The Ariel Helwani Show - MVP MMA's keys to success and threatening UFC, Anthony Smith reaction, more | The Craic

Episode Date: July 31, 2026

The Craic is back! This time, it’s the OG duo of Petesy Carroll and Chuck Mindenhall. The biggest news of the week is the surprise MVP and PFL merger. Petesy and Chuck react to the newly-formed promotion (06:30). Then, they discuss the unfortunately familiar MMA story of Anthony Smith’s arrest (48:59). UFC is heading to Belgrade, with the lads previewing the card alongside the rest of this weekend’s combat sports action (57:23). To close the show, the duo answer your Super Chats (01:11:05).    

It's Friday, ladies and gentlemen. It can only mean one thing. It is the crack, baby. We are back. Crackheads. I mean, you're going to have to get your fill today because we are not going to be around for the next two weeks. As you've heard throughout the week, Ariel's been telling you. He's trying to warn you.

He's trying to prepare your body for this. This is your last hit of crack for two weeks, okay? So enjoy it. Thing is, got a lot to talk about today. Of course, the PFL slash MVP merger will be the last. the main topic of conversation today. And we have a lot to get into with that regard. There are still reactions coming out today.

Even the great Jake Paul announcing again that he wants to fight Nate Diaz in MMA under the MVP banner. There's a lot of, there's a lot of crossover back to the old initial PFL Jake Paul deal, I will say. But don't let that, don't let that get in the way of the story here. There's a lot to get through. Of course, in case you didn't know, PFL and MVP have merged by January

2007, it will become MVP. MVP wants to exist across the boxing world and the MMA world, and of course we saw the big debut event on Netflix with Rhonda Rousey being Gina Carrano in a matter of seconds just a few months ago. So obviously MVP are going to acquire the 200 contracts that are on PFL's roster. There is a lot of very interesting fighters on their roster, of course, two of which are competing tonight, Usman Amaga made off, last fight in his deal,

we'll get into that later, and Dakota Ditchavah, who is very much the face of the promotion. We are not joined by the beautiful Ben Folks Day because he's decided he was going to swan off on vacation. However, we do have the wonderful Chuck Menanol, who we will speak to in a matter of seconds before we get a word from our lovely friends. Oh, hello, Chuck. Just wait. You just wait. Hey, what's up? I thought I would jump in here real quick. No sweat. No, do your thing. Do your thing. I'll be right here. Okay. Let's just have a quick word from our friends at Calci. That's right. This episode is sponsored by Calci, the largest prediction market in the United States.

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to get up to $500 when you trade $25. K-A-L-S-H-I. Calci. Trade what's next. And just as we have a beautiful Chuck Menan Hall here, let's have a look at the old markets because it's quite a busy weekend between Serbia and of course here's the main event Medich v. Rodriguez in the main event

at least you knew it Pizzi at least you knew who the main event was here I think we might have a bit of a conversation about that later on I know exactly what you're talking about, Chuck 76% of the market going with Medits there against Rodriguez and man you spoke to ahead of this fight

do you feel that's disrespect No I think that he's being This is a tough one man This is a tough one coming from We'll talk about it, but I think this is a very tough fight for D-Rod. Yeah, it's going to be a very, very good fight. The doctor, of course, you see the boys wearing the scrubs yesterday on the show. Always go to the extra oil.

I have my scrubs there. It's just that they wore them. And I was like, I don't want to steal their idea. So I'm going to keep them back there for a minute. Any more old markets going there, Andy? Uh, B. Behovedvi-Stirling, Sterling, 75% are they sleeping on the legendary Polish power at 25% there? Chuck Oytte.

Hmm. You know, Maybe a little bit, man, but how old is Blahovich? Like, he's got to be in his 40s, right? He's in his 40s for sure. Yeah, absolutely. Not that it has mattered that much, you know, like those big lugs like that, but at the same time, this, I mean, it does feel like a passing in the guard a little bit for Sterling,

but at the same time, that does seem like they're sleeping on our guy, right? It could be a y'all must have got moment, you know what I mean? The last thing to go from these legendary-y-on-must-for-gat. There we go. There it is. And that's where they were looking for. We're groping for that, but we got it. Any, uh, oh, rackage v. Tobura.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. That could be a real stinker. I'm just going to say it right now. That can he, that'll be very violent and very quick or an absolute stinker. That, that has been involved in some bad ones. But rackage, I mean, dude, how often is he fought? I mean, this is always the thing with him.

Like, he started off so strong at one point and it feels like we get, he's like, he's like the, the Haley's comment of the UFC at this point. We don't see him too often. That's right, man. He is like the Haley's common of UFC. I remember he did my fondest memory of him is when he absolutely destroyed Jimmy Manow in Sweden that time I believe it was and everyone was like everyone wanted to celebrate this win but it was also so tragic how Jimmy got put out that night that it was one of those weird feelings in the media room afterwards like I don't really know how to approach it. I remember that well you were there right? I was indeed yeah it was a fun one back in the old days when we used to go around Europe but of course we're back Belgrade who's saying.

it's over, not me. No. Any old markets on the PFL there before we get into their big marriage or two? Oh, Usman Namaga Madoff v. Archie called it. 84% for Normie there. I mean, big, big foy for Namaga Madoff. We can talk about this later, but. Trap fight.

Yeah. They call it, right? He's Dermainege boy, both mileage boy, Ali. Do you think Ali's putting in Archie if this crucial moment of Usman's career? This isn't like Ali to be at a, like at odds or at a call. conflict of interest with these guys. You know what I mean? So I don't know.

I'm not sure what's happening there, but this is kind of a trap though, man. Isn't it like, Guzma, you get down to this position where you're like, okay, uh, big, big time main event, but it's the last fight on your deal and there's all this talk of UFC at all this stuff. Sometimes that distraction becomes too much. Yeah, it does, it does.

Um, Dakota has a, is a massive, massive, uh, 96, yeah. Oh, poor Denise Keyholtz. To be expected. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Lamed of the slaughter, PT. Looking forward to it.

But Chuck, before we get into all this, all those beautiful cards that we can talk about towards the back end of the show, the PFL MVP merger. And you have wrote about this on Uncrowned, a very beautiful column you've put together as usual. But tell me this, I was saying at the top of the show, like I can't help but think back to was it 2024, 2023 when PFL announced Jake Paul that he'd be fighting the Francis and Gano thing. Right. Are you feeling a lot of crossover with that? Because as we know, that didn't go quite the way PFL would have wanted, in my opinion. No, it didn't. But, you know, if you go back and you think about when that it was all happening, we were kind of like skeptical, too, weren't we?

I mean, like, some of the things that were going out at that time, they felt, you know, this was still under Don Davis, right? Like, there was still a little bit of this overpromise and underdeliver vibe going on with, we're going to do this, we're going to do this. It was kind of pie in the sky. I never really knew if Jake Paul, that really was just more of an alliance more than anything. It was more of a direction at the time because you're like, okay,

well, now they've got some definitive big players, and this is how they're going to start to counter the UFC and try to maybe, you know, be the co-leader or whatever their language was. Yeah, so, but obviously like,

as time went by, it was kind of like one of those stillborn things, right? Like you're wondering what's happening with it, nothing really materialized. is you got one Francis in Ganu fight out of that whole, that whole time that he was in, you know, part of that. And there was so much discussion about, you know, him, you know, getting equity with the African side of things and just all of,

everything that was going on being an ambassador and the pay scale. Remember this? It was just so much. But like so many other things we've seen, it just kind of fizzled out. So it just felt like more blowhardism, right? Like it felt like we were just kind of being sold. As they, as they tried to figure it out and they just couldn't possibly deliver on the product. This feels different in the sense that Jake Paul with a Badarian, right? Like they come in,

they come in in a completely different, you know, it's a different feeling, isn't it? Because they've set a precedent, especially Jake Paul, going way back against the UFC, because, you know, this has been kind of the side crusade of his, is to pay fighters, you know, fighter equity. And he's actually carried a lot of favor, not just those fighters, but with fans. And this is the hardest part. The PFL could never really get the fan interest. that they wanted, right? Like, this is a different thing because Jake has done a very good job of focusing and getting like fans to pay attention at least.

If you don't like it, whatever, people come out of his fights, like his fight specifically or his cards, sometimes mad or calling for the fix, whatever it is. But people are always talking about it. He's a guy who generates that kind of interest. And I think Badarian, you know, is a guy who understands the UFC side of the business, kind of knows where to counterattack. I feel like it's a fresh code. It's actually, of all of the things we,

we've seen of companies that come together or the acquisitions or whatever they're doing, like the different promotions that start up. This one feels a little different to me on that. And that's what kind of prompted that, uh, that column that I wrote. I will say initially when I saw this, I was kind of, I was kind of stuck in the mud in terms of what happened before with PFL. But then as you said, like this new layer of paint, I think it is a lot of that's to do with how well the MVP debut went on Netflix as well.

Like, I mean, of course, it had its critics about like the way the main event went. People were saying there are all these squash matches on this card. But we have seen that it has had implications across MMA with Saladin Parnasse and the span being going back to the UFC. Like that has helped them in terms of their career trajectory. The UFC obviously felt like they were doing something well there. But that event in itself, and of course, we have yet to. see the full detail of this thing play out. What we're doing right now is speculating to a large extent about what it will be,

the media snippets that have come out, what can we, what can we kind of forecast based on that. But I do think that proof of concept with the Netflix card has at least shown like, this is something beyond what PFL are capable of. And it's also something that PFL need because as we were discussing before we went live here, tonight in New York, this is like their best foot going forward with Dakota and Usman, two of the faces of the promotion on the card. And it still isn't provoking much interest outside of the MMA bubble. So the fact that we have seen this MVP Netflix card and God knows what's going to happen

in terms of where this will be broadcast when it does become MVP in January 2020. But that does give you some added enthusiasm as to what these guys can do when they are given the wheel of a big promotion. Yeah, I think you're 100% right. Like just getting the Netflix thing, right? Because this, how often does anybody come correct with a, with something that evens the playing field just in one fell swoop? And I feel like the Netflix aspect of this dwarfed in this weird way like the Paramount Plus thing.

This is a new Paramount Plus broadcast deal with, with UFC and they're trying to build that, whereas Netflix is already there, right? Like this is like the new flagship of streaming. And to kind of land that deal and also to, bring in Ronda Rousey to get Gina Carrano, to get Nate Diaz, to get Francis and Gano. So now you have something that's actually like this, the precedent which they started, right, which was we're going against the UFC. This was a big sub-tweet in the end, right?

That whole event about the UFC, their numbers and the way they do business. It was a declaration in that sense, like the way that the, you know, the whole press conference was like that. I think that like laying down that foundation was a big deal. And then to deliver the numbers, even if the fights themselves, if you're like, well, I didn't think they were very great. They weren't, you know. But at the same time, it, you know, it was compelling enough to tune in. And, you know, it's a promise of big time business and big things to come.

And I think that that's kind of the key. When the UFC first rolled out the pay-per-view model, obviously, from the very beginning, we got used to the precedent of paying for big fights, right, all the way through up until this year. And the precedent with like, you know, Jake Paul and like even Bedarian is like they've already at like they've kind of shown they can do big business. They've shown they can do novelty business. They've shown they can do, you know, brush off Mike Tyson, 57 years old. They can do all the weird things that they want. But somehow we're meeting them on their playing field.

We're meeting them on their level. And we have been. So they have established something as an of an identity that they, that's very malleable, you know, to how they want to operate. through the course of the last few years and even in the boxing realm, you know, with the big ESPN for women's boxing and everything else going on. I just think that they've set a way,

there's way more of a direction and identity than we are used to with some of these companies. Absolutely. I couldn't agree with you more. Of course, a big promotional asset to all this is Jake Paul. And he's been very active on social media. I believe we have some videos of him at the NASDAQ there announcing this deal. And look, the Warcroy,

from the jump here, Chuck, is we're going to challenge the UFC we're coming in to try and take over the fight game, all of this stuff that we have heard before, and that is certainly what they attempt to do. I think I can speak for both of us when we, like, I think we agree

on the fact that UFC is stratosphere's beyond anything where the PFL, even with this merger with MVP, even with the Netflix card, what they're doing is stratosphere is beyond what any MMA promotion has ever achieved. it is going to be a hell of a task for PFL slash MVP, the merger.

I don't know what the hell to call it. I'm going to keep on saying that long, extended bullshit. But you'll be happy to know that Oscar Willis of the MacLife got the opinion of one day and A Hoyton all this. And safe to say, doesn't seem to be shaken on his bridges just yet, Chuck. I am happy to know this. Let's see. MVP and PFL announced a merger yesterday. Curious your reaction to that deal.

if you knew it was coming and what you think that means for the company moving forward? What company? MVP. I mean, I don't know anything about what they're doing. It probably makes sense when shit isn't working for anybody. We should all probably get together. Let's take two organizations that don't sell tickets and nobody watches. And let's merge them together and make a bigger company that we won't sell tickets to and that nobody will watch.

They're going to rebut with the Netflix deal. You know that? You know this is coming? they're going to come back with Netflix, but... Listen, I said this a hundred times, and I'm just fucking around, but I said this a hundred times. I don't look at any of those guys as our competition. We're in a whole other fucking stratosphere now.

I mean, I'm competing with all the majors. Those guys aren't my competition. So good luck to them all. I wish them all the best. You need one of those high-powered telescopes to see the UFC at this point, man. If you really want a zero-in on them, you know, that's where they're at. That power slap, man, that is doing some serious fucking miles these days. That plastic power slap cup, my God. Do you, look, I tend to believe what he's saying,

though. I don't think he is intimidated in any way. He's always been right. He's always been right about this, by the way. Unfortunately, it's true. Yeah. I don't think he, yeah, I don't really think he gives a shit at all, to be honest. I think they need to poke the bear. And that is what me and Chuck are going to do our best to talk about today in terms of what can this merger bring about what needs to happen, what didn't happen the first time around Jake Paul

got involved with PFL and I guess top of the order really in terms of things that need to happen and give us an idea of how enthusiastic we can be about this merger is a broadcast deal right? Chuck like this has been a looming problem for PFL for a

long time ESPN the placement John Martin who will continue a CEO of MVP when this merger goes all the way through in January 2027, he's come out and said, like, you know, we haven't been given very good spots by ESPN. We know that MVP have worked with Netflix in the past. Do you think that's on the table, not in terms of every single event, but for a certain showcase events, maybe like three, four times a year, do you think that's something that they'll be able to compel Netflix to get into? I think so, man, because, you know, Netflix, they want live

they want live coverage of events right like they want to do this this is how you stay you know at the top of the game and I think that that was a good number that they did on the first one I think that it was a you know even if I know that

I know what Dana's saying everything he's saying there is is right it's very difficult like you're not moving ticket like these companies come they go they they merge they fall apart you know and it's like you can understand that there's a brush off

I'm not saying that he's not paying attention to this he fully knows what's going on with this, but especially with the Netflix thing, I think that if they are able to work out something with Netflix, it remains to be seen like, you know, will they do kind of what they did here where it's a, you know, you're doing maybe a quarterly big, big show that basically, because this is what we speculated before. We're like, I think that they just want to kind of drown the UFC's numbers. They want to beat them in numbers, if nothing else.

This is a different approach if you have a Netflix at your disposal, right? Like if you're in partnership with Netflix. So I have to think that that's part of it, right? And it feels like they have a good relationship with Netflix. So I would, I would guess that that's got to be one of the forerunners, uh, for this whole thing. We'll see how it all plays out. But I think that that when we're determining and that this is why we're speculating, when we're determining the success, I think that that's going to factor in huge, right? Yeah.

It's got to be, if it's something like Netflix, that changes things immediately. It makes them a player immediately, all of that stuff. Agree. And I do think it kind of reminds me of the discussions we're having about UFC before the Paramount deal went through. like I could see different pieces of this going in different directions because I don't I just plainly don't think that the roster is compelling enough to become like every event goes on Netflix right like the fine nights that PFL have had over the last few months have evidenced this like we were talking about the promotion potentially being as death throws of course this shoves a whole lot of new excitement around it and stuff but I I just can't imagine Netflix being in the business of putting on PFL standard events that we see today. That said, I could imagine a lot of people being suddenly,

like reigniting their interest in terms of having this product, MVP, MMA on their broadcasts. Like the zone who has kind of been combating itself against the Zoufa boxing world. I know PFL have been on the zone in the past. The added impetus of having Jake Paul there promoting these cards, I think that will mean something to them in terms of getting more eyeballs on MMA outside of the

UFC the looks at the zone. It's nice when you can be the promoter and the owner and the founder or whatever and also kind of like the key fighter like he's the dangling character. Yeah, eventually I, you know, I'm going to fight an MMA, which you know that people will tune in for. It's a very unique setup. I just think that, you know, you have a guy who has a brand that we, we talk, I mean, at first I felt like he was a clown show.

Like, you know, like he shows up. He's an interloper in the fight game. I did not feel like he belonged here, but he's been able to just keep carving out this thing. And now he's got a bit of an identity. And I think that there are a lot of people, because he has preached fighter equality and fighter fairness and these types of things, and his fighters themselves are like,

hey, we're making a lot more here. I just think that these elements play. I mean, who knows if it's sustainable unless you have a big, broad, you know, how it all plays out.

But it's a very different approach. And that is, in 2026, it's just so different for Jake Paul, right? And he's got the right guys around. him and he's proven himself over the course of time. So I just think that it is compelling, isn't it? I mean, like generally speaking, when you're talking about Bjorn Rebony, for instance,

or, you know, Don Davis, you get these guys who you're like, you hear them, the first time you hear them making declarations of what they want to do. And you're like, dude, you just don't, like, how could you be this naive going into the game, you know? And we've seen that a lot. I just, this approach to it is very different. Yeah. It's very serious, very different. And I think that they're shrewd enough to kind of know where they can compete with the UFC. And I think that that's very different too. Yeah. And he kind of, he stokes a different flame in Dana, like, because Dana has so publicly gone

against Jake Paul in the past, he's also like, they're aware this is a dick measuring competition between Jake Paul and Dana White and has been for a long time. But with that, there's an added level of pride and this added level of ego where you think Jake and Nikisa, obviously, Nikisa working in the MMA for such a long time has proven himself to be a great promoter. But in terms of the public spot between

Jake and Dana, I think that lights the flame under both of them, particularly Jake in this case, because obviously he's at the forefront of his merger, but I do believe that kind of puts his feet to the flames to a certain degree where people are going to be saying, like, you said you were going to do this. He's already gone through this,

once with PFL pretty much, which I think will provide an impetus for him to deliver. Yeah. Dude, it's such a compelling thing, isn't it? It's just all of it is very compelling in the sense like, you know, when Jake was, when they were first doing it, I was just, when they were first putting out the MVP, uh, MMA card, you're, you're feeling is they're just doing a one off. At least this was my mind. I was like, they want to beat numbers. They, I don't think they want to have a roster. Remember we talked about this? You're like, I don't think that they want to roster up because that changes everything. This becomes now a league that you're trying to manage. You have to put on lots of it. The fact that they did this is a little surprising because they were saying that it's not going to be a one-off, but I wasn't sure that they would go so far as to do something like this. And I guess that's where my big intrigue falls into next. I don't know. How many fighters does PFL have on roster do?

Approximately 200. Yeah. So like you think about that and to keep 200 fighters happy and to like having fun, you got to have some events. And so this, again, maybe this is where they're in the, like, figuring this thing out. But just doing that basic math, you're like, that gives you a little bit of a hint of what they're thinking, right? Like, they have to put on, it might be, maybe this is one of those things where it's kind of multiple deals and they're airing in different places. It might be something like that. But, you know, I, it's a fully different thing.

And it's hard to get, like, this is where it's different for Jake Paul. He's all he's been operating in kind of the, what are they called the tent pole type things? Yes. We're focused on this one event. And now you're going to have to focus on a horizon where there's a lot of. things going on. Yeah. And I think that that, you know, when Dana's like downplaying and stuff, I think he's always talking about that. Do you have a big picture that's sustainable for your company? And I, that's going to be the fun once this thing gets going for real. Yeah. Um,

we've talked about the broadcast deal. I think that's the most important thing. Second is just how this looks, the rebrand because, I mean, we've talked about it for the last couple. I think for the last month or so it's kind of come crashing down that something needs to happen. You don't think they're going to go with your original name. You had a name that you wanted to call this. What was it again? Um, knockout world. Knockout world. What was it?

Knockout world. Yeah. I still like that. I've copyrighted it. Hopefully they go for it and we could all be in for a few quits. You know what I mean? That is still the hope. That'd be nice.

It would be really nice. I could do. The PFLs just can't stay out. Like even like we talked about it with, with, uh, like even about your son, like his interest in the MMA blaze. He's very interested in the UFC. He knows the ins and outs of this promotion. Like, and then.

no interest at all, really, in the PFL or, you know, very rare have any. And I was getting phone calls off coaches for the last number of weeks, like, tuning in to watch the PFL product. And just like saying, it's just not inviting looking. It looks stale. Like, it feels like they're going through the motions to a certain degree. And in this time that we perceive to be so important, of course, that's been solved now with the merger, but it, it needs to look good.

And as much as like the Netflix MVP card looked so, so good and it was, I know people were complaining about the lights and the seats at the arena and all that. Yeah, but that's just the arena. Yeah. Yeah. It's just how it looks. But can they actually do this on a smaller scale? Like, as we're saying, they're not going to have these Netflix kind of events every couple of weeks to fulfill the needs of this 200 strong roster. Do you think they've shown you enough in their boxing enterprises like the likes of Jake's early fights?

Remember he went off the mop and start being a proper boxer for a while, stop messing around those MMA guys. And he stopped that real quick because he realized nobody was paying attention. But to his credit, the events look good though, right? Like they looked decent. Like in terms of a broadcast, like it wasn't like you turn it on and go, oh, fuck this, turn it off. Of course, there were some robots dancing around and stuff like that.

You'd have to look past that. But do you believe Nikisa, Jake and John, of course, from BFL, do you think they kept the combined talents to put on intriguing, good looking and appetizing smaller my cat's as opposed to those gargantuan, the gargantuan one they've already done with Netflix. I think that's the hardest task they're going to have. Yeah.

You know, I really think that that's the hard part is just to have, you know, kind of your filler shows or however you want to look, the smaller shows and just saying like, hey, you guys should watch this one. Like, that is the hardest thing for all of these. Like, how many bellator's went through that you didn't even like, you're like, oh shit, there was a bellator last night? You did, how many of those went through and like, even Strike Force

back and they had a better, they did a better job, right? Like, you kind of knew, but they, they would have events come and go that virtually nobody paid attention to. I think that that is the key, and this is where the UFC stronghold is, you know, it's at its best, as they have, what, 46 events a year and they've carved this out. We pay, we don't pay attention to some of the apex things as like we would, like the bigger fight nights, and then, of course, the paper views or whatever, the numbered cards. But to add to that space that's already so inundated, almost every weekend throughout the year to add to that space you've got to do something that's going to be compelling um and you got to be able to build i guess kind of almost like a soap like the ufc did like where you pay attention to the fighters and you're interested in who they're fighting what the dangling carrots are the behind that fight like who's fighting who after that those things that's so hard to do man and other promotions have had a very very difficult time doing it and those small shows just kind of come and go with nobody paying attention so i feel like that again this is just one of those things you're like how will they handle that. That is a great question. And, you know, how will they, how will they add the magnitude

or match the magnitude of what the UFC has created? Yeah. Um, as we've all kind of, we've touched on a few times here, PFL of great fighters. There's no doubt about it. But the way it's going right now, it, something needs to be added to this. Like, obviously, that's why MVP are here. Um, we've gone through the broadcast deal. We've talked about the rebrand, just making this look like an appetizing product. The next step is getting fighters that people are compelled to watch. They do have those. Don't get me wrong. We've mentioned Usman, Dakota, both of whom are fighting tonight

in New York. They've also got Dumbay, who's been away for a while. I wonder if MVP can tickle his balls a bit and get him back in action because a lot of people want to see this guy fighting. All tickling, but it's the best way to do anything, really. If you're trying to compel someone out and just give it a little, just get the dangle bear, you know. Um, also Patrick, too expert at that.

I don't know what's going on, but yes, give it a go tonight and get back. All right. Patrick Caboara from Belgium, he's another astronomical talent who is great huge scenes over there. They can do something with him. He could be a headliner of one of these smaller shows. He has been a headliner for them in France and Belgium.

Um, even at his debut that I was at, crazy, crazy scene. They've also got Paul Hughes in, uh, Belfast. We, we've said this a number of times. the stuff they do outside the US is far more intriguing and it looks so much more energetic than the stuff they do in the US. As I mentioned, Hughes in Belfast, you have Caitlin Lockhart there as well, Reese McKee there as well. Manchester, I think that's an untapped resource.

Lewis McGillan is coming off a loss, but he can sell a shitload of tickets in Manchester, Dakota, obviously being from Manchester as well. I think that's a serious option. But yeah, do you imagine that a lot of this will play out outside? of the U.S.? Or do you think MVP's role? I think it has to, but you know what? I keep thinking about this.

I'm like, do they, because you're right. They've had like, their better stars have kind of been the European, like the, you know, we keep saying like, you were talking about Cedric Dumbay, you went out to that fight in Paris and you're like, oh my God, dude, this is like Dublin when McGregor was there. You know, it's like, it's a crazy scene. And, you know, the UFC obviously this kind of pilfered one of the guys who's going to go and then, and fight in that market. But, you know, one intriguing aspect of, in a.

our world today, you know, in our world today, because it's changed so much just since the USC, like, got a stronghold. If you were to say, like, okay, who's better at holding up and say, pay attention to me, pay attention to me in these game right now? Jake Paul on the one side or Dana White on the other, you're almost like, dude, the biggest thing they have is you have a relevant player who can command attention, whereas another guy is just like coasting right now. Like, I don't even know what Dane is doing most days. He's on autopilot, right? He's on autopilot, dude.

And, like, if he doesn't sense that, like, that's shift and, you know, dynamic a little bit, this is why they'll start to fail. This is why they'll get caught up. This is why they'll get caught up to because somebody will say like, hey, man, in a game of attention, we're just stealing attention, we know how to do it, you know? And I honestly, that's, you know, you look at guys like Scott Coker and Bjorn and all the, you know, name any of these guys.

could they do this effectively? Well, this is the one thing that Jake Paul has done very well. And I think that that is like almost a subplot to this whole thing is like, can he just attract attention, headlines, all that stuff over to him, you know? And I think in our world today, man, the way it goes, you know what I mean? Like that doesn't seem impossible to me. It's a different game than it was a few years ago, you know? So that is something to keep in mind on this.

Well, you talk about headline generation. Jake Paul's been doing the rounds. And guess what? I'm not going to tell you, I'm going to let Jake Potty. I'm going to let Jake Potty. Let's see. We decided to team up with PFL to really go and change the landscape and give fighters the opportunity to have the viewership and the big paydays

and to go ahead and compete with the UFC head to head. You said you were looking forward to your MMA debut. What's your timetable for that? I've been trying to make it happen for a long time. And it's really just come down to negotiation. behind the scenes. I'm going to come back hopefully later this year into boxing and then looking to do MMA in 2027. So there's still a long list of opponents out there that I want to fight massive names. I'm only developing my skill. I'm 29 years old. There's still a long

way for me to go on the path to world champion. And that's what I want to be able to do and accomplish. Jake, how does training for MMA compare to training for boxing? I don't know. Oh, that's the funny part is I've never even done a single day of MMA training. I have a wrestling background. I grew up Division I, Ohio wrestling in high school, but I've never actually said, hey,

today we're training MMA. So I'd imagine it's very similar to box. You know, well, made some good points there. He doesn't know how I had an MMA camp is. He's going to be fighting MMA next year. It feels like deja vu.

It feels like deja vu. He's a good. perpetual dangling care. He's not going to, I don't know if he will. This remains to be seen for me. But he is. Although he backs up most of his stuff. So I will say that like there's a possibility he does this. And that is that would work for them. Like in terms of this attention economy that you're talking about, that works. You put him on a, if he does this on Netflix against Diaz, which he said today, we couldn't use the clip. And he said today that he wants to call out Diaz. This is again, all half for some. And as much as it would piss off a lot of Dyerhardt,

hardcore MMA fans to admit this, him headlining the card would bring them potentially to Netflix, which gives them a massive card to sell and an opportunity to put a load of, like, at least some of these fighters on the 200 strong roster into the public eye in a way that they never have been before. Like that works in terms of one of those big banner events, right, if Paul is going to make an MMA debut.

Yes, because it's the next step further, right? Like he, so we were like, it's been an escalation the whole, way, like the improbability of what he's doing. Well, he's going against Ben Asking. Oh, of course, because Ben's a wrestler. He's going against Tyrone Woodley. Oh, well, you know, this, this all the way through, right? Like Tommy Fury, he goes all the way. But he won't fight, you know, he'll fight these guys who are pretty good boxers in

MMA, but he won't fight real boxer. So then he fights Joshua, right? Who breaks his jaw? You think that's the end of it. Well, how do you go from there? Well, now I'm going to go into MMA. I mean, it's, he's a master at, like, going up levels or, like, changing the levels, you know, to keep you, keep you interested.

And obviously with a guy like made Diaz, it's hard to kind of matchmake him at this point, like especially after watching the Mike Perry beat down. But I think that you put something like that because they've already done it once in a forgettable one way. Now you're going into the other guy's realm. I think that that's compelling, right? This is what we're talking about when we talk about people who want to just tune in to watch this stuff. It's like this is what we're talking about. So I can see that happen.

I know I just said, like, we'll see if that happens. but actually in just the way his trajectory has been, I feel like it does happen, you know? I don't think he- I feel like it does happen. I think that that's how Jake operates. He just kind of, he gives you the next thing. Yeah, you know, he just keeps following that progression.

Yeah, and I don't think he's invested in this as he is boxing in terms of his professional career. And I don't think it would hurt him. Joe, I don't, like, if he lost an idea, as people are like, yeah, of course, of course you lost an ideas. You know what I mean? Like, it's not the blow, but I'll tell you what, Chuck, that isn't the only. potential headline that we've been discussing. John Martin's been having a word too. Remember Cyborg? Yeah, still

contracted there apparently. Let's have a listen to what he had to. I remember the big Jan Finney fight from back in the day. Remember that one? Who could forget? Who could forget the job? I wouldn't have even thought to ask this, but like I said, I put out a tweet, hey, guys, let me know what you got for John Martin. I'll be talking to him later. Chris Cyborg tweeted at me. She said, make sure you ask John Martin about Chris Cyborg and Rhonda Rousey. Is this possible are you interested?

Yeah, look, I'm, first of all, I'm focused on Chris Cyborg fighting at Tampa. But what Chris Cyborg wants to do, we'll try to put together. But I'm smiling. I don't know. We'd have to check. I was talking a little bit earlier to Jake and Akisa about Rhonda and what her aspirations are. Obviously, we'll have to figure all that out. But again, it's good for the fans.

It works. It would work. It would work. It would fucking. I'm like I'm like I'm I do you not think it would do it like a Netflix job and that if Rosie goes back again or have they jumped the shark with that I mean dude it would do gangbusters but do you really think ronda's coming back oh is this count as one of the babies she wants to have because I'm like this is like first of all just at odds with it's at odds with everything she said

plus I don't really think that she's ever once from maybe the time when she was first being introduced to the USC was there really a talk of doing cyborg where it was actually anything that was legit, you know. I don't think she wants anything to do with Cyborg. The whole, her whole career. And also, you just came back and got a 17 second, like, cherry on top to the, an extra payday and Sionara and all that. For her to come back and, like, risk all that against Cyborg, dude.

I mean, that's why it would be compelling theater, though, because you'd be like, whoa. So Ron is putting herself into a dangerous position here to, like, blow it again. Like, it's just, I feel like that would be the subplot of this whole thing. But I cannot see that she would come back and do this at all, man. Yeah, it is, it is hard to believe, to be fair. And to your point, even when Seyborg went to the UFC and she was literally killing herself to make $1.35, remember there was that big stipulation at the start? And there was the videos of her nearly boiling herself to get down to $1.35.

Obviously, Rousey's at $1.45 now, I'm just saying, it changes the goalpost somewhat. I don't even know if they could come up with the amount of money that would even tempt her. I'm not even joking. Like, how would you even tempt her into this fight? I mean, Cyborg would take it in a heartbeat, but. Netflix is budget. I can't imagine. You feel like they could just do something, though.

I don't know. But. They're going to have to come correct. I just don't know, man. Another one on the rumor mill, we don't have any media snippet of this or whatever, just in terms of main events they could potentially look to put on that provoke a lot of interest. Francis and Gannu, Vryko Verhoeven. Obviously, Rico coming off the Usik fight, he's a sympathetic Victor, really. Like, everyone's like, you were robbed.

And Francis, of course, had a comeback on the MVP card, destroyed Philip Lens, as expected. Is that the kind of thing that they should be trying to do? Like, they have Francis at play, you'd imagine, because of his previous with MVP. Rico's right there as well. And this is something that was talked about ahead of Rico signing off for Usik. I think that one feels like it could be right there again, if they come correct. No, we're talking about an MMA, right? That's what we're saying.

Oh, yeah, we have to. Because I agree. I think that that's where the compelling, that's the more compelling thing. Even though Verhoven had, like, he looked very good, obviously against Yusick, but I think that if they put this into, you know, Rico has, he has talked about this a lot where he's like, you know, I'd love to do this. I would love to do him in May or whatever.

And like you put him in a position where he's fighting a guy, a couple years older than him, like a 39 to 37, right? Like, I think that that's hugely compelling. And they're both in good spots where their value is still very high. Um, there's still kind of must swat. Like I think Rico now is more, in the United States, at least, is more must watch TV than he was previous to that boxing thing. People were, people knew who he was, especially diehards who follow combat sports, but the casual fan out here doesn't know who Rico is, you know. So I think that that's one of those things that his stock went up with this, uh, this USIC match.

And, you know, I think if you're going to do something like that, strike while they iron is hot. Um, I've got a couple more of just of, I've written down here. We mentioned at the top. This is the last fight on Usman and Magamatoff's contract. A lot of people might not know Usman, his ability. He's a fantastic fighter. Very well-rounded, great strike and brilliant wrestler, obviously. Two brilliant fights with Paul Hughes, very, very close fights,

but he remains atop the latter, a 155 with PFL, soon to be MVP. I'll tell you what is important about this guy. He is not a figure like Islam. Macachev and he's not a figure like Habib no matter made off in terms of just this massive, massive amorphous following that we haven't seen before. But what he is important for is the

business of PFL. You remember they had that Dubai fight series. I think they changed the name on it a couple of times. The two of his Hughes fights happened in Dubai as part of these Dubai fight series, I believe it was called. But there was a massive amount of money generated for PFL for the

SIFEs for this guy to come because it was a massive event in Dubai and you're in the Muslim world. This guy has a huge draw there, obviously. And it's easy to travel to, like, but he had a perfect phone, Paul used where it's only a simple flight across for Irish people as well, and they're filling up these places, the Coca-Cola arena, I believe it is, to watch this guy fight.

The reason why that gives me pause in terms of PFL being able to get him to sign the dotted line is, this is the UFC's business model too now, Chuck. Like, site fees are massively important to them. As we know, they've done in a partnership. ship with Abu Dhabi for a very, very long time. Islam Makashchev might not have a lot of fights left. Obviously, they already have members of the Norma Madoff family outside of Islam on their books, but Usman is a proven seller in that world.

In a different location in the Middle East, too, it's Dubai, not Abu Dhabi, a short drive-away, don't get me wrong, but he fulfills things from a business point of view for the UFC as well as PFL, which makes me think they're going to come very correct in terms of getting him when he becomes a free agent after tonight's fight against Colgan. You say you're saying that the UFC will come correct? Because yeah, like I mean, as as integral to to the business operations of PFL, he will also help the UFC a lot by. Oh yeah.

A member of their roster, right? It's very interesting because, um, I just saw like a release as we were taping this basically that, uh, Jake Paul and Bedarian will be on Long Island tonight, right? Like to watch this fights. And I'm like, you know, business starts now, right? Like this thing is done. So now business is going. Like they're,

they've got to be thinking now of all the things that you're outlining. Like, you know, guys who have that kind of value, I'm not sure you want to just let them slip away. You know what I mean? Like that would be priority number one. Honestly,

if I'm them like right off the bat, you want to keep a guy that, um, that has that kind of intrigue and, you know, that you know you could do a better job, I guess. Yes.

Of making a name. And I feel like that that's a, that's a good one. We'll see how it all rolls out tonight. But yeah, somebody's going to have to come correct. that I'm not even sure. Sometimes when this happens,

unless, see, this is what one of those things, if somebody's actually pushing now the UFC, if they really feel it, it's not going to come through Dana's mouth, it's going to come through the actions of signing a guy like this. They want to steal him away. I didn't, I've been traveling, but when they just got,

Parness, when they just signed him, did they already know, like, did Ariel talk about this at all? Like, did they already know that he, you know, that it was going to be a merger? Like, was this already in play, or did his team just, say like we want we got an offer from the OC like I was curious about that I'm very because that's a similar situation right and I'm very intrigued like do we use this as a mark

against PFL in terms of negotiator well MVP in terms of negotiations given that Saladin had a brilliant performance on that card and he felt like one of the big stories coming away from it he appeared on the Ariel Loani show earlier this week along with his manager stephan hatch who was a pioneer french MMA and has handled oh yeah of course he's handled that Saladin so well like unbelievably well. I think he might be one of the best managed fighters of all time, honestly, considering the deals that were flown about the reports of the deals. But he did mention

MVP, all the best, we had discussions with them. That for me says, like, is that the first L for them? Like, if he's gone and he obviously proved himself to be this massive draw and this unbelievable icon in France.

Yeah, exactly the same way you're saying about Usman, right? Like, it's just like he's got a market site fees all that. I mean, he makes sense for them to sign. Yeah. It's, I don't know if we can count that as an L against them for not getting him and commit his future because that guy, that guy will sign the deal that's right for him as a professional. He is a prize fighter. Absolutely. Like he has turned down the UFC before. He has turned down the PFL before. He signed massive money with KSW. And then he reaches this free agency period and UFC get him. Um, I don't know. We might find out about that later on and when people are talking.

talking more directly, but I've got one more for you, Chuck. Okay. Connor McGregor. He has one fight left on his UFC deal. Obviously, it went terribly the last time when we're all in Vegas. It did not look good for him. But is he not the archetypal example of exactly what they need? Just a guy who will demand the eyeballs of the world, a guy that Netflix will put their

white behind 100%. Oh, man. It's so tough because yes, yes and no. Because it's like, well, you get a guy, like, obviously, like, everybody's going to pay attention to Connor. But dude, how long can you do it? Like, how long can you, like, keep putting together that guy who you just kind of find and you're like, okay, well, we'll be compelled at the tail end of something, like, for it to tune in. It's just, it's not sustainable in a long term sense. But if you're talking about initially, I guess, I think that that's probably going to be, if they're trying to segue into, like, building this thing, it's not going to hurt them, obviously, to have something like that.

Like, you get Connor McGregor. And of course, a lot has to be seen here how he comes back at like 39 years old. If he actually does come back on International Fight Week next year, what does that look like? Like, dude, are we looking at such a shop-worn guy at that point that you're like, you know, everybody loses interest? You know what I mean? Like, that's a real thing. I mean, it's like you've got to really pay attention to this.

But at the same time, like, if he's viable at all and he's able to hit the free agency and he's able to go over there, it's always going to be a good thing. I just think that sustainability of what they want to do, because this is the whole. whole thing that is different, right? Like the one off's or one thing. You can kind of put everything into one, eggs into one basket, see how it goes and then take the basket and then do it again.

You know, like you can just kind of keep doing this. But now they're going to have to look at big picture on how to build a league. And that's like, I'm not sure that you can sustain it with, you know, just getting the like a big guy at the tail end of his career and paying them lots of money. You know what I mean? For each time, there's not enough of those guys out there. Yeah. I'm thinking about more in terms of like, I think there'll be far more malleable

negotiators in the UFC would be for Connor, I think they'd let him do a one-fight deal. They could do the trilogy, the D-Az trilogy over there. And I know, like, yes, for sure, dude, they'll do that. I think that because that's the precedent they said, right? They set a precedent for kind of giving you resolution on some of these, like the Corona Raussi thing was like, dude, we've been waiting for, you know, decade and a half for this thing to happen. Obviously, that's an, you know, it's just hyperbole.

But like, at the same time, you're like, well, you know, it would have been fun to to watch them back of the day. You're resolving something that's long been in the, in the fight games, imagine. nation and that's certainly going to happen. I guarantee it, man. Yeah, well, a lot remains to be saying. We do not know what the hell this is going to look like, but at time January, 2027 comes around.

Yeah. And we'll be talking about the PFL's event just in a few minutes, but before that. By the way, Pizzi, did you notice real quick that, that, uh, you know, there's something called strike MMA right now. It's another one. You did reference this in your piece. I did reference it. The Ross, I called it the Ross Perot of the reform party of this, of this three,

man, race. I'm just throwing it out there. That's why it's a, that's another layer, though, isn't it? Like, Scott Coker getting back in the game, this is a guy who, I'm not sure what their plan is. I talked to Rich Chow and it was sort of like, well, we're, you know, we're figuring that out. So that's just something else that adds a dimension to this whole thing that's happening in 2007. I'll tell you my fear, four strike is, which is the type they're going under at the moment is. Right. I just feel like they're going to try and do the same thing that they did. already again. And there was evidence of this with the cabinet, right? I got so many fucking

messages about this from European coaches and managers when he took the picture with Kavana. Because you remember what Bellator became inevitably. It was like 18 SBG fighters against like other guys we hadn't really heard of you know, that's what it kind of devolved to at a certain stage. And they're kind of like, if Scott Koker and Rich Schauer are taking pictures with John Kavana, does that suggest that this is once again going to happen? Like this is the product they're going to be bringing back. Could be, dude. We'll see.

You know, I think... That would be strike one. Come on, mate. Are you? Oh, man. That hell about it all. Unbelievable. Yeah.

But we do have some rather depressingly familiar news to discuss with Anthony Smith. Earlier in this week, we found out that he had been booked at Sarby County Jail on three potentially felony charges for terrorist threats, first degree, false imprisonment and first degree domestic assault. On Wednesday to Sarpi County District attorneys issued a statement alleging that Smith was involved in altercation with his wife at a bar in Greta, Nebraska, during which he reportedly threatened to kill her if she did not get into his vehicle and go home with him.

And this I am reading from uncrowned at the moment. The statement further alleged that Smith eventually forces his wife into a vehicle and then, quote, attempted multiple times to use the vehicle to strike her, unquote, after she escaped during the drive. Poor authorities, Smith's wife ultimately avoided any physical harm and Smith turned himself into authorities without incident following the issuing of a warrant. Obviously, there is no charge has been brought against Anthony, yet he has not been found guilty of anything as of yet.

But unfortunately, just another story that we've become very familiar with Chuck in the post-fight careers of people who have given a lot to the game. I heard Luke Thomas speaking about earlier in the week and he was referencing the fact that Smith has fought over 60 times. You know, like that that is a lot of miles on the clock and obviously various, very, very serious crimes he has been accused of here and we have to wait for the legal aspect of this to play out. But what was your reaction to hearing this news of Smith? Well, kind of disbelief. I mean, even given, I mean, I'm fully aware. I've talked to Anthony many times.

Just like Luke, I'm sure you've talked to him. Like he's a guy who has been around. He was forever in the fight game before he even got to the UFC. But also one of the good guys. You know what I mean? This is one of the guys. Like if anything happened, it was usually to him. Like I remember the home invasion thing that was going on and he had to ward off like that type of thing.

But he's always been one of the good guys. And obviously he's got a pretty cool gig with the UFC still and very good standing. So when you hear something like this, you're like, wow, man. Of the people that snap or have something going on, I didn't anticipate that. that he's also very well spoken incredible like he's a guy who's very articulate and he's very bright seems sensitive as well you know like yes exactly like and he's he's always communicated the intricacies of the fight game from a mental and physical like he's he's been able to do that very well for his audience and i so i guess that all of that combined man made this a really like

you know harrowing thing and i think on the um into the heels of the dust and porre thing like that happened a few weeks ago and you and you start to think about what's the common thread here well these are guys who are fresh out of the fight game. They're fresh out of like competition. And you're not sure to what, what extent that burden, you know, like hits them,

like this existential thing that hits them. And I, and then, you know, the common thing is for people that then say like, is it something that he's, is this a bad thing for his brain? Is it like,

is he not thinking right? And it's hard to know, man. I mean, but evidence would say, like, you look at like the Leon Spinks of, you know what I mean?

Like, you look at just boxers of your, Ollie, of course, hernes like just guys that were in there in a lot of wars man and how they kind of ended up we haven't in m mma we haven't had people grow old enough yet to really see everything like in boxing you could see that over generations like the guys who were affected by this we don't know that but uh dude it's just it's it it's kind of heartbreaking man because i really love anthony and uh this

is just it seems so out of character but then you're like well maybe we just don't know what what's happening with him yeah you know and that's hard to know that's hard to stomach as well man yeah it's it's it's it happens a lot let's be honest like see what's happened with bj pan as well like it is horrific to see this kind of stuff happening to hear these reports obviously we're gonna keep you guys posts on everything every juncture of this that is reported we will let you know about that um but an all too common story really as far as i'm concerned yeah yeah you know do we have that uh the kinney florin night yes that that was a good that the kinney florin thing is actually this is really good. I can't read it because that's too small, but maybe you can see it, but

it's very good. Yeah, and this one, at least the highlights. This is what Kayflow had to say, no, I'll read it in full because I think it is really prevalent as you say. Here's what Kenny Florian posted about it. People often make the short-sight argument that because a fighter can still compete at a high level and still make good money, they should keep fighting. But I wonder how many more out-of-the-cage incidents involving current and former fighters we need to see before we start asking a different question. How many fights is too many? What's long? term brain health worth. Is an extra 1 million worth losing the ability to think, remember or function normally? Is 3 million worth drinking phillium on through a straw in your 60s or 70s

because you can no longer swallow? Is 5 million worth risking your family and your relationship? Is 10 million worth ending up homeless, incarcerated or unable to recognize the people in your life? People need to remember that the decision to retire isn't just about what you can still do today. It's also about protecting the person you'll have to live with for the rest of you your life. Ironically, the mindset required to succeed in one of the toughest and most physically damaging sports on the planet, the relenters drive to push forward, ignore pain, and believe you're the exception is often the very thing that makes it hardest to recognize when it's time to stop and think long term. I mean, that is perfectly put by case law, really, isn't it?

100%. And I mean, this is a conversation that the boxing realm has had for a long time. They've tried to reconcile. And then, like, you look at pro football in America here, too. I mean, And it's just something that is, uh, that people, you know, it's, it's taken a long time for people to take it seriously and to look at it. But like, you see a lot of guys these days. And I mean, we, we had like Luke Keekley, for instance, was a very big linebacker for the Carolina Panthers, retired, fairly young. Like, he was still kind of operating on a very high level. Andrew Luke as well, right? Dude. What's that? Andrew Luke as well. Wasn't he one of these guys that were? Yeah. I mean, and he's a quarterback. Like, you know, but you get these guys and I think that, like, I remember Keekley, he had some concussions and he walks away. And you think like, dude, I mean, it is hard as much as you want as a fan to be like, man, you've got years left.

What are you doing? He kind of understood the big picture on that. And I think that that, you know, I think that that is something you have to look at these days. Like you have to look at your own, your own like history of what's been happening to you, like your concussion history and all of that and be like, dude, how much is worth it? Because who wants to live that life as you get older? You know, that that's not going to, that's not sustainable. And especially, it's not like there's, you know, it's not like the UFC is going to take care of you. You know what I mean?

Like if you get to those stages, they may on some level, but like not in not in the sense like you would hope, you know. So all of those things really should be considered. And I know that in the fight game and like, you know, like it's everything. It's the hoopla. It's the money. It's the fame. It's the relevancy. Like it's all of that stuff.

And that's a lot to walk away from if you're still considered anywhere near your prime. Right. Like so, but it is something. I think that's why Ken Flo hits a good point there. And look, I'm a hypocrite. I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth because I'm moments ago being like, we all are and Nate on MVP, huh? That was fucking, you know what I mean?

True. It's, it's, it's just something that is inescapable. It's always the fight game is. Remember T.J. Grant, like, it's just kind of. And I mean, he had a scary thing. Like, you know, it was a concussion type thing. And he just was like, that was it. He earned his title shot.

The great what if. It's just one of them. Yeah. Yeah, so. Yeah, it's a tough one. And it's shit to see, obviously. And the interview we showed earlier with Oscar Willis talking to Dana White, he wished all the best to Anthony and his family.

And of course, he has said, and Dustin Porre has recently said about the UFC reaching out of Hunter Campbell, he said in that case. And Dana, what he has said, you know, we are putting things in place. We have put things in place. And I hope there's more of it. You spoke about the NFL. there's been motion pictures made about the upheaval that the concussion research they did

causing the sport. Like it completely transformed how the sport is played, how to even train in that sport. So it would be interesting to see if something was like that was brought into MMA. I don't know the ins and outs to that logistically. What would it take to bring something like that forward? But listen,

we've been talking about Dana White. And obviously he's buzzing to be in Belgrade. Serbia's a big deal. And the natural thing to ask him is, when he takes the stage, Shooklick. What fights are you looking forward to here, Dana? Let's have a look at how it went. One more question for Dana.

Which fights on this card are looking forward at most? That is a shitty question, my friend. Yeah, I know. Listen, obviously everybody's always excited about the main event. I'm just hoping, you know, I want a few holy shit moments on Saturday night, So hopefully we got a few of those. Okay, thank you, Dana. Thank you.

Question. It's like an automated response. Which is your favorite fight? My favorite fight is main event. You know, like it. He was looking. The dudes are either side of him, and he couldn't even think of their fucking names.

And it was like, I know this guy. Who's his name? He has a hyphen name. Yeah, definitely. I don't remember. We got the doctor here, I think. But dude, he's done this in the past, too.

Yeah. There have been times. I'm guaranteeing he's like, I don't, I'm not even sure he's on the card. I've seen him do this. So this is when you're like, he's checked out like,

this is what? Because if you go back and watch, you know, video from the boom period in the aughts, right? Like when it was really happening, dude, he could go down the roster

and talk to you about all of these guys. You know, Eddie Hearn does that still, right? Like, guys like that, like they can tell you everything. He could do that too.

Like, he paid attention on that level. And unfortunately, that's just not kind of where, and he has a perfect, like you, I saw Ben folks pointing this out. It's like, dude, you get mad when people ask you about scandals going on or, you know, drugs or money or whatever at a press conference.

You say, hey, man, we're here to talk about the fights. Well, so you cue them up, regardless of a shitty question or not, you cue him up to talk about the fights. And he's like, that's a shitty question. And he doesn't talk about the fights. I'm like, well, what are we supposed to be asking him here, you know? That's kind of what I taught. Like, I was like, well, that's a hard question now. Like, that's essentially he's reacted to that like he's been, you know, put on the spot about something.

And like, you're standing beside the fighters who are compete. Dude. This is the first time. This is not a, this is the first time we've been to Serbia. And this is two guys who, they would not be a main event, right? But now you, they're in a main event. Let's give everybody a little glimpse up to why they're in that main event, right? Like, Medich just never went to the scorecards.

This is a dude who's feaster famine. He's going to go in there and go out on a shield. You got D-Rod. He's going to accommodate him the whole way. This dude just got out of the clink. And you know what I mean? Like, it's just these things are like, dude, you could, you could sell the hell out of that fight and say, like, this is going to be fireworks.

I don't know why that's a layup. You know what I mean? In terms of just generating some interest on it, it's just crazy to me, man. Speaking about generating some interest, you've done a feature with Daniel Rodriguez. I don't know if it's out just yet. It should be out today.

I'm not sure. Yeah, it will be today at some point here. But such an interesting chat. And as you say, like such a story fucking life this guy has had. Like being in the clink and de I want to the brutality of his answers in this piece. And I don't want to, I don't want to spoil the piece for anyone, but like, you're kind of asked him about preparing for a fight, and he was like,

and I was gang banging, like, but like, what do you think this means to me? Yeah. This is, this is, this is like a luxurious lifestyle compared to the one that I was used to. Like, what, what did you take away from D. Rod, who's a big underdog here against Rowsmanich? I thought it was a cool. I wanted to talk to him because I'm like, you know, he's going in, he's coming off a ridiculous thing, right?

Like, he's in prison for eight months, I think it was in Tijuana for what's basically a very minor infraction being made an example of. Yeah. A little bit of weed, wasn't it? Be held that long. What's that? You did a little bit of weed on him, wasn't it? Yeah, something like, it was like a weed, but I'm like, come on.

I mean, so like he, he stays in there and he's able to, you know, because, because the, the jails down there are a little different about what you can get in, in there versus in America or whatever, something like that. So he was able to, like, heavy bag gloves and it's things like that, but he's obviously, like, he's at a complete disadvantage, but he was training in there. And I kind of knew, like, you know that he's going through this, this kind of thing. and he's 39 years old and like now he's been shipped over

to Serbia to fight a Serbian like have you ever watched the videos of Nicola Yokic like the basketball player and like some of those teams dude it's a madhouse I'm very anxious to see that part of this like what does it look like when they're rooting on their countrymen this should be a wild scene

but dude it's a no one situation in a lot of ways if he goes in there and wins that's the biggest spoiler like you can you can do right like is to go in there and be the guy who's finally getting a spotlight in your first main event and you're able to do that. So I think on all those levels,

I was like, this is very intriguing. But dude, have you ever talked to him? Because he's, he's like a super down to earth, you know, not sugar coding anything.

Just like, you know, you know, I'm not really, but you know what? There is a path. You know, there's a path for me to do that.

And he's like, he kind of outlines it which sounds ridiculous, but you're like, hey, you never know, you know, that type of thing.

Why not me? Keep dreaming, you know what I mean? That's what it's all about. Keep dreaming. You've got to be delusional in this game, baby. And I was trying to point out in the piece, like, he could be like a young 39 in the fight sense, right? Because he got involved so late in the game.

He didn't even step. He didn't even try MMA until 25. I think his first, like, pro fight was 29. UFC at 33. So, like, if you look at all that, you're like, well, you know, he seems a little long in the tooth, but he actually might be a little younger than he seems in terms of cage fighting. So, like, he may have still a little run in him, but I think that this one right here is a set. up man it's going to be a tough one for him to get through this yeah yeah and medich has just been

on such great form he's kind of becoming the guy everyone thought he would be he's kind of like he's putting it together now um navajo sterling against yan be that's the call main event we talked about the top of the show it's a short notice call look for navajo i every like as we saw with the the markets earlier on calci like he is such a strong favor and i'm looking at yan Jan's the fucking dude, man. Like, I know he's old. Why don't people sleep on Jan all the time? He's 43, though, to your point earlier, he is 43.

I know. But he's never. How old was Sterling? Sterling's like in his 20s, I think. But like the thing about Jan is he's never fought like with this, say like a McGregor as he ages and 28 Navajo is. Like, McGregor's reliance on athleticism and speed and all these things that you associate with you, you've never necessarily looked at Jan Bahovich and been like.

Right. He needs all of these things to succeed, right? Like, that's the difference for me. Like, he is just, he was always a plotter. He's a plot. It's exactly what I was thinking. That is the word I was thinking of. Exactly.

Yeah, he's always been the kind of the same. I mean, obviously you slow down. Can you get out of the way of things as much? I think that that's probably where, that's probably where this line comes in. You know, it's like, it should be, like, if everything goes according to what, you know, it's like, this should be the moment where you look at Sterling. Okay, here we go. You know, like, if you haven't already, this should be the moment.

And, yeah. I mean, I think that Behovet should be the underdog. I just don't know if it should be that much, you know. You might have an old trade on that later. You may have a look at that market and trade on it potentially is all I'm saying, you know what I mean? Yeah, we'll trade on that. If I had been asked, just if I had been asked, I'm not saying Dana didn't do a great job

answered that question about what fight I'd be looking forward to. It would be. It's a shitty question. It is a shitty question. I'm going to answer it anyway. No problem, guys. Ludovic Klein and Tuffig, Messiah, former rising champion. that's going to be a fucking banger.

It's a prelim. It's going to be fucking crazy. Please, believe me when I tell you, that is going to be a great for you. Another one. Who are you favoring? Tophic. Yeah. His name ends with a V, Chuck.

You told me a long time ago. If their name ends with a V, you're going to have to drag me away from not picking them at this stage. And Tophik, Messiah. If it's got a V in there, though, I mean, all right. Yeah, it does, but it's not the end. It's not the criteria we're quite looking for. Another one.

fun again for Obanelli and against Michael Olivera, 9 and O'Brien. That's also on the prelims. It's going to be a fucking banger. And obviously we have- You like the card. I like parts of the card. I think it's very like the all your main cards that they

did in the past where I'd be talking to you guys. I was working for MMA fighting and we're all working together. You're like, yeah, pizza can handle this one because it's very region-specific, right? Like that's the thing with this. It's completely region-specific. I think it's going to deliver though. And that crowd's going to be wild, I think.

So I think it'll be a fun one in the end. Yeah, yeah. We also have, as we said, the PFL, New York card, Usman and Magumatov against Archie Colgan, undefeated Archie Colgan, undefeated Usman and Magamato, Dakota Ditcheva against Denise Keyholt, who I said earlier. Let me just make sure I'm sure about this because I don't like to say things about the Great Chenade Cavana unless they're true.

I was wrong. Oh my God. Who am I confused us with? Oh my God. I was completely wrong. three-fight winning streak for Keyholes. We have not seen Dakota Dichiva, who was an outrageous favorite in this fight, as we saw with the Calchian markets earlier on 95% or something like that, picking her.

Four-fight winning streak coming into it for Denise, but I just don't think it's going to be enough. It's a showcase night for Dakota Dichiva. It's a showcase. Yeah. And Kimball, like, she's a kickboxer, right? And I feel like, okay, so you want to go against a person who's also very, very, kick a kickbox you're going to play into that wheelhouse that's not a good setup it's not going to go well

it's not going to go well no think of it like mcver back in the day we all know what's going to happen let's just enjoy how it's going to take place that's right um but yeah i'll be on the live blog duty for on crown tonight uh that's my last bit of action before i take a two week vacation very very much so wait we're you were off next week next week and then the following week is well that's right that's right Yeah. All right. I need time to relax, Chuck. I need to, you know, get my cruel game together.

I'm all for a close to where are you heading this time. No, we're staying in Ireland, staying in Ireland this time, you know what I mean? Showing the Irish coast some love, perhaps. All right. But yeah, look, you, you tell me now, um, I should have probably brought this up at the start, but people will notice that Chuck Mendenhall is not in his usual location here. Uh, Chuck, tell us, where are you? This is my, this is my, this is my bedroom.

Did you just do it? You just did the whole place up? You just did some renovations. Just did it differently now. Oh, yeah, this is just around. No, I'm in Minneapolis. I'm with my kids, and they wanted to go to the WWE SummerSlam, which is happening out here. And so here I am.

I'm going to go to a big wrestling event. We'll see how it goes, man. I know Brock Lesnar's on the card. And I think Roman Raines is on the card. There's a couple of others. Is it two days? It's a two-day thing. Yeah, this is like WrestleMania, I guess.

I mean, it's a big deal. Good thing is, like, you know, I do know people in the wrestling community. So you get a chance, like you never cross paths with them unless you're at something like this. So like I get a chance to like see some people that normally wouldn't. Corey Graves, who's, uh, you know, one of the commentators used to be my neighbor out in Connecticut. So I'll get a chance to see him for the first time in years, you know, which is kind of fun. Yeah. You can fucking know everyone, Chuck.

Like this is just a thing I always tell you about everyone about you. I'm just like, he just knows fucking everybody. I don't know how it is. That's crazy. A WWE commentator was your neighbor. Come on. The key is, you just didn't know about it, right? Like, because I don't go on to social media and talk about it.

Like other people. Like other people. Yeah, like other people, I'm not gonna name names, you know, but I'm like, yeah, you just kind of know people, you know. It's cool. I'd be telling you. By the way, do you see Ben, folks wearing a little, uh, like, water shoes on like some kind of raft with his light beers.

I'm come on. Light beers, water shoes. What type of image are we trying to portray you? It's absolutely. It's one thing to be a nature guy, but water shoes. Come on. Come on now. Do you know his dog really pisses me off how great of a dog he is?

Like he, he's walking across this log. like as if it's nothing. If we put my dog on a log, he would start screaming. Like he'd be like, ah, what the fuck? Like he doesn't know how to. As he falls into the water.

He just fucking, he can't do anything. We have the cat next door of Jasper and him. Between them, they don't know what animals they are. They don't know what they're meant to do. They're just the cat that can't cat and a dog that can't dog. Yeah.

They should have a buddy cop movie, but they fucking hate each other. They hate everything about each other. And they want to present like they're going to fight to the death when they see each other, but they're also too afraid to do that because they know they're probably bad at that as well. So cowards. Yeah, fucking cowards.

You're definitely. Keeps you entertained big PC. That's what's important. That's what it is. And I'll be very entertained watching the PFL tonight and hope. Is it Saturday and Sunday for Summer Slam? Yes, it is. Yeah.

I'm like Saturday and Sunday. So I'm might dabble a bit with that. Dabbling it. Yeah. Check it out, man. Prince was from Minneapolis, wasn't he? He is. And you know, it's funny.

So it was Bob Dylan, like it's from the series. So like, uh, yeah. So like there's murals like right where I'm at downtown here. There's a huge murals of Bob Dylan, which is very cool. And then the first avenue, what is it called like a 7th Street? Whichever is called like the first avenue that Prince used to play out right down the road here too. Oh, my God. Yeah, they got some history out here.

Holy shit. That, that is incredible. Yeah. I wish it was out there having a few cold ones, which is the weather noise there because when I think of Minneapolis, I think of snow. Dude, I went to a ball game yesterday. It was high 80s. It was very hot.

But that's, I think that's kind of unusual. Like right now it's all rainy. It looks like Ireland or something. They're very gray and depressing out there. But, um, but I think it's supposed to like kind of, you know, be in the low 80s this weekend. So it's not. I mean, it's, it's, it's summer. It feels nice, but it gets super cold here in the winter, man.

It's like we're far enough north where it's, you know, it's like zero. It hovers around zero degrees for long periods of time. Well, look, I hope he's up a great time. Enjoy summer slam. And before we go, do we have any super chats, Andy? Oh, shit. Oh, yeah. So we got.

Pierce O'Leary turning up on a horse to press conference. Love at Pizzi. How far can this young man go? I am all in. Pierce O'Leary is fighting tomorrow at the three arena. We've actually got a bit of a boxing. I know I was telling you and Ben about this before. There's a bit of a golden era of boxing happening again in Ireland.

And Kelly Taylor obviously fighting in Crow Park in September. You have Pierce O'Leary this weekend. I think next weekend or the weekend after, it's zoo for boxing at three arena. So huge time. I was at Pierce's last fight and the atmosphere was absolutely incredible. He's fighting Chamberlain tonight, tomorrow night even.

So very much looking forward to it. And more than anything, I think it's great how Pierce is making people feel about boxing. Like he is a real hero in the northern air city. He's a guy people can get behind. He seems like every person, every boxing media member I've spoke to has had nothing but good things to say about Big Bang.

So hopefully he will do the business because it's creating a great atmosphere. earth for the sport here. One thing I wonder is, can MMA and boxing be popular at the same time in Ireland? I don't think they can because MMA, MAs having a bit of a lull. We'll be in Gary about the fight for a world title. There's barely a word about it. And meanwhile, boxing is taking off again and will probably be the center of the fight's world when Katie Taylor takes on, when she fights at Crow Park, should I say. So very interesting. I will say that Brazil is buzzing for the Gary fight. So that's good. At least we got one sector. I'm glad they are. I'm glad

They are. He is definitely stimulating interest in that part of the world. Anything else? Andy? Life lessons, combat sports for five dollars. Have you considered interviewing Nico Ali whilst given the recent revival developments?

General thoughts on the situation. Great show everyone. Well, interesting enough, he was on Ariel's show earlier in the week and like you, I probably was with you in terms of what the fuck is going on here. This does not look good.

They've got to him. They're going to pay this man for his silence. I feel a very different. way after hearing being interviewed by Ariel. So go and check that out. It's up on this very page. You're watching this on. So go ahead and check that out if you haven't seen it yet. He speaks very well. And he is a hugely important piece of this jigsaw. And yeah, I feel better about the, the pretences of his meeting with Nick Cannes and his appearance on the Zufa broadcast after he spoke to Ariel. So maybe you'll feel the same way. Go and check it out. Is that all we got, Andy? That was it. Well, listen, guys. what am I going to do without the crack for two weeks?

I don't know. But I'll find out. I'll tell you that much. Don't forget to join me on the live blog for PFL. I know everybody's buzzing for Dakota and Usman. I am too. I cannot wait. But for me, Chuck, Andy, Oscar, Jordan, who's not here, and Ben who's not here.

We love you so much. Don't be feeding too badly over the next two weeks. We'll be back. Hopefully the full team collective will be back as well. We don't know. Ben is gallivanting ways. It's kind of quiet with just. us. I like it. Yeah, I mean, maybe this is the new look of the show. Who knows?

I think that's what. Let us know in the comments. We love his loads. Have a wonderful time away. Stay locked in on all the fights. Serbia tomorrow, New York tonight. We love his very much. Somerslam, Pierce O'Leary, everything. It's all going down. See you soon.