Tony Khan FINALLY in studio, Valentina Shevchenko in studio, On The Nose, news & notes
00:00Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Eriya-Hawaii Show.Back in your life on this Tuesday, November 18, 2000.And 25, hello again, everyone.I sure hope you're doing well.It is great to be here.It is wonderful to be here.on a lovely yet frigid Tuesday in New York City,and there is something in the air, my friends.
00:35Yes, it is Tuesday, and you know exactly what that means.That means we have a star-studded lineup for you.Now, usually, you know, when I say star-studded,it's like four, five, six guests.Today, it's just two guests, my friends.It's just two, but both are in studio,both in high demand, and dare I say,both shall produce fireworks.
00:59In a matter of moments, we are going to be joined in studio by, arguably, the greatest female fighter in the history of the UFC, or at the very least, number one pound for pound right now.Why?Because on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, she successfully defended her UFC women's flywhite title in a romper.It was one-way traffic throughout in the co-main event.She's the pride of Kyrgyzstan.She's the one-and-only Valentina, the bullet, Shevchenko.She's going to be joining us in studio in a matter of moments.After that chat, at 2 o'clock, grab your popcorn, strap on your seatbelt, do whatever it is you need to do.
01:38Because three and a half years later, a little more than three years, not quite half, but like 3.2 or 3 years after, my first chat with the founder, the head booker, the CEO, the president, the everything of All Elite Wrestling, Mr. Tony Khan.we meet again, but this time it's face to face. I have never met him in person. I have nevershook his hand. Our first interview was on the YouTube channel before we officially launched it when I wasdoing the side hustle thing. Much talked about interview. I said some things. He said some things.But here we are some three years later. And he is gracious enough to join us in studio. And I have tosay, and I will say to him face to face, we've been doing this a long time. And usually when there's afalling out, there isn't a falling back, if you mean. You know, if you know what I mean,like falling out, a falling in, what would be the good result of falling out? You get the point,
02:37usually there's a falling out, and that's that. And so for three years to pass and, you know,some, I don't know, some bad, whatever you want to call it, for it to get to this pointwhere we can have what I hope to be a good, honest, and thought-provoking and thoroughconversation. It's something that I am appreciative of, grateful for, and looking forward tovery much. And I know there are a lot of you out there as well who are looking forward to it.I can't wait. I can't wait for that chat. And to make today even more special, it's a Tuesdayafter a pay-per-view. I feel like I've settled on this. Tuesday after a pay-per-view is thebest time to do on the nose because everything is very fresh. Obviously, everything that transpired
03:19on Saturday from the fights in the cage to the fights out of the cage, the AJ Jake, Jake Paulnews. What else you want to talk about? UFCQatar. We had the face-offs. We'll show youthose later. I also have some newsto talk about regardingthe PFL, Kaikar, Francein the news. Stay tuned for that. Veryinteresting as well. We'll get to all of that and
03:38more after the Tony interviewat approximately 3 o'clock.It's on the nose, on a Tuesday.ariahawani.substack.comis the place to be for allof that information,all of those questions.There are already a ton.
03:54There's a lot on everyone's mind from this past weekend in the world of boxing.Obviously, you know, Connor Ben getting the win over Chris Eubank Jr., Fabio Wardley,now becoming the WBO heavyweight champion after Alexander Usik, vacated the title of Joseph Parkerin the news, unfortunately, for the cocaine violation.The AJ and Jake Paul News, there is a press conference scheduled for 1 p.m. on Friday in Miamiat the Casillas Center.your boy will be therea little disappointed with Miami right now
04:25beating the Knicks yesterdayand a heartbreaker by twoyes we were out OGyes we were without Jalen Brunsonbut still should have won that gamehad plenty of opportunities down the stretchnevertheless neverthelessobviously UFC going down this weekend
04:39and yeahI mean there's just a lot going onthere's a lot going onand perhaps some reaction to the conversationwith one Tony KhanWW was at Madison Square Garden yesterdayThey're at the theater today for NXT.Just a lot going on.
04:56Just a lot going on.I do love the face off.I woke up the first thing that I saw today.The first thing that I saw today was the faceoff between Armand Serukian and Dan Hooker.I mean, this is a word personified by both of them.Shout out to Engage, getting the first look.Armand switches, fist to the face.Hooker can't be bothered.
05:20These two are magic.Those two are magic. I love everything about that fight. That fight in the Ian Gary-Belah Muhammad fight is big business. And in fact, it's so big that we'll be doing a post-show on Saturday after the conclusion of the card. It will be around 4 p.m. Eastern time, 9 in the UK, 1 p.m. in the Pacific time zone that's the west coast of the United States of America and Canada. But I feel like this one, this.one warrants it because it is the culmination of the the welterweight tourney i did see in the rankingsearlier today michael morales has shot all the way up to three he's now the third bestwelterweight as far as these rankings are concerned in the ufc islam number one jack dela holds hisspot at number one officially it's always weird to me i feel like the champion should be one but i get itchampion and then one i always say this below hanging on to number two morales threeover Shafkut.
06:23So what have you done for me lately,sport, then Shafkat 4,Carlos Proch, 5 over Ian Machado, Gary?How is that possible?How is that possible?He beat him.But fine.One suspects if Ian wins, he will move up.
06:36Brady 7, Usman,the unofficial number one contender,is 8.That's Kamar Usman.Leon Edwards 9,also kind of interesting,because, well, let's be honest,Leon beat Camaro twice
06:52And then Joaquin BuckleyWho I saw Joaquin Buckley sayingLike something to the effect of likeHey Islam you won't dare say my nameYou won't dare say my nameI don't know why he would say his nameIf I'm being 100% honestLike I get that you have to drum up some kind of interest
07:07Some kind of excitementSome kind of buzzBut you are coming off a lostKamaro UsmanSo I'm not really sure why he would say his nameBut I appreciate the effortshe is a top 10Walter Wade
07:21so I guesscrazier thingshave happenedso let's seelet's seea Joaquin Buckleytitle shotI don't know
07:28if crazierthings have happenedumat this current juncturewith how many contendersthey havehim coming off of a lossI guess
07:36at number 10if you saw an announcementand Dana White saidIslam Makashis gonna defend his beltat the White Houseagainst Joaquin Buckleyyou wouldn't be like
07:43what the fuckyeah you're rightI always go backto the AlexanderAugust of St titleshot after getting brutally knocked out by Anthony Johnson. He got brutally knocked out in his homecountry. You can hear a pin drop and then he got a title shot off of that. Never thought thatthat would ever happen. That was UFC 192. That to me is the most shocking title shot of all.
08:04But to your point, there wasn't a long queue of people waiting to fight the champion Dano Cormierat that time. So they kind of had to make something out of nothing. In this particular case,I mean, we've just mentioned like four or five guys, including shot.guy who hasn't fought in almosta year now. It's about 11and a half months since his last fight. So yes, it ispretty shocking. Are you trying to say that he was offbase with his
08:28I mean, I love this selling yourself. You know, you get onthe treadmill and you know, you won't be deniedand everything, but he is the number 10Walter Wade. He's coming off a loss to the numbereight where he was controlledfor 15 minutes of that fight. I wasin the building for it. People started leaving halfway throughthe fourth round because he was getting controlled so bad.
08:45I can't imagine the fate will be much differentagainst this alarm. So yeah, just with hisresume where he's at, I'd be, I'd be, I'd befloored, I'd be stunned. I don't know if I could continueto watch the sport if you got it done. That's it,you're done. You quit. Maybe. Maybe. You retire. It's tough.We did get some breaking news, courtesy of our friends over at thePFL, the Professional Fighters League Frank this morning.
09:07We found out that their schedule is starting to come into focus for 2026.Remember, this is their final year on the current ESPN deal that runs out in26. John Martin was the one who announced the news. This is courtesy of a press release that came outat around 11 a.m. Eastern Time this morning. The Professional Fighters League today announced 24 totalevents through 2026 with 16 global events across the year, which will be available on ESPN in theU.S. In addition, there will be eight regional events evenly split across Africa and MENA. That's theMiddle East, Northern Africa regions. First four events in 2026 arePFL Road to Dubai, February in the UAE, PFL Madrid in March in Spain, obviously, PFL Pittsburgh in March, and then PFL Chicago in April.
09:57So what's notable about this to me is that there's no exact dates attached to this.Obviously, you know, the Madrid thing is very notable because it's something that's been talked about for quite some time with the likes of, you know, Ilya Tuporia, his brother, and the growth of MMA in Spain.one suspects that Costello Ventinus's first title defense will be there because he has ties to the region.John Martin did say in the video, just a reminder, we are getting rid.We are getting rid of the tournaments as far as the global events are concerned.So none of those events will feature tournaments, but the regional ones, and it seems like they're really centered on MENA and Africa.It seems like they're moving away from PFL Europe and that the European events would just be a part of the global.events, which means best cards possible, just like the PFL Leon card coming up in December.
10:49That features Cyborg fighting for the belt.That features Henan Faheda against Vadim Nemcov fighting for the belt.They're just going to make the European events part of the regional, not regional, part of theglobal circuit.And then the regional tournaments will be in Africa and Mena.And they didn't announce specific dates.I'm not quite sure why.I did ask.
11:10It seems like they just wanted to get some information, give me.people a sense of what they're doing and where they're going for the first quarter of2024, but it definitely seems like it's a changing of the guard. It definitely feels likeit's a new organization headed up by new leadership, a new voice, and that they're changingthings up as far as the American and global events are concerned. Pittsburgh is an interestingspot, not exactly a hotbed. We were talking yesterday about this Charlie Brennam and Rick Storyfight when Nate Marquard tested positive and Brennan waltzed in 24 hours notice. That was aPittsburgh. That's probably like the most notable thing that happened at a Pittsburgh event. Oh,
11:47by the way, the Czech Congo Pat Barry fight. That crazy knockout happened in Pittsburgh back in theday. That was 2011 on versus on a Sunday night in versus. Shout out to Pittsburgh. Shout out toSid the kid as well. I did an interview with him over at the CBC. It's up now on the YouTubechannel. Do me fair. Go over there. Give it a thumbs up. Give it a, give it a like a little like andmaybe a comment or two. Just like let's boost it a little bit. Let them know about theWhat is it the, what are you calling it?Like the Hiawani Hive?Is that what we're calling it?
12:18Or the Helwani Hive?Is that what we're calling it?It's called the Havani Hive.Is that what it is?It is now.What is this?Who's calling this?I thought people were calling it.
12:29The Hylwani Hive, like the fan base.Yeah.The Huananabies.We used to call it the Hylwani Hib Nation, but I feel like Hive has become like a cool word.Oh, people have been saying that a lot?Yeah.On what, Twitter, Instagram?Huge on Blue Sky.
12:45Friendster.If you can drop the links for those,I'd be happy to get him.Friendster, Myspace.Are people still using Blue Sky, by the way?Yeah, absolutely.I don't believe you.Yeah, our boy, BenFolks is still on it.
12:54Is that true?His lower third says so.Yeah.Has anyone gone on his feed and looked if he's actually...Several times.I actually think he's got like a decent amount of followers.I can't even lie.Wow, wow, wow.
13:06I'm pulling it up right now.Ben, folks, stop Blue Sky.He's doing well for himself.3.1K followers?That's not.about you okay guys are we excited for tony connor or what i can't wait from height tina into tonythe tony is crazy crazy in studio too i mean we have actual royalty coming in in a matter of secondsthe bullet valentina shepchenko the pride of kyrgyzstan 37 years young ufc women's flyway champion
13:35just listen to these accolades right here listen to this resume right here nine title defensesacross two title reigns we know what happened in the middle nbd nbd nbdtied with Amanda Nunes for most title fight wins in UFC women's history 11 most wins inUFC women's flyweight division history 10 most KO victories in UFC women's flyweight divisionhistory four longest winning streak in UFC women's flyweight division history nine most titlevictories in UFC women's flyweight division history nine joint fourth with Amandathe noon is 11, Anderson Silva, 11for most title victories.
14:14Only Mighty Mouse 12,GSP 13, and John Jones16 are ahead of her.John Jones 16 title victories is prettynuts. NGL.Eight career victoriesvia K.O., 7 via sub,11 via decision.
14:33Wins over Holly Home, Yawani on Jacek,Giuliana Pena, Alexa Grasso, JessicaAndrudge, Liz Karmouche, Jessica I,and on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York City,a brilliant win, a dominant win, a romper of a win over Zhang Wei Liand what a lot of people were calling one of the most significant title fightsin women's MMA history, in UFC women's MMA history,in UFC women's title history, and honestly,
15:01a lot of people thought it would be very close, and it wasn't.It wasn't close at all.It was not close at all.And so here she is in the tri-state area.What an opportunity.What a privilege.What an honor to be joined by one of the greatest fighters of all time, the one and only, the bullet, the pride of Kyrgyzstan.Valentina Shepchenko.
15:22Is she there?Is she actually there?Yes.Wow.What a great honor this is.Hello, Valentino.Wow.With the belt.
15:29So nice to see you.Okay.Let's hug it out.Yes.Oh, my gosh.Look at this.Definitely.Yes.
15:34Wow.Wow.Can I see it.You can.What a great honor this is.Hello, everyone. Hello, Pavel. How are you?Okay, where are we? Oh, look at this.Wow, this is the belt.
15:44This is the belt.This is beautiful. Thank you so much for bringing it in.It's a great honor.UC32 in.Yes, and still.New York, and still.And you have the, where are the rubies?Oh, they send it to you, right?
15:56Oh, and they put the...So this is a band belt, and it has only one ruby because it's like, you can see hereit's the U.S. 322 Madison Square Garden.but my belt with all rubies, it's like my personal belt.That is, every successful defense, I send my plate, and they update it with the rubies.Wow, wow, wow.And I have it.There it is, right?
16:21We're on the screen.Yes, but it's like an old version right now.It's all this side plus one more rubies from the other side.Because you've now gone to nine, right?Yes.Unbelievable.I want to see how does it look?How does it look guys on?
16:34does it look good? It looks good, Brad? I want to make sure it looks nice. Look at that. That looksbeautiful. For me, it looks good. Yes, okay. Oh yes, I'm going to put the microphone closer to yourmouth. Yeah, there you go. Okay. Thank you so much for coming in. I think in all my years oftalking to you and doing the show, I don't think we've ever done it in the studio before.In a studio, I'm very first time and I was like very excited to see you, very curious, to seehow it's look inside. It feels very cozy. Thank you. That's what we try to do. It's like you'recoming to my house. Beautiful. I love it.Thank you. Thank you.
17:04So...Where's my doll?Yes, I was going to say that.Do you have one?I don't have one.No.Is there a Valentina doll?Yes, there is.
17:13It should be.I need to buy one.I don't think I've ever seen one before.I think I was sent like a few months ago.There is a dolls in a like in a punching bag.Oh.And there is like a Valentina.It's a bullet.
17:28I love it.Okay, I'm going to look for that.I'm going to look for it.I'm going to put it right here next to DJ, next to all the greats that are with us.What was it like competing?This was your first time competing at Madison Square Garden, right?That's correct.Did you feel the aura, the history?
17:40Did it feel special for you?Oh, you know, it's like when I'm competing, I'm so focused.I'm so locked into the fight that I actually like, in the moment, it's impossible for meto feel the moment.Okay.Because I feel where you try to feel it, you kind of like losing the point.the focus pointbecause it's the same for the pilots
18:08like combat pilotthey cannot feel the momentin the moment of the flyingthey have to be very focused on what they are doingright now this is same for the fighterswe have to be focused on whatit's like feelinglesscompletely zero feelings
18:24but after youlook backand you realize how big it wasdefinitely leading intothe fight coming into the fightI knew that about Madison Square Garden.It's definitely a huge arena.But still inside, this focus, it's like a block.
18:43It's like a shield.Because if you start to express your feelings, emotions, show all of that,you kind of like breaking your protective shield.This is what you don't want to do during the fight, the important event.I get it.And I'm not surprised to hear you say that.I was wondering if you were captivated by it all.I have to say this, Valentina, and this is why I find you to be so interesting.
19:09There is a mystery to you because I feel like, and you kind of alluded to this here,you let us in a little bit, but you don't let us in all the way.And so I could feel, after listening to you on Fight Week, like, I was getting the sense.Tell me if I'm wrong.You were a little bit annoyed that people would think that a 115 pound champion would move up to 125.There was a part of you that was feeling like the audacity of people to thinkthat this woman is on my level.That's the way I felt.
19:36Were you out there to prove a pointand were you feeling that talkand were you channeling thatas motivation going into this fight?Because I felt like it was annoying you a little bit.Actually, no, not at all because...I got it completely wrong.Completely wrong.
19:51You know, I definitely knew about what people's sayingand it's like leading to the fight.Everyone was like praising and like saying likeso like, oh, they are the same sizewith Waley, so Bailey, she's so strong,she's so explosive, so fast,so everything. Yeah, definitelythey will say it because she was
20:11showing such amazingfights against herother opponents,but it doesn't meanthat she will do the sameagainst me. Because me, it'snot the other opponents. Me,it's me. Me, it's a bullet.
20:27And I have completely differentlike skills speed strange so and definitely people it's for them too hard to imagine how it's goingto go and like to see the reality but specialists like professionals who know martial artsvery good from the inside they definitely saw the reality very clear but from the point aboutbeing annoying.It's the same.We are coming back to the same pointwhen I'm, I just cannot
21:07let this emotionsto get inside of me.Because in the fight, you have tobe cold-minded.You don't,like in the moment, you have tohave the clear vision, whataction, what decision to take in this
21:23second. It's rightthis second. And if youlet emotions get into you,you will lose your mind.You will, like, commit mistakes, make errors.But in this level, when, for example, we are competing,when I competed with Whaley, the highest level of opponent,the highest level of martial arts,
21:45it's like there is no right for any mistakebecause your opponent of this levelwill not, like, forgive this mistake.They will use it against you.That's why it's like completely in the bubble shield, hearing what is going on outside, but not letting in inside.Have you always been like that?Or was there a time in your life where you did let the stuff from the outside, from outside the bubble, get in and affect you?At the beginning of my career, definitely, yes.
22:19Pre-UFC or beginning of UFC?Pre-UFC, way pre-UFSI, like pre-Moi Thai.At the beginning, I understand and I speak it's like 30 years ago.Because it's how you learn to be like that.How you can learn it if you are not experienced that.You have to like pass through it.You have to feel it from the inside what can happen.And when you feel it, you correct it.
22:45And then you are put in the right tune.And so you have these moments where, you know,some people are saying this and that.And then you go out there and you completely dominate.Like it was not even close to fight.There was, right?there was exactly there was no questionno question when you were
23:01envisioning like thinking about the fightdreaming about the fight game planningdid you really think it would go that wayor were there any parts that you were okaya little bit concerned because it did not seem for onemoment that you were in trouble even for a secondit was as one-sided as it getsagainst the person who most
23:18thought was the best pound for pound femalefighter going into that fightfrom the very beginninglike my coachby Ovidotov he was trained mein the way where this is I call the art of martial arts.When you go inside of the ring or octagon and you do, you hit your opponent whatever you want,you do whatever you want, but they cannot get into you.
23:45They cannot hit you.They miss.They do like, this is the art of martial arts.And it was the very number one from teaching, like from my coach, from Pavel, from his teaching.that to learn how to make damage and don't receive any damage.And this is what I'm leading to the fight.I were saying about I will show the art of martial arts.And this is a truly art because going into the fight and hit each other
24:18without like distance measuring without like going.Every can do that.And it's kind of like to find out who has.stronger chin, stronger head, stronger punch.But it's like more like physical quality.But it's not something that you are learning through the years from martial arts.And learning from martial arts is exactly how to control your body,how to control your distance, how to see the moment and how to properly react.
24:52And this is like all the way through all my years of dedicated to martial arts.I was learning from my coach by the same coach from the very same coach from the veryhow old are you when you first met uh i was five years old five years old yeah and it's the samecoach now same coach yes who introduced you to him and by the way i want to i want to fix thisshow i want to get this right what of the other shot i'd be there yeah i want to get this on camerayou deserve to have that show right it's great look at it's so nice right right yeah yeah it has to beon the camera yeah you know what i meanIt's just too, there it is, there it is, to stay up.
25:32Nice.Yes, that is very nice.Who introduced you to him?So, my mom.My mom, and first, who started to train, it's my sister under Piverable for leadership.Antonina.The pilot now.Pilot now, yeah.
25:47Amazing.But on the time, when I started to train,Pavel, back in Kyrgyzstan, he was already, oops.It's falling.Okay.That's fine.He was already a very famous coach.He was training a national team of Taekwondo of Kyrgyzstan.
26:05So it's like a bigger challenge, bigger.It's national team.It's different sports.It's professional sport.It's all about hard training and everything.And when I started to train, it definitely was less attention to the youngest who was like running over there.but afterlike
26:30maybe by the time when I had alreadylike 11, 12 yearsand definitely there is moreyou want to train moreand I understood that martial artsI want to do and I started to trainit's a little bit more like deeplyand definitely Pavel start to
26:48dedicate more time to theolder like older childrenright right so this isthis is how it was, it's like gradually was growing up.But when I was little, it was like just like training.And Pavel has to work with his older students.And sometimes, for example, his older students was training us.But for children at this age, and it's not about technique, tactic or something like that,
27:20it's more about how their body responds.Right.So the only thing I know about current,Kyrgyzstan is you, you and your sister and your family.What is it like growing up there?What is it like being a child in Kyrgyzstan?For me, it was amazing.It was very good because I think for every person, home country,
27:38it's something like very specific, very, it doesn't matter how it is.It always will have a very special place inside, in the heart.And it was, first of all, all my life, it was about trainings.and since very beginning, so everyday training, I'm very grateful to my mom.She is president of Kyrgyzstan Muay Thai Federation.Still?Still.She has a lot of students, many of her students there, Asian champion, like a medalist
28:09of championship in Muay Thai, national champions, and she's in training business for a long time.she like has a good quality as a trainer as well but the most important that what I amvery grateful to her it's that in the beginning she has a very strong rule that for examplewe go to the school it's not it's and it's like I feel it's everywhere no one askingchildren if they want to go to the school or they don't want to they justhave to go. And this is what's exactly with the trainings. We have to, we must be at the trainingsession, every training session. You want, doesn't matter. You don't want, doesn't matter. You feelnot very good, not very up to it, doesn't matter. You just go and do that. And this consistent,
29:08and this, like, that she has like very strong word, it's very influent in a good way. Becausewhen children is little, when child, like they are, they want to hang out.They don't want to do like hard stuff.They don't want to go and train and they don't want to do much things.But if parents force them to do at certain point, it's going to be, it's going to result fora good because by the time when a child is ready to take decision, what is they going to, what they want to be in thefuture, they already have a lot of choices. For example, they know martial arts, they knowlike different, like whatever parents learn them, and they have this ability to choose. And if they don't,
30:01by the time they are already grown up, they say, oh, what are going to do with my life? And then they'relike, I don't know, because I didn't experience anything. I was not forced to do any, to learn anything.And now it's the age, like 20, they just starting to learn things.But it's the process that they already would be able to come to with a lot of knowledge, but they lost it.And I think it's very important in their education of children.It's very important that parents will teach them to do what parents know what they do.And when the child is grown up enough, they will choose what they want to do.visitors. I'm going to clip this off and show this to my daughter. My daughter is nine and she plays
30:47soccer, but sometimes I don't want to go to practice. She fights me, this and that. I'm going to showher what Valentina said about, you have to go. You have to just show up, even if you don't feel likeit. Now, now your mom clearly instilled this in you. What about your dad? Your dad was in the army,right? Yes, he was in the army and he was. Here he is, right over here. Look, that's your father, right?Yes. And that's your mother. What do you mean? On the, on the right side? Is it, is it yourIt's Antonina.That's Antonina.It's Antonina, yeah.
31:14Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.So was your dad, was your dad at home too?So I want to clear, like, this is my dad from the older picture in the army.Yeah.And my coach, Pavel, me on the background and Antonina on the side.Unbelievable.Wow, wow, wow.So was your dad instilling this in you as well?
31:34My mommy dad, they split it when I was like three years old, but we had always amazingrelationship and but in our growing up process it was more like mom's side okay okay but my dadhe's he passed away a few years ago and he was amazing person and like a lot of love betweenall of us each other and yeah but this is how I grew up okay did he get to see your success inthe UFC yes definitely beginning did he do martial arts also he did football soccerYeah, and he was very successful in his youth.He was playing in the Soviet Union for the Kyrgyzstan team,and they were champions in the very younger age.
32:23But that's it, that's it.We saw some footage of you.Early days of your career, you're doing Muay, I believe it is.This is you right here from your YouTube.Look how young you are.How old are you in this?So if I'm not mistaken, it's about 2,000.what
32:402006 I guess2006 almost 20 years agothis footage hereit's incredible seeing thisyeah it was inBlack Sea Coast and inSochi one of the professionalfights and where I competed like a lot
33:03and I really enjoyed that timeand Black Sea Coast it's a wonderful placeto uh because we lived there for about three years what that young woman what was her dreams likewhat did you want out of all this where did you think it was going to lead to it's very hardyou know like to say and answer this question i know it's uh interesting questions that everyoneasking but um never i can reply on that you didn't think you didn't think long term you didn'tNo, no. I just was living the moment. I just living exactly like this day, wanted to do my bestwhat I can, to win the fight, to be better. And I never knew that it's going to lead me somewhere.
33:49And I feel that many persons, they don't know. They kind of like can suspect or can likeguide in that direction, but never know what it's going to be in the future.And this is what I feel, it's more real, it's reality.You know what's going to happen, but you are staying loyal to your past, to your way of life.And for me, it always was martial arts.And I knew that if I will be loyal to what I am doing, I will have success.I didn't know what kind of success, but it's going to be good.This is like the most what I can answer is the question.
34:31Would it be fair to say you've exceeded whatever you thought success was,like that you've gone way further, like Madison Square Garden, UFC champion,one of the greatest ever?This wasn't really, obviously the UFC wasn't really a thing back then,especially for women.It was just the early days.But would it be fair to say you've become a lot more well-knownand famous and successful and celebrity than you ever could have even imagined?
34:54This is what I didn't imagine.Never even thought.No, I never even thought.Even right now, it's like for me,I'm still active fighter, and I don't know what's going to be next, what I will face next year, how far I can go.So for me, it's still a living process.I never stop.And I feel on this question, you can answer when you are done done.
35:22Like, you are done with everything, and you are truly look back and start to see.but even then the life it still can bring like so much more and you never know when and whereit's going to turn so even then it's like who knows you just do what you are saying is rightand you are don't pretend to be someone else and act like you think it's a truly like right thingthis is i think the most important thing uh what i consider the right thing you wear manydifferent hats it seems like you have many different talents obviously we knowabout the fighting and the different forms of martial arts we know about thedancing as well we've seen you dance in the cage but we found some early
36:06footage of you dancing I think it was on a reality show what is this realityshow here yeah it's one of the one reality show we were very nice andinteresting it's called combate okay and I was there so first of all it'sreality show every day life for two hours so every day from Monday toFriday you have to compete live. This is one part of the competition. What we have, it wasdancing, DeSafia Dobli, where you have to dance different dances with your partner and competeagainst another partners. Okay. So we did five dances before the final. It was reggaeton. It wasfrom the Greece. It was... This is incredible. One of my most more favorite dances. It was
36:55Meringue, tango,cha-cha-cha. And in thefinal, we won firstplace with my partners. You won the whole thing?Yes. How did you get on this show? Because at thatpoint, you weren't Valentina Shepchenko UFC staryet. In that point, it was2013, if I'm not mistaken.
37:12So seven, like almost,no, 17, like about 15 timesMuay Thai champion. Okay.So people knew you in, in Peru.You were a celebrity there. Yes. Did you enjoy doing it?We already lived in Peru.for probablylike four, five
37:29years. Okay. And yeah, definitelyI fought manytimes in professional fight in Peruand it was like every timeinteresting, a lot offans coming, a lot ofpeople like loving martial arts, lovingMuay. Yeah, and this reality
37:48was not about only dancingbut also aboutcompeting indifferentlike competition.when you have to run, you have to jump, you have to swim and do other things.So it was very intense.And what did you get for winning?
38:04What's the prize?It's kind of like your job.It's like monthly payment.But definitely there was a price for this damged competition as well.And so when you're competing now in Peru, do you get a lot of love from there?Do you get a lot of people covering it and talking about it back there?I always feel this love from Peru, from all Latin America, fromlike every country over there and it's it's very important and it's very like nice and beautiful
38:34for me to feel that because it's kind of like some motivations that it's going to saying likeyou don't you just have to do your best thing because people are looking to you onto you and theyare like, want to share this success with you.And that's why I'm saying that all my victory, it's not just me.It's we are all together.Did you also live in the Amazon?Yes, yeah, part of Peru.What was that like?
39:07It was amazing.It was the most beautiful time.In Peru, we lived between Lima, capital, and Amazon, Ikitos, a jungle.It's pure jungle.You lived in the jungle.In the jungle, not in the same.city, our place was about like 30 minutes going from the city by boat. So first of all, overthere in the jungle, you cannot get by car. There is no roads. There is only way to go by plane
39:34or by the boat. Wow. Yes. And even you go by plane to Akitas, it's capital of Amazonas inPeru, and then you have to take another small boat with a lone motor, yeah? It's a small, a small, skinnyboat and go by Amazon Riveranother 30 minutes to getinto the place where we're staying.Why didn't choose such a remote location?First of all, alwaysclose to the nature. Okay.
40:00And I justlikeloved there. It wasso wild. We hadso many preparation forlike all kind of competition in there.And you know, it'sthis
40:14feeling forthree days.you kind of like feel a little bit uncomfortable because the air there is very humid, it's number one.The temperature, it doesn't change.It's super warm all the time during the night, during the day.And you kind of like adjusting for that.A lot of mosquitoes, a lot of like dangerous, danger around like everywhere in the corner.Like what kind of danger?
40:42Animals.Animals.Animals, insects.It can be everything from jaguar, from Puma.to snakes like anacondas and piranas, of course, and like everything.You have to be very careful.Have you ever faced them?You ever, you see them?
40:59You know, they are people thinking that they are like walking around, something like that.But when it's nature danger, they are very smart.They don't go like that.Oh, okay, I believe you now.No, they are also very like hidden.And if they see and hear some noise, they will hide.But I did see some when we were passing through the jungles.And they have very tiny and small, how you call it, like, passes.
41:30Okay, okay.And people think that, for example, native Amazon people, like jungle people,they go very quietly, like almost no noise.But no, when they go in the jungles, first of all, everyone,has machete. Every person. Even children, like small, like six years old, five, or so they go to theschool, everyone with machete. Because they have lianas that when it's touching you, it's kind of likemore, you resist to get rid of it. It's going to be more tight and going deeper to your skin,deeper to your skin. And get rid of this plant, it's only to cut it. It's number one. And definitely
42:10just in case you feel facing Jaguar on your way to the school.And you would walk around with a machete tooOf courseAnd you have to make a lot of noiseA lot of noise when you're walkingBecause it's only way that all animals aroundThey will just hideJust in case
42:27This is the only way to get through thatDid you ever get nervous, afraid?You know, definitely you have toBut in that point you are thereIf it's happened anything you just cannot doYou have to defend yourselfAnd you can't kind of like get this feeling of, yeah, yeah, whatever happened, I will face it, yeah.And then after, like, after one week, you are become so one with the nature.
42:57You are just like, disappear in this everything and you just live this life.And what do you live in, like a, in the jungle?We have a house.A house, okay.Are there people living around you or it's remote?It was a village.Definitely, but village with 3,000 people.Wow.
43:16Like 3,000 people, that's it.And it's by the river.And when the time that the river is high or down,because it's like season when it's high, it's down.And there is, it's called balsas.It's like a floating house.Some people do floating bars.And these balsas, they are with the river going higher or lower.
43:39So it's like moving constantly.And, like, many times after the training, we were coming to these balsas, just, like, few purposes.To have some food, to have some drink, to swim.And, you know, like, it's funny that in this spot, like, people swimming in Amazonas.And here, like, next to each other, other people, like, they're fishing piranias.Like, they do that's the same place.Wow.And how old are you when you're living there?
44:08It was, like, um, um, um,What is that?Like, my 20s, my train is like...Amazing.We lived in Peru for eight years.You're kind of a nomad in that you have many different homes, I feel like,and you train in many different locations.Where's your home now?
44:24Do you have a home base now?Yes, Nevada.Okay, it is in Nevada.Nevada, yeah.And I feel like you don't spend a lot of time there.Like, you know, like this training camp.Where did you train for this fight?Oh, it was all kind of like...
44:36First of all, we started in Puget Sound, Seattle.Okay, okay.year. So we have a boat there and we try to go every season, summer or sometimes winter becauseit's beautiful too. And this time we went for about two months living on board, living in a boat,just like going from Marina to Marina, all the Puget Sound, all the San Juan Islands. And duringthe summertime, it's so beautiful. A lot of fishing salmon, a lot of crabbing, a lot of crabbing, a lotof shrimping. So we were doing everything. We had all this crab pod, shrimp pods. And when the seasonis up, it's like they're crabbing, fishing, shrimping, and it's like very fresh seafood. And just
45:28amazing to live on the water and be able to go everywhere. In the same time, always training.And when we are in the marina, for example, if we don't have closed gym, on the next.nature, training on the nature always, and it's like always maintain the form. But also like inSeattle and like all parts of Puget Sound, we have friends and we go train with them. So my traincan start it there. Then we flew to Morocco. It's like two purposes. One definitely like train, but it waskind of like farther from the fight. And another I was acting in the terminal list. Oh yeah. So wewent to Morocco from Morocco to Thailand to Tiger Muay Thai my gym what I train for like since2014 I represent this gym and a month over there go back to Morocco go back to the filming
46:25the second part of the filming then Las Vegas and then El Paso Texas and we finished hereNew Jersey geez and like when you're doing the filming is that in the midst of thetraining camp or is it outside the training camp in the training camp is that is that stressful um it's alldepends it all depends how close to the fight it definitely it's not one month before the fight it was alittle bit further it was two months before the fight yeah kind of like a little bit less um yeah lessthan two months and um no it's not annoying uh instead of it was so hard training in thailand that it wasrefreshing. And we were able to find a training gym in Morocco, Tangier Fight Club,amazing, good training partners. And I was able, like, between the filming scenes, go to the training,
47:24do my workout over there, sparring and everything. Definitely, Pavel was like every timetaking care that everything goes smoothly and no one is injured because it's very important.and leading the training process.He's leading the training process all the time.And, yeah, this was like a fresh breeze.And with, like, recharge energy, we get back to Las Vegas,and I already started the final, would say.Do you think that the fights against Alexa Grasso,
48:01and in particular the first two,do you think that they changed you as a fighter?changedno I would not saychanged as a fighterbecausereally changeyou have to be
48:14less experiencedbut whenspeaking about melike years in martial artslike titles inMuayback then it was how manyseven title defense
48:28if I'm not mistakenso it's very hardto change your selfas a personyour approachbut definitelyit showed likedifferent
48:41sidesbut the most importantis that I'm backand I'm hereand belt is hereand this is the most importantdid you ever questionwhether you would get it back
48:52for a momentlike you don't seemno no I was very sureyou knewI knew that it's going to happenit's you know likeif look back the first fightand how it went
49:03all the waybefore the final in the fourth round.So you see there's like the difference.It's like winning all the way.It's there like, yeah, she may be hit one time or something like that.But it was like every round, like my round, my round, my round.And then mistake what it's happened and how I say.In the high level, you are not allowed to commit any mistake
49:31because your opponent will not forgive it.And yeah, happened what happened, but then in the second fight, like, I showed that I am better,but circumstances, like, played not the way I wanted.You should have won that fight.That was crazy.I know.I know.I know.
49:51It was crazy, but it happened what happened.And, like, whatever reason that person had, it's like their conscience will speak to himafter years.But in the third fight, I knew that I just have to give zero chances for anyone to think, even think about this possibility to repeat this result again.And I did it.So finally, even better venue, even better event, even like everything bigger.So it looks like everything played out good.Yeah, you've done that now three times in a row.
50:32I would say, the third fight against Alexa, the Mano fight in Montreal, and then this fight.And it's a testament to your skill.The fights are so one-sided that, as you may or may not know, some say like, oh, this is boring because it's so one-sided.Does that bother you?And what would be your response to someone who says, like, you're so much better, you're so dominant that it's not exciting.It's not entertaining.Oh, it's not exciting.You hear that.
50:58Do you see people saying that or no?Is this the first time you hear this?You know, I'm very focused on my performance.I'm not focusing on what people are saying, much.But I would say it's, you know, appreciate the technique of martial arts,appreciate the strategy, and they have this ability to control everything,that even the most dangerous, the most, like, fear opponent,when they are coming against you
51:33and fight against you,they look like they cannot do nothing.This is the art.And this is the major pointwhere any fighter want to be.And definitely, like, for example,in this last fight,I was so close to finish the fight.
51:52And I felt it, like so close with my kicks.I felt several times, like liver kick.it felt like just right it.But you know, the thing,when you're fighting with someone like Whaleythat has so much power in her punchesand like this feelingwhen she has to step back
52:14and then she has to attack,it's danger all the timesince the beginning to the end.You cannot just like with the hot hatjust goes there and like,oh, I will make knock out now.Because one mistakeand you're going to be down.
52:30You're going to be like turning from the winner into the nothing.And you don't want to do that because you want to be, you want to stay the winner.You don't want to like do crazy things.You are not allowed because you're a professional fighter and you know what your mission hereto win the fight and do in the best way.And the technique what I show in the fight, this is speak about my like,quality as a fighter and about all the excitement and even in the ground like was looking all the timefor the finishing but she is not just like regular fighter I would finish like anyone yeah but with
53:16her I could not commit any mistake could not give any hole for her to get out because if I likeI was working on my position hard enough to get this position.And if I will rush, I will lose this position.And who knows, I will be down and she will be on top,and then it's going to continue, like, not in my way.So this is the way that you are, has to control every second.You have to be aware one step ahead.And this is what I call the, like, a mastery of martial arts.
53:52And so, and I kind of, I feel.I know what you're going to say here, but I'll ask it anyway.Do you feel like that mastering of the martial arts is appreciated by the fans?Because as you know, they want blood and guts and they want the war.Depends.It all depends.Do you feel it?Do you feel like your skill is appreciated?
54:09Your dominance is appreciated.It's not depends on the like, because you cannot be good for everyone.Even like you can see the highest strikers.Like they cannot be good for everyone.they will be like two-sided who say yes who say no yeah you have to choose what you want to do youcannot please everyone no it doesn't work like like this it's not only in martial arts it's not onlyin a may you have to choose what you are stand for and keep doing like being yourself you cannot gomad on someone because they have different opinion or because they don't have enough experience
54:50or because they don't have, they don't see and don't they, like, read, like, they don't know martial arts.You cannot be mad about them.No, you know, they will come to it.It will take time, but they will be, they will understand martial arts for this moment.But it doesn't matter at this point.It's like more yes than no.Yeah, and this is what is matter.How do we repair the relationship with you and Chale?
55:22How do I figure this out?What is going on with you and Chale, Sonnet?I never met him personally.I don't believe this, but he always has an opinion.He always calls you the bullet.He always refers to you as the bullet.Then he always has an opinion on the state of your career.I don't know if you saw last time he was talking about you, not main eventing and all this stuff.
55:39What is the issue here?He's a lovely guy.You're a lovely, but why is there a beef here between you two?So the last thing, the last thing, what I heard from him,It was, I think after or before, what he said, what he said about, that I am not a nice person.So this is what, yeah, this is what the last lesson.He said, I'm not a nice person.And I was like asking all my people who knows me, they all said, I'm a nice person.
56:10So he's wrong.How could he know this if he's never met you?You have to ask him.I know, I've asked him.And what he said.I don't understand what the issue is.What he said? What's his response?Well, I don't remember him saying the non-nice person.
56:24He said, oh, you know, never before has someone fought on so many cards in title fights, but not main evented, not main evented the event, the event, right?And I was like, you know, co-main event is still pretty damn good.You've done that a lot in your career.And so, like, he kind of just talks, and he talks, and he talks, and it just seems like he has some sort of issue with you, and I can't figure it out.I don't know if there's a story we don't know about.I think it sounds personal.Yeah, what is it?I never met him personally.
56:50So weird.He was here in New York.You didn't see him at the venue or anything?No, I didn't.So, yeah, I don't know.We have to like face to each other and I will ask him what issue he has with me.Yes, yes.I can't imagine why he would have an issue.
57:04Honestly, maybe you guys go to the shooting range one time and you like, not shoot each other,but like you do a competition and maybe he'll get respect for you after he sees how good.I don't know.I'm trying to think of something.Maybe we can use rubber bullets, yeah?At each other.And then each other.like to shoot him with a rubber bullet. Is that what you're saying?
57:20No, I don't like to shoot anyone.No.But it is weird.Here you are, by the way.I mean, look at this.Where is this?It is in Las Vegas.In my favorite, one of the favorite shooting range.
57:33So I have two favorite shooting range.One indoor, one outdoor.For indoor, I go to the 702, the range.And for outdoor, it's a pro gun in Las Vegas.And I very like these two,two places and like very good spirit and when I go and the range and it's usually like all thetime and it's like recharging energy and it's so close to the fighting because it's worked bothways it works for your reaction it works for your speed it works for your concentration and respect
58:09because gun it teach not only how to shoot you have to control your emotionsyou have to control your breeze.You have to respect what you are doing.You have to think about when you're starting to shootand when you finish to shootwhat you have to do next in turn to be safe.Because you just cannot go to the range with the gun like that.No, no, no.
58:34You have to respect what you're doing.And the sport, like shooting sport like IPSC,IDPA, three guns.It's amazing sport.It's like where you have,to know how to shoot speed very fast enough, accurate enough, and the same time be able,if there is some gems or something like that, you have to be able to fix it to continue yourexercise. There is like position when you have to run, and you have to shoot from the sitting
59:06position, standing position, laying down on the floor, like from the obstacle. So it's verylike moving, very versatile. It's, I would say, this type of competition,defense of competition in a pistol it's kind of like mixed martial arts likem-ma universal like complete but and it's very similar because it's have everythinghonestly just between us no one no one yeah no one have you ever been a spyis that come on seriously no no i was like recently in my the terminal list i am playinga super agent okay i'm playing super is that a departure like is that you have toplay or is that kind of your life and you just are playing yourself no I'm playing it
59:53you're playing it but you know being a fighter it's so easy to play it because you are um I was doingthe same thing I was like would you ever want to do that in real life like when you're donewhere should I do what what like like be like that type of person like an agent like a spy typeof practice I'm a fighter no when you're done when you're done when I done and if I done by my 50sYeah, you could do it.Now.You wouldn't want to do that.I feel like you'd be so good.
01:00:20You're stealth.You're unflappable.After my 50s, I want to enjoy life.I want to like hang out, like travel all the world.Relax.Of course.Because you're so stoic.Like, it's hard.
01:00:31You don't break.You don't even bend.I have to.This is a fighter mentality.It's champion mentality.But you're different.You're different.There have been fighters who have been broken.
01:00:42You know this, right?It happens.You're fighting at someone who's better than you.you never break.We've never seen you falter.Even against Amanda,you're fighting someone who's bigger.We never see that from you.
01:00:53Because I'm not alone.I'm not by myself.I'm not growing up just liketrying to figure out everything by myself.I have amazing team that it's stand with me.Definitely all my career,my coach, he was like the best influencein techniques.
01:01:16advice, mental advice, like everything. And he showed me the way how I have to control myself.My mom, she's professional in mixed martial arts. She knows how to deal with all of that.My sister, she experienced all the same things, so she knows how to deal with that.That's why I feel that I never had to face something by myself and without this support.and this support, this is what important.I feel that it doesn't matter what I have to face,I have that all people like next to me, stand with me.I get it.
01:01:56No matter what's happening, they're going to stay with meand they don't going to turn their backs.In good and bad, they are here.And I feel it gave this confident to step in the unknown future.So Natalia Silva next?I don't know yet.And I don't want to think and I think about it right now.It's too close from the fight.
01:02:20And I had so intense training camps like back to back.These two training camps, almost no rest.And that's why I want to take a good physical and mental rest before I actually will think about what is when is next and who is next.Because there is several options and we will have to.manage, measure everything, and think what is better for my career.Can I just ask you, I was a little surprised by one comment that I saw.I don't know if you saw this from your old foe Amanda Nunes.Did you see what she wrote?
01:02:54About.So here's from a post on Emma fighting.Dana White gives his immediate reaction to Valentina Shevchenko's dominant win over Zhang Wei.I thought Wei Li would be much stronger and do better in that fight than she did iswhat he said.Then Amanda was in the comment and she said, after I beat Kayla Harrison, I'm going down to125 and take this belt for collection too.Oh, let's do it. Amanda, come on, 125. Yeah, let's do it. Yeah, maybe, maybe Kyla Harrison will
01:03:21want to go down to 125 and do it as well. Yeah, I welcome everyone. Do you believe her whenshe says this? Do you think she can actually make 125, Amanda? Depends what she's going to dolike to make this. In our experience, she already missed, she made the weight,But then she felt 135 point of way.But then she felt so bad that she said like, oh, no, I'm not up to fight.And she had to cancel the fight.I remember on the day of the fight.Exactly.
01:03:51What was this?Back in 2017.And then you had to fight two months later in Edmonton.Yes.So I wonder if she can make 125.But that one, it feels like that's the one you want to get back, right?Before it's all said and done, a third fight against her?It depends.
01:04:04It depends.There is like all the circumstances that have to come in.because for now she likes to talk a lot and this is like feels like secure when you're behindthe wall and like no one can get she's still kind of like in the half of her retirement stillsaying that she's coming back but nothing sure yet and she feels safe to speak now okay and that'swhy I'm like you cannot never trust when people speak that much in their old wordsYou cannot believe in that everything.Do you think she beats Kayla if they fight?
01:04:44Who do you think?Depends.It will be depends.Because Kyla, she is now in her prime.Yeah.And she's in her best shape.And she is strong, like so amazing career in judo.Now, like, doing all these things in mixed martial arts.
01:05:02Amanda, who's like had everything.And now she was like for a couple of years,enjoying the life, less training, more parties, and who know what lifestyle she had duringthese years, how this is going to affect her comeback if she's coming back, still if, a lot of ifs.Okay, you don't, maybe you don't believe?Before I see it?Yeah.No.
01:05:28Before it's going to be like announced and something like that.Okay, interesting.Yeah.Why you think for now it's just talk?No, I see her training.I feel it's more likely she's thinking about comeback.But what shape she's going to be back?If she's coming back the same primes that she was, it's one thing.
01:05:50But if she's coming back just to get some moneybecause she's run out from money, it's going to be different.Zhang Weli, when she was asked about her future, she was non-committal.Do you think she should go back to 115 now?It's all up to her because it's really up to her.I feel she's strong enough and has all qualities to stay in 115 and 125 and she will be,she will do like successfully in both weight classes.Like, so it's up to her.
01:06:26Okay.What do you think she does?I don't know.We'll ask her.We'll ask her.Speaking of someone who might be coming back, do you think Rhonda comes back?That's the hot rumor right now.A lot of training from her lately, like people commenting about.
01:06:43Why not?Why not?She's still young.And if she feels she can do that, it's definitely will be good for the sport.Is that a dream fight for you?Is that a fight that you would love?I don't think so at this moment.Probably at the moment, like years ago, it would be more sense.
01:07:04But at this point of my life, her life, I don't think that it's many, make many sense.And I know from my experience, like, when I'm 32 years in martial arts, and I know how it feels, like, when you have, like, time layoff.And my layoff, the most, it was, like, not even a year, like, when it was some injuries, and I have to go through the surgeries.something like that. But in this case, it's like eight years. And from my experience, I would sayexactly, before you come back on the same level, like, she competed, Ronda competed in the highesttop level, before she come back at this level, if it would be me, I would do like severalfights, like lower level. Just to get back in the shape, in the same,competition mood to feel this pressure like in fighting and everything. And every time it's
01:08:11it works. It works to get back on the highest level. But if it don't work that maybe becausethe most that I don't want to see like fighters like her like losing and it's so bad.And it's like it just doesn't feel like right because they are was so high.And now they have stayed high.And when not proper approach to that, it's going to lead for the, like, not very good after, afterwards.That's why I would, like, if it would be me, I would do this way.True or false question, okay?True or false.
01:08:53If it could only be true.Is Valentina Shepchenko is the best female fighter in the world?Don't ask me that.True or false.And don't ask me that.Why, why, why?It's not for me the question.In your heart, what do you think?
01:09:06It's for my fans.It's for the, like, for people.I think you proved that on Saturday.This is the answer.And this is the most important, but what is, like, really matter for me.If you say that, that it's what important.I don't think it's a debate right now.If people said that, it's what important, but I never will say things that I'm the best.
01:09:28I'm the best in the world or something.Do you think it, at least?I'm not the person like that.Because the same mentality, you are not allowed.If you want to stay at this level for a long time,not just like a flash, you just sparkle and then like go down like everyone, forgetable.If you want to stay alone at this moment,you have to have this mentality when you are not allowed these thoughts come into your head
01:09:58because it's going to play bad against you.It's going to play against you.Once you start to think about this that way, it's going to affect your performance, number one.It's going to affect your training.It's going to affect everything you're approaching into your life, how you behave, like everything.That's why you have to like get rid of it.If you want to be like true martial artists, if you want to stay in this game for a long time, you have to get rid of it.But if you are pursuing like different goals, whatever you say, it doesn't matter.
01:10:31Fine, fine, fine.I tried to get you.By the way, before I let you go, I wanted to say,I love the glasses.I love them too.The ones at the press conference that you wore were, very cool.And then the face off, when you see her looking at this shot right here,her looking at you like this, this is crazy stuff.
01:10:51What do you think when you see that?She's just smiling at you like that?I just smiling, yeah.And yeah, I really like when everything in the picture.it's just beautiful like beautiful even in for example speaking about the picturesmany have the vision of female fights differently they they they thinkabout them the same as a like male and female they have the same like picturebeauty style but it's not correct thing because if for
01:11:31example on a picture on a photo we see a man like furious like with a vein in his like in theneck and all like big and something like that it looks good on a man but it doesn't look goodon a woman and this is the most important what I want to spread into the world you have to havethis feeling even when you're like posting a picture of a female fighter you have to bringsome motivation for other female fighters be the same way, strong, beautiful,like control the body, how the movements, how the pressure, how the power,everything it has to reflect in the picture.And it doesn't have to be, because you can take a picture of anything in the good way,
01:12:26in the bad way.And you like kind of like scroll scrolling through them and you choose the best what you want to post, right?You don't post like I don't post every picture what I have in my phone.I just choose the one that I think is the most beautiful.And this is the most important that through the pictures, through the videos, we like spread the beauty, the beauty of athleticism, the beauty of sport body.especially where we are speaking about female fighters.It has to reflect the most beautiful qualities,the most beautiful sight of a female fighter.
01:13:11And this is number one.I feel this is the most important.But like speaking back about glasses, I love them.Yes.I love how they look.I love how they feel because they feel so like one.Yeah.It doesn't fall.
01:13:26You feel you're not rest.restricting in the movement and like definitely when I see myself in the glasses I feel thatI'm like a super agent. Yes you are. Like I can do everything. Superpower. I love it. I love it.What a delight this was. Thank you so much for coming in. Honestly, a huge honor for us, a hugeprivilege. Thank you. I know you're very busy. So thank you for taking the time. So great to have youin here with the belt. Congratulations on all your success. Your dominance, your victories. It'sIt's amazing to still see you do this after all these years at the very top of the game.So well done to you.
01:14:01And again, enjoy this.And enjoy your time off now.I hope you're able to relax and they don't bother you to come back for at least, you know, five, six months, right?A little break.Thank you so much.Thank you so much, Valentina.All the best.Congratulations once again.
01:14:14Thank you to the team.We're going to take a quick break.We'll say goodbye to Valentina.We'll be back with Tony Khan live in studio.Do not go anywhere.Okay, back on the program.That was my, well, not my conversation.It was our conversation.
01:14:27It was Fight Feast, NYC, the movie.It was GC heading it up with the Great Action Bronson.It was Fight Feast slash or X or what is that sign.I don't know what it is.FT.D.The X?Yeah, I think it's X.I think it's X.
01:14:45That was great.That's on the channel right now.I made an appearance.Action made an appearance.Rick made an appearance.Casey made an appearance.Rick made an appearance.I think it's the best one yet.
01:14:54So go check that out if you've missed it.That was Valentina Schifchenko.My conversation with Valentina Schifchenko,the reigning defending UFC women's flyway champion.That was unbelievable.I enjoyed it.It was great to see Pavel.And now, without further ado,
01:15:09I know a lot of you are looking forward to this.I know a lot of you are very excited about this.I am as well, without further ado,for the first time ever in studio,for the first time ever face-to-face,an opportunity to speak with the founder,the CEO, the head booker.I mean the guy
01:15:26the man in chargethe face of all elite wrestlingthe one and onlyTony Kahn is herein studiois he in fact herethere he isthe one and only Tony Kohn
01:15:38wow thank you for having meit's a great pleasureit's a great pleasure to see youthanks thanks for having methis is unbelievablethis is great to be hereI have oh okay we got you aa mug but I'm going to take that mug
01:15:48so you don't this is yoursthis is minethanks for having meit's kind of surreal to see you hereit's great to be hereI've always thought this is one of the best lit shows, and I love being here.I think I saw Darby and Rikshay, and they looked fantastic.They always look cool, and your lighting makes people look awesome.
01:16:04So thanks for having me here on your great set.This is amazing.This is amazing.I have to say never in a million years that I think I'd have you in studio.Certainly not in the last few years, so it's great.And I do want to thank you because, as I was saying at the top, you know, like, okay, I think we gotoff on the wrong foot.I think in a previous life, we're actually really good friends.
01:16:23We're around the same age.We have similar interests, pro wrestling, football, soccer, weird things happen.And I've been in this business long enough to where you get on the wrong foot with someone,you're never able to repair it.And so for you to come in here and talk to me face to face, actually I think says a lot about you.So much respect.I really do appreciate it.I think it's a testament to who you are as a professional.
01:16:44Thank you.I really appreciate that, Ariel.And I really appreciate you having me on.It's great to be here.I have enjoyed your interviews with some of the great AEW.wrestlers. Like I said, I enjoyed seeing Darby on here. I enjoyed seeing ricochet. And even though he'snot a wrestler in AEW, I enjoyed your interview with Maven. And I thought some of the things hesaid were really nice. And then after seeing that interview and seeing some of the stuff you've been
01:17:08doing recently, I really wanted to come on and thank you for inviting me. I appreciate that. Thank you.How is life? It's been great. I think I'm really excited right now. I was just watching in the backEngland, U-21s. Okay. Playing Slovakia.Josh King, who's 18 years old, is a great young player for Fulham, scored for England for the U-21, so that was nice.A lot of great things happening in football, the Jags with a big win Sunday, and this is a huge week for AEW.We've got AEW full gear this Saturday night on pay-per-view.It's going to be a great event.It's one of the biggest AEW shows of the year, and it's going to be a big week of TV tomorrow.
01:17:47We have AEW Dynamite, Wednesday Night Dynamite.It's a three-hour show.it's on TBS at 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central. And it is actually a three-hour live show. We're doing dynamite and collision on the same night in Boston. And it's going to be a great, great event. We've announced some big matches and there's more to come. It's always exciting to do a live show, but it's especially big when we get to do a three-hour show. And being a pay-per-view week, this is kind of one of the biggest weeks of the year in AEW. So I thought it would be great to do something noteworthy to promote it. And it seems like people are really excited to seetalk. Yes, absolutely. And you're in our backyard, as far as full gear is concerned. PrudentialCenter, the Rock, Newark. You were there last year for this event, and this is one of yoursort of tent pole events, if you will. Darby in the main event?Darby and Pack is one of the big matches. It's not the main event. It's one of the topmatches. Hangman Page versus Samoa Joe and a steel cage matches. A huge world title
01:18:43match, Mercedes Monet, the TBS champion, wrestling the world champion, Chris Statlander for theworld title in Chris Stalander's backyard. That's one of the huge matches. Pac versus Darby isabsolutely one of the big matches coming out of that blood and guts match. Yes. And I reallyenjoyed your interview with Darby, as I said. What a character of this guy. You poured water onhis, I'm still not sure why. That's not even in the top 27 crazy things I've seen Darby do.Yes, I bet. But I enjoyed his vibe very much. I wasn't quite sure.what to make of that moment, but a very eccentric guy, a fan favorite. I think a lot of people arewondering when he'll be able to like take that next step to be the guy, you know, to get the belt,
01:19:22to be the face of the company. Do you think he's close to that or not quite yet? I think he'sabsolutely already one of the main faces of the promotion. And I've always felt really strong aboutDarby. Darby is one of our top wrestlers and he's been with AEW since the very first show.And really it was our first summer of events where Darby came in. And he's like, you know,you said, he's an impressive person inside and outside the ring, and the chances he takesinside the ring are only matched by the chances he'll take outside the ring. He's anabsolutely crazy stuntman. He takes insane risk, but he also really loves wrestling. And I'm sureyou saw that when you talk to him. Oh, yeah, yeah. He loves it. And he's a great professional,
01:20:04but I absolutely think he's already one in the main faces of the promotion. He has not beenthe world champion in singles yet, but he's been the TNT champion.and a huge, important face of our media rights partnership,but also as a world tag team champion,he was undefeated with Sting,and Sting's run in AEW is one of my favorite things we've ever done.I grew up as a huge Sting fan.If I had to guess, I bet you grew up as a Sting fan.
01:20:29I enjoyed him.He wasn't my favorite.That man was my favorite.That man right there,Brett the Hitman Hart was my favorite.Brett Hart was one of my favorite wrestlers, too,and I was a huge fan of both of them.Sting is one of my all-time favorites,
01:20:40and to be able to have Sting come and say,I want to keep wrestling, and I want to come to AEW, and I'll do kind of whatever you want.And he never said, I want to go undefeated or have that run.He never asked for something like that.And really, he didn't know Darby well yet either.And I introduced them, and it was this pair.They clicked so well in the ring, but they've become best friends out of the ring, too.And if you could see them planning their matches, planning their moves, and putting ideas together,
01:21:09it's such an incredible partnership.and, you know, two different generations.And there's even a generation of wrestlers in between them, too, which is kind of amazing.You know, they're very different in a lot of ways, but their similarities brought them together.And it's a bond that exists outside the ring, but obviously Stinging Darby in thering were a great team for us.So Darby has been, to me, already a face of the promotion, and he would be a great world champion, too.I really believe that as well.
01:21:36Is there ever a point with Darby where you feel like it's a little too crazy?Like some of the stuff through the glass.Yeah.It's just sometimes, I have to admit, I'm a hardcore fan, too, but I'm like, why put yourselfthrough that?Do you ever feel sometimes like it's a little bit too much with him?I think he's really a brilliant wrestler, and also he takes these chances, and I thinknormally they're very calculated chances.
01:21:59The one that I thought was too far, and I would say this to him, and I have said thisto him a hundred times, what I'm saying to you, is in Sting's last match with a glass inGreensboro off the ladder through the glass.That was so much, and that was the one where I thought maybe it was too much,and it wasn't exactly the way it was described.It was pretty brutal, and that was the one after where I said,I think you're so brilliant about these chances,but this is the first time ever where I thought probably it was too much,
01:22:28but it was also the greatest night in the history of the promotion,and he took a huge risk, and it worked out,and they won the match, and Sting and Darby finished as an undefeated team,and Sting retired, undefeated in AEW as a world tag team champion.It's my personal favorite night ever of all the wrestling we've ever done,and Darby was such a huge part of that, but that was a big risk to take for sure.What is your line with the stunts?Like, you know, like Moxley stuff, and what is there a line for you?
01:22:56I know some fans say it's like a little bit too gory.Do you have a personal line?It has to make sense, and almost everything we've ever done, I thought it made sense.and the things that if there were ever a few that didn't work out, I thought, well, that probablydidn't make sense to begin with. And that's why over the years I think we've really refined theprocess. But we have such great, great wrestlers that 99.9% of the time, I always think everythingthey do is awesome, and I agree with the choices they make. But sometimes there's stuff thatseems like it's pushing it. And absolutely, the chances that the wrestlers take on papers,
01:23:35views or a big night like blood and guts. They sacrifice and they do so much. And that's whatmakes pro wrestling so great as you have wrestlers that are willing to sacrifice their bodies for thefans with no offseason 52 weeks a year and then push it even further under these kinds ofcircumstances. So everybody on the AEW Blood and Guts show in particular, I thought, really set agreat example of that. And also, thankfully, everybody's come out of it. Okay. You know, it has apotential to be a career-ending match with its hard-hitting situation, but thankfully everybody'sgood. You know, it's so interesting because I was going through your, I was watching an oldvideo of you and Forbes. They did a feature on you back in like 2022 or 2021, and you say like,
01:24:19I'm the CEO, I'm the founder, I'm the book, you go through everything. And that's a lot for oneperson if they don't have the Jaguars gig, and if they don't have the Fulham job and everythingelse that you're doing as well. And so now, as far as AEW is concerned, you're still theis it just you are you the the judge of jury or is there a committee and if so there's alwaysquestions i think as to like who's in the committee so could you tell us like what is the the sortof state of the booking process right now well i put the shows together and this year i feel likei've been especially hands-on at every episode about every aspect of every segment in a way that iwas in daly's place in the pandemic and at the beginning of the year i kind of said
01:25:01since the last year's holidays that I was going to step back and look at it for a momentlike I did five years earlier. And Christmas 2019, I had said, you know, there's a couplethings that I knew might not work and I did him against my best judgment. So why would Iever do that? Don't ever do that. And it's like a diet. You do your best to stick to it. Nobody'sperfect. But like, you know, every once in a while I still might do something against my betterjudgment but I kind of told myself stop doing things against your better judgment so even inJanuary and it was the same exact thing too where in January 2020 there were one or two things where I saidwhy did I do that I said I wasn't going to do that but then kind of caught myself and I did that again
01:25:41this year and I really felt like it's been it's been a lot like the shows like I would have puttogether in the pandemic where I come in with more of an outline of everything I want to dobut I also like hearing everyone's ideas and I utilize them so uhI feel like we have a really good group of people.It's evolving and changing.And the one consistent thing is there's one person that's at all the shows, and it's me.And that's the thing is there's not any other one person that goes to every show.There's 100 and, well, there's 104 dynamites and collisions.
01:26:17Because now that there's dynamite and collision, there's two shows a week.Wednesday nights, dynamite on TBS, and now HBO Max as well.Saturday nights collision on TNT, also on HBO Max, like this Saturday.but it's on an hour earlier for the tailgate brawl.Well, the only person that goes to all those TVs and the pay-per-views is me.There's not one other person.There's a lot of great people that help out, people that work in different departments,wrestling, creative, and they could be coaches, it could be senior figures.
01:26:46I have great people who could contribute ideas, like everybody from Brian Danielson,who's an all-time legend in wrestling, but also has some great ideas,and different people on the staff, and it's a great group of women,and amend, but among all of them, the only person that goes to every TV is me. So I have a prettyconsistent idea of what I'd like to do, but also whoever's in the room of coaches and staffthat day, I will talk to them and hear out their ideas, but it might be a different group.It's kind of like, do you like Ghostbusters? I used to, yeah. You know that scene in Ghostbusters?I always think of it this way, and this is pretty convoluted, but this will give you insight into my
01:27:28thinking. There's a scene in Ghostbusterswith Ray and Winstonand this is the original? The original Ghostbusters and they're justdriving in the car on the bridge here in New York and it's Ray and Winstonand then I realize and I'm like you know that's not the two that you always seetogether it's like shifts and like you get different pairs of people and likeif that makes sense like you know you might see Ray with Egonor you might seem with Bankman Bill Murray or with Winston
01:27:55but it was like it's different shifts like you know the whole movie it hasn'tjust been Ray and Winston, but they're in the car now. This is their day. This is their shift.Within every group of people, there's subgroups.It's not always the ones you think when you see the people walk and stand together.So I have a different group of people at almost every, a different combination of peoplethan I did at the beginning, but I think there's been a common thread and a consistency.And I like that from show to show, because I feel like I have a good sense of what AEW is.and I am a fan of wrestling, but also, since I've been here, I feel like I, you know, have
01:28:34through the years, followed the fans.I like to stay in touch with the fans and hear what they like and don't like about the show.And I feel like 2025 in particular, I think we've done a really good job of listening to the fansand putting on a really good show, you know, and I would say that start to finish so far,we're in November, I think as far as doing the TV every week,and the pay-per-views. This is my favorite year of shows, personally. And everybody, it's a cool thingabout wrestling is it's all opinions. But for me, as far as how many great matches and howconsistent everything's been and how happy I've been coming out of the events, it's my favorite
01:29:12year yet. You mentioned HBO Max. That deal started a couple of months ago where your pay-per-viewsare available on HBO Max, which is very cool. As you know, UFC's deal on pay-per-view is comingto an end, right, with the Paramount Plus. That's a huge. So they're now going to be on ParamountPlus, and it'll just be their numbered events, but not behind that extra paywall.Do you think we will ever get to a point?Because you're one of the last ones left now, AEW, right?Well, yeah.Will we get to a point ever where maybe it will be behind a subscription paywall, the payper views,
01:29:41but not that extra price to get the actual show?Do you know what I mean?I'm not sure.It's a good question.I think with AEW, something I've been really conscious of and have tried to stake consistentwith is maintaining great prices.for families or friends to come and watch the shows at an affordable price to be an AEW fan and I think we've done a fantastic job with that so it's a great question now the pay-per-view price for AEW has been consistent from day one it's the same price it's always been to order the pay-per-views what is it it's on cable and satellite it's 4999 and now you can get the events lots of outlets that we've added over the years for that price for 4999 Amazon Prime YouTube a lot of great placethat are great partners, but our media partnership that really drives the engine that is AEW
01:30:31is AWR and Warner Brothers Discovery.Okay.And so we're on TBS every Wednesday.We're on TNT every Saturday.But also now this year, and I talked about how it's been this awesome year, a key thingthat really felt like a switch that got flipped even more than usual to start the season,so-called in A8, this new year.There's always a great energy at the start of the year, the calendar year in AEW,
01:30:55because the records reset.It's a fresh start for the wrestlers and a new season.But also this year, it was the beginning of putting the shows on HBO Max.Now the pay-per-views are also on HBO Max, and it's only been a few months of this,but it's really been working out very well.And it's also great for the fans because it's the lowest price.It's $39.99.And if you're an HBO Max subscriber already, that's a great deal because you're saving $10 a month
01:31:19on these great pay-per-views.We get great satisfaction from our fans on our shows.It really means a lot to me because I was a kid and my parents would not let me buy every single wrestling pay-per-view.So I really appreciate whenever people do put the money in for every show.And that's why I try to put so much into every pay-per-view and make it feel like you really got your money's worth out of this show.And especially now with on-demand DVRs and the shows being available to stream, you can always go back and watch them again and again.And I see some of your wrestling posters and pay-per-view posters.And again, these are shows that I would watch again and again.
01:31:54and again. So I hope and believe that the AEW shows are like that with the paper views we put on.And so to your question, I think we have a great model right now, and we just signed a greatmeteorites deal that I think even the most stringent analyst would say is a really strong dealfor AEW the company. It makes a lot of sense for us. And it also shows of the faith that Warner Brothers,TBS, T&T, and HBO Max have in AEW. Do you have any concern about the future of WBD,There's some talk that they're going to, you know, have a new ownership.Even yesterday I saw that Saudi Arabia interested in purchasing them.Do you have any concerns about how a new ownership would affect your standing, your deal with them?
01:32:37Well, I feel really great about AEW's relationship with Warner Brothers Discovery.And I think it's a great situation for us that we're one of those strong franchises, like I said, on multiple channels and properties where AEWs clearly very strongly figured in.Just as an example, we've got the huge pay-per-view this Saturday, it's presented by D.C. as a presenting sponsor, which I think is anybody looking at Warner Brothers would say that this is a really important part of the portfolio, D.C. And for D.C. to be sponsoring us and also the kinds of collaborations they're doing with us. We partnered on Dynamite episode 300 the week before AEW all in Texas. There were ads and collabs with the stars of Superman, with,stars from AEW. There's been some great partnerships across DC now doing comic books withAEW with the big stars from AEW crossover in comics. And we did a panel with DC at New York Comic Con.And then also DC now for the first time ever presenting an AEW pay-per-view and it's this Saturday.So we're becoming a bigger and bigger part AEW as we've grown and now it's been six years ofAEW, we've continued to become a bigger part of the Warner Brothers family. So I feel like
01:33:55no matter what happens in the future, I think we will be a really important part of that family.And also for different media properties, thankfully, because I'm on the NFL fan engagementand major events committee and have had a lot of experience in football in the NFL and in thePremier League and now with AEW dealing with a lot of media partners, I have strongrelationships with almost every media property out there. You know, thankfully the NFL isand continues to be the strongest media and sports organization, in my opinion, in the world.And the NFL is in a really strong position, and we deal with a lot of these great partnerships.My dad is basically any committee I'm not on, my dad's on, and he's involved in probably about half of the NFL committees.
01:34:40And there's very few and far between that he's not involved in in some way, whether it's business ventures and all the different finances and every aspect of the league.practically he's involved in so he's really really built such an amazing thingand I'm so lucky to be in the position I'm in but also I've learned so muchfrom him and I have to say that you know he's built these great relationships andnow with AEW I built a lot of relationships in between the two of us we'veengaged with almost every media property and have great relationships so Ithink that's going to continue but most importantly for AEW we've got a greatrelationship with Warner Brothers Discovery and the leadership right now
01:35:20And that has put us in this great position for AEW.I was thinking of this earlier today.You're, I do believe, off the top of my head, the only major combat sports entity right nowthat does not have any sort of business relationship with Saudi Arabia.UFC does WWE, of course, does in boxing, matchroom, Queensberry, top rank, Golden Boy.They all do.I think you're the only one.Is there any particular reason for that?
01:35:46I can't speak to that.I'm not sure.I didn't realize that.but it's interesting.And no, I think AEW, we've got great partnerships.We work with probably some of the same media partners you do.But no, I'm not sure why that would be.Just a coincidence.
01:36:01I guess it would, yeah, but it's interesting.I never thought of it like that until you said it.Okay.You know, it's something that I was really curious about,and I hadn't really heard you asked about this,so I would love to hear your thoughts.It is very clear to me as an outsiderthat when you're putting on a big show,
01:36:16So, WW tries to counter-program it.How do you react when this happens?Do you think this is being done on purpose?I do think it's done on purpose, and I understand it, and it's part of wrestling, and I thinkwe've seen a lot of it, but I think other wrestling promotions that have been the Challengerwrestling brand in our lifetime have seen a lot of it.Jim Crockett Promotions, which was the forerunner to WCW, saw a lot of this, and JimCrockett Promotions ended up having to sell the company to Ted Turner, who then made a great run.
01:36:45it took a while. And really, if you look, Ted Turner took over at the start of 1989 and thestrongest run came over six years later, almost seven years later it started, really, whenbusiness peaked and took off their peak years. So it's interesting because as a challenge ofwrestling promotion, you've got a great opportunity, but it's really hard. It involves tons ofinvestment to build up to be a true, strong challenger. And that's why we took the risk with AWN when wedid. I do think that we've seen that kind of counter programming in those things. And I understandand looking back at wrestling history, kind of expect that. Does it frustrate you? I think it's okaybecause for us, it's always worked out and we're in a great position. So it hasn't ever been a
01:37:31thing where it's cost us anything. And even when you do something like AEW all in Texas, where we dothe show in the afternoon, it really worked out for us great. And it was one of the best days in thehistory of the company. So you don't take it personally.You're not like, can you guys just leave me alone?Can I just have the day for myself?The one in Toronto, right?You put it earlier in the day because they had the ESPN debut.And so, I mean, like, you'd have to be an idiot to not think that this is being done on purpose.
01:37:55UFC used to do this with their competition back of the day.And so I was just curious how you react internally to this.Well, it's very interesting.I think that it's something that is a part of the wrestling business,and I definitely don't take it personally.I think it's no more personal to me than it was towards Jim Crockett.or even maybe less so than it was with Ted Turner or similar amounts as with Ted Turner.But definitely I think all of us have seen that kind of counter programming and could speak to that.
01:38:24And certainly with AEW, I'm very proud that we continue to really run strong and be that great challenger brand in pro wrestling.AEW is where the best wrestle.I really believe that.And I think we have the best roster in wrestling today and the best wrestlers and put on the best shows like this Saturday.you know my impression I look at a lot of things I listen to a lot of things I feel like there's a lot of these like YouTube pundits especially like the old timers so to speak and I hope they don't take offense to this but you know the guys who have been there done that who feel like it it seems to me like they have an axe to grind with you it's interesting because why you think this is I don't know I think you know what I'm talking about right like sure I do cornets the bishops like every single video if you type in your name it's it's never complimentary of AW or yourself it clearly does engagementfor them to talk about AEW because you wouldn't spend such a large percentage of your realestate and you wouldn't devote such a large percentage of your content to talking about AEWunless it was engaging. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a smart strategy. Why do you think they do it so much?
01:39:27Well, we're ongoing. We're putting on wrestling 52 weeks a year and people want to talk aboutcurrent events and right now AEW is a huge part of the wrestling landscape. We put great shows on.Tomorrow is a Wednesday night and we're going to have a great Wednesday night dynamite tomorrow.and I think that any given week you know you can count onthere's going to be AEW putting on new content to talk aboutand we're one of the major wrestling brands that people are going to want to discussand a big part of the wrestling landscape is AEW.So I think people want to talk about the new wrestling,
01:39:58talk about the current wrestlers, and as I see all this stuff here,I want to try and get some AEW.We do need that. I appreciate that.We'll hopefully make that part of the set because you've got,you're a big wrestling fan, you've got wrestlers,and great memorabilia. I might try to get a jaguar even up here with the Buffalo Bills.I don't know. Let's not get crazy about that. Okay, okay, but this is great.We actually were playing you guys, end of December, at Craven Cottage.
01:40:21Yeah, we've had some great battles over the years with Nottingham Forest and with the Buffalo Bills.Is it fair, though? Is it fair? Like, do you feel like sometimes they hit you below the belt?I don't want it. I think that that is the business strategy. I think that's a pretty consistent business strategy ofWWE that has not changed with the ownership change and so okay so that'sWWE so I'm talking about the pundits like these guys who are analyzing everysingle move every single creative decision I think it's ironic coming fromEric because Eric sat in the position and and he was making a lot of great movesand Eric had a run that is unbelievably successful when you look back at what he
01:41:08accomplished from 1995 to 1998 and it was unbelievable and he was still did some good things in those other years and he did a lot and it wasn't like everything he did in 1995 and 1998 was a hundred percent perfect 52 weeks a year but he did some really incredible things and the sum of his accomplishments is unbelievable and he still talks about it to this day and 83 weeks is something that is synonymous with eric and his brand and it's a name of his show it's incrediblyimpressive. I also was one of the wrestling fans as a kid when I was like 11, 12, 13 years old who wascritical at times of some of the things Eric did, but also appreciative at times. And I was morebalanced than other people, but I understand what it is to be a wrestling fan and to have certainthings you want and expect out of a wrestling show. I think that Eric did a lot of those things.so he has a really good understanding of what it is to be on TBS and be on TNTand put on pay-per-views and work with the executives at Turner.Even some of the people who've been there for 30 years have worked with both of us
01:42:21through different administrations, which is incredible.So I talk to him about that at times.So I do think for Eric, I respect...Not recently or no?It's been a while, but not that long.And I do, I respect his opinions.And I think he talks about AW a lot because AW's on every Wednesday night,every Saturday night and then it gives them good content to talk about.
01:42:42So I think in his case, I think it's interesting because he spends a lot of time talking aboutAEW, but I think he's also cognizant that there were a lot of media personalities andformer wrestling promoters that had strong vocal opinions of him.And I'm not trying to say that I've done more than him or I think that one thing thatwas cool this year was when we accomplished, we hit a milestone that's not a round number,but episode 289 of Wednesday Night Dynamite is remembered as one of the best ones.We're going to be in Boston tomorrow. We're back for Wednesday night dynamite. And it's goingto be a great show tomorrow. And the last time we did Dynamite in Boston before tomorrow was
01:43:26spring breakthrough in April. And it set a huge accomplishment for us. It was such a big thing thatI sent it to even top Warner Brothers executives who were reallyhappy with it because I actually think it was probably the best week of media coverage that we'veever had until I came on your show today. This has been great. Now this is going to be a great weekfor AEW. But the last time we were in Boston before tomorrow's show on TBS and HBO Max issomething I'm really proud of because it made us the longest running primetime pro wrestling showever on TBS or T&T. And that includes the great shows that they put on. And that includes the great shows that they put on.He gave you props for that.
01:44:07He did, and it meant a lot to me, so I appreciated that.So thank you for bringing that up.I thought that was really cool, and so it's mixed opinions, right?And everybody's entitled to their opinion, but I also think Eric's in a unique positionbecause he was in the chair, and he did have to make a lot of decisions,and he also knows that you can't go backwards.You can only go forwards, and you can only learn from the things you've done.So I'm very fortunate, I think about it all the time, to still be in the chair,
01:44:36share because you can make a mistake and if you make a series of mistakes and you go down a wrongpath in pro wrestling you can end up in a place that nobody comes back from and and look how manypeople in pro wrestling went down that door of making a mistake after a mistake and then they weregone and sometimes it's not their fault it's due to extenuating circumstances you can'tcontrol but I'm fortunate that if I make a mistake that I've always been able to go back andlook at it or figure out what can we do to make the next show perfect or make sure thatI don't do that again because I really think that course correcting, making sure that we arealways on point for the next show is a really strong aspect of AEW. I think that's part of the
01:45:17consistency. And on the one hand, I could say I've only been a wrestling promoter for six and a halfyears and I've only been booking and producing wrestling shows for six and a half years. On the otherhand, that's one of the longest runs anybody's ever had. So I've been fortunate to learn a lot ofthings and I'm fortunate that tomorrow I get to do another one and Saturday I get to do anotherpay-per-view and I'm never ungrateful for that. I'm always very grateful to the fans who watchthe shows that we're still in this position. Speaking of the fans, there's always a lot of talkabout ratings, about attendance, honest assessment of where you're at right now from a ratingsperspective and attendance perspective. Thank you for that. I'm very excited. We're coming off of an
01:45:58awesome event this past week and awesome ratings. We had a great week. We were one of the top shows oncable. Okay. And this year, what did that do? I don't know the, it was, so I don't have all thenumbers of the DVR, and I don't know the streaming numbers. You got to remember that we have a lotof fans who watch on HBO Max now, but on TBS, it was 600,000, and it was in our time slot,one of the top shows, and it ranked somewhere in the top 10 on cable for the entire night, and in itstime slot, I think it was along with ESPN and Fox News. TBS was one of the top three channels, and itwas also, to me, if you add in what I would believe we have on our streaming audience,more people watching than last year's blood and guts. And our audience this year, our cable...
01:46:45You know what the streaming numbers are? No, I don't have them. They don't tell you. No, I don'thave them. Okay, okay. And I honestly don't know how many people would have watched, but knowingthat it was our most watched show in months on TBS, I would expect it was probably our most watchedshow and months on streaming. For what I've seen in sports, we don't get every streaming numberfrom every game with all the data, but I do know from the NFL that there's a healthy andgrowing audience that watches the events on streaming. So I think that TBS is still our kindof bread and butter on Wednesdays and TNT on Saturdays, but I think that's a growingpart of the audience, especially in the younger demographics. What's been really exciting for us
01:47:24is at the beginning of the year, I was thinking that there was a possibility, okay, we have thisaudience at the end of 2024. I was here in New York for the holiday show.We're coming back again to do Christmas Collision and Dynamite on 34th Street around the holiday.It Hammerstein, right? At Hammerstein. They were great events last year, and they really set the stage to come in and have this great year we're having now.And, you know, looking at it back then, I was thinking, okay, well, the New Year's about to start. This is uncharted territory. We've never done the simulcast. We've never done Dynamite Live on Wednesday.It's still on TBS, but now we're also going to have people watching on HBO Max.It's, Collision is still going to be on TNT, but a lot of people watching on HBO Max.My thought is we're going to have some new viewers that have never watched before coming on HBO Max.
01:48:08We're also possibly going to have some cord cutters that have been away from cable coming back to AEW on HBO Max.But I was prepared for a possibility that there could be some erosion or cannibalization of the cable audience, which did not happen.It came out the other way.In Q1, Q2, and Q3, if you look, our share went up and our total.audience went up. Okay. So we have this really great success story. Now, it's interesting because we don'tget the same kind of numbers. In Q4, there's been this big change in the Nielsen system. Yes.Which is why it was great to see this huge number we did last week for us, because it was like,well, that's the best number we've done since the change. And so clearly there was a great
01:48:47response to it, but also collision the previous Saturday had done the best number it had donesince the change in this system. So we're seeing good response. And we've really closed thegap. It's kind of like in the pandemic. If you look at where AEW is as a percentage of theWW shows, this is really one of our strongest runs. And if you look at where WW is, say theaudience of dynamite compared to Smackdown, for example, or raw, this is a great time forus. And you would say that along with some of the peak times in AEW, this is right thereis 2025 right now what's happening, that the AEW audience as a percentage of the competitionis about as good as it's ever been.
01:49:30And with the streaming audience, like I said, at the start of the year,I wasn't sure if the cable audience, where they would go,and actually the cable audience at the start of the year,and then again, as the year went on, grew.So that was pretty exciting.And so from the first three quarters, that's the case,and now they track the data differently.So we'll see how this goes, but we're in the fourth quarter,
01:49:53and so far it's been this awesome year.I'd be remiss if I don't ask you about the CM Punk story.do you have any regrets about how that was all handled obviously he came on the show there was that big interview and then you guys played that footagelooking back are you at peace with how it all played out or do you wish things could have been done differentlywell there was so many things so i you know like the playing the footage did you think that that was the best movein uh in response because it felt like that was in response to the interview unless i'm to your interviewthat's what it felt like it's interesting because i do think that i didn't necessarily agree withthe description of how it all happened and that was your way of showing like no not not necessarily
01:50:33and i by the way i i i really think you're a great interviewer and i very much appreciate becausewe've had a very we've had a very very good interview and i think i've been very good to answer allthe questions you have and now you've got me where i'm enjoying talking to you so much you'vereally got me hooked in so i want to answer your questions even the challenging ones anduh i didn't necessarily agree with everything uh that was said in that that interview about howthings happened, but alsoit's a TV show, andit did a very
01:51:03strong number, and if you look, it was... Are youtalking about the video response fromyou guys? Yes, so for many reasons, I think thatit made sense, and it was a thing that wasadvertised, and it got a lot ofattention that did a very strong number, and alsoit's in the eye of the beholder.Was there anything he said that you want to
01:51:19now refute? I thinkthe tape spoke for itself,and I think that I didn't agree with how ithappened, and obviously itwas a major part of why things were no longer able to continue with us,even though I would have liked to have been able to.And it's clear that I wanted to reconcile and do those things.And you wish that maybe by him leaving and then showing up on WWB like two months later,
01:51:43that was a huge boost, right?I think really for us, we've had a great run for six years.And if you look at the time before Phil came to AEW, we were having a great,run and we had some great times together but we've been on a great run and we're having this greatyear right now with this roster and I think this is the best roster and the best AEW locker roomand it feels like in and out of the ring the combination of them this is the best we've been but I alsothink that we had great times together and it was clear when we started doing collision I wanted toreconcile and find a way to still do those things and I guess that wasn't possible but I didn't
01:52:23necessarily agree with everything. Did you learn any lessons? Because one of the things that he said inthat interview was that like, you know, and I hope you don't think this is coming from me.I'm paraphrasing that like, you know, you don't stand up as a boss. You let people kind of like walkall over you. And so that felt like an indictment on you as the leader of the company, which iswhat you are. And so I'm wondering what your response would be to that. I don't agree with that,but I also think that everybody's entitled to their opinion. And that's feedback.and it's fair if that's how he feels,but I didn't agree with the description of the way things played out,
01:53:00and that's okay, and that's all in the eye of the beholder,just like the whole situation, if you see the way it came out,it all was in the eye of the beholder, and that's okay.I think AEW is doing really well right now,and I'm really happy with what the people on the shows are doing,and it wasn't the first time that he and I disagreed about something,and it may not ever be the last, and that's okay.But I had tried to reconcile, and I wanted to find a way for everybody to be able to work together,
01:53:29and that didn't work, and that's okay.And it seems like everybody's happier and doing better right now.I know in AEW right now, everybody's really happy, and it feels like this is the bestthe locker room's been since the Jacksonville lockdown days.And we had over a year of shows, and I said at the beginning of the year, I wanted to bringthat mentality to every show for everybody, that either how I put it together or the way we allinteract or the way we all just sit down and are straight with each other and don't let thedistance grow because in Jacksonville it felt like the locker room was super super tight and then
01:54:02we became nomads again and we went on the road and it wasn't like that and this year it reallyhas been and it feels like this is probably the closest it's been since the beginning of AEW andthen we took that spirit of the very beginning of AEW and became even more tight-knit living in abubble together, doing shows in a bubble together through the pandemic and putting on showsevery week together, never stopping the shows. And that's how I got close to the UFC and Dana Whitebecause... Are you guys still close? Yeah, we are. You still talk? Yeah. Okay, that's great. And I talked toDana still, and I saw him recently. We sat together at a football game. We are both friends of DanLambert, and we both sat together at the Miami Hurricanes game. That's right. I went to watch a game
01:54:47with James Gladstone, the GM of the Jaguars, and Tony Bisselli, who's legend, yeah,all-fame, NFL player, and executive v. Vice President of the Jaguars, and the three of us wentto the Miami game, and Dan invited us, and we were sitting with Dana.That's amazing.It was great.I love to hear that.It was great.Unfortunately, we're rounding 30 here, because I think you're very busy.
01:55:06No, I'll stay.Whatever you need.This is such a rare opportunity to speak to you.You're the guy at AW, and there was a lot of questions that came in about the status ofcertain big names in the company. So can I ask you about a few people in the company?You know, there was the story with Andrade who showed up and then he was taken off TV andthe reports were a cease and desist that he wasn't able to be on. Can you clear this up? Whathappened? Okay, so I've so far I've answered every question. You have, yes. And I'm batting
01:55:34a thousand. This has been a 180 from the last one. Well, I appreciate that. Nothing frustrating toI appreciate that. And we're doing a great job. And I want to try to keep it going. Yes. I think theworld of Andrade, I had a great experience with him, and he left on the best of terms.This is back of the day. This was the original time. Yeah, yeah. And now, when he said he was freeand made his one-night appearance, I was thrilled to see him again. And any time he's free,and whenever that is, he is absolutely always welcome in AEW. He misrepresent his status?I can't speak to that. Fair enough. But I really, and it's the first time I've,I've said that to you, but I do appreciate that.
01:56:16And it is an interesting situation that I am going to keep an eye on,but I absolutely think the world of Andrade Al-Edle.What's the state of Chris Jericho's relationship with the company?Chris Jericho is somebody who's in AEW and has been with us from the very beginning.He's been away from us for a bit, but he's...It's April, right?His last appearance was in April.Yeah, and he's somebody that's had, even this year, great matches with Bandito.
01:56:44somebody that's been a world champion for us and was really at the very beginning of AEWabsolutely as key and instrumental as any individual in the launch of AEW.And I love Chris personally and professionally.I just reached out and wish him a happy birthday recently.I'm very excited about everything Chris has done in AEW and he continues to be with us.And he's always welcome.He's going to be back.I can't speak to that, but I love having Chris in AEW.
01:57:14always welcome the doors always open for Chris to come in what is the reason for his departure fornow uh it's a very good question and it's uh some of it comes down to just uh working out the dates andis this deal almost up i i could i would rather not get into that but also i respect you askingabout it and i and i'm if i could give as much information as possible to try and keep a veryconstructive dialogue do you think we'll see him back in a w i hope so i absolutely hope we'll getChris back in and a star like Chris Jericho, you negotiate a certain number of dates. And Chris hasalways been really great about being one of those wrestlers in AEW that when he's in,he's all the way in. And if you think he's always really been a full time part of the show.
01:58:00Sure, sure. And at first, when we started, we talked about finding ways with Chris and Fosseyand his band to keep him involved because he was such a central figure as the original AEW worldchampion, his late champion. So there were times where,Chris would have videos in dynamite or make appearances.Even when he offered John Moxley, my dad's car, that was actually my dad's car, to join theinner circle in Jacksonville, Chris was actually on his way to the Tokyo Dome, and we hadfilmed that over the holidays, knowing Chris was going to be going to Japan, so he filmed thisvideo that we played for Mox to watch after the Mox versus Trent match in Jacksonville
01:58:38on New Year's Day, and then Mox himself then left for Japan right after that, but it wasJericho was wrestling Tanax.and got over early to do media.And that was on the Tokyo Dome in 2020.And it's amazing to think, now here we are, almost six years later.And Chris has been the huge part of AEW from the very beginning.And we started out early, like, okay, how can we find ways to, you know,keep Chris involved if you needed a week or two off?
01:59:03And then pretty soon Chris was just here every week and wanted to be here every week,and we love having him.So if we can work out all the dates and all the things,I would always love for him to be here.one of my favorite wrestlers, and certainly he's as instrumental to the launch of AEW as anybody.What's up with Britt Baker?Britt Baker, somebody that I love and respect. He was also been in AEW from the very beginning,and she had been away at times for health reasons, and she had some injuries, and I'm just looking
01:59:32for the right time with Britt, and I've had really good talks with Britt, who I really, reallylike. I think Britt's a great person in and out of the ring. She's so impressive.to have somebody that went to medical school or in their degree is practiced and also haswrestled at a high level and juggled all these things. I think it's really impressive andit's somebody who juggles a lot of jobs and a lot of work. I respect Britt's work ethic a lot.She's also a great wrestler. So I would love to have Britt back in AEW and Brit is going to beback. I really believe in AEW. And I hope soon. But it's going to be the right situation for herand everybody involved, and I want to make sure she's 100%, and that's important to me.
02:00:15And I really care about the health and well-being of all the wrestlers, and in Brits' case,I think she can come in and still be a huge part of AW, and I expect she will.Did WW ever ask to use Adam Copeland as part of the John Sina retirement tour?No.Is his deal up at any point to where he could be used?I mean, you never say never in wrestling, because I would imagine.they could always extend that date past the end of the year.But no, Adam's going to be here with us through the year.
02:00:44And he's really a huge part of AEW.Because they're bringing, like yesterday they brought back Dolf Zieglerand some other, you know, Matt Cardona came back last week.And so there was this big push for him to be the last one.But obviously, he's under contract with you.I was wondering if there was ever a conversation about that.Adam Copeland is a huge part of AEW.And I have so much respect for him.
02:01:07And I really, really like Adam a lot.I'm glad to have him here, and he's away filming, but he's with us, and he's going to stay with us.MJF, when do you think he'll be back?I expect Max to be back, hopefully very soon.Max is somebody who has been a huge part of why this has been a great year,and even though he hasn't been available every single week,I think he's done some really great things in and out of the ring this year.And if you look at what Max accomplished with Happy Gilmore 2,
02:01:37he's had some amazing matches.Yeah, it was awesome.It was awesome.And it was really one of the marquee performances to where I can go into almost any office in Hollywoodor any entertainment office and people have seen the movie and know Max's role,even if they don't watch wrestling, which speaks to how successful that movie was,how big of a role that was for him, and how great of a job Max is doing is a crossover star,but he's also wrestled at such a high level.
02:02:02And if you look at his matches, first of all, I want to spend some time talking about how great,because I mentioned them at the very beginningwhen we were running down the full gear card,but I haven't gotten to talk a lot about somebodywho's been a huge part of the success of AEW this year,Hangman Page.Yes.I briefly mentioned this Saturday, Hangman Page versus Samoa Joe
02:02:20in the Steel Cage match.I could also talk a lot about Samoa Joeand how huge a part of AEW Samoa Joe is.But MJF and Hangman had a great match at Revolution.They had a great match at Forbidden Door.Their rivalry was outstanding,and MJF also had great matcheswith Mark Briscoe and was involved in a casino gauntlet match at AEW all in Texas
02:02:43and some great matches in addition to this starring role in Happy Gilmore 2that was really good promotion for him and for AEW.This is great.Everything's very transparent.I appreciate it.I'm having a lot of fun.I hope you are as well.I'm just firing away names, so I hope you don't mind it.
02:02:58I'm not trying to be confrontational or anything with this.What happened with Rick Flair last week?I saw him post a thing apologizing for having to leaveand not you know he was advertised right so he was at the show he was at the show so foranybody you bought a ticket and thought they were going to see rick flair come out he did comeout rick flair uh he tore his rotator cuff the a w doctor's had looked at him because he hadhad a fall and torn his rotator cuff he's a little bit older now but he's still in greatshape you see videos of rick flair lifting weights and working out and he pushes himself really
02:03:30hard he's still a good athlete he's still a great athlete he's deadlifting 500 poundsand doing these crazy workouts.And Rick had had a fall, and he came in, and he had an injury.And the doctor's look, he had torn rotator cuff, and he said, I really feel terrible.And I said, Rick, I don't think you should be going out and doing anything in the ring or even getting into the ring.I think, like, maybe you and I just go out at the start of the show.And he said, you know, honestly, he was in a lot of pain.He might be good for him to go home anyway.
02:03:58And so what we did is Rick and I went out and said hi to the fans before the show started.It's blood and guts.So I introduced Rick, and obviously with this big two-ring double steel cage match and everything that comes with it, the fans were going to get really amped for this.So I thought a great way to pump the fans up.We had a trailer that we had played online.It was a three-minute video.So for any of the fans in the arena that hadn't seen it yet, we played that video.And Rick and I went out and said hello.
02:04:28He said he really loves being in AEW, and he thinks the world of the AEW wrestlers.and great to see the fans, and then we queued up the video.But Rick was in a lot of pain, so I didn't know when we had advertised he would be therethat he was going to have a torn rotator cuff.I think it actually happened right before the show.So then I thought, let's just let Rick go home early,and for the fans here in Greensboro, he's going to go say hi.And then in the event, he really was not in any shape physically to go out there with a rotator cuff.
02:04:59And he also took the sling off to go out there.but he was in a slingand he didn't want to go out in the slingso we just went out and said hi and then he put it back on.What happened with Miro?Miro was a great wrestlerand he was great in AEW.He was a TNT champion
02:05:14and I thinkhe and I just hadat times different visions of thingsbut that's okaybecause everybody's entitled to different opinionsand different ideasand really that's what this all is.It's different ideas and
02:05:28we just kind ofof drifted into some different ideas of what we thought we should be doing. That's okay. And I thinkhe'd worked in WWV before, and that clearly was a good experience for him. So he clearly wasexcited to go back, and he did go back. So I wish him the best, and that's what he's doingnow. But that must make sense for him, and that must be why he wanted to do it.Do you have, or did you have any interest in Killer Cross?I have not spoken to himin many, many years
02:06:04I thought he was a layup for you guysgiven how that all played outThat's interestingI'm not sureI like Killer CrossIt'd be interesting at some point to talk to him againIt's been a long time since I've talked to Killer CrossAnd
02:06:18It would be interestingHe'sSo when he became free you guys didn'tChad?I haven't yetHe did some stuff with Darbythat I was involved with Darby in terms of clearing the schedule for Darby to do an independentmatch with him here in New York, and they did a match, which I was involved in that, and Darby and I
02:06:38were actually at the Comic Con together that day promoting DC, A.W. Full Gear and the comicbooks with A.E.W. and D.C. and Darby went right from the Comic Con panel where heassaulted Mox. Yes. I remember that with the glass. Got a lot of attention. He smashed the glasspicture on Mox. Mox is so awesome, and he did so great on that panel. I mean, to have somesomebody like that that's such a great champion and a great ambassador and a great leader we're solucky to have john moxley in a w and i'd be remiss if i didn't say that but uh derby also is so importantand their rivalry uh has helped fuel us and wait killer cross killer cross killer cross we likehe i like him and i i went that night uh i had a lot of things going on and i actually
02:07:21wanted to go see his match but darby like had to be hustled out and we still had events soDarby left early to go do that match with Killer Cross, which was great that he was ableto do both things. So I didn't get to see him that night. That would probably would have been agreat chance to reconnect with him. Okay. Do you make this happen? Yeah, he's great. I think he'stremendous. Him and Scarlet are a great duo. I think they've got a great thing and they werered-hot towards the end. Were they not? Are you surprised that WWE didn't sign him?It's interesting. I'm, I mean, you never know what's going on with different wrestlers anddifferent wrestling organizations, so I can't speak to that. But I think he is very
02:07:56talented and Darby said he had a great experience with him. So it would definitely be worthreconnecting. I mean, you know, we get so deep in our foxholes and thinking about the differentthings we're doing. And sometimes I get so laser focused on one thing, as you can see,that I think about those things. But at some point, he's definitely a great name to think about.Okay, I'll ask you one more name. Will Osprey. When do we see him again? What's up with him?Boy, I love Will Osprey. So Will Osprey is such an amazing part of AEW. And again, talk aboutsomebody who's contributed to why I think this has been a great year for us. He was a huge partof last year. And this year, before his injury, he was just wrestling, in my opinion, at the
02:08:35very, very highest level. And that match with Will Osprey and Hangman Page to determine whowould win the Owen Hart Foundation Cup and who would go on to all in Texas to wrestlemocks for the world title. Hangman won the match. And Hangman versus Will Osprey, I think they'reboth great challengers and two great stars that you can build a promotion around.and what a great night double or nothing was, I thought,and what a great main event they had.Will Osprey is somebody, I'm glad you asked about.He's recovering from the injuries.
02:09:05I talk to him regularly.He's doing better.Is it a neck?It's a neck?Yeah.And I think he's been pretty open about it,so I don't want to talk out of turn about somebody's injuries,but Will's been pretty open that he's on the recovery.
02:09:15He's on the mend.He really appreciates the support from all the fans around the world.And Will Osprey is going to be back in AEW.I think hopefullyearlier next yearI can't say exactly whenbut it'll be next yearand I hope it'll be
02:09:31in the first half of next yearand he's one of our great starsso I think it is great news because certainlywhen Will Osprey's on the shows every weekit's great for usI lied one more name Adam Colethat's hardthat's hard Adam Cole
02:09:46I love so much and I think Adam Coleis such a great wrestler but also he's a reallygood friend. And it was very, very hard when I got the phone call the morning of all in Texasthat Adam Cole was not feeling well. And he's had injuries and it's no secret. Some of theinjuries he's experienced have been head injuries. And it was terrible when Adam Cole had theankle injury and when he needed time to recover, it was just you don't want to see him in so muchpain, but also it could have been, that alone could have been a career-ending injury, and he was outfor over a year. And he came back from that, and he was wrestling at such a high level. And I was really
02:10:28excited about what Adam Cole had done in 2025 to work his way into a top position and becomethe TNT champion. And it was a great comeback story. And I'm just glad that he was able to tell uswhen he didn't feel good about wrestling anymore. And do you think he's done?I think it would have to be the right situation for Adam to wrestle again.I think it's at least possible that we would keep Adam as part of the family.But I want to get to where he feels good about traveling and doing things every week again.But I've been open with him that when he's ready, there's always a role in AEW for him.He had been a commentator at times, and he's been one of the hosts of the shows.
02:11:09He's great for that.He's a great talent.He could be involved in a lot of things.And if he ever did want to wrestle again and it was the right situation,and everybody could wrap their heads around it, so to speak.I think that it could make a lot of sense.But if anything involving head injuries or serious injuries,I always want to look at it and evaluate, does this make sense?
02:11:30And is there an opportunity to do this safely where it's going to be a good outcome for everybody?What is AW Shockwave?Well, it's just an idea.I file lots of different names and ideas of shows and things like that.and that was a name that I actually at the time did not know anybody else had used and I had a reallyyou know I love that that word shockwave you know what reminds me of pride pride FC back in the day you knowpride was the the the dominant they were the WCW to the UFC's UFC or WW and they were the number oneand they had a show called pride shockwave and so when I heard that you trademark shockwave it brought back
02:12:11all these nostalgic feelings from the old MMA in Japan and so I was wondering what you were going to dowith that i'm probably not going to do it i had a really nice talk with billy and billy corgan uh whoowns the n w a i like billy and even before i became a wrestling promoter i had met him andi think he's just a great artist and i like him so when i talked to him on the phone i saidif that's a show that you might do again and you because n wa had done a shockway i guesspride had done it before that yeah yeah but then n w a shockwave which i didn't know at the timewhen we filed it and then i talked to him and said if that's something you want to do and youdid it first, then you can do that. That's fine. And he said, oh, that's great. I appreciate that. So that was
02:12:48nice. Did you talk to him about the national title as well? I did. Yes. I had a great talk with himabout that, which was to say, that will be introduced this weekend, right? Yes, it will be.And again, I have a lot of respect for him. I like the NWA, and I like Billy a lot personally.And what I told him is, you know, this is going to be our AED, really for AEW, this will be an AEW championship. It's a new lineage.think it's cool that Billy's been able to keep the legacy of the NWA alive and that that's anoperating promotion and uh this is an AEW championship so a lot of wrestling organizations havebeen on TBS over the years and AEW now I'm really like I said very proud dynamite we're onfor over six years now and one of the companies that goes back and has a history also going back
02:13:38in the 1980s would be the NWA through the territories and the promotions.who operated through Jim Crockett Promotions, and Georgia came together because GeorgiaChampionship Wrestling is another one of these promotions, and then the companies that existed afterthat, and the national title, it's a different national title, but there hasn't beenanybody that was the national champion on TBS since 1986.So this will be a new national title, a new lineage as Billy and I were talking about,but we had a really nice talk, and I enjoyed talking to him about it.And I told them, you know, there are things we do that are tributes to the history and wrestling.
02:14:20But in this case, this is a new title with the new legacy, and he gave me his blessing for it.And it was a nice talk.And, you know, it's good when the promoters can reach out and just connect about things.So the shockwave, if they're going to do a show called that, and I said, you know, if you've done it before me, that's yours.But I also didn't know that pride had done it.Oh, yeah, yeah.That's cool.I thought it was a tip of the cap to those days.
02:14:40But I guess, okay, we'll keep it on ice.I don't know like 1% of what you do about MMA.It's all good.I'm not like a super expert.I'm like fan and I like it, but I'm not like the big expert who knows everything about MN.No, you are that guy in wrestling.And that's your thing.Yeah, but you like both and you're an expert on both, but it's cool.
02:14:59Like I've gone with mocks to UFC and he knows everything.Oh, yeah.We sat in the front row and like he knew everybody and told me everything and the backgrounds of the fighters and who trains with who.There's a lot of similarities between MMM.in wrestling with the storylines, the good guys, the bad guys.It's just not as overt, but it's all right there, and everything is copied, and now they'reunder the same umbrella.I promise, I'll let you go in a moment, but this has been a lot of fun.
02:15:22I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have as well.Ring of Honor and a TV deal for them.You know, what's interesting, and I don't know if you've noticed this, but, you know,WW has a deal with Netflix, with CW, with USA, with ESPN.Is there any real estate left for Ring of Honor?Yeah, absolutely.And at times, there have been operating.opportunities to do things for Ring of Honor, but I think they have to make sense. We did this
02:15:46insanely awesome, great media rights deal that's so good for AEW, and I'm so happy becauseI think we deliver a really great value, and it gets great value for us, which is the perfectmeteorites deal. We have the perfect partner with Warner Brothers Discovery, and we did thisdeal where it set up dynamite, collision, and the paper views, and is there room for Ring ofHonor? I absolutely believe so, and there's been good conversations with us and them. Ihad other media partners reach out about doing things with Ring of Honor and other companiesthat we have never worked with that it's possible yeah but i think it has to make sense for everybodyand also the most important relationship for AEW is always going to be warner brothers discovery
02:16:26between myself and david zasloff and the leadership there so anything i do i want to make sense foreverybody so i have actually rebuffed other offers at times from outside and if we do it i wouldlove to do something with warner brothers discovery but again it has to be a deal thatmake sense for everybody. And it doesn't necessarily have to be exactly, you know, as big as theAEW deal, but it's still got to be pretty good. And it's got to make sense for everyone. So we'venever been able to find the sweet spot. So I think it's perfect to do what we've been doing to focuson the sweet spot we have right now with AEW and Warner Brothers Discovery. And then for Ring of Honor,we have a nice service. We've been having a really good year with Ring of Honor. And people that watch
02:17:05the shows would attest to that because there's been a really good support. And I think there's been asentiment this year, more than in the other years that I've owned the promotions, more than anyyear since the first year when there was no TV, when it was just pay-per-views, and everyone waslike, wow, this was like just three awesome pay-per-views this first year. People loved that.And then people thought maybe there was the first year, I think, if people loved the three shows,you have to say so much of it comes down to when you have the Briscoe's FTR trilogy acrossthe three shows, that's a big chunk of it. But there were so many other great moments,including the arrival of Samoa Joe at the end of the very first show. And he's such an
02:17:38important figure, including to this day to right now in AEW. And those shows people love,but there was no TV. So across the shows of AEW, I had a lot of Ring of Honor involvement.People probably thought that was more than they'd like. So now there's a lot less of that,but Ring of Honor has its own show, and you still see appearances and the stories flow together.And there's wrestlers that appear, whether it's Athena, who's been an amazing women's world champion nowfor almost three years in Ring of Honoror Bandito, who was the Ring of Honorworld champion before I even owned the promotion
02:18:12and was a great face of Ring of Honorand then when he came backand returned to AEW, it's a greatthing because he's the Ring of Honor world championbut he's also an AEW tag team champion.We have these people that are involvedin the AEW shows. Now Mercedes-Moneyis the interim Ring of Honor
02:18:28TV champion and she'll bewrestling the...Actually, you know, should be wrestling tomorrowto settle the Ring of Honor titleBefore her match this weekend, that's the kind of schedule of Mercedes wrestles.We have dynamite in Boston tomorrow.It's a three-hour dynamite and collision.So on that show tomorrow, on the three-hour special, Mercedes is going to wrestle Red Velvet,
02:18:48who is the Ring of Honor TV champion.There's the poster right there.And she's been out injured.There's going to be this great tag team match we see.Timeless Tony Storm versus Mina Shirikawa,Alex Windsor, excuse me, Tynos Tony Storm and Mina Shirikawa versus Alex Windsor and Rio.In the quarterfinals of the tag team tournament, that's going to be a great tag teammatch as part of this three-hour special.
02:19:08But you asked me about Ring of Honor.Mercedes actually beatMina Shurikawa, who's in that matchto win theinterim TV championship.Red Velvet, the Ring of Honor TV champion, has beenout injured. She did some great things forus as the champion and continues
02:19:24to be a great champion, but she was out injuredand we've had a great partnership withCML.Top Lucha Libre promotion. They've been aroundfor over 92 years.And this year, ourmost watched event and one of the most successful AEW events ever was our first ever show inMexico with them, AEW Grand Slam Mexico. Right. And we had an ROH Global Wars event that coincided
02:19:48with that. That was a great, great event. And we saw some of the top stars from Ring of Honorinvolved in the CMLL shows. And Red Velvet's done a great job representing AEW and ROH in Mexico.She got injured. She's back now. She's going to wrestle Mercedes to settlethe R-O-H-TV title tomorrow, and that's before Mercedes wrestles for the AEW world titlethis Saturday versus Chris Stathlander. And like you, I'm a big Statlander fan. And I think she'stremendous. I think a lot of the A.W fans who've been watching from the very beginningare really like to see Chris Statlander succeeding and thriving as a world champion. And I thinkthat Mercedes has got a huge match Saturday, but I think it's really commendable that she takes on
02:20:36the schedule fights people all over the world and she's got this big match in her hometowntomorrow versus red velvet that will be a big ring of honor match on a ew tv butthere aren't that many huge ROH matches like that we don't normally settle the championships ontvs this is a huge occasion for a match like this one or weeks ago on collision when banditowrestled masqueror de rata if there's a huge huge match maybe i'll put the ring of honor on aewe but most of the ring of honor matches are focused on the ring of honor tv andAnd the fans who watch it have been saying that they think this is the best year of the Ring of Honor shows.The pay-per-views have really delivered, and just looking at Bandito's portfolio,
02:21:15some of the best matches in wrestling this year have been Bandito's Ring of Honor matches,whether it's Bandito versus Takeshita in Dallas, Bandido versus Achesero in Philadelphia,his matches in Mexico versus Masqueradurata, the match he just had a couple weeks ago versus Masquerorada, the rematch.It's amazing how you rifle off all this stuff.You live and breed this.I do want to ask you about this.I had Matt and Jeff Hardy on in July, and I asked them, like, what do you make of thisWWT&A partnership?
02:21:43And Matt said to me, like, let's be honest.It's the hurt AEW.Do you view it that way as well?That's the way he put it.I really like Matt and Jeff a lot.I like Matt and Jeff a lot, and I loved working with them when they were in AEW, and Istill love Matt and Jeff very much.And I don't think it was malicious.
02:21:58I don't think at all.But do you think that that's the impetus?I respect that opinion a lot.I think you agree with it.I think it's probably true.And I respect that Matt says.it honestly. Yeah. That's really cool. And I think Matt's a great guy. I think Jeff's a great guy.What do you make of that? The fact that they're so tight now. It's interesting. I think it's a
02:22:13very interesting collaboration, but I think Matt hit the nail in the head that it makessense. And AEW is a very strong challenger brand. And it's not that unusual.You take it as a compliment. Yeah, absolutely. Like, you know, I remember when WCW was starting to dobetter and Smokey Mountain Wrestling was running shows in Georgia that Vince McBancalled up Jim Cornett and sent a bunch of the WWF wrestlers toto Smoky Mountain Wrestling to help.History repeating itself.Compete with WCW.
02:22:39So I do think like when you have a strong challenger brand,it's not that unusual to see the WWF collaborate with another company.We saw that with Smokey Mountain there.And in Memphis, I think, did some of the same thingsto compete with WCW shows.So it's not that unusual.And again, I don't take it personally at all.It makes sense looking at the wrestling playbook of the WWF.
02:22:58When you saw that picture of Jade, Ricky, Cody,and I believe Punk in there, you know,all with ties to your organization. How did that make you feel? It was, I saw that and I thinkAEW is having a great year. I think AEW is in a fantastic place. I think the roster right nowis delivering great shows and I'm really proud of what AEW is doing right now. It did make mesmile because it reminded me of double or nothing 2020, the first pandemic pay-per-view we put ongreat pay-per-view and Cody won the TNT title and Mox retained the AEW world title versus the lategreat Mr. Brody Lee. May he rest in peace. And after the show, Cody and Mox in this, in the area
02:23:53of Daly's Place that is the kind of the one communal area. It's part of what brings everyone togetherso much in Daly's Place is like the gorilla and the pre-tape space and the live interview spaceand the hallway, it's all one thing that connects the amphitheater itself.There's just a very small little backstage, and it's very tight, and it's talent viewing.It's everything, and that's why, like, when people are doing promos,there might be six rows of wrestlers sitting five feet from them behind the camera,watching them do it, but it's just, we're all used to it.And after Double or Nothing 2020, Cody and Mox took a photo, and I thought it was interesting.
02:24:28It just shows how far in the mirror, but I saw, I remember the photo that Cody and Mox took,And in that moment, I think I took it on my phone.Wow.So when you see that, like, is there pride there?Do you feel like it's a shot at you?Do you feel like I have relationships with all four of them and they're very different.And I could talk for two hours about each of the four of them and why I like them and why I thought they were great in AEW and we could talk about all their matches or I could talk about how much I like them all as people.But, you know, they're all not wrestling in AEW anymore.
02:24:59But to be completely honest with you, I just thought that folks.And it made me think a double or nothing 2020 and being there in Jacksonville and taking that photo on my phone and remembering that night and thinking, man, it's crazy how five and a half years have flown by.Okay, one more I'll ask you and then I'll let you go and thank you again for all this time. This has been a lot of fun. Thank you.There are some complaints about fans being priced out with the WW events. Do you look at what they are charging? Do you look at things like WrestleMania going to Saudi? And there were some people saying like, hey, AW should run a show.that weekend for the American fans.Are you looking at these things that they're doingand just like they're trying toclearly counter-program your stuff,
02:25:41you try to counter their moves sometimes as wellto gain more fansand garner this relationship with the fan base?Like a lot of the things we're saying,I think there's a balance.I'm cognizant of what people are sayingand I'm cognizant of their pricing.I think the AEW pricing,
02:25:57which is lower and WW showsare more expensive for the fans than AEW.and when it comes to the ticketing and the pricing.Now we have different models when it comes to the distribution.I think that what we do is very good and it's been working for us.You know, from the very beginning of AEW,whether it was on the beginning calls like before we'd ever done a live event,talking about the original shows and saying before we'd ever done a dynamite being on the phone
02:26:23and Cody was in some of these phone calls and Matt and Nick and different peopleand talking about how I always wanted there to be tickets that were in that range,of somewhere from $20 to $30 for the fans to be able to get in to the TV shows every week,and that that was going to be a consistent theme in AEW,and there still is inexpensive ticketing, and get-in price is usually pretty fair compared to thecompetition. It's always lower, and the ringside seats are also, they're more expensivethan the highest tier of seats in the arena, but they are still more affordable than our competition,and they always have been, and I hope that they always will be, and I'll try to keep that
02:27:00affordable pricing. That's something I care about, making sure that families and friends can getinto the event, go to the show, and people who really care about being in the front row or beingreally close to the ring, people that might be willing to pay a little bit more for the ticket thanjust getting into the event and people that really care about that really close ringside seat,it's still the most affordable ringside seat you're going to get for major TV wrestling andpay-per-views. We're having this great, great year, but that's something that has been consistent from thebeginning, and the pay-per-view prices, as I was saying earlier, the pay-per-view price has been thesame for cable and satellite from the very beginning on every provider, and now we actually
02:27:37offer the lowest price ever on HBO Max. So I think that's also been good. Now we're actuallyoffering more affordable than ever pricing plan. And I will say this, because this is reallyinteresting information. I didn't know this until I started doing the Media Rights deal for AEW thispast year. So doing the research and bringing in top analysts, I learned things I didn't know aboutAEW. Of allthe sports leagues in the world, ofevery league, fromNBA, NFL,
02:28:06MLB,WWE, UFC,PGA, andevery sports league, the leaguethat has the highest spendingon streaming video per monthis AEW. Okay. Now,our fans, I'm not saying AEW is the
02:28:21biggest league in the world, the NFL is the biggest leaguein the world, but AEW hasthe most avid, loyalin the world. I feel that, by the way. Sometimes they come after me. Can you tell themthat I'm not so bad? I think today, they come after me. I think you're going to be a fanfavorite today. You think so? Because they came after me for like three years. I think you'venot very nice. Big baby face turn. Is this my turn? Yeah, I feel like this is my turn. Especiallybecause you asked me all these questions that were very legitimate questions and I think
02:28:46hopefully I've also. It was all very fair. Yeah. I think I've come a long way from Montreal.I have. We've done it was awful. Done a good job. And we showed people that you can get off on thewrong foot, but then get on the right foot. Yeah, absolutely.I totally agree with that.And I also...They stop, you know, hounding me.They think that I'm a paid chill.Well, I think you've shown that you're a very balanced, fair guy.
02:29:06You asked me a lot of good questions, and I really respect that.And also, like I said, I've enjoyed the interviews you've been doing with some AEDW.We do more of them.I hope you will, yeah, and that's why also when we hadn't really been sending AEW people,but I was interested because I saw you were saying some good stuff.I thought you did that great interview with Maven.Maven's the man.And he was a really...
02:29:24I think you should have him on the broadcast.I think he's a great broadcast.You know what's amazing? You want to hear something cool? I've never said publicly. I like that.One of the people who, the person who is largely responsible for getting me into pro wrestling,I've been a fan my whole life, but I had never been backstage at a show, and I never reallybelieved that I could take it to the next level. And I got to work with them through footballbecause we both believe in protecting the players and doing everything we can to make it football safe.and it's the man who started the concussion foundation with Chris Nguinsky.
02:29:58And Dr. Chris Nguinsky is one of my really great friends.Wow.And Chris Nguinsky was on Tough Enough.And the final three on Tough Enough were Chris Nguinsky.And Maven came in and did this great thing with us.And so I was joking with Chris because Chris and I are still really close.And he also comes in every year to talk to the wrestlers and gives a really serious speechbecause I want them to hear it about head safety and,
02:30:24them, they want to take these high risks and chances, but I want them to hear it straightfrom Chris that it's really important that they are cognizant and that they hear the messagehe's giving, that really we want to be as safe as possible because Chris was a pro wrestlerand he cares about this. So Chris comes in every year and I see him and I talk to himregularly outside of the shows and I was telling Chris, you know, I had this greatinteraction with Maven and I hadn't ever talked to him. The only time I'd ever reallyseen him in person was after a house show on Halloween when I was in college, Halloween 2004.And I brought that up to Maven when he was shooting his video. And he was like, thought that was
02:31:05really neat. I remember this. And he was such a nice guy. So I was telling Chris that. But the otherreason I bring this up is Josh Matthews now works in our production. That's right. That's right.And he's in the truck. And Josh is now a big part of the production team. And he's working with MikeMansuri and Daryl and all the guys. Mike may be my favorite person in the business. Mike Mansour.Really? Yeah. Oh yeah. I adore Mike. That's all. I love Mike. Yeah. I met him, I met him rightbefore the pandemic. He was still at WWE and he took me on a tour backstage. I was like,this guy's the coolest. And then he left like a week later. And then he went to work for Pat McAfee,if you recall. And then now he's working for you in a high production and love him. He's a head of
02:31:42production. His wife is wonderful as well. He's amazing. Yes, yes, yes. So you've got, andRenee, I'm a big fan of Renee. Renee's awesome.You see, I'm a big fan of a lot of your guys.I think...This is good.I think we just needed to do it in person.Yeah, and isn't it always much more pleasant in person?And, you know, it's great talking to people on Zoom or on video chat, but it's really not the same.
02:32:03And this has been great, and I appreciate you giving me the chance.It's a big week for us with tomorrow being this huge episode, the Go Home Show, Wednesday Night Dynamite,and this being the big pay-per-view week, especially for such a big tent pole show.This is the seventh full year.and it's been with us from the very beginningand this week you havelook at that look at that lineup hereoh wow something it's going to be huge we have dynamite
02:32:25tomorrow night uh 8 p.m eastern 7 p.m. centralon tbs and hbomax and then collision is onas part of this three hour block so you've got to watch tomorrowit's a huge go home block it's full gear weekthen the countdown show which is all those awesome video packagesand you were just talking about mike mansuri his team mike and the guys theydo a great job putting these countdown shows together. Mike, Phil, and all the gang, they do agreat job, and that's the countdown show. So that's a block Wednesday night that sets up the
02:32:57pay-per-view, which is Saturday. And then on TNT and HBO Max, you got the tailgate brawl.On all the other platforms, there's a zero-hour that we put for all the Amazon and all the greatproviders. But live, you can watch the wrestling matches in the arena on TNT and on HBO Max.7 p.m. Eastern Saturdayand it's livecoast to coast, it's on at 4 p.m. Pacificon TNT oron HBO Max. It's like collision, but
02:33:25an hour earlier than usual for collisionand live coast to coast.And it sets up the paper viewand we saw on the last tailgate brawlAriel that when youhave a great match in the ringit could even continuefrom the tailgate brawl into the paper view
02:33:41so full gear you don't know what to expectso you got to watch a tailgate brawland FTR versus Jetspeed was an awesome match on the tailgate brawland it continued into the pay-per-view and it talked talk about a hot start.It was a hot way to start the pay-per-view.I'm afraid to say goodbye because I think I'm going to have a lot of heat with your head of PRfor keeping you on for so long.I think you won't.
02:34:02Your head of PR is going to kill me.I think actually he's out there.He's a brilliant guy.He's a very nice man, but I think he's going to say you kept them on for too long.But we were flowing.We were flowing, right?And I got to say, I think he's going to be very happy.And to be honest, probably a little relieved how well this one.
02:34:18Okay.As am I.As am I.That's great.Me too.Thank you so much, Tony.Thank you.Thank you.
02:34:22Thank you.Good luck tomorrow.Good luck on Saturday.Looking forward to it very much.Continued success.Looking forward to the big shows.Actually, I have a list here.You've got, if you're in the New York area, December 20th and 21st, right here in New York City, Hammerstein, Ballroom.
02:34:36Presale actually begins today, I'm told.General's sale on the 24th in November.Your last show of the year is December 27th, AEW World's End at the Now Arena.and Hoffman State. It's a great venue. So all the bestto you guys. Much respect. We'll take a quickbreak. Say goodbye to Tony. Be back with yourquestions. I'm sure there'll be a lot of themon the nose coming up right after this.
02:34:55All right back on the program. That's the greatesttaco I've ever had. That one right there.My kids make fun of me the wayin which I say taco.Sounds normal to me.Well, that was weird, Frank. What is that all about?Just push it down. I saytaco.
02:35:10Okay.They say taco. I say taco.They say taco.But I prefer saying taco.There was a video of David Beckham doing something for the Qatar World Cup, and he's like, I like to make tacos.So that's what I think of.That was fun, guys.I agree.
02:35:31Me and T.K.Buried the hatchet.Am I a baby face now in the world of AEW?Can all the hate go away?Are we friends again?Have you now finally seen the light that I'm not a paid show?that I just call it down the middle.Peace and love, peace and love.
02:35:49We are just wrestling fans around here.Peace and love.Thank you.Thank you, Ringo.We've never had a dog in the race, so to speak.And I've never considered myself a wrestling journalist.I've always considered myself a journalist who enjoys talking to wrestling personalities,whether it's, you know, bookers, promoters, owners, founders,
02:36:11wrestlers, male, female, the managers, the characters.I love all of it.And so hopefullyWe gave you a little bit to Nibble onIt was a nice little chatAnd yeahHopefully we can now move forwardAlways love having everyone on
02:36:26From the AW guys to the WW guysTo the W guys to the ring of honor guysTo the NWA guysI think Frank's favorite interviewThat I ever conducted was with Billy CorganHey you're not wrongStill mentions it till this dayYou ever thought about having them back on
02:36:45absolutely I would love to have him onI would love to have him onalright time now for everyone's favorite segment of the weekit is timeguys we're going to full gear on Saturday at the Rockat the Pruh? I'm inwho's in? Me, I amyou guys had the whole
02:37:02you had the whole line up there it was amazingyeah I can't lie we had it up for like12 seconds and I was screaming back hereI was like Tony please look overoh yeah look overand that queued him up and then he wentwent through the whole thing.Tailgate, all of it.
02:37:17He went through all of it.Hello, Petey.How are you?Great.How are you?Now that I look at it.Ptzee's got like the same type of curls that Tony has.Yeah.
02:37:28I was thinking about myself.Cut from the same cloth.Cut from the same cloth.I mean, it's lovely to see you here on a Tuesday.Usually we don't get you on a Tuesday.It's usually like your quasi off day.Guess it's your lucky day.Yeah.
02:37:41I thought Monday's after paper views were his quasi off day.What did you guys learn?I don't know.I'm going to.I'm going to have to discuss this.What did you guys learn from the chat?What did you learn from the chat?He's been here for about an hour.
02:37:49Oh, geez.Sorry, PT.I told you.Yeah, three.Yeah, I told you three.I mean, we were vibing.The chat was great, yeah.It was a great chat.
02:37:58It was a good chat.I enjoyed it.Yeah.All right, well, we'll see you next week.Okay.Let's go to the questions here.Triple double says it may berecency bias and too soon to say,
02:38:12but as Carlos Pratch is the best fighting nerd in your opinion,I mean, he's the one having the most success.Would you not say that?He's the hottest one right now.Right.I was a Rufi guy.Yeah, I was a Ruffy guy too.But by the way, he's only had one loss.
02:38:29I mean, all these guys have only had one loss.Bohali only had one.But like the M.MA spice girls.You all have your favorite one, you know what I mean?Yeah, yeah, yeah.Some are Kyle Barallo's.I'm a Rufi.What about Morales now number three in the welterweight rankings?
02:38:43Prochus over Gary?How's that possible?Yeah, the over-Garie doesn't make a ton of sense,but I expected the Morales jump.I mean, he knocked out the number two guy in the very first round.Yeah.Who's Gary's best win over,and who's Pratchez's his best win over.
02:38:57I guess that's the way to look on.I mean, Gary's best win over Pratch's probably over Pratchett.Yeah, Gary has won over the number of them.Yeah, I guess you're right.Leon down to nine.If Gary wins, he's got to go over him, right?Yeah, for sure.Yeah.
02:39:10Oh, absolutely.He'll be beating the number two guy.He'll take the number two spot if he wins.Okay, YFG94 says, Frankie, what are your top five favorite drops?Oh, that's a good one.I like...Fucking out.Yeah.
02:39:28And...James Tihuno?Yep.And...Who me?Yeah.And who's to check?Yeah.
02:39:34And...That's fucking illegal.Okay.This guy actually had hashtag federal f in prison.Federal fucking prison.I do like that a lot.It's so good.It's so good.
02:39:51Francois Crabb Apple saysAriel is going to be on his deathbedtelling nurses Darby Allen poured wateron his head.That's a good take.GM3 fader says 100%the leftover rice thing is a real danger and not safe.Just 24 hours refrigerated needs to be tossed out.
02:40:10I used to do it until discovering it was not safe whatsoever.Thank you for that confirmation.Last week we spoke about this.Not how.no he said 24 hour refrigerated yeah that's what i said you're not supposed to refrigerate itno i said after 24 hours you toss it no you said don't i said leave it out if possible you have torefrigerate it 24 hours here also what was the revelation that we have this all on take it's verbatim what we havethis all we can do you know what we could do lads yeah i've just put some rice in the fridge i could eat
02:40:38it after 26 hours and if i get the shots i'll report back 26 hours i don't want this hanging over myYeah. He's saying he's going to go. He said 24. Yeah, he's going to go. 25.No, he said 24. So at the 25th hour, you can eat it and see if you have diarrhea.But this guy's proof is, I found out it's not safe. Like, how did he find out? Did he go to the hospital or did he hear about it?I think they found out, Frank. Have you guys ever seen the movie 25th hour, speaking of it?Uh-uh. Yeah, that's the one with, uh, everyone's right? Yeah. That was crazy. Because he's, like, going to prison. It's the 25 hours before he goes to prison.Right after 9-11, so they showed you, like, ground zero and all that.By the way, by the way, G.C., as a New York resident,
02:41:14relatively new, highly recommend watching it.All right.Is that a, is a Spike Lee movie?Excuse me?Is it a Spike Lee movie?Yes, it is.Great call.It's the first movie to take place in New York post 9-11,
02:41:28where, like, post-9-11 New York is acknowledged.Pantheon of New York movies?It's not a, it's, you have, it's like, it's an I-Y-K-I-K,but the one scene, you know the scene, Frank, the F-U scene?It's an all-timer.What is the pantheon of New York movies?That's Midnight Cowboy.Elf.
02:41:46I'm walking here.I'm walking.Is Main Streets, New York?Taxi cab.What is it?Jason Taxi driver.What's the taxi driver?Taxi driver?
02:41:55Yeah, taxi driver.Ghostbusters.The Muppets.Take Manhattan.Home alone, too.You've got mail.You've got mail in New York.Absolutely.
02:42:09Oh, when Harry Met Sally?Oh, yeah, when Harry Metz-Sally.My answer, though, Midnight Cowboy.Oh, yeah.Oh, it's a great one.Great one.Hemmy Neutron said, I said this past weekend that Bo Nicol was the most must-win fight on the card.I feel the same way for Ian Gary this weekend, you agree?
02:42:25And out of both of those fights, I just mentioned, which one is slash was the most must-win?I think it's Dan Hooker.If Dan Hooker does not win, he likely won't return.Okay, I have a...Armin? I have a thought on this. I think Dan Hooker has now reached. He has reached that DonaldTaroni... Interesting. I think Dan Hooker has now reached cult-like favorite. You sent anamazing edit and I'm like... Love him. Yes, I want to run through a wall for this guy and I don'treally care about his wins and losses anymore. But he's said to you, his dream...
02:43:02No, I know.He's one night with the belt. Like, his goal is still the belt. It's not just to put on bangorfights. And so I think if he loses, he probably will not return to title contest.I feel the exact opposite.I feel that Dan Hooker has absolutely nothing to lose.This is only upside.He would not be getting a title shot.I agree.
02:43:18Otherwise, he hasn't fought in a while.He's coming off an injury.If he wins, he's going to be like the number two or number one.Yes, sure, but it's like gravy.That's not to lose.I'm just saying.He wants the title.He dreams of the title.
02:43:29If Dan Hooker wins this fight, is he getting a title shot?Yes.Probably.You'd be beating Norman.You'd be beating the number one contender.I'm just saying, we don't even know what's going on with the title shot.It could be Patty?Armin Saruki was booked to fight Islam Makachev.
02:43:45He was in the fight and had to pull out.And if he loses to Dan Hooker, you wonder if he can get back there, considering how long it took him to now get this fight booked and his potential friction with the UFC over the Islam Makachev thing.I think Armand is the one with everything to lose here.Armin is the one with everything on the line.Like if he does not win this fight, it would be catastrophic.Right, to get a title shot, like Dan Hooker.Yeah.You're saying Dan Hooker has nothing to lose,
02:44:17but I think in his mind he has something to loseby losing this fight, which is a title shot.You're saying, no, this is from his perspective.Dude wants a title shot.He has to win this fighter.He probably will never get one.That's the thing.I think Dan Hooker is in that spot
02:44:31where he wins one or two in the row.He's right back in that.Like, he's in that Michael Bisping, Donald Soroni fan favorite.It's foreign. People like him.People door him.Yeah, of course.People love him.People are always going to watch it.
02:44:41I'm just talking strictly from the standpoint of him getting a title shot.But Armin has those same stakes.I just wish.Armin is younger, though.We got to figure out this lightweight title situation.What the hell is going on?Patty, got to be I thought they would have announced Patty already.Yes.
02:44:54I thought they would have announced already.He's there, right? He's there, I think, with Shemrock.And he's like, he seems ready to go.They haven't announced a single date or fight for 2026.Got to be coming soon.Are they going to do a big rollout, do you think?I think they should.I think they should do a big Paramount Plus thing.
02:45:13That'd be great.Yeah, like a studio day where you just do it.Yes.You know, so you make a big bang.Yeah, that'd be good.John's work.Do you expect to do that, though?Ariel, like, would you expect a big day, like a big reveal given how points have been announced?
02:45:27I wouldn't expect you have C to proactively do that.But if Paramount goes, hey, we want to make a big splash, let's do this, I think they could get on board with it.Maybe the week of the last pay-per-view.you know they're in Vegasyeah they usually do something on the Fridayif they want to announce somethinghere's John Pork who says hearing that Dylan has a lifetime banfrom the UFC made me think about his last interview
02:45:49with you didn't you say you would never have him back on as wellI did say thatand look I never thought Tony Khan would be on the program as wellnot to say that I'm reaching out to Dylanbecause I did not enjoy that last interviewbut we did listen I'm not I'm not someoneI'm not steadfast in my beliefs on anythingI've said this before with people who I consider
02:46:06you know people who havetried to do me really, really dirty, I would shake their hand. And just like I had no problemwhen it was brought up to me to have Tony on, I was excited. I like the idea of repairingrelationships. I don't want to go through life holding grudges. I mean, could you guys imaginein February of 2023, Tony Khan being in the studio for an hour and a half? No. Like we couldn'tto be, there was probably at that point a better chance of Dana being in studio, right? Yeah, it wasabout equal at that point. And so I think it's honestly a testament to him, much respect. He did not have tocome. And I actually think it was an infinitely, remember I said that was the most frustrating
02:46:43interview of my life back in 22? This was infinitely better. And he was attentive to that. He wastrying not to dodge the question. Yes. And he did it. And I appreciate that very much. It wasonly like one question that he couldn't talk about. And I get it. It seemed like it was sticky.Yes. There was a cease and desist involved reportedly. Anyway, so once I saw Dylan, we made up,I have no issues. And what I think is hilarious, by the way, is Ali Abdel-Ziz going on Twitter and beinglike anyone who talks to this guy is not a real journalist.I mean, what do you talk?First of all, who are you to set those ground rules, number one?
02:47:16Second of all, as an aside, the media tour that this guy is on.I mean, I've never, like, it is absolutely, every time I open Twitter, every time I openYouTube, this dude is talking to someone else.He has done more media than any winner coming out of Saturday.It's unbelievable.It really is.Like, if I'm one of his fighters, I'm like, okay, I get it.Can I get some of this shine, too?
02:47:37it's crazy to me it's crazy and by the way maybe I'm wrong maybe they like it maybe they're the oneswho're saying great this guy's a mouthpiece for me my promoter isn't going to do the talking let mymanager do talk maybe I'm missing the point here but like the media tour and the Craig Jones stuffand then the the Dylan stuff it's just the difference between the way he handles it and the wayevery other manager handles it is is very stark but again maybe that's the brilliancemaybe that's maybe that's what they want anywayMan, Dylan didn't do himself any favors.He's like, going four, assaulted him.
02:48:11Here's the, I'm reading what this guy's saying.Here's the thing.We talked, I do think it's important to say this.We talked yesterday about the brawl, right, guys?And we did say that it's like, it's like, Pizzi, it's like the great Jamie Vardy,who once said, what do you say?Oh, wow.What do you say?
02:48:28Chat shit.That's what he said, right?And that is sort of like a street code, right, among fighters.You chat shit, you post things.things are going to happen. But I do think it is important to say this. Like, well, like, you know,I don't know what he's going to do about all this. He hasn't said anything. And I do think he crossedthe line with the things that he said about them, about their religion. And, you know, he's talkingabout things that makes them uncomfortable and all this stuff and more. We do have to acknowledge
02:48:55the fact that they are at Madison Square Garden in New York City at a public event with thousandsof people around them. Like, you can't just go around beating people up. You know what I mean?Just because he posted something.Like, that's not the way civilization works.So while I do agree that the street code suggests, like, hey, chat shit get bang, and you've got to pay, you know, you got to pay for the things that you say.And, like, you're talking mad shit about, like, you know, some tough dudes who don't have a tolerance for this.I do think we have to acknowledge that.Like, we can't just be like, yeah, well, you know, that's, you know, that's the way it goes.
02:49:30Like, he did get what appears to be jumped and assaulted.Yeah.Madison Square Garden, you know?Of that situation, but it's, his reputation precedes him.Yeah.This has happened so many times with him.You know, there's that saying,you work for your reputation,
02:49:48and then your reputation works for you.The opposite of that is what happened to Dylan.You know, like, it all went against them.And I do think if it's a different personwithout that background, that doesn't happen, you know?The guy who got jumped as the one who's being viewedas the bad guy here,as the one who is being banned, as the one who's being,
02:50:07but again, to your point,maybe it's because of his reputation and this stuff.It's how much provoking he's done over the yearsof many different parties.Yeah.I think the other problem is,we don't really see the inciting incident, right?Unless, you know, somebody else has seen it.
02:50:21But it seems more like it's like we kind of get it midstreamwhere the brawl is kicking off.We haven't really seen kind of what the conversation,if any, was before that or what kind of like really lit the powder keg.So it's murky, it's whatever.You're kind of just going by one side's word or another.I don't know.Ali did an interview saying that he thinks that Craig Jones should be deported.
02:50:44And then Craig had a great retort saying, to be fair, we both should be deported.Let's roll out Hensel Gracey, BJJ Blue Basement.Loser cuts up the green card.I'll only use buggy chokes.I mean, would you pay for that?Yeah, because Ali said he only teaches buggy chokes.Yeah, yeah, yeah.C.J.I?
02:51:03next main event.Shit, I'd watch that.Did you see his TMZ interview?He said some interesting things.Yeah, what do you say?He said that Islam Makashchev barely weighed185 pounds and I just can't believe that.195 pounds in that fight
02:51:18where he's the same size of Jack Delamadelaide.Most guys are competing in the division.I'd say 190 plus.Yeah.He's massive.Yeah.And also another thing he said washe hasn't said anything to the lads,
02:51:31but, you know,he happens to manage Kamara Usmannothing to do with him that Islam'scalling out. I don't know about that eitherbeing honest.The Kamar Usman thing is.I mean, it's Usman or Buckley.That's what we've determined.
02:51:46It's got to be Buckley.Right up there. Can't see his video?Oh yeah, we talked about us.Great stuff.Treadmill.Love and War. Hey, Rick and Ariel,I'd love to hear more about how impressiveConnor Ben looked. Was it more of what Ben did
02:51:58or what UBank didn't do?That's the big question, right?because the talk, I think, was thatEubank was so lethargic. He wasn'tas active ashe was in the first fight.But I do believe that Ben deserves a lot of creditbecause Ben was very active. He was
02:52:13energetic. He was spry.He was switched on. He wasI mean, he was very motivated, it seemedlike. It is okayfor both to be true. First of all, ChrisChris looked like he was stuck in mud. It was a horribleperformance. He looked like he wasn't there.But if you look at the
02:52:29previous performances from ConnerBen, when he moved up in weight, he did not look like this. He looked like his cardio was in thetoilet. He could not sustain it over the course of the decisions. And in this one, his foot wasnever off the gas pedal. The cardio was there. His hands looked sharp. The power was obviouslythere in the late rounds. He's knocking down Chris twice in the final round. The powertranslated. Everything was clicking for Connor Ben. I was extremely impressed. And then you do haveto consider, this is up weight from where he actually fights. This is not his natural weight class.And so he's up there fighting a much bigger man who, in the last fight, was sitting behind a jab and really making him pay for those exchanges.
02:53:09I was equally impressed with Connor Ben and sad for Chris Eubank for how bad he looked.But there's nothing to take from Connor Ben.He looked tremendous.I can't wait to see what his next move is.Oh, yeah.I mean, think of any of the names.He's a huge star now coming out of the UK.Like all these guys, like he could do a stadium show again against one of these guys.
02:53:28Could you imagine him versus Ryan Garcia?Ryan Garcia, Shakur Stevenson, any of these guys would be massive fights.I mean, we said...Lewis Crocker, yeah.Lose Crocker, yeah, him too.Yeah, get a belt.Like, I'm so happy for Connor Ben because of the way his career had seemed to, like, go off course.And now he's riding high.
02:53:48Like, he has gained a lot of momentum back and fan sentiment back from positive test era when the BBOC is jerking him around.He's just sitting on the sidelines, no fault of his own, just because,because these appeals are taking forever and they won't license him and he's fighting inin ballrooms in Florida and now he's on he gets revenge for his family he he gets thefirst win for the for the Ben family in that in that blood feud and all the options areavailable to him like it he went from the outhouse to the penhouse and I'm happy forConor Ben so Dana White was on the Andrew Schultz show Andrew Schultz very much in thenews as of late he was at WWE Raw last night
02:54:29getting involved withCam Scatabo.Is it Scataboo or Scataboo?Scataboo.Scataboo.Getting pushed around atYeah, isn't his footbroken?I mean, it was hanging by a thread.
02:54:44And there were other Giants guysin back of him, right?It was only like three weeks ago.Sheltzzi,Schultzzi getting involvedin a lot of the WW stuffas of late, but I guess he had Dana White onand he said something about
02:54:56Francis Ngano getting,Dana said France and Gano got physical with him.What's up with that?Cap or no cap?That's what he's climbing.It'd be weird if he was outright lying.Dana has alluded to the fact that he doesn't like Francis because of an incident that happened way back in the day.And so maybe this is the incident.
02:55:13I had heard about the like get the private plane ready, get the jet ready for me.Remember that, yeah.You remember that?And I don't know if this is all, you know, intertwined.But he said Francis Ingano was a bad guy after the press conference.He comes over to me, grabs me.and he says, when the fight is over,you're going to book me a private plane to Paris.
02:55:32He was pissed off that he didn't get a $50K bonus.The conversation's over.I'm starting to leave.He grabs me by my shirt, pushes me back in the office.I said, dude, get your fucking hands off me.That is wild, if true.That is insane if it's true.It feels weird that he would lie with that specificity.
02:55:51Yeah.Because otherwise, Francis Ngano just says,what the fuck are, you know, the drop?Yeah.but it's bizarre, yeah, it's bizarre to go to that level of...Also, all these years later, I mean, that's, that's 2015, yeah, 2015, that's a long time ago.But, I mean, who know, I don't know what prompted this.I don't know, like, what they were talking about.
02:56:17I also saw that he said, I can't put John Jones in a position where he can pull out.I had to deal with him to fight Tom Aspel, and he said, I'm not going to do it.I can't be put in that position again.So it really does seem like he is hell-bent on not bending here, you know?Until Connor McGregor can't go or Islam can't go.Until DJT picks up the phone and says, what about that, uh, J.B.J.Yeah.Yeah.
02:56:45Uh, this from Nathan.Question from Brisbane, Australia.Hi, Ireland, crew.Been a huge fan of the show for ages.Congrats on you and your team success with Uncrown.Just had a question for the boys in the back.You're Rick, are there any recent movies or under the radar gems that don't get enoughlove that you'd recommend
02:56:59recentman this is so hardI watch so much shitI'm so bad at this off the top of my headIt's toughThe dissentI always say thatIt's my favorite horror movie
02:57:14It's underratedNot a lot of people have seen itGo see itUmYeah I don't knowThis is this is too hardI can't do it off ripI need more prep time
02:57:24I'm like that manThis is for GC from the same guy Nathanare there any good books you've read of late that you'd recommend?Nothing crazy, book called The Measure,and then I read Man Search for Meeting.That was okay.That was pretty good.Oh, yeah.
02:57:40You read that one.I'm in the midst of reading that, too.Oh, shit, seriously?Yeah, of course.Why does that surprise you?Because it's a small world.I mean, it's been out for 60 years, 70 years.My friend John Beer told me to read it.
02:57:51Ah, shout out to Johnny Beer.I mean, it's an incredible story.Yeah, yeah.It is an incredible story.Yeah, yeah, yeah, the very one.Yeah, yeah, oh my God, inspiring as hell, shocking.Insightful stuff, yeah.Okay.
02:58:03It's crazy, wow.How far are you?Nah, probably 75 pages in.Okay.I tend to, like, go hard on the books on vacation and then, like...Has it made the switch over to, like, post-Holacost era?Has it's...Wait, wait, what?
02:58:19Like, he goes through his whole experience.Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.No, no, no.Is that the most impactful stuff?Yeah, it's essentially just likethe lessons he learned from thatand how he approaches life after goingthrough something so horrific.
02:58:33This is for Frankie. Are there any goodtabletop slash board gamesthat you'd recommend?They've been playing a Dune Imperiumwith some guys. That's a lot of fun.Invited Rick. He could have been bothered.We don't care.We don't care.
02:58:51Why did Rick say no?Seems like it would be up his alley with the games that he plays.can't be botheredwhy wasKKF removed from the rankingsthank you Ahmed for the hot tagKikar France actuallyas first reported by
02:59:09Dan on our production team who's done amarvelous job filling in fact he was in attendanceat UFC 322 this past weekendfirst on the scene with the eyewitness reportof the Dylan Dennis Brawlhe alerted us as he was doing hisrankings check-in that the greatKai Kar-France removed from the rankings.
02:59:28Peti, did you know this?Did not know that. Very interesting.Take a look at the rankings. Right here, I do believe we have them.The top 10 in the flyweight division, you have a lot of familiar names.Big Josh fan, number one, Moreno, Royville, Albaazi, Tyra, Kapp, Perez, Amabayev,Elliot Erseg, conspicuous by his absence, is Kai Kair, France, who was in the top 10.Well, I did reach out to his team, and they told me that, yes, it is, in fact,true. He is not in the rankings, and they explained why. They told me that he informed the
03:00:01UFC that he was taking the year off, that there were other things that he wanted to do. He isnot retiring necessarily, but he is taking a break. He is taking at least a year off. He wants toget into some cultural things, some things that have nothing to do with fighting. He's very spiritual.He's obviously, we've seen him do stuff for, you know, his culture, for his heritage, forhis people, for his country, and he's taking this break as a result, removed himself from thetesting pool. As a result, he is out of the rankings. He is not eligible to be ranked. And so thatthat is why he has not shown up on this week's rankings for the first time. He has not beenreleased, so it's not that, but he is not part of the rankings until he tells them that he is
03:00:45coming back and goes back in the pool and all this stuff. So there you have it. There's the scoopas far as KKF is concernedand I appreciate you giving me the hot tagthis is from Steven Segalo SenseiquoteThe day started earlier todayend quoteis one of the all-time quotes from Ariel
03:01:05during the post-fight show this weekendQuality Stuff Boysthis is the kind of wisdom that we tune in forall right, all right chill outI mean it's one o'clock in the morningI'm happy to fucking night meyeah I mean let's see youlet's see you at 1.30 in the morning
03:01:18why does it seem so scary outsideright now. I mean, it's 4 o'clockwhat is happening? It's not usually the start at 4. That's likea horror set. It is. What is this? Batman? It feels like we're in Gotham Cityright now. That's exactly what it looks like. Yeah, bro.It's always pitch black. Is it? At 4?Yeah, by 4305. I've never seen this before.No, you've seen it. It's been happening all week. It's criminal.
03:01:37It is criminal. It is criminal.That's fucking illegal. Yeah. Connor from Canada,what do you guys think about Justin versus Charles?I mean, I think we all kind of want to see Charles versusMaxie, right? Yeah. That's the one.I'd prefer it, but Justin versus Charles ain't bad either.Justin's retiring if he doesn't get a title show.Yes.
03:01:56Interim title, Charles versus Justin.Oil be hooked.Hey, Ariel, question for all you boys.Do you think they'll ever do an interim BMF?That will be like the end of days.If they ever did that, I might just, I might not work in this sport.Yeah, I was going to say I'd retire as well.Just because you're destroying the sanctum.
03:02:14That will be the end of days.Sanctum owner or whatever it is around the BMF.Yeah, no, there's a lot.question for all you boys surrounding the rumored Sydney card in February withthe fact that Vogue mentioned previously he only had a couple of fights left in himand with Whitaker saying he is desperate to fight at homewhat do you feel like is the likelihood the UFC build a big card around bothI feel like they should both be on that card to be honest
03:02:39I feel like Vogue is going to be on that cardand yes it would be nice to see Whitaker back in Sydneyhere's IranShalom Arielwe all agreethat without Danathere's no UFCyou guys wouldn't be
03:02:56doing what you dofor a livingand we wouldn't be herelisteningbut he's becomeunbearable inrecent yearsa pathological liar
03:03:03self-servingand anyone withhalf a braincan tell howridiculous it isevery time he speaksby the wayno joke
03:03:08I thought that he wasgoing toI thought the waythis was goingwas that likeyou guys are toocriticaland you should be
03:03:14thankfulis that what youwere thinkingBT2absolutelyyeah sothisthis
03:03:17Yeah, what a turn. I love getting told that, like, if Dana White didn't exist, I would not have a job, period.By the way, by the way, it's...Wouldn't be in another industry, wouldn't be involved anywhere? I would have no job.No, no, no. There is validity to the statement that if there is no Dana White...We are not doing this.There is no, there's no UFC, we're not doing this. I have never, I've never suggested otherwise.I've never suggested otherwise. It reminds you of the great Max Kellerman, who said at the pre-fight press conference.I was thinking the same thing. If Turkey wasn't here?
03:03:47Oh, thank you to say.You wouldn't even exist.Thank you.That's New York Jackman, New York, Ray.We wouldn't.Can you take me more?I have nothing to do with any of this.I just want to let you all know.
03:03:59I thought the exact same thing.If it wasn't not for his majesty.Yes.No, but seriously, I'm not going to go as far as like if Dana White wasn't born, but yes, of course.You wouldn't have a dollar in your bank account.It would have never worked a day in your life.By the way, there is a chance that we'd be doing media surroundings.surrounding another sport.
03:04:18I worked in mediasurrounding another sportbefore this.I would just not have gotteninto this.Anyway, anyway.It would just be a different path.He continues.
03:04:25I've followed the UFCsince 2009and listened to your showin all its versions since then.Lately, I'd ratherenjoy my time listening to youthan watching the actual fights.We'll take it.
03:04:36Everything has turned into politics,undeserved title shots,and non-stop storiesabout scandals and behind-the-scenes stuff.I know you covered it yesterday,but I'm convinced Islam will pulla John Jones,chase a fight with Usman,
03:04:46and get it.I mean,I feel like we could see it coming a mile awayand get it thanks to his influence and Ali.And by the way, this is why Ali does what he doesand his clients will love him for itand this is why he will willingly tell Dana White,hey boss, I'm going to stop my clients
03:05:02from talking to this guy because you don't like this guyeven though it was never suggestedjust to try to occur as much favor as possible.That's what he does.And so that's why I think that Kamar Usman is in pole position right nowdespite what happens.Like this whole idea of guys, by the way,of like, oh, if Ian Gary does it, I honestly feel like it's fait accompli.
03:05:21I really do, and that's crazy.The ease in which Dylan Dennis got a lifetime ban, shows how convenient it is for Danato act instantly instead of actually checking what happened.Funny how he didn't wait for a Tuesday meeting this time, Dana White's privilege is real.I mean, the Tuesday meeting thing is about, like, booking fights.It's not about reprimanding someone.And by the way, it's someone who's not even on their roster, so there's no reason to kindto back that guy.
03:05:42So, anyway, he said, I just had to get this off my chest, keep being the only outletbut that isn't afraid to speak the truth and call him out.Well, thank you.Ace Crouton.Hey, Ariel, has the UFC always displayed the live oddson the video board outside the octagon?I don't know. Have they?It's been a minute.
03:05:59It's been a minute over here.I think it's a new thing.I think it's a new thing, right?Like, it's like a little Draft Kings board or something?Yeah, I think it's a partnership with Draft Kings.And I only think they do it in between rounds.Did they do anything about the Polly Market thing on Saturday?I didn't see anything, right?
03:06:13No, there was nothing.I actually was wondering that mid-card.I was like, where's this fan voting thing going to happen?This one's for Frankie from Islam's flambotomist.Frankie, please blind rank these five fall activities for us, one being the best.All right, you ready?Let's do it.Pumpkin patch with the S.O.
03:06:30I guess S.O. is significant other?Yeah, five.Black Friday, you said that was such disdain.Black Friday shopping.Four.I think you shot your shot too early.Yeah, dude.You're having a shriek.
03:06:44Black Friday is the worst. I'm more likely to go shopping than I am a pumpkin bed.Yeah, but Black Friday, have you ever been to the mall on Black Friday? It's awful.Leaf peeping out in nature.Yeah, let's put in at two.Planes, trains, and automobiles.One.Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws.Three.
03:07:04It's not a horrible list. Like, Frank did well on that.Pumpkin patches are great.You swap the four and five. It's probably pretty good.It's not like every Black Friday, every store is crazy.the dumb stores that are crazy.He adds this, by the way.And he doesn't go to dumb stores.If you guys go to dumb stores, Frank hates you.
03:07:21Seriously, are you going to go line up at Walmart on a Black Friday?Wow.Wow, our fans that line up.Yeah, we love Walmart.Yeah, we do love Walmart.Please support the show and...Everything from Arkansas is good.Frank doesn't speak for all of us.
03:07:34If you line up on Black Friday, we support you.They say who's to check.Well, I'm who he said.I'm who checks.I like it.What's he checking?Who's to check?He was checking.
03:07:44checking the list.Joe Mers saysthis one's for Pizzi.Oh.Pizzi, please blind rank these fivehow did we get here?These five pines slashbeers. Oh, I like that. Okay.
03:07:59Airport pint.By the way, I saw some great scenesover at Detroit Parrott International Airport,a.k.a. of the people watching,you saw that? The scenes were fantastic.Airport points up there with the best in the world.I'm going to go two just in case.hungover spoons breakfast hair of the dog pint
03:08:18five i don't like that shit nobeer garden pintnice summer's nightoh wow three train canwhat's a train canit's like on you bring a can on the train and you drink itoh okay okayyou ever see that video of the guy on the show
03:08:37where he's like until my last dying breaththat moment when you're on the train with your mateseven if it's for four hoursand that first crackyou ever see thisfrom like the UK breakfast showand he talks about itwith so much passion and love
03:08:51I'm like this guy's the freaking mananywayit's a proper football thingyeah yeahChristmas Day Bayleysoh I fuck myselfI hate bailiesoh one one I guess
03:09:02well that's the only one I've got leftbut you hate ityeah it gives me the shits actuallythat was kind of an odd listlike you had like airport beerthen you hadI feel like the airport beer is your favoriteBeer garden.
03:09:13Yeah, I did.I went number two just thinking it was going to be something else.But like,Jeverey's very sweet.If you have two or three of them,it'll make a road through you.I was going to say,I thought you were saying you went number two
03:09:26just thinking about Bailey's.Oh,you'd be shied now the eye of an needle after Florida.You know what he says these things right here?Shitting out the eye of a needle?No, no, no, that was like that timea couple weeks ago where he says somethingand all of a sudden he sounds like a guy
03:09:41who's like in the country.30 million for the kitchensay that one again say that one again you justsaid oh he was actually just talking about30 million the other day and everyone was like yeahwhat was the one you just saidshit not the eye of a needleshit now the eye of a needle after four of them yeah
03:09:58after fordumfour of themfour of themit would just be spraying out of youyou know what I meanwaityou paint the wall behind youyeah so good
03:10:11I'm gonna go have a Bailey's after thisHey guys, it's from Shrimp CocktailOla Arelland Gang, has there ever been a fightwhere the ref asks the fighters in the cageif they're ready and a fighter has said no?Was that guy who tapped out immediatelyagainst James Gala? I remember that?Just went down and just happened again recently.
03:10:29Did it?Dude just like the bell rangand he just tapped out immediately.Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah. But I've never heard someone say like,are you ready? No, I'm actually not ready.I'm surprised more guys like don't get sick in the Octagon.There's been a couple of stories about people, you know, having accidents.It feels like it doesn't have that much in the UFC.
03:10:47What if you're about to, like, make the walk?No joke.And you're like, shit.Yeah, you just go to the bathroom and don't make the walk yet.No, no, no, you're literally on camera.You go back.You turn around?Yes.
03:10:58What if you feel like you're going to yak?Eh, it kind of goes.No, then you grab a garbage can and just do it.But, yeah, you go back.Yeah, I guess these guys are savage enough.You'll just pull trig and just go out.Here's Left-Like Cemetery with a good one.Howdy, Ariel, of all the storylines coming out of 322, my favorite is Boe Nichols' heel turn.
03:11:17So Boe Nichols a heel, I'm a baby face now.Would you advise him to apologize for the birds and try to explain it away?No.Lean all the way in, of course.Cut a promo.Do your thing.I would just say this, don't play too much into the fans.You know what I mean?
03:11:32Like, be who you are.Don't show that it bothers you so much because then I think that it will show that you havethin skin and that you're affected and blah, blah, blah.So I would say likeIt's okay to react that wayBut ultimately I think the fans want to like Bo NicolI don't think Bo Nicol hasYou know changed the channel heat
03:11:49I think he's aI think the most interesting thing about Bo Nicolis actually like the feelings that he is expressingAbout not wanting to hurt peopleI think that's really interestingThat led to the end of Tom Dukenwa's careerRemember that?Yeah the fireball kid right
03:12:05Is he the fireball kidOr the fire kidYeah, he was an unbelievable prospect knocking lads clean outAnd he got to the UFCHe was actually matched to fight Nathaniel WoodWhich was a huge deal hereBecause obviously Nathaniel Wood, Cage Warriors championHe was the Obama champion
03:12:19Everyone was buzzing to see itAnd he just was like, I can't hurt people anymoreAnd he became a yoga instructorYeah, yeah, crazy, he was great.DuquesnewaLevi Tetch saysAriel, whenever you have a guest on that has kidsYou always ask if they want their kids
03:12:33To get into martial artsI want to ask you that same questionWould you want your kids to get into martial arts?well the thing is I guess the proper question is to be like would you want what I want my kids to get into this my kids have actually starting to ask like even today my daughter was like how did you get a job where you interview people and what did you have to do and I was like oh this is interesting she's never asked me that she's ninewhat I want them to do martial arts absolutely right now they have so much going on their main two things soccer and basketball my daughter soccer she does pianoShe does music theater.She does dance.She actually showed a lot of interest in Taekwondo,
03:13:15but we just couldn't find any time to do it.But I would love to see them do it.I think it builds confidence.Do I want them to be prize fighters?Like, no, I mean, I wouldn't push them.It's a dirty game.It's a tough way to make a living.I know how the sausage is made.
03:13:29So I wouldn't necessarily advocate for that.But would I love for them to do it recreationally?Absolutely.100%.Irish LadHey guys I know Dana saidThe White House card won't beThe U.S. versus the world
03:13:43But could G.C. and Rick pickfive American main card fightersto represent the U.S.And could PT and Ariel pickOh, Jesus.This is a lot.Wait, what are you in BTF?But there's only five Irish fourers.
03:13:53No, I think you and Ariel team upfor internationaland me and G.Okay.John Jones.Yeah.Kayla.We take.
03:14:01Kayla.Yeah.But wait.Do we have to match these guys up?I thought we would have went back and forth.Yeah, okay, all right, you guys go.We'll play tit, you go tat.Jones Aspinall.
03:14:10All right.Okay, okay.Okay, okay.Wait, wait, were you going to say Pereira?Ptty.That's crazy.Wow.I'm calling Andy.
03:14:20I'm calling Andy right now.Can I tell you what I was going to do?I wasn't matching the fights.I was just going to do like.Random five?I don't know.He says John Jones.I was going to say Connor McGregor, like as in Star Power.
03:14:31No, you must match.Kayla Harrison.Oh, come onAmandaOh, are we going toWe're not going to have her fight till JuneI thought they were going to fightbeginning of the year and then
03:14:44This is just for this exerciseRight, Norma Dumont, Norma DumontNorma DumontVantinaVersus KaylaAt 135, Valtina moves upDon't mind itOkay, Michael Chandler
03:14:56Are you guys out of your mind?ConnorConnorSean StricklandHmmIs heOh, rematchThis is good so far
03:15:05no BickleHmmShamoiaYeah sh'm sorryWe did itWe did itWe did itGood card
03:15:12Yeah it's a good cardDon you can rest easyNow the car's madeRenéRenée dance revolutionIs Ewing and his coachThe best unassuming surprise everWatching and realizing
03:15:25how good he isJoe's sayingThis guy's good over seven timesThat's why I love the sportSide noteAnnex callOf this is the first timeA Ewing lit up the garden
03:15:32In years is a great callFor sureHave you warmed up to it by nowBy the way, I had no problem.Annex Call was great, and I don't think he meant any malice when saying it.And I don't even think he said this is the first time.He was like, a Uing, that was good.It was the other Jibronies online, and they know who they are with the little, like, you know, comments.
03:15:48Say their names.Let's call them.Bronstetter.Bronstetter is hater number one when it comes to all things Nix.He's been a hater.He always says that the Raptors get the better of the NICs when it comes to the trades.Yeah, how'd that OG trade go?How'd that OG chair go?
03:16:02And then he brings up the Oakley-Cambi trade.like Oakley the Knicks won that tradeNick's made it to the finalswith Marcus Cambyoh Kyle Larry they didn't get Kyle Larryokay great wonderfulso Bronsetter number one haterand then all the other people
03:16:17you know can shove it as welllove Bronsetter but he knows he's the number onehater number one Knicks hateron the Biden so he said something likewhat do he say he said likeEwing could win the championshipwhich made no sensehe said Ewing would be the first guy named
03:16:32Ewing to win a championship at Madison Square GardenAnd then I came back with like, that's cute, but Patrick Ewing won the Biggie's championship twice at MSG and once as a coach in 2021.And then he came back and so did Patrick Ewing Jr.Okay, thank you.And I'm sure everyone in New York was very excited about a victory for a Maryland-based school.Number one, yeah, they were.Everyone loved Ewing, especially when he came back as a coach.And number two, why would they be excited about a dude from Anaheim winning at Madison?
03:17:01You just refuted your whole stupid thing.Your whole stupid joke has just been refuted.And then people were trying to say the Big East title is an important.G.C.As a lover of college sports, is the Big East title prestigious?Yeah, in college troops it is.It's a huge deal, especially in the 80s.I did a documentary on that.
03:17:20I worked on a documentary on that era.The 80s, St. John's, Villanova, Georgetown, Syracuse.That was college basketball.that was tougher than the actual tournamentLou Carnaceca, St. John's, Chris Mullen, St. John's, Pearl, Washington, Jim Beheim, Syracuse, Patrick Ewing, and John Thompson, Georgetown.Are you kidding me?Gary McLean, Raleigh, Massimino, Villanova?Don't come at me with your college basketball, mesh you guys, all right?
03:17:52James Portland, JDM is a plus 2,000 to be the Walterweight Champion on December 31st, 2026.Are you taking this, GC?No. No, unfortunately not.It's tough.It's a long road back with how many contenders there are.Obviously, if Islam remains champ, I don't know what changes in a second fight from him not being able to implement the same game plan.So, yeah. I'll be rooting for him, though. I'll be rooting for him, though. I'll be rooting for him. Love Jack.Love Jack. Kitt's Corner. Hello, Ariel. First, I want to say you are the best interviewer in sports today. Wow. Who is to check?
03:18:25I meant to hit the other one. I'm sorry.And I don't think that's a hot take at all. You remind me of an early 2000's job.Jim Rome, wow.Put it on the board.No, no, no, no.What does he say?Rack him.Day after day, it's great.
03:18:39Thank you so much.I really do appreciate that,and that's an unbelievable compliment,and that means a lot to me.I used to listen to Jim Romewhile driving around with my mom,and he would take long pauses,and she would say,
03:18:49why is this guy taking such long pauses?And I'm like, yeah, I appreciate.He's thinking.He's pondering.Anyway, okay, so the UFC has 756 fighterson their roster and probably another 150-plus employees.So let's say for conversionsake, 900 people employed by the UFC.
03:19:03How many of those 900 do you think listen to your show?I didn't think we were getting there.I didn't prove for you to any of these today.I don't know.Let's say 65%.But this is a tough.I mean, it's impossible to...It's tough.
03:19:18There's probably a lot of people at the UFC now that, like, don't even know who I ambecause I haven't been there for so long, you know?Steven Segal Sensei, the Hohani Nose Awards are nearing,and you can smell it in the air with Ethan Ewing's performancestill fresh.How about adding a new campaign?category this year, debut of the year, guys. What do you say? No. No. I actually, I actuallydon't mind it. Some people like to do rookie of the year, but I feel like that's like two UFC
03:19:43specific. And I guess debut of the year would be, ours are all encompassing. You know what Imean? Like, it's not like UFC fighter at the year, UFC knockout of the year. So debut of theyear, Ethan Ewing is not a debutante. So he actually wouldn't qualify. Do you know what I mean?Wait, so debut of the year would have to be from somebody making their first pro fight?guy is thinking UFC debut of the yearbut I don't like to dopromotional. Like how would you qualifyfor a debut? What would he not qualify then?
03:20:10Why wouldn't he qualify? Becausehe was seven and two. Is it like debut?So you, so the only person that wewould qualify is first fight? Iunderstand when people dolike UFC debut of the year, UFCrookie of the year, but you can't actuallycall a debut of the year rookie of the year because
03:20:25technically they're alreadyfighters. They've been fighting for years.Soit would be a promotion?debut of the year.Okay, yeah, yeah, you can do that.You can do that.But then, like, how do you decide?
03:20:37Yeah.It just, it gets the number one league.It's the, it's the top.Also, let's just recall, I did say no immediately when we brought this up.All of our categories are not promotional specific.No.All right.Pass.
03:20:50Jesus.Curro's dad, arrow, do Jake Paul's opponents get any payments for accepting the fight?I mean, yeah, they get a massive freaking purse.What are you talking about?What the fuck?Not show win, but like something like asign on payment upon accepting a contract.I mean...
03:21:04Joshua's doing for free.I guess what he's trying to say is likeis there like a signing bonus.Who cares?They're getting paid.Yeah.Have you seen this thing where people are saying like,oh, like he's going to pull out in two weeks
03:21:16or two weeks before the fight and Jake's just going to get the street cred?Joshua's going to pull out?Yeah, like none of this is actually happening.It's just a deal.Don't believe that for one second.I mean, I hope so.I mean, I hope it's happening.I'm going to freak in Miami for a one hour press conference.
03:21:31Joshua's not pulling out.Again, as we've outlined many times,easiest payday of his lifefor the worst opponenthe's ever faced in his boxing career, likely.Yeah.I had brain afraid about this fight.I thought it was happening in London the whole time
03:21:45until someone rang me.They were like, Miami, blah, blah, blah.And I was like, what are you talking about me?And he was like, the fight has happened in Miami.I was like, it's happening in Wembley.He's like, I live in London.And I was like, all right, you're right.Pizzi booked the flight.
03:21:56I saw an incredible tweet, guys.Who would have thought after all these yearsof us talking about Jake Paul KSI and Anthony Joshua Tyson Furythat the fight we get is Jake Paul versus Anthony Joshua.I guess that means KSI is to fight Tyson Fury.Hell yeah.Sign me up.Is this going to be, this book and Fury Joshua thing
03:22:18is going to be worse than Mayweather Pakia with it.At this point, we're reaching that.We're reaching, I'd still watch it with bells on,but we're reaching out.It needs to be Joshua's next fight after this.Oh, my God.Especially if he wins.Like enough of this tune up.
03:22:30nonsense. Kyle Grant, true or falseguys, Waley fights for the 115 beltin 2026? True.Wayley is the 115 champ at the end of2026. True.Chefchenko fights for the 135 belt in2026? No.Maybe 27.
03:22:46Yeah, false. Yeah, fall.Chefchenko's the 35 champ at the end of 26.Obviously false.Right?Yeah.Ariel, from Grant, do you thinka UFC fighter who's struggling to build aplatform or fan base would benefit from doing a liberal left-wing gimmick?
03:23:07No.It'd be funny.You'll be very funny.By the way, Kevin Lee, do you remember when he won at Madison Square?He knocked out Gregor Gillespie, and he shouted out Bernie Sanders, and it was so random.Yeah.And I think he's since walked it back, that's the closest.That's the closest.
03:23:26I will go to Sean Strickland when he won the belt, and he was like, my name is Sean Strickland.and then my pronouns are.Oh my God, that was amazing.I don't know.Oh, fuck.Like, I actually think it would be kind of interesting, but like I don't even know.Somebody doing a left wing, like Colby gimmick?Yeah, a total left wing.
03:23:46Yeah, I don't know.Like going anti-Trump.Yeah.I didn't get murdered.I don't think it would go over so hot.Listen, he'd, uh, I'm going to make a joke.But maybe that's how you wouldn't be about, like, cutting promos.Like, what would it even be like?
03:23:59Okay, so he says here, he gives us an example.For example, if Aaron Blanchfield cut a pro-Mandani promo after her win on Saturday,do you think that would ultimately be a net positive or negative for her stardom?Negative, are you kidding me?It obviously wouldn't go over well among the fan base, but it would get a lot of people talking about her,and that's the name of the game these days.P.S., I don't know Blanchfield's political views, but you get the point.I guess, yeah, like people that aren't that into the sport and they see the pro-Mondani Blanche
03:24:29field, get the finish, throw hermouthpiece. And they're like, that's our girl.Perfect litmus dress. You're trying to tell me ifMom Dany showed up at MSG, Dana Hoyt wouldn'tgive him the royal treatment like he givesstrump every time. That's what he said he'd do.9.55 walkout on the pay-per-view.And here they are.
03:24:45I have to remember. It wasn't likewhen the right-winggimmick popped up.It wasn't like the environmentis like it is now. So maybe nowis the time for somebody to do the left-winggimmick and make that popular and then flipthe pendulum. Number one, I thought
03:25:01Mamdadi was going to show up if onlybecause he's actually a big pro wrestling fan.You know we went to that AEW show.Yeah. He's been to thoseand is a big fan, so I thought maybe he'd want to be ata Mattis Square Guard if he's a fight fan.Number two, I feel like the perfect litmus test for this isask the most woke person on the team, Frank,
03:25:20if he would like Aaronif she cut a promo like this. So Frankie, what would youthink if that happened? I think the liberal fightersjust act normal.And they don't need to go above and beyond.There it is.What if liberals are normal, conservatives are free.Franklin.
03:25:37Can I make a joke here, but I promise it's not malicious at all?I don't know.We have to hear it.Any people where you have to couch it?We're going to pass it.We don't need a trigger warning.It's not worth the hell, honey.Don't do it.
03:25:49Don't do it.I mean, you could have done it, but now we've received the trigger warning.Do you know what I'm going to say?No, that's why we want to know.I was going to suggest hiring.Don't.Joshua, for Frank,blind rank these five Allison Chains
03:26:01No, no one cares.I was first on the nose questionthat got half to say to support.To that person who wrote it,then Bones is number one.Coleman T says, hey guys,what's the worst thing you've had to endurewhile watching UFC fights?
03:26:17I asked because I was in the most pain ever.I've ever been in my lifepassing kidney stones on Saturday.Have any of you guys passed?No, you don't drink too much water.Dude, it's a nightmare.I've never felt any...I had a kidney stone in 2002
03:26:32and I will never forgetthe pain. Cripling. Cripling pain.I had it for two weeks.Cripling. I had one for an hour.As I rolled in my bed,I realized what the fuck is my life...Maybe turn off the UFC.As I rolled in my... As I rolled in pain
03:26:48on my bed, as Leon gets starch bad,I realized what the fuck is my life right now?This sucks. Doing much betterbut my heart still hurts for Leon.Yeah, that's not greatYour boy getting knocked outWhile you're passing kidney stones is not greatThat's horrible
03:27:04I can't top thatSo I don't have a awfulShooter McGavin saysHello Ariel and BITBAny idea what will happen to the ESPN MMA showsDo you think talent will come overOr will Paramount put in their own crewI think a lot of the analysts
03:27:16Like the ChalesOr the Anthony SmithsOr the Dominic CruzI think all those guys will go overThe Garren BryansThe Laura SankosThey will all go overFor the most part
03:27:26The DCsI'm curious what they're going to do with the YouTube channel,which of course we, you know, so famously launched back in 2019,much to a lot of people's dismay.I got a lot of pushback back then.They may not admit it now,but they did not want to start an MMA YouTube channel.Of course, it's the hottest thing going today.
03:27:45My prediction with the YouTube channel is they'll rebrand it to a WWE channelnow that they're in the WWPLE business.And that will be that.What happens to best bets?It's a good question.It's a good question.we'll have to ask everybody wants to know we'll have to ask who is to check um who's to checkLiam says free Joe Parker Joey Parker what are your thoughts on the UFC getting Islam to
03:28:13fly to Qatar for the fight nights this Saturday if Ian gets an impressive finish have them facelike I mean he might go but I don't think he's walking in the ring the champion walks out ofyou know what I mean um Antoine long time listening toher first time on the nose, Antoine representing from Morial, Quebec.Can we acknowledge how good Volcanovsky is?Did he not give Islam his biggest challenge?I just think for a 45 or coming that close to beating Islam is quite impressive,considering how Islam is running through the competition.
03:28:40Any word on Volk's next fight?Thanks for all the great work from the team at Uncrown.Yeah, I think it will be in February.G.C.'s second roommate, is this the best crop of welterweights all time, Mr. Halwani?Up there.Even when GSP was champ, I don't know.the crop was this talented, you know?Maverick says, P.T. asked on Monday show if anyone has ever been down
03:29:0702, then won the trilogy fight. Surprise, no one mentioned Max Blessed Holloway versusDustin Porreier. Oh, shit. Good show. Who the fuck is we?Ariel, you were saying Gant's team was angry with you for stating your opinion regardingthe eye poke situation? Have you reached out to him or his team to come on the show,tell the side of things? Yes, I did. And I was rebuffed.Just for Shits and GigglesI looked up the 2013Welterweight rankings
03:29:30October 28th, 2013Well that's funGSPTip for tatJohnny HendricksCarlos ConditRory MacDonaldJake Ellenberger
03:29:40Damian MayaNick DiazMartin CampmanJake ShieldsMatt BrownRobbie LawlerI'm gonna sayyeah that was better man
03:29:47like we were doing betterback thenHere's the thingThose guys were kind of reaching the endThe ceiling I think is a lot higherwith these dudes.Yeah, I don't know.I think we're forgetting.
03:30:01No, you're right.I know, but it's yet to be seenwhat a lot of these guys' careers are.Exactly.Like, there's not a name on here that I'm like,your product's different as well.But we're judging based on knowinghow those careers turned out,
03:30:12like, who knows what Morales becomesor what Schofcutt becomes,or what Ian Garry becomes,or what E. and Gary becomes, or what I mean?So it's a good question.Maybe it's not as one-sided as we thought,but here's an interesting oneChristian Jarrez
03:30:29or Juarezeveryone I mean everyone that watches boxingshould be happy because oneJoshua's making the easiest moneyyou know what I saw that tooit's like yo man a lot of these guysretire brokegreat if you're a Joshua fan just be happy
03:30:44the guy's getting paid and I getoh like what did you wantyou want to fight some nobody guy in Ghananext monthhe's getting to fight on Netflixthis is funcome on stop itevery jake hater
03:30:57should be looking forward to thisbecause this is what everyonehas been waiting for this is all positivefor Joshua as this is a warm upfor him as wellNew York Rick is the goatagreedfair point
03:31:07he is a goat yeahPatrick McCraite saysGCU mentioned on the lastfight feast that action was your white whalemay I propose your next white whalepleasefight feastX
03:31:18you know what he's going to sayCooking with VogueColabfrom Volk's farm in Australia.Yeah, that is the White Whale.I saw, I saw Ash in the comments there.He's setting it up.Yeah, Ash in the comments,
03:31:32Big Bill Castro and Volk, Plinyo.Plinyo was actually the first invite.Unfortunately, it didn't work out.Yeah, we're manifesting something new now.We said that right when we got on the episode of Boys in the back last week,but yeah, Volk is definitely the White Whale Volk stuff.That would be incredible.Yeah, we've got to fly down to the farm.
03:31:52Joe Mears says with the AJ Paul announcement,do you have any idea who will be on the undercard?I think some of the fighters are going to move overfrom the card that was supposed to happen this past Friday,Alicia Baumgartner.I definitely think that Baumgartner and Sugar Neeks Johnsonis going to move over.There were a few PBC fighters on that card.
03:32:13They won't move over.This gentleman is asking if any matchroom fightersare going to be on perhaps like a Pat Brown.That would be incredible.I think Pat Brown is phenomenal.And I totally got that one wrong.We were joking on the show last year with Aday that like, oh, they're making such a big deal.Like the guy hits like a freaking truck.
03:32:28He just fought in Orlando a couple weeks ago.But I don't know of the breakdown right now.I don't know of the breakdown.And who else is going to be on it?They haven't announced a single one, to be honest.Okay, just a couple more here.Just a couple of quick ones.Hmm
03:32:54Francois Crabapplesays only one fighter at 322landed 100 significant strikesAnyone know the answer to that?Who is that person?The answer isMysterious Franks quote Fatima Klein.Oh, hell yeah.
03:33:15Hunter Biden's crackplate saysAriel, you're a legend, but your commentsabout 50s performance during Eubanks' walkoutproves you don't know dick about musicIt's near impossible for artists to sound good in those situations, and 50 sounded incredible.Why can't they have, like, the instrumental version, and why can't he just rap to that?It's the same mistake, by the way, that they made when Fat Joe sang before Game 3 of the World Series,you can't have the music, because what happens is, I'm trying to find a thing here.
03:33:40He's like holding, and so it's like, what was the song?What was the song?It was like, many men, wish death upon me.And it's singing, and then he's like, so, okay.P.T. sing the song. Go ahead. Go ahead.Many men wish death upon me.Death upon me.I don't know.
03:33:58Lod am I.Like, he's just trying to like...Oh, he's just trying on the end, right? Yeah, he's just singing.It's annoying. Just do the instrumental and then have him sing it.How hard is that?At some point, did the back and track not drop off at one point?Frank, you know I'm right.I believe it was wankster.
03:34:15It all depends on how much you're willing to pay for what performance.So if they weren't able to be like, hey, we're going to pay you for a full.performance. He's like, I will do somead libs to the pre-recordedtrack and be done with it.Brantley says, hey, Ariel, thank you for that, Frank.If you had Dana Wayne's studio tomorrow.You're very welcome.
03:34:35I didn't listen to a word.I can listen. It's a matter how much you paid.It's cool. Is that the pop you wanted?I get it. The hot take?All the walkouts with the rappers suck.It's fair. Although, although I will say this,okay, so it's different.I thought Amanda Serrano did it really well in July.
03:34:54But that was good.That was good.The girl came out.She sang and then Amanda came out.It needs to be separate.Just like Terrence Crawford had the Teporia band playing and then Tours.Remember when Crawford came out with Eminem?That was crap.
03:35:08Eminem just stood there?He just stood there?He just walked next to him?The best of all time was Lowell Wayne and Dustin Poria.Oh my God.That was awful.The worst of a legend.Yeah, they didn't even, yeah.
03:35:19It was incredible.He didn't even have a fucking microphone.time.Oh, here'sRyan Bruce who saysAriel, you grew upjamming toBlink 182 like me.
03:35:25I adoredBlink 1282.I took her out.It was a Friday night.I walk aloneto get the feelingright.You should check out
03:35:37MGK's.I got to tell you,I'm a big fan ofMGK now.I had no idea.Tickets to mydownfall album producedby Travis Barker.
03:35:44That's my guy.I love Travis.MGK on the show soon?I would love to haveTravis.I would love to haveMGK.I love all these guys.
03:35:50This remindsme in my youth. I used to go to the Limp Biscuit concerts. I mean, you guys don't know. I usedto have, like, the really baggy shorts. Like, they would go all the way to my ankle, the shorts.I would wear, you know.You're a Limp Biscuit fun. I was going to say, how many Limpisket concerts?The other day he came in the studio, like, give me something to break. Yeah, Frank, I wasseen him. And then he grabbed a water bottle and chucked the video. I did it all for thethe nookie. I'm always afraid to sing songs. I was like, how are you doing?
03:36:15I was like to slip up and say the wrong word. Anyway, he performed at the halftime showthe Great Cup. Yes, I know. I've been listening to.it. He was phenomenal. Did you guys go back?Now, now you're going back to the Grey Cubs?Not, man, I didn't go back and watch it. I've actually beenlistening to the Grey Cubs. You're listening to theGrey Cubs? It was that good. No, it wasn't.It was that good. Do you a favor.
03:36:34I will not watch it. Nope. Yeah, this isCal favorite. This is insane. I can't watch it.It's so wrong. It's so wrong.Look, nine teams played really hardall season to get to that point. It was a great performance.MGK. You won on?Remember when Steepa used to walk out to theYes.
03:36:48You won on?I'm fromC.S.elite till I dietill I dieDon't don'tand I dieIt's like he's right here with us
03:36:58Come on MGKI call him up real quickYou think a man who performedThe halftime at the Grey CupIs watching this showHe's too big timeBro, Tony Khan came onFabricio aka Poppy Live
03:37:08I haven't heard from him foreverPoppy Live the legendYou don't avoidsCan we get it?YesAn uncrowned meetupAt the nation's capitalFor the WH event
03:37:16Yeah we're gonna be up in thatWe're gonna be up in thatYou're gonna be like six peopleallowed there. It's not happening.We'll be in D.C.We will. We will.I thought we had discussed this. I think we will bethere. Yeah. Shout out to
03:37:30Pep Guardiola. It's a quick amp track,right? You and Tommy Fury are having problemsentering the country, it seems.We've got some spurious friends.What can I say? Who's to check?Frank Annie's Super Chats.Wow, 45. We got through 45 things.Yeah, man, you're a fast reader.
03:37:49Ever sit back and just do this after along day. Yeah.Welcome to the bottle out of the sky.What do we got, Frankie?So the first one here says,assume rumors of Shafkatz returnin January are true. Him versusUswan on the first Paramount card number one
03:38:03contender. Rallis versus Gary, if he getspast Belaw for next up, J.D.M. versusPratchez, fight night, main event,first quarter, 26.Jeez.Well, you know what happens when you assume,but A.You make an ass out of you and me.
03:38:20Can you read that one moretime I just wanted to digest it.Assume rumors of Shafkat return in January or true.Him versus Usman on the first Paramount card number one contender.Oh wait, you skipped the question.I'm seeing another one on top of this.Are we skipping that on purpose?Who's to check, man?
03:38:35Okay.Who's to check?Assume rumors of Shafkker.Yeah, I could see that.But I feel like they're going to do protest versus someone who just won.But I mean, JDM was the champion.his stock doesn't fallstock doesn't fall too much
03:38:53I'm seeing somethingabout Ali commentsabout me on the BYM podI don't want to watch thiswhat the haterswhat is it like the player haters ballit's like all the haters sitting aroundjust talking smack
03:39:05that's a great sketchthat's exactly what that isBucknestyhe did another showI didn't evenJohnson and BucknastyAnother media appearancefor this guy
03:39:19unbelievable he's on a tour man the people won what the people won what else frankie what elseollie i'm sorry yeah come through allie let's have a chat time to test the selfhas to be in america though you know what i fucking kidding sorry go go ahead time to test the selfproclaimed NBA historian who was jason kids coach during his rookie year oh wow uhwho's he playing for the nets no no he's drafted by the songHe was drafted by the Sons.Or was it the Mavericks?He was drafted by the Mavericks.
03:39:54No.No, was it the Sons or Mavericks?He was drafted by the Mavericks.He was drafted by the Mavericks, and I'm going to say Don Nelson.All right.Let's wait to see if they super chat.It was.Dick Mata, and he was drafted by the...
03:40:08The Mavericks, former Los Angeles Clipper coach, I believe, had the most losses at one point in NBA history.Then he went to the Sons.Then he went to the next.What else, Frankie? What else?Hello, Tony. What's the word on Ring of Honor getting a TV streaming deal for 2027?Well, we answered that.Yeah.What else?
03:40:30Well, there's a lot of questions here to Tony Kahn.What are we supposed to do about that?Bring them back.We'll free them real quick. You try to answer.Tony, quick question.Okay, we did not address this one. Sorry, Jared. What else?Okay, I asked that one. How does you feel about the impending WBD sale?okay one point for me what else
03:40:51is full okayFrank you're not reading anymore or whatyou started to read thesethis chat is full of mouth breathers copy and pastingverbatim cornet piskovbully raymidges from New York is this what was happeningis this what was happening
03:41:10look I thinkI think we got a lot of new fans in the chatoh shout outand they were testing theirThey were practicing their right to send superchats.Were they enjoying the chat?It sure seemed like they did.They sent a lot of money in.
03:41:26Okay.Wow.Keep going.Keep going.Thank you.Tony Kahn is a gift to professional wrestling.Thank you.To the uncrowned holiday.
03:41:34I don't know why I'm saying thank you, but yes.I don't know why it did either.Shout out to Tony Kahn for being one of the coolest people and giving my family and I a great six years.Bring double or nothing back to Phoenix.okay okay only sad end cells enjoy shows based on rating numbers okay yeah yeah yeah theycare a lot about ratings oh fed bots of the chat dynamite is unwatchable oh dear oh dear okay whatelse what else jadey from ny 206 watchers are the iwc's macamore okay okay what else what elseis bigfoot actually the coast of an alien big foot no he's not what else what else
03:42:14Real human beingShout out GC with a corduroyThat's hard as fuckFrank hit the federalPrison dropIt is hardMan people love the cords babyIt's very prison
03:42:25Yeah it's very cozyWhat else what elseI thinkOh congrats to Pizzi and the boysTreat HamirWellWho's thatThe Icelandic football coach
03:42:34Hamer HallamsonYeahDid you know that off the top of the domeFrankie?Absolutely notI looked it upOkayWhat else what else?
03:42:41You asked Dakota about ValentinaBut you never askedValentina about DakotaWhy?They're going to be fighting at the White House after all.Why?This is from personal staff.First of all, they actually won't.
03:42:50And second of all, you know, you're right.I probably should have asked her about it.I feel like I did one time.The Fighting Mothers thing, I think you asked about, like, both of their mothers are celebrated.But the other thing is, like, did you not surmise from Valentina?Like, she's not one to, like, talk smack about other opponents and whatnot.It's certainly not other ones who work for other promotions.But fair, I could have asked the question.
03:43:10What must be smack?What I enjoyed about the chat with Valentina, especially when you do, like,like an in-studio chat with someone who you have often,but you don't have them in studio often,is that you're able to, like, talk a bit about the come-up,about the backstory, things like that.You know, like her backstory.Oh, what else, Frank?
03:43:26All right.And lastly, a lot of sucking and fucking chatter last week.Me, likey.I can't believe Ariel let the world know that Frank is down to fuck.Cheers you all.Hashtag call HR immediately.This was filthy.What?
03:43:38By the way, why?This is what you let through?Yeah.I feel a bit filthy.Listen.The amount of things they, you censor.and then this is...I copy and paste all of them.
03:43:46Jesus.As much as I...Like Ali, like Ali should get read over that.My mom's watching, please.Yeah.They're not wrong, though.All of these things...Oh, just Mrs. Burks.
03:43:56Also, Frank, reading out DTF was really necessary.Seriously.I listen to that back, and I'll piss myself laughing.That was very funny.Which one?Which one?DTF.Oh, yeah.
03:44:10I mean, I mean, he's down for anything.I mean, what?Gentlemen, tomorrow on the program, it's going to be another great day.We're going to have Frank Smith in studio.We'll get his thoughts on the big AJ fight, the New York Rick to my Eddie Hearn.Love it.Frank's a good dude.Love Frank.
03:44:30David O'Tunga.Are you familiar with David Otunga guys?Yeah, WWE.Lawyer actually was once.Jennifer Hudson?Did I make that out?Jordan.Hold on.
03:44:45Who is it?Yes.That was like his big thing.Anyway, he was married to Jennifer Hudson.Jennifer Hudson.Wait, what was that, Andy?Staroff, I love New York.He was also on...
03:44:57Give him credit words, too.That's where he became famous.Wait a second.Wait a second.Is this another reality show?Oh, yeah.Yeah.Oh, Ariel.
03:45:05No.Wait a second.Andy, you know who David Otunga is?Yes.Are you excited about this guest booking?Very interested.He's a good-looking guy.I'm not going to lie.
03:45:14he was a, you know, interesting in the show.Oh, damn, Andy says he's chopped.He's a nice slice of pie, though.He said Unka's chopped, bro.All right.Anyway, he's got a YouTube channel.He talks about the law side of things.Good to pick his brain.
03:45:29Kyle Dawkes will join us in studio as well coming off the big win this past weekend.So two-in studio guests.We may have a fourth guest, but I haven't heard anything on that one.James Tehuno?Oh, yeah.Working on him as well.Shout to the Dars Knight.Is that his nickname?
03:45:48Yeah.Wow.The Dars Knight.That's a great nickname.I had not heard that one.And that's it.Other news and notes, but I think we're good.I've got to go do an interview now with...
03:46:02We're good.Are you guys all good?I'm good.I'm okay.I wanted to give you your flowers for such a great interview of Tony Connor earlier.Oh, wow.You asked a lot of serious questions.questions. He didn't dodge them, but you didn't ask the one question I wanted the answer to, which is, did he watch the episode where we had his head superimposed on the screen bouncing around while we were keeping track of it? We did the bouncing screen. Oh, my God, I forgot it for him.
03:46:30By the way, that just shows how far we've come. Yeah. I forgot about that when Fulham played for us and beat us like 3-0. Yep. And it was awful. Yeah, then we bounced Tony.And we did.I should we call him?I feel like he's a good sport.I think he would have enjoyed it.I think he would have laughed about that.Wow, I forgot about that.Man, let me tell you something.
03:46:50I was in Montreal.We were going back and forth.In a million years, I did not expect this to happen.But I am appreciative, and there are people in that company that have gone to bat for us,and I hope that you guys enjoyed it.I mean, it's a rare opportunity to speak to someone for an extended period of time.I'd love to have any head of a sports league or two join us in.studio and it is better in person he's right it's just a different but i don't know what it is
03:47:14but when you're like in person with someone and you're kind of going back and forth it's like anice game of paddell you guys ever play peddle paddle yeah it depends on where you're fromnot is you a peddle guy you go to pedel hang oh is this fucking real thing is it called but hellyou go to pedel house i was just what the fuck i was just trying to i was trying to sound a littlebourgeois pizza you'll figure it out you'll you'll get there one day uh gentlemenit's been a great day thank you valentin and shepchenko thank you tony con thanks to you thanks to themback tomorrow same time places a piece up in here
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