The Ariel Helwani Show - UFC 312 Post-Fight Show: Dricus du Plessis dominates, Zhang Weili proves P4P status

Episode Date: February 9, 2025

Ariel Helwani joins the Boys in the Back on the UFC 312 Post-Fight Show to react to Dricus du Plessis' domination of Sean Strickland in their rematch (01:45) and the champion's future appointment with Khamzat Chimaev (13:00).Next, they move on to the spectacular performance of Zhang Weili against Tatiana Suarez in the night's co-main event (18:08), before recapping the rest of the card (27:38).

Welcome in to the Uncrowned post-fight show. We just got wrapped up watching UFC 312. It was the night of Ann Stills. DDP retains against Shawn Strickland. Wiley Zhang retains against Tatiana Suarez. We are here to break it all down. Let's bring in the man, Ariel Helwani. Ariel, how we doing, man? Late Saturday night. All right. 312 in the books. What did you think of the card, man? What did you make of that affair? Well, great job by you and Rick on the watch party. I know it's a snowy, cold night in New York City, so good to be inside watching.

What are we using for the cam here, man? We are in Ultra HD. We got a little bit of depth. Yeah, you know yourself. The colors are popping on it. We've been working on things, okay, for the past four fucking hours I've been here working on this setup. I'm not quite sure. Does it look better? No, it's legit. This looks incredible. We've been working on things, okay, for the past four fucking hours I've been here working on this setup. I'm not quite sure.

Does it look better? No, it's legitimate. This looks incredible. It looks like depth. The bookcase looks better than ever, I must say. Well, I appreciate that because it's been pretty gnarly. I mean, yesterday on the crack, I looked like absolute dog shit. I mean, it was awful.

I was embarrassed. So we had to work on that. And, you know, unlike Sean Strickland, we made some adjustments. He did not definitely have some thoughts. Obviously, the two biggest stories of the night are the main and co-main. They were the biggest stories going into tonight. Biggest stories coming out of this card. Let's start with the main event. I said it multiple times. I did not want to see this fight. I didn't think it was warranted. Sean Strickland did not successfully defend his title a single time. He lost a fight to DDP, which was close, fair and square, 13 months ago. And then he came back and won a solid but somewhat unspectacular fight against

Paolo Costa back in June and that was it. I wanted to see the Hamzat fight. I wanted to see it right away. I didn't think this was necessary and Sean did nothing in this fight to make us think that he was going to win at any point. As his coach, Eric Nixick said, and credit to Eric, he was very honest. He was very, uh, he was very brutal. He was very forthright each and every time they went to him in between the rounds. It was all very predictable. It was ones and twos. He was plotting forward. He was hardly throwing any kicks. He was hardly mixing it up. There were very few combinations. Uh, you know, that was not a fun fight to watch it was not a entertaining title fight but i don't really blame ddp ddp on his worst day is is somewhat

entertaining because he's just so kind of unorthodox and awkward he was doing everything he could to you know bring the fight to sean but there was no real reason for him to take any risks because sean was doing absolutely nothing plotting forward ones ones ones and twos ones and like no takedown attempts not even the threat of a takedown was presented to DDP and in the end I had it five nothing I don't know what that one judge saw um 49 46 who cares um DDP appeared to have broken his nose in the fourth round not his nose Sean's nose in the fourth round, not his nose, Sean's nose in the fourth round, gushing blood, pouring down, and he wins the fight. And at the end, you know, he, he says, uh, is there no one else? And apparently was looking at Alex Pereira. The fight to make

is obviously Hamza Chemaev. That is the fight. And we'll get to the co-main event in a moment, but it does feel like there are a lot of similarities between Hamza and Tatiana Suarez, two fighters that we've been waiting for them to finally get a title shot we'll get to Tatiana but this is the fight to make it's Hamza Chamaev versus DDP there was a lot of talk about obviously you know DDP and excuse me Sean Strickland and Hamza all week long but that's the fight to make I'm intrigued I'd love to see it I'd love to know you know they got it wrong as far as the co-main is concerned I'd love to know who the favor would be going into that one because right now i'm not sure ddp by the way gc nine in a row and has slowly but surely put together one of the all-time great runs

at 185 pounds it's extremely impressive you got to give him his flowers yeah i mean it's insane like rick has been the one beating the drum on this one for a while, the resume that DDP is putting together. Strickland twice, Whitaker, Adesanya, and now he has a chance to take Hamzat Shumayev's O, which has got to be a top three most valuable O in MMA right now

if he's able to take that and add that jewel to his trophy case. Did we lose you, Ariel? Uh-oh. But yeah, I agree with you. One of the top three O's. We talked about this on Boys in the Back. Watch that every Thursday on this YouTube channel right here.

The thing that I wanted to ask Ariel, and we'll ask him when he gets back. Watch that every Thursday on this YouTube channel right here. The thing that I wanted to ask Ariel, and we'll ask him when he gets back. Actually, let me start with... I'm here, I'm here, I'm here. There you are. Snowy night, we get it, man. Two things for you, Ariel. Two things for you. Number one,

did this performance by DDP change anything in terms of how you would view a fight with Hamzat Shemaev? I mean, we didn't see much from Sean to give us any insight into how DDP would do against someone like Hamzat. I think Hamzat, look, I did not think Hamzat was going to beat Robert Whitaker.

I'm on the record. I can't change that. I think Hamzat will make this fight a lot more intriguing, but I got to be honest, after watching the Zhang Weili-Tatiana Suarez fight, and I know they're two completely different fighters, but there's so many similarities between Tatiana Suarez and Hamzat in that we've been waiting for them to finally get a title shot. And due to various weird reasons, they didn't. There's a part of me that wonders like, wait a second, is it going to go the same?

And I know DDP isn't Zhang. It's nonsensical, but I'm done counting out Jerk is Du Plessis. I'm done. And the truth is, we don't really know how good he is just yet because two of those title defenses were against a Sean Strickland that didn't really do much. He did much more in the first fight, but this fight is like, this is going to be the easiest title defense of his career. Sean brought nothing. And it's very disappointing because he, I can't imagine he ever gets a title shot ever again. His coach is imploring him to dig down deep. If, you know, maybe we'll find out that that staff was bothering him. Maybe we'll find out that something else,

but like there was never a moment where he, where he even threatened anything different other than ones and twos. Honestly, when you're watching that, you have to remind yourself that that's a title fight. Like, that's a title fight. That's a guy getting a rematch in a title fight, and he's never going for broke, not even in the fifth round. And so I don't blame those fans for it. Usually, I'm the one saying, you know, the fans, you shouldn't boo, but I don't blame you for booing. And I don't think any of it was DDP's fault, by the way. He did exactly what he had to do.

I think he has a strong chance against Hamzat. We'll see what happens, but that's the fight to make. DDP versus Alex is great and all, but there's no way that happens before the Hamzat fight. Here's the one place where I'll make an excuse for Sean. And it's a credit to DDP. I was very impressed with how high volume DDP was in this fight. And I wasn't expecting that to be the path to victory. I was expecting more of the grappling, expecting him to mix it up more.

Whether staff was a factor at all, you have to imagine it probably was. If we can confirm that he had staff, I mean, you know, the pictures are pretty clear. I imagine that will affect his activity. But I also think what affected his activity is just how persistent DDP was. It was not like the first fight where they seem to be taking turns, kind of throwing their flurries and throwing their combos. DDP was on him from jump and that cardio was insane. And I joked with Connoror during the watch party that, like, whatever that nose surgery that DDP got, every fighter should probably have that. We should probably have that just to enhance our lives

because the difference between the guy that we saw early and this guy now who in the fifth round is landing his most significant strikes is unbelievable. And so I'm going to credit, I don't disagree with you. I think Sean Strickland had a baffling performance, right? He needed to come in and have something different than the first fight. He needed to double the volume. Instead, he halved the volume in my estimation, and it was just the wrong game plan.

But I do want to credit DDP, I think, which stifled some of that because his volume was insane. Insane. Sorry, no, I'll say that is fair. As you were talking, I looked it up So I don't know this off the top of my head DDP threw 32 less strikes in this fight Than he did in their first fight

316 this time 358 last time And by the way, this time Sean Strickland Threw 263 last time I have it right here He threw 419 So, you know I said he almost halved it he really almost halved it yeah yeah but i i don't think ddp i didn't feel like he was upping the

the output um you know here's the thing with sean strickland like sean strickland is a very entertaining guy again i'm i'm not bothered i'm not offended by the things that he says before fights because as i said after the toronto fight i don't look to sean strickland to be my moral compass like he's a character look at the music he comes out to he is a pro wrestler um and and he plays that character very very well so i don't get offended by any of this it's all part of the package but when you talk a big game about your opponent, about your spot in the sport and about the first fight and all that stuff, you do expect a little bit more. And this time around, DDP, as I think I said you know, see the best of Sean Strickland,

download all that information and prove that there is a bigger gap between him and Sean and right now the rest of the weight class. So, you know, credit to him. I don't think any of us ever saw this coming. I remember when we talked to him in that gym in Jacksonville, when he was desperate to get a fight, when his opponent fell off, you know, the week of the fight and who could have ever predicted that that guy, the guy who beat Darren Till, you know, the week of the fight. And who could have ever predicted that that guy, the guy who beat Darren Till, you know, a couple of fights later, would turn into this. It's really incredible. And when you watch him in a vacuum and you look at his skills,

you know, when you look at Izzy in his prime, when you look at Anderson in his prime, I'm talking about the great, you know, middleweights, you're like, wow, that is high, high level stuff. But he makes it work. He really does. And he finds a way to win and he stifles and he frustrates and he, he, he just, he just doesn't, he doesn't go for style points. Like I'm talking to you guys right now and they're playing the highlights. And a lot of this stuff is awkward, herky jerky stuff, you know? And it's

like, holy crap, this is the champ, but it works. It works. I'm trying to compare him to like an athlete in a different sport who just doesn't look pretty, but just it works. And he's successful in doing so. And I don't know if there's anyone out there. It kind of reminds me of like Bill Cartwright back in the day, the way he would shoot baseline jumpers. And it looked so weird. Joakim Noah.

Somehow they made it to the NBA with this like weird style. And Drik is somehow made it to the top of the middleweight mountain with his weird style. Well, something that you said earlier and something that we were saying as the fight was going on is that there was essentially just no moment from Sean Strickland of, of putting DDP in danger of making the fight memorable on his end.

There was, he really had nothing to offer. The most memorable moment was him getting his nose broken and, and that was about it. So I'm maybe the post-fight interview right yeah and was that even an interview i mean i guess i guess the highlight was him ripping the the mic you got the mic i know the mic integrity on dc there it's questionable bad bad news actually we saw that twice today we saw that uh derek jazora took the microphone and held on to it for five minutes which is exactly why you never give up the mic if you're a a broadcaster, DDP, clearly someone told him in his ear to go get it because

that could have turned out to be a disaster, but he was gracious in defeat as well. It's going to be interesting because the, the, the gimmick, right? The gimmick doesn't kind of, it doesn't hit the same. If you have performances like that, the people are very quick to turn on you. So, you know, tough spot for him. And I was feeling some frustration out of Eric Nixick. Imagine preparing someone knowing that they could probably do better and they're just not, they're not going for broke. They're not emptying the tank. As impressive as his win was against Israel, this one wasn't.

This wasn't an impressive performance out of him. And I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting anything all that different i i thought the first fight wasn't that entertaining i didn't think he did enough to warrant a second fight this soon and i thought drick is was going to you know show that there was a gap and i think he did just that who i am excited for drick is versuszat. That is a proper fresh, fun title fight. Do we have to wait until October for it? That's eight months from now.

I would guess probably yes, right? Yeah, the answer is probably yes. I mean, there were rumors that he was going to be in Australia tonight and he was not. He was still in Russia. We talked about this. You have to wait because Hamzat's the A-side in this equation. I know Drikus is on this run right now, and Drikus is the champion, and he deserves a lot of respect.

He mentioned being top three pound for pound. I'm not sure about that, but he's up there, right? He's top five, top somewhere in that range. But truth be told, Hamzat is the A-side of this. This was the Hamzat sweepstakes. This was the next guy who's going to get in this opportunity, and Hamzat's going to step in there. So you have to wait. You have to wait until Hamzat can opportunity, and Hamzat's going to step in there. So you have to wait.

You have to wait until Hamzat can do it and Hamzat's ready. I think we're kind of like all aligned. That's a no-brainer, right? It has to be Hamzat. I know he was looking at it. It's fun to say the Alex Pereira thing. Both of them have business to handle in their own way. More interesting to me is potentially who could be next for Strickland.

You talked about his high point being the Israel Adesanya fight. Israel Adesanya versus Sean Strickland, is that the fight to make? Oh, wow. You know, I didn't even think about that. I mean, you say more interesting. I highly disagree that that's the more interesting talking point right now. Well, this one, Hamza feels like a

foregone conclusion, right? There's nothing to really discuss. I know, I understand. I guess I'm i'm really curious to see how like below hamza shakes out because you have imavov there yeah who wants a title shot and you have kyle bohalio there as well right and uh you know maybe you could throw out bohalio versus strickland but they were training together this week so i doubt that's going to happen um we've already seen imavov versus strickland i'm just seeing if there's a guy that he could fight in the interim.

Do you think they do the rematch with Imovov? He probably wants his get back there but you mentioned it when I brought this up at some point I think last week

it was like, well, then if Strickland wins that, then he's right back in the title contention and at this point as long as DDP holds the belt,

you can't give Strickland another shot. No. Yeah, I think it makes things messy. The only fight I would want right now for those two guys are for them to fight each other, Imavov and Bojalio. I think that's the fight that makes a lot of sense.

I really like the Strickland versus Izzy fight, and it seems like Izzy's, you know, his juices are flowing. It seems like he's right back to work. He's posting things on his Instagram story of him re-watching the fight multiple times He was back at his hotel like 30 minutes after the fight Re-watching it

So it doesn't seem like he is Someone who wants to sail off into the sunset With nothing left to prove Which is nice if you're a fan of his And by the way Congratulations to Israel and Kelvin Gaslam It was announced this evening That their fight from back in 2019

in A-Town, A-Town Down is going to the Hall of Fame. They need to go back to my city, man. Yeah, UFC 236. You know what's so crazy about that fight and that card? People may forget now, that was one of those cards, this happens from time to time, where they can't find a main event. You know, like 300, they couldn't find a main event. And that was one of those cards this happens from time to time where they can't find a main event you know like 300 they couldn't find a main event and that was one of those cards that they could not find any title fights for and so they made the Poirier Holloway fight which you know was was Holloway moving up from 145 they just kind of like threw that one together and they made this one an interim title fight the greatest interim title fight of all time, uh, as the main event. Like I remember that card was in April and, um, I remember the, the, the news breaking like late January, early February, like it was getting kind of tight. It was getting kind of tight. They, they, they had nothing for that card. Highlight of the, my, my week, uh, that, uh, that trip to

Atlanta, I got to go to the, uh, Braves batting practice and hang out with my guy, Josh Donaldson. That was a lot of fun. And by the way, shout out to Coach Mike Brown, formerly of the Sacramento Kings, as of just a couple of weeks ago, texting me saying, hey, I'm at the fight. Are you here? I told him I wasn't. And I said, you're at the fight in Australia. He said, he went on vacation. And I said, did you go like for the fight? Or did you go on vacation? And it just kind of worked out. He said, no, I centered my vacation around this card.

That's how hardcore of a fan Mike Brown is. And I'm not talking about Mike Brown from ATT. I'm talking about, you know, former coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yeah, my guy, my former coach. Yeah, in attendance. So I thought that that was... Him and who? And then Missoula.

Celtics guy loves... Missoula's a big M.O. Hardcore. Absolutely hardcore. Former Nigerian national team head coach, Mike Brown, as well. So perhaps he got to see Israel Adesanya there. But anyway, yeah, I actually don't mind that idea at all Izzy versus Strickland

but I don't think we're going to see Izzy back for a minute here so maybe down the line and probably not going to see Strickland as well look like that nose was hurting. I mean that replay was insane when he first got hit and it went completely sideways and then I thought he was just getting bothered by it

the fact that he was just trying to correct it shows the tough toughness that was insane durability from him can i can i add something guys like i don't mean to be a debbie downer i know you guys have been on air for like three and a half three hours and 45 minutes as as down as as i was about sort of like what we saw there in the main event especially from str Strickland. I am the complete opposite, the 180 version of that regarding Zhang Weili. I am in awe of Zhang Weili. I'm in awe of what she did tonight. I'm in awe of her as a fighter.

I'm in awe of her evolution. I'm in awe of her skills. I think she's the number one pound for pound fighter in the world as far as female MMA is concerned. She is so damn good. She is so damn good. She is so damn impressive. To do that to Tatiana Suarez, tonight was supposed to be a coronation for Tatiana Suarez. Tonight was supposed to be finally she gets the belt.

The one that we thought was going to fight for the belt in 2018 and then 2019 and then 2021 and 2022 and 2023 and 2024 and finally in 2025 perhaps we learn that you know a whole year off dealing with stuff isn't maybe good going into a title fight i don't know or perhaps zhang weili is just that damn good but for her to get dominated like that in the first round and when i say dominated she was taken down and there wasn't much activity let's be honest there wasn't much damage but it was like oh my god we're about to see four more rounds of this and it's not gonna look good. To be able to figure things out and stuff in the second and third rounds,

all the takedowns, Tatiana did land in the fourth and fifth, but how about this? Zhang landing a takedown on Tatiana Suarez, first time in Suarez's career that she's taken down and to see how tough she was, she rocked her as well. I think it was in the third round. Zhang landing a takedown on Tatiana Suarez. First time in Suarez's career that she's taken down. And to see how tough she was, she rocked her as well. I think it was in the third round.

To me, that was 49-46. She won 2-3, 4-5. Very easy fight to score as well. Blown away. We talked all week that she was the underdog and how surprising that was to a degree. First time in her UFC career since the Andrade first title fight that she's the underdog we need to stop doubting Zhang Weili because she is quickly starting to enter that conversation I don't want to make this about that conversation but as one of the greatest strawweight fighters of all time and soon to be one of the greatest female fighters of all time that was supremely impressive she broke

Tatiana Suarez mentally like Tatiana Suarez was done by the end of that fight. And we have never seen her in that kind of state. We're used to 30 to 27s for Tatiana Suarez. And so for her to be in her first title fight and experience something like that, she'll be back. People get title fights and, you know, they stumble and they come back. No problem there.

But tonight it's about Zhang Weili, the MVP of this card, the most impressive fighter on this card, in my opinion. And to see how far she has come from the MVP of this card, the most impressive fighter on this card, in my opinion. And to see how far she has come from just sort of being like, oh, great, you know, there's a Chinese-born female fighter on the card. Remember, no one thought she deserved a title shot against Jessica Andrade all those years ago to now becoming this. Golly, she is outstanding. I am truly in awe of what she did tonight.

Yeah, a true pound for pound great right now. And I heard a lot of chatter on the broadcast. I was surprised a little bit, I have to admit, of just like almost feeling like they were saying unanimously she's the strawweight GOAT. I don't know. Do you have an opinion on that? Do you feel like she's the best strawweight of all time? I don't know. She's certainly very well-rounded and has a very different game to Ioanni on Jacek. But we tend to get into these conversations in the moment. We're prisoners of the moment. Let's judge her on her entire career and body of work. But she's entering that conversation.

It's not a crazy take per se, but to me, the, the, the, the take is she's the number one pound for pound female fighter in the world. Um, previously I had Valentina Shevchenko as, as number one, I think you guys did as well, right? I think everyone did. Yeah. I've had John for a minute. Okay. Well, well, kudos to you because today Today sealed it for me Today absolutely sealed it

And then I started to think okay Where did she go from here And I guess it's Virna Jantiroba right If you start to look at the top of that strawweight weight class She's beaten a lot of those people She's the only one left Yeah and she's the only one left Now someone did mention

I don't know if it was on the broadcast or somewhere else, the Shevchenko fight is supremely interesting. I was going to say, if not Virno, let's go Valentina. That's the one. But Valentina has, you know, she has Mano Fioro. She's got our girl Jasmine waiting in the wings. There's a few more fights for her there. Fioro really deserves it.

Like, let's be honest. And she's lost a little bit of momentum, right? That fight that you guys went to, Manon Fiora, in Atlantic City, that was in March of last year. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Give her the Manon Fiora fight. They do that.

I mean, when was the last time we saw Zhang before this? UFC 300? The Yan Jianan fight? Yeah. She takes some time off, and then she moves up to 125. You know, she takes some time off and gets bigger, gets adjusted to the 125, and then they do that fight. She's jacked.

She's jacked at 115. She'll be huge at 125. The strength tonight against Tatiana Suarez, like just that pure brute strength to just, like, stuff those takedowns, get takedowns of her own. And then on the feet, Tatiana had nothing for her. It really was. It was a master class.

It was an absolute domination. I think we showed a graphic where it was like 232 of 290 strikes or something. I have it right here. 77.5% of the strikes that she threw landed. That is just complete domination. Yeah. Other than that, there's Mackenzie Dern. She's six, but I think she probably needs a couple others. Suarez is up there. Shaonan is up there, Andrade is up there Lemos, Dern Lucindo, Hibas anyone coming up? Yeah, I mean, if it's not Verna

Verna's the only one at 115 that I'm like okay, I think this makes sense if it's not Verna, it's gotta be somebody at 125 Yeah, no, that's the one in my opinion I really think that's the one but man, i really think that's the one um but man i would love to see the shevchenko fight like who would you favor in that fight right now at 125 who would you favor shevchenko yeah shevchenko just because she's a natural for the weight class but

man i don't know you could talk me into a young underdog bet i mean she was she was an underdog tonight against Tatiana. You would think they would make her an underdog against Valentina, pound for pound, one or two right now, at her natural weight class. I don't know, man. She is so good everywhere. That was the biggest thing. Tatiana lacked being dynamic. All she could do was go for the takedowns,

and even then she wasn't able to have a ton of success when she did get it to the mat. Tatiana lacked being dynamic All she could do was go for the takedowns And even then she wasn't able to have a ton of success When she did get it to the mat Just the rounded game Of Zhang is just incredible I mean She has really come a long way And she wasn't always known as

This well rounded Of a fighter So kudos to her And then the post fight-fight interview afterwards was was amazing she's speaking english now we're just speaking english is unreal man she doesn't need a translator anymore get it get them out of there amazing no she's very likable she's very fun um you know she doesn't talk trash or anything like that for the most part unless i've missed something uh as of late i try to stay away from that sort of thing if i'm if i'm being honest um she's she's just great she is she is an absolute superstar i mean

you can make a strong case that as far as you know women's mma in the ufc she's arguably the most popular one i don't know maybe maybe i'm missing someone amanda nunez is is currently retired uh juliana's a little bit Juliana Pena baby Shout out to Juliana Tracy Cortez is really popular Well I mean I meant of like the Top tier

She's up there She's up there for sure In fact Dana White is at the Press conference right now And this is courtesy of Aaron Bronstetter Of Sportsnet saying that Zhang Weili is a huge star for them and was trending number one for them four times during fight week. I guess that means on X, trending number one on X. I don't know. I thought, what's that one? What's the one that he always mentions, the Chinese social media? Weibo. Weibo, that's the big one. He always talks about how she gets millions, if not billions of views.

18,253 sold out. $7.7 million gate. That's USD, and that's the highest for any Australian show ever in UFC history. So they continue to break some records over there. He did not say that Hamza would be next. He didn't officially confirm it, but agreed that Hamza would be a big fight and that they'll discuss this later next week. He's talking about Jake Paul right now and all that stuff we can

talk about that later but uh no just i guess he's been asked about the the whole thing that happened this week with uh canelo alvarez but this is uh this is uh you know this is a this is a solid show i i think you guys were saying at the end of the the watch party that uh wasn't one of the best. I personally thought it was fantastic. I thought it was deep. I thought it was balanced throughout. What is this?

Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure. What is this? What were your favorite moments? Give us more. Outside of the main event and the co-hosting. Actually, that we had you on, I really was wondering how you felt about Taliesin to share his future at the heavyweight division. He feels like a real player. Oh oh everyone was very excited about him tremendous tattoos uh big knee and then uh hit

him with the uh the massive elbow justin taffa what was that 32 seconds yeah about 32 37 seconds and you mentioned the draw jimmy crude where does he go from here now two draws in his last five yes you know the the funny thing about jimmy crude is that um you know he took this long layoff he had to fall in love with the game again and uh and i thought early on looked quite good there i believe that was a 10 8 round to start yeah every judge had it that way yeah we scored that way too and then you know just like the uh just like the Phoenix who rises from the ashes, it was like we were seeing, you're looking at the scorecards here, it was like you were seeing the soul of Bellator rise from the ashes

as Adolfo Bellato. Just one R short. Adolfo Bellato dropped the R and resurrected Bellator. Yeah, I mean, he came back. He came back like the Phoenix, two and three, to make it a majority draw. So, you know, that was big business. Great corner work from Alex Pereira. Yeah, he was very active in the main event.

Yeah, team went 0-1-1 tonight. Adolfo with the draw. Strickland, unfortunately, getting the loss. I totally forgot that he was in Strickland's corner because I was so focused. Was he actually in the corner? I saw him wearing the gear afterwards there. Yeah, he was there. He was posted up there in the stare down. He was staring DDP down. I was so focused on Nixic because I love listening to Nixic in those moments in those moments by the way shout out to jake matthews he he has an incredible streak of just like winning one losing one winning one losing one but it feels like he's been in the ufc forever i feel like we've watched 21 fights now insane yeah i i feel uh shout out to dennis of uh submission radio did a great job of breaking

everything down on on on the boys in the back on Thursday. And he's right. This kind of feels like shit or get off the pot time for Jake Matthews. And I thought he looked solid. He's growing up in front of our eyes. Early 30s now. He's not a baby anymore. No, he's officially a UFC vet. 21 fights. Unbelievable. Yeah, there were some okay performances in the prelims. I thought Alexandre Toporia, I was going to say Pantoja,

that was a solid debut for him, right? Yeah, nothing to complain about. It wasn't anything that's going to make the highlight real, but I mean, he dominated pillar to post. It was a clear victory for him, for sure. I'm excited to see where he goes from here. What did you guys think of the stoppage stoppage in the uh the curtain jerker i'm fine with it i saw a lot of people upset about that one i didn't think it was that egregious i think that's the actual jubilee hive man he's got a lot of diehard fans yeah you think so yeah for sure

representing india the way he went down i don't know if a lot of those people were upset because of the flag that he was representing. I don't know. I just think that they saw him getting up there, but I think that was more just, I don't know, instincts. I was actually okay with it. I was surprised at all the vitriol. No, completely okay with it. The way he went down, that was it. How'd you guys do with your picks uh what we did well me rick and and frank we all got right on our parlay pals uh

pt carroll once again cost the cost of parlay wow pt you know what i i feel like i feel like there needs to be a rule when when uh when pt busts the parlay He's got to wake up and do the post show That has to be the I'm okay with this rule Yeah there has to be a rule He has to wake up and do the post show We were throwing out the idea that he's out next week We were going to invoke the 2022 rules

He just goes on timeout Serious you're kicking him out No you guys sit one out Just a timeout think about his action He's going to sit in the corner for to time out. Think about his action. He's going to sit in the corner for a little bit. Earlier in the night, GC said he has to call him into his office. Like, PT has to report on Monday morning to GC.

Who replaces him, or do you just go with three? No, we just go three. For the big Jared Kennan year? Yeah. Gregory Rodriguez. RoboCop. Yeah. Killer Gorilla versus RoboCop.

Yeah, I could see that. Is that a better card than tonight? No, that's not. But by the way, I got to say, low key? Last week's card might have been better than tonight's card. Low key? Not low key. Low key. The highest key there's ever been.

What do you mean? 1,000%. I know people paid for this one. I know people paid for it. Is it rude of me to say this might have been like the first watch party where like halfway through it, I was like, in my head, I was like, man, this is tough. It's tough.

It's tough. Yeah. Yeah. This one's tough. But I think Zhang saved the day, despite the fact it was not a, like if you told someone 49-46 or 50, no, I can't, 50-45, 49-46, you would be like, okay, I didn't really miss much. But because it was so spectacular and because she closed as the underdog, I really, really enjoyed that fight. Me too.

I'm curious to see how Tatiana rebounds. And now I'm excited to see Drikus 2 plus C versus Hamzat. I just hope we get it sometime soon. My prediction, the fight was just about to start where me and Rick were doing final predictions on the watch party. I said, Zhang will win and Tatiana will never fight for a title again. Wow. That was my prediction going into the fight.

Why is that? I just think she's going to win. We just never see Tatiana. She's already 34. Zhang's got other people to fight. I could be wrong, but that was my prediction going in. You also have to account for the injury history and things like that. That's the thing.

The fact that she made it to the fight, I was worried about that. You wonder where the confidence is at this point, too. Round one was incredibly close. I totally understand scoring it for Tatiana, but Lava scored at Zhang, so I had a 50-45 Zhang. Wow. Actually, you didn't think

that there was any damage whatsoever. Yeah, I just felt like she didn't do anything from top. I know she racked up three minutes of control, but I felt like Zhang with the one minute did better. Before we go, guys, as we round third here, there were some uh there were some news and notes uh the uh the miami card ufc 314 was officially announced for april 12th uh yeah home

of the uh miami heat former home of one jimmy butler uh that was announced for April 12th. That's going to be a huge week for TKO because the following weekend is WrestleMania 41. And then, very exciting for me personally, UFC 315 heading to La Belle Province. Yeah! Let's go!

I'm assuming Uncrowned HQ will be in Montreal That week All of our shows from Mr. and Mrs. Helwani's house Let's do it That will be May 10th No fights announced for either card

I have some thoughts as to What is going to Headline the Miami card And the Montreal card We can talk about that on Monday But those two those two cards were officially announced so that's uh 314 and 315 we did get a main event for the return to mexico city on march 29th uh that is going to be brandon moreno against steve urseg

like that fight at 125 pounds any objections no i love that fight not at all it's an amazing fight wasn't sure if that was out there i love that fight oh yeah why did they what do you mean if it was out there like if it had been reported already and i just missed it um i love i absolutely love that fight no that's a great fight and and great for the market as well brandon moreno getting to fight back in mexico because uh he missed a couple of those previous ones. So I love that. And we do have to give a shout out. I don't know. I should have mentioned this to on-air Jordan.

How nice was it to see Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira sitting together in the stands? Like we take these things for granted now, but like Izzy's hanging out with Robert Whitaker. Then he's hanging out with Pereira. We're seeing a lot of these old rivalries come together, and it's very nice. Look out, there they are. There they are. Even got a smile out of Pereira.

I mean, yo, speak of Miami, like when he did the freaking bow and arrow thing, could you have imagined this? Less than two years ago, man. Yeah. Israel's been on a tour, man. He's just been racking them up. This one, the Whitaker,

John Jones, like a year and a half ago. I mean, him and DDP hugging. The cordial nature after. He doesn't really hold grudges too much. I hope Plinio's not watching because we very clearly cropped him out of that photo. Damn, Jordan.

Plinio, Plinio's show. That's a Plinio's tough legend. Yeah. Damn, Jordan. Jordan, that's tough. Pliny opened the show. That's a Pliny. That's tough. Legend. Yeah. No, he was sitting right there. It was a nice shot. But yeah, those were the news and notes

from this past evening's card. And shout out to the great Dominic Cruz. He announced his retirement a couple of days ago. I know that... I don't think you guys were able to talk about him, but I know PT was able to talk about him But we will talk more about him On Monday, and I could

Let you know that I'm watching the post show Right now on ESPN Plus And one of the gentlemen who's on The desk, sitting right next to Brandon Fitzgerald, is Dean Thomas, and he'll be joining Us in studio on Monday, and we can get His insights on this card,

among many other things as well. So I'm looking forward to that. Let's go. Big Dean Thomas. Love his insights during the fights, man. Yeah, and I love your insights during the fights as well. I was going to say yours, but it didn't make sense. What did you say, y'alls?

Yeah, y'alls. We'll take a y'alls. We'll take a y'alls. Yeah, y'alls insight. What's the commute back home like With the snow situation I don't know man my mom texted me halfway through We actually brought a bunch of cots up here

Yeah we might just sleep in the studio Guys I have some bad news To end the night on It's been bothering me all day Just kind of got into a fender bender today You alright You alright Back hurt a little bit?

No, just the car now. The car's okay? This is the same car. The one that my dad... I said it to my kids. I said, this car is cursed. Third time now. But everybody's okay, most importantly?

Everyone's okay. You know, it's just a pain in the butt, the insurance, the rental car. You take it in. You got to go get it appraised, all this. Who needs this in their life? but the insurance the rental car you take it in you got to go get it appraised all this who needs this in their life um so anyway everyone's okay i felt bad for you know the the girl in the other car she was a high school student and was very very nervous uh she uh she was shaking and had me call her mom who was in florida so i had to tell her That everything was okay Yeah She was a kid

You know It's a scary thing But everyone's okay And we had a great night What a night it was UFC 312 And I can't wait to Do this tomorrow

We're doing our Super Bowl watch party Here at Uncrowned It's going to be A grand old time Oh I wasn't even aware of that Oh Just kidding

Fuck that shit Oh yeah You're not even watching I'm not watching Veto You're at least going to Tune into the halftime yeah, you're not even watching. I'm not watching. Vito. Well, you're at least going to tune into the halftime show. No, during the halftime show, I'm going to pop in Certified Lover Boy and just close my eyes and listen to that great album.

Ooh, Performance of the Night bonus. Rong Zhu and Cody Steele, that was a great fight. What was that, first round? That was a round of the year. Shout out to Rong Zhu, man. That was a fantastic fight. Shout out to Honor Jordan, Diehard Rongju fan. Randomly. Is he? Yeah.

He loves him. And your boy Towson Teixeira. Performance of the night. Yo! Zhang Weili didn't get a performance of the night bonus. That's insane. So who's the other one? Oh, the first round knockout, right? Nah. I lost it.

Sal Kilo. Quillen? Nah, I lost it. Salchilo. Quillen? Oh, yeah. The 10-second knockout. Those are the two performances. Come on. Zhang Weili doesn't get it. That's crazy. That's crazy.

Well, it's been a great night, guys. We've said it all. We've done it all. But I think it's time to go. At least for me. You keep saying it was a great night guys we've said it all we've done it all uh but i think it's time to go at least for me it was a great you keep saying it was a great night i feel like this card was a great night yeah it wasn't a great night sorry i'm trying to be positive people want positivity it was oh there's a music it was a it was a great adjacent night it was it was a great ish night it was not a great night it was a tale of two nights uh i, we'll see you tomorrow? Oh, you did the old after midnight.

See you tomorrow? See you next year. No, not that. Not yet. Is this a sign off? You guys take us. I feel like this is the way this card ends. This is it, bro. Goodbye, everyone.

How come it's not snowing out the window? It's after. It's post-snow. Post-snow. Post-snow on the post-show. Yeah. I was trying to look. Thanks for joining us, everybody.

This was the time that, yeah, you could have watched. Yeah. See you, man. Thanks for watching!