I hope so. I hope so. I really do. And we all want to jump in, personal lives.

And here again, same thing. Where, you know how many people, I can't believe it. I can't believe right, right, right. dude if I just get a peek at your history I'm sure to tell me something like you know we all we all forget that we have done shit

when we're talking about somebody else and you know and then we want to castrate and kill him I hope so he's such a great coach you think he will be absolutely yeah absolutely you think the storm has passed here I don't I don't think the storm is past no because what happens the next time so there's a Stefan digs situation

yeah yeah yeah But listen, man, life happens. That's what we're saying. We're trying to use people in football to be the measuring stick for all of righteousness. And then we act like, you know, I can't believe this person did this. I can't believe it's a person and people do things. And yeah, and sometimes it's not right. But we're not in their homes.

We don't know what they're dealing with. And we want to sit here and say, man, they shouldn't do this. they shouldn't be doing. You don't know what they're dealing with. Get out of it. Leave it alone. It's not your business. Now, yeah, he has to, he has to, because of who he is, he has to do things the right way best he can. But, but he is a man. And, you know, she's human. And listen, I, I, I want us to get it back to the football field. Can I just ask if you were in that locker room, how would you feel about it? Like, if you did something bad and then you're admonished and you're like, hey, that's what I was wondering if the impact, if the power,

of the message gets weakened because now he's caught up in something. Yeah, and listen, Mike Vrable, I thought, had done a great job of relating the players this time around in New England. Yeah. And he's so smart in this sense. He gave them what he knew they needed transitioning out of the Bill Belichick moments. You know, Bill Belichick, like I told you, very stern and strict. I saw Mike Vrable this year when guys go down, he's sitting on the field,

in their hands while they're hurt. That was telling us, telling you something different. You know, he's giving more of himself. So I'm sure he's talking more with guys, sharing more with guys, and they'll have an understanding, you know. And if I'm in that locker room, we use this as a rally. That's what football players do.

That's what athletes do. I mean, they just keep bringing this up because they don't want us to win anything. Let's make sure we don't give them what they want. You know what I mean? got to use it as a rally. And Mike Brable has to come clean and talking with his team, you know, and say, hey, I tell you guys about not making bad decisions and I have ended up in a bad situation.

And, you know what I mean? I got to apologize to you for it. And he has to be up front and straight. And I believe he will. And that's why I think they'll be fine. I somewhat apologize for asking you these tough questions, but it's a rare opportunity to pick the brain of one of the most honest sports analysts in the game. game. Is it time for Jerry Jones to hand off the reins?

Boy, we can talk this one until it drops dead in front of us. He ain't never doing that. Is it time, though, in your opinion? I know he's not going to, but if you were in charge, would you like for him to do that? Is it better for the state of the franchise? Well, and that's it. Nobody else is in charge. But I mean, he's not giving that rain up. Until it's over. Now, right. Now, Ariel, I don't subscribe. type two, the notion that this is all on Jerry. Jerry has put teams together that got into the playoffs. He can't go out there and play also once they get in the playoffs.

They had, what, four or five great straight years or, you know, 12 and five seasons going into the playoffs, so you get opportunities. Jerry wasn't on that field when they played the 49ers and lost. Jerry wasn't on that field when you lose the Green Bay in the player. You know what I mean? Jerry put a team together that got to the playoffs. To the playoffs. Now, in the playoffs, it's one and done.

It's not like we're watching in basketball. You have to be on that date or you're out of here. And those guys haven't been on that date. I can't put all that on, Jerry. But he's putting the pieces together. And put together enough pieces to get them into the playoffs all the time. Best coaches? Is he picking the best minds, the best leaders?

He's had some very good coaches. You had a Bill Parcells in there, Jimmy Johnson. That was a while ago. Now, right now, and right now, I love Brian Shottonheim. I like Coach Shadneheimer. I think that youth and it brings Dallas into this new era of young coaches, these mastermind coaches, where they have the ability.

It used to be man beating man. You're a quarterback, I got to go and beat you. Now these mastermind coaches, They're using systems to beat systems. So it's not me go beat you to get open. It's I'm going to design something that's going to get you open. You see what I mean? And that's what these mastermind coaches are.

And I think Coach Seinfeldheim is one of them. Look at how George Pickens took off this year. Things like that. They're mastermining a game plan for George Pickens to have that kind of success. You guys are good, right? You have a great relationship still, you and Jerry and the team? Oh, yeah. I love Jerry.

Here's my guy. No, no doubt. Jerry's my guy, man. I love Jerry. We still do business together to this day. So, you know, and Jerry and I, I love him because, you know, I was a young guy when Jerry bought the team. I was, you know, it's my first year there. And I knew he was going to buy the team because we were going to tell you, I was a junior graduating.

Jimmy said, Michael, you know, Dallas is going to draft you. And he says, don't, don't. He says, go to Dallas. I'm going to come the next year. So he told me I got an oil buddy that's about to buy the team. And the following year, I'm going to be in Dallas with you. So that whole first year, I knew what was coming. Wow.

I knew we were getting Jimmy next year the following year. And I just took notes on every little player. And when Jimmy came, I turned. That was one in 15, right? One in 50. We were 3 and 13 that first year. Okay. And then Jimmy's first year, we went 1 and 15.

Wow. And then two years later, we were winning three Super Bowls. By the way, can I ask you, again, thank you. And I'm not going to keep you too long, but this is so much fun. I didn't even know you were coming. You're good, buddy. They told me. And so I'm just right.

Keon Coleman. I love him, man. He was dragged through the mud there in that press conference. Can they bring him back? I've been talking with Keon. You have? Yes, I've been talking with him, man. Tell me, tell me.

How's he doing? He's doing good. He's a good, too, man. Did you reach out to him because of what happened? Yes, I reached out to him. him, just try, you know, holler at him and talk to him and let them know, you know, I'm a resource. I want a bit of resource. And he's in Dallas.

He lives in Dallas. Okay. So I get to go by him. I know we got the same barber. So, you know, I called me, like, tried to catch up on him, but we've been moving around. You know, he likes to go shoot guns. So, and I want to go shoot guns with him. So we got a date soon when I get back in town to go to the gun range and just kind of, you know,

because I got to go to his area, do something that he wants to do and just kind of talk to him like that. But I love him, man. Why'd you reach out? Why'd you reach out? Because I knew who he was and I heard, dude, that press conference, I did not like that. Tell me why. I don't think you should ever go out and make those kinds of comments when you still have that player. You should never do it anyway.

You should never do it. But certainly when that player is still in the building, you know, and you still, he's a young player. And yes, yes, yeah, he has. He has some maturing to do or some growing up to do or some understanding to grab. And that's understandable because he's a young player. But I don't think you ever call out a player. Do you think it affected him? I think it's hard not to.

Yeah. Do you think it's going to mess up with his confidence? I think it's hard not to now. I know Coach Brady said he definitely wants him there. And I think that matters. That a new coach came in and said, I definitely want him. here and I heard it and so I'm sure he heard it but yeah

it's hard not to especially when it's so high up. Did we make the right call McDermott to Brady? I think so. You do? I do. Why? We went as far as we could with McDermott? Harmony harmony at that quarterback position

is everything. That's why I was happy even that Schenheimer got the job here and because that gives that some kind of control. role like, okay, this is my God. That's what Josh and Coach Brady's feeling. We're together. We're together now. And I believe that he needed that, as opposed to bringing someone in, all somebody new and starting it all over again. You know, he understands the pecking order on that

team, and Coach Brady does, and that'll help a lot. You know what it's like to go up and down, trials and tribulations, bounce back. There's a guy named Connor McGregor who's had some ups and downs. and he's coming back. Can he restore that glory, or is it too much, too long away, five years since his last fight, a very serious injury? What do you think?

Him versus Max Holloway. In the last few times, the last few times your fault, it's almost like some of that shine got knocked off, you know, with the way, you know, of course, nobody could beat the monster,

could be, you know? Yeah. For him, if you're a corner, It's like just let Kabri, just get him out of here. And then I'll come back and do somewhere. As long as Kabib is gone, I'll jump in. That was a mug.

That was a fight. That fight right there, you can feel. They hated each other. They hated each other. They weren't hugging afterwards like we saw on Saturday. They were not. You saw that, right? Yeah.

What do you think of that? Dude, yeah. It's just because I know the feelings and emotions that went in, where the guy kept saying, he tapped. And Kabib wouldn't let him go. I'm not letting this go until he did. That's basically what he was saying.

I was like, he's not going to let him go. He's trying to choke him to death, literally choke him to death. So when I, you know, I wonder how real it is because I knew that was real. Okay. I knew that hate was real. I don't know about this play Kate, but that hate was real when I saw it in that. Do you believe that there's certain things that shouldn't be talked about in building a fight or is everything fair game?

All's fair and love and fight promotion. I think you better know who you're dealing with. And Khabib ain't the one to be dealing with like that. You know what I mean? Because you understand how he is. You understand what he is about his religion and all those. And you go into those most sacred places with a man like that. That's not smart business.

That's just not smart business. So, yeah. And Connor was a master at that. And that's what I'm saying. You got to be, when you're a master like he is at, trash talking and everything, you have to deliver. You can't master trash talk and then get beat like that and then expect to stay up here

because now you can't go into the next fight. Master trash talking again. Great salesmen, but you got to deliver on the cell in the octagon and you haven't had a chance to do that. I would love to see him come back. But Bless ain't having that. You think Bless going to participate? You think Blessman, I'm just going to participate.

and give you all this Connor McGregor return. Bless ain't having none of that. Yeah, this is crazy. To be throwing like a bug. It's crazy how much you know. You remember, dude, what was that? That was that fight blessed when he called him? Justin Gaichi.

Yes. Called him in the middle of ring. You see 300, knock them. And they were swinging, dude. That kind of stuff. Look, I get chibump. Yeah, I see it. I see it.

Chip Bums talking about that. You're going to watch that White House card. Man, I love it. I want, dude, I'm worried about that, too. I'm glad they put the big fellow on. Alex Pereira. Right, right. You know,

oh, Josh Hokit. Yeah, but he's fighting, Derek Lewis. Big Derek Lewis. Big Beech. I know what you just did,

by the way. He just said. Yeah, a black be. He's crazy. He's a Houston guy. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. And, and, and, dude, I just don't, I want to know what American fighter

going to win at the White House. Yo, we've been talking about this. You see what I don't think the Americans winning in the main event, with all your respect.

Right. That's what I'm saying. I'm a little worried about that. That's why I wanted Jim, I wanted John in this. Yes, John versus Alex. Yeah, I wanted that so much, man. I wanted that. You know, I thought, I thought, you know, but that last fight when Aspinall kind of faded out or took the point.

What do you think? What do you think? You don't think he looked for a way out. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, he did it, Michael, yeah, yeah, yeah. You think Tom Aspon looked for a way out. The man's had multiple surgeries on his eye. Did you see that?

knuckle deep. I did see. You know about knuckle deep. Look at that. I didn't see it going there, but, but you know. That was, that was insane. His whole finger was in both eyes. Right, but, but I just saw a dude with one Achilles

stared at the ring. Yeah. And hit somebody and won again. That was, that was an insane fight too. Couldn't see. Yeah. That was, that was insane. Yeah, but, but, but it just felt like, you know,

and I don't want to take more time, do some. I wanted you to fight for the fight. You see what I mean? I understand and in his hand did go deep in it because they showed that. But I wanted to see him fight for the fight to make me determine. It made them make you stop.

Yeah. That would tell me something. I felt like he allowed them to just... Aspinall or Jones if they fought? Who would have won? I'm like, man, I'm going with John. That's your boy? What?

I never better get John. Go. Never better to get John ever, ever. Because, you know, Rashad Evans was my guy. Yes. Before John. And I went to Rashad, that fight, I was at that fight too. UFC 145 Atlanta.

I went, well, that's all right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, man. That's all right. I know my stuff. I know my stuff. And I was in Rashad Evans corner, you know, went to his practices in Florida, hung out with him. That's my boy.

And then John Jones had him, boom, hit him. Yeah. Up against the throat, that was a hell of a fight too. That was a hell of a fight. And that's when I was like, and he had already told me. I mean, Rashad Evans, because him and John Jones were friends before he's a man. Training partners, yeah. He said, this dude is going to be different when he comes up.

And so watching a man and ever since then, you know, John and our friends now. So, yeah, I love John Jones. I just wish whatever that thing is with him and Dana, I wish for our sake that they kind of figure out. You got to pay the man. Yeah, you got to. He wants to be paid 30 million. He deserves 30 mil, right? I think so.

Yes. I do. I do think so. You said earlier, I'll push back on this. You said earlier, Dana gives us the fights. Lately, some of the fights haven't been made. Yeah, and that's one of them. Yeah, and that's one of them.

And that's one. I have a lot of them. I mean, that's another one. Right. But now, all of this came in when the Conner McGregor came in because of the money to Conner, for sure, for Gregor got. And the money Conner McGregor got with the Mayweather situation and everything. And, I mean, I understand the John Jones and everybody.

wanting that kind of a payday. You understand? You know what I mean? For what you've done to the sport. That's what John is saying. John is saying, I've been the star that held up the star. You know, you're putting your bank in all your cards in these other areas,

but these guys keep falling down, and now they're trying to get back up. Help, I'm falling. They can't get up. John said, I ain't falling. And give me my money. I don't have a problem with that. You were talking about trash talkers. greatest track you were one of the all-time best on the gridiron greatest foe for you who kind of gave it back to you that you liked verbally

sparring with and see that's so great area because I told someone my toughest competitor was uh when I played was Robert Massey he played at North Carolina and went to the Saints and because my relationship with him I was very great friends with Drew Rosenhouse Drew Rosenhouse was my dude in college spent all the time. We were together all the time. And Drew wanted to be like a male Kiper.

He knew every athlete in college. I mean, he was the smartest guy in the world. Drew Rosenhaus is. I love him. And he wanted to be like a male Kiper. He knew it. He loved it so much. I said, Drew, you should be an agent.

I mean, you're going to law school. You should be an agent. So I hooked him up with one of my agents. And he learned that business. And now his first client was named Robert Matt. So I was helping him recruit Robert Massey. I was in the league. He was in college.

So I'm calling him all the time to tell him about Drew, but I'm talking to him about what I'm doing in the cornerbacks. Why Del Green's going to play me up front. Well, I'm going to just go up in his grill the first few plays just so he knows the kind of pressure I'm putting on him all game. I'm telling him everything. And then I never thought about it. One day I'm going to be playing Robert Massey.

And since I had these conversations with them, Man, I'll play a Darrell Green. I had 140 yards. I'll play Dionne Sandin's 113 8 yards. Now I'll go and play Rod Woodson and come up with 190 yards. And then I'll play Robert Massey and have two for 26 yards. I'm like, what the hell is this? It was all in my head because I had given him all of my secrets.

So he'd come up to me the first place, oh, Michael, you're not getting me. And back out of him like, what are you going? come on, I want you to feel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had told him too much, man. I said, I'll never do this again. I'll never hear. I told you I can't help you like that anymore, not with cornerbacks.

I can help you with defense alignment because I don't have to see those guys, but I can't help you with quarterbacks. Man, you're such a good storyteller. And that's why people should check out the White House podcast on Netflix. You enjoying it? What an honor to be doing a podcast for Netflix, man. Look at that. It is.

It really is. It really is an honor. And to call it the White House, running right back into it. You know, people, when they did the documentary on Netflix. Were you happy with it? Yeah, I was happy with the documentary. You know, I thought they did a fantastic job.

And, you know, I love that we can talk more now because we talk in this form. You know, when it was TV networks, these few networks, you couldn't openly have conversations like we have now. And people appreciate that. People appreciate you being real. whatever you're going through or whatever you're dealing with

as long as you're talking about it and open about it, people appreciate that. I'm a spiritual man. The Bible says, confess ye one to another. Pray you one for the other. In this we will find healing. That means in our conversations, we will learn and understand

that we're all going through the same things. If we talk more about them, we'll help each other with it. And we just, you know, we don't like to talk about our issues much and everybody hides and then everybody deals and suffers with the same stuff, but they do it solely by themselves instead of us talking.

That's why I love all of the new forms and platforms that we have. I love that. Well, we can talk better and we can talk deeper and we can talk more. When did you become religious the way in which you are? Well, my dad was a pastor. Okay. You know, my dad was a pastor. And my mom always said to me, baby, you're going to preach.

I was like, hey, I can talk to talk, but I don't know about that walking to walk. You know what I'm saying? That's another whole story. But now things are changing. And, you know, like if you look at the numbers for people visiting actual sanctuaries to go to church, adwindling greatly. And now you have to go out and be that disciple

and go in other arenas, other areas, go where the people are, the people are here, and still bring it that kind of, but do it in a way that you're not offensive to people, but they know that you're there. and your light shines in that direction. It's a beautiful thing. One last one, one last one if I can.

And I'm putting you on the spot. Can you give us an old school White House story? Can you give us something that you want? Can you give us an old... Have you told them all? No, no, no, no. I can never tell them all. Really?

Trust me, I can never tell them all. I have to try to discern what can you tell. Okay. A lot of things you can tell now. A lot of things you can tell now because, like, my White House, like all that went on, okay, they got Love Island now. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's basically the White House a little bit on steroids, you know what I'm saying? That's all that is. I was just a little bit before my time. You see what I mean. Because they love Island, the guys, they're sleeping in every room with every girl. Yeah.

Man, what I was doing at the White House? What are we talking about? That's what we were doing at the White House. So I was like, this is kind of like what I was doing. But I guess now you can put it on TV. You know what I'm saying? We had Rick Flair on the show recently and I asked him about Wilt's number. And he's like, I blew by Wilt's number when I was 39.

Rick Flair? Rick Flair. The freaking nature boy. That boy, he's going. He's still going. He's still going. He's still freaking goes. I saw him a couple weeks ago I was with him at the temple.

He walks in Rick, Rick. The man. He walks in with a little, you know, you know what I'm saying. And then I was like, Rick, Rick said, leave my girl alone. Like, oh, don't bother. Rick's still going, man. Rick Flare says Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park,

but it still has the longest line. That's what Rick says. So you didn't tell me a story, though. He is right, that's funny. I never thought about it that way. I usually say, you know, that's funny. Because Rick is a little older. Like, I'm getting older.

I always say to myself, like, dude, no matter how old you are, the women are after guys way older than you. And you were like, who are that? They're after the Ben Franklin's, the Thomas Jefferson,

all the people on Dollar Bill. They're older than me. You catch them old guys, you can get the young girls. And I called the old guys. I feel you. You know, so that's what Rick is saying.

Rick knows the Space Mountain, the oldest ride in the park, but still has the longest line. So give us something on the way out. What do you got? What do you got? Trying to change the subject on me, Michael? No, no, no.

There's so many stories, man, that we have at the White House because, like I said, it was Love Island before Love Island, you know, and we did, yeah, we asked some of everything. Somebody, I tell you, what somebody was asking me the other day who has never come to the White House. I can tell you that. Troy Aitman has never been there. Shut up.

And let me tell you now, let me tell you. You know, Troy Aikman was so popular when we were winning, we would come back from games. And Troy would have naked women at his house. They've broken in his house. They're sitting on the pool. What? And, I mean, this would happen all the time.

Troy calls the police. What would you have done? Come on. Troy calls the police. He comes to practice the next day. We hear about it. We're like, what are you calling the police for? You had all our numbers.

Call us first. And we come over there and fix that problem for you. You see what I'm saying. if you got that kind of a problem. But Troy, he was... That's amazing. That's why... But I love him, man.

He was so straight. He was just the straightest. I've never seen anyone at mature at such a young age, man, as Troy Aikman was, you know, and direct it. There's no way I would have called the police. That would have been the last person I called.

He reminds me of a young Josh Allen, dare I say. Yeah, yeah. Leader, straight? Yeah, and that's why I love Josh. And I just see how much he cares, man. So I do. really believe I hope he gets one. And I believe he can because he's just a phenomenal player. As I say goodbye to you, Michael, I have to give a shout out to my brother, Mark, David, and my cousin

Albert, who will never believe when this is over that I spoke to you for an hour. They adored you. They tormented me as a kid. I love this team. Thurman Thomas, my favorite athlete of all time, Jim Kelly, Andre Reid, James Lofton, Don Beebe, Cornelius Bennett, Darrell Talley. These were my guys, Marve Levy and you broke my heart. But holy shit, man, I love you. This was beautiful. They were bad, and they deserved one. They deserved one.

You could say that, right? Yep. At least one. And I do, I think they deserve one too. And for what they did, it was phenomenal to go to four straight Super Bowl. They don't get enough credit for that. And Thomas winning the Hall of Fame with me. So that's my Hall of Fame brother right there.

And I love them. I love all those guys. But much love and respect to you. For everything you've done and for keeping it real always. And for loving the fight game the way you do. We appreciate that about you very, very much. And you'll be at the fight on Saturday. Oh, you better believe I'll be that, buddy.

I'll be there. Ronda Rousey's your gal. Yep, I'll be there for a big return. I love that. And please do check out the White House podcast. It's on right now, streaming on Netflix. What a huge honor to be on the biggest streaming platform in the world, and you deserve it and you've earned that as well.

Do I have something to throw to? Can I throw to some? All right, cool. So we're going to throw to this. Say goodbye to Michael. Be back to wrap up today's show. Michael Irvin, stopping by here at our uncrowned HQ offices. Be back in a second.

What a week. What a freaking week. I am mentally and emotionally spent. And of course, we have three more big days as I pass the baton. But what do we, does this happen? This doesn't happen when we're doing our show in New York. We don't just have Michael Lervid, pro football Hall of Fame, are just stopping by to hang out.

O'Shea Jackson, Travis Barker, Michael Hearn, Ronda. What is going on in the water here in Los Angeles? All right, let's wrap this bad boy up. GC is back. Please have a seat, sir. You're back. You survived the Chinese theater. I want to see Michael Lerman to buy the Chinese theater

and I got Crossroads Kitchen Crossroads. Travis Barker's restaurant Travis Barker's spot. All right so if you'll notice. This is he, Travis Barker's he's such a minch. What do we have?

Pizza already been opened up. Michael Irvin had to get a slice. Yeah, Michael Lervin. Michael Lervin and a couple slices of pizza. Okay, what are you doing? Am I opening this? Yeah, open that up, see what we got in here. Yo, this restaurant's vegan.

You know that, right? I love that. I love that. Incredible reviews online. He told us, he's getting mad at me. He's like, let me know when you guys want to come. This is the desserts. We got cheesecake. Strawberry cheesecake and banana pudding here.

He said it's an L.A. staple. It's healthy. And we know Travis, we love you wherever you are. Hopefully you're watching and listening. Look at all this stuff you guys got. Maybe. I'm just putting everything out. What is that?

Is that like fake chicken pizza or something? What is this? What is this? Is this a cheese? Yeah, those are called like something cigars, something fried. Give that a try, bro. Get out of here. All right, this mushroom pizza.

Oh. Oh, yeah. You know what hungry I am right now? I can only imagine. I've been doing this for freaking five hours. This is unbelievable. This is like truffle and mushroom. This is the part of the show

that fans have been loving every day. It's just a highlight. I was just smacking into the microphone. What about Frankie asking Michael Irvin for a picture? First time ever, Frankie. Tell us why. Come on. I grew up.

I mean, I was a little boy in the 90s living in Dallas and the entire city was a completely different place. You love Michael Irvin? I'm more of a Troy Eggman fan, to be honest. Wow. Who's catching the passes from Troy Agin? Fire. I'm not just saying it.

Best thing we've eaten on air always. Not even close. Because I feel like it's actually good for you. Oh, it's insane. Wow. What is this? That's called pizza. No, this is different.

This hits different, Frank. Would you have called the police if the naked ladies were at your pool? No. Neither would Josh Allen. Let's be honest. Wow. Wow. I could put down an entire pie of this. We've got to get Rick in here to try it, man.

He's walking Playmaker out right now. Shout Playmaker. Is it true that you ran into someone, has you guys? So the stream, we tried it. Listen, old college try. Who the fuck is we? So I'm walking through it here. Frank was getting blamed in the chat. Not his fault.

Not his fault. Casey's fault? No one's fault. I know. I'm kidding. The technology is we're working out the king. I think he's Delays too much I couldn't get calm still I was on a phone call

with this guy He's just like go You're on the air I was like all right I guess we're on the air Did you guys see Michael Irvin out there We were just reminiscing About what just transpired

Six seconds ago Do you want a piece of pizza? Is it good? It's unbelievable I'm not just saying it By the way Did you know Michael Irvin took a bite of this

And he went first All right here we go What is this? You had this? It's like a cheese I don't want to miss oh look at this okay please go what happened okay how good is that how good is that you all shoot to me that is really good we're live before we went on we saw all the characters

mickey mouse chubaca spider man spider man was whiling out he was cussing at people saying all this crazy shit i was like oh this guy's gonna be perfect on there soon as y'all go live to me they disappear every character is gone i'm like oh okay i start walking nobody looks of interest nobody i tried to talk to a couple people and they just no sold me completely i was like like all right Rick man you just cut me off whenever you're ready this is uh I'm kind of floundering here there's no one to talk to Rick's like all right they're gonna take away from you they go back to you guys I swear to God not 30 seconds after we went off here comes John Wood walking up the street coach of Gina Carano Casey's big pop he's like oh John Wood I was like

fuck man oh no he's with the squad not Gina not Gina no jojo I can't even remember it was all such a blur talk for me talk for me I was I had a I had a had a white hot fit of rage. That's, that's live TV for you, though, man. What is the timing? What are the time of it? What are you out here? Oh, Aaroncini.

Yo, that's sweetie Aaroncini. Let me know how that is. I swear, that pizza was so good. Yeah, it was really. Did we only get one? Only got one. Ah!

It was for, it was for a sample. Can we go to this? Yes. Unbelievable. Oh, what do we have here? Guys, I'm so happy. this has been an amazing oh that's mac and cheese bro

we need utensils we need utensils oh my god oh that might be the alfredo oh I want to try but there's no utensils okay we have had an amazing amazing three days

but the fun is not ending Pizzi if you're with us we love you Pizzi we love you has Pizzi here what's going on if

if Pitzi this one's for you bud all right a little vitamin G I know you shit I know the shit is it yeah it's AI what a day

we did all the guests right everyone showed up no no shows god bless with the fucking limine only he saves the day makes his debut for this week dodgers had us all

yeah it was amazing we had that beautiful tribute to sylvia oh my god gave the tickets to Oscar did you connect with him he's already shut up to Oscar man

uh Oscar came from Michael Irvin comes at the end of the show just pops in a prompt do O'Shea Jackson on the front end Michael Irvin bookending the show can I get props for just like

pulling off a Michael Irvin interview on no notice sure can pulling off Pasadena Atlanta Tempe

I remembered where those Super Bowls happen incredible but thank you how good

a dance partner with Michael Irvin like his fight knowledge dude he's unbelievable he's unbelievable fucking everything I mean

I want to see if there's any more because I was bad with the super chats he was unbelievable yeah I'm going to crossroads for dinner

some people say like oh I love fighting and then you see it yeah this dude's no he's referring

he's referring to Max's blessed he went to Brazil to watch the Bechko hair fight? What? Who's doing that? He was talking about training at Guy Medsker's gym. When we were talking outside. I was like, that's OG stuff. Wow. Wow. How are you guys New Yorkers and haven't tried scars? Try the hot honey slice ASAP. This is from Miles Bell. Shout out to you. And D.K. D. King 6950 says, I just want to say

the Nate interview was incredible. The more comfortable he got, the more I laughed. Great week of shows so far. Thank you, Frank rules. Shout out. Thanks for that $5, Frank. It's been so good hanging with you this week, Frank. It's been amazing and there's more to come. Tomorrow, BITB. What's the pound for pound?

It's got to be LA themed. Working on it. No, what's L.A. themed? We just don't want to give it away. Okay, fair enough. Are we doing voicemails? Voicemails will be had. 415, sub BITB.

Look, crack on Friday. We'll have post-show reaction on Saturday. day, not a live post show, but we'll have something up for you guys. Back to the normal HQ on Monday. I know there's people doing production. I know there's people doing shows all over. You do them in your bedroom now. It's not that hard.

You've got a phone. I don't know how many people are doing them, like we are doing them live, picking up this whole production. We can take the Y-Chut here and you can get a little bit of a sense, sort of. You can't see the behind the scenes. It is so impressive. And I don't say this about myself. I say this about the team.

so impressive what they've been able to do, dating back to last week's shows, Friday's live show, into the Saturday live shows, into this operation being built on a Monday for the Monday show on the Sunday. You get what I'm trying to say. And then the slew of guests, how many guests total have come by here? I've lost track. I've honestly lost track. And we're doing it. And there's more to come. And I'm so freaking proud. I love doing the Netflix stuff. I love doing those events. It's an honor. This is my home. These are my people, this is my family, and this is where I feel most comfortable, and it's just been so amazing

to do with all of you. So thank you very much, everyone in here. Thank you, thank you, thank you. to the crew in the back. Thank you to West Coast Creative Studio. Thank you to on air, Jordan. He's got some rounds to you guys at the Inuit Dome. Shout out. Hey, see you guys on Saturday, Oscar. Okay, shout

out to you guys. Great show. Love you all, see you Saturday. You're the freaking man. Ozzie Gaming 84-7. we will end on that note. That is a great note to end on. Much love. You can hit my music, Frankie. I now, I now pass.

Is there even music, Frankie? He's so exasperated back there. Yeah, you know yourself. He met Michael Irvin and all of a sudden he's on cloud nine. You know that big doobie that Nate asked me to hold? Yeah. I could use one of those right now. I mean, I didn't try, but I feel, you know.

I feel like Mike Myers is able to help you. Is he still back? there. No, he's in a car right before he got in. Hey, I am, I am mentally and emotionally and physically exhausted, but it's like that good kind of exhausted, right? It's not like that tired exhausted, it's just that like, what's that feeling? Like the, the fulfilled exhausted. You know what I'm saying? For sure. What do we have here? We accomplished something this week. Even to, it's not over yet. How about Casey going back 15 years, by the way, the last time we were there. That was 2011. Wow. Wow. How about Casey? Yeah. Casey actually is, is pushing Michael Hearn.

Michael Irvin territory with those guns. That's crazy. Right? Yeah. We've got to test Casey. It's Casey Natty. That's the real question. He's basically clean.

They're basically clean. Tropicanna light. Sugar-free, yeah. There's open workouts later today. I won't be at those. But I'll be at the press conference tomorrow, 6 p.m. Press conference. Way in 6 p.m. on Friday.

Fight night. First fight, I think, is at 3 p.m. Pacific. What a crew they announced. Kenny Florian, so great to work with him again. More Rinalo, the voice of combat sports. Johnny Bones-Jones? Will the mending fences tour continue? Quick one, Johnny.

Off to the side. Your thoughts on the 30-milly that I said you deserve for the kitchen scrap, Johnny. What do you say? Thank you very much, Junio de Santos, O'Shea Jackson, John Martin, Jake Babian, and Michael Freakin'Urvin. Thanks to all of you.

Thanks to all of them. Back to my day, time, bye, say, say, say, say, peace.