The Ariel Helwani Show - O'Shea Jackson Jr., Mackenzie Dern, John Wood, explosive Benavidez/Morrell face-off, Holly Holm & Patricio Pitbull released

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

David Benavidez and David Morrell, the WBC interim light heavyweight champion and WBA light heavyweight champion, go face-to-face in an explosive virtual showdown ahead of their Feb. 1 title bout (05:53).John Wood, Syndicate MMA head coach, discusses Merab Dvalishvili's preparation for Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311, what's next for Khalil Rountree Jr., Tim Welch's shouting from the corner and more (31:45).O'Shea Jackson Jr., award-winning actor and wrestling superfan, discusses the latest with WWE, Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar, working with so many pro fighters on Den of Thieves 2, his feud with AEW fans and more (01:02:54).Mackenzie Dern discusses her revenge win over Amanda Ribas, being open to returning to jiu-jitsu with CJI, Tatiana Suarez's strawweight title bout against Zhang Weili, UFC's push into competitive jiu-jitsu and more (01:50:51).Ariel Helwani reacts to breaking news of Bellator champ Patricio Pitbull finally being released from his PFL contract (02:33:25).

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R 25. Hello again, everyone. I sure hope you're doing well. It is freaking freezing outside. Golly, I'm so happy to be indoors doing today's program after a tremendous show on Monday. A ton of news came out of that show. A very fun one highlighted by our in-studio guest, Matt Cardona, who gifted me this. I was dreaming about it. I was telling my family about it.

This toy right here, Dusty Rhodes. American. Anyway, you can watch that interview. It was a great one up on the YouTube channel right now. Also had the breaking news of Ding Dong Bellator being dead. And in fact, just a few minutes ago Don Davis the founder of PFL confirming on his social media that in fact Bellator is dead and it's all merging into one which is essentially what we all wanted right we all wanted

this when they purchased the company acquired the company and there it is all fighters now integrated under the PFL umbrella it's one brand now and it makes a hell of a lot more sense. Still a lot of questions to be answered, and we'll talk about that today, tomorrow, on the nose, I'm sure. By the way, speaking of tomorrow's program, I don't usually talk about tomorrow's lineup before today's lineup, but on tomorrow's show, we will be joined by Holly Holm. Why do I bring up the preacher's daughter? Well, because on my way home from yesterday's show, got the word that Holly Holm has parted ways with the UFC.

Two fights left on her deal. Her team, Lenny Fresca's longtime agent, representative, asked the UFC for their release so that she can go out and explore other opportunities, back end of her career, final chapter of her career, the UFC with two fights left, kind enough to oblige. And now she is officially a free agent. There's no exclusive negotiation period. There's none of that. She's a free agent. She can sign with someone today. And so we'll talk to Holly Holm about this decision, about the final chapter of her career, the opportunities out there. We'll talk to her about this tomorrow. And I think there's a lot, and dare I say, a lot more interesting ones in the world of boxing as opposed to the who of course fights for top rank, was on there saying, pick me. And so those are three pretty big names in the world of women's boxing.

And really women's boxing, which she is a pioneer of, has come a long way since she was last fighting in the square circle. And so I would love to see her in this Hall of Fame career in boxing. Let's see. We'll talk to her about that tomorrow. Now, let's go to today. Great lineup. Once again, it's an eclectic mix of guests, and I can't wait to get into it. It really does represent what we're all about here at Uncrowned. And, of course, we have the massive Forrest-Liverpool rematch at 3,

which we'll be keeping an eye on. We play 2 on Tuesdays, 5 o'clock, myself and Adi Oladipo over on the DAZN Boxing channel. We shall be talking all things sweet science and golly. The level of drama and storylines right now in the world of boxing is just out of control. So a lot to get into there. This program though, back into the show, Mackenzie Dern will join us coming off that big win

in her rematch against Amanda Hibas this past Saturday. One of our favorites, Mackenzie Dern will join us coming off that big win in her rematch against Amanda Hibas this past Saturday. One of our favorites, a delight to speak to. As always, she'll join us at 245. I can't wait to talk to O'Shea Jackson Jr. O'Shea Jackson Jr. is the son of Ice Cube. He's in the new movie, Den of Thieves 2, number one in America, the box office, this past weekend. He's a great actor. He's a very talented young man. He's also a gigantic pro wrestling fan. He will join us at 2 o'clock to talk all things pro wrestling, combat, and the new movie.

At 1.30, we're going to be joined by John Wood, one of the best head coaches in MMA, the head man over at Syndicate MMA, and now the head coach of one, Murab Diwali Shvili. Of course, Murab fighting in the co-main event on Saturday at UFC 311. Like I have said, the upcoming stretch that we're on in the world of combat, whether it's MMA, boxing, or pro wrestling,

is unbelievable. Starting with this weekend to the following weekend to February 1st. February 1st is a fantastic, fantastic weekend in the world of combat sports. You have the Israel-Desanya fight in Saudi Arabia against Nasruddin Imavov. You have the Royal Rumble on Saturday night. And you also have the biggest boxing, in my opinion, the biggest boxing fight of the calendar year so far to kick things off in what should be a gigantic year in the world

of boxing. It goes down on February 1st. So to me, this is the biggest of the calendar year so far. February 1st, T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It's an amazing fight that has had a lot of drama and a lot of fireworks attached to it. David Morrell versus David Benavidez. In case you missed it, they did a green screen shoot face off just when this fight was officially announced. There they are. And this is for promotion. This is for promotion. And they were jarring back and forth, back and forth. It was great. Then we get to the first media day ahead of the first press conference, not that long ago. And this happens. Here they are meeting in the middle of the ring.

Benavidez Morel, two of the very best in the sport, interim WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez. You see his belt and you see David Morel throwing his WBA light heavyweight title. No love lost between these two. They're kind enough to join us right now at the exact same time. We're also being joined by David Morel's translator, interpreter, the great Martine, who's joining us. Gentlemen, thank you so much for the time. I really appreciate it. You're both named David. So I'm going to, I'm going to try to go by your last name

when I address you so that you don't speak over each other. And so I will start with you, David Benavidez. David, you have been around fighting as a pro for a lot longer than David Murrell. You know, just a little over 10 fights for him at this point, 11-0. Were you surprised when he ultimately agreed to this fight and that his team wanted this fight, given the gap in experience between the two of you? No, I wasn't surprised because this is a fight that they have been calling for for the past two years. And I think this is a perfect time to make this fight happen. And, you know, now that I get him in the in the ring i'm gonna beat the shit out of them you know it's like

you said there's no love lost and this time is coming down this time is coming down there's three weeks left to this fight and now i'm gonna get your ass in that ring nobody's gonna be able to save you uh i can't i can't wait and i have to give you a lot of respect david morel because um you and i think a lot of the cuban fighters Andy Cruz does the same. You guys are taking fights at, you know, an early stage in your career that maybe historically some of the other fighters aren't taking. They're waiting to the 20th pro fight, 25th pro fight. Like I said, you're relatively new, and here you are as a champion taking on, you know, in a lot of people's eyes, the baddest man in the weight class.

Why did you want this fight against David Benavidez? Well, Ariel says that he respects you a lot, since unlike others who wait until their 25th fight to have a challenge of this magnitude, you're taking it now relatively early against those that many consider the core of the division. How do you feel about it? What do you think of those who say that maybe this is too early? en el cuco de la división. ¿Cómo te sentís al respecto? ¿Qué opinás de aquellos que dicen que quizás esto es demasiado temprano?

Me siento listo. Lo he esperado desde hace mucho tiempo. No sé si lo han visto, pero lo he esperado desde hace mucho tiempo. Estoy listo para este momento. Tengchou está en great fighter but I'm feeling ready I'm very very for for this fight for this moment I think so easy my time you know I'm going to the to to to my fight like really really forgetful for this moment for him to you know I'm free way you know I think so already you know that's know, I think I'm ready. You know, I think I'm ready. I'm free. I'm ready. Okay, so David Benavidez, Morel says that he respects you.

Do you believe him? Do you think that he actually respects you? You know, to be honest with you, I don't really care if he respects me or not. You know, he's been saying a lot that I'm nothing, that I'm Robocop, that I'm style, I'm this. But, you know, all of that is out the window now. We put, you know, tremendous work in for this training camp.

We've been working for like about four months. And now all the talking is done. It's time to get in the ring February 1st. That initial, after like the promo shoot face-off, this is for Benavidez as well, that initial face-off that you guys had in the middle of the ring at the media day, it got very heated. What did he say to you for it to pop off say he said you're gonna knock me out stuff like that you know but it's just

it's just tensions you know both of us are heated both of us don't like each other he doesn't like me i don't like him and uh it was just the wrong thing that he said to me you know and what happened happened uh for david morel why why do you not like him? He says he doesn't like you, you don't like him. Why do you not like David Benavidez? Man, first, I don't like him because he's

a wife. So, you know, I don't like that. I'm just kidding. No, man, actually, after the California I don't like that. I'm just kidding. No, man, it's... Actually, it's... After the California, I think so everything for him,

I think him is personal. You know? It's for... Somebody, people talking bullshit in social media, like, I don't respect Benavidez, the senior, him too. I don't respect Benavidez Sr. and him too. I don't say nothing.

You know what I mean? In California, I say I say him, hey, the long time I think so it's three years, two years ago, it's on Twitter. It's talking, you know, it's talking Twitter. It's talking, you know,

it's talking shit. He said, hey man, it's not me, you know. He said, no, no, I don't care. You respect my family. I'm very fresh. He said, okay, bro, you know what this means? I mean, I don't care. You know, you want to walk, like, I'm ready, you know. I don't skill you, I don't skill Si quieres jugar, estoy listo.

No te voy a matar a nadie. Así que, por el tiempo que pude, yo traté de decirles lo que sucedió. Si ellos no quieren aceptarlo o no quisieron verlo, pues bueno, estamos listos. Si quieren guerra, guerra. ¿Me entiendes? Miedo no hay, 100%. He intentado dejar que David Benavides sepa lo que pasa durante mucho tiempo. Entienden mío, no hay 100%. go to the fight. I see Fred Refres. Right now, I don't care what they think of him

and the team. I don't care. Right now, let's do it. For Benavidez, your father and head trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr., has said that you are going to hurt Morel so badly that he's going to retire. Those are strong words. Is that the mindset that you have going into this? Are you trying to

make this man never fight again? That's the mindset that we're going for. This is a whole mindset I've been going into this are you trying to make this man never fight again that's the mindset that we're going for you know this is a whole mindset i've been training with with this whole camp and like i said everybody that i've been in the ring with they all say the same thing they don't have defense i don't have nothing i'm a robo cop this and that but mark my words all of them end up in the hospital that's the same thing i'm gonna do to david bro all that stuff he was talking about me once he gets in the ring with me he's gonna know i'm the best in the world can you explain um for benavidez again can you explain what happened at that la press conference i think you were upset that he didn't want to shake your hand but then i think you said that backstage he shook your hand and so

did you think that he was just kind of playing it up for the cameras this for benavidez oh i don't i don't know man honestly like i said i don't i don't care about none of that i don't care about none of that we're way past that and right now we're just focused on the fight i try to go you know we shook hands after the first press conference but i don't mean shit right now i don't really care about being his friend i don't care about none of that my job is to go in there and beat the shit out of him, put him in the hospital, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. When you hear these words for David Morel, you hear about putting you in the hospital,

retiring you at this stage of your career. There is obviously, like I said, no love lost. There's a lot of animosity there. It's clearly very personal. What is your reaction when you hear this from David and also his father and head trainer? It's funny, man. You know, a lot of people say the same.

A lot of people say, like, they're winning lot of people say it's the same. The last guy is talking the same. After the fight, he goes to the hospital. These times, it's the same. Anyways, Arsped is the opinion of the Benavidez team too. So Arsped's opinion, every boxer goes to the fight, the winning mentality. So it's good, it's good, you know, it's a pin in the air, but I mean, I don't care. You know, I'm ready.

I'm feeling like my best, Texas is my best time. Tony Camp is the long time here. I'm feeling ready. I'm feeling ready. I mean, only go to the fight the fight you know but they close the mouth the everybody is talking to you know they're talking like I can do it the winner I can do the win him I can you know everything so only go to the to the

further first like they close the mouth everybody okay okay so benavidez let me know hold on before you get started it's funny because he has so much stuff to say before the press conference all this and that that i'm a robocop that he's gonna knock me out that i don't have nothing but now look at him he's scared he don't have shit to say what's up with all that that you were saying how come you're not saying all that now he's there there. You can't even talk. He's all nervous. He's all nervous. He's on the top. Where's all that from? Bro, you had the wrong call.

Man, you had the wrong call. You know what I mean? You had the wrong call. Hey, this guy can't even speak. Hey, this is my fault. You know I have nothing, bro. This is my fault. I'm going to beat the shit out of you.

This is my fault. You know I have nothing. I'm going to beat the shit out of you. Why? This is my fault. You know I have nothing, man. I'm going to beat the shit out of you. Hey, three weeks left to fight.

Three weeks left to fight. There's nothing you can do. There's nothing you can save. Hey, three weeks left to fight. Three weeks left to fight. There's nothing you can do. There's nothing you can save. Man, I'm ready for fight tomorrow. I don't care. I'm ready for fight tomorrow. I don't care, bro. I don't care, bro.

I don't care, bro. I'm ready for fight tomorrow. How do you feel that you're making less money than your manager? How does that feel? Okay. In two weeks, in three weeks, you can do a change. In three weeks, you can do a change. than your manager. How does that feel? Okay. This is a every week. You can do a change.

Now your manager to pay getting more money. Three weeks. You can do a change. Get out. You watch. They're all going to cash out. Nobody's going to be behind you. Well, man, I'm not power. But you're not power. All right. It's all about man.

You can do that. You know, I'm going to retire. I'm going to retire. I'm not saying all this. That's it. That's it. I'm going to be. I'm gonna retire now. I'm gonna retire now. I'm gonna retire now. That's it. That's it. That's it.

I'm gonna beat the shit out you. I'm gonna beat the shit out you. Bullshit, bro. Bullshit. You know, Jonathan, nothing. Nothing, nothing. You're never gonna come back to boxing. You can do it, bro.

You can do it. Okay. I'm ready, baby. I'm ready. I'm teaching you the real boxing. I'm teaching you. I'm teaching you. Bullshit, I can't wait. I want you to say that right after the fight. Right after the fight when I got you on the phone. I'm teaching you, bro. I'm teaching you. I'm teaching you. I'm teaching you. I can't wait.

I want you to say that right after the fight. Right after the fight when I got you on the fucking floor. I want you to say it right now. You're not nothing. Nothing. You are so predictable. You are so simple. I mean, you're not nothing, man.

What do you mean? Good. What do you mean? I'm glad you're saying that. After I fucking stop you, I want you to say that too. You can do it. You can do it, bro. I'm going to do it.

You can do it. No, I'm teaching you. I'm teaching you the boxing. After the fight, I said, hey, let's go to my house. I'm teaching you the real boxing, man. You know what I mean? For David Morel,

Benavidez just asked you a great question there that I'm interested in your response. And correct me if I'm misinterpreting this, DB. You said that Morel's management is going to earn more money off this fight than Morel himself, and you want to know how he's going to feel. Hey, next, talk about that.

Look it, now you see how I roll. So, David, for David Morel, what is your want to know how he's going to feel. So, David, for David Morel, what is your response to this? Is this true? All your managers are giving more money than you. I thought the managers were with you. I thought the people were with you. How are you fucking managers making more money than you? How are you making more money than you? Morel, is that true? How are you making more money than me? Morel, is that true?

Bro, listen. Man, ham in a ham. Why? Why? That's why I knocked you out. So I'm going to cast you out. No, you just said I'm in dust. Why?

Yeah. Okay, let's get his response. A lot of excuse. For two years, a lot of excuse. You were making less money than your manager. For two years, a lot of excuse. You were making less money than your manager. Bro, before the matter finally, you say yes.

I thought some people cared about you. Before the matter finally, you put your money in the bank. I thought you put your money in the bank. I thought you put your money in the bank. I thought you put your money in the bank. You Before before Wow why You say no. Why? After you say no, sorry. Why? Why? Because you and your team, you're scared for this fight. You know. You're scared for this fight.

You and your team are scared for this fight. You and your team are scared for this fight. After I fight you, you can come to my camp and I'll pay you money. Every time, bro. Okay, for Benavidez, let me cut through it. You've alluded to the fact that you think that he is juicing, right? You brought up issues with the drug testing. Do you think that David Murrell is using PEDs?

Not no more because we're on his ass for bad testing. But look, I'm not going to say nothing. Just look at the track record. I've never been accused by anybody by using steroids. He's been accused by a few people using steroids. So that's all I'm going to say. What we did this camp is we make sure that no sneaky business is going on and all fighters are being tested.

We're advocators for clean boxing. There's not going to be no sneaky shit here because we made sure of it. Okay. Dave Murrell, that's a big accusation. What is your response? And is that true? Have you used PDs throughout your pro career? Man, I'm clean.

You know, I'm clean. Like, a hand can't do a talking saint. I mean, I'm clean, bro. You know, every time, I mean, every time, a lot of people, every time, talking saint, they say hand, and they come out, and they fight is talking say no He's Davis is dopey is that be a serenity? Why? Bro, he's training as power. You know, it's power everybody's fight you and

Anybody say? After the fight me everybody say no, it's a saloon, you know, FEMA's really powerful, bro. You know what I mean? Yeah, because you don't... You make the fighters take VADA, and then you don't test VADA after the fight. That's why they're saying that. Bro, right now... They don't test VADA, and then you don't test VADA after the fight.

You test VADA during the camp or the fight. Six times in three weeks. Six times in three weeks. Oh, yeah, yeah. Because the fucking... I'm scared, bro. Because the team is fucked like... And you are... You're not supposed to... You are... And you think... Oh, yeah You are you think they call it every day, you know

I'm clean bro. Right now. Come here. Okay. I don't care how clean you fight. I'm clean, I don't care. I'm clean, bro. Right now, come here, I don't care, I'm clean. I don't need it. Yeah, right now, you're clean. Right now, you're clean. I don't need it, bro. I don't need it. You know what I mean? You or somebody, you need it, I don't care. I'm going to fuck you up, bro.

I'm going to fuck you up. I'm going to break your fucking mouth. I don't give a fuck about nothing you're saying. Bro, you and everybody are talking the same. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right, you're right. Bro, every time he's talking the same, bro, it's the same. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right, you're right. It's the same for you. Benavidez, do you believe him?

Do you believe him when he says he's clean right now? I don't know, but we put everything in place to make sure that there's clean, there's bad attest in this. Like I said, we're not, I'm never, you know, my name is never going to be associated with steroids.

I can't say the same about everybody else. But right here, we got this big fight. We're going to make sure that there's clean boxing involved, and we got the van test and all that. And can I ask you, again, for David Benavidez, you're very fired up. I could see it. It feels very personal.

This fight feels very personal. Why does it feel so personal? Why is this so personal for you? It has to be personal because this is the biggest fight of both of our lives. This is going to get the most out of me and this is what people want to see. They want to see people too going at it that don't like each other. I'm not lying about anything I'm saying.

I'm going to go in there. I'm going to put a beating on this guy because this is what I want to do. This is my time. This is a message for everybody letting them know what time it is. For you, David Morel, is it personal for you too? Is this personal no my hell no you know it's easy so i know i don't need that person i mean in in miami a little bit time you know i'm flying uh um this moment right now like come back uh come back here so you know that my training camp focus i say bro Houston, you know, to my training camp, focus.

I say, bro, why are you stressed? I mean, Benavidez is like the simple guy, you know what I mean? And it's not personal. I mean, my only personal is inside the ring, me and him. You know, like, outside the ring, I don't care. I mean, you know, it's stupid. Like, why I take him as my man for this stupid shit, you know what I mean? So, the only I say is, I mean, bro, for real, I'm killing you, man. Promise you.

I mean, every time you're talking shit, every time you say, like, you're the monks and blah, blah, blah. You know, you say, no, but David Morrell, just the monks and blah blah blah you know you say no but they be more red you are blah blah okay you know you're talking what man whatever you do i mean for the first bro kick you ass promise you uh benavides he's not he's not taking it personal but he threw his belt at me uh that was that was quite the same Man Almost there why why You you never right now

You're laying on the fucking floor. I don't care, man. I don't care. Hey, man, you live in Denver right now. This is my house in Denver. This is my house in Denver. You don't even talk. You don't even fucking talk. This is my house in Denver, bro. You have to put your fucking sweater on with your hoodie on.

You can't even fucking talk. Bro, the whole school. Whole school, baby. The whole school. Beneviz, three weeks away. Now this guy is dancing. Now this guy is dancing. Hi, man old school. Old school, baby. Old school. Benavidez, three weeks away. Now this guy is dancing. Now this guy is dancing. For David Benavidez, three weeks away,

and we'll let you guys go in a minute. How do you envision the fight? How do you think it actually plays out on February 1st? You know what, bro? I've envisioned this a lot. I'm going in there. I'm going to do my job. And this fight is'm going in there. I'm going to do my job. And this fight is not

making its distance. I'm going to go in there. I'm going to hurt David Merrill as much as possible. I'm going to hurt him more than anybody's ever hurt him and more than anybody will hurt him. You know, he's always going

to remember this fight and he's never going to forget David Benavidez after this fight. Winner of this fight gets the winner of Better Be Abival. Is that what you're thinking, David? Benavidez?

Yeah. You know what? I'm not thinking about nothing what you're thinking, David? Benavidez? Yeah. You know what? I'm not thinking about nothing else. I'm thinking David Morel on February 1st. And that's the only thing that's in my head right now. For David Morel, you envision the fight. You think about the fight. How do you see it playing out on February 1st?

When you see the fight, how do you imagine it in your head? How does it end? Beautiful, man. Yeah, it's... ¿Cómo te la imaginas en tu cabeza? Es hermoso. Es una lucha muy buena. Después de todo, mi personal, Benavides es un gran jugador, es un jugador fuerte, es el primero, un poco bajado, es lo peor. Yo me veo ganando 100% esa pelea, por la vida que sea, por el punto, por donde sea, me veo ganando 100% esa pelea. Creo que reúno todas las condiciones para obtener la victoria en esa pelea. Estoy 100% convencido de que voy a ganar esta pelea.

No me importa cuál sea el camino, si lo pego o si es después de la pelea final con los jueces. going to win this fight. I don't care which way I win it. If I knock him out or if it's after the final bout with the judges, I know I have all the conditions and the skill needed to come out on top on February 1st. Benavidez, final message for your opponent who you'll be seeing soon in Vegas. Anything you want to say to him this opportunity that you're both on

together? Everything is done. All the talking is done. I'll see you soon. I know you see me in your talking is done. I'll see you soon. And I know you see me in your nightmares, pussy. So I'll see you soon. Morel, you want to say something back before you go? Amor y paz. No, I'm peace. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Good luck to both of you. You get a Robbie.

What a fight. What fighters. That is going to be incredible theater Maybe if you were on the fence Maybe if you weren't as well versed I hope you're locked in now I hope you're hooked up To your Amazon Prime video On Amazon Prime video by the way Pay per view February 1st

8pm Eastern David Morrell vs David Benavidez 29-0 Benavidez Vers 11-0 David Morel, Mexico versus Cuba. Benavidez, by the way, 24 knockouts, so 24 of his 29. Morel, nine knockouts, nine of 11, both fighting at 175 for those titles that I mentioned earlier, the interim WBC light heavyweight title, that's Benavidez's, and the WBA light heavyweight title, that's David Morel's. 6'2", Benavidez versus 6'1", Morel with the longer reach, 78.5 inches versus 74 and a half inches orthodox benavidez versus southpaw morel and benavidez despite the fact that he has 18 or so more wins on his pro record just two years older

than his counterpart again it goes down on february 1st and uh what a weekend that is for combat sports if you're a fan of all three like i am, you got Izzy versus Imavov in Saudi Arabia during the day. You've got the Royal Rumble in Indy in the evening on Peacock and on Prime Video beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. It's Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view, 5 in the West. Live from T-Mobile in Las Vegas. Tickets still available, by the way, on AXS. That's A-X-S

dot com. Love it. I can also let you know if you enjoyed that, and I love the face-to-faces, I can also let you know that on tomorrow's program, we're going to be joined by Arnold Barbosa and Jack Catterall. They'll be fighting on February 15th

back in England, in Manchester. And so we'll be joined by the two of them. We are open to all promotions, PBC, Matchroom, Boxer, Golden Boy, Queensbury, Top Rank. I'm telling you right now, I'm telling this, I'm speaking right now to the MMA fans and the wrestling fans. I love all forms of combat sports and I love the fact that now the shackles are off, I could talk about them all and cover them equally. The amount of A, incredible fights being made in boxing right now, B, drama, C, business type storylines is through the roof. It has never been, at least in my lifetime as an adult,

I'll say, as an adult. So since I've been really like following this stuff, it has never been more fun to be A, in my opinion, a fan of boxing, but B, covering it. Now I don't cover, you know, the beat like Keith Idek does so very well, but between everything going on in Saudi and everything going on with Matrim, Queensbury, Boxer, Golden Boy, Top Rank, PBC, the MVP stuff, the Misfits stuff, and on and on it goes. DAZN, is ESPN going to stay in the business when their deal is up in August? TNT Sports in the UK now soon to be no longer in the business. Amazon, are they in? Are they out?

Netflix, are they in? Are they out? There's just so much, so much. I mean, the last just three days alone have produced a plethora of nuggets. So I hope you enjoyed that as much as we did tomorrow, Katerol Barbosa, and later today at 5 o'clock with noted Liverpool fan, Adeola Depot. We'll talk about all this and more.

I look forward to it. All right, let's turn our attention to UFC 311. It goes down this Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. Of course, main event, Armin Taroukian trying to become the lightweight champion. Very first time in his career in a rematch

against Islam Khachev. What a fight that is. And what a fight the co-main event is. It's won Murab Dwellishvili, the pride of Georgia, defending his bantamweight title for the first time against Umar Nurmagomedov. If you'll recall, a few weeks back, we had Murab on after the presser, very fired up.

Hopefully he's mellowed out a little bit. It's a big week. And as of right now, and we hope it remains, the fight is going down on Saturday at the brand new Intuit Dome in Inglewood, which of course hosted the first WWE on Netflix event last Monday, not this past Monday, not yesterday, but last Monday. Anyway, the head coach for one,

Murab Duvalishvili, heading into this fight, and the head man over at Syndicate MMA, he's been killing it for a long time. This chat, long overdue, is the one and only John Wood. He's kind enough to join us right now before he heads off to California. Hello, John, how are you? Thanks for doing this. I'm great. Thanks for having me on. You've been on before, but more in a cameo role.

And so it's great to have you on to talk business as you guys head into this massive, massive weekend. Could I ask off the bat, I'm assuming because I was talking to Danny Rubenstein, who obviously you know very well, noted manager to the stars. You are off to California. Is everything still in place? Is it still, as long as you, you know, as recently as what you've heard, still happening this weekend in Inglewood? Yeah. All signs are pointing that it's still happening in LA and it doesn't look like anything's going to change. I believe they probably would have already, you know, changed it up had they were going to do that.

And I think that, yeah, I think it's happening in LA. Okay. That is great news. I keep getting people texting me like, is it happening? Should I change my flight? I don't know. Ask Hunter Campbell or Dana White. Whoa, who am I?

But that is great news. No, it's good. It's going on there. I don't think unless the fires really shift inwards, which it doesn't look like they're going to, it's going on there. I don't, I don't think unless the fires really shift inwards, which it doesn't look like they're going to, um, it's going down in LA. Could I ask maybe a crazy question, um, putting you on the spot with this, but just from like a health standpoint, you know, you go for runs outside, you guys are outside, like your guy's about to fight in a 25 minute, you know, expected battle against a really tough competitor. Do you have concerns from a health standpoint?

You know, not really. I don't think, I mean, we're not going to be obviously going for any runs outside of this point in time. Now, uh, we'll keep everything indoors. You know, the work is done. So I don't believe that there's going to be anything, you know, other than just concern for the people and the families and the people that lost their homes and all that craziness going on out there. It's kind of an interesting time to be having a fight. Health concerns with the fighters and the air quality, we're going to obviously have to keep it indoors. I can't imagine it's going to be very great out there during these times, but I think everything's going to be just fine as far as that goes.

Okay. When we had Murab on, I like Murab a lot, and I tried to kind of shoot straight with him, and I told him that I was a little bit concerned with where he was at mentally going into this fight. Now, this was coming off the press conference because he seemed so emotional in that press conference. He was very fired up, and I know he's an emotional emotional guy and he gets into it with fans and all that stuff and

that's part of the reason why so many people love him but because it has felt so personal where he feels like he shouldn't be fighting umar and maybe the promotion is against him and all this stuff i was worried that he would be fighting too emotionally like here this is him behind you know the stage getting into it with umar and the team. And then we know everything that went on at the press conference. And even on that Saturday night, um, you know, when Aljo is fighting, he's getting into it. Where could he, you know, where, what could you tell us about where he's at right now? And, and did you have those same concerns in early December when all this was unfolding? Uh, he, he's in a great place right now.

All, all cylinders are firing the way they need to be firing. And this is just part of the process. You know, Rob, like you just stated, is an emotional guy. This isn't anything new. This isn't anything different than any other camp. You know, it's one of those things that this is, you know, he wears his heart on his sleeve. This is one of those things that there's always a little something, you know,

going on with whoever he's fighting. And this one, you know, it might be a little more, a little more personal, a little more this, a little more that. But as far as where he's at mentally, he's 100% locked in. You know, the one thing with him being emotional, I don't mind it because he knows how to point those emotions in the right direction. You've never seen him. I mean, you've never seen him go out there and mentally flop in a fight because he was emotional. He's had this, you know, it was the same thing with O'Malley, there was a little bit with Cejudo, there was the same thing with Jan. The guy knows how to deal with his emotions. He knows when it comes to fight night, he's locked in there, he's got a job to do, and he points those emotions in

the right direction. And, you know, I think there's little more um coverage of this due to the fact that you know the the titles on the line due to the fact that that you know you got umar's last name involved in that camp and and there's things you know things that play into all that that that make it a little more um hectic and more emotional but this isn't this is standard man this is there's nothing different there's no you're not going to see him go out there and fight stupid because he wants to hurt Umar any more or any less. He's locked in, man. Like I said, when he's locked in, this has been a good one. This is a good camp. It's been a little hectic, but like I said,

it's at the beginning, and we're now ready to go, and I can't wait to see what he does out there. Speaking of that last name, Aljo saying before the fight was made, like, you know, the only reason why Umar is getting this is because of his last name. Murab has insinuated the same. How do you feel about the first title defense being against Umar? Do you think he has earned it? You know, the business is the business. And that's for the UFC to decide, you know,

sometimes the rankings mean nothing and, you know, I can't say, oh, this guy or that guy earned it, deserved it. You know, I just had a little round tree fight, you know, at number eight fight for the title. Sometimes, you know, pretty much Marab has beaten everybody in front of him. So, you know, this is where the next guy lands and obviously you know umar's name it carries weight that that lineage is is is real you know and that's something that they obviously as a business standpoint can play off of umar's a great fighter he's talented no matter what the rankings are where it was we were going to have this fight either way. This fight was going to happen someday.

It was never, you know, like I always like to address the people saying that Marab's ducking somebody or afraid of anybody. And I just don't understand what insane planet you live in to think that Marab, the body of work that he's done and who he's fought, he's afraid of anyone. It was more of, you know, Umar wanted to fight at this time and we wanted a little time off, but, um, that's just sometimes said how the business goes. You know, you don't always get what you want. And, uh, there's a hard push for him. I think there's a lot of money behind, you know, Umar being a champion. And I think the UFC knows what they're doing when it comes to business and how to you know push who they want to push but um you know to say that he got this fight on his name alone would be stupid you know he's a great fighter he's beat you know some good guys and you know

he just came off a big win against Sandhagen so I think he's the next man up makes sense he's looked phenomenal in his career and obviously in UFC, he's looked phenomenal as well. I understand it's all gamesmanship and it's a chess match, and you're not going to give away the game plan necessarily, but could you give us some insight into perhaps where some of his holes may lie, in your opinion? I mean, everybody has holes in their game. Everybody has, and sometimes there's layers to that. Sometimes looking at the, you know,

the naked eye of this guy can't be beat here, can't be beat there. You have to, it is the proverbial chess match, and you have to be able to open those holes up, and sometimes it takes a little bit more digging. You know, Omar's a very well-rounded fighter, and I'm going to try to keep this as, you know, non-game planning political as possible Come on, break it open for us, no one's watching Yeah, no one's watching

There's definitely things that we can exploit And there's definitely things that we will exploit And to think that somebody, because they're undefeated Or, you know, a nurmagomedov last name sorry i butchered that the first time last name that they can't be beat that that's just that's silly so yeah i really can't go into you know what we're going to do and how we're going to do it but i will tell you this marab is marab and marab is going to continue to do what marab does we just might have to find some different facets and different ways of how to do those things. You know, we obviously know that he has a great

wrestling background, a great striking background. You know, he's going to be well-trained and well prepared, but when you get in there with the machine, it's a different animal. It's a different pace. It's a different everything. So we'll see how long that he can hold up with, you know, is he going to defend some takedowns? Yeah. He might even take us down. Can he hold us down? Is he going to be able to submit us? I don't think so. You know, how long can he keep up with Murav? And, um, you know, the longer this fight goes, the deeper it goes, obviously the better it sways to us. And, um, yeah, it's going to be a fun one. Speaking of that pace, correct me if I'm wrong, Murab's doing 10 round sparring sessions. And I've heard you say that you don't think Umar will be able to keep up with that pace. Is 10 rounds normal?

I know, you know, obviously the title fights are five rounds. Are most guys who are fighting in five round main events fighting or doing 10 round sparring sessions? No, there is absolutely nothing about a Rob Dwellish really camp that is normal. The man does what he does and he has a process and that process has got him to where he's at. And I don't look to change those types of things. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. You know, and when we say 10 rounds, he, we, we book the guys cage rounds for the specific fight, for the specific opponent.

They come in with their training partners and they get their five rounds, six rounds. He usually does his six rounds in the cage being coached and cornered for the game plan. And a lot of times, I mean, that's supposed to be it for the day, but I will get Murav out of there. And, you know, we have the rest of the gym who doesn't have fights booked up or cage times booked sparring. You know, we got 30, 40 other guys on the mat over in the corner. And every single time he will go and finish another five, six rounds. Like I I've got them up to 12 rounds. And the crazy thing is, is that when you get into those high rounds, he just keeps getting better. I don't know where or how mentally, physically, where it comes from,

but the dude does not get tired. He gets better as the rounds go on. And a lot of times I think he feels that even though he comes in and has phenomenal six rounds, he's just getting warmed up, which is insane to me. So he goes out, sneaks off in the corner, and finishes. And I make sure that I have guys watching him for this camp. Literally, I had people all eyes on him hey tell me if rob comes back he would come back in at night after sparring and spar again and do these things but that is just his process and and

it works real well for him okay so i'm looking right now and uh i know you're a vegas guy you're a proud vegas guy and by the way uh apologies for another You know, kind of weak Raiders season I mean Weak? That's an understatement Okay, I thought you were going to dispute that Over here, we're Bills fans If you want to jump on the bandwagon You're more than welcome

We accept everyone You're a Vegas guy And I'm looking right now And I honestly had to ask my team If I was looking at this correctly. Murab is a plus 250 underdog. Umar is minus 310. Is that disrespectful to you guys?

Disrespectful. This guy's won 11 in a row, and he hardly loses a round. One way to put it, it's kind of the norm. It makes no sense to me in any way, shape, or form. But betting is a little different. You have people that are putting big amounts of money on certain people that are fans or that are this or that, and that sways those odds a lot. So you get the hype train. When we came out, we were the favorite against O'Malley, and that eventually switched and flipped when that hype train came on.

And obviously a lot of people look at Umar's last name and think oh man he can't be beat he's undefeated so you know disrespectful yeah in a minor way but it's something that we're kind of used to this is something that I think Murav has been the underdog in almost all these fights towards the end of the the camp or as the fight gets closer those things sway and I don't understand it I don't get it from a standpoint of what are you looking at? What do you think that these, you know, that this guy is going to do? Like, is it a close fight? Is it a good fight? Yeah, it's a great fight, but I just don't see where, and it's almost kind of, I kind of like it this way because people do not put the stock into Marab that they should be, and they keep underestimating. And, you know, hopefully the fighters keep doing that.

I don't think that that's what Umar, you know, is looking at betting odds and saying, I'm the favorite so I can take it easy. But, you know, people keep underestimating, and that's just a little more fuel for the fire for Murab to go out there and prove everybody wrong, which he does time and time again. And I truly believe he'll do it this time.

Your thoughts on Khabib Nurmagomedov head coach. Oh man. I mean, obviously a wealth of knowledge to do the legend in the sport. Um, you know, he has such a phenomenal lineage and it looks like he's been able to turn that into, you know, um, a decent coaching career. I don't think he's really all into coaching except for his guys. In fact, I even saw that today he stated that after these guys are done or retired, he's out. So I think he's more doing a service for his family and his close teammates and friends. I don't think he's looking to build a stable, continue on that lineage as coaching. So, you know, he's great for what he does and who he does it with. And it's pretty easy to take, you know, top level guys and continue that.

It'd be interesting to see what he would do, you know, building an actual stable of fighters, which I'm sure he could, you know, the guy, like I said, he's, he's a legend. So there's things where it would be, you know, foolish to think that he couldn't, uh, you know, coach and be successful, but, um, it's, it's, yeah, you know, I think he's, he knows what he's doing. He's very proficient and he's got some great guys underneath him. So I think that it's, you know, it'll be a, it'll be a fun time coaching and cornering against him. You've been doing this for a long time. You're one of the best in the game as well. And, um, you know, back in November, I remember seeing that you were dealing with some, some pretty scary health issues and you were trying to fight through them in order to stick with your guys and be able to corner everyone and be able to coach everyone in, uh, in the gym at

syndicate. And so could you tell us what exactly happened here? Because I saw some stuff on social media. We're seeing a photo here. I saw your lovely wife, Joanne Wood, you know, having to like, I don't know, like inject things into you. Here she is looking like a pro, by the way. She's looking very serious and, you know, very proficient at whatever it is she's doing. What were you dealing with here back in November? Yeah. So crazy enough, um, I'm a big proponent of stem cells, you know, and I've gotten a lot of stem cells over the years to heal up some injuries and it's worked phenomenal. So I was going in for a, I had a hernia and I was going to have a hernia surgery. And so I had, had some, we're coming off all these camps, and I had some shoulder pain injuries, and I'd had a previous partial labral tear in my shoulder.

So I thought that was acting up. So I thought, hey, you know what? Well, I got some downtime. I'm going to go ahead and get that fixed up, get some stem cells. I'll kill two birds with one stone. Long story short, I had a staph infection that I did not know inside my shoulder, brewing inside my shoulder. And I shot stem cells directly into that staph infection. So basically, yeah, it supercharged that.

I went septic within three days, you know, had 104 fever. And I was away at Fury in Texas and then straight from there to Invicta. And along the lines, I had gone to the urgent care and got some antibiotics. And I was, in my mind, my doctor from home prescribing antibiotics. And so I thought I was going to turn the corner, but it was already too late. And my arm swelled up three times the size of it. So basically, when I got home from the Invicta trip straight to the emergency room they came in said oh yeah this is bad straight to emergency surgery um you know I was in there for a couple days they put a PICC line in my arm so straight to my heart so I had

a PICC line for antibiotics that's what you see Jojo shooting in there every day for six weeks and um yeah I still my arm about 60-70 percent it, but I almost lost my arm and I was about a day or two probably from, you know, being much worse than that. Wow. So really? Yeah. It was a crazy, crazy thing. And moral of the story, do not shoot stem cells into a staph infection. Damn. When you shoot, you know, the stem cells in and you have this, do you feel it instantly or did you just have no idea? Yeah. So the next day I woke up and I really couldn't use my arm. And I thought maybe during the injection process that I had hit a nerve or something like that. And it just got worse and worse and worse. And by the time I left for the trip, I was already, you know, getting a fever. And then when I got, like I said, by the time I got home from the trip my arm

had probably swelled up two to three times and was just red and I had streaks going up into my neck and into my heart it was it was crazy but yeah it was pretty instant but you know we deal with a lot of bumps and bruises in the sport so it's not stuff you're you're completely unused to feeling pain and feeling banged up and you just kind of press through it I can't tell you how many injuries I've had over the years or something torn or something this, and you deal with it and you get through camps. And this one, this one was something special. So it almost killed me. My wife wasn't too happy about that, but yeah, you know, made it through and it was scary because it killed all the nerves in my arms, you know, and I couldn't lift my arm, use my arm,

my shoulder. Well, even till like maybe a couple of weeks ago. So, uh, it's still a slow process, but you know, that's kind of, uh, everybody in this sport, if you're not dealing with something or you're not, uh, you know, in pain, it's, you're not probably doing it the right way. What was worse that experience or, uh, trying square sausage? Oh, square sausage was awesome. I'm a big fan of square sausage. What is square sausage? It's just sausage with some seasoning. I thought, you know, she was messing with me and I thought it was like going to be a haggis pie or some kind of weird, you know, some kind of weird thing that she's, she'd always mess with, with everybody here at

the gym. Myself, my son, we're always eating, you know, some kind of funky thing or getting electrocuted or, you know, she's jumping out behind the corners and everybody's on high alert. So we had a can of haggis sitting around and that had gone. So I was pretty sure that that's what it was. But no, it's just sausage with some kind of seasoning that they put in. It's amazing. I'm a huge fan of that now. What about haggis? Have you had it? When I went to Scotland last time over there with her, I tried it. And I can say that I am not a fan of haggis. Okay. And I'm not looking to anything.

I don't want anything to do with that. Not a fan. Yeah, it looks disgusting. And I don't say that. Okay, I don't want to offend anyone out there. Oh, it's disgusting. I mean, the Scottish people, they can love it, but it's disgusting. Just everything in it is disgusting and and i don't think that's disgusting okay i don't want to offend anyone out there but it's disgusting i mean the scottish people they can love it but it's disgusting just everything in it's disgusting and i don't know why what i i don't get it but okay we'll leave it at that um back to the fight how do you see it playing out are you are you are you are you

feeling 25 minutes are you feeling like what kind of a flow, what kind of a path? Obviously, you're confident in your guy. What are you feeling? Yeah, we've been working a lot on Rob's game to start looking for finishes and control and submissions and ground and pound. This is a tough one to say we're going to go out there and submit and finish this guy. It's definitely a possibility.

As a betting man, I would probably say there's a good chance, you know, these guys are going to be able to defend and deal with enough adversity that it could potentially go five rounds. And I do believe that the deeper it goes, obviously, with anybody, it's more Marab's fight. You know, we've got to really look out for, you know, the first couple rounds. You know, there's some things know we've got to we've got to really look out for you know the first couple rounds um you know there's some things that we got to watch out for but i truly believe that marab's striking has improved greatly even in the last you know since you've seen him since the title fight it's gotten leaps and bounds better so if we need to keep it standing we can

keep it standing his his control his control, his submission, his submission defense, all those things have gotten better and are getting better at a rapid pace. So I really think that, um, you know, we're looking into a grinding war, but I think there's going to be some new wrinkles that, uh, you know, Rob's going to bring out for this fight and kind of blow everybody's mind. Um, are we going to see perhaps more, more jawing between you and the other corner, like we saw at the sphere, you and Tim Welch,

are we going to see more of this? This is part of the process. I don't think so. I think those guys are very professional. I think, you know, Khabib and Javier Mendez are very high level, you know,

guys and very respected and respectful coaches. I do not think that they need to play any of the mind games and that kind of stuff or anything that would try to give them the advantage. I think that we're going to have a straight-up clean corner situation for this one. Is there an unspoken rule, in your opinion, like the stuff that was going on with Tim and Murab and all that? Like, do you, do you think that that is crossing the line? Um, it's a gray area, you know, there's nothing in the rule books.

I mean, there is, there is rules that you can't, you know, badger and do those kinds of things. But I think it's, in my mind, it it's pretty stupid but i wouldn't do it and but i i get it if you want to take every advantage of you know the old adage if you ain't cheating you ain't trying type of thing and but i i really don't you know i have enough confidence in my fighter that i just need to talk to them and don't worry about like if you're worried about the other other fighter and yelling out commands to them to me me, you might be missing the focus on your fighter. So it's not a tactic I would use. I don't dislike Tim or anything for that. I just

think it's dumb and it's not a smart thing to do. But hey, it worked out great for us. Probably pissed off Marav a little bit more and added a little more fuel to that fire at the moment. And we obviously saw the results with that. So it's not something I would do. I don't have to ask your prediction for the co-main. I know where your heart lies. But I'm curious about the main, just from your great analytical mind. We saw them fight once before.

Just curious, who do you favor in that one, Islam or Arman? Man, I am a huge arm on fan i think that guy is the the most talented overall guy out there and that's why he's getting the the title shot but it's really hard at this point to bet against islam and the pressure that he brings and the, you know, the, the, the, the size alone of that man is, you know, it's kind of, when you see him stand next to other 55ers, he's massive, you know, and he, he's been through some adversity. You've seen him, you know, get beat up a little bit and still hang in there. Uh, it's a very interesting fight, but it's kind of one of those things in, in my gut, you know, I'm not betting against

Islam until, you know, somebody solves that puzzle. Can Arman do it? I believe he does have the tools, but, you know, I would still have to say that I think Islam might come out ahead in this one and, you know, maintain that title. By the way, are you so popular that you keep getting phone calls in this interview? I feel like you're dodging calls left and right. I'm sorry. No, no, it's okay. You're a busy man, and I know you have to head out, and so I'll leave you with two last questions if I can.

We love Khalil Roundtree around here, fascinating guy, tremendous fighter. One of my favorite fights of the year was his fight against Alex Pereira. I know he took a lot of damage in that fight. I love what heart he showed as well. When do you think we'll see him back in there? And do you have any kind of preference as to who he fights when he returns?

Yeah, we're definitely talking. He's back in the gym now. He's back in training. He's healed up. So he's starting to kind of get back on the horse and get everything, you know, going and firing in all the right directions. There has been talk. You know, I think we have a big one coming up that you know going and firing in all the right directions um there has been talk you know i

think we have a big one coming up that the result of that fight might you know play out to see who would be next um for us out of yuri and uh jamal oh i love it so that's been you know talked about there's some other names that have been thrown around that I think make sense. But I think that Khalil's very interested in that fight. So, you know, that one's going to be, I think, might be a tell of who we're getting next. But we'll see. You know, those things change. The UFC, you know, they've already kind of called and asked about a few names and a few people.

And we're just kind of on standby to hear what's next. So, you know, he's back in the gym. He's healthy. He's getting going. And, you know, I think we're going to make another title run with it. And what's it like with Joanne now retired? Do you want her to get back to fighting? Is she at home too much?

Is she bothering you too much? What's it like? You know, she's not, no, she's one that she's been awesome to have around, honestly, since, you know, since she retired. She has taken a big role in the gym and, you know, she's running the front desk and front operations for the, Jesus the Jesus, sorry, for the, for the you know, the gym and really helping out here. So we do spend a lot of time in the same areas, you know, but she's usually up front and lets me do my job on the mats. She's been awesome. You couldn't hope for a better situation, you know, for her and for me being able to come off of a, you know,

a stellar career like that and then retire off a couple-fight win streak and then have an awesome job to be able to flow into. And she's killing it, man. Anything about Jo, if she's going to do it, she's going to do it at the best of her ability. And if she doesn't know how to do it, she's going to learn to do it. So she's been really great to have around here

and made a huge impact already. And she juggles a lot of, of, of facets, you know, helping, you know, as a, as wife and as a mom, you know, my son, uh, it's been, it's been great, man. It really, I couldn't ask for anything better. Love it. Uh, love to hear it. And, uh, I have, uh, I have your, your wedding, uh, your wedding gloves in the studio right over there. Yeah. You see it top right, right next to the Kazushi Sakuraba, the

greatest wedding gift that as a guest one could ever receive. Incredible stuff. I mean, those photos were unbelievable. Everything you guys did was unbelievable. So delighted for you and most importantly, very happy to hear that you're okay because those

photos were very, very scary. Thank you for doing this on a travel day. Appreciate it. Good luck to you and the team out in LA. Good luck to everyone out there as well. And sorry for taking so long for having you officially on the program, but great to have you on and looking forward to more as well. Yeah, it was worth the wait, man. I appreciate it.

It's an honor to be on the show. Thank you, John. All the best to you. There he is, the head man over at Syndicate MMA, and they've been on quite the run as of late. They've had a ton of great results. Davey Grant with a big win recently. Great guy, Davey Grant.

Always enjoy him. Had a win in Tampa. Cody Steele winning on the Contender Series, getting a contract. He's fighting at UFC 31212 Artur Minev winning at Fury FC obviously the uh the Khalil Rountree performance and what about the idea of Khalil fighting the winner of Yuri versus Jamal I mean I take him fighting the winner or the loser to be honest but uh the winner sounds juicy I'm'm down with that. That would be tremendous. Now, that would probably mean, unless it's a quick finish,

that would probably mean he doesn't come back until the summer. And I don't hate that as well, considering the damage inflicted in that fight against Alex Perea back in October. So let's see. We reported on Friday that it is going to be Alex Pereira versus Magomed Ankhalaev. That's the fight that should happen. And so things are moving. Things are happening at 205. Yuri versus Alex. Sorry, Yuri versus Jamal, somewhat flying under the radar, but what a freaking fight. What a fight. And something tells me by the time they get to the, you know, press conference and all that later in the week that it won't be flying under the radar. Press conference might be nutty. Like with, you know, with everything that happened

at the December press conference with Umar and Murab, Islam Arman. Arman likes to You know Like I saw him At the Clippers game Yesterday He's holding the He's holding the The jersey And No smile

Never a smile With Arman He's all business Tremendous hair Unless he's eating Dave's hot chicken Unless he's eating What's the line at him

You know Repping some Dave's Hot chicken Minus a thousand No doubt Also everyone you just mentioned Then you throw in Jamal Hill, Yuri, Renato Moicano, Kevin Holland. Oh, my God.

It's going to be incredible. Kevin Holland. Peyton Talbot. Put Peyton on the damn press conference dais. Oh, my God. Yeah. An amazing cast of characters at UFC 311 this weekend. Can't wait.

That's at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, up to no good, California. Now, Intuit Dome, they were very much in the news a little over a week ago. The Raw debut on Netflix was at the Intuit Dome, and there was our guy O'Shea Jackson Jr., ever the heel in Clippers country, rocking the blue and yellow, the Los Angeles Lakers. Very much a heel move, and it's a move that I respect tremendously because I would do the same if I was at the garden or something like that, the TD garden, not the actual garden. There he is rocking the Lakers belt, massive shit-eating grin on his face.

I think the Lakers logo in that photo is over Bill Simmons' face, noted Boston Celtics fan. I've long been a fan of O'Shea Jackson Jr.'s for his work on the silver screen. Of course, we were first introduced to him, the Straight Outta Compton film, which was based on the life of his father, Ice Cube. You may have heard of him, O'Shea Jackson Sr., not just Ice Cube, of course, but the whole NWA squad. And that has turned into a tremendous acting career. His latest film, Den of Thieves 2, which features several fighters, Cyril Gan, Michael Bisping, Rico Verhoeven, to name a few, is the number one movie in America this past weekend.

Tremendous stuff. He has been kind enough to carve out some time in his busy schedule to join us. He's also a gigantic pro wrestling fan. I can't wait to talk to him. He's the host of the No Contest Wrestling Podcast under the Rich Eisen Podcast umbrella. There he is! O'Shea Jackson Jr. Hello, sir. How are you? What's going on, man? I'm

as good as I can be. It's still a little crazy out here with the fires and everything, but wrestling luckily has taken my mind off from the rams securing a victory as well but i'm doing okay i'm doing okay i'm very happy to hear that um and and i was going to start with that so are you safe and sound for the most part i mean the scenes are unfathomable and devastating. For you personally, are you okay? And your family okay? For the most part, you know,

we're still not out of the woods yet. Once the winds are really what you're watching for and tomorrow's supposed to be a very windy day out here. Yeah, it's been crazy. Tomorrow's supposed to be a very windy day out here. Yeah, it's been crazy. The place where my childhood home is was put under an evacuation warning. And so it was crazy to kind of go there and pack up your old life or like just everything that, you know, you kind of built up. The family was a little shaky, you know, going through our old rooms and things like that. It's a surreal feeling. And anybody who had to do that and then lost it, man, my heart goes out to you.

Yeah, same here. And praying for everyone over there. And hopefully this ends very soon and normal life can resume. But I know for so many, it's going to take a long time for that to happen. So sending everyone our best in Southern California. And this happens at the same time where this movie that you are so passionate about and worked so long on, the sequel to a great film that became a cult classic comes out and you have a tremendous weekend. Like I said, number one, are you even able to enjoy any of it? This is a big deal for an actor, right?

When you're on center stage, are you able to enjoy any of it this is a big deal for an actor right when you're on center stage are you able to enjoy any of it yeah not um not not really which is which is weird this is a it's a very huge moment for me there's no way there's no two ways about it um besides straight out of compton dinner thieves was the movie i was asked about most by fans in the street. Waited six, almost seven years to do the sequel and to get back to Donnie Wilson. We accomplished our goal. And, yeah, it doesn't feel like the championship I was waiting for. And, you know, when I got the news of us being number one, I was on a plane coming back from doing press.

So, you know, I was super excited, you know, just thanking everybody and everything. And then when I landed in L.A., that reality kind of set in of, like, what exactly is going on. And lately, I've just been retweeting anybody's kind words about

the film because there's just something weird about you know being like hooray right now uh you know it just doesn't it doesn't feel um like the right place you know you got to read the room sometimes so everybody who's had you know kind things to say on twitter uh i've been retweeting them you know because i i am appreciative of anybody who even is even thinking about going to go see the film uh it's it's it's a blessing that we are so grateful for a lot of us within the film um have been affected by the fires as well and uh i'm sure they would give the same gratitude as me uh as i mentioned several fighters in the film michael bisping uh cyril gan rico verhoeven vitor belfort as well uh who i'm gonna put you on the spot who's the best of

the bunch as far as acting is concerned oh i got i mean all right real quick number one that verovin yeah he's gotta relax bro all right when you're on a when you're on a movie set with a bunch of fighters all they do is like shadow kick in like shadow box all day so like you don't want to be around one when they're bored because they'll just be like come on man what's good like you know chill i can't let you get close so it's uh yeah it's real they're just you know just big warriors uh rico's so cool though um i still gotta play call of duty with him he's very aggressive about me playing call of duty with him and um bisbing is my guy uh mike is such a cool dude he's so nice just a savage though like they're all super nice and

then you think like yeah they could kill somebody uh when uh there was a funny scene in the beginning of the film where we're doing another heist and it's like I would say probably about 11 or like 12 a.m. So it's super dark and Michael Bisbee has to drive with a helmet on and I was unaware that

he doesn't necessarily have both eyes. So I was like, huh they're making Michaelael visby drive with a tinted helmet on at night with one eye this seems like it should go well but he's super cool love that guy man love it uh and uh our boys in the back they they love number one they haven't had a chance to see uh the sequel just yet but they are very excited about it. So they were super stoked that you were going to be on. I was stoked because you're a tremendous wrestling heel, even though you're not in the business. I enjoy your Twitter feed very, very much.

And I need to get into it. Okay. So like when you, when you rile up, especially the AEW fans, I'm not quite sure who they hate more, me or you. They despise me. They think I'm out to get them. And I always come out with like peace and love, peace and love. I'm not quite sure who they hate more me or you they despise me they think I'm out to get them and and I I always come out with like peace and love peace and love I'm not looking for trouble in fact I'm the guy when it comes to fighting like I want other organizations I want competition you you lean all the way in you you I don't know if you like just enjoy winding them up or something about them in particular what is the state of your relationship right now with the AW fans?

I don't know. I mean, there's a lot of them that I'm really cool with. One dude who was just my Twitter nemesis, Air Gold. I was like, dude, I can't believe me and him are cool now. Oh, wow. Yeah, shout out to Air My man Wrestle Mark But yeah it's weird Because in the beginning

I was all for The BS I was all for the smoke Because It was like It's fine to like an alternative That's cool. It should be more opportunities for people to be on a major show besides One Avenue.

I'm all for that. And it makes WWE have to step up, which as a fan means they're going to just spoil me. So how can you be all the way mad? But then when you start dissing, like going after what we all know, we all watch together. Like we all watch that together. You could not like the direction something's going, but don't act like I'm just ridiculous because I still watch WWE.

That's like, you're, you're wilding, bro. They're number one for a reason. And yeah, so I was with the tribalism heavy in the beginning. And then MJF, he had a good point in an interview where I was just like, you know what? He's right. Let me look at both sides of this thing. But then when I tried to give a little input and all I asked was for video packages, all I asked for was like, if you're bringing in somebody from another promotion

that's taking away TV time for the people that you're supposed to be growing on American television, can you give me a video package to tell me why this dude is cool? Like, show me what I've been missing. And I got a bunch of Googling and look it up. And I'm not watching TV for homework, dog. Like it is, it should be a much more welcoming environment. And I never meant ill will by that. I never meant ill will. that I never meant ill will and the response I've got it's just hard for me to just be like to just take that you know so I still take my little jabs here and there but I'm I'm all for people getting opportunities I got some people I'm really cool with over there and I want to see them succeed. But as far as the faceless

account fans, I will be there to give you all problems. Every single one, man, because you're not even real. You're just causing the chaos and I'm here for it. How do you feel about the state of aw right now um you know i feel that there's just been a there's been a couple of things that i wish would have hit better uh they gotta stop making john moxley and his crew run away from everybody like we have to stop that they should they are supposed to be the evil empire and i feel like there's too many clips of them running away like you don't it's not giving what it needs as the evil crew that everybody's supposed to be scared of um it's just it's just some things story-wise that haven't hit hard

enough and it's it's a i'm not gonna say it's a simple face because there's enough. And it's a... I'm not going to say it's a simple fix because I'm sure there's a whole bunch of things that go into it that I know nothing about. So I'm not going to sit here and act like I'm the guy with the answers. I'm just speaking as a fan of what I see. I love...

I actually like the direction they're going with Ricochet, him being this psychopath. That's pretty cool but most people that like find that spot like tony tony storm and everything that she did when she found that character uh she she really took off um i'm i'm excited to see what he does i always love what swerve does over there it you know i've just been going to Netflix a lot. I love it. I love it. Everyone was

dissecting the first episode of Raw on Netflix and then the second one, I felt like, this is more of a normal, this is it. Now we're into it. That felt like a PLE, this is just a good episode of Raw on any platform uh did you

enjoy one versus two two versus one how did you feel about yesterday's second offering um yeah it did feel like the first one was more of a ple it was the premiere episode you know i'm new being in los angeles that's where they premiered uh smack when they went to Fox, you know, when they had the blue carpet outside at Staples and things like that. So, you know, they're going to go hard. You know, they're going to go big. And that's what you love about the showmanship of the WWE is that they are there. They'll put on a show for you. Um, it was a special moment for me because, you know, I've never, I've been going to WWE live events for really my whole life, but consistently, uh, over the past seven years. And, uh, just there as a fan, never once asked for my name at the bottom or anything like that. I'm just there to enjoy the show. I'm behind the commentary table,

so I'm going to be on camera, but it's not a spot for me. But to be a kid watching the WWE as long as I have, to get my name at the bottom was like, it was a cool moment for me, man. It means something to me. And my city popped for me. And then I got to diss the Clippers too. Maybe booed Hulk Hogan. But it was a great night for wrestling, dude. It was a great night. And yeah, I think I'm going to go one.

Number one, because I'm a Roman Reigns guy. And to see Roman get it done, to become my, your, our tribal chief, that was cool. I was really surprised that it really felt that all the babyfaces won. I've never seen that before. So it was definitely cool. I got to go number one just because he was in LA. Very happy to see Penta in the WWE. I expect big things for him. I already bought a mask that I hopefully will get signed one day. Because WWE shop, they don't care, man. Get that merch out there, baby. I feel you. promo after i actually really love what they did doing the promo in the ring afterwards it felt like a big ufc or boxing event where you get the big win and then you speak to the crowd um they're

they're they're putting a lot of those little like real combat sports element into the product now which i like very much i i love your passion for it and i share it as well i'm wondering have you ever considered working in wrestling we know about freddie prince who's on the creative team you have the pod now with tj under you know the rich eisen umbrella but actually like working as a producer a creative team member anything like that have you ever explored this you know i i feel like everybody as wrestling fans we all fantasy book but i you know i went to usc for screenwriting is something that i'm very passionate about i'm constantly coming up with stories in my mind as far as for film, television, it would definitely not be out of my wheelhouse.

Just even in any type of capacity with something that you've watched as a child, it's just a childhood dream. So, yeah, I mean, if they need me for anything, all they got to do is give me a ring. They've always treated me so well, taken care of me, looked out for me, and I appreciate that, you know, because they don't think about a company that big.

They don't have to give a damn about you. So I'm very appreciative of everyone over at WWE. If they want to work, let's work. Oh, wow. I feel like this is the seed right here. I mean, you got the guy, right? Brad Slater's your guy. Brad Slater, The Rock, Ronda Rouse.

Shout out to Sam. Yeah. They're all great, but they're in. I mean, TKO, Endeavor. I feel like you're a phone call away. I feel like if if you want this to happen you could literally be on the team by tonight don't chill bro i'm telling you i feel like they would roll out the the the black carpet the red carpet the blue carpet all the carpets for you dude it would be it would be a dream come true it's one of those things that um you know i've been able to be in uh i'm forever in the lore of godzilla i'm forever in the lore of star wars it would just

be another childhood dream i didn't know that i could accomplish if i was in a lore uh any capacity with the wwe what about on camera like as a like as a heel manager old school like bobby heenan mouth bro hold on because i got i got two movies that i'm training for ariel when i get my r&b body oh bro don't do not do not question that because i when i'm over there i get the itch so uh yeah i'll do do anything they try to do. Just, you know, I'm a phone call away. I'm showering you with a lot of praise and love, but I do have a bone to pick with you, I have to say. Because I'm a lifelong, like the first athlete celebrity that I ever fell in love with, truly fell in love with, was Bret the Hitman Hart.

That's my guy. I've got his toy right over here to my right i adore the man i'll do anything for the man there it is when i used to when i used to go to the doctors when i used to go to the doctors as a kid five six seven years old and i was terrified of needles my mom would tell me to close my eyes and think of something that made me happy and i would think of brett hart winning the wwf title that's how much i adored him i adored this man and then i see and, and I like you a lot too from afar. I mean, we've talked once before in the past,

but then I see this tweet from back in the day, and I'm from Canada. I am very proud to be Canadian. Oh, here we go. And I see this tweet. I got a problem with this tweet, my man. Because we were dissecting it before. WWE on Fox, mate, rest in peace,

tweeted this in April of 2024. Explain Drake versus Kendrick in WWE terms. And you tweeted Hogan vs. Hitman. And I'm assuming that you're saying that Hogan is Drake? Is that what you're saying? I have two problems with that.

I have a problem with the Drake, and I have a problem with the Hitman. Is Hitman Kendrick? I can't accept that. I can't accept the Canadian can't accept the canadian guy being on the side of the anti-canadian guy if you know what i'm saying so please explain listen i didn't even think in that those terms when i when i typed it it was strictly because like you got this big mega star that sells all the toys and all the hoopla most marketable person of that

time has this, that, and the third. But if you know what you're talking about, you know that's a bad man in that black and pink. Bro, that's a bad dude. I don't know. That dude is, you got to watch him. He's a hit man.

So it's, yeah. It's just, you got to watch him. He's a hit man. So it's, yeah, it's nothing wrong with the comparison. I think I did a good job. I get it. I get it if I'm being honest. My hot take, by the way, is if, and tell me if you think I'm crazy, if that beef doesn't happen, Kendrick's not playing at the Super Bowl this year. He should be thanking Drake. He should be thanking Drake. He should be thanking Drake for the opportunity.

He has no business. I'm not here for this Canadian propaganda. He has no business at the Super Bowl. God, listen. He's a bad dude, bro. And it's alright. I'm one of the people that think it was a setup from the jump. You think it was a work?

No, no, no, no, no. I just think Drake shouldn't have... He should have left it alone because the way that I make it... This is my analogy for it. So Kendrick dropped a song and was dissing Drake and J. Cole. Dude, if you were outside of a party or whatever, some guy comes up to you and your homie and is like you and you i'm whooping both y'all ass follow me you would not follow that guy you're to the car to the trunk of your car this man has a plan against you that you are unaware of right now nobody calls for a 2v1 and they're not overly

prepared so you just gotta leave that alone bro and you know he'll be all right he's Drake yeah you know he'll be fine but like it is what it is man you got it's all right it is what it is all right fair enough I'll leave it at that uh can I ask you your favorite favorite thing in wrestling right now, what's your favorite thing right now? Favorite story, favorite guy, favorite girl? What's like your must-see right now to see um i love the new day being healed because uh a valid point was brought up to me from a very reliable source but even when they were good guys the new day were just bullies so like for them to be able to just like really lean into it it's great um obviously everybody knows i'm i'm i'm friends with my man, Phil CM Punk. He's doing amazing. I love to see him just working with such a smile. Also, everybody who follows me knows that I'm a Roman Reigns guy. I don't know if I want to see him versus Cody in Mania

because I really think Cody is set up to retain at least one WrestleMania. And so I don't need to see Roman lose again. Like, you know, it was already terrible, freezing to death in Philadelphia. We should never get WrestleMania ever again unless they have a roof. But it was already terrible watching him lose in the freezing cold. Vegas on 420. Let's not kill my buzz, bro. So I hope they figure that out.

But I think my favorite, favorite, absolute favorite thing in the WWE right now is my guy, Dominic Mysterio. Oh, yeah. The young goat, dude. Young goat. I'm always going to big up Dominic because he is another one of those. Those inspirations that I use with somebody taking their family name to places it's never been before. I mean, Ray's never been a heel in the WWE, so for Dom to be just the absolute counter of that, he's been doing amazing.

The dude's an inspiration. I've always found somebody in the WWE, especially in these times, that I can relate to as a second, third generation superstar. And I mean, that all started with The Rock, you know, going in his father's footsteps. And that's another one of the many reasons why I feel so connected to these superstars and Dominic Mysterio, man.

That's my guy. They'll never make me hate you, Dom. I i that's that's that's my guy they'll never make me hate you don i love that that's a tremendous answer and it's a great point um i i've heard you talk about you and your brother you know getting into wrestling as kids and playing the video game and all that stuff uh did your dad like watch it as well was he a fan yeah but you know he was one of those uh he was one of those eat your vitamins type guys and oh damn that's before i mean i mean it was the time dude no but uh yeah he he also obviously loved junkyard dog that was he loved the junkyard dog every time we talk about wrestling some kind of way junkyard dog is going to come up um but yeah wrestling is it's just one of those things as a

as a especially as a little boy you're just watching people beat each other up all day it's like the best soap opera in the world dude it's it's why i love it so much is because what i do i get cuts i getos, it's not going to go in the movie until it's absolutely perfect. What they have to do, not only with the sacrifice of no off-season and how tasking

that can be, but they're doing Broadway with violence. Just take my money. It's just so fun to watch the environment you if you've never been to a live wrestling event the electricity that is in the air at these wwe events if you could like bottle that up it is the best feeling in the world and when you when you go home and you still got that rush, man, it's something special. So, you know, my dad had it.

My older brother, Daryl, passed it to me. My little brother, Sharif, is probably the biggest John Cena fan I know. Wow. Like, straight C-nation. Like, that is his guy. And hopefully with the No Contest Wrestling Podcast, if I can get John in studio and my little brother gets to just chop it up with him for a little bit, I think that would, bro,

I would be the coolest brother in the world. So this is me calling out John. My man, we got to make that happen, dude. Sharif loves you. I think you can make that happen. My hot take with John is if he wins the Rumble, I'm going to be very disappointed. I don't think he should get that spot.

I want to see that spot go to someone else who can get elevated to a main event slot. I'm not that, I don't know, am I? I'm not that invested in this John Cena retirement tour. I'm down with a retirement match do i need to see a whole long year storyline of him trying to get back to the winning you know column like i just i'm not i'm not feeling i wasn't feeling the promo i'm not feeling the angle right now well i mean according to twitter bro you are a hater yes you, you are a complete hater. That's quite on brand. So I don't know why you're trying to run from me.

Wow. Wow. But, you know, it's just being that, you know, that older wrestling fan and trying to read the tea leaves. It's okay. Show for them. Show for them right now. Yeah, we all think we're geniuses, dude.

But, like, when you're geniuses, dude. But when you're promoting him for Elimination Chamber, I don't think he's winning the Rumble. Nah. You know? And I think it would be cool to see John Cena one last time go for a big one. And, you know, there's always, there's this, like this unwritten law where when you go out, you go out on your back. You know, you go out looking up at the lights. And I think John is part of one of those, that old school feel. But WrestleMania is not where he goes out. He said we got, what, a year in WrestleMania?

So that would not be the time for him to go out. So if there's an opportunity, I used to be a Cena hater. Like, oh, my God, he's winning again. But when you start to realize how hard it is to do what he did for as long as he did and the you know just the environment that he had to be in with everything he's done for uh like we all know about the make a wish record the dude just uh he's a hard-working man and when you are such a hard-working company man i have no problem with the company giving you one last rub before you did did it bum you out when you walked into into a dome that it's a million times cooler than the crypto.com arena like as as a lakers fan did that

make you sad i mean it's a beautiful piece of garbage, Ariel. Don't get me wrong, bro. Don't get me wrong. Like, I have, you know, I've been thrown out of worse places. Right. But, I mean, it's just, it's a pretty girl with no sustenance to her. It's no, like, you know, she just, she's not really talking about anything interesting. You know that she doesn't have any aspirations for marriage because getting a ring in there it's got to be crazy wow that was good that was good that was good have you used that before did you think of that on the spot no when you put me on the spot bro it comes out that was good man that was good right there that was wow yeah that was good thank

you bro yeah no yeah you killed that one you killed that one congrats uh to the rams by the That was good right there. That was, wow. Yeah, man. That was good. Thank you, bro. Yeah, no, wow. Yeah, you killed that one. You killed that one. Congrats to the Rams, by the way. And congrats to you on a tremendous opening. I know it comes at a very tough time in your life and everyone. And you're so proud. You're so proud to be from Southern California.

I mean, I got to say, one of my producers back there before I let you go is a gigantic Yankee fan. And we were talking before, like, when your dad walked out, like it was over. They might have just closed it up. And then they countered. Ah, there it is. They countered with Fat Joe. The Fat Joe counter was like, it was like old school, you know, Hogan against Brooklyn Brawler. Like that's what the matchup was.

It was such a weak counter that they might as well just closed up shop. So, much props to you and your family and how you rep your city and your region so very well. I love everything about it. Thank you, man.

Please don't call my dad Hulk Hogan. But, so, when it came to... When it came to... When it came to... Just messing with you. When it came to that Dodgers-Yankees World Series, number one, I've always had major respect for the Yankees just because, I mean, I get it. When you're a team that has won so many championships that people just hate you when you win anything, it's a weird feeling.

I get it, but then I don't. Because you need those evil empire-like teams. And I've been giving Fat Joe a lot of flack lately. And it's not his fault. Like, it's not his fault. Nah, it's his fault. Okay. Bro, it was bad. It was bad.

And I love New York. I live in New York. It was bad. It was bad. It's because he stepped on the mound. That I live in New York. It was bad. It was bad. It's because he stepped on the mound. That's all I'll say. You don't step on the mound. You don't step on the mound, bro.

Man, it felt like it was. Come on. Yeah. And I hate, I'm not going to fake for the audiences. I hate baseball. I can't stand it. I've always said baseball needs more dunks and touchdowns. Everyone knows that about me, bro.

Because, like, with basketball and football, I can watch adjustments happen and see it in real time show me some positivity. With baseball, it's just like, well, I hope he don't hit it. Man, I hope he don't hit it. For, like, three hours. It is so stressful for three hours. No clock. There's nothing.

Like, there's just so much stress that goes into baseball anybody who has dealt with that for their entirety of their life i've met big ups to you bro i'm learning the game i found out that they set each other's feet on fire when they get bored which is a crime uh but yeah it's uh called hot foot That's crazy, bro. That's wild. So I'm getting into baseball. But until next October, I will let you guys know that the Los Angeles Dodgers are champions of the world. God bless us. No, it's great.

Lakers won't win. Rams won't win. But it's great to have the baseball team as champions of the world. So I'm happy for you guys for that. I'm happy for your... Saquon's doing well. All the Eagles, isn't he? I'm a Bills fan. I don't know if you can see right over here. The Buffalo Bills. The Bills of Buffalo.

The eventual Super Bowl champ. Don't hit me with a Giants shot. Fuck the Giants. I'm a fan of New York's only football team. Fuck the Giants. Yeah, there it is. Look at that mean mug. Yeah, look at that face.

Sick fuck. Come on. The Bills are cool. Love the Bills. Josh Allen, I mean, just watching Josh Allen in interviews, like, how do you not love that dude? Obviously, I'm going for my Rams.

We got a tough task with the Eagles, but nobody expected us to get past the Vikings. You know, I'm hoping the players are able to focus, you know, with everything that's happening over here, bringing any type of joy to the city would be more than welcome. But if it's not my Rams, I would really dig Bills versus Lions. Oh, yeah. See who gets their first one.

That would be massive. I feel like that would be great for the sport as well. But, yeah, dude, it's Rams all day until they put us in the dirt. Yeah. I feel for the people of St. Louis. I mean, you stole their team. Not cool. Yeah, they suck.

Yeah. I mean, it's not a cool thing to do. Sorry, Nelly. Louis. I mean, you stole their team. Not cool. Yeah, they suck. I mean, it's not a cool thing to do. Sorry, Nelly. You're the man. Really enjoyed this, man. Really, really enjoyed this. Congrats on all your success. It's tremendous to watch it. And your feed, your Twitter feed is a tremendous

follow as well. So if anyone is looking for some shit-talking, especially when it comes to pro wrestling, go follow that man. Thank you, my friend. I appreciate it, and continued success, and good luck to you with the film. Absolutely, man. I appreciate it. Anytime you need me on, just give me a ring. 11 in the morning is

not that bad. Okay. All right. Good to know. I'll be taking you up on that. Thank you, bud. All right, for sure, man. There he is. O'Shea Jackson Jr., kind enough to join us on this Tuesday morning and again, thinking of everyone in Southern California. Man, that line

about the rings at Intuit Dome is a tremendous line. Well done to him. What a great name, too, O'Shea Jackson Jr. And what a legend his father is, but he is turning into a legend in his own right. And I feel like he can be, I mean,

if Freddie Prinze killed it as a creative member, it was like a solid year and a half or so. Not everyone can stick there for so long. And he had other aspirations too. I feel like O'Shea Jackson would be a tremendous addition to the uh to the creative team all kinds of drama by the way going on in the world of mma as we speak i feel like uh i feel like there's all kinds of drama with the bellator and pfl fighters a slew of of tweets and messages uh let's show you some of them before we get to our next guest who is mack Dern, our final guest of the day.

Who's up first? Patricio Pitbull, self-called co-leader. Can I be honest? I saw this, and then I saw GC's face in the middle. I'm like, oh, no, did GC write, like, thanks or sorry or that other thing? That's what I thought. Yeah, I forgot to crop that. Yeah, no problem.

That's what I thought. Yeah, I forgot the crop. Yeah, no problem. Self-called co-leader in MMA and fighters first organization is cutting a bunch of fighters and forcing others to take pay cuts of up to 70%. No respect for fighter contracts and what they've accomplished. The self-called fighters first organization is also changing its contracts

so it's almost impossible for fighters to be free agents and to leave on free agency. Also tying down fighters payments for many years and taking away all their leverage. The self-called co-leader in MMA is ghosting some fighters and managers and leaving them with no answers while the owner makes silly and disrespectful posts on social media. Golly. We know Pitbull is a little disgruntled at the moment. RIP Bellator MMA.

It's sad. It's come to an end. And the organization had such a painful death, sabotaged by Viacom execs in its last years, then sold to uncaring people that did their best to ruin it. Now, can we just ask the question? I mean, elephant in the room. Is Pitbull writing these tweets?

What do we think? I'm going to go ahead and say Negative He definitely didn't make the AI Rest in peace Bellator I can tell you that much What else do we have? Corey Anderson If all this info is solid

And like Bro is that a shot? I reported it And Bellator champs are now PFL champs. Well, actually, to be fair, I said that's what I think is going to happen, but no official word. The good news is we now have more potential opponents slash matchups. Now we can get back to fighting in the States,

maybe even more fights in Las Vegas. Yahoo. I don't think that that means anything, to be honest. Regarding Vegas. What about this one from Eddie Alvarez? I enjoyed it. Hey, Bellator, I was thinking, now would be a great time to negotiate the rights

to my fights I had during my time there. I'd like to offer $7 in total, and I'd be willing to go as high as $10 if you included a signed poster of Bjorn Rebny. Eddie loving this. Anything else? Only $3 for a signed poster of Bjorn Rebny is a little bit disrespectful. Well, it's like, you know, how do you cut up the pie?

Is it 5-5? Like, you know, I know he said 7 for the fights, but I mean, I guess you can say. There was a message posted. We showed showed the tweet but here's the message from don davis professional fighters league acquired bellator mma one year ago primarily for its great fighter roster the pfl brand has become synonymous with the win in advance format and product innovation pfl has established itself as a premium brand, doing things different to help grow our great sport of MMA. Going forward, all fight events and content will be PFL branded. The Bellator brand carries a rich history that they continue to call these title fights Bellator title fights, then there is no defending.

There is no defense to that whatsoever. Let me tell you something right now. Kill Bellator. No one cares. It means nothing. I saw some fans being like, oh, I'm bummed tonight. You didn't care when they were alive.

You hardly watched their shows. They were getting no ratings, no engagement. No one was watching. It was dying a slow death for multiple years. Turn Usman Nurmagomedov winner or Paul Hughes winner. Turn that guy into the PFL lightweight champion. Make Corey Anderson into the PFL light heavyweight champion. Turn everyone, anyone who is a Bellator champ, make them into a PFL champ. Just do that. Enough with the Bellator title. It means nothing. It is, it is absolutely absurd to keep that belt, to keep that name on that belt alive. You don't have champions. There's PFL season champions.

There is no actual champion. You have them right there. And let's be honest, they're all better than the PFL season champions, or at least more well-known, and no one would bat an eye if you just turned those guys into the PFL champions. Why would you keep this? This has to be a typo. Anyway, fans will continue to enjoy the immense Bellator Fight Library and historic fight content throughout our social, digital, and partner channels. All of our fighters are now integrated and connected in one powerful PFL brand worldwide.

I don't know. It feels a little clunky. Kill it. All he had to put there, the Bellator champs are now the PFL champs. It's all one brand, right? Why would you keep

that belt alive? Why would you keep that name alive? It means nothing. There is no cachet to it anymore. It means absolutely nothing. Stop with this. And the insinuation

that Hitman is Kendrick and Drake is Hulk Hogan is absolutely insulting to me. I still can't get over that. I didn't know about this, by the way. No one told me about this. Yo, what the hell Who would have told you about it You guys

You told me today Yeah Oh I would have saw I mean maybe I missed I guess I didn't see it on Twitter But like what the hell It's crazy Who said this recently on the show

Oh right Said what That's a bad analogy anyway for me uh wait what no what was the analogy yeah forget about it uh listen unless proven otherwise unless it's morally and i know listen i'm okay i'm okay with putting myself out there i'm okay aubrey if you're seeing this remember who had listen, I'm okay. I'm okay with putting myself out there. I'm okay. Aubrey, if you're seeing this, remember who had your back. I'm okay. Unless there is a moral conflict at play here, not some silly like rap beef, you know, accusation.

Unless there's true evidence. Otherwise, I can't jump off the bandwagon. I can't kick my guy while he's down. My fellow countrymen, I don't do that. bandwagon I can't kick my guy while he's down My fellow countrymen I don't do that I'm not like you You see that's the difference Y'all go around singing not like us That's not how we roll

Canadians stick together We are one We are not the divided states of America And so you guys might celebrate this type of activity We don't do that We don't get at the beefs We're all about peace and love, peace and love. Yeah. Hitman is the tactician. Drake is the lyrical technician. Do you understand?

There's more of a connection there as opposed to some, you know, Johnny come lately. He's not really playing at the Super Bowl, right? Yeah, he is. It's crazy. Also, were you calling Kendrick Lamar a Johnny come lately? No, you said that, not me. Brother. What do you think?

How high do you think that stage is going to be? Because like, is it sort of like a roller coaster where you have to be a certain... You're going after his height right now? No, no, no, no, no, no. I was saying because like for people to... Out with it, out with it. No, no, seriously. I mean, yeah, it's personal. You have attacked our country

And by the way shame on the You attacked Drake You attacked our country Okay One of us equals all of us Shame on the Rogers Center By the way did you see that He's playing at the Rogers Center

Kendrick He's a very popular artist He's probably gonna sell it out that is crazy that is crazy this dude playing at the rogers center in toronto in the six he is very talented you say this dude johnny come lately like he's like bro one of the most popular artists of this generation don't get me me started on LeBron. Turned his back on his boy. Yeah. I can feel that.

That's crazy. Yeah. Drake's walking out with Bronny after he has his- I've noticed we've picked up crazy work now. Yeah, it's crazy work. In the arsenal. Is that- The kid's really rubbing off on it.

Is that not a thing? No, it's a thing. It's a thing. I just have never heard you say it until like eight days ago. It's nasty work. How about days ago it's nasty work yeah about that yeah big force match coming up are you gonna watch the super bowl halftime show he's definitely going to play they're not like us like it is i mean and that will be and while he's playing it in the background They'll have video footage Of Fonzie going over

The shark While he's water skiing I don't know the reference Frank explain it to us You're saying You're saying that's nasty work And then in the next sentence you make a happy days reference Yes that's right

That's the rage That's called range okay That's nasty work. That's called range, okay? That's called, you know, being able to. Range, that's called being. Do you think your kids know who Fonzie is? No, but my audience does. I barely know who Fonzie is.

Do you understand the reference? No, no, I actually have no idea what you're talking about. Serious. The term jumping over the shark is in reference to on Happy Days, there was a scene towards the end of the run of that great television show. There was a scene where the Fonz was on water skis. And at one point, he literally jumps over a shark. And people pointed to that moment as like, Happy Days isn't cool. The Fonz isn't cool.

The show is dead. And so the term, jumping over the shark, is in reference, was born from that scene. Wow. Fonz was played out. He was played out.

Just like KL. Dun, dun, dun, dun. I would beg to differ. I would say KL is as hot as he's ever been. Let me tell you something. He's performing at the Super Bowl. He's very talented. Yeah, how much is he hot as he's ever been. Let me tell you something. He's performing at the Super Bowl. He's very talented. Yeah, how much is he getting paid for that?

Nothing. How much exposure will he get from it? Let me tell you something. When I go to a bar mitzvah and there's 12-year-old kids singing A minor, that means, okay? Let me tell you something. In the 90s, they weren't playing Hit Em Up At bar mitzvahs They weren't playing

First of I can't even say it It was so It was so Crass Greatest song of all time Greatest diss track of all time Right?

I don't know In 20 years People will probably be saying They Not Like Us Nah here comes Rick He's gonna say it's Ether. Ether's also good. Listen, anyone who puts not like us

in the same category as Ether or hit them up. I'm surprised you say hit them up instead of back-to-back. What do you mean? I learned the game from William Wesley. He can never take me back-to-back like I'm Jordan in the 90s, 1997. That one?

Yeah. That's a great one. That's your guy. Who's that? Toronto Blue Jays on the cover? Yeah, that's a good one. Wait, that's a diss track about who? Meek Mill.

Yeah, I knew that. Hate Philly also. All-time beef there. Yeah. Hey, Mackenzie, what's up it's eric ariel's producer i'm getting i'm getting um i'm getting a little bit fired up i mean it's we're 11 minutes away from the city ground yeah just absolutely going on fire big one big one big one it's one versus two essentially you know not only your co-host of the great boxing show, Ariel Adé, is a Liverpool fan. You know Jordan is a Tottenham fan.

Oh, yeah, Tottenham, yeah. I actually watched him watch Tottenham and Liverpool, thought he was a Liverpool fan. Yeah, what the hell? Yeah, I blew that one. Yeah. Also, I think I just mispronounced Tottenham. Yeah, that's bad.

Let me tell you something. When you say Tottenham or Nottingham And not Nottingham or Tottenham Nasty work They get so mad Oh do they get mad And they always get so mad every time I talk about Nottingham They don't realize

I literally watch every single game And if I'm not able to watch at home I'm watching on the phone And then they bring up the old tweets about Leicester City and Everton Not knowing that that was all a bit Never watched a second it's like do you not get the show you're new to the show right like Levitard says do you not get the show we were in the bathroom the other the other week and they were playing and you had it up on the urinal work or shoot you washed your hands after legit though right what was it not legit I'm listening to them beat wolves

at the urinal yes you had to them beat wolves At the urinal Yes you had the phone tilted up on the urinal Nah I would never do that That is nasty work right there And then you were so excited about the game You didn't even wash your hands on the way out I was like alright That is awful

Alright let's say hello to our final guest of the day She was victorious on Saturday At the world's most famous Apex, a rematch of a fight that happened some, oh, almost, if my math is correct, five and a half years ago back in 2019. She got it done. She wins via armbar. She's the great Mackenzie Dern.

Kind enough to join us. There she is. Hello, Mackenzie. How are you? Hey, Ariel. I'm good. How are you? I'm doing really well. Parabéns. Congratulations. By the way, I love. How are you? Hey, Ariel. I'm good. How are you? I'm doing really well.

Parabéns. Congratulations. By the way, I love this area that you always join us from. Like this little, what is this? Is that your backyard back there? Is that bamboo? I have the curtains. Oh, that's curtains.

Yeah. I thought it was like a bamboo. Yeah, the outside curtains, you know. Okay. All right. Well, I totally botched that. I'm sorry. No, the patio. It outside currents, you know. Okay. All right. Well, I totally botched that. I'm sorry. No, the patio.

It looks very nice. Thank you. You live in Southern California, right? Yeah. Everything okay? Yeah, everything here is okay. We're in Huntington Beach. It's a little bit like 30 minutes north.

So like LA area. Okay. All right. So everyone's safe and sound. Yes minutes north. So like LA area. Okay. All right. So everyone's safe and sound. Yes. Okay. Great win for you. A very, very strong performance.

And I loved how the talk going into the fight was just about your evolution. The difference between you and 2025 compared to 2019. I feel like you exemplified that on Saturday, just how far you have come as a fighter. Would you agree? Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think my, um, my emotion after was mostly because of that, you know, just to feel like, you know, all the people who believe in me and have been investing their time and, um, just like pep talking me and, um, you know, like seeing my potential even before

that I could see to myself, you know, and then to be able to have like, I mean, every fight I've been feeling I've gotten better, a little bit better, even sometimes it doesn't show as much, but, um, to be able to have that against, not against necessarily Amanda, but as someone that I could have based, based the performance off of, you know, five years ago, even though, I mean, I hadn't, I just had more and, I know the circumstances. Sure.

But even if I didn't have MOA, just striking-wise, takedown-wise, I didn't, I mean, I've been working on that a lot. So, and I think it's been true in my last fights, too. You know, I was able to get some takedowns with Amanda Lemos and Lupita. So I think my wrestling has been getting better and the striking, too.

But, yeah, just to have that performance. um, and the striking too, but yeah, just to have that performance. And I mean, Amanda, you know, she's, she's good. No one's,

no one's ever submitted her before. And I know she's been training hard too. She just had five rounds with Rose. So yeah, it was good. Happy performance. Uh, we,

we've talked and acknowledged your improvement in your evolution. Now that you fight her again, you know, some five or so years later, do you think she has improved in the last five years um i think uh i don't think too much i think like i think when i fought her she was almost like she was at a very good moment and for athletes you know uh we can be like i don't know confidence is such a big thing for fighters, you know,

and I think athletes in general, you know, like no matter what sport, I think that your confidence and your mindset, even if you could be training, have like a really, really good camp, or you can have maybe not so good camp, but if you're confident and just, you believe in yourself that much, you know, you can kind of be on a roll, and I think when I fought her in the beginning, she was at a really good moment of her career, you she had like was racking up wins back to back and not that she's not confident now or anything like that but I think just kind of going up in divisions and she's gained a lot of experience for sure 100% I think experience is something that I'm getting now too and starting to mature as a as a MMA fighter and

I think she has that too but stylistic wise game wise you know um adding new things to her game I think she's um in my opinion you know I think that maybe they're more like believing in what they do in like training hard at what they continue to do you know that, that she's done when she was winning, you know, and I think they're trying to train a lot that, you know, instead of adding more different things to the game. Afterwards, as you know, Conor McGregor said he'd like to see a trilogy between you two. Do you have any interest in this?

For sure. I mean, definitely. If they would like to see a trilogy, I think that'd be fun. You know, I think we both have a lot of a big following, you know, and we kind of are like a little bit similar personality. I think, you know, just kind of like, like all girly and, you know, like friendly with everyone and like all friends and stuff. But yeah, I think for sure, if they would like to have a trilogy, that'd be a cool match. Like the top, all the top five girls, girls basically I've fought before, you know, so I'm probably going to have more like trilogy or rematches soon, you know. Okay, so I loved seeing your daughter Moa there with you by your side.

I wanted to ask you a couple of questions about her. First off, I'm always kind of drawn to what kids are holding. I have young children myself, and I noticed that she was holding, my kids call it a stuffed friend. I used to call them a stuffed animal, but there she is. What does that toy, is that like a comfort toy for her? Is that her favorite? Is there a reason why she was holding on to that one? No, no, that was just her newest one. Oh, okay. All right. That was her newest one. She had just gotten in Vegas, so she was like, it was special to her. You know, she has a, her favorite one is a bunny that she takes every, it was, she takes

it everywhere, this like white stuffed bunny. We lost it in Abu Dhabi when she took it in Abu Dhabi, but we were able to get it back, you know, from the lost and found and everything. So yeah, she, she has this favorite bunny but yeah that was her new pokemon one that she that she's like getting into now yeah yeah there's always stages they always get like really into certain things i remember my kids have kind of grown out of the pokemon stage it lasted like six months or so and um you know when you look on on the look on her face like she looked happy but also like i I can't imagine what it's like

seeing a loved one as an adult fight. And here she is as a, as a young child, seeing her mom fight, who's the most important person in her, in her world. And so it's almost like, I think she was sad, relieved, dealing with a mix of emotions, like the look on her face as her mom, what is she feeling there? What is she experiencing seeing you fight and ultimately win yeah more she's um like i know how she's feeling because i was the same way like when my dad would fight and i was younger and i'd watch him fight like at the tournament i'd be crying and he'd be like winning and i'd be like crying like i just win you know it's just so much emotion and more she's like in brazil we gave like the first piece of cake on a birthday cake to we say

like you know oh the first piece is like a very to a very special person you know so like on my birthday when i give the first piece of cake i like make i made a speech like oh this person is like the best thing in my life you know she said and she was already starting to cry before i gave her the piece of cake you know so she's she's just, she's the one who, and like Christmas when she got her favorite toy, she was crying. She's like, I'm so happy, mom. I'm crying because I'm so happy.

So she's definitely like, I guess, kind of like a crier with emotion, you know. And yeah, she told me that she was crying just on my walk out, when I was walking out of the music, you know. But it's just nervous and emotions and excited. And she was like, I always promise we'll go someplace after my fight, you know. So she really wants me to win so we can go to like Disneyland or Legoland or someplace like that.

But yeah, I thought it was like really important for her to feel, you know, what it's like getting your hand raised and winning that with me, you know? So she really feels like she's part of this and like this win is ours, you know? I think maybe now it's still like, you know, with cameras and all those things, you know, it's a lot, but I think she's really like starting to get into, she went to school yesterday with like the UFC hat and shirt as a dress kind of thing.

And driving back, she's like, Mom, you need to train every single day because then you're going to get the belt. And then you get another belt and another belt. And then you can get lots of belts. So now she's really understanding the sacrifice and the reward. That if you train every day, then we can get the belt. So yeah, there for sure she was feeling, like, relieved, you know? She'll tell me, like, oh, I saw the girl you're going to fight in the hotel, you know? And she's getting, like, more involved.

She wants to stay with me the whole time. But, yeah, she was super happy. But cameras and everything, she's fine, you know? Yeah. But she kind of, like, she thinks it's cool, too, at the same time, you know? It's a mix. Has she started to But she kind of like, she thinks it's cool too at the same time, you know? It's a mix. Has she started to say she wants to do this as well? Like, she loves to fight, you know?

She'll fight with me all the time, like play fight. And, you know, she'll put the gi on and everything. But after she does a little bit with jiu-jitsu, she always wants to go to like the punching part, the MMA part. But sometimes she says she wants to, but she's kind of like, oh, no, it hurts, you know, I think on my, on my hard days, like, with Amanda Lemos, when she saw me, she was like, uh, I don't want to do that, you know, um, but with Amanda, like, when it's a good fight like this, no injuries, then she's like, oh, yeah, maybe I can do that, you know, and she starts getting into it,

but she's just about that age, she's starting to, um, starting to get, like, really, yeah, maybe I can do that, you know, and she starts getting into it. But she's just about that age. She's starting to get like really, I don't know, attracted to the idea of fighting now. It was amazing to see her in there because we remember that you fought Amanda for the first time. I think it was like four months after you had your daughter, right? Which I still can't wrap my head around. At the time, I remember thinking, this seems very quick. Obviously, I've never experienced it, but being around people who have to come back

and be fit enough to fight someone, let alone go for a run and work out, mind-blowing. And now here she is standing in the cage with you all these years later. In retrospect, do you think you came back too soon? Four months after giving birth? Yeah, I think so, for sure.

I mean, it's Florida, right? I fought in, I think I fought in Tampa. I mean, they, like, let anything go for a month. That's fine. Like, breastfeeding and, like, no problem. I mean, but, yeah, I mean I mean I just it was like that that I was still like a jiu-jitsu girl basically you know so it's like in jiu-jitsu I fought four months after my ACL surgery and like I got third place at the Pan American Championship which is

it's one of the biggest tournaments you know it's not the world championships but my mind was like and I was like clear to come back but you know you always know you have a higher chance to lose but when like I still believe against Amanda and even like when I was doing jujitsu I had I had the chances to to win and I always thought like oh it's better I get back into it because being longer away you have like the nerves of getting back in and it's just a longer time and I always preferred to like take my chances of maybe losing, you know, I got like third for jujitsu podium is good. You know, being on the podium, that's still good.

You know, it's not bad. You have like the next weekend, whatever, another tournament and you can kind of get that back or you have the absolute division that you can try and fight the person again. So for jujitsu, it's not that big of a deal, you know, like a win and you kind of are building yourself there. In MMA nowadays, now I'm a more MMA fighter and I'm getting closer to the title and you know that the record makes a difference

with sponsors with fans with um with people wanting to watch you and that that um respect that you have from the fighters uh being like undefeated and just you know I mean there's a lot more that goes in it and I think not that you need to choose your fights or things like that, but, um, you know, I was now like, Oh, I don't, I just want to be like one year off. I was already like nine months without fighting. You know, I had done back-to-back fights as soon as I came to the UFC with Ashley Yoder in March, and then I made a Cooper and me, um, and then I took like the whole pregnancy off, you know? So I was like, no, I want to get back in. And everyone just kind of like, Oh, she's never going to come back. You know, she's not going to be, I had lost all pregnancy off, you know, so I was like, no, I want to get back in. And everyone just kind of like, oh, she's never going to come back.

You know, she's not going to be, I had lost all these followers, like 70,000 followers. So just for me to like be on weight, especially since my last fight before the pregnancy, I had missed by like, it was one of the biggest weight misses until then. You know, after that, they had a lot more of those, you know, but, um, it was like one of the biggest one, I think it was like seven pounds. Um, so just for me to be like on weight, you know, like I was like one 18 after the pregnancy and I was like, okay, yeah, I feel, I feel good, you know? And like you said, four months was back, like I fought, you know, she was born June 9th and I fought October 11th so it was like I was back fighting for a month so I came back training like I had trained maybe two months for that fight um after being alone so yeah for sure I think I came back too soon you know I was like oh no it's

better I come back in you know whatever now I feel like my career I think both of our careers mine and Amanda's took a big um it changed paths a lot like how how how our career would be you know not that i wouldn't have any losses on my on my record anything like that but it definitely did a big change because of that decision you know and um so not that i regret it but yeah like you said it was so it was like such a blessing to have moa there with me and like proud of me and kind of part of this whole, this whole journey. And to be able to get that back with the submission, you know, the way they didn't get any takedowns and, and feeling calmer with my striking. I think that was a big thing of getting my, my striking calmer.

You know, I see like Tatiana and Carlos Parza, sometimes they don't throw as many punches and I kind of make my fights a little bit harder than I need to. Not hard. Yeah, harder. But like going into the brawling and stuff like that when you can see the right moments to get a takedown now. But now my takedowns are better too. So now I'm not so scared to go through the takedown and get tired. So it's just all evolving. You've come a long way.

And you stole the show at the media day on Wednesday. What about this dog of yours? Oh, my God. This guy, first of all, name, breed, how much? And I'm assuming, is it a boy? It's a boy, yeah. That's Mac. How much does he weigh? He's 130 right now.

Golly, how old? He's a year and a half. And did you ask the UFC or did you just show up with him? Yeah, I showed up with him? Yeah, I showed up with him. He's a, he's like a service dog, but,

um, but yeah, like, and like, I was taking him with me and everything and they were, they were fine with him going up there, you know, they're like,

oh yeah, you should, you can take him up there with you if you want, you know, I'm like, okay, you know, but he was,

he was already with me, but I was just going to hand him off, like to sit at the table, but he's a good boy. He's, he, I mean, he's, he I was just going to hand him off, like, to sit at the table. But he's a good boy. I mean, he's half, like, guard dog and then half, I mean, he's not registered as an emotional support. I just say he's emotional support just because, man, it's so good to be able to, like, for me, I'm trying to be calmer in my fights and kind of feel like I'm sparring where I'm seeing everything and not get so much adrenaline where I kind of go blind a little bit out there so to have things kind of familiar as possible

at home it helps me a lot but yeah he's more like he's more guard dog he's more like security you know like he'll he kind of protects and uh but he's a really good boy I was hoping that uh perhaps you would walk to the cage with him on saturday did you ask if that was possible yeah yeah i did you know but the commission they're all like oh um you shouldn't be fighting if you have an emotion emotional support dog and i'm like i mean he's not really obviously he's not like a real emotional support dog and i mean he's um he's he's he's other things but yeah i, he's, he's other things, but yeah, I mean, he'll probably call more attention than the actual fight. Uh, and I'm assuming you drove to Las Vegas with him

in the car. Yeah. Yeah. But he, he goes on airplanes and stuff too. Like really? Yeah. On airplane on the, but he goes on top, you know, but he, he's his own seat. He's so big. Wow. What do you mean he goes on top? Like he'll go with where we sit, not underneath. No, of course, of course. So you have to like book him his own seat. Yeah. And he sits there for 10 or so hours. Yeah.

Damn. Yeah, he's a good boy. Wow. Well done. I love it. Next month we have the title on the line, Zhang versus Tatiana, who you just referenced. Who do you like in that fight?

Man, I like, I mean, as a fan, you know, I'm, I'm a fan of Zhang Weili. I think just every fight she's evolving, she beat like, um, took down Amanda Lemos. She took down a lot, Yan Shannan. So as a grappler, I like seeing when a striker is evolving and having good ground game too, you know. And then obviously, for me, one of the best fights in history with Joanna. So I'm a fan and I think Zhang Weili is more well-rounded. But as a fighter who maybe could potentially fight one of them, I'm hoping Tatiana wins just to kind of throw up, you know, throw, throw the division around a little bit, like have some different,

um, different movement in the division. And as a grappler, I would like to fight Tatiana and just kind of see how our fight would, would play out. You know, I've always wanted to fight Carla Esparza, um, but then she like had her daughter or her, I think her son. And so now we have Tatiana too. So yeah, for matchup wise, I'm hoping Tatiana, but I think that Zheng Weili will get the, will win. You're doing great in MMA now, two in a row. You're, you're, you're well on track, um, to getting into that title picture. But I, I am curious, um, the world of jujitsu is fascinating right now. And, and, you know, I don't follow it as much as I do maybe MMA or boxing, but I love the characters. I love what Craig Jones is doing. And I know you competed at CJI,

uh, love obviously seeing, you know, the evolution, uh, ADCC is a, is a foundational, um, organization and now seeing the UFC get involved in signing guys like Mikey Musumechi, what are your plans as far as jiu-jitsu in 2025? Is the UFC talking to you? I mean, you're one of the faces of women's jiu-jitsu. You have been for so long. Is that of interest?

Go back to CJI. What are you thinking as far as your activity in jiu-jitsu this year? Yeah, for sure. If like CJI has me back, I would love to have them back, especially, I mean, if I can, it would be even better

if I could kind of have a full camp for CGI, you know, not that I didn't have a camp for this one, but it was kind of, you know, it was like really close to my fight with Lupita, you know, so it's kind of a little bit, you know, it was just kind of mixed with a different fight fight you know and

obviously my focus is 100 percent uh MMA you know so that was like my main training but yeah if I could have like another another fight at CGI always be part of it it's always fun you know I'm like you said I like what Craig is doing for the entertainment and kind of just reaching um you know different different spectators people who may be, usually jujitsu, who watch jujitsu, or it's like their kids or family members do it. They know someone who practices it, or they've like trained it themselves. You know, it's not like the average person on the street really knows or watches jujitsu, you know.

So I think just bringing the entertainment part of it and people being like, okay, what's going on? You know, it's like a guy against a girl and like Gabby and Craig and all these things. You know, it's more kind of like a one time a year kind of thing or like special events. I don't think it's that consistent, consistent, you know, every month or things like that. So I would definitely like to, you know, if they want me to be part again, you know, it's really good. They bring good, good pay for the fighters. And I think it helps the other events.

You know, even though, obviously, ADCC, the prestige of an ADCC title, there's, like, only that and world championships that can compare to that, the prestige of it. But since I already have those titles, you know, for sure, the money is kind of where it is for me right now. And then, of course, like with the UFC, going into the fighter contracts for jiu-jitsu fighters, I definitely want to get part of that, kind of have that mixed in with my regular UFC contract. And that would even help my jiu-jitsu, keep training for my jiu-jitsu and keeping my jiu-jitsu up to par for my MMA fights. So after my Craig Jones fight fights you know so um after my craig jones fight you know making stuff like you gotta be fighting for us like what the heck you know so definitely if um they get the woman's division or i'm not sure how how evolved they are

in the in the concept but i mean yeah that's basically the whole reason why i went to mma and ufc was to represent jiu-jitsu and get Jiu-Jitsu, just keep supporting Jiu-Jitsu in the world and try and get as many women possible, you know, to get involved and to try it and to at least like to watch it and enjoy it. So to be able to be part of that and kind of see that happening with the UFC, it's amazing. And I definitely hope Dana will have me in there too. I maintain, and I hope you take this the right way. I don't think many people believe that you would be around in 2025, still fighting almost 10 years after making your MMA debut. I think they all thought you would go in, you do to be, they don't like to get hit. You won't get hit. You don't like to make weight, this and that. I think you have proven a lot of people wrong that you're like such a big part of the division

on a winning streak a major player in this weight class you know one of the best weight classes in in women's mma obviously as deep as it is um and i and i wonder if deep deep down inside you thought that you would still be around you know nine years after making your pro debut? Um, no, I mean, I didn't even think that far into it, you know, I was just like enjoying the process, you know, kind of, it was, it was kind of like a path that was picked, like, like they picked for me basically, you know, or I guess, you know, God or whoever, you know, it's like, I didn't even think about being a champion. I didn't even, I didn't even know if I had like that potential, you know, I wasn't even thinking that far.

It was more just kind of Ronda Rousey came in. Then the people I was training with, they all believed in me and kind of pushed me. Then Sean was like, hey, I'm going to come out and see you. Sean met me at the UFC Expo that I was competing at a jiu-jitsu tournament. He came up to me and I didn't know who he was. He was like, oh, do you want to... I actually took a picture with his daughter who was a jiu-jitsu tournament, and he came up to me, he's like, and I didn't know who he was, and he was like, oh, do you want to, I actually, I took a picture with his daughter who was training jiu-jitsu and everything, and he was like, do you ever want to, like, do MMA, and I was like, ah, you know, I don't know, people ask me about that, but I'm not

sure, he's like, oh, yeah, well, you should, I think you'd be good, you know, and he, that's where he kind of started the, I don't know, just watching. I guess maybe just had his eyes on me and thinking like maybe I could be a good for the division. And yeah, so I was just kind of getting into it just to see if I liked it, you know, how I'd feel to get punched in the face, you know. So and then obviously when I came in, it was like all this fame and money. And I was like, you know, single. I wasn't a mom. I was like, wow, this is so much fun. I'm like, it's like compared from jujitsu world, you know, to the going into the MMA world.

It was like, you know, just having fun with it, you know. And now you start to like it and you start to feel yourself getting better. It's like a white belt going to a blue belt to a purple belt. You start getting excited and seeing like, oh, you're almost there. Yeah, okay, I got it. I'm starting to get this, you know. And yeah, definitely I saw like I wanted to be a champion um probably I think after fighting um probably like fighting my first main event you know against Marina I was like okay yeah I really

want to take this this serious and if they're like not take it serious but like go for the long run you know you have like your main event and you lose it and you're like man I don't want to take this this serious and if they're like not take it serious but like go for the long run you know you have like your main event and you lose it and you're like man I don't want to just be what like why am I doing this you know just to be like one more fighter where people like okay I have good fights they're here and there and okay get some performance of the night I had got fight of the night on that fight but I lost you know so I was like man I don't want to just have like tough fights and people be like oh yeah you're, you're a tough fighter. You know, I want to like I better just go back to jujitsu. That's what I want to do, you know, where I can do seminars. I don't get punched in the face and, you know, do these special super fights.

And that was kind of like, no, I want to be this to be a champion, you know. So, yeah, definitely. I wasn't expecting to to go in this. And yeah, and then just the pregnancy going through and everything like that so it's been a long journey but it's been fun and i really feel like the fans even if they haven't supported me from the beginning or if they stopped supporting me or whatever i feel like whoever's been watching me since you know 2018 till now they've kind of really been part of just watching me grow in the division and becoming an MMA fighter. Seventh bonus in the UFC, fourth sub in the UFC, that's most ever in the strawweight division.

You continue to evolve, you continue to get better. Congratulations, parabens on the win. Enjoy your time off. I think you'll be attending UFC 311 if all goes according to plan. So enjoy that as well. And thank you, as always, for the time, Mackenzie. We really appreciate it. Thanks, Ariel. I appreciate it. Always good talking to you. Thank you.

Thank you very much. There she is. And great talking to you as well. The great Mackenzie Dern joining us. And she has now won two in a row. And she is right back in the mix in the 115-pound division, a huge title fight coming up in that weight class in less than a month in Sydney.

Massive fight. Tatiana Suarez versus Zhang Weili has been the fight to make at 115 for quite some time, and they finally made it, and we are less than a month away, and hopefully it remains. I say hopefully it remains. That also pertains to the current score at the world-famous city ground. Did you guys happen to catch Chris Wood's goal in the eighth minute against Liverpool? Did you happen to catch?

Let's take a quick look at the – I like to look at the table because they updated in real time. Let's take a quick look here, guys. Second. Three points out of first place. Three points. Currently, 43 points for Nottingham Forest. Crazy. It points out of first place. Three points. Currently, 43 points for Nottingham Forest. Crazy.

It's crazy. It's unbelievable. The city ground is rocking. We're doing a show at five o'clock with lifelong, hardcore, Liverpool supporter

Aded Oladipo. Could you imagine what this is going to be like? Long way to go. Long way to go. 73 minutes. Oh my God. And we've already gotten our each game Chris Wood goal out of the way.

I know. We got a long way to go here. Oh my God. Did you guys all pop back there? Big pop. No one was watching, right? No, Jordan's got it up. The crazy thing about it is you used to be way more into them when they were like in

relegation zone. I feel like you're not as into them this year. I watch almost every single game. I don't feel the same. I need to feel it. I need them this year. I watch almost every single game. I don't feel the same. I need to feel it. I need to feel it. I got a jersey. What more do you offer?

I mean, what more do you offer? Oh, my God. What's this? What's this? What's this? What's this? What's this? Jordan just sent me something.

I lost it. Foreign. Four. Liverpool has had 400. Nottingham Forest has not conceded a goal in 400 straight Premier League minutes. I hope I didn't just jinx it. But we do have Matt Sells, who has been an absolute wall. What a wall he has been. And I remember when they acquired him in a January transfer window acquisition, and they signed him. Everyone was like, who's this guy? I think he came from, did he come from

Belgium or something? He was on Newcastle back then. Oh, Liverpool's threatening here. Liverpool's threatening! And the wall that has become the Nottingham Forest back four. I mean, the defense has come such a long way. Oh my God. You know, a good friend of mine who worked for the club called me this morning as he was walking onto the pitch. He showed me

the world famous city ground and we stood there together, virtually in unison, singing city ground all the way down. You know that song that they sing? Yeah, word for word.

You nailed that, man. Just want to be clear, he stood there. Well, virtually we stood in unison. I was in my living room. He walked out. It was fantastic. The scenes were just fantastic. Well, I can't wait.

I can't wait to take this all in. A great show has been had with four great guests. Any other drama from the Bellator PFL tweets, or are we all good on that front? We got through all of them, right? Yeah, we're all good. The notable ones. Yeah, we're all good.

Holly Holm, is her next fight in MMA or boxing? Boxing. BKFC. What? Nah. I thought you were going to say, honestly, the dark horse is karate combat. That's not a bad shout.

You're joking. Big gift for Karate Combat. You're joking about BKFC, right? That's my prediction. Really? Wow. I mean, that would be a nice get. They just announced Max Crosby as an investor.

Yeah, I saw that. I mean, guy loves the sport of MMA. It's unreal. It feels like, logically, right, the two biggest fights she could get right now are like... Home. Katie Taylor. Taylor. Home.

Serrano. Home. Mayer. Honestly, even like a Clarissa, right? This is my feeling. Clarissa's in need of an opponent with a name, right? Somebody who can be top of the bill with her, and so... She might be too big. Look, but she's going to be too big for everybody. That's the problem, right? Somebody who can be top of the bill with her. She might be too big.

But she's going to be too big for everybody. That's the problem, right? And so I think somebody who's coming from MMA, like Holly, would be willing to maybe test that and challenge herself. And again, they trained together when Clarissa was out in Albuquerque and maybe there's a relationship there that doesn't, but I feel like... Oh, that's right.

That's a good call. Yeah, that's a good call. When she was training for MMA, obviously, but I feel like that's right that's a good call yeah that's a good call when she was training for mma obviously but i feel like that could be something uh but katie taylor is number one right like that feels like the biggest possible but if i'm katie or even amanda i want i want that fight i want katie and amanda to fight that that's the the biggest if for whatever reason the politics whatever if for whatever reason they can't make that trilogy that's the biggest one i'd i'd be there day one for i would say katie versus katie versus holly makes the most sense from a size yeah perspective like holly's 135 katie 135 140 it's always there's always a jump right yeah always a jump for amanda amanda's really truly a

126 pounder so i would i would probably go with the katie fight first but as we see like even against like there's no problem for her yeah she almost won that fight and a lot of people thought that she actually won that fight um so i'm curious i'm curious and look good on the ufc they didn't they didn't hold her back uh they didn't say no you have to finish out the contract or they didn't say you need an exclusive negotiation period or any of this uh craziness um she really did it all in the ufc at this point she won the belt she's fought the big fights she's had massive opportunities and uh i was happy to see for the most part a lot of people show her some love and not just be like oh fight night Holly all this kind

of nonsense like I was really happy to to see that I think that she deserves that she's a legend she should be a UFC Hall of Famer she should be she is already in the Boxing Hall of Fame I do believe put her in the freaking Kickboxing Hall of Fame as well if you ask me

so she'll be on the show tomorrow uh also on the show like i said jack catterall and arnold barbosa how about that face off there huh started off a little bit slow got spicy and i was worried about the you know the language barrier no there was no language barrier benavidez fucking nailed it yeah that was amazing that was great That was great. That was tremendous. He was unbelievable. I mean, I like the dynamic between the both of them. Morel is laid back, just kind of, you know, making little potshot jokes. And Benavidez is just amped, just on 11, just sure that he's going to destroy him. I love that.

I mean, the fight itself is tremendous. But, yes, the dynamic between the fight itself is tremendous but yes the dynamic between the two of them i was quite excited about that is this since since we started on crown yes is this the best three-headed monster day so far where there's a mega event oh between wrestling wrestling it would have to be because what would the wrestling one be like thus far there's never been a day oh you mean what's the wrestling one be? Like thus far? There's never been a day. Oh, you mean what's the wrestling one on February 1st?

No. No, he's saying we only started like let's say October. Would there have been? I mean, I'm already at John Cena minus 190. Can I get a little? And I can't wait for the lottery. Yeah. We have the thing. Yeah, we're going to do it.

I watched Ricky Stanecki Over the weekend Oh yeah Oh shoot I watched that too Yeah I feel that much better About the John Cena minus 190 He was good in that movie But yeah What would the wrestling event

Have been for a three Yeah Survivor Series Crown Jewel But nothing There was nothing going on On that day Yeah These are three gigantic

Izzy Must win situation Right Sick card too Sick card Must must win And then freaking Shara Bullitt against MVP Is Phenomenal Yeah win situation right sick card too must must win and then freaking chara bullet against mvp is

yeah phenomenal um benavides morel is phenomenal fireworks almost guaranteed the whole card is actually uh quite good from a pbc perspective also on the card is brandon figueroa against stephen fulton jr in a rematch fultonon won the first. Isaac Pitbull-Cruz, who's always great, against Angel Fiero. Jesus Ramos Jr. against Jason Rosario. Pitbull-Cruz is amazing. Always love watching him fight. Probably gave Tank Davis his toughest fight

on short notice, too, a couple years back. So, solid, solid stuff. It's on pay-per-view. Royal Rumble to the rest of the world outside the u.s is on netflix for free now well you know you know what i mean like uh not behind yeah and then here it's on peacock if you have peacock and then uh and then freaking uh izzy izzy imovov is either on plus or big ESPN So you know Solid shit I mean I don't think there's been anything better Maybe February 22nd is a good one

Better be a Bivel And then the UFC Seattle card But no great wrestling And then I can't think that far down the road When's Elimination Chamber? Is it maybe Elimination Elimination Chamber Chamber chamber is it maybe elimination elimination chamber chamber 20 what i'm just loving the

play-by-play of the typing what is it eliminate oh it's at the rogers center oh the rogers march first home of one kendrick lamar i was gonna say the same thing the rogers center the home game for kendrick okay i gotta say I just appreciated O'Shea Jackson Like really not backing down from that Great guess He was great Never met him What time was our heart out?

We got 30 What you got more? No I got nothing I just want to say it's getting very What is going on over here? It's a cloud Is that a funnel cloud? Someone scored? to say it's getting very... What is going on over here? It's a cloud. It's a cloud. It sunsets not for another... Is that a funnel cloud?

Someone scored? Tornado in New York City? Oh, no, this is the replay. Oh, what a goal from Chris. Yeah, what is going on over there? So many questions. Chrissy, Chrissy. You know their song for Chris Wood is Chrissy, Chrissy Wood, Chrissy Wood, Chrissy, Chrissy Wood. Oh, is it really? Yes.

I don't love that. Is that the song for everything I don't recognize that song You don't yeah well You haven't watched in a minute I don't love it No there's only one One tune

That that goes Oh I got it I got it Frank you like that one Yeah I thought it was pretty good Thanks Appreciate it Frank's the biggest

Force fan out of all of us No Beep Frank did my Did my shrimp cocktail come um i ordered it and i gobbled it up would you ever order shrimp cocktail uber eats absolutely yes yes you would yeah if if if you and and your and your lovely wife are ordering takeout and it's a new place and you notice that there's shrimp cocktail on it. Do you have to order it? You have to even take out.

When it's takeout, he has this giant glass goblet that he carries around everywhere. So if it comes in a plastic tray, he can transport it into the glass goblet to make it feel like an authentic cocktail. You guys joke, but I have ordered shrimp cocktail, especially from Mexican

seafood places where they do the cocktail a little different. They bring it to you in a cup with a lid and they cover it up with some ram rap. Oh my god, it's like Christmas morning. I went to 7-Eleven with him one time and he got the shrimp cocktail. It was on sale. It was like a must be sold

by today. He's like, hmm. What is it with you guys thinking shrimp is bad? Can't get over a bargain. Is it a thing like shellfish? It's your love. Just for shrimp cocktail. You're like, if they have it on the menu, I have to order the shrimp cocktail no matter where we are. For those that don't know, Frank has a rule.

If there's shrimp cocktail on the menu, no matter the day, if he's sitting there and he reads it, he just has to order it and so there we were back in september in a very important uh business meeting in las vegas having breakfast and they just so happened to have shrimp cocktail on the menu and frank ordered what was it 25 piece sir oh no it's 12 okay no but he ordered don't forget he ordered two you ordered also also also a couple things to clarify here. You say morning. It was truly, this wasn't like 11.45 brunch. This was like 9.30. It was Vegas. You never know what time it is. 9.30 a.m.

We're also at a table with like 15 people, and they essentially split us up. Me and Rick are next to each other. You're way over on the left end. Frank's all the way over on the right end. Not only did they drop down a big shrimp cocktail for him at 9.30, it also was accompanied by an ice coffee. A really good ice coffee. Elbowing Rick

and then just giving him a point like look all the way down the table. No one else has food and then there's Frank just dropping in like he's a king. Shrimp at 9.30 in the morning. This is amazing. The most wild thing I've ever seen. Everyone was staring at me. I was like, do you want some? I don't understand what their looks are for.

They're like, you got to get the lox here. They're known for their lox and bagels. And Frank's like, oh, great. I'll have a shrimp cocktail, please. So let me get this right. You can eat salmon at breakfast time, but a shellfish. That's actually a great point. God, it's just so.

There's just something about it. That's not a great point. What are you talking about? That's an amazing point. Lox is a breakfast food. Shrimp cocktail is not. Why would they have it not this is not don't say this is a good point it wasn't like sir you're ordering from the midnight menu it's currently closed also damn it i see it on the menu give it to me no it's on the breakfast menu for a reason also how about frank not just like being blissfully unaware of the idea of like bad shellfish preparation and being like what why

are you guys so concerned about how i joke about the 7- restaurant? I joked about the 7-Eleven. I joked about the 7-Eleven. Frank, so you go to the grocery store and he gets shrimp cocktail. Wegmans has great shrimp cocktail. Is that true with the 7-Eleven? Okay, here's the question. I joked about the 7-Eleven. He actually goes to Wegmans and gets it. I assume that your...

I assume that your rule comes from shrimp cocktail being baseline great, universally great. Have you ever had bad shrimp cocktail? Yeah. Two days after Christmas, I was eating it out of the fridge, and I looked at the package, and it was like, must be frozen at all times. I'm like, but it tastes so good. And I had to throw it out. Wait, so then how did you not comprehend what we were talking about in the shrimp cocktail delivery and prep?

Because it said it needs to be frozen, and it had been in the fridge for two days after Christmas. The shrimp cocktail was from Christmas. Two days later, you're still putting it back? Yeah. And then I read the package. That is sinful. Hey, but I'm still alive. That is nasty work. And it was tasty. It should. Like, oh man. It was heartbreaking to throw it away.

I was like, damn it. That's actually insane. If trash tastes that good, sign me up. that's actually insane if trash tastes that good sign me up that's actually insane a that christmas that the shrimp cocktail lasted two days post christmas and b that you it wasn't like crawling out of the fridge or anything it tasted good it smelled good it was the just the part where it said keep frozen i'm like all right i see you i see you i'll put you in the trash it's okay i bring this all up because i have a similar stance in my life but it uh it pertains to matzo ball soup.

I love matzo ball soup. And on this particular menu that we're talking about, there was matzo ball soup. And so I made the somewhat controversial choice to order the matzo ball soup. But it was like 11 o'clock or something, and I felt comfortable with it. It's on my mind because I come to find out at the pre-show lunch, which I did partake in last week, not so much this week because I'm trying to lock in. Can't be bothered, yeah. I find out that matzo ball soup was made at home and brought to the crew and not to me noted matzo ball soup lover. And so it's just kind of been stewing.

Not to the crew, just to me. Oh, just to you. All right, well. I'm hoping he'll defend himself in a topic bar. But in his defense, this was demanded by Frank. This was not like a... Once you were bringing it in. No, no, no.

But this was not like a here's for the group situation. As Frank has outlined, it was only for him. That is because Frank said he was aware of... We should mention he's an on-air Jordan. On-air Jordan, great chef, makes incredible things, made some matzo ball soup. Frank was made aware of this and said, you make me this. It was a demand to Jordan.

And so Jordan being a very nice person. Hey, it was followed up with a text at dinnertime with a bunch of soup emojis just to make sure. Wow. You make matzo ball soup for me. You make it for me. Wow. And then Jordan was like, okay.

All right, I guess. He's just like, no, no, no, you make it for me. Oh, it was so good. Was it good? He brought in fresh dill weed for me to garnish on me. Wow. Jordan's like, okay. All right, I guess. He's just like, no, no, no. You make it for me. Oh, it was so good. Was it good? He brought in fresh dill weed for me to garnish on top. Wow. This is actually a true fucking story. For dessert, Jackman gives me this packaged bell pepper waffle.

Oh, my God. Wow. And then Ariel Helwani himself brings in a yerba mate mint infused. Oh, it was such. You're a charity. You had a charity. That's what I've had. Everybody donated something to Frank's cause for lunch. Wow. It's so good. at yerba mate mint infused oh it was such you're a charity you had a charity everybody donated something to frank's cause for lunch wow it's so good frank's lunch presented also and crown

if we're gonna bring up the yerba mate we might as well bring up the venmo situation oh yeah frankie you know i learned today that's rude two dollars and 99 cents sends one off to hawani for the venmo i've bought the guy i mean mean, how many Yerba Montes at this point? I didn't know you were going to keep it short. 15 of them? No, I'm not bothered, but I mean, I buy 15, not even a thank you. Helwani buys one, and I mean, the Venmo, it had already left the account by the time he put the can on the table. Okay, I need to add one on

top of this. I went and got Frank one, and I was like, you know, anytime you want a Venmo, don't worry about it. He's like, how much? I joke, and I say 15 bucks. I'm not actually going to charge him. He sends me the 15. Of course I don't redeem it because I'm not going to make him pay 15 bucks for it. And then I'm like, haha, I never redeem it.

I asked him today. He said he pulled it back. He didn't even. Wow. He pulled back the money. Okay. Breaking news. Oh. Okay, breaking news Don Davis

Tweeting three minutes ago We are releasing Patricio Pitbull Oh shit PFL is all about opportunity I founded this company to create new great Opportunities for top fighters PFL has and will continue To do that for all top fighters who want to be here

Now the question is By the the way, I was going to go off air at 326, and I know we have to get off air soon to get ready for the next program, but I do want to ask, are there strings attached? Like, could he sign with the UFC today? Because we know that's where he wants to go. I mean, Patricio Pippel tweeted, he said four hours ago, look at the at UFC, at Don Davis PFL. They honor their OGs.

Wow. Wow. He actually talked to us about Holly Holm. She asked for a release and they gave it to her. Made no fuss about it. They are honorable. That's how big organizations do things when a fighter doesn't want to continue with them. You should learn from it.

And then four hours later, he's been released from PFL. So if there's no strings attached, Patricio Pippo to the UFC? I mean, certainly you have to feel like that's the destination. Here's my issue with the entire situation. The damage is done. The damage is done in terms of the reputation of PFL and what has happened over the last couple months with patricio with patchy mix with cory anderson and others who have said hey where's my fight like it is great that pfl is kind of looking at this and rectifying the issues and saying okay we're starting anew

everything's pfl now we'll honor the the bellator legacy but we are pfl i like these moves these are the moves i've been calling for for a long time. And I'm not alone. Many others. I'm not trying to pretend that this is my sole endeavor, but many people have said this. But you could have released these fighters months ago. You could have avoided this negative PR campaign. You could have talked to them and had a legitimate conversation about whether there was going to be a future for them with the organization, how that was going to come to pass, what the future planning was going to be. And you wouldn't have had months of Patricio put Pitbull and Pachy Mix and Corey Anderson and others saying, what the hell is going on with my career? Only to then release Patricio Pitbull. And who knows if Corey Anderson or Pachy Mix or anybody else's next. Now there's a precedent where they can go, hey, you've released Patricio, release me

as well. Dangerous. It's a weird situation to have play out now this far after the damage has been done. But I also do respect it. I respect that if that is the decision that PFL is making, that they don't want to be in the business. And Patricio has made his opinion very clear. You asked him when you spoke to him on this show whether the damage is done,

if they could give him a fight, if he would take it. He said he wants to go to the UFC, no doubt. So I respect the intent behind it to say, hey, Patricio, okay, we are done, go elsewhere. But it just feels, it comes too late for me. The damage has been done here and it feels like this could have been handled in a better way. My read on the situation is this is all very fresh.

The stance seems to be we'll believe it when we see it. I mean, I think he tweeted this out in real time. I don't think there's any sort of release letter yet, and so the devil is in the details. Are there matching rights? Is there an exclusive negotiation period? But they need as many PR wins as possible. To your point, this has not been a PR win.

And so if you can spin this as, hey, we want people here who want to be here. If you don't want to be here, you can go. Then you can try to fix this. Totally agree. But are you opening the door for people that you actually want on the roster to then say, I want to go too? But, I mean, you could say the same thing about Holly Holm asking for a release. Now, of course, that's the big leagues, right?

And also, it's different. The UFC may no longer find Holly as useful as the PFL could potentially find. Let's put actual names to it. If I'm Patchy Mix and I no longer want to compete the PFL could potentially find. Let's put actual names to it. If I'm Patchy Mix and I no longer want to compete for PFL and I want to go to the UFC and I ask for my release, are you granting it if you're PFL? My answer as a businessman would be no, but now are you eliminating the goodwill with this Patricio thing?

There's no clean way that this gets done because of what has happened over the last couple of months. I don't think everyone will be in this position. I don't think Corey Anderson can go to the PFL Brassets. Maybe not. Maybe because, to be honest, he isn't getting what he is getting from PFL from UFC. Do you know what I mean? Look, Apache Mix?

Yes. That's the thing. The UFC was interested in doing a deal for Apache Mix. Could Cedric Dume? Could Dakota Decheva? Don't forget, Cedric Dume was in the UFC. They're the ones who let him walk. Well, now he's a significantly bigger star, but point taken.

Yeah, who knows? I wouldn't be so keen to let everybody walk out the door if I was PFL, but it does feel like Patricio is in a different point in his career as well. A lot of this is happening in real time. I'm writing to a lot of people in real time. Yes. I mean, and it's also interesting. Patricio has put out there

That he wants to be with the UFC From a negotiation standpoint Now the UFC knows that you want to be here It's a good point So I understand that he was frustrated But the UFC isn't going to break the bank Because they're going to say A. You've already told us you want to be here

And B. Where else are you going to go? I was going to say GFL is the only other option One is not signing MMA guys anymore Where else are you going to go? GFL is the only other option One Is not signing MMA guys anymore Nor is that what Patricio is after At this point

If he wanted the potential paycheck He could stay with PFL What he wants is UFC championship What he wants is legacy What he wants is glory There is only one place to get it And to your point Now he has limited his negotiating power but i have to imagine the ufc wants him as well he would be a great addition to um that division which already is absolutely

loaded so i just texted a very high ranking person at the pfl can patricio sign with anyone right now and they wrote back yes. Patricio's team is saying we'll believe it when we see it. We don't have any of this in writing. So let's see. But this is... You tell me how you feel about this. I have to imagine if they are going to publicly say they're releasing him, I have

to imagine that their best course of action for the positive PR for this to not blow back would be to do it no strings attached multiple people are telling me he can sign with anyone they're just saying which is the right stance we'll believe it when we see yeah totally because it's this has been an ongoing saga and they should want to know like definitively but i would imagine that this is no strings attached but again believe it when we see it yeah and and it does bring up a good point like you don't want to set a precedent that if you become so disappointed or so disgruntled disgruntled i should say and and such a and i don't say this

like to knock him he was just upset like so so such a malcontent if you will that you'll let everyone go who who is upset or who openly criticizes. So there's a tricky balance here. But I would say, honestly, Patricio has kind of done it all within the Bellator world. There wasn't much else out there that was of great interest. There's only so many years that he has left on his career lifespan. He's in his late 30s at this point um yeah you're you're correct like there is a different there is a different point in his

career that he is to the others that we're kind of talking about maybe cory anderson's the closest in in relation in terms of the big names, but like, yeah, Dakota, Apache, they're still young in their careers and have a lot of value to PFL. I don't imagine it would be as easy a conversation. Whereas for Patricio, hey, you want to take a step toward legacy

as opposed to the contract? It makes sense. Yeah, so sorry, I don't mean to be doing this While the show's going on I'm trying to gain some clarity I'm not trying to put a little Schefter here on all of you I feel like they kind of played that up

When he's like Two phones I'm just getting an update from the scene Hold on just one second I thought you were referring to the one time he said We're doing it right now Adam Or most important What the uh what was his favorite one um there was one there was one that he did

uh shifty yeah it's all right my boy about it yeah don't worry about it um shut up but uh yeah big big big news i mean like it or not don davis is putting everything out on front street these days he He's out here on these Twitter streets just throwing everything. Hey, changes. He's become a lot more active, and by design or not, he has become the face of the organization as far as like, no one talks about race FO. Peter Murray doesn't get talked about. He's more of an executive type. Don Davis. It's Don Davis. And that's the way it should be. The decision maker has to be the guy who's, who's out in front. It has to be that way for the longest time. He,

uh, he wasn't, he wasn't out and, uh, and in front of the public. Um, I asked him straight up, can Patricio sign today?

He said, yes, he could sign today subject to MMA customary matching rights in all contracts. This is from Don. Yeah. I just asked him that. So wait, it wasn't,

what is subject to MMA customary matching rights in all contracts? Yeah. That exclusive matching period. Let's see. I asked if there was a matching period. The response was, we do, of course, have match. Our window was six months. We waived that.

Oh. He owed us one more fight. We also waived that. Oh. Thus, he was effectively under contract to PFL until late 2025 if we enforced full contract rights. Now he is free. We did that for him, so he gains a full year. But then what does the, of course, we have matching?

That, like, standardly they have that, but they waived it? Yes. But he's saying that and then immediately saying that they waived it. So it's odd. I get what Ariel is confused about. In any event, let's see. I would say this is a positive development, matching or not. I would say that this is a positive development

and let's see where it goes from here. Both parties need to move on. That's it. I think just, if you're going to go the step of waving all this stuff but keep matching, it's not as effective as you think it is. Just let it all go.

Let it all go. What do you want him there for? There's nothing to be gained from him being there anymore that's it it becomes a game at that point because if you if you he is ultimately going to leave right no no matter what happens and so if you're saying hey we're going to release him then just release him don't don't play the game there's There's ultimately nothing to be gained by that. Yeah. Fascinating times in the world of MMA. One second, one last thing.

It's been a great day. Tomorrow, Action Bronson in studio. Carol Barbosa. I'm forgetting one. I, Action Bronson in studio. Carol Barbosa. I'm forgetting one. I'm forgetting one. Holly Holm. And Chuck Mendenhall joining us to talk about some amazing stories that he has coming up regarding UFC 311. A great feature on Peyton Talbot.

A great feature on Murab Diwali Shvili. A great Forrest side about to go into the half. These next 45 minutes are going to be freaking squeaky bump time. And, of course, we shall be talking about all the drama. I was talking about the drama in the world of boxing. Well, we're starting to get a little bit of that drama here in the world of MMA. Amazing, amazing stuff. Amazing stuff to wrap your head around.

I love this stuff. I think it's fun i think it's exciting we need a little bit of the spiciness and and you don't get as much of it in the world of mma these days because there are less players right there's there's there's not the the multiple promoters and all this stuff that you're seeing in in boxing or pro wrestling. We need more of that. I want more of that. It's all very fun. It's not about like a thirst for drama per se. It's a thirst for fun things to talk about.

The business side of the game, the promotion side of the game is very, very fun. A fun day was had today on the program. Thank you very much to David Morrell and David Benavidez. Catch them on the 1st of February on PBC Pay-Per-View, Amazon Prime. Thank you very much to John Wood. Good luck to him and the squad on Saturday

at UFC 311. Thank you very much to O'Shea Jackson Jr. Go check out Den of Thieves 2 and thank you very much to Mackenzie Dern as well. We're back at 5pm on DAZN Boxing. Go check it out on their YouTube channel. And then back on Wednesday, same time, this is Episomatic.