The Ariel Helwani Show - Tom Aspinall, UFC 309 & Tyson x Paul reaction, Bo Nickal, Oban Elliott in studio

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

Ariel Helwani and The Boys In The Back react to Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul (11:24) and UFC 309 (48:00), breaking down every angle of Netflix's entry into combat sports, Jon Jones' one-sided title defense over Stipe Miocic, whether a Tom Aspinall fight is going to actually happen, and more.Bo Nickal discusses his UFC 309 win over Paul Craig, the boos, criticism from Daniel Cormier, why the crowd's "overrated" chant was a compliment, his assessment of his performance, whether he's ready for the Khamzat Chimaevs of the division, what's next, and more (01:35:44).Oban Elliott discusses his UFC 309 knockout win over Bassil Hafez, making history as a Welshman at Madison Square Garden, his family's reaction to the weekend, Chael Sonnen's advice before Saturday's walkout, Derek Cleary's wild scorecard, and more (02:01:43).Tom Aspinall discusses his week at UFC 309, Jon Jones' win over Stipe Miocic, his assessment of Jones' performance, whether Miocic's loss is more because of his age or Jones' abilities, how he would've fared against Saturday's version of Jones, sitting next to Jones' family on fight night, and more (02:59:09).

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Area Hawaii Show! Back in your life on this Monday, November 18th, 2020. Hello again, everyone. I sure hope you're doing well. It is great to be here on a lovely November afternoon in New York City. And my, oh, my. My, oh, freaking my, do we have a lot to discuss. Golly, what a weekend in combat sports.

We all thought it would be a very newsworthy weekend in combat sports. We all were looking forward to this post-pay-per-view Monday, but I don't know if we all thought it would be as jam-packed as this. So much on the docket, so much to discuss. I am back, as you can see, from my lovely

trip to Texas, deep in the heart of Texas. I mean, the Southern hospitality was just out of control. So kind, so nice. Jerry's World, beautiful, fantastic. Second time I've attended an event at that venue. First time was WrestleMania a couple of years ago, but of course this was a big one. Netflix, Tyson, Paul, all that stuff and more. We shall get into it. And you know, I let everyone in the back know, but I'll just, you know, because I'm fully transparent. I like to, you know I let everyone in the back know But I'll just you know

Because I'm fully transparent I like to you know let everyone know what's going on You guys the audience Things have changed Things have changed since you know 65 million households and what not so I do have an assistant in the back In the control room so Frank

GC, Rick, Jordan Andy they have to talk to the assistant who then talks to me now there's no more there's a little bit of a barrier now because things have changed you know we've we've leveled up you know the world the world was watching on friday so are the headphones kind of a lot of pressure on your head right now because of how big it's gotten or sorry no you have to tell my sister jesse yeah and then then you come to me with all quips and remarks and whatnot so that's how we're gonna do this because that's fucking bullshit i mean was there a point there on friday frank i know you guys were doing a watch party and

whatnot but you were like wow you know what yeah sure we you know we disrespect ariel we kind of treat him as you know uh i never was but like this is pretty cool You know like he's in the ring he's on Netflix He's with the big shots Like was there a point where at least you were a little bit proud of me Well I guess like you just didn't watch the watch party at all Or well I'm proud of you I mean no I actually didn't watch the watch party

I was literally I mean we were watching you do your thing That was like where you guys like you know what For all the jokes You know know, this kid from Montreal, like that was pretty big time. Were you guys like that? I guess you just have to go back and watch them. What numbers on that?

It would have been nice to get a shout out or two, you know, to your crew. I tried to sneak it in. I did give a shout out to the Buffalo Bills. I don't know if you heard that. Which I see where we lie. Yeah. All right. It's the Bills.

Big win yesterday. Massive. Gigantic win.. It's the Bills. Big win yesterday. Massive. Gigantic win. Undefeated no more. Jokes aside though, guys, I've never experienced anything like this in many different ways. But, you know, we'll do the show. We'll do big shows. We'll have CM Punk in studio.

We'll do an ESPN thing here, an Olympics thing there, HBO Showtime, et cetera. I've never experienced anything where every time I appeared on camera, there was like 60 new texts on my phone. And then, you know, it's random people who I haven't heard from, or it's parents at my kid's school or soccer, like there's a soccer chat for my daughter's team last year that was lit up. Like this, this chat hasn't been active for a year but it was just some sort of acknowledgement i've never experienced and this isn't about me of course but i where else but here on the show with my name on it can i talk about these things it was it was at times i don't want to say overwhelming because it was incredible but like it was kind of mind-blowing it and this

before we knew about the numbers and i'd heard about the streaming and the issues and all that stuff. How many people and how many people who have never talked to me about fighting, who won't, you know, know a thing about anything that I do or anyone who I talk to, people reaching out to my parents, to my siblings, to my wife. It was just, I wonder if this is going to be by the time it's all said and done, the biggest thing that I'll ever do. I hope not. But it gave me some sort of insight into what it's like being on a Super Bowl broadcast where hundreds of millions of people are watching. Because the press release that came out said 65 million households, not 65 million people. Most people aren't watching this alone. Most people have multiple people watching or are sharing passwords and all that stuff So by the time it's all said and done

It could be well over 100 million viewers How they count this sort of thing I don't know But it was It felt like a big deal And I do have to say You know This may be a one-off

Who knows what the future plans are? Blown away by just all the details and the planning and just how organized everything was from a production standpoint behind the scenes. Guys, I've done a lot of shows and whatnot. They'll have a makeup artist sometimes,

most of the times. Not only did they have multiple makeup, they had a barber in the locker room. They had an actual barber set up in there. That's pretty exciting. That's insane. I've never seen that before. Every single member of the, and there was, you know, several talent members, if you want to call them that, you know, hosts, reporters, whatever, analysts, celebrities, everyone had their own room. Usually it's just like you sit in a room and you all kind of, you know, eat carrots and dip and stuff like that. Everyone had their own room. Usually it's just like you sit in a room and you all kind of eat carrots and dip and stuff like that. Everyone had their own room. It was a big freaking deal. And it felt like a big deal. And it was a huge personal highlight. And it was surreal at times. There's a moment there where I'm standing in between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, and I'm just

looking at Mike. And I'm like, I can't believe that I'm actually doing this. Someone who would watch all his fights would go to his grandparents' house and re-watch the pay-per-views because maybe I wasn't able to stay up so late, go to Jilly's on Dakari with my friends to watch pay-per-views and be like, man, I want to do that. I don't want to be the play-by-play guy. I don't want to be the analyst. I don't even want to be the third man in the booth. I want to do that. I want to be the guy with the microphone at at the presser, at the weigh-ins, where he almost bit my head off, at the, at the fight, in the ring, post-fight, in the locker room, like, that is exactly all that I ever wanted to do, and so to do it on a big stage like that, polarizing fight or not, and

we'll get into all of that it was a huge huge huge personal dream realized uh a personal achievement checked off and i had a blast yeah i had a blast did it feel like a downgrade when you had to go get your door dash today no all right you know it's good to be humble it's good to uh you had your own room as well i had my own little thing so we we were in the visitor's locker room. And we all had like these little curtained off rooms. They're almost like holding cells. And then the real big shots, not naming names, had their actual own room.

Door closed, makeup, all that stuff. Now I walked into mine. I was like, what am I supposed to do here? I feel like this is a holding cell. So I just congregated in the middle with some of the other talent. Big Mo, the ring announcer, I thought he did a fantastic job. Just 29. Former D1 offensive lineman, I believe, if memory serves me correct.

Northern Colorado. And now look at him. Killing it. Dan Canobio of Inside Boxing Live. He was there as well. Sean Wheelock, who I never worked before. Mauro Ranallo. Rosie Perez, of course.

Mauro's there with Frank Shamrock, who's his manager. Roy Jones, Andre Ward. Kate Scott, of course, formerly known as Kate Abdo. It was a time, my friends. It was a time. Can I be honest with you about something? This is just between us friends. Yes, please.

When I did the intro, when I said the, you know, where else would you rather be than right here, right now part, I will admit to this. I have no problem saying it. My kneecap was shaking so much. It was going like up, down, up, down. Because this is your introduction. You don't want to screw that up. You get 30 seconds to make an impression to everyone, to the people in the truck, to the people at home, to your colleagues, some of them,

first time working with them. My kneecap felt like it was going up, down, up, down, up, down. That was the kind of adrenaline. And then I calmed down. I do feel like I could have been better. I've been replaying some scenarios in my mind. And I was supposed to get The Tyson locker room interview By the way, the one that has gone viral With the ass cheeks being revealed But it was taking So long for him to do his drug test I had to go back

Ringside because the Barrios Ramos fight was wrapping up And so they sent his son, who's a great Young man who I've never met before But is really entertaining and very talented. He did the prelims. So he did it.

And that I thought was really, really cool that he got to interview his dad because he was like five, six years old when his dad last fought in a pro fight against Kevin McBride. And then, of course, the ass cheeks hurt around the world. We're going to talk about or seen around the world, slap, seen and heard around the world on Thursday, not Friday. Kept making that mistake all week. We are going to talk about all of this and more. Of course, 309 has come and gone. Madison Square Garden, John Jones defeats, dismantles. I mean, everything I was hearing, forget everything I've told you about Stipe Miocic. It was all wrong. It was all absolutely wrong. And of course, not fair.

A lot of the credit goes to John. He was fantastic. And I do have some thoughts on that and Tom Aspinall and all that stuff and more. We need to get into all of that. I'll tell you what's happening on today's program. Back end of the show, there's only one guy I want to hear from on this Monday.

And that is the pride of the United Kingdom, the pride of Great Britain, the pride of Manchester, the pride of the United Kingdom, the pride of Great Britain, the pride of Manchester, the pride of Wigan. Yeah, Tommy Aspinall is going to join us. Only interview he's doing post-fight, he told me. It's with us. And I look forward to talking to him at 4 o'clock. At three o'clock, the man who scored his first knockout

in the UFC, he concludes the year, unless he takes a short notice fight next month, which I doubt, but, you know, knowing him, wouldn't be surprised. The Welsh gangster himself, what a win, what a cracker in the third round, Defeating Basel Hafez via TKO. The Welsh gangster, the pride of Wales. Who's the baddest man in New York City, brother? And he was like, why can't I do it?

Anyway, Oban Elliot as promised in studio at 3 o'clock. Looking forward to talking to him. And then 2.35. Bo Nickel will join us to talk about his maligned win over Paul Craig. I think a little bit unfair. There's the lineup. We've got a great week of guests coming your way. We kick things off on this post-pay-per-view Monday. And you know what? Usually on a post-pay-per-view Monday, there's one pay-per-view. And I know that Friday's show wasn't a pay-per-view but one massive show to talk about

right and usually I will sit here for 30 minutes or so and wax poetic and then throw it to the guys to get their thoughts on it all but because Friday felt so significant from a business standpoint from a sporting standpoint and and and from a you know just a a cultural moment standpoint and then Saturday was so big with the main event and then Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler and Madison Square Garden and 47 in attendance alongside the Republican Avengers and whatnot. I actually wanted to open things up to the boys in the back and Pizzi.

Is Pizzi considered part of the boys in the back or is boys in the back just Frank? He's across the pond in the back. He's the boy across the pond. Pizzi's part of the back in the back, or is boys in the back just Frank? He's across the pond in the back. He's the boy across the pond. Pizzi's part of whatever he wants. Okay. Pizzi gets to make those calls. Pizzi's a big boy.

Can you imagine us coming to work wearing a lovely day for a Guinness hat? Like, hey, man, I was here at 9 a.m. ready to go. That's the right vibe, though. I've only had four points. We should relax, okay? Those are rookie numbers. Yeah, celebrating that big bills win um i'm just wondering when all the fancy equipment we sent pt is actually going to go

into what did i tell you what did i tell you i'm just wondering today i had him lay it all out on a table and take a video so i could assure it's all there okay and then i'm like you want to get this set up he's like let's do it tomorrow and i'm like all right well when the old whip cracker yeah ask us about it i want you to let him know. He's like, oh, has he been giving you a hard time? I'm like, no, but I can feel it. Literally, it's literally the first time I've ever mentioned it. But I'm waiting for the shot to come up and he looks a little extra crystal clear.

I have to show you the video of him showing me the boxes. It's just honestly, we should be airing it right now. It's hilarious. All right. Well, I look forward to that day. Here's what I wanted to start with. What was the story of the weekend guys what was the story there's so many different directions pizzi we've all weighed in in some way shape or form we've yet to hear from you since this weekend so i will start with you you go to the you go to the

uh the pub this evening and so it's a hey I hear it was a big weekend in combat sports. What was the story? What was the story this weekend? In Ireland. Oh, fuck. You know what? I didn't even think of that angle. So I guess it was, yeah, it might not even be

the one that everyone else says. Go ahead. So in Ireland the next day, I had, I was, I was, I was meant to be on the show with the lads afterwards, but the streaming situation was dire here um yeah but that's your fault i mean the wi-fi there is is shut come on let's be honest listen let's stop being such a shill yeah i had a tv i had a laptop and i had my phone out and they would all stop at different times so i'm trying to watch and then it would stop for like

five minutes and then the third round would start playing on all of them at the same time but the problem was we're already in round seven and i was losing my shit elaine went to bed and i woke her up i was shouting at my devices so much during this process my favorite part was was people hitting me up like i work for netflix texas no no you took that upon yourself you're saying to me you're saying to me what's going on and i was like, I can't fucking watch this thing. And you're like, well, what do you want me to do? What do you want me to do? I'm locked in here.

I got Jordan Maldonado screaming down my neck. You think I'm worried about the stream? It's tough. Yeah, it is tough. It is tough. Well, you're asking me, what do you think's happening here? And I was like, well, the fucking buffering symbol is happening a lot. That's it.

The next morning, people were very upset with rosie perez here uh very upset with maro and all of the legend um and honestly i was being hit like you at that point so i haven't had a proper like viewing experience of this fight yet and i woke up like 10 a.m with people in ireland who've just watched the fight they didn't stay up for it and they're like this is an absolute disgrace. I mean, this fight is so close and they're acting as if Katie Taylor has somehow, you know, abused the rule set

and has used her head to cut her open in the hopes that the fight would be stopped early. And then when the decision is read out in her favor, you know, Morrow andie particularly were like this is crazy and when i watched the fight that's not what i saw at all i actually had scored it i had it round by round but i can't find the piece of paper but i had a draw at the end with the point deduction so i was i was like you know i don't mind if this goes either way it's a brilliant brilliant fight but for all the talk um i know you saw plenty of this of uh like the tyson so many people so upset about uh

desecrating the legacy of tyson in ireland we felt as though like katie taylor what she's done for women's boxing like it feels like they're tarnishing her legacy by saying she's using her head um she didn't win the fight she has no no argument for her winning the fight that that was pretty much how irish people felt about it and um that would have been the story of the weekend over here certainly you know what what katie means to the irish people so they felt apparently not important enough to stay up i mean it was only uh well i mean when the stream is i mean all over the gap what do you want us to i mean i remember them staying up for Connor

I'll just say that The trilogy will be just fine Why would we do a trilogy? It obviously won't take place In Croke Park because they love her But not enough to actually have her fight In a proper stadium in Ireland But I actually agreed with you

I thought it was going to be a draw because of the point deduction. And I was, you know, look, I don't think that Rosie Perez should be held to the same standard as a typical fight analyst. Now, you could say, look, you're being put in that chair. You're being put in that spot. Then you should be held to that standard. But she's more the celebrity fan. She's from Puerto Rico. To me, she just has an inherent

bias um just because of her background she's not going to hide from it uh it was it was a super close fight i got listen i got a lot of shit i got a lot of stick people were saying that i should have you know i should have defended katie's honor in front of jordan like your job that's not your job i i mean he went in there i didn't give him the mic but I I did think that the cut was significant the headbutts were significant to the point where there was a point deduction and so it was a story and a Katie should defend herself to me defending her honor was giving her a chance to answer to what he was saying about her and he said it about her in between rounds I think it was in between the eighth and ninth or ninth and tenth where he said that she was fighting dirty so i was giving her a chance to defend herself it's not up for me

to be there you know white knighting for her i mean look at the look at this cut it's pretty damn significant and so i thought i was doing that in retrospect people thought otherwise to a degree i thought katie and amanda were both very classy afterwards. Even Amanda the next day, you know, apologizing for saying that she, in the moment, thought that she was leaning in with her head and trying to headbutt her, et cetera. She did mention the featherweight thing a bunch of times. At that point, it's like, you know, you signed up for this, so I get it. I would love to see another fight.

I would love to see a trilogy. I would love to see another fight. I would love to see a trilogy. I would love to see it two more times. The 20 rounds that they've shared in the ring have been magical. Each one better than the previous one. Just absolute amazing stuff. And what's so important, and I'm actually kind of happy that you've led with this, Pete C, the thing that pissed me off the most wasn't the complaints about the stream, wasn't the complaints about Mike Tyson's age. We knew about all this. How many times did I say on this show, I don't know what to expect, and I don't know how to feel.

How many times did I say on this show that the day Nikisa told me about this fight, I thought, really? Like, you guys are fighting Andre August and Ryan Borland. Like, this is a departure from that. And saying, I just hope everything is okay. And I thought once that, you know, he, he, he withdrew in June that the fight would have been scrapped altogether and they wouldn't have gone back to the well. And I wanted the Logan Paul fight and all that stuff. I said this time

and again, I have not changed my stance. I am happy that everything, you know, was okay. And everyone seems healthy and we can move on from this, but there's two things that kind of get under my skin when I see the aftermath. Number one, it's the people who, again, never talk about boxing, don't watch boxing, don't care about boxing, don't have a DAZN subscription,

aren't watching Top Rank on a Saturday or Friday night, aren't watching PBC on Amazon. And I see them saying, we need to stop being conned by this. We need to stop falling for this. We need to stop giving this our attention so that boxing can clean itself up once and for all. You don't watch boxing to begin with. You don't give a shit about boxing. You weren't conned by anything. The only thing that you did

was convince yourself that Mike Tyson was going to show up as a, you know, 1987 version of himself and turn back the clock and shut up the guy that for whatever reason you can't stand. You're the sucker. You convince yourself of this. No one con conned you no one told you that he was going to turn back the clock and no one told you that this was the best of boxing because if you stuck around for barrios ramos if you stuck around or showed up early for taylor serrano you would have seen the best of boxing and and the issue with boxing over the years has been put one fight at the top and nothing on the bottom this card didn't do that did you one fight at the top and nothing on the bottom. This card didn't do that.

Did you watch Shushu Carrington on the prelims? Did you watch Shadeja Green on the prelims? No, you didn't. Did you watch Taylor Serrano? You may have stumbled while you were waiting to talk shit about Tyson Paul. But if you watched, and a lot of people came up to me on Saturday when I was at my kid's soccer, like, holy shit, those two women were incredible. Tell me more about them and so yes there is there is a trickle-down effect and yes it will go down as the most watched most watched women's sporting event in u.s history that's incredible but spare me the you know we

were conned again you know why you weren't conned you didn't pay a cent for it it was part of your net netflix subscription if you would have paid 70 you you have and Dana White Said it himself you have a leg to stand on This was essentially free No one you know told you To sign up you all had it already And so this idea that you were con This idea that oh my god the stream This and that yeah of course that was annoying

But you didn't pay for it it was all On the house it was all extra Added value you got great Fights beforehand and you got what you should have expected in the main event. That's what you should have. What did I say? It was, it was going to be Jake Paul, probably via decision or fourth round. I don't know what show I said it on. Maybe it was not this one, but that's what I was saying leading up to the fight. And, and, and that's what we got. Now we could talk about whether or not he carried him,

whether or not he went easy, but I'm happy that we didn't see Mike Tyson get knocked out. I'm happy we didn't see him get stretchered out. And I'm happy that, most importantly, Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano are being talked about by the world. That when Amanda Serrano is now posting on social media, she's getting 200,000 likes. And you're right, Petey. Katie Taylor didn't deserve that. She's one of the greatest athletes in the history of combat sports and certainly one of the most respected and classy athletes she didn't deserve those boos but i was hearing it in my ear the commentators and i was hearing the crowd boo her and so i wanted her to respond to

that because she in my opinion deserves the opportunity to respond to that regardless of all that nonsense spare me the fucking sanctimonious bullshit about we were conned you were not conned you conned yourself no one conned you You were not conned. You conned yourself. No one conned you. Everyone knew exactly what this was. 14 ounce gloves, eight two minute rounds. You should have known better. And you should have listened to the people who were telling you what to expect.

Everyone else, you hopefully got a great night of fights and enjoyed it for what it was. And it sucks about the streaming. But, you know, these are the things that are going to happen. Hopefully by the time they have NFL on Christmas christmas and raw and january and all that stuff they figure it all out yeah um one thing and chuck mendel wrote uh an article about this global outrage and he makes a great point at the very end of the article let's like let's let's remember what was the engine room of the promotion of this fight it was controversy from the word go people were open arms about mike tyson fighting jake paul

in a way this event it's asking for that the whole the whole situation has been this controversy clutching pearls oh my god this guy is a joke this guy's a legend but he's very old all this stuff it was only ever going to be lampooned do you get me like like it was that is that is something that these events breed like every single jake paul fight and we've saw on a much smaller level in mma audiences are somewhat of a boxing audience but this is the first time as you said 65 million people around or 65 million households around the world have this on their screen it was inevitable like I completely agree with you in terms of I would much rather this outcome than seeing Tyson sprawled out in the first round or any round for

that matter but when we're when we're we're preparing to watch an event like this and an event that has been fueled by outrage and controversy of course it was going to be a massive lampooning when it happened no matter what way it happened so i think you've you've got to expect that to some degree i don't think these people for the most part are really upset i don't think they're like sitting, you know, drinking their coffee on Monday morning and being like, I can't fucking believe they did this. Like they aren't, but the, the, the way the event was, it was always going to have this outpouring of emotion.

And there is, there is things to be annoyed about, but nothing terrible happened. As I said to you the next day, I texted you the next day and said, Tyson is fine. He's texting. I mean, he's putting out social media posts, speaking afterwards, all this stuff. This is great because our worst fears weren't realized. But of course, it's part of this that everyone would get on and criticize Jake Paul, a 28-year-old man fighting Mike Tyson, a 58-year-old man. Of course. He's also around $40 million or so richer.

No one forced him to take this fight. He gladly wanted to take this fight. And in fact, he tells me afterwards he wants to do more. Do I want to see more of him in there? No, it was what it was. He looked much older than he did four years prior against Roy Jones. The guy who fought Roy Jones, I think, would have had a much better showing than the one who showed up on Friday.

He had obviously been through something very significant just a few months ago and maybe that should have been the sign to pull the plug um and i don't think anyone would have would have faulted them for it but in the end nothing serious happened and in the end it was to me the greatest the greatest byproduct of all of this was that aing was put on Netflix And a lot of people got to see it And hopefully are now fans of Mario Barrios And Alboramos and Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano too

Never happens We would never have gotten it if not for this fight happening on Netflix It was DOA They couldn't have been further apart Katie Taylor was fighting at 140 Amanda Serrano was fighting at 126 And she was she was saying she's only fighting three minute rounds from here on out they couldn't have been

further apart so you you you saw those 10 rounds on friday you loved those 10 rounds you were never getting them if not for this and so there are things that should be celebrated now do we want to keep seeing jake fight these fights no do i want to see him fight someone in the top 10 next no as Stephen A Smith said like what again you're just proving that you don't know what you're watching he's not a top 10 fighter just yet you know is it possible that we're going to get the Canelo fight as I said last week yes but that Rick has been the one from the beginning who has said he doesn't care for that path and so let me turn it to you Rick you see this you now have had two days to digest it

your your take on what transpired there was that was that just another jake paul fight was that a sham tell us tell us your honest feelings was that a step backwards for him as a draw was that a step forward is he is he more popular now how do you feel about it two days later a step a step forward not as you said i have been pretty like steady on on my feelings about Jake Paul. No interest in Jake Paul's boxing career. Big interest in Jake Paul being one of the only people who can drive

an event of this magnitude, not just for his star power, but also now he has the promotion to be able to do it. And now, potentially, with a successful event, I would consider the success. I can't, you know, I can't speak for Netflix, I imagine that they got a lot of eyeballs on their product.

And I would imagine they view it as a success. Now a potential distribution arm that is massive that he now has partnered with once and could put could partner with in the future. You can't look at this as anything other than a success from the Jake Paul business perspective from the Jake Paul brand from the MVP business perspective, the MVP brand. I don't want to see him fight a top 10 boxer because I don't think it would be particularly competitive. That person would beat Jake Paul.

And I'm very certain of that because I don't think he's as, as good a boxer as a top 10 in the world, a boxer in his weight class. But I am very interested and continue to be interested in Jake Paul putting on a big high level very big profile entertainment the problem is it feels like this was like the apex it feels like this was the top how do you go anywhere from here a name like canelo to me would achieve that goal uh but i don't think it would be a competitive boxing match i think canelo would be as far ahead as jake paul

of jake paul as jake Jake Paul was ahead of Mike Tyson. Isn't that the best case scenario then? Everyone wants to see him lose at this point. And Canelo... For the people that are rooting against him, you mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, if they want that. By the way, everyone is rooting against him.

The only way that people would have left Friday, streaming issues aside, with a smile on their faces, is he gets knocked out in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth round, right? I i think that's that's the only result of the hardcore like combat community yes i think there are a lot of like his fans and that is a big number that are like jake paul this is what we want we want to see him take on the next challenge the same way ksi fans like this is of a not insignificant number of people who see Jake Paul as an inspiration, see Jake Paul as a reason to chase your dreams and do these things. So the hardcore combat fans, I think, all want to see Jake Paul lose, certainly.

But I don't think there's an insignificant number of people who want to see Jake Paul achieve those. Everyone who's my age. Well, up against Mike Tyson, yes. But against like Tommy Fury is a casual being like, I want to see Jake Paul. I don't think they give a shit about Tommy Fury one way or another, so they don't really care for Jake Paul to win or McGregor, and maybe like one or two others that are even kind of scratching at that, that can put on a spectacle that just because they are fighting and it doesn't matter who that people will tune in to watch. It's a short list. It is a very short list. And he has that ability. That's why I don't give a shit about like, I want to be a championship level boxer. You're not going to be. And I don't care about that. I care about the spectacle of what

Jake Paul can bring to the sport. This past week, he didn't say care about that. I care about the spectacle of what Jake Paul can bring to the sport. This past week, he didn't say much of that. I'm sure it's part of the plans. You know what's interesting is you talk about, you know, who wants to watch what. The best cruiserweight in the world, and that's what he is. He's a cruiserweight. Yeah. The best cruiserweight in the world is Jai Upataya.

I guarantee you, all these people saying, put him in there against a top 10. Let's just say top one. The guy who has the best chance, right, to beat him. they a they don't know who he is and b they're not watching that fight that's right jai pataya to them is ryan borland is andre to them to them to us we'd be like oh fuck sign me up um zerto ramirez beat chris billiam smith on saturday that's maybe the second best cruiserweight in the world they're not watching that fight either they couldn't care less but i'll tell you what they will watch they will watch him versus canelo or him versus conor mcgregor or him versus god knows who logan uh logan paul so he occupies that lane but here's

the difference between say jake and ksi if we want to go down that path on jake's cards there are legitimate top boxers in the world fighting against each other with the stakes as high as can be. I have no issues with the Misfits guys. They occupy a great lane as well. But you're not getting Taylor Serrano on a Misfits card. They're open about that. You're not getting a WBC welterweight title fight on a Misfits card. You're not getting a Shushu carrington on a misfits card or even on

the previous iterations of the you know the early days of jake paul and there's something that needs to be said about that it's like what i always said about cm punk in the ufc when cm punk was in the ufc he didn't he didn't take someone's spot he created spots he created a spotlight and and why or how people don't recognize that, like I was saying to people who were upset about the Jake fight, turn it off after Taylor Serrano. Appreciate the fact that Taylor Serrano was viewed by 50 million households. We celebrated when 1 million viewers watched on the zone their first fight. How could you not be happy about that? How could that not be something at least worth celebrating and honoring and at least acknowledging? But for some reason,

people can't do it. And I know what people are probably going to say. You're shilling, you're in his pocket. I've never been paid by MVP. I've never been paid by Jake Paul. I will never get paid by Jake Paul. I will never get paid by MVP. Am I on the broadcast? Yes, but I'm getting paid by DAZN, by Showtime, by Netflix, etc. I've gone into open fights with Jake Paul. Could not care less. If they never want to have me on it again, God bless. I've told them I don't want to work certain things. I've turned down certain things, and on and on it goes. Y'all can believe what you want, but if you are not acknowledging that at least opportunities are being given to some of the best boxers, pure boxers in the world,

as a result of these spectacles, then you're just just hating you're just hating for the sake of hating and i don't know why are you hating is our audience hating because he is anti-ufc is that what it is or he's anti-dana white is that what it is i don't know if he's anti-ufc per se but just like anti the business or anti the ufc brass i don't know but that to me is is is the most befuddling part of all this g GC, your thoughts on what we saw on Saturday, excuse me, on Friday. Yeah, I mean, I am with Rick. I think that it was a massive success from the Jake Paul business standpoint. The fight itself really wasn't entertaining in any way, shape, or form. There was no real memorable moment other than the spectacle of it itself, Mike Tyson fighting at 58 years old.

And I thought the best fight on the card was Amanda Serrano, Katie Taylor, kind of what I thought going into it. It sort of was like what I was expecting. The co-main event was going to be the best fight of the night. The main event was going to be a spectacle. I was going to have to see what happened. And after watching it, it was lackluster. I'm glad Mike Tyson was safe.

But I think you started the show asking what the biggest story of the weekend was tell me i think we've answered it by how long we've talked about this and also what you were saying people coming up to you talking i had multiple friends calling me texting me the next day to talk about the fight they definitely weren't doing the same with ufc 309 it really was like a cultural phenomenon at least for the night everything on social media was going insane uh so yeah i I mean, thoughts on the fight itself? It was incredibly underwhelming. There really were no memorable moments from it.

I won't really look back on it. There's no chance I ever rewatch it. But in terms of Netflix making its debut in the world of boxing, I felt it was very significant. And just the spectacle that was put on and how many eyeballs got on it was significant it felt to me the first time since Mayweather McGregor that everyone was watching a singular fight my brother has purchased two pay-per-views he is not a combat sports fan purchased two pay-per-views in his life I guess only one yeah Conor McGregor Floyd Mayweather and then he asked me who was going to win the fight on Friday and he was going to a watch party to watch Jake Paul Mike Tyson there it is so so to me it felt and and maybe

prior to that was Mayweather Pacquiao but honestly Mayweather Pacquiao felt like it was huge for the combat sports world Mayweather McGregor felt a little bit bigger it broke through and obviously MMA and boxing coming together this I mean again I'm just blown away by you know moms friends who never couldn't care less and that's a small sample size teachers in my kids school um just the the reach phenomenal and let's be honest the vast majority of of of of that reach is because of mike tyson because of what he has meant to sports in the world and in America in particular, and because of Netflix. You know, Netflix just promoting it, having it up there definitely helps. Gigantic deal. And so let's talk about the main event. What is the

conclusion? Because I will admit, if you notice in the post-fight interview, I wanted to be respectful towards Mike. And so that's why I asked Jake, did you try to knock him out? That was my way of saying, did you carry him? And after the fight, I will tell you that I spoke to some people close and I said, did you guys carry him? And the response that I got was, you know, something like that, you know? Okay. And then Jake goes to the press conference and essentially says he saw that he was hurt and, you know, out of respect. He kind of admits it, right? And so what do you guys ultimately feel? Eric, let me ask you this.

What do you feel like he ultimately did? Do you feel like he was carrying him from the jump? Do you feel like he saw midway through that nothing was really going to hurt him, so he took his foot off the gas? Do you think that that's all hogwash? I mean, Dana yesterday said he didn't think he carried him. He's just not good enough to beat him, and the carrying is an excuse for not being able to finish a 58-year-old man. What do you think?

I think he probably went in with the intention of testing it out. I think if Mike Tyson was capable of putting Jake Paul in more danger and actually made him use his reflexes and react to something, there's a chance he might have tried to knock him out. As it played out, there was no opportunity. Mike Tyson was not going to threaten Jake Paul in any way. He looked old. He looked slow. He was not there to compete. It was not going to threaten Jake Paul in any way. He looked old. He looked slow. He was not there to compete.

It was not going to be a competitive fight. And so it's easy for Jake Paul to kind of pick his spots and then not press it further. There were many opportunities where I felt like if he, after the punch that was the strongest, followed up with additional shots in the same way that if Mike Perry was in there against him and trying to hurt him,

he would have to fire a response back. He could have. He did not. And I'm fine with that. I have no issue with that. Like if you came into if you came into this expecting a competitive fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, you were starting at the wrong place. Your your your your objective feeling on it was in an incorrect spot that you were never going to get what you wanted. Mike Tyson was not capable of that, just flatly. That is what we were. If you wanted to see Mike turn back the clock and catch him, that was going to happen in the first 30 seconds or not at all.

So again, if you're adjusting your expectations there, it wasn't there for him. Mike Tyson was not capable of competing with Jake Paul on that night. And I think most kind of knew that. I will say maybe it's most who are tuned into the combat world because I had enough friends, as I said, throughout the week texting me like, oh, Mike's going to kill him based on the rhetoric and based on the things that the clips. But it just was never going to happen. I actually gave Mike the first two rounds. But again, you'll never know, you know, was Jake giving him the rounds? As people weak and he walked in there with a neck brace,

excuse me, with a, with a knee brace and he kept biting his glove. And, and that was a little bit awkward. Um, and I know as Morrow said, you know, he's done that in the past. I don't recall it being that much. And so, and then you find out, you know, what he, what he posted on social media on Saturday. Uh, we do have the, uh have the post right here. This is one of those situations where you lost but still won. I'm grateful for last night. No regrets to get in the ring one last time. So I guess he's rethought that stance. I almost died in June, he wrote. I had eight blood transfusions, lost half my blood and 25 pounds in hospital and had to fight to get healthy to fight so I won. And there are legitimate questions that should be asked of the Texas Commission and of everyone involved as to how they got over that,

how they got over those hurdles, those health hurdles. To have my children, he continues, see me stand toe to toe and finish eight rounds with a talented fighter half my age in front of a packed Dallas Cowboy Stadium is an experience that no man has the right to ask for. Thank you. And so great stuff there. I think everyone loves Mike. His transformation from being a convicted rapist in the 90s to now is unbelievable. I don't think anyone could have predicted that. And what a journey and what an icon he is. But in the end i i thought he obviously looked very old i have no interest in seeing him fight again and i and i do believe that it is a little bit more competitive if it's the mike tyson of 2020 november of 2020 fighting on friday as opposed to the one that we

saw on friday do you guys remember how we looked against roy jones and i know roy jones is older as well but he moved much better in that fight. He maybe wasn't as built and cut as he was because he was very impressive on weigh-in day, but I thought he was just a lot smoother and fluid and looked more like his old self. Do you agree with that? Yes, absolutely. Here's the thing.

Four years is a lot of time, but it's even more time when you're 58. When the end of that four years is 58. And going through what he just went through apparently in June. In the end, though, there's nothing that I could say in defense of the entertainment, in the entertainment value that that fight was.

I can't defend it. It's just some of the other stuff about we were con, or shame on boxing, or shame on this, shame on that. I just... just think that's part of the play though i don't think that's part of the whole thing like the the jake paul thing yeah maybe outrage is the currency of this yeah like had everyone just been finished off and been gone geez that was a very competitive fight well done lads jake you just you edged the decision there well done you know or if he

straight sparked mike tyson is everybody cheering like no no that's way worse outrage we have to remember is a key component of this from the the day it was announced i don't think jake paul's sitting at home looking at these tweets going oh no dave portnoy didn't like it dave portnoy is talking about me fighting all of these people are talking about jake paul that that is a different thing than what we do here in sport we have to remember that like this is currency in his world and he's fucking rich now because everybody has a take every all these people who are upset about it he he's probably plotting like well what way can i you know what way can i spark this kind of conversation

online again he's not unhappy about this in any way shape or form this is essentially what we're being sold i'm all for a critical analysis of saying like is there a problem with the industry is there a problem with all of combat sports in the sense that entertainment has become more of the conversation than competitive fighting i I'm okay with that. I'm okay if we were to have that larger discussion. You know that's not true, right? I'm not suggesting one is true or not true. I'm just saying if that is the conversation to have,

I'm okay with that being the conversation. But the fight-by-fight analysis of that, I think is just misguided. I would argue Stipe Miocic didn't belong in a cage with Jon Jones on Saturday. Do we have to then have a critical discussion of the UFC's entire business based on that? No. There is an entertainment component and there is a competitive fighting component. Those two things exist.

If for one individual person's tastes, one is more important than the other and they've missed the mark on which one for that individual fight, I suggest not watching. To me, the entertainment value, the spectacle of Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson is up here, and the competitive boxing is far, far, far down the scale at the very bottom. If somebody is suggesting that they don't want to watch it on that basis, don't. That's my feeling. I would say that it was equally a mismatch, John Jones versus Stipe. Maybe not equally, but a significant mismatch, Jon Jones versus Stipe Miocic. Do we now have to go forward and say, ah, is the UFC more of an entertainment product

than a competitive product? No, because next weekend, we'll get a competitive fight between two top-ranked contenders. There is a sliding scale of these things. Not every single fight is going to be that. If you had expectations that Mike Tyson was going to be competitive with Jake Paul at 58 years old, you fucked up.

Period. That's it. Yeah. It might have been PT who tweeted this. Correct me if I'm wrong. Someone tweeted it and I don't remember who. But you know what? I think it was actually Jedi Goodman who tweeted it. Our guy. He essentially said, Jake Paul didn't create the circus.

He's just adding to the circus. That's right. This idea that he created this or turned boxing into a circus is absurd. And last thing I'll say on this before we move on to 309. Again, if the card was him versus Tyson Holyfield Lewis Gronk Shaq Nate Robinson against Darren Williams You know you could say that was a black eye on boxing In the end

Netflix got into combat sports Showed Taylor Serrano 2 to the world A fight that I mean I have the program down here Of the first fight That's how much the first fight Means to me and how much I adore it and both of them Deserve our respect from now until the

End of time we got some other Great fights and shout out to that crowd At AT&T stadium they showed up early Like I've been to T-Mobile where there's A thousand people for the co-main event there were a thousand People when Tank Davis fought In the in the quote unquote co-main on Mayweather McGregor look at this this is for Tyson

But like that thing was full in the end they said 72 000 there was a smattering up at the top but that thing was packed it was absolutely jam-packed um how they got there god bless them and the amount of celebs and the amount of people there i got to meet the governor guys i got to meet governor abbott did you know that he's in a wheelchair someone said you want to meet governor abbott i said absolutely let me just grab my red hat real quick. Just kidding. Just kidding. And I said to him, he said, where do you live, son? I was like, oh, I live in New York. And he's like, well, I'll tell you what, no state taxes here. I was like, wow, that's a good sell. I appreciate that, Governor Abbott. That's the kind of people that were there in attendance. And those people

got to see Taylor Serrano in person and are now talking about them and maybe looking them up and maybe going back to watch their first fight. So that is pretty significant. And that to me was the story of Saturday that, you know, Tyson Paul was on the marquee, but hopefully you came early enough to see at least those two warriors go toe to toe. And hopefully you said to said to yourself you know what not only is boxing a thing that i need to watch more women's boxing is a thing that i need to watch more that to me was what i walked away with and i was so happy and obviously happy that you know the the main event didn't end in some kind of tragedy or disaster because that was on the table that was on the

table i hope i'm clear on what i'm trying to say every jake paul fight seems to be some kind of indictment on like is this jake paul none of this is specific to jake paul fight seems to be some kind of indictment on like is this jake paul none of this is specific to jake paul this is the entirety of combat sports every we have to make these kind of like excuses oh well if you tuned in for the for the disaster the abject disaster that was jake paul versus mike tyson you also got uh katie taylor versus amanda serrano i don't think jake paul needs to have these excuses. This is all of combat sports. The UFC puts on some things that are more spectacle than combat. The UFC puts on some things that are high combat and low spectacle. That's just what this is. Other boxing promotions,

nobody is under the same microscope that Jake Paul is under. And I feel like it's a bit unfair, if I'm being honest. It just feels like everything with him has to be some indictment on exactly what he's doing when he's doing. When he's doing what everybody else is doing, there's just different degrees to it. I love when you see like the Bellews or the Carl Frotches of the world being like, you scaredy cat. You would never dare step foot in the media. All they want is the – they want – They want the clout that he's –

Yeah. They're claiming that he's after. They want the same clout. They're not trying – you know, they won't get $40 million, but they would do anything for a five million dollar payday you wouldn't dare you're not mad enough to show the press conference with patty power a betting company tony bell you god bless him in one breath is saying this guy isn't worth our time and shame on anyone who watches the dude literally flew from the uk to texas for that one minute little thing and obviously got paid for it and guess what patty power ain't paying you to show up and crash any other press conference.

So do you see the hypocrisy? While everyone is saying this isn't worth our time, they're profiting off of it. They're trying to, you know, attach themselves to it. They're trying to pick a fight so they can be the next one to get the lottery ticket. Like, spare me the sanctimonious bullshit. Let's talk about Saturday. 309 Madison Square Garden. As Rick said, very one-sided. I was blown away by Jon Jones. And I'll tell you what right here and now, after the

surreal gunfight, and we keep blurring the lines here between GOAT and pound for pound best right now, no one is denying the fact that Jon Jones, if everything is allowed, no PD infractions can remove you from the conversation. Jon Jones has the best resume, is the best fighter in the history of mixed martial arts. No one will ever argue that. If anyone's arguing that, they're a complete buffoon. The argument is, is he the number one pound for pound fighter in the world?

Dana White said that after a gun. All right, fine. He kept banging the drum. He kept banging the drum. And he said on Saturday, as long as this man is active, he's number one pound for pound. Again, I think he's still confusing the two, but he says as long as he's active. he's number one pound for pound again i think he's still confusing the

two but he says as long as he's active and therein lies the rub he wasn't active for a year and a half as far as the rankings are concerned in my opinion if you're not active for a year and a half you get removed champion non-champion it doesn't matter he comes back on saturday and he does that against steep a you're now in the conversation. And now I think there's a serious conversation to be had. Now I do accept if you want to vote him as number one pound for pound, because it was that dominant. It was that one-sided. He made Stipe Miocic look old, look slow. I saw people saying that he looked old and slow. No, no. John made him look old and slow. John made him look a step, massive step below him. John was fantastic. That fight impressed me a hell of a lot more than the Stroll Gun fight. To a degree, I felt like Gun didn't

show up. Stipe showed up. He was as laser focused as can be and had nothing for John. He maybe had like an uppercut in the second round and that was it. It was a 10-8 first round. It was a beautiful trip. It was elbows from freaking the depths of hell, not up there, down here. And it was as vicious of a first round. Like we never see Stipe get manhandled like that. Even when he lost to DC or Francis, you know, those are moments, but he has his moments. He had no moments in this fight. Second round, 10-9 John. And then third round, the spinning back kick to the body, vicious, just crumpled him. And so, yeah, you can now make the case that he is number one pound for pound. I will accept it. Am I voting

for it? Eh, probably still going for Pereira based on what he's done, but I don't think it's as crazy and I certainly would put him above Islam Khachev now, to be honest. I think it's that valid. It was supremely impressive to see him at heavyweight do that against Stipe 40 something or not 3 year layoff or not That's still Stipe Miocic It was a one sided beatdown One sided

And afterwards of course That was one of John's best fight weeks ever One of his best fight weeks ever On so many levels Number one the performance was fantastic He showed up he was a was a star, Madison Square Garden, getting to fight in his home state for the first time, like it checked off all the boxes. The way he handled the Tom Aspinall thing from beginning to end was fantastic as well. Playing the heel or not, we could debate all that bullshit all day long. He's dismissing him, he's dismissing him, he's pushing him away,

he's hardly even saying his name, he's calling him an asshole, he's saying he's dismissing him he's dismissing him he's pushing him away he's hardly even saying his name he's calling him an asshole he's saying he's disrespectful that only makes us want to see the fight more it's like in pro wrestling when when hulk hogan and andre the giant fought they never touched each other until wrestlemania 3 until they were in that ring at the pontiac silver dome and by the time that bell rang the whole world was waiting for them to touch each other. And that's what he's doing. He's distancing Tom. Knowingly or not, I don't know. I'm actually going to give him the credit. I think he's being very smart and calculated about this because I think he is extremely smart and calculated. It's only making us want that fight more. It's only making Tom a bigger baby face. It's only making us look at photos like this one shot by the great Chris Unger

of Getty Images and say, fuck yeah, give me that fight. And let me tell you what, in combat sports right now, MMA, boxing, kickboxing, jujitsu, Muay Thai, influencer boxing, I don't care what it is, pro wrestling, anything, there's no fight that I want to see more than Jones-Aspinal. 2025, Jones-Aspinal, Dana says biggest heavyweight fight. I don't know. Who knows? Probably in this day and age with the money that the UFC is generating, with the gates, with the attendance, it probably ends up being that. I don't know if culturally it is what maybe like Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir was number two, but it's gigantic. Give me this freaking fight. Give me this freaking fight because of the way John has built it up.

Tom has done his part, but if John would have just sat there all week and said, yeah, you know, I'll see he's interim champion. It should be fun. It doesn't feel the same. John pushing it away, calling him an asshole, saying that I might retire if it comes down to it, saying, give me F you money, saying I prefer the Pere perera fight i'll even drop the belt because i rather the prayer fight only makes us want to see it more only makes us want to see it more and and tom has done his part he shows up he's got the duck he's got the shirts he's saying what he needs to say but john was phenomenal all week even even the part with the gloves oh you know it had nothing to do with me uh you, you know, but I like them better.

And then, like, look how clunky the whole glove thing was. Oh, you know, they tell everyone on Monday. They actually tell Stipe on Monday. They tell the fighters on Tuesday. They tell them it's just going to be for the next two pay-per-views, including Saturdays. Then they come out on Thursday and say they're gone forever, the new gloves. Then they come out on the broadcast on Saturday and say, okay,

it's going to be pay-per-views old gloves New gloves on fight night and then On the post fight press conference Dana says it's an Inventory thing and by the time 2025 Rolls along we'll go back to the old Gloves the whole thing seems very Last minute make no mistake about it there's No doubt in my mind Jon Jones said I don't like

The gloves I'm not wearing them they They they they oblige and then They saw the backlash they saw the response And said know what? Let's just get rid of these things. No one likes them. And thank the high heavens. Thank the MMA gods. Those disgusting gold gloves are out the window. I hate those things. They're disgusting. They're awful. They're an eyesore. No one wanted them. They looked like, they looked like superheroes wearing them. Go back to the old ones. They tried, they failed, whatever. It would be nice if they could be a little more curved

so that we can stop eye pokes from happening as often. But people were saying they're stopping knockouts, all this stuff. Who the hell knows the ultimate reason? But I do know for sure what sparked all of this was John saying he didn't like him. And just look how he's handling that with the smile on his face.

Oh man, I really didn't like him. And I was so happy that Hunter, he is playing all this perfectly. He is playing all of this perfectly. And so give it to us next summer, Allegiant Stadium, freaking T-Mobile. I don't care. I don't care. It sounds like Dana doesn't want to go to a stadium and who cares? With the prices, with the tickets, with the gates, they could do it at T-Mobile and everyone will be very happy. Aspinall, Jones, Jones, Aspinall, that is the fight. And please, Rick, don't tell me Pereira versus Jones is as interesting. Not with that trip.

Not with that ground and pound. You can't tell me with the buildup, with the animosity. That felt like Jones DC. The way he speaks about Aspinall, the last time we heard John talk about someone like that with that type of tension and animosity was DC. He didn't feel that way towards Anthony Smith or even Dominic Reyes or Tiago Santos.

It was Daniel freaking Cormier. That's what I feel in my bones. When I feel the buildup to this, you can't tell me that friendly, you know, Oh, I just want to test myself against another 37 year old gets you as hype as what transpired over the past week.

I already wanted to see Tom versus John more. That was my number one out of those rankings. I would settle for Tom versus Alex second to that. The gap has now significantly widened. And because of what you said, I think Jon Jones did the best endorsement he could do for that fight this week by turning it down, by saying, I don't't want to fight tom by doing all the things to make you want it more he has now put a gap between that i maintain on a poster to sell to a casual fan alex versus john will do better and will look better and will get more buys i want to see tom versus john more and i and i already did but now the gap is is pretty massive Yo did you see that pop at the press conference Yeah

It was Tom Friendly over there And like I said on Saturday night It wasn't like it was a UK crowd They weren't in Manchester They weren't in London Michael Bisping wasn't fighting on the main card So a bunch of his fans were there Dana White has asked

If John wins are you doing the Aspinall fight And he says yes. And it's like, you know what it looked like, PT? It looked like Allie Pally celebrating Luke Littler's win, right? Everyone's dancing in there for Tom Aspinall? Tom Aspinall, a year ago, he gets put on this card and no one bats an eye. And now they're dancing in the stands for Tom Aspinall, you know, at least verbally being told that he's going to be next for John. The big thing, though, is John says in the post-fight press conference, give me FU money. You know, and you know what I was happy about?

I was happy, PT, that he said all that because throughout the week it was, you know, he's an asshole. I don't want to fight him. He's younger than me. He's bigger than me. All this stuff, which none of it is really significant because, yeah, yeah he's younger but like they're pretty much the same weight and blah blah blah but i'm happy that he he went back to the francis story right it's about the money i've been saying this for a very long time i think we're hurtling towards the same situation yes dana white smiled i thought which was quite funny when the press put to him you know he said he

wants fuck you money then and then i was like oh he's he's gonna get it and you're like well i really hope he does um i agree with everything you said about john i was captivated by him all week and willy or won't he like watching everything he's doing like what what is he saying i am not as far down the road as as you seem to be I think this is all for nothing if we don't get the payoff if we don't get that fight and until I hear a date I will wait to cast my judgment on how brilliant that sell was from Jones because ultimately if the fight doesn't happen it means nothing um as far as his fight so dynamic for a heavyweight like that and look I agree with the people who who say steve i didn't

offer much but i also agree with you that his body work in the early rounds really made him redundant you know he even if you're going in as fit as a fiddle and your body's hitting that way it's going to be it's going to take away from your performance considerably and i think that's what happened um one thing i said i i text Tom, I think it was Friday after the press conference. And I said, this is, this is going great. And he said to me, it's, I'm not doing anything. And I can remember two years ago and I agree with him. Like, no, you aren't doing anything right, Tom.

Um, two years ago, no, about a year ago, I was speaking to his dad dad andy and there was this love in for prayer which has continued to this day and he was kind of saying to me like is tom not doing exactly what this guy is doing and nobody is like reacting to it like he's saving cards too he's he's knocking people out all this stuff and i said to him at the time i said you work for your reputation and then your reputation works for you and i think on thursday before that press conference when that crowd kicked off that that just came into my head and i text that to tom on friday i said you know you work for your reputation and then your reputation works for you and that's exactly what happened on friday um it's a brilliant fight it's it's let's not forget that the ufc had led a fight of this

magnitude with nganu and jones slip between their fingers they should get paid really well for this john jones dana white's the guy up there telling us this is the greatest fighter who ever lived well let's pay him like that then all right let's break every record you have and that's what he'll come looking for he's said as much. I want ridiculous money. Let him get the ridiculous money. If this fight is as big as Dana White says it is, they're going to make plenty of it back. They can, it will be an outrageous success. So pay the man what he needs to make this fight happen.

And look, I think Tom beats John Jones, but he certainly planted some doubt with that display over Stipe because it was tremendous for a heavyweight. Take Stipe out of the equation. For a guy that weight to be moving like that, that's why we love Tom. That's why we've said about Tom since he came to this division,

there's no one that moves like this guy. He moves like a cat. Granted, John might not be as quick as Tom, but the dynamic display we've seen, it's rarely seen a heavyweight from grappling to striking. It was spellbinding. I'd say never.

Dana always talks about his fight IQ. We've never seen a heavyweight move like that. Like throw the arsenal that he threw at Stipe. We didn't really get to see John Jones heavyweight against Cyril Gann because it was so quick and that was to his credit to a degree. But I do think that Cyril didn't really show up

to see those kicks, to see that ground and pound, to see that kind of wrestling from John Jones. The ankle pick? Oh my God. That's crazy. What are you doing?

He was fantastic. He was phenomenal. And Dana says, biggest fight of all time. He says, biggest heavyweight fight of all time. So then you need to get paid.

Biggest purse of all time. Biggest purse of all time, if that's to say. Let's do it. Let's not have this thing play out. It's going to play out, by the way. It's going to play it let's not have this thing play out and i'm it's going to play out by the way it's going to play out i've said this for a year i know it's gonna fucking look at every show i've said it every fucking time but what i'll say to the fans is this is on you because this is a pr game now this is a pr game and when dana white says one of these guys is holding up the fight he doesn't want that fight

have better judgment think about what's happened here they've set the table we know what needs to happen the only thing that needs to happen now is for these guys to get paid tom probably should be you know fighting his corner a bit harder and that like he won't care he'll sign whatever john jones has said this is the stipulation so please be aware of it if this fight isn't booked that is what's happening and by the way that's exactly what happened for the Nganou fight. I went through the clips. Nganou was Tom. He was literally Tom saying, I'm good to go in the summer. Just give me the fight.

It was the exact same thing. Now, let's see what happens. Maybe they're right, they're wrong. Maybe they feel like they could get it done. Who knows? But I will say this, Pizzi. When he said, fuck you money, I was like, oh, are we going down? Are we going down to like, me 30 million because they're not

Going to do it you know they're not going to do it They're not going to give him that money And so There's a part of me that's a little bit concerned And I'm concerned because I want this fight So badly I don't feel there was a part of me thinking I think we can all agree

That John would take the fight if he's paid And I think we can all agree that John would take the fight if he's paid. And I think we could all agree that John's saying that he was going to retire and all that. This is all part of the negotiation. This is all part of what he's trying to put out there. But I believe, John, 1,000% that he wants to get paid an exorbitant amount, whatever that number is. And if he doesn't, he has no problem sitting at home or giving up the belt, which is what he did, you know, four or so years ago, four and a half years ago. John Jones isn't foaming at the mouth to fight Tom Aspinall. It's the opposite, right? Tom wants John, the fans want Tom versus John. He couldn't care less. If the byproduct of this

fight is getting paid a boatload, he's in. And so he's just going to sit back. And he's 100% right what he said at the press conference. The strongest position to be in when you're negotiating is being willing to walk away. I think he's being 1000% truthful with us there. And that worries me. That worries me because we saw this four years ago. In the end, I still think it happens because i don't think the ufc wants this egg on their face twice but i am worried about it actually happening because of the fuck you money line the fuck when i heard that i was like now he's being truthful it's not just about oh he's seven years younger or you know he's bigger It's about the money And we saw this once

Not that long ago There's no reason To believe The same story Won't play out All over again And that would be Very unfortunate

What do you think GC Does it happen What are you feeling We said on Saturday night I think it's going to happen The fact that Dana White Confidently said He was just like

He'll get compensated Makes me believe That it happens And to y'all's point I think Despite Aspinall Not really doing anything Other than just being around get compensated makes me believe that that it happens and to y'all's point i think despite aspen are not really doing anything other than just being around uh this week like i think the way jones handled everything like it has built this fight into like this is what people want to see i was walking around the office today got the aspen all hoodie on and some guy came up to

me was like oh the uh aspen that's the one people want uh bones to fight i was just like yeah you didn't know who he was last week he's just just like, nope, never heard of him. And like the way Tom, like he got the UFC, uh, 309 reaction vlog out the very next morning. Like he's responding to Jon Jones on YouTube. It's doing incredible numbers for his channel. Like it now feels like there has been a mega shift to like, this is the fight people want to see. This is the fight Dana wants to see. And Dana is willing to meet the numbers and make it happen. The BMF idea is ludicrous. Like, what are we talking about here?

All right, listen, we don't need to, you know, bring the BMF belt into this. When he came out with that last week, I was like, what are we doing? But it all feels like trolling. At one point, he was just like, I think I want to fight Jamal Hill, who has no plans of moving up to heavyweight. Or maybe a Derek Lewis. Like, it's just like, be serious, John. Like, I know you're trolling at this point, but, like, be serious. He does it with a bit of moving up to heavyweight. Or maybe a Derek Lewis. It's just like, be serious, John.

I know you're trolling at this point, but be serious. He does it with a bit of a smile on his face and that tone where you're like. The Jamal Hill one. I was like, dude, he's at light heavyweight and he has no plans of coming up to heavyweight. Stop. Jamal's like, fire up the camera in the basement. I need to make a 19-minute video about this. This is my chance.

The bottom line is, if he doesn't do it for whatever reason economics doesn't want to do it he has to he cannot still be heavyweight champion right no well the ball's not in his court as it has never been the ball is not in his court it never was in his court they have not presented to him a fight against alex perera they have not prevented presented to him a fight against tom aspin. They have not presented to him a fight against Tom Aspinall. They have not presented terms on what they're going to pay him for the next fight that he has. The ball has always been in the UFC's court, no matter what John said. John can talk about fighting Jamal Hill all he wants. Ultimately, UFC is not going to put a Jamal Hill fight on his table. They're going to put a Tom Aspinall fight on his table. What is the price tag that they

attach to it is going to determine whether that fight happens or not. The same way they wanted to put a Francis Ngannou fight on his table and the price tag was something for that. The same way they put that same offer on Francis Ngannou's table and the price tag was something for that. We keep talking about what John wants and all these forecasting and clearly Tom wants this fight. The UFC is going to have to attach a price to this fight and it is going to be presented to John Jones and he's going to have a decision to make. He's going to decide if he wants to fight for that price or not. He's going to be able to negotiate and ultimately this fight will be dependent on whether the UFC

pays Jon Jones enough money to fight Tom Aspinall. It has always been and it will continue to be. Ultimately I'm semi confident that they will come to the table with it but I do fear that they're going to get to an amount of money in the negotiations where they fear they're

setting a bad precedent and have to pay fighters more commensurate with what the Conor McGregors of the world are getting than what the rest of the roster is getting, and I'm not sure they will get there. I'm not 100% confident. What do you think? What is your ultimate feeling right now? I don't think the fight will happen. What do you

think, PT? Oh, I just didn't like the way Rick Hansen's out there. I thought we were all trying to be happy and fucking cheap. They had the chance to make this fight with Francis Ngannou. The fight did not happen. I'm not confident it will happen with Tom Haskins. Do they want to right the wrong now? Yeah.

I don't know if they view it as a wrong. I don't think they view it as a wrong. Here's the thing. Before we get to this, do our pick, all right, and whether it happens or not. I talked about Chuck with this on Thursday's episode of The Crack. It was fantastic. It was a great one.

Chuck believes, and I tend to agree after hearing him out, that Jones, as solidified and fortified as this man's legacy is, this will be an asterisk on it if he does not fight tom aspinall and this is this is a separate issue from the light heavyweight run and all of these champions he's absolutely decimated steepay included this right now if he does not fight tom the the rifle number one contender that is heavyweight belt will this heavyweight element of his career be looked at with an asterisk on an arrow? Because of Francis Ngannou, because of Tom Aspinall, I do think so, yes. I do think that John's legacy is a very complicated one, right?

Because of everything that's happened, because of the PED, because of the pinch of salt in the Olympic pool, and he still maintains that he's, I mean, even dating back to the bad Hamill quote-unquote loss, right? There's so much complexity to his career, but there's brilliance as well. The chap, when you open the book and now we get the heavyweight and you're telling your kids about it, you're like, all right, buckle up for this one because this one is a little bit weird.

Beginning with the Dominic Reyes fight, beginning with the COVID times, beginning with the Gan fight and fighting Gan and not in ghanu and then this um this could help not erase what happened in the last two years or so but it does it does help in the end saying like you know what he didn't fight in ghanu for whatever reason maybe the ufc is to blame but he did fight tom aspinall who was younger but if it's he didn't fight in ghanu and aspall as a heavyweight, how can you call yourself undisputed? Can we say this is dependent upon Tom Aspinall continuing to be Tom Aspinall?

We have to acknowledge that. That goes out the window when we talk about this conversation. We talk about the Canelo vs Mayweather. If Canelo does not become Canelo, that fight isn't viewed the same way. This is dependent upon Tom continuing to be Tom. But right now, in this moment

in time, the number one guy, the one that the world wants to see him fight against is Tom Aspinall. Right, but we're not going to view it in that window when we're 10 years down the line. If we're 10 years down the line and Tom Aspinall loses his next three fights, it will not be that. It will not be a stain on his resume. It will not matter.

Well, first of all last week i talked about this and i said that i do think tom ends up being that guy and i do think this stain will grow if he doesn't fight him so a but we can only we can only wait and see i'm just saying when you're writing the book i'm not talking about how this will age i'm saying if you go back in time to november of 2024 slash early 2025 and this fight slips through the cracks and he vacates the title and walks away that should be noted in the end does it become just a footnote perhaps but right now it's a huge freaking deal and it's going to take two to tango here he is saying that he's open but he wants the FU money the UFC has to determine what that price tag is now we all

think that they can they can afford it and then some, but it's, you know, do they want to set that precedent? Because then what happens for the next fight and the next fight and the next fight if he sticks around for three, four fights? Dana White says that the post-fight press conference, he'll get paid, don't worry about it. But Dana White's, you know, his ideas as to what that means, as opposed to what John's ideas as to what that means, they seem to be in a good place right now So maybe that helps are two Very very different things and so I'm

Not a thousand percent confident I'm confident that John is open to it I'm obviously confident that Tom Wants it I'm confident that the UFC Wants it can they come to terms Now it's going to be that thing he's even talking about Negotiations in the cage On Saturday in the cage on on on saturday

in the cage he brought up the negotiations um and and and there is a case to be made that like hey he has a contract with the ufc but those days are over the days of them just being like your next fight is against this guy are over uh that was once a thing like 10 or so years ago but the fighters have smartened up i believe we have a super chat pertaining to this subject frank we certainly do so i wanted to read that out here give me one second it says from alexander hurst it says if jones doesn't get the fucking money at ufc could he end up leaving and we get uh hangano versus jones uh no because he's not a free agent It is worth noting that Francis Ngannou only has one PFL fight left, so Could it happen in that regard?

Maybe, but Dana White has already told us He's not doing any business With the UFC, excuse me With Francis Ngannou in the UFC But John isn't leaving John is not walking away They've got him locked up For a considerable amount of time.

A good point here from our good friend, Ant Evans, who's a part of the team. Dana White spent $30 million or so on the Sphere show. Now, not all of that money was out of his pocket. Of course, some of that came from Riyadh, but do you think Turkey wants to be a part of this? I'd say so. How's he going to tell John that he doesn't have $15 million for the biggest fight ever? Him saying it's the biggest fight ever is a negotiation. That's what's in his mouth.

For John, it's like, you said it yourself. It's the biggest fight ever. What was the gate on Saturday? $18 million for a Jon Jones fight? Now, I know MSG, whomever's fighting, is going to sell a lot. But that's pretty damn significant. And what's the rest of the card going to look like? It's not going to be freaking Izzy and Islam and Alex Pereira on there.

They'll put a couple of top 15 guys in the co-main event and no one will bat an eye. They could easily not only afford this but profit off of it and then some. So it's not an issue where it's like, hey, man, he priced himself out. Like, no. You guys are doing just fine. You're having your greatest run ever financially. This is very easy to get over the hump. Here's the thing.

John knows this. He's aware of all this. And so he's going to ask for probably more than Deontay money. I don't know. He's going to ask for Canelo money. If John comes back and says, give me 65 or something like that, million, it does bring up the classic dana white line that he said so many times like yeah everyone could say they want to fight but if you throw out a crazy number knowing that we won't meet it then do you really want the fight so let's find out but something tells me this is going to

be very reminiscent of four years ago it feels like we are going down that path quick question one thing frank oh go ahead apiece sorry just one because it pertains to the super chat we were just asked about that is another element of this that i think helps jones and aspinal dana does not want francis and ganu's name to be uttered in this conversation whatsoever and let's not forget that's the one right we've we've studied it so many times that's the one that got away and there has been talk all all year about potentially turkey bringing and ganu to the table with the ufc can he make this happen that kind of puts more of an onus on dana to make aspinal v jones so we can say this is the one everyone wants never don't mind that guy francis and ganu nobody cares this is the real fight everybody knows this is the real

fight so i think that kind of pushes him towards know, gives him an impetus to make this fight happen as well. By the way, if Turkey says to them, uh, here's a $50 million check dude in Saudi next year. Like there's no, there's no reason the money is there. The money and then some is there. You don't think Turkey wants this fight in

Saudi? You know what I mean? They would sign up for that. You know, they would, they would do that tomorrow for fu money they will gladly contribute to that whole check they'll pay his whole check if they were to get that for you come on and they'll get the credit for it they'll get the credit they made it happen and then we'll get the francis fight um and so ultimately i i don't know how this all plays out what i do know is if they can't come to terms if he chooses to fight someone else he can't be heavyweight champ anymore he just can't

and i'm happy he agrees with that though it's to a degree i mean i think he kind of you know says a lot of things the fact that he said i'll fight him for fu money keeps the door open. If he would have shut the door and said on Saturday, I'm not entertaining this. You can ask me about Tom a million different ways. I will never fight that guy. I would have come here on Monday saying he should be stripped. You can't not fight the number one contender who is also the interim champion.

You can't do that. Time on our tradition tradition in our business. You got to do the job. You got to fight that next guy the same way all those other guys fought him. But he left the door open. So, good on you. Now we have to see how it plays out. I think if the Saudi money comes in, it's the cleanest way to do

this. Because if you're John Jones... It's not the UFC setting the precedent of if you're yes yeah it's a one-time deal and it's also for john jones right we don't expect that tom aspinall is going to be haggling over the price to for this fight i imagine i don't i hope he doesn't do it for free but i imagine tom aspinall will fight john jones for free if given the opportunity because he wants this for more than the price tag for john j, he's at the end of his career. It is about the money, and it should be about the money.

And I think he should get his worth, as should Tom, as should every fighter. The Saudi money gives you the opportunity to say, hey, this was a one-time deal. Saudi's footing the bill. Here's how we do this. And it's not, Jon Jones, every time you fight, now you make $50 million. Because I imagine that's what the UFC wants to avoid and why Jon Jones isn't already making that. Con mcgregor exists in a universe on his own that he's the one

who's the exception everybody else is getting paid less than their worth quite frankly if they were on the open market they'd be making they'd be making more and so it's a precedent thing you cannot afford to pay john jones that because then the john jones fights again and now you have to pay him that again so the ufc has been very good at controlling their contracts and controlling their salaries in that way. That is why I'm not confident that this fight happens is because you're setting a precedent and if you pay John Jones what this fight is actually worth, it's going to cost them more than they might be willing to pay him for the next one. AZ Ray writes, if Aspinall fights again, will that put more pressure on the Jones fight to happen? He cannot fight again.

He cannot fight again. Do not fight again. That would be a very unwise business decision. I know I'm the filthy casual here, but my question was, who does John, in the possibility of him losing, more to Pereira or to Aspinall? Is he comfortable leaving fighting after he loses to Pereira? Because he's like, well, everyone would agree that this guy was just, you know, a monster to deal with.

I think John thinks that the Pereira fight is a much better fight for him, and he's right. He'd be a massive favorite against Pereira. I mean, look at that takedown against Stipe. Aspinall is much better on the ground. He's obviously younger. He's a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt.

He is not going to get tripped and then beat up like that. And by the way, Aspinall is to a degree a work in progress still. We haven't seen the best of Tom Aspinall, in my opinion. We haven't. We haven't seen him in a five-round war. We haven't seen him dig down deep like John had to do against Alexander Gustafson. And so this is to a degree Canelo versus Mayweather. But I think he realizes, hey, everyone wants this this you all want this so bad i'm not that interested i'm not that inspired by it so fucking pay me he's not doing anything wrong he should get paid he's got a an incredible resume he's the greatest of all time his own promoter promotes

him better than he promotes any fighter on the roster including conor mcgregor we've never seen dana white as the kids like to say glaze someone as much as he glazes Jon Jones. Jon should use that to his advantage. You keep telling everyone, I'm the greatest fighter in the history of combat sports, he said on Saturday. The UFC YouTube channel literally dropped the video five hours ago. This is the greatest fighter in the UFC history. Here's why. And it's just an hour and a half compilation of Jon Jones highlights. Like they've never done that. No actual explanation or anything. They've never done that for anyone anyone and there are times where we say give us that we want that we want to see you promote someone in that light not demote them

or just kind of wishy-washy promote them i think frank you're asking what's the riskier fight right and tom espinal is the riskier fight i think we all kind of agree on that like from a legacy standpoint like if he fights tommy and then loses's like, do you hang around or you're like, OK, I gave you what you wanted and I couldn't deliver. So I'm now giving up the belt. And I think as we've kind of laid out here across the whole conversation, John Jones's resume, you don't need to add a thing to it. In my certified, it's certified. He said that at the press. It's the cream of the crop.

It is the pinnacle. There is not something missing from his resume. The only reason to hang on is the money, and the one that will generate the money at the moment seems to be Tom Aspinall because everybody wants that, and Dana White has broadcasted that he

wants that. If Dana White wants that fight and doesn't want Alex Pereira, to me it's a no-brainer. Make the fight, pay for it, and get Jon Jones back in the cage. Also, in terms of legacy at heavyweight, you can't keep taking fights at heavyweight and it not be Tom Aspinall. No. That's the thing. I've seen so many

people say that. It's a viable option to hold the belt and just fight Jamal Hill or whatever. That's crazy. I'd go a step further than the lads, Frank. Size-wise. hill or whatever that's that's crazy i i'd go a step further than the lads frank yeah size wise um as far as your questions concern frank i would go a step further than the lads i'd say that john jones hasn't entertained entertained the idea of losing to alex perera like i was wondering

that too you just got to look at the guy this week like he is he is so confident like and it's great to see him like this. Like that's, that's what you want your champions to be, right? You want them to exude that regal, um, that regal air and have that power over a room, which he seems to have all week. I think there is an element of doubt when it comes to Tom. I wouldn't even say all that much, even like, I think that's where John Jones's head's at. Like he is unbreakable in terms of competition

like you heard him talking about practicing that spinning back kick that inevitably finished um steve amy ojish for three months like this guy is and i see like i used to say about this this about connor when i was around him when he was on that ascent these people are insane that you have to be insane to do this. At that highest level, at that operating in that rarefied air that Jones did, that Conor did 10 years ago or whatever it was,

you have to be insane. I think that's where Jones is at. And I just wanted to ask Ariel, I'm sorry to bring it back to Tyson, but just while I was talking about Jones and that regal presence, and I've been around him a few times and I felt it,

and I felt it when I was around Conor when he was brilliant. And I felt it around various athletes in my in my time what was it like what was it like to be around tyson like does he still you you mentioned being this close to him and you interviewing these guys after the fight and you're this close does he still have that aura because he must if he has he has captivated this many people to watch this event and i'm sorry for uh moving off the 309 shot here um 100 but it's it's a different aura each day uh wednesday he was sedated like wednesday he gave us nothing he didn't even move i was behind him at the press conference and it was a little underwhelming but just him sitting there and by the way i mean

did we like did we bury the lead? Can I at least get, I mean, I couldn't get credit for being on another. Can I at least get credit for nailing iron? I mean, did I not nail it? You nailed it so much that you got it in the promo package as Tyson was about to walk. Iron! No, no, no.

Is that the new one or is that the old one? I should get the new one. Yeah, I mean, come on. That's the old one. If you got the old one, you need the badass. I don't like doing those press conferences. I got to give myself

the old Barry H. Did you give the Barry H. when you're sitting in AT&T Stadium and your voice is going out? Well, at that point, it's been two days of Barry H. because I was like,

you know what? I fucking nailed that press conference. I mean, I was freaking humming. I was going back and forth. I mean, I'm calling out Tony Bellew with the mustache and the 50 pounds The Fisher-Price microphone was a great line

I'm threading the needle through everything I mean it was something Did you know you were going to be in the intro? No of course not But it was that damn good It was that damn good They were like put that in there They probably had another one

They probably had the old one from like Michael Buffer back in the day And they put put Helwani in there because that's the best I mean Tyson's family Sent me a written note Saying no one's ever Said his name So I will actually Take a barrier By extension

For us shaming you So hard on the arm Winner learned And coaching you To correctly pronounce iron I walked up there I was nervous as hell as well I'm like please don't

Fuck this up You're never gonna hear The end of it You were only thinking About iron correct I took a breath I took a breath And then I did it again

When he came back After the intro Now and forever only thinking about iron correct i took a breath i took a breath and then i did it again when he came back after the the intro now and forever the baddest man and there was a moment where i was like just play it safe and just go mike tyson mike tyson i don't know dare to be great and that isn't in the pre-fight promo if you if you just say mike tyson you're right it was great all of us in the group chat like hopping like he he's doing it. I was just wondering if he said that. It's a thousand percent. Oh yeah, yeah. No, the phone was on the thing.

I saw it all. Oh, amazing. I saw it all. So sedated, Thursday terrifying. I mean, walking up there after he slapped him, I'm walking like this. I'm literally like, please don't hurt me. I am, I have no problem saying I was terrified.

The look on it, I said it. It was unlike anything I've like, please don't hurt me. I am, I have no problem saying I was terrified. The look on it, I said it, it was unlike anything I've seen, not just from a fighter, but a human being. He was being surrounded by guys and they were all locking their hands because no one, and by the way, no one was surrounding Jake. Everyone was just like, get the animal, right?

Like he was like a caged animal who had been unleashed and they were trying to get him back in. And so I asked him one, asked him another, he walked off. And then the Saturday version, it was Mike, but it was almost like he was relieved. You know, like even the line about the, you know, I have a biting fixation. Like it was almost like he was just like, and he could make a joke and he could be a little self-deprecating and be happy that it's over. That's the vibe. But he's Mike Tyson. He looks the same. He sounds the same. And you're in there in the ring and there's 70,000 people and there's Gronk right over there

and Shaq and all these people texting you. But I'll say this to you, PT, like I feel the same way next to Katie and Amanda. And in particular, Katie, because you know, I've been like being in the ring next to her after a fight like that. And she, she was holding the belt and they had to take them off her shoulders because she was like wobbling. She was that tired and, and had taken some big shots. I don't know how she continues to take these shots. And there is a case to be made that maybe the end should be near because her last four fights now, Serrano cameron one two and then this one uh we're all incredible fights um i do want to get to a couple other of the chats well this time it's jones admitting he doesn't want to fight and so dana can't use that line

on him again john and that's from michael carson push says john will want minimum 50 million to fight tom shame um and then there's uh khalid who says the head of the Saudi PIF was sitting next to Trump. FYI. Yes, he was. Yasser was sitting next to him. So I don't know if that has anything to do with, you know, making the Tom Aspinall versus John Jones fight, but a very significant figure from that corner of the world was in fact sitting next to Trump and talking to him all night long. I do want to mention Charles Oliveira's win over Michael Chandler, very dominant, four rounds to one in my opinion. Chandler gave us a great showing in the fifth, and with that performance alone may have saved the Conor fight if it is a thing. Now Dana's saying

back end of 2025, golly, Lord help us. But I do want to ask you guys, is there an appetite? GC, I'll ask you. Do you want to see Charles Oliveira versus Islam 2 or Charles versus Armin 2 or is it the type of fight where you think it'll just be the same old thing?

Has there been enough time between either of those initial matchups to make you really interested in the rematch? I mean, the Armin Sorokin one, absolutely. that was such a ridiculously close fight when they met at ufc 300 um and if charles performs the way that he performed performed in the first four rounds of that michael chandler fight like chandler had essentially nothing to offer him for the first

four rounds he was beating him up on the feet he was taking him down and immediately getting his back controlling him landing big shots like he dominated those first four rounds and i don't know who else would be in the lightweight division at this point if it isn't charles uh i mean i think he deserves winner of of islam sarukian and to ask if i would watch a charles olivera fight is uh is crazy because i will always watch him get into the octagon uh and i i want to see if it was just an off night like he says and he's learned and he's and he's changed his game up and he really does think he can beat Islam.

They did announce UFC 310 will happen on January 18th at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. Also site of the first Monday Night Raw on Netflix. They announced that last night. That's January 6th. And they also announced that Travis Scott Is going to be the one who produces And sings the new intro But Intuit Dome, home of the LA Clippers

Getting some big events And so 310 is on January 18th Oh 311, excuse me 311 is on January 18th But they didn't announce the main event But we all presume it's Islam versus Taroukian And so maybe Charles gets a fight I I don't know, July, August, who knows, because then Ramadan is coming up.

Bet MGM, by the way, announcing just moments ago, our good friends over there, that Tyson Paul, the most bet on combat sports fight ever, as far as they are concerned. Surprised by that GC It doesn't surprise me just because How many people were watching but It's hard to wrap your head around But it was a sham I'm not even thinking in terms of any UFC fighter Or anything I'm thinking like Massive massive boxing fights

Pacquiao Mayweather Well were they a thing back then I don't know i don't think they were a thing i guess that i guess that's true when i hear mgm i think you know yeah that's a good question they've been in vegas for so long that's a good question but i guess now you also have to think like with the legality of sports betting spreading is it just that people more people had you know availability to bet and that's why it. Just shows how big of a deal it was. It was, yes.

No, no doubt. Because they have been available for at least several years and there's been a lot of big fights. What about, what about what I said, Pete C on the back end there? Mike Chandler saved at least the idea of the Conor fight happening with the performance in the fifth round. If he would have gotten skunked five rounds to none or gotten finished something like that i don't know if there would have been as big of an

appetite but the performance in the fifth round and then him getting on the microphone almost like he won like he had all that prepared for if he would have won i think kept that alive also worth noting it's not like connor's on a 10 fight winning streak and he should only be fighting people who are on winning streaks as well like it actually makes more sense now that chandler lost no yeah that that's a my my fear was um he had committed so many years to not fighting mcgregor you know the idea of fighting him potentially dangling in the future would taking this fight obscure it i think he's in a great spot still um you know this is not the conor mcgregor of 2014 2015 um i think he would have looked at that fight and said you know, this is not the Conor McGregor of 2014, 2015. Um, I think he would have looked at that fight and said,

you know, I think I can do this. Um, Chandler will certainly be confident he can do it against Conor. A lot of stuff happening with Conor at the moment. Corky is still ongoing in Dublin, closing statements tomorrow. I'd see it like,

obviously that, that won't affect him in terms of traveling to the U S and stuff, but just a lot of stuff going on with Conor McGregor now. So back in the 2025, all TV deals, all this stuff, you can imagine where that would suit the UFC. We knew that was happening. Come on. We knew that was happening.

The first time this didn't happen, we thought it was a possibility it could be dragged on this far. Still a huge star. I don't know how much juice still left there with Conor. I still like the Chandler fight, and I think he's in a good position to get it. Bo Nickel defeated Paul Craig and will be joined by him in about three minutes' time.

His first decision win, his first time seeing a third round in his pro MMA career, improves to 7-0. Viviani Araujo improves to 13-6, defeating Karim Silva. Mauricio Ruffi improves to 11-1 with a hard-fought win over James Lontop. Marcus McGee defeated Jonathan Martinez via unanimous decision. What about Jim Miller getting up to 38 wins?

27, I do believe, in the UFC. Most wins and another submission for him. He jumps the ghillie against Damon Jackson and submits him in the first round and then Damon Jackson retired. David Onama defeated Roberto Romero via unanimous decision. Marcin Tybura defeated Janta Diniz via doctor stoppage going into the third round. Ramiz Brahimaj defeated Mickey Gall with a tremendous right hook in the first round. Ramiz Brahimaj defeated Mickey Gall with a tremendous right hook in the first round. The Welsh gangster Oban Elliott, who we'll talk to in this very studio at three o'clock, defeated Bazal-Halfez via third round TKO. And Eduarda Moura defeated Veronica Hardy, stopping her

win streak. You know what's interesting about all of this guys we've been talking now For over an hour and a half And obviously a lot went down It is remarkable How much of a footnote The retirement of the most successful And decorated heavyweight champion Stipe Mijicic is We could do the whole show and not mention it

And no one would bat an eye And I don't know if that's just the layoff I don't know if it's you know probably Most people thought he was done after the Nganou fight. And if not for Jones really dragging him back, he probably doesn't fight ever again. And he's very content as a family man and as a fireman, but there he was just being like,

yeah, I'm done. And, and, and there's a very good chance. We never see that guy ever again. Like, unless it's throwing out a first pitch at a guardians game or showing up

on the sidelines at a, at a Browns game or courtside at a Cavs game. I don't foresee a day where we're seeing steep, a just like around fighting. And it's a little bit sad that he just kind of fizzles out like that. But you know, the layoff Jones being such a big deal, the Aspinall fight being such a big deal,

being on the same weekend as Cesar Ball. Like, I don't see many tributes for Stipe right now. And that's kind of a bummer. But he did seem a little bit apathetic all week long, right? Like, he wasn't... But isn't that fitting for Stipe? Isn't this what the retirement of Stipe is? Like, he never wanted the spotlight.

He never wanted the attention. He never... I would say he actively did... He was an anti-promoter. He did not promote at all. And I imagine it was to the UFC's chagrin. Like, I don't imagine they loved the way Stipe Mitrovic kind of handled fighting

because he did not want the glitz. He did not want the glamour. Now he's going to never have to be in front of a camera again, go off into the sunset, go to the firehouse, hang out with the boys. And I think it's kind of the fitting way for Stipe Munch's career.

I know. To be honest, because it is so stupid. No video package. Didn't even take the gloves off. It's Stipe. I'm out. They better put him in the Hall of Fame. He's not playing the game.

He's not playing any games. That's it. He's not playing. He never played the game. Is he showing up? If they put him in the Hall of Fame, is he showing up? Maybe. Maybe. He'll showing up? Maybe.

Maybe. He'll show up. Maybe. I did see Hall of Famer Anderson Silva this week. What a guy. He is just so content and happy. And it was lovely to see him. And it was lovely to see him translate for Wenderson Nunez at the Wayans. Full circle.

I don't even know if that is full circle. Is that the definition of full circle? I mean, the guy went his whole career without uttering a single Word in English and now here he is Translating and you know the answer Was a little long and I was like oh god How's Anderson going to remember all this But you know He did enough he did well enough

One more super chat From Alman we have Aspinall staring Staring Jones And Pereira before they walk in the Octagon if the UFC Doesn't give us Jones will they give us Pereira before they walk in the octagon. If the UFC doesn't give us Jones, will they give us Pereira versus Aspinall? Will they give us Pereira versus Aspinall? That is a big question, but I don't think Dana wants to see Alex Pereira fight at heavyweight.

He said that against Jon Jones, and I think he would feel the same against Alex Pereira. At 4 o'clock, we'll be joined by the great Tom Asprall, the interim champion of the UFC. And yes, he is still, I do believe, the interim champion. Three o'clock, Ovan Elliott in studio. But let's go to our first guest of the day. He was victorious. He improved to 7-0.

He fought longer in that fight on Saturday than his entire resume of fights combined. And then some. A solid, hard-fought victory over Paul Craig, the pride of Scotland. We're talking to Bo Nickel, fought victory over paul craig the pride of scotland we're talking to bo nickel the undefeated bo nickel the pride of penn state there he is hello bo how are you congrats thanks ariel appreciate you uh a lot to ask you about i do want to ask about the song you know the song were they sit were they saying penn state or something is that a penn state song Is that what that is? Yeah, yeah.

That's Zombie Nation. So it's a classic Penn State song. We have that going. Anytime in a football game you score a touchdown or in a wrestling duel, if you get a pin, they play it. So it goes, yeah. They add a little bit in between every little section. They go, we are Penn State. But, yeah, I kind of just you know I liked it added it to the to the walkout thank you it was a nice touch and it was

nice in that moment to see the crowd behind you um you know things may have changed a little bit as as the fight went on I want to ask you about that but I have to say it's a little bit jarring um if you don't mind me saying Bo to see you like this i i don't remember you ever having any kind of marks on your face so the lips the eye how do you feel on this monday i feel good you know the thing that hurts the worst honestly is uh my freaking shin he he uh checked one of my kicks and uh that doesn't feel great but um yeah other than yeah, other than that, I feel awesome. I don't really feel like I took any damage at all other than me hitting him, you know, my left hand's a little swollen and my shin swollen from kicking him. But other than that, I feel, feel awesome. So

yeah, I think, uh, most of the damage was done from me hitting him. Okay. So now 48 hours later, I thought you handled the aftermath of the fight very, very well. Um, and I know you're as elite as far as, uh, being competitor as possible. Like you, you, you are your toughest critic and you, you know, you don't get to where you have been without being that kind of guy. How do you assess your performance? I'm super happy with my performance. I feel like, uh, that was definitely just a real valuable experience for me and my development. And I think that, uh, the way I won was a pretty, um, big boost to my confidence, knowing that I can go in there against a guy that has 26 or 27 pro MMA fights however many 10-12 years of experience and shut him out for 15 minutes so I feel like yeah maybe the crowd didn't like it because I didn't knock him out or submit him or whatever

it was but I don't really feel like I took any damage. I looked at the scorecards after the fight. Um, like not, not the scorecards, but the statistics. And I have no idea where they were pulling his significant strikes from because I mean, I blocked every single kick you through.

Like he landed maybe one or two, uh, strikes with his hands that were insignificant. And I felt like I completely dominated the fight. And, uh, that was, I think a really difficult way for me to win considering my skillset and the way my other fights have gone, you know, how many times you see a guy fight, uh, against a, you know, a big test, a big step up and get tired or start to get pieced up or get taken advantage of in areas that he's not as well versed in.

So I'm really proud of my performance and happy with it. Why did you not shoot for a single takedown? I didn't need to. I was winning the striking. And at the end of the day, let's look at Paul Craig's resume, his record, the stats, the film study, and every single fight, every single big fight he's won has been from his back and so why would i put myself in a position where he's in his you know domain when i'm winning the fight so i think that for me that's just fighting smart not being um

not not not being an idiot and not feeding into the crowd and getting emotional, right? That's to me kind of just shows a lot of discipline. So the game plan was not to shoot on him. I was open to shooting on him, but I was more just wanting to see how the fight was going to progress. I felt like wherever area we were in, I had the advantage and I just took away his biggest offensive weapon. You know, his biggest offensive weapon is his guard play and throwing up triangles and arm bars. And he had zero opportunity to do any of that to me. So when you take away somebody's biggest weapon,

it's going to be really difficult for them to beat you. I thought it was really compelling seeing you just make it to the third round, because like I said, you had never seen it before. How did you feel like 15 minutes against a guy like that how was the cardio after 15 minutes 15 minutes was easy I was like barely breathing it was no problem for me I could have easily done you know not a little not another you know let alone another I could have done three four five more rounds let alone another two for 25 minutes so you know I felt like my cardio was great, a big testament to my team, to, you know, my strength and conditioning coach, Sam Calavita, with the training lab. He's helped me out so much for been working with him, you know, before I even started fighting, you know, five, six years. And we're dialing it in more and more

every camp. And I think I'll just continue to make big gains in every area. We've heard boos in the middle of fights before. That's nothing new. But to hear the Garden chant overrated, what are you thinking in that moment? You know, it was funny to hear the chants. It almost just made me laugh because the crowd and the people that are doing that, I'm looking at, I'll explain it this way. When you get disrespected by people that, in my opinion, have no to feel that from the crowd, it almost just made me laugh because it's like somebody insulting you who has no idea what's going on. So I'm like, all right, well, it's just almost a compliment to me because I feel like I controlled

the fight. I did everything I needed to do. And if I have a bunch of idiot drunk fans that they don't like the way it's going, I think that that's actually probably a good thing. In the moment, is it phasing you at all? Are you bothered by it? Annoyed by it? No, I'm happy with it. I think that, um, when I watched the fight back, something that was a little disappointing was the commentary and just kind of hearing the way that they were looking at the fight and it made me feel like it made me feel like they didn't really know

what was going on as much um because anybody that i've talked to that is that are people that i trust and know shoot straight with me they're like dude you like shut that guy out domination it was a flawless victory and uh to hear things like you know dc say oh he's not ready for hamza and i think he was kind of trying to like be respectful but also trying to like i don't know maybe like set me down a peg. It was just weird to hear. Um, but I just feel like the people that I know, uh, that are in my corner who would give me honest, genuine feedback. They're very happy with the victory. I was very happy with the victory. And, uh, so that's what I really care about at the end of the day, but it was a little disappointing to hear some of those, uh, comments from people that I respect a lot. So, so you probably, you probably watched the whole, the whole fight again, right? Well, I, I wasn't gonna, uh, yeah, I mean, I watched it back, but it was very brief like

that night. And I just kind of, um, I'll watch it back, you know, a lot more moving forward. So I want to, i want to get a better assessment of what was going on so i've only watched it back once but yeah i did it i'm just wondering what that experience is like where all right you hear the boos and something okay let me watch this for myself and you're clearly happy with your performance your your your coach you have a great team obviously i mean they've seen it all and done it all in the sport and then you watch it and you're still happy but then you hear from people that you respect criticism does that bum you out it just is weird to me i was i'm just kind of like trying to figure out what was going

on in their mind i'm like what were you guys watching um and how is it different from what I saw? Because I'm also not only watching it myself, but I'm getting feedback from some of the best minds in the sport and people who I really respect. So I'm like, what was, what was going on in these guys' heads? It almost makes me just feel like they don't know what was happening. I'm like, so it's confusing. Cause I'm like, wait, what? Like, how do you get that from that? I looked at the strike count in the first round and it was like 16. It said he landed like 15 significant strikes. I was like, what? Like he, he kicked my arms, you know, like, is, are we counting block kicks as significant strikes now?

Like what's going on here? This is so weird. I didn't even get really touched. Like it was just crazy. Do you think part of it is just, you're such a phenom and, and, and people are so into your rise and it's meteoric that the, the expectation, like this,

like we said last week, there's a big jump between Val Woodburn and Cody Brundage with all due respect and Paul Craig, and then whomever is above Paul Craig. And so it's almost unfair. People think you're just going to go out there and your seventh pro fight and look like someone who's been fighting I mean you're you're you you have three years and that's it like really what two amateur fights they were all very quick fights and then it's a whole career of just wrestling no striking at all to go 15 minutes and not shoot a single takedown and win that

dominantly I don't know what people like, what more do you really want other than maybe just a 60 second knockout? And everyone's like, yeah, that was awesome. You know, I'm Yeah, you're 100% right. I'm in a lose lose scenario when I look at the opinions of others. And that's why I don't put a lot of weight into that I care about the people whose opinions I trust and were actually giving me real legitimate feedback to improve and develop. So when I hear other people's opinions, I just can't think about them and I can't factor them into my thoughts and my decision-making. Because yeah, it's like, all right, I do what I did. I shut Paul and Craig out for 15 minutes and realistically take any high- fighter or any person at high

level coach and have them watch that fight. And they're going to say that that was not competitive. It was 30, 27, not close. He had zero big moments. The only time that he had a good moment was checking a kick of mine and he landed no power shots. He had no momentum ever. I cut him. I hit him in the body. I hit him in the legs and i rocked him at the end if i would have been more aggressive i probably could have finished him so let's take that as you know the facts of what happened and uh realize that they're mad about that but if i go out there and knock him out in 30 seconds or submit him or whatever all All they're going to say is Paul Craig sucks. Oh,

this guy sucks. Bo Nickel needs to fight better guys. He's a can crusher. And so it's like, all right, well, no matter what, however I win,

it's not going to make anybody any happier. But yeah, that's just the reality of the situation. Could I ask, I mean, obviously it's hard to, to, to pitch the perfect game,

so to speak. Is there anything about the fight and or performance that you wish you could have done better? Absolutely. I think that, you know, I kind of just mentioned I could have been a little more aggressive in the third round. After I hit him with a really good overhand left and rocked him, he backed up to the cage. And I was just trying to draw him out um to maybe throw some big shots and then look to counter him and put him away uh but I think I could have got a little more aggressive and got in but I just need to drill more scenarios like that where I'm

controlling the guy and I can not just throw my strikes you know in a wild way to try to land a punch but really setting it up. And so I think that's something I want to work on. I want to work on straightening my left hand out quite a bit. I throw a lot of overhands, but I think I can continue to develop some crisper, cleaner boxing, straighten the left hand out in addition to having the overhand threat. And yeah, I mean, the way the the fight went of course like we only really fought on the feet so you know my ground game jujitsu wasn't tested but i'm really confident in that area and i want to just continue to develop every aspect of fighting and blending it all together

in order to develop do you need to be more active like if you were the same type of phenom in boxing you probably have like 13, 14 fights by now. And not fighting guys, by the way, as tough as Paul Craig. You'd be fighting guys who are like 2 and 10 or something like that or 5 and 5. But you wouldn't be fighting every 7 or so months. And I know you got annoyed, by the way. I could tell you got annoyed when the dude at the press conference was like,

you need to fight way more. And you're like, what's the difference between 2 and 3 fights? That exchange, you know what I'm talking about? And so, but that being said, do you need to be a little bit more active in order to progress at the speed in which you want to progress at? Yeah, I mean, I don't mind people, you know, discussing my activity and talking about taking time off and this and that. Because I'm totally fine to discuss it but i was just he was like like you need to get at least three fights and i'm like i fought twice this year like so what are we talking about it's not like that it's not you know like oh he

needs to fight five times and i'm fighting two times it's like we're talking one more fight and uh yeah so it's just like a little annoying but for me i don't have the luxury of fighting two and ten guys paul craigs you know had 18 fights in the ufc and uh those are the type of guys i'm i'm fighting and so i don't have the luxury of getting that development against as a typical prospect would and uh that's why my i've taken you know more time between fights face them out i think a good example uh to look at is a guy like ilia teporia you know he doesn't have a ton of fights um he's fighting on i looked back at his record since he started and he's averaging two fights a year from the beginning of his career and uh look at him now in my mind he is definitely

one of the pound for pound best fighters in the world and a guy that look at him now. In my mind, he is definitely one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world and a guy that, look at his striking when he entered the UFC and fought Zalal when he fought Jai Herbert versus now. It's like incredible development. And I think I can pattern myself in the same way where, you know, we saw me fight Jamie Pickett. I didn't really land a single strike. We saw me fight Val Woodburn, who was, you know, is making his UFC debut, not like a high level world class opponent. I knocked him

out, like Cody Brundage, and then we fight Paul Craig. I mean, I thought I, my development is pretty incredible, considering, you know, those types of things things so let's look at where i'll be in a year two years five years and uh if i'm averaging two fights a year doing that for you know five more years it's like now we're talking 17 and 0 and definitely the champ one of the best guys in pound to pound in the world which that's what I'm looking to do. That makes sense. Yes, of course. Danaway was asked about you post-fight press conference. The quote was, we've had these discussions with Bo. Bo needs work. Bo's an up-and-coming guy. I know he has big aspirations and wants to move faster than he should, but tonight showed he's still dominant. He won the whole fight, but he's got work to do and that's all right. We'll move him.

When you're in a position like Bo is, there's a lot of expectations, end quote. Your thoughts on his his statement I absolutely agree with that I think that that's a really accurate assessment of the reality of the situation and I think that um that's where my head's at too I've dominated the fight won the fight and now it's back to the drawing board, back to work. Let's improve and get better. And I'm happy with it because, you know, when we look at guys, I said this on the mic after the fight, GSP, Jon Jones, Demetrius Johnson, Khabib, how many decision wins do these guys have?

A lot. And nobody cares when your career is over if you know nobody's gonna look back at my career and been like oh he retired as champion and defended his belt 10 times but he won a decision against paul craig so yes you know it's like it's just short-sighted and um yeah the fans can be rough in mma and not you know, it's, it's just part of my job though. And, uh, I am not worried about it in the slightest. What was it like being back at MSG? I saw them give you the, uh, the, the nice treatment at the Rangers game. You got the jersey and everything, and then just being in the locker room and, and those, those jitters, uh, we talked about, you know, the, the 2016 appearance there, were you reliving any of that and, and, and going back

to that time eight years ago? Yeah, I did. You know, it was weird walking in the back because obviously, uh, you know, just jogs your memory. And I'm remembering, um, the feeling of just being crushed and devastated, uh, after I lost in the finals. And so, um um i think that what this experience taught me though was just how much i've matured since then and grown and developed as a as a person and i feel you know really grateful to have the opportunity to compete there again and you know get the win and uh i just saw this growth of being going from being 19-year-old kid who had a lot of pressure on him and kind of crumbled versus being a 28-year-old man who had the weight of the world on his shoulders. And I just came out on top, right? Like, I don't think that people really realize and understand I'm getting championship level pressure and championship level media obligations and

championship level expectations at a seven as a seven and no pro. And, uh, yeah, I feel like, um, I handled it really well and it just, it's going to build my confidence even further. Any extra added pressure having, uh,, your, your, your, your number one fan, the president elect right there sitting and watching you so attentively, like, did that actually make you, honestly, did it make you a little nervous? This is you two sharing a moment. And I'd love to ask you as well, what was said there, but just knowing that he was there and how much you respect him, did that make you a little nervous?

It did. I think that there's definitely added pressure with the conversation and the discussion around my relationship with President Trump. But it's becoming normal for me it's becoming which is even weirder it's becoming something that just like part of my life and it was really it was amazing to have him there as a sport he sent me so a really nice text prior to the fight, just kind of saying that he was just supporting me. And so, yeah, it adds pressure. And post-fight, it was great to see him. A lot of people saw my little celebration, practicing a golf swing.

I asked him how my swing looked. He told me, needs some work. And I was like, well, let's get down and get some rounds in Indoorow. So he said, absolutely, anytime and asked me kind of how I felt about my performance. And so we were able to chat for a little bit. I caught him on his way out as well. We chatted a little more and it was really cool to just get that support. And it's a relationship that, um, I'm very grateful for. And yeah, I think, uh, it's, it's, like I said, becoming something that's, that's normal, which makes it even weirder. On, on Saturday night at the post-fight press conference, you talked about, you know, speaking with Jorge Masvidal and maybe fighting in Miami,

uh, not wanting to call anyone out or anything like that. Just curious, two days later, anything changed? Do you have any sort of month in mind when you'd like to come back? And do you have an idea as to who you'd like to fight? I haven't thought about it. I've just been enjoying the downtime. I put in however many three, four months of really hard, uh, focused discipline, difficult training. And so I'm just taking a little time off, uh, to reset and I'll be back

in the gym soon. So as far as opponents, as far as timeline, I would definitely like to get going early next year, sometime like, you know know the first few months of the year and uh i feel like i don't really care who i fight um i would just love to just keep developing improving getting better and uh the ufc and my management team are the people that really kind of deal with that for me uh Paul Craig was the first name they really brought to me for MSG. I liked it. So we went with it. So we'll see, you know, who they think next. I'm assuming that it's kind of funny if they weren't impressed with my performance, they'll probably give me somebody not as good. So if that's the way they want to do it,

then that's fine with me. I don't uh last question you mentioned your management team uh they also represent john jones abe kawa there and uh first round management representing a lot of great guys but i'm i'm wondering since this is an opportunity or was an opportunity for you to be on the same card as him and i saw you guys wrestling and whatnot were there any moments where john is as the veteran but has been there and and done it all and and been the greatest. Like, has he given you any advice? Did he give you any advice? Did he put his arm around you either after the fight or during fight week? Who better than him, right? He's dealt with it all. I'm wondering if you shared any moments like that. I think just being around him is something that I,

you just kind of learn, you can feel the energy, see how he's acting, his attitude, things like that. And I was really happy with the grappling. I feel like I got the upper hand there. So, you know, we're one and one now after he, I think, got the victory at UFC 285 over me. But we'll have to get a rubber match soon. But, yeah, we talked a little bit about nerves and just the mental aspect, which for me, when I look at Jon Jones, that's the strongest part of his game. Everybody talks about the 80,000 inch reach and, you know, his leg teeps and different stuff like that and spinning attacks.

But I think his mind is really what separates him from most people. And so just getting insight into that is something that I really value and appreciate. And it was the conversation went basically just like that. We're all dealing with nerves and it's not unusual. It's part of the job and it's actually a good thing. So, yeah, to kind of hear that from him and just build some common ground was really cool and definitely i mean he performed amazing so it was awesome to see well uh for whatever it's worth i was impressed i have a lot of respect for paul craig um i've seen him fight at 205 and of course now at 185 and i thought that was a very impressive performance when you consider how, you know, how short your time in this sport has been.

Really, three years. It's remarkable. And just seven pro fights. So keep doing your thing. Don't listen to the haters. You know, some of those New York guys, they could be a little bit rude, if I'm being honest. And, you know, there's parlays involved and there's drinking involved. And they don't really mean it, is what I'm trying to say.

On behalf of them, I apologize. On behalf of all New Yorkers, Don't let it get to you. It doesn't sound like it's getting to you, which I'm happy to see. Congrats on the big win. Congrats on a great week for you and enjoy the time off and looking forward to a big 2025 for you as well. Thanks so much, Ariel. Appreciate you having me on as always. All right, my man. Thank you so much. There he is. Bo Nickel, huge win for him. 7-0. Everyone has those moments where it's a decision. Everyone's like, ah, he's overrated. He's overrated. He never was. Ah. Everyone needs to chill. Paul Craig's tough, man. Paul Craig is tough. And that was a very impressive performance, especially when you consider the fact he didn't shoot for a single takedown And that's his bread and butter And that's why I was so interested in the fight Because sometimes when you have a wrestler Going up against a grappler It cancels each other out And you get a fight very similar to that one And striking is what he is newest at

And so give him some time I still think If I'm buying stock in someone I'm not wavering That's a winner That's a gamer right there And I'm not wavering If I'm winner, that's a gamer right there And I'm not wavering If I'm buying stock on someone who isn't ranked right now

That's got to be the guy at the top of the list I mean just look at All that he's done in the world of collegiate wrestling I'll tell you what Our next guest might be at the top of the list You let me know Frank when our next guest is ready Or is he ready, I don't know He is ready

Okay our next guest might be at the top of that list as well i mean what a year for this man i tell you what three and oh three numbered pay-per-view cards the pond the co-op live and the world's most famous arena he called it he asked for it and look it would have been great if it was three and oh three decisions i mean that's the ufc that's the creme de la creme. But he lit up Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, brother. He lit up that place. He called his shot.

He freaking smoked it. He had the week of all weeks. He wins via TKO in the third round, and then he poses on him. And I can't wait to have, what an honor it is to have the welsh gangster back in studio he said he was going to join us in fact this is what we said we said this last week it was last tuesday our last show before going to dallas this is what we said when obon elliot was in studio take a look not to add pressure you get the dub you come back without a doubt you but and and i'll teach you how to drink we'll have one here will you do that

am i allowed what to drink on at work yeah i fucking do it yeah fuck you you're the boss who else is the boss yeah we're gonna drink one here together yeah that's what what are we gonna drink you might have to show me some stuff what about canadian beer they're not molson molson we'll get some of them uh labatt have you had a labatt no we'll get some molson we'll we'll toast and we'll celebrate a successful night in the office who's the baddest man in new york brother who's the baddest man in new york brother There he is. We just shook up the world, man. We just shook up the world. My guy. Look at you.

Wow. I keep saying it all day. We got some. Please, have a seat. We have a lot to discuss. I keep saying it all day. I keep saying, who's the baddest man? Who's the man in New York City, brother? Oh, amazing.

Oh, fucking man. Come on, man. Congratulations. Thank you so much. So happy for you. Thank you so much, man. Oh, amazing. Oh, fucking man. Come on, man. Congratulations. Thank you so much. So happy for you. Thank you so much, man. Oh, wow. Wow.

You're buzzing. Please have a seat. Have a seat. Let me rip this off. Okay. Look at you. My mother sucks. Yeah.

And hey, we're going to double dip. I told you I was bringing some Canadian beer as well. We're double dipping. We're double dipping. Yeah, right. Well, you have one of them. Yeah as well. We're double dipping. We're double dipping. Yeah, right, well you have one of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we're gonna get, oh you. You see.

Taste the thing. We're doing it. Are we doing it here? Let's do it. This one first or yours? I wanna go with yours. All right, Canadian beer. Yeah.

Try not to get the thing wet. Cheers. Have you had one yet? No, I'm about to taste it. All right, here we go, here we go. Oh, that's like a... What is it? It tastes like the Great White North. That's the orange juice of the North.

Yeah. Oh, wow, wow. Oh, we're gonna... Double fisting. By the way, tell the world what you said. You said, I'm gonna bring you 0%. Oh, wow. You thought I was a little bit... Idea. huh no i didn't know if you i didn't know if you could drink on the job i went too sure bro i told you i'm the boss and i asked true yeah yeah yeah cheers

mate brother yeah to wales to victory world domination 50 g's to 3-0 in 2024. Brother. To the rookie of the year? 100%. To fucking two years ago flipping chickens at Nando's. And now we're sipping. And look at you, lighting up the world's most famous arena. Huh? Drink it in. Drink this moment in.

Wow. Cheers. Wow. That's nice. Yeah, Big Spang was right there It's like the first thing He's been right about In like five years

Nah I'm just kidding I'm just kidding Bootlegger Big Spang I love you Look at this I love this I love this Look at that

Wow thank you Ariel Mate What the fuck How did you do it How do you feel By the way You're some

Yeah there it is You're some young man From Wales And you just fought At the world's Most famous arena You stepped on Muhammad Ali's scale Right you by the way you're you're you're some yeah there it is you're some young man from wales and you just fought at the world's most famous arena you stepped on muhammad ali's scale right you did that i did i did it was legendary before i even made the walk out of everything tell us everything let's start from the beginning you say goodbye on tuesday how was the week how did you feel it was good it was really good um get you get hungry you get a little bit more, what's the word? I say I got anxious, but I didn't.

Ornery? It was, the anticipation was building. Um, it was just the, it was the best week. It was the best week, best fight week I've had. I kind of knew I was going to enjoy it when I got in there. So I took comfort in that. I took comfort in about what I was about to go and do, you know? And, um. You felt like you belonged.

100%. 100%. You weren't just like, oh, you know, I'm making my debut. I'm happy to be here. You're not taking selfies with everyone. You see Jon Jones, you're like, yeah, Jon, you're fighting on my card. Yeah. You know?

Yeah. And I, yeah, we, well, that'll come out what me and Jones discussed. I'm sure. Okay. What'd you say? You said your team your team sunnan well he actually apologized to me oh really but uh the the chaos slander i said it's all good it's all good we'll uh we'll get the aspinal fight done and uh you know he agreed sure okay so you made it

happen well we'll see we'll see we'll just get the contracts, I'm sure, will be signed. Okay. More or less. It is surreal, man. I saw this moment as well. I saw it all. I've never felt like that before, you know, before the fight. It was all kind of, it felt like it was always going to go that way. I couldn't really call the finish. I thought I was going to get him with a kick, but the punch, the shot, great shot. What is that like when you connect like that?

It feels like you've hit nothing. Really? It feels like you've missed. Yeah, it's weird. It was precise. It was perfect. Yeah. And it feels like you hit like air, like a feather.

When you catch it clean, when you catch somebody, when you catch them clean, it's like, I can't explain it. Yeah, you just just there's no resistance because your punch kind of your punch kind of just you kind of take the jaw then you just take it so it's like there was no it didn't feel like i punched a wall because it obviously kind of i don't know it's a weird it's a weird one i'm sure everybody was were you searching for it like in your mind we were like let me get a yeah i was i was setting i was setting something up the whole fight i was just seeing what he was going to do

and that my corner actually said you've chewed his leg up next time you switch yourself or after the calf kick just let that right angle you're gonna land it and i kicked his calf he went south boy i faked i had a look. I went, fuck it. Boom. Got him. And then you're just. Yeah. And my uncle said each arm and fist was 10 grand.

Like boom, boom, boom. Yeah. So yeah, look at that. You know what I mean? Felt good. Felt unbelievable. Unbelievable. This is like a dream.

What is it like to actually live a dream to to dream of something and then see it all come to fruition and almost turn out to be better than you probably dream because you probably said okay let me go fight let me get a win all good to do it like this performance of the night on a card like this with the 50 g's with your family there to actually live a dream view very few people get to live their dreams out right now and i i feel like i'm a i'm a lucky man for the rest of my life what that moment in time will live forever the money will get spent you know i'll retire one day um but that moment will never ever ever go away so it's

i genuinely i'm like speechless about it like I've not come down since I got signed to the contender series I've just been like up there it's all kind of just unfolding and

what kind of it just kind of takes when you live a dream I guess it just takes the limits off life it just does I'm just like well I can go

wherever I want why not be a champion yeah what 100 if what's crazier going from flip you know what sounds crazy ah you've turned a chicken tell him i'll be in the ufc one day i'm gonna go on break to being three and oh in the ufc big big highlight reel knockout me telling you i'm gonna be the champion one day what sounds what's more believable you know i mean uh i can do this i could i could i couldn't if i put my mind to it i can do anything same as anyone really can right but yeah i can do this this is this is wild mate this is this is this is mad by the way oh it's unbelievable I wanna I wanna I wanna tell you About a young man

This is according To our research William Gypsy Daniels Are you familiar With this man? Um William Gypsy Daniels In 1923

February of 1923 According to our Crack staff Is the last Welshman To score a stoppage at Madison Square Garden. He defeated Fred Clark. There he is.

Look at that badass. Wow. He's got a bit of a nose like me as well. According to our research. Now, we've had Tommy Farr in the 30s. Joe Calzaghe, as we talked about. Jack Marshman. Yeah.

But according to our research. And look at that shot right there. He looks a bit like me. Don't you think? Maybe a long lost. Could be. Could be. He looks a bit like me. Don't you think? Maybe a long lost... Yeah, he could be. Could be. And he got the last scored...

1923. He got the last scored knockout. And Madison Square Garden. A Welshman. How about that? And it was 101 years later. Yeah. That's history.

I've just made history. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, me. That's in... Me. I did it. I did that. Me.

Little old silly me. From where from where from where where's that town again from earth of tidville crazy from the from from nothing genuine not from nothing because no no i've just a small part of the world yeah yeah no nothing uh i had everything i have my family you know i didn't i didn't have nothing, but yeah. Do you know what I mean? I did it. Wow. Wow.

Just talking about this, I never really like to, if I do any kind of interview, I don't really, well, I never, this is just a conversation. This isn't an interview. So I've never thought about what I was going to say. So I didn't think about anything might have said today but you know when i do think about it what i've just what has happened it doesn't feel real like i can't sleep because as soon as i wake up and i realize that this is my life that this is actually happening i don't want to go to sleep i you know what i mean yeah how many times have you watched it i just throw all over and over again. Yeah, and the commentary and listening to it all and every little moment of it, just amazing.

Amazing. Wow. Like, isn't it mad how I never got the, I didn't get a knockout in the Contender Series. I've had a few decisions. I didn't get the knockout in my debut. It wasn't outstanding. Got a decision last time out. I didn't get the knockout in my debut. It wasn't outstanding. Got a decision last time out. I didn't get the knockout.

And it was because it was destined to happen. It was built into this. And I even stood in the blue corner, which meant my right arm would be raised, which is the same as the Statue of Liberty. Ah, stop it. No, I saw it. I saw it.

You know, just things like that, you know. How do you have the presence and just the sort of like the calm demeanor in that moment to not lose your shit and instead you're just walking around flexing

because I promise you right I in terms of the fighting the the the competition itself

I wasn't fully surprised because if you put if you put me and Basil fighting in here, for example, and I did that to him, I wouldn't be surprised. I know what I can do kind of thing. And I've done a really good job, I feel, lately as treating these fights, especially after my debut, I was blinded by the occasion a bit. Treating them for what they are, it's just a fight.

It's the same as you take the gym, you put it in a cage, you put it in the arena. So when I did the actual, the fight itself, when I landed the shot, when I was fighting him the way I was, it kind of,

yeah, it didn't, look at that, mate. I mean, geez, Louise. Yeah. Look at, he's out there. He's out there. There he goes. Mate, and when I saw him go down,

like I did lose it. It was when the ref stopped. So after this, see, I stopped. I stopped. I was like looking at... I went, oh, he's the fucking man. Do you know what I mean? DC loved it.

Yeah. Just for that to be... That was iconic. How good was that? That was amazing. He landed right in the middle of the ring. It was right in the middle of the ring. It was clean.

A one-punch KO. Yeah. People said the stoppage was a bit late, but I respect that because if that was me going down, I'd want every chance to be able to recover and survive. Look at the fight I had in the Contender Series.

I'm glad that, you know, I'm glad I was given the chance to survive as long as I did, because then I eventually turned it around. So, but imagine, you know, that was as clean as a one punch KO in the middle of Madison Square Garden. Boom, done. The scene is set and I'm walking around. Mate. By the way, they cut to, and there you are. Madison Square Garden boom done the scene is set and I'm walking around mate it's so good

by the way they cut to and there you are look at that pose you freaking nailed it by the way you nailed it all week yeah

you were nailing it there you are that's gone nuts you nailed it right there I look at the scale the alley scale oh that's what they were using

I'm beautiful I give that a kiss I give that a kiss beauty and just just absorb that because i thought hey whatever happens tomorrow i was fighting but i'm look what i've done look where i've look where i've got myself you know and my family are all together except we're all celebrating this um look where we are in new york i was wondering uh they cut to a um a couple of guys holding a Welsh flag right after.

Do you know those people? No, funnily enough. Chael saw them in the airport. Okay. I think they're from Mid Wales or somewhere around there. I don't actually know them, but they come to support me. I don't know them personally. I've never met them before.

I met them on the night. I bumped into them on the night. Yeah. That's amazing. I don't know them. Yeah. Just things like before I met them on the night I bumped into them On the night Yeah That's amazing I don't know them Yeah Just things like that There was a lot Of support in there

Did you know where Your family was sitting Could you see them At the top yeah Could you see them Or was it too far Just about Okay

Yeah yeah Just about But I tried looking for them But you know There's levels Yeah yeah There's a few levels up there The tickets were a lot of money

So they got the They had a good view though What was it like When you saw them When you saw them afterwards I was emotional you know uh seeing my mother how happy my mother was is it's like wow you know when you look at the full journey in my life seeing that um everybody together happy what we're celebrating you know it it's

it's special it's so i'm so glad i got to give that you know this moment in time this weekend will live forever it will be will be it'll be a proud moment we can look back on a positive moment we can look back on that i turned i turned you know bad into good i guess in, you know, bad into good, I guess, in life. You know, that's special. I'm so happy. I'm so proud. I'm overwhelmed, over the moon, grateful. I'm not silly. You know, it doesn't last forever.

I've enjoyed every single second of the week leading up. And then I got that, you know? Wow. What was that phone call like? You were in the hotel, think and uh you and shaky were were about to go to the arena you're playing cards and your mom called you oh yeah just well i spoke i spoke to my mother uh just talking she was like oh yeah good luck in that and i was trying to keep it together and then i just put the phone down just burst into tears because i just think

like wow mate she's, we're in New York, what I'm about to go and do. It's like I had a real emotional moment with my uncle as well last night. it's, because,

I don't know, life just kind of, I look at, it's kind of flashed before me when I look at, it's like a time lapse, like, boom,

and now we're here. So, it's, it's like a rush, emotional just, it's coming over me. I'm not going to cry today. I hear you talking. But, yeah, it's, it's it's like a rush if a flood emotion just is coming over me i'm not gonna cry today but um yeah it's uh it's emotional like it's tears of pride yeah because like that's how you know happy relieved and proud of myself i am to be in this position. So, yeah, and then we played cards then

to take my mind off, take my mind off everything. And then I got to the arena and it was business. I loved it. I loved the warmup. I loved the anticipation. It's like, did I say this analogy to you privately? Imagine you're in a shootout.

Did I say that one? No, no. So if me and you were in a shootout now, both looking at the guns, one of us is there that one? No, no. So if me and you are in a shootout now, both looking at the guns, one of us is there like shaking. Oh, fuck. And the other one's

just holding the gun dead cold holding the gun. It's like a, that's like a battle in itself. You know, as much as you want to be shaking, you've got to just stay there composed. Yeah.

You know, as if this, you know, go on and do it. Shoot me, pull the trigger kind of thing. So I take pride in winning that battle before the fight. I think be the guy

who's cold and calm. You felt like you did. 100%. Did you feel that from him? Did you feel him shaking? I did. I had that energy about him, yeah. Bless him.

Unfortunate result for him. We never got to have the beer after that. We said we would. He was a super sound guy. He shook his hand in the hotel and that. So we never got to have the beer. I did send him a text because I watched the fight back

and I heard on the commentary he lost his parents through tragedy. So what a warrior. And I actually text him. I'm sure I can, it's not, I can tell you what I said. Sure.

Yeah, yeah. I text him saying, you should be so proud of yourself, what you've just done. You're a legend for what you've just done. You've just fought in Madison Square Garden. You know what I said, can't I? Sure. Yeah, yeah. I text him saying, you should be so proud of yourself, what you've just done. You're a legend for what you've just done. You've just fought in Madison Square Garden. You know what I mean? And this was before I found out

he lost his parents to the cancers. It explains the tattoos. Mm-hmm. So, fair play to him. You rate him back? No, he hasn't, yeah. I don't expect it. You know, everybody's like,

you don't want to be that guy do you sure sure sure over the top nice to the guy you just beat you don't need that but we said we'd have a beer we didn't get to have it so i just felt courteous to just be like you know usually we get that moment like i had a beer with preston after i fought him in july didn't get that moment with him so fair york robbed you of the uh the beer on the way back huh i know yeah They're super strict. Same as they wouldn't let Cheo walk me up. Obviously, Cheo was in the tunnel.

Yeah, so tell us. So tell us what happened here because I saw this. I was waiting for it. And then I'm like, fuck, we didn't get to. By the way, I need to. I got you one of these too. Where you going? Oh, go on, man.

You know this one? You know this one? It's a map. You know this? I think they told me it's a Spanish. No, no, no. What what i had this here for you you psychopath roll up ariel what you did that with your mouth yeah yeah how do you think how do you think go are you yeah come on yes come on i didn't think i brought a beer to know if you like you don't bring said, we both have to bring both come through. Yeah.

Hmm. Oh yeah. By the way, last time you brought me a gift, I brought you a Wani merch as well. Oh my God. Yeah. Come on.

Thank you so much. Okay. I don't know if you're an XL. I mean, your, your arms certainly are. Yeah. So there you go. Yes.

The merch. Thank you, mate. No problem. No problem. You don't have to open it now. I just want to show you that it wasn't, you know, it wasn't worn. You know, it's straight out.

Thank you, mate. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. So what happened with Chael? Oh, yeah. So one of the, do you call them blue shirts of the UFC? I don't know. What, the brass?

One of the boys that does the running, it's like the running in the event, came up, showed me a text saying Chael's doing hits with ESPN or something. He's not going to be able to come down to the tunnel so it was i was like ah i'm not going to see him and then i walked around the corner sorry sorry i walked around the corner and uh there he was and i thought you fucking you didn't know no but he told me that he couldn't come right here yeah yeah he told me he couldn't come this is out of a movie right here him the way they shot that with him clapping this is like straight out of rocky wow did he did it and they showed it again showed again show one more time i said i said to him i said fuck it just come and he went i'd love to i

can't i can't yeah we're gonna replay we're gonna replay but this is that so you had no idea at that point at that point they told me yeah it was over yeah but you're locked in at that point i thought well that would have been cool uh he done he done what does he say to you right there did you smell fantastic yeah we were we had a funny little moment yeah because i give him a cut i give him a kiss i fucking look no i love you chale and uh you know he said what do you say to him um what when i first saw him like right here oh and he said ah i said i said i like to smell fresh i said i like to smell you actually put cologne on no but I think I just put that much on throughout the week. It probably was just infested on.

Yeah, I don't know. I've got this phobia of smell. We could have walked you out right there. Yeah, they're strict, mate. The New York guys, yeah. You felt it throughout the week? Yeah, the New York commission when you get there. Yeah, they're on your case, yeah.

Okay. So I thought maybe there will be, you know, nobody wants to get fined or anything. But he did his best, and he come down and saw me and that was that was perfect that was enough it was cool to see him uh and it's weird because i don't know we we just felt like it was like a it's like an avengers thing isn't it it's like some sort of what i loved about it was it was almost like a passing of the torch oh wow that seriously that is an honor for you that was beautiful i loved it i loved everything about it that is was almost like a passing of the torch. Oh, wow. Seriously. Now, that is an honor for you to say that. That was beautiful. I loved it.

I loved everything about it. That is a massive honor for you to say that. And he doesn't do that. You know, Chael's a very reserved guy. I know him on a personal level. Like, when we travel, when I was working on ESPN with him and Fox, you know, everyone likes to go out and drink or go to the restaurant. Yeah.

Chael's favorite thing to do Is room service And he orders movies Off the hotel TV Oh is it He's not even And one lovely thing That he does is He'll order a movie And his wife will get

The movie back home The loveliness And they'll watch it Together on iPad Wow This is Chael And so he doesn't Like to go out

He doesn't like to be seen He doesn't like to talk When we used to watch The fights at T-Mobile We used to sit in the back And he would Want to sit in the back With me and Be away from everyone Like he doesn't want You would think he used to watch the fights of t-mobile we used to sit in the back and he would want to sit in the back with me and be away from everyone like he doesn't want you would think he wants to be the life of the party and the spotlight on him but he's the complete opposite so

him going out of his way to do that is very significant wow he doesn't want that attention wow so i was really impressed he says that a lot he says it's a very nice thing for me to do he says that a lot that i bring in him along but either i i think that's just the the honest i'm just only honest about it um that's that's you know how grateful i am for that man you know yeah i know that it's uh that moment we had before i thought before i thought exactly how calm i felt i saw him and it's weird because what that's too much of an honor for me to say passing of the torch but the the way i kind of treated him it wasn't like a oh it was like we're we were on the same level where you know which we are you know i mean we're and that is the passing of the you know and i brought him

in and i i brought i i like grabbed him and pulled him in like i would do the come here give him a kiss on the cheek i love you chel i love you too and he went wow you smell fantastic you know like in typical j you smell bad what is that what am i getting now what am i gonna say i like to smell i like to smell fresh i'd like to smell fresh and then he said i believe in you stud um i actually promised him i'd win the fight i promised him that's how i've got his chair i promise you i promise you you know no i bet you know we just had that yeah yeah word for word i'm not gonna i'm not gonna get it right now maybe on the night but yeah you see him afterwards i couldn't i couldn't i couldn't get a hold i couldn't get a hold of him okay no yeah his last active was the same he was obviously super busy so

yeah he's a busy man but he may he i saw him when i needed him you know i mean he he was there when I needed him. Fair play to him. Oh, my gosh. Brilliant. My mother so loves him as well. My mother absolutely loves him because, obviously, she's seen so much of him when I was growing up.

She'd become a fan of him because, obviously, I was watching everything. And she can't believe it. She was like, just earlier on, my brother said, one day, if a band gets married, Chael will be at the wedding. You can meet him there. And she was like, oh, my my brother said i'll one day if oban gets married chela be at the wedding you can meet you know and she was like oh my god no way so yeah by the way is it oban it's oban yeah oh so we keep saying it wrong huh it's we sing i'm saying like oban but it's oban oban it's like it's like oban oban so many people have said it wrong for so long

i just tune up to it yeah yeah in school they call me open open and all been and just am i saying it now right or ban or ban i don't mind you say how you say it i like it the it's like it's on israel to sign you it's israel i dis on you ah i like it to be about it's like oh or Oban Oh ban Yeah Don't worry Honestly Yeah yeah So all my best mates Even get it wrong

But it's just kind of What it's called Only my mother Really When I hear it When I hear it said like that I know it's like Ah

You know I get that feeling Like my mother saying it You know It's like my mother My brother and sisters They keep How many people

Did you have in There There's a photo have i got a photo i'm not gonna be able to find it um i want to say 30 people wow yeah we flew over those tickets aren't cheap no and they made the effort they booked the time off work they they made the they you know the flights aren't cheap either neither the hotels and they all made the effort that's wow and do you know what i mean that's it's huge even if it was five people but it was 20 people and that that's not millions you know like that's

that's i had i had everyone in the world as far as i was concerned behind me did you even go to bed on saturday 45 minutes really 45 minutes what did you guys do after when you saw them um i can't imagine what it was sunday was the day of drinking. Oh, that was the day. I was wasted yesterday. What did you do? We were at the Liberty in New York. Okay.

Yeah, shout out to the Liberty. They looked after us all. They paid for the drinks for us. Wow. Yeah, anything you want, we'll sort the check, they said. Yeah. So we had a skinful yesterday. I probably had three hours again as soon as i like breaking my sleep i don't want to go back because of the life i'm living you

know what i mean it's like but you're on a high right complete i can't explain it yes i cannot explain that the the high i'm on it it's madness madness when are you here till i go back tomorrow night tomorrow night unfortunately but hey I've done everything I wanted to do we've had our chat

I don't see this as an interview I've come here just to see you and have a chat I'm drinking a beer on my show I've never done this

15 years I've been doing this show we make history on Saturday night and we make history today which one's your favourite by the way of the three? I like that one you like that one?

yeah that was you want another one? Yeah, that was, yeah. Another one? Yeah. Oh, man. Send it over, brother.

Come on, mate. Go on. it's a good job I got that driver, Carlos. He's the man. Can I ask, you mentioned in the post-fight press conference

about a flag that Shakey had in his pocket. Yes. What is it? That's the flag I always take out. So, my dad died, it'd be 20 years ago in january wow um and the flag was made just after he died and what does the flag say it's just paul it just says his name on it on there but the commissioner came out and obviously

he was like oh man if you if the let he was happy to have it wrapped around my wrist uh i talked him into it basically the one from saturday yeah but i didn't have it wrapped around my wrist i had a shaky set i'll put it in my pocket and i just i don't know it's like a i didn't i sound like some spiritual no i like that i like that i i didn't want to i didn't want to resist anything. So it was like a... I like it. It was like a Bruce Lee flow kind of mindset I had with it. So he wanted to put it in the pocket. Yeah, okay, it's in the pocket kind of thing. I'm super superstitious about fight.

Like I've told you, with the superstitions I have. You know my shorts, the custom ones? Yeah, yeah. I have a shakeout fight day that I hit the pads to shake the weight cut off and I always wear them shorts and I forgot to wear the shorts.

So it was like, I went upstairs and I said to Shakes, I said, Shakes, I fucking forgot, I forgot to put my shorts on for the shakeout.

It's like, you know, but it could be a good thing. Like, you're that confident, you don't need these superstitions and I was like, yeah,

you're right. And I'm a little superstition bag the flag was in there there's a bruce lee book in there there's a photo of my mother and father in there and uh there's a bracelet in there that my mother uh got for me she's gonna find out now it's had my name on it but i had this coat on this puffer jacket i got to i had it on when i left for the fight on the way to the fight i got into the changing room i looked at marissa it was fucking gone i thought fuck i've lost it but then it was like uh these superstitious things that i've always done kind of all got kind of took away from me and it's like i i like with the chale thing when that uh couldn't come um he said it couldn't happen but

which of course he he did do it in the end but like yeah all them things like them little habits i had all kind of got took away from me and i've got another mad one um but yeah then then it well by the way did you find the the bracelet no i lost it but the garden has it now do you know what i mean i don't mind do you know what i mean uh what's the other mad one um well the the mad thing that happened yeah so yeah that happened but obviously i felt like it was for a reason and then the i went into the the octagon before the fight and i walked out and just kind of bullied my way to the arena I don't know if I was allowed to be there or not and the camera crew let me into the cage and the step I was kind of just visualizing trying to imagine being there I'm going to be in a few hours and on the steps said fortune favors the brave and I've got this tattoo on my chest fortune favors

the brave in Latin I've got that on my chest I had the urge to get it before the fight and I've got this tattoo on my chest, Fortune Favors the Brave in Latin. I've got that on my chest. I had the urge to get it before the fight and I never knew that it said that on the steps and I had the urge to get it before the fight and then I saw it and I was like, all these things kept happening, you know? It was like a- You just got this tattoo?

Yeah, I had the urge to get it before the fight, yeah. Why? I don't know. I don't know, I just- How long before the fight? There it is. Yeah, probably four weeks. Nice hat, by the way. Yeah. Who gave you that? And I just rub long before the fight there it is yeah probably four weeks nice hat by the way

yeah who gave you that and I just robbed it off from the camera crew and Saturday night I made America great again yeah no I think so you made the world great again

I made the world great again yeah but yeah I had the urge to get it and then I saw it and just little things like that kept popping up and yeah

it was a it was a mad week I definitely believe in some form of higher power in that sense for definite, like, like my brother said, we, we had the chat, like obviously losing my dad is, uh, it's like, but without losing my dad, would we be here? So in the same way, I don't know if this offends anybody now, talk but they say jesus died for our sins kind of thing i i just like to think my dad died didn't die for nothing he died for this you

know i mean so that's the way we i kind of look at life you go you go back home tomorrow yeah you do you take a holiday do you go do you go take a break or how do you how do you keep this momentum going because i know people asked you about london and you said it's not pay-per-view the lines are great i just they might turn it into a it's fantastic i love all of it i love it so much uh the momentum i've got a house i just bought so i finally own my property now so i'll be moving into that i'll be hopefully pretty busy with that uh getting all that sorted so i'm just going to enjoy this win um i'll be fighting early next year hopefully on a on a it'll be a great it'll be i'll make it my own whatever it is i'll make it big uh christmas last year did you you weren't signed yet or were

you signed yet you were right oh yeah because uh but you were i mean who knew what was to come right imagine like look at the difference i was just like oh right i've got i'm where i've always wanted to be gotta make it happen now you know now this is it's like there it is and dana said to me when he signed me the day i'll never forget he said but careful what you wish for kid it's like he didn't want to but the promo swayed him and maybe someone give him a nudge um so it was all nothing none of this was guaranteed and i'm sat here doing this talking to you which is an honor in itself enjoying my different cuisines of beers i'm mr tko i am mr t wow i didn't even notice that i didn't notice so yeah the um that's amazing they uh nate from tko he met me after the press conference and give me this that's fantastic did you see uh trips there i didn't see him no i cut definitely there too yeah i didn't see it we couldn't get down there i was

busy it was tough you know when they shut the streets off yeah uh was coming in it was it was um super hard to get back to the arena so we were late getting back. So, yeah, I didn't even realize he was there. Trips. But they love you. Mate, fucking, I'm a lucky guy, aren't I?

Is that a bucket list thing as well? What's that? Like, you want to be involved in an angle? Without a doubt. Yeah. Without a doubt, yeah.

That's like a, I don't want to call it a retirement plan, but without a doubt, yeah. I want to, I just want to keep this building. I'm hungry. I'm greedy.

I'm greedy. And like I've proved, I'm not going to stop until I get everything I want out of this. And if I slip, if I fall, if I'm held back, I'll get there eventually.

You know, I'll do everything. I'll get everything I want out of this, out of this life. A hundred percent, mate. What did you make of the uh the glove drama of the week i didn't care but it must have done something yeah maybe it did okay so you you i didn't know the old gloves in february yeah new gloves in july and then back to the old for this one that's right yeah so which ones do you like better i gotta love the old gloves after that yeah the right glove i love no yeah um the old gloves i think why is that um you can just make a better fist like the the new gloves is like there's a lot of um there's a large bulk on the on the i don't know what what

it's like it's like the wrist then you have another section here then you have the pad whereas the old gloves it's just like, and then there's a big... Okay. It's a bit more of a boxing glove, like you've got more confidence in throwing, and your fist naturally clenches a bit better. But there's a bar in the glove on the new ones, which stops you bending your wrist back.

So obviously the eye pokes would be less, because you can only go to there, whereas on the new gloves, you've got four on the old gloves. So you've got full range of motion in your wrist. So the new gloves are kind of harder to grapple in and everything. But I, I'd say keep the old ones. Sounds like they are. Yeah. Um, it's, it's, it's an amazing thing.

I don't know who knows, but imagine it was the new gloves and people say the new gloves lead to less knockouts. And imagine you were in the, you know what what i mean like a sliding doors thing yeah maybe it was meant to be that you wear the old gloves that that leads to the night you know what i mean there's another one it's it's someone's looking over your shoulder someone's looking i mean the fact that wwe and ufc are even together as one in the era that you come up this could be 10 years ago where they could you know what i mean it's time it i've said this. I've said this. I've said this with like complete and a serious conviction. Like there's no surprise.

I don't think something, someone's looking over me. I'm my dad. Has to be. Some sort of, it's like it's written. And I believe in it. I believe that it is written. I told, I told everybody with a straight face

I said King Kong would be fresh off the Empire State Building jumping out at me and he'd have a rough night too on Saturday you know what I mean it was like

I know what I can do I've gone and done it you know I'm not surprised I'm relieved that I showed the world what I could do

like you even said did you say when we talked last the other day um the finish is coming or yeah are we are we going to see the best of you because yeah I I know it's a marathon not a sprint when I'm going to be in this game for a long time and it's just I'm just getting started I think that was a big one what I enjoy about you is that like you take it all in you're grateful to be here like we said like you have a great appreciation and so i'm just wondering as as a member of the uk to see the explosion for tom um this week you know like at the press conference and whatnot to see people backing americans backing him right it wasn't like

we were in london and people are chanting his name what What did you make of all that? That's amazing. It's like good guys when they become stars. Yeah. You're happy for them. He is a good, he is a good genuine. Your relationship with him? Not, not on a,

you know, I have, I have no reason to, you know, I'm not, what's the word I'm trying to say? It's like. You're cordial,

you're friendly, but you, yeah. Your paths haven't crossed. He sent, he sent he sent me that message of support for my debut um i've like said well done there's no you know we're not for like me and chail are a lot closer than tom are but he's just a good guy you tip your hat to him we were we come from the same part of the world we came from the same leagues

so we naturally back each other and to see the position he's in he's the star he's like a real heavyweight champion it's good i'm happy same as paddy paddy's another one who's like a good guy you know i mean who's like get when they get that recognition like boys like that you know i mean you don't have to speak to them every day but when they're in that position it's like you're happy for him you know what i mean ian another one ian yeah yeah ian again it's like i don't like to be bitter or jealous were you guys rivals at one point me and ian yeah nah nah nah we did we were actually quite friendly in cage wars we'd speak all the time and like um i don't know yeah we just keep in touch.

Like, ask each other how camp's going and stuff like that. We were like at the same, we had the same, we're 3-0, same age at one point. And he went off quicker than I did. I do wonder what's coming your way. I mean, you know, I had some people reach out asking, you know, who represents you. Yeah. You know, like, I feel like the, Oben. Yeah, that would be feel like the oban yeah i fucked it up i fucked it up i feel like business is booming it is mate it's it's we did big business saturday didn't we there's i had a good chat with nate from tko hopefully we've got some uh big things

coming up early next year uh it's it's cool uh when you sign with ufc off contender series is it a four fight deal yeah so one left one left hopefully we're gonna renegotiate and get that locked in before yeah yeah i don't want to fight anywhere else no i don't want to fight anywhere else uh but maybe they know that so what's the point in yeah signing me they usually they they lock it up yeah get it locked up i'm i'm a i'm a lifer yeah what's the point in signing me? Usually they lock it up. Yeah, get it locked up. I'm a lifer. That's the way I see it.

I'm not going anywhere. So yeah, I'm a grateful man. Very, very grateful. We got it done on Saturday and we're just going to keep going. Did you hear from any of your Nando's former colleagues? I did, yeah.

I've seen a story earlier. One of the boys, funny enough, the story I told you, I was working with the boy that night when I was watching Ian. Yeah. I was working with him, and he commented on it, like messing around. It's surreal, yeah, surreal. But, yeah, now look where I am.

It's crazy. Have you seen any of the sights and sounds of new york or is it just yeah i did i went to um it's not bad by the way i might get i might get on the is it the piss yeah what you do later what well no i have to do a show but i just yeah after the show no i don't what do you think i am some sort of degenerate yeah well you will be if you bother yeah you might you might become this is the most amount of beer i've had in years oh well i'm grateful you you shared it with me um i'll finish that open but i tell you it's not bad that's nice that is yeah you're not drunk one of these before years ago yeah been a while yeah degenerate kid you know i was once a gangster myself in the

streets of canada montreal that's right yeah thank you i got i'll have to visit there one day yeah oh you would love it but um wait what were we saying now i got oh yeah the sights and sounds of new york yeah i've seen i went to the brooklyn bridge earlier i saw um i saw the ground zero that's the yeah yeah very sad yeah um i think i've been around that bad did you go to time square yeah yeah i was just by the hotel yeah oh right it's like disneyland down there it's crazy isn't it um i think i've done it all i haven't done the statue of liberty have you had pizza nah i tried having one on the night and it just made a mess i didn't want to get my t-shirt dirty i get some pizza john's yeah i i had a hot dog okay on the street yeah yeah it was good yeah it was small it was yeah it was cheap it was small. It was cheap. It was small. I went to Wall Street earlier.

I was there. Okay, you've done a lot. But you know what? If you locked me in a pitch black room with no phone, nothing, I would just be like... You'd be buzzing. Yeah, you'd be dancing. Literally, I have 45 minutes sleep. Why 45, by the way?

I remember checking the time it was no meaning like did you have to wake up or you just like no it was it was like quarter past seven in the morning and then i got up at like eight five past eight and i was just because you were buzzing like yeah no i needed a piss and then i just went to go back to sleep and i was just like yeah i put some music on i was just packing my stuff i was just like ah this is yeah just dancing just enjoying no feeling like that right mate this is i haven't come down since i got since this 22nd of august 2023 i haven't come down then i'm just up and now i've just i'm the king of the world as far as i'm concerned are you the type of person that worries that it's gonna come crashing down like, this shouldn't happen to me.

Nah. You don't think like that? But I do worry that it'll come. I don't worry. Sorry, mate. No, no problem. I don't worry that it's going to come crashing down. But it could all come crashing down one day.

So you just enjoy every day. The Godfather Kenton. That'll mean a lot to the boys. He says, there's no a lot to the boys he says there's no trial run so in life there's no trial run nobody ever come up come back down from heaven and said ah it's good in heaven boys you know and add another life kind of thing no trial one uh one life live it yeah so every day i just try and make sure i'm living do you know what i mean and love that yeah yeah all my mates are the same that's why we're all we're all pretty fucked in the head we're all just like ah it'll be all right i'll be all right it'll be all right yeah yeah these these are friends from school uh you've known them for a while and just life yeah yeah yeah

by the way can i ask about your relationship with shaky because uh just seeing how tight you guys are and yeah and he's a bit of a father figure right obviously jack yeah would you say he's a father figure to you as well as a coach it's like it's like shaking car my two they're like they're like it's like having two gay dads it's like i'm dude do you know what i mean yeah it's um yeah they're they are my father figures, I kind of lean on them a lot. If I need something, I'll ring them and talk about anything.

Yeah, because I feel like I've got this duty now. Like, my mother, for example, I've got to make sure I look after her.

I wouldn't, of course, I turned to my mother if I ever needed anything. But I like to just, I like the thought of just looking after my mother now,

you know, for what we've all gone through in life. It's like, I i'm quite soppy i'm soft like that believe it or not underneath this fucking no no underneath this underneath this so um yeah if i need something i'll ring them and you know they'll give me give me like an honest account of what i need to hear not the not what i want to hear. They'll tell me straight. And yeah, that a massive, massive reason of why I'm the man I am right now is because of, of my coaches.

And yeah, they'll, they'll keep me in line. They'll fucking. Yeah. Funny enough. We barely argued this week. That's what,

that was another mad thing. We didn't actually, I would bicker about bollocks. Yeah. Oh yeah. You got to say, remember when you were like, yeah,

I say bollocks. I say bollocks. Yeah. Oh yeah. We bicker about bollocks. Yeah. Oh, yeah, you can't say, remember, when you were like that, I say bollocks. I say bollocks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We bicker about bollocks, yeah. Nothing important, nothing important. When did you meet Shakey? I met him 2017. It was my second amateur fight, and I didn't fight under him at this point.

I was in university, college, in Bristol, which is like an hour from where I live. And yeah, I didn't fight under him, I thought. And yeah, he was the matchmaker for the show. So I went in and gave my ticket money over. And yeah, we had a mutual friend, a mutual story actually. I found this handbag at my university bus stop. And I looked at the bag.

It was full. It was a nice bag. I checked the purse. I saw the girl's name. I messaged her on Facebook, found her, checked the ID and that, and gave her the bag back. Wow. It turns out, yeah, she'd come to Nando's in Bristol.

Wow. To get the bag back. And it turns out that that father or the mother of the father knew Shakey and then put it on Facebook. This guy put it on Facebook. Ah, this guy, Oban Elliot, what a nice guy. Kept my daughter's purse and nothing was out of it and gave it back. And then he saw that and said, ah, I've seen a nice story about you the other day. That was the first time

I met him, yeah. Wow. Seen a nice story about you the other day. He gave, what's her name now, that girl, I can't remember.

Gave her that bag back, yeah, that was the first time I met him, yeah. And now, I'm like, he's like, I don't know,

the little ADHD child he never asked for. But that is crazy. That's karma once again. I guess. Looking after you. I mean, you don't have to do that. for. But that is crazy. That's karma once again. I guess. Looking after you. I mean, you don't have to do that. Nah.

And that person posts it and then he sees that. I mean... Well, you know, if that was my sister's bag, I wouldn't want somebody taking that in my mother's bag. You know?

Yeah. I wouldn't be doing things that generate good karma if that... Right. If somebody took my mother's bag, for example. You know what I mean?

So, i don't know yeah i'm not an angel no i know you know i got morals no exactly exactly so yeah yeah just shit like that yeah um this time next year november 2025 where are we at what's coming um i'll probably be in the top 15 and fucking like i'll be i'll be big then you're not gonna come on this show like this easily it's gonna be like no of course i come on the show of course 50k no um yeah i'll be just just keep keep it going keep it going even if even if i'm, even if whatever. I don't know. I've done it, in my opinion. I did it the day I got signed. I fulfilled my promises to myself.

This is all about added bonus. But now you have new goals, right? Yeah, of course. Yeah, but I'll walk through that top 15. No drama. Just, you know, I've got no, I don't fear, I don't fear any occasion. I don't fear any man. I'm not stupid. I know there's challenges ahead of me, but I can't stress it enough. There's not a man alive that is going to stop me getting everything

I want out of this game just like i said like with with big bad basil on the weekend by all accounts he's the right guy in the right place he's just at the wrong time and that goes for the fucking lot of them that's the way that goes for a lot of them tough shit what do you make of the news that came out on friday ian versus chef cut that's huge isn't it i'm happy for you and Well done. Do you know what I mean? And Shavkat's a beast, you know? But yeah. Who do you think is the champ this time next year?

I don't know. I don't know. Me. Fuck it. Yeah. I don't know. Me. Fuck him.

By the way, a big weekend for both of us. I mean, I was at the tyson fight did you happen to watch i can't believe i haven't mentioned i mean listen it's all about you it's all about you no it's okay did you happen to catch it of course i did yeah was it buffering for you too no no no it was good i i genuinely i text you didn't i straight away are you all right i take oh that was after the tyson was right. Oh, that was after the, yeah, he was terrified. That was at the Wands, yeah. Fuck me. And he went for it

in the first two rounds. I was gutted when, what did you think? What was your overall feeling? Fair enough. Yeah. What a spectacle. People were like,

oh, it's a sham, it's a this, it's a, well, of course, I mean, we've got,

we've got, what is he, 27, 28? 27 versus 58. Yeah, fucking hell, that's rough, isn, 28? 27 versus 58. Yeah, fucking hell. That's rough, isn't it? I didn't like to see him even throwing punches at Mike.

But I guess Jake was in there and it's like. Do you think he went easy on him? Nah. Because there's two sides of the coin. What do you think? I think he took his foot off the gas. And he's saying the same. But then there's people like dana who said on saturday like nah he just couldn't beat him and so now he's saying that as an excuse what do you think

honestly now i hope i hope jake took it off the gas yeah yeah i hope like because i don't know i don't think this persona that j Jake puts out there is quite him. Maybe I'm wrong. I feel like he's a better guy than he gives off. I genuinely do think that. But saying that, Tyson was trying to kill him in the first two, and that was brilliant to see. Not that I'm desperate to see

jake paul fail i'm not i don't care if anybody i actually love we will get back to this i love jake paul's quote funnily enough the uh skyscraper one oh yeah we're in new york and it's a brilliant quote why worry about skyscrapers don't worry about other you know because they you can just keep you can just do i mean yeah there's no building yep so if somebody's doing somebody's doing really well just don't worry about them because you can just build yours just aside there's nothing stopping you uh but yeah i hope he did take his foot off the gas on on uncle mike he's 58 years old i wouldn't like to see mike get flatlined out of him rough but so hopefully he did hopefully he did that was my main fears seeing an old older man um getting fucking brain damage you know but i thought it was a

fantastic spectacle like some suit on helwani huh i mean wow did you see that and you know what thank you congratulations for having that role that's amazing you must be so happy like i was buzzing too. Talk about me doing, like you're doing everything you wanted. I'm sure you are more probably. When you were talking about something, obviously we had different weekends,

but I felt the same way afterwards. I bet you sat in your hotel room and went, look at me. I'm the voice of this whole thing. You're like, you're as big if not, you're as big as what mean gene oakland was to wrestling to mma you are me some people used to say that to me as an insult why uh it's if

people don't like the pro wrestling oh you're mean gene you're not legit but i'm like that's a compliment you're like you're like yeah you're the voice you're the voice you should you should be super you say that to all of them don't you, don't you? No, I don't speak to any of them. No, I don't speak to any of them. That was great. It was a great weekend. So happy for you. Thank you, mate.

Truly. Really, really happy for you. And I mean, like, it's hard. We become, I always tried to be Mr. Journalist down the middle. I went to journalism school. But we're also human beings. Yeah. And when we get to learn about you and your story and how much this all means to you i i won't lie i was in there i was like fuck yeah yeah we all had the group chat and you know all the boys who

work on the show and we were talking about which beer we're gonna get and stuff like that like it was it was it was i was genuinely happy for you and then you fucking nailed everything you nailed everything from the knockout to the celebration to the post-fight interview. You freaking nailed it all. That's how I feel now, mate. Yeah. It's like I can't even feel that. I've done it.

It was like A++++. There wasn't one mistake. By the way, the one mistake was the freaking scorecards. Oh. Could you imagine that? Fucking God. I can't. Do you know, mate? Derekary there it is this is some of the craziest bullshit i've ever seen i can't believe this nearly

happened to me derrick clearly you don't even qualify for my old job at nando's you absolute buffoon derrick cleary gave the first two rounds dc.C. Derek Cleary. D.C. Daft cunt. That is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. But the thing is, I've just said that now. Fuck. What if he judges my fights again? Listen, we know.

We know that there's... Come on. Yeah. You've got some of the best brains in... You've got some of the best brains in MMA, watching the fight, listening to the fight. Yeah, Joe Rogan. Yeah, he's two up. DC, yeah, he's two up.

Of course. Yeah, he's two up. Every journalist in the media room of the UFC. Even his corner was telling him that he needed a knockout. Mate, that is like, when I think about this, right? Mate, there would have been a serious darkness coming over me yeah if that went to the cards right that could have been a split you know but imagine i don't know something mad happened in the last round and he took me down and controlled me

but i won the first two that's it's 29 28 i would think i went imagine if i lost yeah going to the cards, this whole thing, and then you've got, people like that, judging, and it's not just that, it's, you know,

imagine if I was skint, and I needed the money, and it's just half my money, imagine if I had, that is, I can't believe it nearly happened to me, and I feel terrible for the boys, it has happened to,

because that is just, disgrace, you know, if you would have took that off my mother that's the way i see that you know i see our dancing in the in the liberty last night we're having a good time and i'm so happy however how happy everybody was and imagine if that didn't happen because of that fucking muppet well so it didn't need to happen You made it happen Well done Congratulations You're the freaking man Oban Elliot

Now 8 in a row 3-0 in the UFC 4-0 if you consider Contender Series as part of the UFC What a freaking year for you Congratulations Enjoy the holidays Enjoy your time in New York

And thank you for coming back and being a man of your word. We got Tom Aspinall standing by, so we're going to talk to him in a moment. I'll say goodbye to Oban Elliot, the freaking man, the Welsh gangster, Victoria's performance of the night bonus on Saturday. Quick break, our conversation with Aljo, and then we'll be right back

in about three minutes time with the great Tom Aspinall. Don't go anywhere. All right, we are back on the program Oh I got the Labatt beer right here Shout out to Labatt A great time with Oban Elliot What a guy How could you not be happy for that guy

How could you not root for him right Oh my gosh He's just got a real infectious energy And it's an absolute pleasure to see someone who cares so much you can see how much it means to him he cares so deeply and he's got such a great story he's been through so much succeed at this level and so to come over from wales to new york fight at msg and score a win like that golly um i mean how you not, how do you not fall in love with that story, amazing stuff, so appreciate him coming by, appreciate him joining us in studio,

and wish him the best come 2025, now, as we planned today's show, there was one guest that I needed to have, more than anyone, pick a name. In the sport. I needed one name. And. And. And here he is. And. And honestly. He has become.

Without having to do too much. He's done a little bit. He hasn't had to do too much. He's become. In many respects. The biggest baby face in the game. And if you don't know what that term means. That means.

He's become. Perhaps the most beloved fighter. In the game because the fans feel like he is being wronged and they are trying to will him to the top. And there's nothing more magical than that. I've equated it to, if you get the references, Cody Rhodes this past year or Daniel Bryan. It's a beautiful thing when it all clicks and it all has clicked for the pride of Great Britain, the pride of the UK, the pride of Manchester,

the pride of Wigan. Sing it with me. It actually won't play. I've been trying to play this whole time. It won't fucking play, Frank. I'm trying to do the song, and it won't play. Tommy Aspinall is here, everyone.

Yeah. Look at this freaky guy. His future's so bright, he has to wear shades. The fucking man. Not today. I'm just playing. I'm just playing.

The real heavyweight champion of the world. The people's champion. And also, the man who's being immortalized on my desk. I mean, what about this? I mean, come on, guys.

Look at this. Tommy, what do you think? Look at that. This is handy. Yeah, it's fantastic. It's fantastic. I especially like the tattoo on the back. Love it.

Class. Love it. The plan was to hand this to you so you could give it to your kids, but alas, you were too busy for us last week here in New York. What do you have to say for yourself? I was there for six days, and you weren't there. So I believe that's a false narrative ariel actually i think i think you were a bit too busy for me in all honesty we were both busy we were both busy one of us was working the other one was just you know being the bell of the

ball and that's you could you have ever imagined having such a good week tom without having to do a thing without having to throw a punch that was was a dream, right? Like that week, I think couldn't have gone better for you. Uh, well, I mean, it went pretty well. It went pretty well. I think ultimately though, and this is something, uh, that's, I don't think it's quite unique to me actually, but I just, I just love fighting people. love fighting people. That's the ultimate thing for me, is I just enjoy putting the gloves on and getting in there and seeing what happens. Not that I wanted to fight this past weekend, no. I would have loved the full training camp and build-up

as opposed to being a backup fighter. I'm not saying that. But for me, fighting and winning just trumps everything else. So in the back of your mind you're still doing what you need to do on you know tuesday wednesday thursday are you still working out are you still sort of kind of telling yourself you may fight at what point does that shut off where that that that reality becomes more you know fiction uh it didn't it didn't show off really that's all wow honestly so they i did the full fight week like I was fighting, basically.

Exactly like I was fighting. And then in the actual fight night, they brought me to a VIP room. And in the VIP room was other UFC fighters who weren't fighting on the card. They bring guest fighters in town and all that kind of stuff. I was in there with a few of the other guys. And even there, the event was going on and i couldn't relax until until it was maybe like the co-main event i think when it was once it was chandler and oliver i was like right okay i'm not fighting now but up until that point i was still ready to go if they needed me

when did they give you the green light to have the beer? In the walk for the main event. Is that when you had it? When you saw them both walking out, when you saw Jones emerge? I actually had it just before, just before, right? Like halfway through the Chandler and Olivera fight. He's the one who had a beer. By the way, I don't want our team, we have it, but I don't want them to show it.

So that's just a nod to them in the back. But you know, there's some crazy people online that have taken from your video blog, the conversation. You know about this? Yeah, I know about it. I know about it. This is crazy. I'm like, how did they get this? They took the screen grab?

Where you're asking if you can have the beer? They think they're smart, but they're not have the beer they think they're smart but they're not as smart as they think they are these people oh maybe maybe i purposely put that out there yeah maybe i did yeah you probably got 10 times that amount everyone's saying that uh which you know it's it's great that you got paid to to end up not fighting in the back of your mind are you kind of hoping you're you're you're hoping that like everything works out and your number isn't being called, right? You're sort of like wishing for that, yeah? I absolutely didn't want to fight.

Yeah. I did not want to fight. Like, I'd love to, obviously, I'd love to fight both guys if I got the opportunity. But I would like the whole build up, the whole preparation for one guy, the whole shebang. I don't want to fight for one last minute. I've done that a lot of times. And I don't want to do it for an undisputed heavyweight title if i don't need to obviously i would have been up for it i was there i was getting paid i did the training camp

everything i prepared for it but it isn't the best case scenario it's not how i wanted the unification of the belts to go down okay so there's so much I want to ask you about and also about the week leading up to Saturday. But as far as the fight, let's talk about the fight. Your assessment of what John did, how he looked, and also how Stipe looked. Okay, okay. So you want me to put the analyst hat on for a second?

Yeah, please. I mean, you do such a great job with the great folks over at TNT Sports. Thank you. Thank you. It's something I work on, something I'm second. Yeah, please. I mean, you do such a great job with the great folks over at TNT Sports. Thank you. Thank you. It's something that I work on. It's something I'm very passionate about, actually. So as an analyst,

I think what John Jones did was, as the Americans say, it was by design. It was by design, technical, John Jones standard style. And barring a couple of things, and I'm speaking as an analyst, but also as a potential future opponent here, I want to keep this to myself,

but there was definitely a few things that I saw that I could capitalize on, but that's just me speaking for myself. But some little things that surprised me. But Jon Jones did exactly what Jon Jones was supposed to do john jones did john jones things which he's got out there and win fantastic tactical performance fantastic technical performance as always by john jones like i say, by design, standard procedure, John Jones. Stipe, on the other hand, he... See, I don't want to say anything bad about Stipe,

because I respect everything that Stipe's done. I respect him as a human being. I respect him as a champion. I respect him as a fighter. But 42-year-old Stipe, he just didn't have the legs anymore. Simple as that and that's that's kind of a a nice plain way to put it he just didn't have he had too many miles on the clock to even compete really at that level with John Jones John Jones is just way fresher than him he just he just doesn't have the athletic ability anymore to compete at that level, unfortunately.

So there's a debate. Did he look like that because of Jon Jones, or did he look like that just because he's old and he hasn't fought in three years? What do you think? A bit of both, but I would say the latter would be my opinion. Really? You don't think it was Jon who made him with the kicks to the body? No, no. I ain't taking away from what Jon did. Jon's brilliant. Jon's brilliant. I never make... He's one of the kicks to the body. I ain't taking away from what John did. John's brilliant.

John's brilliant. I never make, he's one of the best to ever do it. It would have been a lot easier if Stipe wasn't for it. Sorry. It would have been a lot better for Stipe. If he wasn't 42 years old coming up for knockout loss four years ago. But I'm not,

I'm not taking away from what John did. Don't, don't get that twisted. Yeah. John did very, very well. He did what he had to do. And you can't take that away from him. He did everything perfect.

Stipe made it very easy for him. But that's just the circumstances that Stipe's under at this point in his career and at this point in his life. What impressed you most about seeing John in person for the first time? Well, I've seen John in person before, but I've never seen him fight in person before. Yeah, that's what I meant. I meant compete in person, yeah. Yeah, well, that's way different. That's actually something that,

if you've only watched fights on TV before, or you've only watched fights live before, I would imagine most people who've seen a live fight have seen it on the TV as well. By the way, that's the worst picture I've ever seen in my life. Why? You don't like it? I said it was the photo of the night. I look like I'm half asleep. I look like I just woke up. No, that's you sizing him up. That's you being like,'ve ever seen in my life. Why? You don't like it? I said it was the photo of the night. I look like I'm half asleep.

I look like I just woke up. No, that's you sizing him up. That's you being like, yeah, I see you. No, you don't like it. It's not a good one. You like the Pereira one better. Yeah, the Pereira one's better. The Pereira one's better.

Okay, fine. Oh, we talked about that. Seeing him fight in person. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Way different. Like, you see him on the TV, and then you see him in real life. And I was literally, I had the best seat in the house again big shout out to the ufc for that

and i really really got to see what john jones operates like at a close distance and for me as a as a future opponent that was some information that is very very interesting to me and i enjoyed it it was good can you tell us more about that about any any notes you walked away with any insights um well i can tell you a lot of stuff i'm choosing not to okay well i think though i think the biggest the biggest thing that i can take away and everybody else i don't know people are very fickle people are very very fickle i see like people saying oh yeah there's no there's no way that um that john could beat tom at this point in his career and then john goes and beats a really really old and beat up steve bay and he's

there's no way that I could win that. It's crazy. It's crazy what people are like on this RMA game. But I think the main thing that we can take away is me right now at 31 years old and Stipe right now at 42 years old coming off a big layoff are not even in the same stratosphere.

That's what I can say about it and that that's no disrespect to anybody uh but that's that's the truth of it is we are not even in the same stratosphere right now and steve is one of the greatest of all time probably the best heavyweight of all time but we're talking about right now nowhere near close what do you think would have happened if you did get the call on Friday to fight that version of Jon Jones that we saw on Saturday? How does that fight play out? I don't think that ever happens.

You think if they would have called you, he would have said, I'm out? Absolutely. Do you think Stipe would have said the same? No, I think Stipe would have done it. What do you think happens if in a fictitious world, Jon does take the fight and you fight that version of him i think it's i honestly think it's one of the biggest fights right now i never made no i mean

like if if if in this alternate reality if you fought the guy that we saw on saturday how does that fight actually play out not with the build build-up, just from an athletic standpoint, based on what you saw. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? I am 42-year-old Steve Payman. Yeah. John knows it. And John's a lot smarter

than a lot of you people think. John knows exactly what he's up against. When you say that he's a lot smarter, are you referring to the fact that this is part of the reason why he's playing hard to get? He knows how the fight is going or going to go or will go, and that's why he's saying all the things that he's saying? Yeah, John's just flirting with everybody.

John's being a sassy little flirt over there with everybody, and it's great. It's fantastic. I love it. Yeah, and this this fight is gonna happen man you say that with great confidence and with a smile on your face and i watched your video blog which you can see right now on the tom aspinall youtube channel it's great stuff and shout out to your team by the way for getting that up because i saw you leaving at 3 30 in the morning

on on your phone over there uh you you did have a meeting with it seems like the brass dana white hunter campbell because you see that you showed you guys saying like hey hello and then he says i'm going to the presser and just wait for me and then you're walking out with the same type of smile that you just had right there and so tell us tom what did they say just between us friends what was said to you go on this is top good stuff and i would never i don't i don't air people's secrets out like that but what i can say is that it went very very positive and that we're obviously we've got a lot of negotiation to do obviously of course that's the way that the world works especially at this level um but i'm very optimistic i'm very very optimistic when you say negotiation are you referring to the negotiations

that john was referring to are you referring to the negotiations that john was referring to are you referring to the negotiations that need to be had with you as well no just throw me a pair of gloves that's what i'm negotiating throw me a pair of gloves i mean that's it whatever if they call you right now you're not gonna haggle you're not gonna try to do whatever your deal is. You're in. I'm in. I'm in. Absolutely.

I'm in. By the way, can we talk about that fur coat or what was that? What were you wearing there? I mean, you look fantastic. You look like the champ. What was that? That was some,

uh, that was some Gucci mink. Wow. Look at you. You've gone Hollywood on us, huh? It wasn't really. Oh,

was it? No, no, that was, uh, that was just something that I bought. I seen it on the, on the week of the fight. I thought, yeah, once about that, that looks, uh, was it? No. No. That was just something that I bought. I'd seen it on the week of the fight, and I thought, yeah, I want some of that. That looks pretty good.

And I think it looked well. What do you think? I think you looked fantastic. In fact, my favorite cameo of said coat throughout the night was, did you see the clip of you just completely dismissing the Jones family, walking by them and nudging them off to the side? Did you see that? No, I didn't see it, but I was sat right by him it was a bit strange uh seating seating arrangements it's really weird it was like I think John Jones's brother or two two brothers I believe

here you are coming in here you are coming in and his brothers played in the NFL they're two of the greatest players of all time there's Big Arthur and, and you're just like, yep, excuse me. And there's Chandler, and then you're like, hey, bud, get out of my way. The champ is here. And there's his father. Yeah, I know. Well, there's no disrespect from my part. I don't know. NFL is obviously not a UK thing, so I had no idea who them guys

are, apart from being John Johnson's brothers. But yeah, it was a bit of a weird seating arrangement. It was like, John's one brother then his other brother then I believe his dad and then I believe it was his wife and then it was like one or two more people and then me I was like what the hell's going on and like just before John was about to walk I was was like, I got a pee so bad. I'm desperate for a pee.

But I don't want to get everybody up right before his bite. I didn't want to like, you know. But when you got to go, you got to go. Everyone's going to have to get up for a sec while I go for this pee. Oh, my God. You know why? You know why you made them get up? Because you're an asshole. That's what an asshole does.

That's all right, mate does that's all right mate that's all right that's the best the best by the way uh the the the clip of you just shooing off you're you're too nice to say so it reminded me of the famous donald trump clip have you ever seen this clip before no i don't think so this one right here this one right here when when trump shows up and all the politicians are there and he's like get out of my way that was you saying get out of my way it was very polite and counselor it was like you know what chancellor of germany out of here the champ is here that was you that was you right there it wasn't like that so it's very respectful actually i have nothing but respect taking the piss of taking the piss've taken the piss the asshole line

that he mentioned throughout the week and then post fight as well when you hear this and you hear the reasons as to why he thinks you're an asshole what do you think? call me whatever you want bro he doesn't know me I don't care that's what he thinks

or anybody else for that matter I'm not bothered unless I know you personally. If you know me personally and you think I'm an asshole or whatever, then yeah, I'm going to be a bit pissed off about it. But John Jones called him an asshole. Whatever. Can I play you two clips from the Post-Fi Press Conference and get your reaction? If you like.

Okay, here's John talking about you being an asshole. What specifically has he said or done to make him an asshole? There's just a lot of people on his nuts right now. What has he done, though? Coming up with Jon Jones

t-shirts, buying a little duck, just the little shit that he does. He's annoying to me. He's annoying to me. And that's my own personal, he annoys me. I get to you guys, you find it entertaining, but I find him annoying. And I just don't like him.

And at the end of the day, if I give him the opportunity to fight me, I want to be so compensated. I want to say I want that fuck you money, honestly. And that's just what it is. That's just what it is. Or else my life is perfect without him. I don't need him at all. And he needs me. And that's a good place to be in a negotiation when you hear

him talk about the fu money and everything that he says there what is your reaction i think he should be compensated well i agree because i'm a damn dangerous fight for him the most dangerous of his career at this stage by far and he knows it of course he wants money do you think he is saying that dana white himself has said sometimes people want fights and sometimes they say give me x amount because they just want a reason for the fight not to happen do you think he is saying that because he ultimately doesn't want the fight to happen or is willing to take the fight he just wants to be compensated fairly. I think he secretly wants it. You do? Why? Because he has a

gigantic ego. And he should have. He should have. Because he's one of the best fighters ever. And he hates the fact hates the fact that people are saying that I can beat him. He can't sleep at night. He doesn't... all this stuff,

he keeps mentioning it over and over again that he doesn't care about me. He thinks he's above me and all that because this is all projecting. It's all projecting, man, all of it. And he knows, deep down, he knows. And he just has to keep saying it because um he's got to defend himself you think you worry him i don't think i know it you know and so and so my question is when he

talks about this money do you think the ufc because uh you will know this this is a bit of deja vu we heard a lot of the same stuff when we were hoping for the Francis fight four years ago. And so there's a part of us, and me included, who thinks, oh man, we're going down that same road and the fight will fizzle

and everyone will say, oh, he asked for too much, et cetera, et cetera. And so do you think that the UFC would be willing to pay him this, quote unquote, FU money? Well, first of all, I don't know how that went

because I don't really keep up with other people's business like that. Not really. I just don't. But yeah, I think it's looking positive. Okay. That's what I'll say. It's looking very positive.

I think that the people want it really bad. The people are thirsty for it. And that's always a positive thing do you think he is truly more interested in fighting Pereira over you or is that just part of the negotiation I don't know I have no idea I mean it's stylistically it's probably an easier fight not that Pereira is an easy fight because he's really dangerous uh but I think he probably looks at it and thinks it's a bit easier because you know he talks about the weight and the age and all that bro i'm heavier than him but he's

we're fighting in the same division he chose to come up to heavyweight so you know i know he talked about him being a lot bigger than him but we're technically in the same weight division so that ain't my that ain't my problem bro if you want to fight guys your own size then go to 205 he has also mentioned like hey if it doesn't work out like i you want to fight guys your own size then go to 205 he has also mentioned like hey if it doesn't work out I'm happy to give up the belt do you believe him when he says that? I'm not bothered

and if he does that that's fine it's the belt that I'm after I'm not bothered about Jon Jones couldn't care less about who has the belt it's me, I want the belt that's it, I want to be the undisputed heavyweight champion. I couldn't care less if Jon Jones has got it or not. It's not the person that I'm chasing.

It's the belt. But is there not an argument to be made that sometimes beating specific people is actually bigger than the belt? Obviously, the belt is a byproduct. But to be the only guy to ever beat Jon Jones, stop him, whatever, that's a huge feather in your cap. That's arguably more meaningful and more powerful than being a champion yeah i guess i mean it's pretty cool but the belt's what's important to me being the being the best in the world is what's important to me would you consider yourself undisputed if you got the belt that way considering you're not fighting him and francis

obviously had to vacate the title? Honestly, I don't really think this is all just shit. I don't really think I'll be on it. I just want to have the UFC belt, and that's it. What do you think as far as timeline? What are you feeling? When do we see Tom Aspinall fight again? I think that's a question for Jon Jones, not me. I'm ready to go whenever,

but I'm not. This is what I said to the UFC. And this is zero disrespect to Michael Chandler. But I just said that I don't want to be in the Michael Chandler situation. I'm not interested in it. And they assured me that that's not going to happen. Meaning, in other words you're not waiting two years for him to to figure things out no i don't i don't want to do that i want to i want to be active and i want to fight while i'm healthy and young and then i want to as i said to

you before then i want to move on and do something else and so what is your like how long are you willing to wait what you need to fight by which month of next year? I need to fight by the end of November this year. You mean next year? This year. This year? I have bad news for you, Tom. No, I don't know.

No, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I have no idea. No idea. But we'll see. We'll see. I'm an easygoing guy. You don't have to'll see. We'll see. I'm an easygoing guy, man.

You don't have to talk me into it too much. I'm in. Throw me a pair of gloves. Tell me where. I'll be there. Could I ask, now that you've seen him, could I ask, with a full training cap and everything, what is your prediction?

Like, how do you actually, not just, oh, I'm going to knock him out. How do you actually see the fight playing out? I'm not going to tell you, am I, Ariel? I mean, is it a two round? Is it you're smoking him in 60 seconds? Is it going to be, do you think, you know? Let me tell you this.

One of the, and I'm saying this as a fan of Jon Jones. One of Jon Jones' biggest advantages that he has over everybody, and he says this on multiple interviews for multiple years, is that he's a tape studier, as am I. A massive tape studier. I watch the opponents. My coaches watch the opponents, pick up on the tendencies, pick up on what they like, what they don't like,

what they're good at, when they're tired, what tires them out, how they're getting up off the bottom, how's their defense when you throw this shot, how do they react when you do this, etc. He loves to study opponents like this. He has no chance of doing that with me because my average fight time is the shortest in UFC history at two minutes, two seconds, over 10 fights. And that's something that keeps him up at night, that will keep him up at night for sure i am a massive massive question mark for him and i know a lot of his game he's got a lot of time over a lot of years i've got next to nothing next to no footage on me he's out there

let me do anything apart from bouncing people's heads off the canvas and he has no idea what to prepare for and that is fantastic for me wow that's a great promo tom that is great shit right there i love that you got the hairs sticking up all over my body this to me is boxing mma the fight i want to see the most and it's because i think you two are brilliant but it's just the story and the build here and the way he's shunning you and the way people are backing you and your story i mean there's nothing name me any fight in boxing or mma and i don't want to see it more than this one i i mean i'm obviously biased do you know what i mean but i think this could be i mean d Dana said it himself, this is the biggest fight in heavyweight history by far. By far. Nothing even close.

And, yeah, they've got the Brock Lesnar's in there and the Randy's and this, that, and the other. But we're talking about the people are thirsty for this fight. The people are desperate for it. And everybody knows it. And don't let John fool you with what he's saying. He wants it as well. You truly believe that? Yeah.

And you think so? Why? To prove that he's the man? I feel like John is a competitor, and he knows he's a ruthless competitor. You can see it. You can see it when you know what you're watching. You know what he's all about,

and I can see the way it eats him up And I can see the way it eats him up. I can see the way it eats him up. Just from even watching, like, to be honest, I don't sit and watch his interviews or anything like that, but I see clips here and there. My existence hurts his feelings a lot. On the contrary to what he says,

I ain't never been an asshole to him. But yeah, we've got a bit of banter with this duck thing going. Oh, that's so offensive. Do you know what I mean? He's going to be offended by bringing duck emoji here and there. Come on, John.

Stop being so sensitive, bro. He's offended that somewhere deep in his mind and deep in his soul, he knows that I can bounce his head off the canvas. He knows it. Do you acknowledge the fact that him saying all this about you is only making you into a more beloved star?

People are backing you more because of the things that he's saying. Intentional or not? I mean, I don't really care about that, to be honest. It's got to be nice. You see the press conference, you see the people there dancing for you, chanting your name. That's got to feel nice, right, when you see that? Well, do you know what?

It just shows me a lot of the difference between the American fans and the UK fans, especially because Jon Jones is a New York guy as well. Yeah. Jon Jones is a New Yorker. as a new yorker and in his home city in his home state or whatever people are like chanting my name over his life that would never happen in the uk never never never in a million years would like some other foreigner get chanted over the uk guy ever that would wouldn't exist and uh that is it's pretty cool to see to be honest i had to put a smile on your face i mean to put a smile on mine just because it was indication that the fight is getting so big if people are reacting that way it's getting so big and this is the fight like i said that i want to

see more than any um and and by the way again what a week for you i saw you out there with marcus rashford at the knicks game i don't know know what he was wearing, but you all looked fantastic. Your dad's there as well. Did he recognize you? Yeah. He did? And I'll tell you a funny story about this. We didn't say what he was wearing. So we got took in this VIP room like before

and there was a lot of VIPs in there, to be honest with you. I was like, oh, this is a bit weird. So there was... Ben Stiller was in there to be honest with you I was like oh this is a bit weird so there was uh who was in there Ben Stiller was in there wow uh a couple like basketball sorry like baseballs and stuff obviously I don't know them because baseball's not really a thing over here um what's it called uh Tom Brady was in wow this guy him there was just quite a lot of famous people in there anyway so we sat in there and that this guy comes in with this horrendous outfit and when i say horrendous i mean like in

a good way in a good way sure sure sure sure we're pretty far away and my eyes aren't the best at the best of times i turned uh turned to my to my media guy my friend who was there. He was like, fuck, you know, it's Soldier Boy. Soldier Boy's here watching the game. And he was like, no, it's not. And he was like, oh, yeah, it is. Soldier Boy's coming. Anyway, we got closer. Turns out it's Marcus Rashford, which was fantastic.

Two Manc guys. Is that what you say? Yeah, we had a good chat. He was a really cool guy actually it's first time i've met yeah really nice guy uh my favorite thing and i hope you don't mind me i'm a gigantic knicks fan and you got to see an incredible knicks win against brooklyn and you say to me uh it's just a bunch of lads throwing around the ball isn't it i was like what oh yeah you know what they put me courtside They put me, what do they call it, like feet on the wood or whatever.

Insane. Yeah, it was a cool experience. And like these guys, big dudes, like my size or bigger mostly. And these guys are pretty nimble on there doing all kinds of different stuff. But like throwing a ball, catching it and throwing it through a hoop just doesn't, it just doesn't do it for me, to be honest. That's no disrespect to anybody who likes basketball or whatever. But for me, I want to see a bit of impact. Please tell me, though, you stayed till the very end.

No. Fucking hell. When did you leave? Third quarter? Fourth? Did you leave? Between the first and second. What?

You stayed, you had courtside seats and you stayed first and second? People would die for those seats. Those are like... I know, I know. And that's why, I don't want to seem ungrateful.

It's not like, I really enjoyed the experience. It was really cool. But I don't really, I'm not really interested in basketball, to be honest. Wow.

I would have flown back from Dallas just to go to the game with you. Oh, stop it. I mean, did you see me out there with Mike? I did. I thought you did a great job, yeah. I really like the drip.

I like the drip. Oh, thank you. You always comment on my drip. I remember one time you were watching the Taylor-Cameron fight, and you took a picture and sent it to me. That meant a lot to get your approval. You got some good drip. I like it. As do you. I saw you with the jeweler, with Moses get your approval. You got some good drip. I like it.

As do you. I saw you with the jeweler, with Moses, with Jacob. You were all over the place. Yeah, yeah. I was after a new kettle, as we say in the UK. Maybe it's just a Manchester thing. What is that? What is a kettle?

Watch, watch. Did you get one? Yeah, I got one from Jacob. Yeah, well done. My guy, big Jacob guy now. But I did like, I was with Moses as well. He's got some cool stuff as well. It just didn't, the stuff that he had just didn't align to what I wanted exactly.

So Jacob is my guy. I'll let you go in a minute. I just want to ask you about Oban Elliott. He told me that you sent him a really nice message after his debut. And obviously he had a great win on Saturday as well. i just wanted to ask about your thoughts on on what he did were you there by then did you get to see what he did in the uh yeah i wasn't um i wasn't up to go inside at that point but i was in the building and i watched his fight and uh it was weird because we we got took to as i spoke about before we got to like a vip room there's a lot of fighting in there and you get like

VIP fans and people who want pictures and stuff and I just didn't just told everyone just listen I'm going to watch this fight first

and then we're going to we're going to mingle a little bit but until then I need to watch I need to watch O'Brien Elliott yeah

I mean the guy the guy's doing really good the guy's doing really good and he's obviously got a great energy about him

holds himself really well comes from a great team about him holds himself really well comes from a great team big fan of his coach um richard show really really really nice guy jack shaw's dad big shout out jack and shaky show really good guys um but oban's doing great things and that was a big knockout and i believe he got a bonus is that correct yes he did he got a 50k amazing amazing that first one hit. That's his first one, yeah? I believe so, yep.

That hits on a different level. So congratulations, Oban and the team. I think he's going to be a big star in the future, man, the way he's going. He's looking great. Did you get your own toothpick sponsor or something? Yes, I did. Look at that. Yes. Look at that. It's nice enough. Look at that yes look at that size enough look that look elevate honestly so this is like so these toothpick guys saw my dad and uh charlie who's one of my team

i worked with you back charlie before um he came to me he's like listen these guys and they want to they want to like work with you uh they do like toothpicks i'm like what toothpicks no i'm not i'm not really interested in like toothpicks really like what the hell is that he said oh well they're going to send you some anyway so i said all right so they sent me some i tried this toothpick this wasn't my old flavor by the way this was before let's try the toothpick like This wasn't my own flavor, by the way. This was before. I tried the toothpick. Wow, that is incredible. It's like a flavored toothpick. I never even knew that was a thing. And I didn't know it was a thing.

Anyway, I met the guys. The guys came down to the gym. And I really liked them. Like, I really liked the vision that they had. I really liked the passion that they had for toothpicks. It's funny how it sounds. And then they're like, are you interested in doing your own flavor so i was like yeah absolutely they're like what's your favorite flavor so i said oh berry i like berry flavor stuff

and they're like right okay we'll do one we'll send you some they sent me some mate they're revolutionary changing the game wow changing the game they are they're fantastic and they've gone on sale and they've been the fastest, the fastest selling toothpicks in the world now. Wow. Because of the Aspinal Rub. Because of the Aspinal Rub.

And the plan is, is to, this is a plan from both them and me, is to get the kids away from vaping. Ah. Get all this vaping stuff done. Like, what the hell is this vaping stuff that all the kids are doing?

I don't know if that's a thing in the US, but in the UK, you can get 10 years old walking around with a freaking vape. What the hell is that? So we're trying to get something else that you can do with your hands and your mouth and taste and stuff.

But I mean, I was thinking about, we spoke about it last week when the guys from barstool mentioned it could be revolutionary like with mma fighters using it for when they're cutting weight and stuff oh yeah a little bit of taste that many calories or anything like that you just literally put it in your mouth and it doesn't um you know there's not nothing actually going inside your body so i think it's a good idea mate you just made me talk for five minutes about two picks. There you go.

Check them out. Well, what a weekend for you and the team. Also, shout out to Big Phil. Phil DeFreeze getting another W in KSW. Yeah. Phil, I think this is a really tough fight for Phil, actually, on paper. The guy he fought was a rematch the first time they had a tough five-rounder. And the guy's been on that four fight knockout streak since and phil handled him and i was a little bit upset that couldn't be in poland to be honest because i like to call my phil and be there

for phil when i can but congratulations to phil obviously of course and uh more big team coming from him soon. And we did have a chat with an unofficial member of the team who actually wanted to wish you some good wishes as you embark on this big-time fight against Jon Jones. Hopefully it happens in 2025. Take a look at this. What up, Ariel? And of course, what up, Tom?

Congrats, brother, because the fight is going to happen. You versus Jon Jones. You know we got this. I can't wait to get to work. Let's go, brother. The great Rico Verhoeven. Everyone's excited for you, Tom. Everybody's excited.

Everybody's excited. I mean, there's nothing announced yet, but Jon Jones has just been a little tease. Let's just give it up. Nearly talked me to getting excited. Let's give him a little minute. Let's give him a little minute. We're going to work out this super fight, 2025. What's your prediction? What month? Tell us.

What do you think? What do you feel right now? Give us a month. I don't know. That's not up to me. What's your feeling? What's your gut say? I mean, around my birthday would be nice. April. April. I have some news for you. I think that's too soon. I was going to say July.

International Fight Week? Yeah. I love it. Right, that's going to do some numbers. Oh my gosh. That would be, I mean, I'm all right with July as well. July would be fantastic. I think that makes all the sense.

If the fight doesn't happen though, do you at least agree on this? If he says, I will not fight Tom, the money doesn't make sense, the risk isn't worth it, he has to give up the belt. If you don't fight the number one contender who's the interim champion. I don't know how it's going to look, but I'm fighting for the belt next. The undisputed belt. The undisputed belt, yeah. Come on, man.

Okay. You've been promised this? I ain't an idiot. Have you been told this? Sorry? Have you been told this? Have you been promised this? Yeah ain't an idiot. Have you been told this? Sorry? Have you been told this? Have you been promised this? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. Like, the first time I defended the interim, it was very personal for me. I thought, in all honesty, I thought it was a bit silly the first time. But it was a very personal fight for me because, number one, it's in Manchester, which is my home city,

born and raised. The second thing is, it was against Curtis Blades, who I technically had a loss against when I got injured. So if it was any other circumstances, well, I probably still would have done it, to be honest, because I won't make well if I sit on the couch

and scratch my ass for a year. But I thought it was silly the first time. I ain't doing it again. what else am I going to do? Sit on the, on the couch and scratch my ass for a year. But, um, I thought, I thought it was silly the first time. I ain't doing it again. I love it. And I hope it happens. And I want to see it happen.

And it's great to see how everything has come together for you in this big way. Um, and especially what a week it was. Uh, it was every week. Okay. One last thing. Your thoughts on the gloves.

Uh, do you think it was him who asked for it, or do you think it was the UFC? What do you think? And what is your opinion? Do you like the old gloves or the new gloves? No, I like the old gloves, in all honesty. And also, something that I asked for is because, so on my last fight, when I fought Blades,

I was obviously a defending champion. So, both guys, the contesting champion and the defending champion, were the gold gloves. Yeah. And that was the first time I ever fought in gold gloves. And I felt like, because I'm so used to fighting people in black gloves, I thought it was a little bit weird. Like seeing gold fly towards my face was a little bit.

I was used to it. and so i immediately messaged the usc and was like listen can you send me some gold gloves because i'm gonna have my training partners wear gold gloves moving forward and i didn't really like the way they fit and the gold the old ones was better in all honesty so i'm happy that they're back lovely all right well thank you uh thank you to john jones for that as well uh tom really appreciate it i know it's been a long day of travel there was a lot to get to i think we covered it all unless there's anything else that we need to cover or do you feel like we we uh we addressed everything here um yeah i got one thing i got one thing i want to talk about. Oh, yeah, please. Actually.

And this is a message to all the experts online and all the experts in the street who want to come over and tell me what I've got to do next to get a fight with Jon Jones. I've got to say to Jon Jones what I've got to say to the media or anything and all that kind of stuff. I'll tell you what I've got to say to John Jones what I've got to say to the media or anything and all that kind of stuff I'll tell you what I'm going to do and this goes for everybody who wants to try and preach on me

what I need to do with my career and my life I'm going to go ahead and be myself and if people don't like me for doing that then that's fine but I'm not going to start

acting like somebody else and doing some weird call outs and acting some weird kind of way and then have people hate me for being somebody else. That's weird. Like, if you want to hate me for being me or you want to love me for being me, I'll accept both of them with open arms. I ain't running around being anybody else and taking people's advice who've never even been close to me at this level very much. I love it.

Be yourself. It has served you well up until this point. Why change now? You're the interim champion, hopefully getting a chance to fight for the actual belt, Jones versus Aspinall. Golly, just from a stylist, forget about all the other stuff,

which I get intoxicated by. I love the build. I love the drama. I love all that. But just from a stylistic standpoint, after what we saw from John yesterday, or excuse me on Saturday With the kicks with the takedown with the

With the ground and pound and knowing How good you are you know on the ground As well and how well rounded you are how you are the Hybrid of Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir I always Say this just from a stylistic standpoint There isn't a fight that is more Interesting to me regardless of weight Class just the matchup

And I'll tell you what I was more impressed with John on Saturday than I was against Cyril Gann, because I felt like we got to see the true heavyweight form of John Jones. And I know you can say what you want about Stipe, but that made me into a believer that he can do this at heavyweight, that he's still the same old guy when motivated. So I want to see that version against you in July in Las Vegas. It would be incredible. That's what we're doing. That's what we're doing. Love it, Tom. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Thanks for coming on.

This will be waiting for you for the next time you come to New York. It'll be right here waiting right next to my computer, alright? All the best to you. Congrats. On a great week. You're the freaking man. Thank you so much, Tom. There he is, Tom Aspinall.

The sun is setting behind us. And John, we'd love to have you on the program as well. You know, my good friend Andrew Feldman over on Twitter put out a series of clips. Was it Andrew? I think it was Andrew. Or maybe it was no context, ariel maybe it was no context of us talking throughout the years and uh always had a great relationship and i don't think much has changed i know he posted that one thing where he was responding i think it was when i spoke to francis but recently we were talking um even about a

picture that my son drew and it said john jones on it not the fighter i think he's some sort of character is there a car is there a cartoon character named john jones or a comic book Even about a picture that my son drew And it said John Jones on it Not the fighter, I think he's some sort of character Is there a cartoon character named John Jones Or a comic book character or someone named John Jones Who, me? Or Bones Jones or something I don't know, this was like a year or so ago And he responded to it and what not

So there's no There's no like Ill feelings or anything like that But, and I just said it I was blown away. I think you can make a case now for pound for pound. I think you very much make that case. Obviously greatest of all time if everything is included.

The only thing that I was, I think he had a fantastic week. I mean, what more can I say that's positive about his past week? The only thing is if this fight doesn't happen next, then I just don't know how you can call yourself the heavyweight champion. And if he wants to have these fun fights, next, then I just don't know how you can call yourself the heavyweight champion. And if he wants to have these fun fights,

that's fine. Just have to give up the belt. There was another thing that he mentioned at the post-fight press conference that I wanted to bring up. Here's him talking about the possibility of relinquishing the title. In a moment, I'll show you that. He's talking about the possibility of him relinquishing the title and going after Alex Pereira. Here we go. For me, it'd just be worth my while fighting against Pereira. You know, people can call me a duck and a chicken. I'm going to go home and cash a massive check. And so the duck and chicken thing is kind of funny. Yeah, that's kind of what I want. And if it doesn't line up, then professing my love for Jesus in front of everybody tonight and telling the world how proud I am to be an American champion

and fighting in front of my president. Man, if that was my last fight ever, then I'm cool with that. That was the way to do it. I did the Donald Trump. That was the way to do it, man. So I think one of the really good things about negotiating is being willing to walk away from a deal. And that's the deal that I want. And if that's not what the fans want,

then I guess I'll say Saranara. Saranara. There it is. The tale of the tape versus Alex Pereira. The one I'm more interested in is the Aspinall tale of the tape. And in case you're wondering what the resume is, yeah, there it is. Tommy Aspinall, 15- 3, 11 knockouts versus 11,

subs 4 versus 7. Obviously, Jones's record is tremendous, 28 and 1, 1-0 contest. Look at the height. Tom, one inch taller. Look at the reach, 84 and a half versus 78. Some factoids in case you are not a believer in Tom Aspinall first round KO victories over five of the top 10 heavyweight in the rankings right now and three of the top five heavyweights shortest average fight time in UFC heavyweight history 202 joined fourth already with most fight night bonuses seven most average knockdowns per 15 minutes in UFC history most strikes landed per minute in UFC heavyweight history, 8 on average per minute.

He is on some kind of roll, and I love the optimism. I love that he believes that he will get the fight. And I can't wait to see. This is going to be, like, when we do our, you know, look ahead to 2025, this is the story of the year. Last year, I remember saying,, this is the story of the year.

Last year, I remember saying the story of the year is what's going to happen with Saudi Arabia? This is the story of the year for 2025. Can they get this fight over the line? Can they make it happen? It was a common theme throughout the fight. People acknowledging President Trump What a walkout Can they acknowledge now that the first walkout

Wasn't a coincidence Remember when Dana White said it was a coincidence That he just happened to walk out And they had the music Now it's like a whole big to-do He walks out, it's Kid Rock and Dana And the Trump Sons And Tulsi Gabbard

And Elon Musk And a ton of famous people. Who else was there? The House Speaker. The House Speaker. RFK was there. I mean, it was just, it was the Republican Avengers. And every fighter seemed to want to acknowledge him or shake his hand or, you know, pay homage to him dance all this stuff and it was a it was a it

was a theme and i noted on twitter uh we don't have the clip but you know dana white this this was so funny to me dana afterwards said uh something to the effect of like that the only the two people that the world hates or the two entities that the world hates the most right now are the media and politicians and and i quipped like oh that's not very nice to all the important people that were sitting cage side and people either thought i was talking about the media which i wasn't or that i was anti those people which i'm, but it's just crazy how everyone goes from like zero to 100 real quick. You had actual politicians there, whether or not you want to pretend like they're not

or that they're renegades or that they're rebels. He was the president once. That in itself makes him a politician, not to mention all the other people that were surrounding him. And he's going to be again. So this idea that like, it's not a little bit weird to say that the world hates politicians yet the ufc has been so politicized and there's politicians all around the cage and again i don't care go back to what i said a month ago about all this um is is crazy how people just spin this stuff and then so yesterday it just spiraled into

this whole thing on my twitter i was like a maybe i just should have just shut my mouth which is probably the easiest thing to do b people probably thought i was defending the media which i wasn't whatever don't care he keeps saying this thing about the media being dead and now podcasts are a thing that he found and how they speak to the people and all this stuff meanwhile we've been doing podcasts for well over a decade um the irony of having actual politicians walk out like there is no sport that has become more political than the ufc there's actual like promos for politics on the ufc broadcast you don't see that in any other sport is there any other sport that does this at this point um and i don't know if it's going to continue once you know the inauguration happens and whatnot but like there's actual politicians there and you're saying that people hate politics

or politicians? How could that be? They're getting record numbers of people voting. I don't know. It's just... It's tough. It's just... It was like, what?

What are we talking about here? There is no sport that embraces politicians more than our sport or this particular organization. Anyway, commiserations to Chris Weidman. His fight was pulled at the last minute. Eric Anders announcing that he suffered food poisoning the night before and couldn't fight.

Hate that for him, hate that for Chris. Chris Weidman will join us tomorrow on the program to talk about that. We'll also be joined tomorrow by the American gangster himself, Chael P. His first official appearance in the new era, in the new studio! Yes, Chael P., the largest arms. We go from the Welsh gangster to the American

gangster. How about that? Very excited to announce that. Congratulations to Mikey Musumeci. He has signed with the UFC. And it's more like fight pass grappling deal. They're making a push. This is a big blow to one championship. And I think he's a big star and very likable and has a big following. So very curious to see where they go with that.

Bryce Mitchell versus Krohn Gracie added to UFC 310 on December 7th. By now, you obviously know Shavkat Rachmanov Versus Ian Gary Has been added to 310 We're going to talk more about that on tomorrow's show And Colby Covington versus Joaquin Buckley Is the new main event for the Last show of the year December 14th So it's now

310 headline by Pantoja Versus Asakura for the flyweight title Co-main is Shavkat versus Ian In a number one contender fight. No belt on the line. Winner gets Bilal. Shout out to Shavkat for taking the fight. A lot of people probably wouldn't,

but he came all the way here from Kazakhstan. He wants to fight. He wants to get paid. And fair play. Well done. So we'll talk more about that. Bryce Mitchell versus Krohn Gracie added to that card as well off that card is nick diaz um replacing him is temba garambo um did i butcher his name i might have butchered his name is it temba garimbo temba garimbo garimbo why did i say

garumbo uh it's been a long day temba garimbo uh the zimbabwean fighter with the great backstory um obviously a good friend of Dwayne Johnson's. So he will replace him against Vicente Luque, a fight that he has wanted for quite some time. And yes, that footage of Nick, I've asked his team about it. They said that the footage was old, but weren't very clear as to why he was out.

And Dana White was asked about it at the post-fight press conference. And he didn't even seem to know that he was out. And Dana White was asked about it at the Post-Fight Press Conference. And he didn't even seem to know that he was out. I don't know if that was him playing coy or whatnot. But we do hope that he is well and in good health and good spirits. And that, you know, I don't know. I think everyone just wants Nick to be happy, healthy, and to be able to live a happy, healthy, and successful,

and productive life. So we'll see what happens. We shall definitely see what happens. It is uncomfortable to see that stuff, but without knowing the context and without knowing when exactly it was and what exactly was going on, it's hard to fully weigh in on it So let us see I do want to also announce that tomorrow We will also be joined in studio By my good friend Ade Oladipo Of DAZN And our show is finally kicking off Ariel and Ade finally kicking off

So here's the schedule tomorrow We have our regular show One to around 3.30ish Then we'll take an hour break And then beginning at 5pm Eastern On DA Eastern on DAZN, exclusively on DAZN. So it won't air on our YouTube channel. It has to be on DAZN, but it's free. It's in front of the paywall, if you will.

The first episode of Ariel and Ade. And Ade will be joining us in studio for that. Flying over from London to be in studio. So it's now every Tuesday at 5pm Eastern on DAZN Just add another little jewel into our crown Here at Uncrown It's another one

Monday, A8 show Tuesday, A8 show Tuesday night, Ariel and Ade Wednesday, A8 show Thursday, the boys in the back Friday, the crack Watch parties, post shows, Helwani vision. I mean, we're probably missing a whole bunch of stuff.

And what about uncrowned.com? Traffic through the roof, engagement through the roof. Yeah, you're home for all things combat sports. Couldn't be happier with how the weekend went. A massive weekend from Arlington to New York and everywhere in between. Everyone stepped up. Everyone in the control room stepped up.

The whole team, the whole production team, fantastic, doing back-to-back watch parties, back-to-back post shows as well. Everyone's back. The whole team is under the weather. Is everyone under the weather back there? No. Everyone's good?

Everyone's great. Good form, good spirits? Couldn't be better. Sound fantastic, Frank. Thank you. And so it's a great time to be alive. It's a great time to be alive. All right, we are done.

We're out of time. The sun has fully set. A lot more chatter to come this week. We got some big guests coming on Wednesday as well. I can't wait for that episode but i can't wait for tomorrow because my good friend chill p gonna be joining us yeah by the way how are you feeling after those beers did you ever think you'd see helwani not just double fisting triple fisting it's the true independent hielwani era if i'm being honest i actually really like the sapporo shout out to

to bisping on this one it's nice it was like foamy there we go the highest compliment you can get yeah there's one thing i know it's that people look foam on their beers it was soft it was soft it felt like a pillow we need more head on that by the way uh john jones the name of martian manhunter from there it is martian manhunter your kids are big fans my kid drew a picture of john jones and i tagged him like that doesn't look like we talked about kids so this whole idea that we're not friends hogwash hog wash I have a John Jones toy somewhere here bang all right what a time is my is my assistant still back there uh yeah yeah Lululemon you got to step

up your game I need more clothes, okay? Now that we're Netflix Ariel, Netflix, Helwani Put it on the plaque, put it on the door Put it in my changing room That's how we're going by from here on out Back tomorrow Same time and place Until then I say peace

I'm out