The Ariel Helwani Show - UFC 313 Preview: Can Alex Pereira wrestle? Plus, TKO Boxing reaction, Coach Brandon Gibson joins | The Boys in the Back | March 6, 2025

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

The Boys is the Back kicks off with breaking news that Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano have booked their trilogy fight at Madison Square Garden (02:04).Then, they break down the UFC 313 main event between Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev from all angles (07:01), jump to the event's co-main event (50:42), and speculate on whether Oleksandr Usyk could be Alex Pereira's next fight (59:30).Next, coach Brandon Gibson, joins to analyze Pereira's wrestling and whether he'll be able to hold off Ankalaev's attack (1:16:43). Plus, he provides an update on Aaron Pico's status with the PFL and gives thoughts on Jon Jones facing either Tom Aspinall or Alex Pereira.The Boys visit a Brazilian churrascaria for Fight Feasts (1:44:52) before making picks (2:00:58), delivering their top P4P faceoffs (2:13:33), and answering your questions (2:40:00).

B-b-b-b-boys in the back. B-b-b-boys, boys, boys, boys, boys. What is good? We are back. Another episode of Boys in the Back, this time Thursday, March 6th. We made it to March, baby. We made it through February. It's getting a little bit warmer outside. I don't even know if I needed my jacket this morning. It's getting nicer. It's getting warmer. Daylight savings this weekend. But not before UFC 313 on Pay-Per-View. I am Connor Burks joined alongside me as always. The man, the myth, is he also a legend? I'll take it.

I think he is, that's one. Thank you. That's one Eric Jackman. It is UFC 313 Fight Week. It is a Pay-Per-View Fight Week, it is an Alex Pereira Fight Week. We got the Easter Island heads, the littered all over, shirts everywhere,

shamas everywhere, how we feeling? What's the excitement level? I feel like we took a bit of a hit losing the hooker fight, but I'm still getting there as the week crescendos. You have said this perfectly, there are many different ways like Fight Weeks kind of build. There's the, oh my God, I've been waiting and waiting and waiting and it's finally here and then it just keeps escalating. Like

I'm talking like UFC 300 type thing. There's the man I was really excited then it comes and it kind of like wanes a little bit like maybe the press conferences are so great. Maybe the face off didn't do it and the energy is gone. This is one of those sneaky ones. This is one of those like, man it's kind of been flying under the radar, then it's here and then I start thinking about Alex Prair getting locked in a cage with Maga Man and I'm like, oh shit, like I'm really actually excited about this one. So I'm escalating like you, like I'm building now. I'm starting to like, it was

it was dormant, it was sleeping and now it's been awoken and now it's kind of building. I'm pretty excited about this one. I'm very excited. Anytime it's Alex Prair fight week, especially in these later stages of his UFC career where he's defending belts and everything, I just get that much more excited when he headlines, we're gonna get the walkout, we're gonna get everything.

I can't wait for it. But, as it is in a boys in the back tradition, we got some breaking news this morning, maybe not as big as the last couple weeks. There it is. I mean, we had to play it. It's just become back tradition. We got some breaking news this morning. Maybe not as big as the last couple of weeks. There it is. I mean, we had to play it. It's just become a tradition here on the program. We did find out that Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano

will be running it back again. We are getting the third fight this time, July 11th, live on Netflix, which is pretty huge. And they're back at Madison Square Garden where the first one took place. I was at that one, Frank was at that one. You were also at that one. Ariel was at that one. I think Pizzi was there too, I think the whole squad was there except me and Frank were together, you were somewhere on press row. Pizzi

was, I think he was just out there with the Irish brethren just supporting their girl Katie Taylor, and then Ariel was working the broadcast for that one I believe. So we were all scattered throughout the arena but it was it was an unbelievable fight. The first one, unbelievable fight. The second one that we saw this past November on the Jake Paul Mike Tyson card. First one I actually scored for Amanda Serrano, but I was watching it live in the arena. Second one I actually scored for Katie Taylor.

And it feels like anyone who you talk to, they scored the first one for Katie Taylor and the second one for Amanda Serrano or some various mix of the two, two incredibly close fights. And I think we're going to get another really close third one. It's what makes this matchup so special. It's two of the best female boxers of all time, two of the best boxers of all time. Let's just go there. Let's not even put gender identities on it. Let's just call it two of the best boxers of all time in a perfectly matched fight. I think no matter which side of the fence you fell on in terms of like who won each fight, what anybody could admit is that together they are magic and they are

perfectly evenly matched. Every fight has been razor close. The action has been incredible. The promoters deserve a lot of credit for having put this together the first time, capitalizing, you know, putting it in MSG and then capitalizing on it a second time, putting it on Netflix. Now coming back to the well, going back to Netflix, again headlining, again in MSG. Now it's kind of, you've combined the two biggest factors of the first two. You've combined the MSG element of the first one and now you're combining the Netflix element of the first two. You've combined the MSG element of the first one, and now you're combining the Netflix element of the second one to create this third one that's at MSG on Netflix between two of the best ever.

And it's just gonna be incredible. It is a perfect pairing. I could say, I guarantee you'll be great, but I think everybody would feel that way. Like, I don't think I'm going out on a limb to say that. And I'm really looking forward to it. They deserve to headline this. This is gonna be an incredible show.

To all action fighters that just put their foot on the gas the entire time, and I just imagine they're gonna do it over the course of, I'm assuming, 10 rounds in this one as well. Another interesting part to note about this one, as you can see in the Netflix tweet, it says that they will shatter records once more when they headline the first ever all-women's

professional boxing card at Madison Square Garden in New York City. So first of the first ever all-women's professional boxing card at Madison Square Garden in New York City. So first of the first women's ever headline in MSG, and now they're putting on an all-female card at the garden, which is pretty legendary. As I said, again, I think the promoters deserve some credit here, right? Like Eddie Hearn on the Katie Taylor side,

and then Nakisa and Jake on the Amanda Serrano side, understanding like what is at stake here. And if you think about the way that this fight was promoted in the midst of Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, because it was the co-main event, it was, hey, look, if this is not for you, you get this. You get these two all-time greats slugging it out on the heels of their first one.

They have always tried to elevate this fight in a way that I think helped it now actually elevate to the status that you can do on Netflix, you can do at MSG, you can do an all women's card. It's incredible. Like they deserve a lot of credit for the vision that they had to kind of push this forward. And then obviously it had to deliver

and they delivered both times. And doing it on the Mike Tyson, Jake Paul card was so genius because of how many eyes were on it. I had friends calling me the next day who, not only do they not watch combat sports, they definitely do not watch women's boxing. And they were calling me up and they were like, man, Amanda got robbed, that was such bullshit.

I was like, you watched that fight? I didn't even know you knew that thing was taking place. So hopefully a lot of those eyes return for the third one at Madison Square Garden this summer. I fully plan on being there. Frankie has to be there, right? You gotta support your girl. Absolutely.

Wouldn't it be great if you just turned heel? He was like, nah, I'm with Katie this time. I mean, they're coming to your city. Your favorite fighter in like the best fight is coming to your city again. They could have done this in Ireland. They could have done it anywhere. They're coming right to your backyard

and you're just like, yeah, I'll be there. Frank, any response? Any retort? Yeah, I'll be there. Yeah. Frank, any response? Any retort? Yeah, I'll be there. No. He's not silent. A little Friday night at the garden in the middle of the summer?

I mean, I'm down. Yeah. I'm trying to go. OK. Are you trying to go? I'm there. I'm already there. I'm there at that one, and I'm there

at the Times Square. I have to admit, I've gotten reluctant to commit to plans in any, like, even though I'm saying, like, I want to be there, I think I will the time, Squareshark. I have to admit, I've gotten reluctant to commit to plans in any, like, even though I'm saying I wanna be there, I think I will be there, but any time there's plans, I'm just like, and this is across my life, not just like going to an event, I'm just like, yeah, I think so, I hope to,

and then I have to check with the wife, then I see what the kid's schedule looks like, and then, but I would love to be there. All right, let's get into this weekend. UFC 313, we alluded to it at the top of the show, headlined by Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankaleyev. Ankaleyev getting his second shot at the belt. Obviously he fought Jan Blachowicz

back in December of 2022. That fight ended in a draw. He's climbed his way back up. As reluctant as the UFC may have seemed to want to give him the title shot, he has gotten it and he takes on Alex Pereira this Saturday. I guess the question is, how long does it take for Magomed Ankaleyev to shoot for a takedown?

I guess from some of the tweets that we saw in the lead up to the fight, I know he's changed his opinion. Does Magomed Ankaleyev shoot a takedown? Yeah, it's a good question. Let's start with those tweets. Why don't we start with where Magomed Ankaleyev started the kind of build to this fight and then we can transition to where it's arrived at

this week. So we'll start with the first tweet, which I believe was from mid 2024. No, look at this, January, 2024. He's not going to need to wrestle. Sorry, he's not gonna need wrestling. I'm gonna come out there and stand across from him. So is that, Honor Jordan? Is that January

2025 or is that actually that long ago? No, that's 2024 is after the Johnny Walker fight. Holy shh. That is crazy. That's actually crazy that it's been that long since was that the second Johnny Walker fight in January 2025? Yeah, 2024. Anyway, yes, Magomed Ankaleyev remained adamant that he's gonna stand in trade. I'm not wrestling. I'm not wrestling. Let's flash cut to what we heard from him this week. Since then, things changed. Glover's wrestling, Glover Tashara, Glover's wrestling is not going to help him. So it seems like we've had a change of heart where maybe enough people have gotten in Magomed's ear to the effect of yeah, you'd be stupid to stand with this guy, use your wrestling.

Okay, I think even if he said he was going to stand and trade with him. You didn't believe him. A, I didn't believe him and B, even if he was lying to himself and was saying there's no way I'm going to shoot for a takedown. If things got dicey, if he wasn't liking the striking, he was going to shoot for a takedown. You see the old panic wrestling. Look at his last title shot against Jan Blachowicz. He got his leg chopped into pieces to where he could barely stand on in the last two rounds.

We saw him go to the wrestling for the entirety of the two rounds. He racked up like nine minutes and 22 seconds of the 10 minutes across rounds four and five of control time. Like, he is going to go to the wrestling. I have no doubt about it. It's really just how soon is is going to go to let's, let's start here. Every time I have an opportunity to talk about it, I say it on every show. I say it every time we talk about this. The longer you stand with Alex Perera, the more likely you are to lose a fight against him. That is just math. It is very simple to figure out. He is one of the best strikers on the planet. He has stupid power, and he's really crafty and really slick. And if you give him opportunities to use that, you're putting yourself at a disadvantage.

I don't care if you are a striker. I don't care if you're Israel to Sonia. I don't care if you're any striker on this planet. You are still better off trying to take down Alex Pereira because you probably will not win on the feet. That is just the reality of the situation. And so I think it's been dumb that more people

have not been as aggressive in the take downs. But in looking back and going back to some of the fights, it would not be fair to say that nobody has tried to take him down really. Right? Jan Blachowicz tried to take them down. He did. He did take him down. And he took them down three times.

He controlled him the entire first round. I remember after the first round, I was like, oh, Jan's just going to take him down, lay on him, and he's gonna win the fight via decision. And he did ultimately end up taking him down three times. I think he took either seven or eight shots at it. He took eight, so he was three for eight. Bruno Silva took him down twice.

I think he was two for seven. So we've seen, even honestly, I believe Israel took him down, but he did take him down. That third round, the third round in the first Israel-Adisonia fight, he used the wrestling essentially the entire round, but he didn't take him down. The third round in the first Israel Adesanya fight, he used the wrestling essentially the entire round and he's having a ton of success in it.

I mean, go back to his first fight in the UFC, Andreas Mikalidis. It's just like, how's Alex Breyer gonna do? He's essentially just a kickboxer. How is he gonna do? And they put him up against a guy who goes heavy on the grappling and Andreas Mikalidis gets a takedown in the first round,

controls him the entire first round. Obviously we know what happens. He comes out in round two and knees his head into the second row. But I think both narratives have been taken like a step too far. On Magomed Onkaliyev's side, the narrative that, yeah, he's a Dagestani, but like don't get it twisted.

He's not this Dagestani wrestler and all he does is wrestle. He also strikes and like, he never wrestles. He definitely wrestles. We've seen him wrestle against Jan Blachowicz. We've seen it in the Krylov fight. Honestly, in the first Johnny Walker fight, obviously it ended in an NC,

but he ends up going for a takedown in the first three minutes of that fight. Like he attempted takedowns. He's gone to the wrestling before throughout his UFC career. And then Alex Pereira on the flip side of that, no one has ever tested his grappling. Israel Adesanya did it, Jan Blachowicz did it,

Andreas Mikhailidis did it, Bruno Silva had some takedowns. Now the thing is, in all of those fights, he ended up winning every single one of those. I just think these narratives of he's never had the wrestling tested and Magomed Ankaleyev is not a wrestler, he won't go to the wrestling. I think it's sort of a meat in the middle.

Like, yeah, he's had it tested, but this is going to be his toughest test. And like, yeah, he is predominantly a striker, but I think he's going to go to the wrestling here. I actually know he's gonna go to the wrestling. I'm reading between the lines, but is it safe to say you think he's the best wrestler he will have faced? I think so, yes.

Yeah, I think so too. Like, Yerryl Adesanya is not a wrestler. Bruno Silva is, yes, he uses the wrestling. He is not a wrestler. Yon Blachow, he uses the wrestling. He is not a wrestler. Jan Blachowicz is probably the best comparison. Top best grappler, right? Yeah, best grappler. But primarily not like an all-American,

like shoot a double wrestler, nor by the way, should we say that Magomed Ankaleyev is, but I would say it's safe to say that he's probably the best wrestler he's faced. But I think you've touched on something important and I agree with it, which is like, the early narrative was, oh, Alex is facing a wrestler, it's over.

So then we saw this like wave of, no, Ahmed's not really a wrestler, which is accurate, right? Primarily the way his fights play out, he's not just, he's not Habib, right? He's not just diving at legs, trying to grab you, trip you, take you down and keep the fight there. But it's in this arsenal.

And a lot of times what we forget is the reason why somebody is executing a certain game plan a certain way is not just because they can or cannot do something, but also because what opportunities are presented. What is the opponent showing? What is my easiest path to victory? And so just because Magomed is not standing there shooting on takedowns, a lot of those times he's winning those fights on the feet.

He's been extremely effective. He is winning these fights, right? Like regardless of what you think of the style points associated with him, he is winning these fights on the feet. And so if I'm Magomed, why would I change that up? Why do I need to wrestle? Now here you meet, there's an impasse. Now you have met somebody where I promise you, I promise you, you will not

beat Alex Pereira on the feet. Promise. They're going to, they're going to cut this and then it's going to be Mogamad icing Alex Pereira. And just completely flatlining Pereira. Just flatlining Pereira. Um, it would be an incredible moment and I'd be happy to be a part of that reel because of the shock that would like blow my mind.

The Magomed uncle I have hype tape guy just starts going, doing viral numbers on YouTube. There is no way he can strike with him. Truly though, I don't believe that that is an equal fight. I don't believe that on the feet, Magomed and Alex Pereira is an equal striking affair. There will be an advantage for Alex Pereira. And so that creates a different system, that creates a different logic and a different game plan that Magomed has to go through. It cannot just be just stand on the feet and be effective there. He is probably going to have to wrestle. So like you, I think

he will shoot. I think he will try to grapple. Then as I said, I kind of went back through. What I started to realize is a lot of people take Alex Perra down but it's very hard to keep him down or if you keep him down the next round starts on the feet and it's hard to do it again because he's so good with the distance because he's so good on the counters because getting in on his hips mean you're entering the danger zone right like when you come in to shoot a takedown it's not like somebody's just standing there like hands up come take my legs you're getting into the zone, right? Like when you come in to shoot a takedown, it's not like somebody's just standing there like, hands up, come take my legs. You're getting into the zone

where Alex Pereira does his best work. You're getting into the area where you're putting yourself in danger. So this idea of like, just shoot, it works for some people and it works against certain opponents. Alex Pereira is not a guy you want to just shoot against, right?

You want to give him something to think about. You want to strike with him and you want to mix in the game plan of the grappling. I think the most effective way Magomed and Kaleiyev can win this fight is staying on the feet long enough to threaten and then going to the grappling. If he just comes in like Marab

and he's just spamming takedowns, I'm pretty certain he's going to catch an uppercut and his head's going to be in the fifth row. I'm pretty sure. If he stays on the feet long enough to give Alex something to think about and is able to close that distance in a way that keeps him relatively safe and then maybe he can grab a trip or maybe he can grab a leg and get on a single, chain to a double, get him up against the cage. I think he'll have some success because if you can stifle Alex Perera, if you can push him back and he can't get his offense off,

you'll probably be effective. But again, it's dangerous. Alex is just a nasty dude to try and do that against. Well, the thing is, I actually think that Magomed Onkoliyev can stay in the realm of competitiveness on the feet for maybe not the entire 25 minutes, but for an extended period of time, I don't think he needs to come out here

and just desperation, grapple right off rip I do think Alex Pereira is going to watch back the Yom Blachowicz tape and go to the leg kicks early and often said that for sure powerful leg kicks in the division so I do think you will do that but how easy is it to grapple when your leg is like it's not gonna be easy if Alex Pereira starts accumulating those leg kicks early okay well that's actually something that I thought about is like we've seen some tape going around of Alex Pereira practicing grappling a lot, drilling, grappling, going with techniques. We saw just yesterday, I mean here's him and

Glover practicing, I think this is at the PI obviously the fight taking place in Las Vegas, like he's obviously drilling, grappling more he has in the past, at least it seems. And we should also note that he's been working with Glover Tashara for years now. And Glover Tashara is a high, high, high, high level black belt. Like this is not like just like you're training with your regular training partner. Like the knowledge that Glover Tashara has about grappling is immense, is a wealth of knowledge. And so he's with the right person if you're trying to train your grappling skills. Yeah and

I mean he's been awarded a black belt from Glover. Now you know some people question you know how real that is because like he's obviously I think he got awarded it after the Jamal Hill fight where there was no grappling but maybe that was just for presentation but he is a BJJ black belt awarded by a guy in Glover's Asherah who like you he is a BJJ Black Belt awarded by a guy in Glover's Chara who like you said is a very accredited Black Belt himself. Also he went down to fighting nerds just a few months ago and he was grappling with Kyle Bahalio.

That's another good grappler right there. A very skilled grappler in his own right. I mean it just seems like maybe this is just the press story he's putting out. It's just like let's start dropping the grappling videos more. But you look at him with Kyle, obviously this is just the press story he's putting out. It's just like, let's start dropping the grappling video. Yeah. But you look at him with Kaio, obviously this is a different weight class, right? Middleweight. We're talking about a middleweight versus a light heavyweight. But what is very clear,

first, I mean, it may be stating the obvious, but Alex Pereira is a very big and very strong man. Like, I know, I know you can say that about most fighters, but with him, I'm talking like in particular, he is a very big and a very strong man. And so when you have him in positions like that, it's hard to keep a guy that is that powerful down his technique might not be the best, right? He may not be the guy who's going to flow between positions. But even if you're controlling him, there's an understanding that maybe he's going to be able to power up,

maybe he's going to buck it off. Or if or if, if he's just standing there and keeping himself safe, that bell is going to ring and now we're going to start round two and you have to do that all over again. You said that earlier. And that's actually an interesting note, just because of the stats that back that up, like Jan in their fight in obviously Jan and Pereira, not Jan and Magomed at their fight at 291 in, in Salt Lake, uh, Jan came out immediately got a takedown,

controlled the round for like four minutes and 50 seconds of the five minutes of the round, and then came out and like wasn't able to implement the same success over the last two rounds, ends up losing a split decision. And then Izzy, round three, he had all the success, it's just like, man, go back to the well, but he doesn't do it.

Like we see these moments of success, the Michaelides fight, where like they control like the whole round. They have so much success in the round, but then the next round starts. Like he won all of those fights. Alex Pereira has a very distinct advantage over most fighters. And that is, and there's a few guys like this.

I've pointed to Francis Ngannou in the past, but I don't think it's quite the same as with Alex Pereira, which is that even if he has 30 seconds and it's round five and it's the last 30 seconds of the fight, you are in immense danger because he has that kind of life-changing power and he's capable of implementing it that late in the fight. Right? There's some guys who, if you get them early, they're so drained by the time it comes that they can't land that punch anymore.

Right? They've been too thoroughly gassed to it comes that they can't, they can't land that punch anymore, right? They're too, they've been too thoroughly gassed to the point that they don't have that. Alex Pereira is a, he's got the, the, the insane like gift power, but it's also a technique thing. He is technically superior to most other fighters when it comes to the striking game, right? When you look at an Israel versus Alex Pereira fight, it's not because like Israel has power and Alex has power and one guy's going to get knocked out by that. It's because they are both such skilled technicians. And so Alex Pereira maintains that technique and that power all the way to the end of the

fight. So even if you've controlled them, now you've got to do that for round two. He's got an opportunity there. Now you've got to do that in round three. He's got an opportunity there. And every time you do that, it's a very difficult thing. There's, you know, George St. pierre i think was a master of this he controlled the fight from start to finish he never gave you like breathing room he would whatever you're weak at he countered with

that and kept you on your heels the whole time um until he went to war with jenny hendrix and that's and that's a whole other thing but a lot of a lot of his success was being able to stifle everybody alex parter can be stifled. We've seen it. As you've said, we've seen it for a round. But to do it for a fight to do it for the five rounds, that requires a very specific level of dedication and a very specific level of skill to be able to stifle him for that long because he does not need long. All right. So here's a here's another thought that's been

running through my head all week. Yes, the stifling from the wrestling coming in a round, but we have seen Alex Brera in incredibly close fights. I mean, the Khalil Roundtree fight, before he got the knockout, was a pretty close fight. Can I give a hot take? Yeah, wasn't that close? I thought every round that went by

that people were like, Khalil's doing so good, all I saw was him losing steam and Alex seeing the openings more and more. Okay. Yury fight one, he lost round one, obviously gets the knockout in the second, in the second round, the yawn fight, razor close split decision, very, very close. Uh, the Izzy fight.

Number one. Most grappling by the way, we should know. Yeah. The most grappling. Yes. Yes. Izzy fight one, he implemented some grappling, especially in that third round, losing it until

the fifth round. Losing it until the fifth round. It's just like the longer that it goes, in my opinion, that Alex Pereira doesn't get a finish, and especially against the guy, we talk about striking, grappling, Magomed Angelayev, is he a wrestler, is he a striker? I honestly just think he's a competent mixed martial artist

and he can just mix up his game. He's 19, one and one, I think, 21 and one, whatever his record may be. like he is a very, very high level mixed martial artist and I think he has a complete game and I think that's going to pose some issues, I think this is going to be like, I think it's aligned at minus 110 each way right now and I think that's fair.

I think all the finishing upside is with Alex Pryor. I know Maga Menonkolayev has finishing capability but it's not usually against the highest of the high in this division. Whereas Alex Prair can put your lights out at any moment. I just feel like it's going to be such a close fight and that's why it's so intriguing to me. I feel exactly the same way. There's a few things that I don't know, but I mostly know what I'm expecting, right? The things that I know, Alex Perera has an advantage on the feet. The other, another thing I know, Magomed Onkhalayev has an advantage on the ground.

Another thing I know, Magomed is pretty well-rounded and will be capable on the feet. He's not bad on the feet, man. If he strikes for 25 minutes, he will lose. If he strikes and grapples, I think there's a path to victory. For sure. The part that I don't know is how committed to that grappling, how committed to mixing in those takedowns is he going to be.

And I think that's going to be the key to the fight. Because as you kind of pointed out, as you're like outlining that, Jan Blachowicz had a very close fight with him. And I don't think people would say at this point in their careers, Jan Blachowicz and Alex Pereira equivalent, right? They would say that maybe that's a lesser opponent. There is a way to close that gap with Alex Pereira. It's a dedication to that take down.

It's an early commitment. It's a purposeful game plan to say I'm gonna try to do this. If you do it for a round and then go, oh, I'm good now, that's not gonna do it. If you do it for two rounds, it's probably still not good. So you have to commit to that early. I assume he will be,

but he's still gonna be in danger throughout. If you're his coaches, do you not just bring him into the back, maybe Friday night in the hotel room, he's still gonna be in danger throughout. If you're his coaches, do you not just bring him into the back, maybe Friday night in the hotel room, he's been eating good, he's been getting rehydrated and everything after the weight cut, do you not just sit him down and you just play a highlight reel, and it's just ominous, intense music,

and it's just like Pereira, round three, round four, him just in the matrix, just flowing, him just like starching Jamal Hill, hitting him with a like, ugh,, him just like in the matrix, just like flowing, him just like starching Jamal Hill, hitting him with a like, ugh, and then just like. Do you wanna be this? Yeah, and then just like him versus Yuri, just like the head kick, and then just him flatlining Yuri, and then Israel Adesanya,

him getting the belt, just like all his knockouts, and then you have a couple kickboxing knockouts in there as well, it's just like, you have to wrestle, Magomed. You have to wrestle. Just like ingrain it into his brain that it's just like, you need to wrestle to win this fight. I really firmly do believe that if you stand in trade for 25 minutes, I just don't think it's gonna be successful.

That quote I saw from him that we showed on the screen makes me believe that that conversation has happened and they are aware of this. And maybe as you said, maybe he wasn't telling the truth when he said it in the beginning, but that recent quote makes me believe they're aware that the path to victory here is not to stand in trade with Alex Pereira as you should. But I also think when you're in the fight, it's very hard when you are somebody as good as Magomed Ankaleyev,

when you have been in that exact same octagon, in that exact same point in the octagon, you're standing with your feet, maybe up against that black line, and you've been in that exact spot before, and you've had success in doing exactly what you've done before, there's an intoxication or there's a feeling of like,

this is where I'm good, and this is where I can do my thing but that was against somebody else that was against Rocketsch that was against somebody else that was not against Alex Pereira and so I it's very hard to just like and this is why like what even sometimes when it feels like it's like so obvious yeah just go take them down it doesn't play that way and and when you're a fighter if you're somebody as good as Magomeda Kaleev you've been in a hundred thousand different positions and you've been super successful in every single one of them. You're not going to automatically just think I have

to do this. And that is why like commitment to game plan is something that very few are able to do to the level that like you need to achieve ultimate success. Like a GSP is somebody who I continue to kind of point out, but like I think of him as the ultimate tactician I think of him as the ultimate game planner him and his coaching team in terms of being able to implement something that look maybe it's not the most sexy maybe it's not the way that I'm gonna you know get a highly real knockout but I will win the fight by doing XYZ thing and sticking to it he was extremely good and diligent with that that is how you have to fight in order to win at this level. And so I don't know, I

think there could be a real chance that Magomed's in there and just feeling like, nah, I'm doing pretty good on the feet and it's just too easy to continue to try that and then all of a sudden that left hook comes and it's like, oh fuck, I probably wasn't doing this hot as I thought I was. Yeah, I think the coaching is gonna be really important for Magomed Uncle Live and honestly, I think that they'll have him ready. I think they'll have him equipped. No doubt. It is a nice reminder, he's one second away

surviving with Paul Craig from being undefeated. Yeah. From being an undefeated. Hail Mary last second submission by Paul Craig. Shout out to Paul Craig for a legendary one. I feel about Magomed Onkaliyev, he's simultaneously very well respected and then still yet somehow underrated, if that makes sense.

I see so many people being like, he can stand with him, hell, he could knock out Alex Pereira, he's so well-rounded, he's Alex Pereira's nightmare, but then at the same time I see so many people just almost disregarding how good he is. Okay, so I actually think this really comes down to his lack of star power. He is not a star by any means.

He's going up against one of the biggest stars, if not the active star for the UFC right now. And so I just think people will throw out opinions based on that, which actually leads me to a conversation that I wanted to have. It's just like Alex Pereira is as hot as it gets for the UFC. Wherever this guy goes, he's a like, Alex Pereira is as hot as it gets for the UFC. Wherever this guy goes, he's a superstar,

people wanna see him fight. He has broken into that casual nature of like fans who never watch. It's like, oh, Alex Pereira's fighting this weekend? I wanna watch. He has broken into that realm. He's your champion. You want him to stay champion

from like a numbers perspective? Magomedo Kaleiyev does not have that same star power. He doesn't have that same draw. He doesn't have that same ability to captivate the audience. Without saying like, we want XYZ person to win. It is very fair to say it is better for business if Alex Pereira remains champion. It's better for business if Alex Pereira remains champion.

So I basically just wanted to ask you, if Pereira wins, what do you think his future looks like? Do you think he remains champion at 205 and defends against whoever's next? Probably will likely have to be a rematch or maybe like an Ulberg or someone steps up. Or do you think he moves to a heavyweight and he vacates the belt?

That's the new rule supposedly in the UFC. You can't go for double champ status. And then on the flip side of that, and we can get to in a second is just like what happens now that Magomed Uncle Live is the 205 champion if he wins? If Alex is the champion I can't help but think that he's looking at what we would call like super fight, mega fight, payday type stuff like I just don't think this to me feels like the last challenge at 205. I know there's a guy like Ulbergen waiting,

but let's be honest, Alex Perreira has been speed running his UFC like hall of fame legacy, and he's getting up there in age. I don't think he has a ton of fights left. So I don't think they should be spent just like going through the mill of light heavyweight contenders.

He's done enough of that. He's been here at light heavyweight. He did a stint at middleweight, a really good one. He's done a good stint of light heavyweight contenders. He's done enough of that. He's been here at light heavyweight. He did a stint at middleweight, a really good one. He's done a good stint at light heavyweight. If he is able to clear Magomed Alkaliyev, I think you talk about the fights that are on everybody's mind, and particularly Dana Weitz,

who's been talking about it all week. That is the John Jones, Tom Aspinall, Alexander Usyk, like somehow in the equation. Those are the types of fights that you start to think about and start to talk about because. Like, sure, he could fight over, no doubt, or, you know, he could run it back with with roundtree. There are fights out there that I would still be interested in at least watching. But what do they do for his legacy?

What do they do in terms of making sure that we advance further enough in his timeline that we're not getting the last fight of Alex Perera as like some light heavyweight title defense when he truly is on the cusp of all-time great. He's already an all-time great. He's on the cusp of potential goat status if he moves up to heavyweight and gets a title or if he is in a boxing match with Usyk. Like he's, he's thearified errors ahead of him. So I would have to assume that that's next. If Magomed wins, it's like, hit me with contenders. You just start running through, you just start lining them up. Now, if you're Yuri Prochaska, you're like, holy shit, this division just opened up for me, baby.

If you're Jamal Hill, holy shit. Like I'm back. Yuri is going to be sitting in a dark shed in the middle of the woods in the Czech Republic. But I promise you, the phone is gonna be streaming this main event because if Alex Pereira loses, the door is wide open for Yuri Brajash. I'm back right in the title picture. I'm back.

Let's go start punching trees, climbing waterfalls. It's time to go. If you're every light heavyweight, you have to feel that way. Not to say that like every light heavyweight is like Alex Pereira is the boogie man, although like he kind of is the boogie man, but it just creates these fresh matchups

that people are gonna be more willing to see. Another matchup if you're Jamal or somebody else against Alex Pereira, oh yeah. So let's look at the names here. So like, look at this, if Magomed Onkelayev wins, Jan Blachowicz is like essentially in a title eliminator against Holberg. I don't know if he'll get it but it would be like yo I just beat your number six guy let me get a

rematch with the guy that I ended in a draw with. Yeah and that fight was put together just as like a replacement to get the title on to somebody like both have a full camp I'd watch that again no problem. Jamal Jamal Hill will be hankering for a title shot Khalil Rountree if he beats Jamal Hill will be hankering for a title shot. Khalil Rountree, if he beats Jamal Hill, like it's just like. I just went four rounds with Alex Pereira. Let me see if I can get back, yeah. Light Heavyweight really opens up, and honestly, while Magomed Ankaliyev isn't the biggest star,

becoming champion obviously helps. Oh, it helps a ton, yeah. It helps a ton, especially if you're the guy to dethrone Alex Pereira, that helps a ton. But you've got guys that people are really interested in seeing fight. Yiri Yuri obviously, massive star, baby face as it gets, people love him. Jan Blachowicz, people wanna see fight,

like he's just a good dude, Polish power, I know he's on the older side. Jamal Hill, like you get kind of the heel character in there, Carlos Olberg, if he gets a win, great looking dude, get up there, some personality for the division, Haleo Rountree, baby face after that. Light heavyweight I think is interesting no matter what and I really don't mind the idea of just like I'm 37 years old, I don't have a ton of fights left,

this is on Alex Brera's side, it's just like I've done what I had to do at 205, it's time to go chase true greatness up at 265. These things also make sense more importantly almost, although this that is the conversation we're having now is important. More important is it makes a lot more sense for the UFC. What does the UFC need Alex Perra as light heavyweight champion for? We've even just seen it with Ilya Toporya, right? His value, his star power, his ability to draw attention is independent of the belt. Now they're saying, okay, we'll put them in now the lightweight division. I'm talking about Ilya here. We put

them in the lightweight division and now we'll try to craft this new narrative, right? Now we can put them up against Islam, maybe a contender. I hope it's against Islam instead of a contender. Alex Perer is bigger than the light heavyweight belt, no doubt in my mind. And now you could have a guy like a Yuri or Jan or Ulberg or Jamal, like any of those guys step in. And now you're looking at, okay, let's say Tom versus John doesn't come together. It is not a bad option to do Pereira versus Tom Aspinall. That would feel like a massive fight.

Huge. Are you kidding me? It wouldn't be a bad idea if the UFC thinks the price tag for a John Jones versus Tom Aspinall fight is not, it is not worth as much as a Pereira versus John Jones fight. And all of a sudden you go, maybe we, maybe we want to pay the price if it's Alex Pereira in

there, because we think this could be the mega pay per view of the year, but maybe we don't want to pay if it's Tom Aspinall. I don't know. I think ultimately there are so many more would be the mega pay-per-view of the year, but maybe we don't wanna pay if it's Tom Aspinall. I don't know. I think ultimately there are so many more options for Alex Pereira in those big fights, and those bigger fights are happening at heavyweight

and not light heavyweight. And how much does his career get extended if he no longer has to cut any weight? If it's just like roll off the couch, pull up, like he's never gonna be over to the 265 limit. He can just go work out, get as chiseled as he wants, size up as much as he wants. Yeah, I almost wonder what a bulked up Alex Prairie would be. If he's at heavyweight and he still

maintains some of that power, but he's coming in like a 230, 240 and he's just shredded. Maintain the power. What if the power increases? What does the left hook feel like on a 245? Yeah, good lord. Something to note, how much does he extend the career? We keep saying he's 37, he's old. Heavyweight. Not only heavyweight, best bud Glover DeSherah. He went about at 42 years old. Glover's like, man, you got five, six years left, bro.

You're good. Yeah, and what I was alluding to is that heavyweight, like those numbers increase. Like we're looking at John Jones now extending his career in heavyweight. Heavyweight, you can afford to lose some of the technique, the skill, the speed, because the power kind of hangs around in that division

and you're dealing with just such small margins when you're dealing with guys who hit that hard. Alex Purer is one of the hardest hitters who's ever lived. And so, yeah, I think the future is at heavyweight regardless, honestly, I think even if he loses the future is at a heavyweight, as we saw when he lost that middleweight, like yeah, you could kind of chase that and you could kind of pursue that, but he's like, I have a new goal. It's to capture this title, to box Usyk to fight John Jones or Tom Aspinall or capture that heavyweight belt. Those to me feel like the next steps for

Alex Pereira and probably the UFCs. Yeah, can you imagine if he ends up going up to heavyweight? If he captures that belt, we're talking like goat. We're talking goat potential. First triple division champion? It'd just be nuts. Goes and boxes Usyk, wins that, becomes undisputed heavyweight boxing champion. He's doing like, he's doing movie shit. I kid, I kid, I kid. Yeah, honestly, his whole career just seems to be a movie. All right, actually back to the actual fight itself. Yeah. Do you have an official prediction? Do you have a way that you're leaning? Do you have a thought on how you think the fight goes? In my head, every time I think about the so my head instantaneously says I think Magomed is too well-rounded and will

effectively combine striking and wrestling. That is what I, my gut reaction, my instantaneous reaction as soon as I go Magomed versus Alex Pereira. But when I actually like close my eyes and try to visualize the fight, I can't shake the feeling of Magomed getting too comfortable in a certain position and just getting his lights turned out. Like I cannot shake the feeling that there's gonna be a transition or there's gonna not be enough commitment to the wrestling that Alex Pera is going to find a moment, whether it be the first round, the third round, the fifth round, where he's in a position where they are at a range where Magomed Ankhalyev is not supposed to be in

that range and Alex Pera finds it. I can't escape that and maybe that's a folly because I've seen Alex Perera do this so many times that I'm falling into the trap of like past performance equating to future success when in reality there's going to be a different opponent in front of him and a game plan that's going to be tailor made to beat him. My head says Magomed but ultimately I, until Alex Pereira has proven, until somebody proves that they can keep Alex Pereira down for five rounds and execute that, I can't believe that he won't find the button at some point. What goes through Uncle Iov's head if Pereira stuffs a couple of the first ones? Yeah

that's gonna be bad, that's gonna be really bad. We have the video of Pereira in DC yesterday, obviously the time tradition, look at this, yeah catches him off guard, gets in on the single, Pereira in DC yesterday, obviously the time tradition. Look at this, yeah. Catches him off guard, gets in on the single. Pereira says, oh, hold on, hold the water bottle. Let's restart this. I gotta really show you my wrestling. DC looking astute in the glasses, looking stuck.

He's like, really shoot. Oh, there it is. Oh, look at the hips go back. Look at the hips go back. Shifting the weight, puts him right up against the wall, starts throwing some knees in there. Daniel Cormier was a heavyweight champion. And you see him standing next to Alex Ferrer,

you're like, what is this? It's crazy. Is that his son? It's crazy. Alex Ferrer is a ridiculously big individual. And also, I don't think Daniel Cormier gets enough respect for the things that he did at the size that he was. I hate to disrespect, I don't know the social media account,

the content creator's name who does it, but the video that always goes viral, Pay Per View Weeks, and it's the guy who acts like he's DC and the phone is from the upward angle and he's like, oh, look at this guy. He acts like he's shooting in on it and he's just like fighters and they see DC on Fight Week. Look at this, he's huge, man.

He does love a single. He loves a single. He loves love a single. He loves a single. Oh god. He loves taking the leg kicks from Pereira, too To say all that like yeah, what does uncle I have do like well? What does uncle I have do like he stuffs a couple takedowns like that would act they would have to get in his head of like Oh fuck the game plan is not working. Well. Here's why uncle I was in a different position than if you were say like and also to your point about 20 or 30 minutes ago, just like, he can't just spam. He can't like, keep shooting.

If he fails a couple of them, he's just gonna have to stand and strike with me. Well, if that's all he's doing, and Alex Farah knows you're not gonna strike with me, you're not gonna give me a reason to fear your hands, I'm just sitting, my hips are all the way back. I might even go against the cage, and if you're coming at me,

I'm gonna uppercut your head off. Like, if you don't give him something to think about, he's just gonna stand there and wait for that. The thing that I think he has an advantage in is, unlike somebody whose primary skill is only grappling, right, like as we've pointed out a few times throughout this conversation, we both know how well-rounded he is.

He is good on the feet. He's not Alex Perera on the feet, but he's very good on the feet. He's not Alex Perera on the feet, but he's very good on the feet. Oh, for sure. And so if he is stuffed, it's not out the window. There's not, it's not like, oh, I have nothing. You've taken away all my tools. No, he's a competent striker.

The problem is the longer you're just a competent striker against an all-time great striker, you're gonna lose that eventually. The numbers are just gonna not be in your favor. You can't keep rolling hot. Like you're going to roll snake eyes at some point. And so he's not out of it, but he better in round two, in round three, come up with a different approach

to get him down, right? So if he stuffs those takedowns, maybe you were shooting doubles, now you switch to a single. If it was singles that he was thwarting, maybe now you're trying to go for trips. You better find a way to do it. But I don't think all is lost if he stuffs the first couple.

As like in comparison, right? Tatiana Suarez versus Zhongwei Li, Tatiana just didn't have something else, right? Her game plan was, I'm gonna take you and dump you. And that has worked against everybody. I thought it was gonna work against Zhongwei Li. I'm gonna take you, I'm gonna dump you. And then I'm gonna get on top and I'm gonna pound you out. and then I'm going to get on top and I'm going to pound you out."

When she was not able to, there was no other game plan, right? That was it. And so I don't think Magomed is in that position, right? There's certain fighters who that is the game plan. I don't think he is. I think he is capable of standing with Alex Perera, not for a long time though. You cannot spend 25 minutes striking with Alex. That is a drastic error. I'm gonna go official prediction. First round comes out, Pereira thwarts the takedowns. Not

really a ton going on. Like a very close round, but Pereira edges it on the feet 10-9. Second round, Ankalive does get the takedowns. Okay. Is able to have some success. Third round comes out, back to striking, Pereira catches him up against the cage, wobbled. Late third round, TK, that's what I'm gonna call it. I can see it. Official prediction. I'm going Alex as well. A lot of sharp people on Maga Man on Call of Life. I'm not surprised. A lot of respected betters that I know are unloading the clip on Maga Man on Call of Life. I'm not surprised either. This is like the clearest path to victory for someone going against Alex Pereira. One thing I forgot to mention that I do often think about

in this case, I am ignoring it. I'm going against my better judgment. Sometimes a fight is as easy as who has a more glaring hole. And if you look at Magomed Onkalaev, it's a great point. He does not have holes. When we think about fights, we're always thinking about best case scenarios.

We're thinking about the offense. We're thinking about, ah, but Alex, he's gonna come in there and smoke him. Well, we don't often like, or we try to excuse away or mask is the opposite, which is what is the glaring obvious, out of the two of them, who has the most obvious way to lose?

The most obvious way to lose is Alex Perre not being able to stand Magomed's grappling. That is 100% the biggest hole because on the other side, I don't think Magomed is outgunned as if he can't strike and definitely not in the grappling. I would be shocked if Alex Pereira is the one shooting takedowns. So he doesn't have those holes. Alex Pereira has the biggest hole, but I also do think he has the biggest weapon, which is that power.

So it's a fascinating, I'm very excited about this fight because I want to answer those questions. Last question, it is a fascinating fight. I think it's going to be incredibly technical. I think it's going to be tactical as well. How are you going to implement your game plan on one another? One last question I had for you. We said that like getting a championship will help

in Magomed Uncle I have star power. Is there any world he's going against this beloved baby face in Alex Pereira, everyone loves him, the star that the UFC has right now. Is there a world where he goes to the grappling, has success, and he wins a 25 minute decision, and it's almost like a Mario Bautista situation, and people are like, man, he wouldn't stand

and strike with him, this is bullshit, that was so boring, we don't want him as champion. It is easy to not remember now because I think the meta of MMA has changed. There was a world where people felt that about Habib Namraga made up. There was a time when it was just like crotch sniffer, all this nonsense about like grapplers. If you become light heavyweight champion

and hand Alex Pereira a loss, I don't give a shit how you got it done. You gotta respect in my books. I don't give a shit how you got it done. You gotta respect him. I don't give a shit how you got it done. You already have respect in my books, but then it's just tenfold. See, the problem for me with the Mario Bautista and Jose Aldo fight, I feel like this fight comes up more than any fight in human history. It just makes me laugh so hard.

Like, this slander campaign. Like, poor Mario Bautista just went out there and got a win over Jose Aldo and it's just like like seven fight win streak or whatever he's on and like the most hated man in the UFC. The problem with that fight was there's nothing on the line. It's just like yeah like this could have been a fun fight or Jose Aldo could have been booked against somebody else and instead we got this. This is a light heavyweight title. This is a championship fight against a guy who is literally building a highlight reel of Corpse, like he is demolishing everybody. The way to not be added to that highlight reel

is to do that. And so, yeah, I think there will be people, but they would be very uneducated, uninformed people. Yeah, the loudest people on Twitter, the vocal minority. Yeah, it'll be very interesting. Then who all will we have as champions if Maga Menaka uncle live wins John Jones?

DDP below Islam big star I'll tell you what I saw just from when you went there when you went heavyweight down to let even like Walter No, actually if you go every single person down There is no more and I want to ask our guests, by the way, we haven't even like teased the guests. Oh, yeah. Yeah. No big deal. We're going to be joined by Brandon Gibson, Jackson Wink striking coach, coach to John Jones,

Aaron Pico, many others. Six gun. Six gun Gibson. He's going to join us at 2 15 Eastern time. So tune in for that. I'm very excited to talk to him. He's a great guy. One of the nicest guys in the world. Very nice guy. The thing that I've noticed across the meta and I want to ask him about that is there are no like I'm just a grappler I'm just a striker guys outside of Alex Pereira anymore. They're really like those guys don't exist anymore. Think about John Jones, elite wrestler, elite striker, DDP, wrestler, striker.

Tom Aspinall can do both. Tom Aspinall, incredibly well-rounded. Jandre Pantoja can do both. Balal Mohammed, not an amazing striker, not an amazing, but when he combines it all, incredible. Marab, Elia, Islam. Islam is like the best example. He's got both, like, his stats are maxed out,

but like every single guy, even down to let's say, Volk wins the title, or Diego Lopez, Grappler, Stryker, like there is no more, there is no more like specialization, which is why it's so kind of fun that Alex Pereira is doing the shit that he does, because he is the last of that like, yo, I'm just gonna go in there and knock you out. I don't give a, like there is no wrestling in my world.

There is no wrestling. I mean, he's speed running. He's speed running a Hall of Fame career. He's speed running GOAT status. And you actually mentioned that earlier and it kind of piqued my interest a little bit. I keep saying, this is the last thing I'll say on this fight, but it just, there's like more and more.

I mean, we'll just keep going. He made his debut in November of 2021. Since then he has had 10 UFC fights. This will be his 11th. Only 10. Only 10. Holy shit. This will be his 11th?

This is crazy. I actually think, and I'm doing just quick math here, quick calendar math, I actually think this is the longest we have ever gone without seeing him fight in the UFC. And how long is that stretch? Five months and three days. He fought, made his debut, made his debut. Like it feels like that little fight week was yesterday.

I remember exactly what I was doing. I remember everything that went on. Oh my God, that's crazy. Makes his debut, November, 2021. Fights again, March, 2022. Fights again, July, 2022. Fights again, November, 2022. Fights again, April, 23.

Fights again, July, 23. Fights again, November, 23. Fights again, April, 24, which here's the thing that was November to April. That was five months in two days. This is five months in three days, April, 2024, June, 2024, October, 2024, March, 2025. Like he is just good for it. Yeah. He's good for three fights a year. He's going to put on bangers. Like it's the kickboxing thing, man. Like they're just crazy fighting so much. We saw with Israel when he was racking up title defenses, it's gonna put on bangers. It's the kickboxing thing, man. Like, they're just into fighting so much. We saw with Israel when he was racking up title

defenses, it's just like, yeah, I'm good. Let's just roll it. Alex Perra is a one of, like, I'm confident in saying this. John Jones is the GOAT, like, in my mind unquestionably. I don't consider anybody else in the conversation. There will be people who say GSP, I don't

acknowledge that. John Jones is the GOAT. If he's able to capture a third title, he'll enter that conversation. I still don't know if he'll ever pass the run of dominance for how long John Jones has been able to do it, but he's almost done the inverse, which is the shortest amount of time to achieve greatness. Like John Jones has been great for the longest amount of time,

like a LeBron James, right? It's just sustained greatness. Alex Pereira almost will have done the reverse of that, which is, yeah, in this tiny, tiny window that most people haven't accomplished, like even capturing one title, because most people aren't champions, I would have captured three potentially and done it in the most spectacular fashion you can do it. Not just captured them, but put people unconscious, separated them from their consciousness every single time I stepped in there.

I mean it would be incredible. I can't say he will be the GOAT because I do think John Jones' longevity is going to keep him there forever, but nobody will ever do what he was able to do. He is extremely unique, one of one. It will be like the most mind blowing resume. It'll be like, go like insane run. Like McGregor's like the goat in terms of like the impact he had on the sport.

Like just how big he was. Obviously not the greatest fighter. John Jones, greatest fighter. Yeah, Alex Brera, goat on just like mind boggling resume and how quickly he can beat it. You wanna know the craziest part? He has till November of next year, which is an eternity in Poetan time.

Alex time. To move up the heavyweight, maybe get a couple ones there, go fight Ustik, recall it. And it's just like, yeah, I started in the UFC five years ago, did 15 fights. I'm out. I'm good, I'm good. I mean, technically he has just three fights this year. That would get us to 13, does two next year.

That gets us to 15 and then goes and boxes one and then calls it. Yeah, and nobody would look at that career, that short but incredible career and be like, nah. Everybody would be like, yeah, this dude was the one. 100% one of one. Nobody will do what he was able to do in that time. It's just not possible.

All right, let's go to the co-main event. Yeah, please. Justin Gaethje against replacement fighter Rafael Faziv. We're getting this for in that time. It's just not possible. All right, let's go to the co-main event. Yeah, please. Justin Gaethje against replacement fighter, Rafael Faziv, were getting this for the second time. We last saw it in March of 2023. Unfortunately due to injury, kind of like the inverse of Alex Breran. Now often they fight.

We haven't seen Faziv since September of 2023. Gaethje we haven't seen in 11 months since UFC 300. Both of them, Gaethje coming off like a life altering knockout. We, we saw the footage recently of, of it's staying on him after how long it knocks him out. He's kind of top-vulsing scary Gagey, you know, addressed it into being like live by the sword, die by the sword. Like Mac should be celebrating.

He knocked me out. Uh, just a true warrior. And then Fiziv tours ACL says he has been ready to fight for like seven or eight months by his Twitter. That seems to be the case. He's been essentially being like, yo, get me back in the octagon. Now I'm ready to go. This person's ducking that person's ducking, but either way, we have not

seen either in quite a while Fiziv has only had the one fight Gaethje I believe has had the two, the Poirier and the Holloway since the last time they met. I'm intrigued for this fight just cause I want to see where they are in their careers. Gaethje was on a great run and was looking like he was going to get the 155 shot at the title before the Max Holloway fight. It takes a very dangerous fight, ends up falling short obviously at the very last second, was losing the fight anyway. And then Fazeev, how does he look after the ACL injury? Yeah, no, absolutely. His return is the most fascinating part of this to me in terms of Fiziv.

But I actually, yeah, you said, you said it right. And I didn't really consider it because. Justin Gaethje, the tweet that you're referencing of like the live by the sword, die by the sword, nobody like that is a hundred percent truth for Justin Gaethje. That is a hundred percent accuracy. He has always talked about caring more about putting on exciting fights than just winning fights. He's always said it and he's always delivered on that promise.

Named himself the highlight. He is the highlight. And he has always delivered on that promise. And so I almost like, maybe I'm being naive or maybe I'm like doing something that I probably shouldn't, which is that I'm kind of not even considering the fact that he got completely iced by Max Holloway

because I'm so used to him being in that predicament and being ready for battle and accepting the outcome of like, I got knocked out. Whereas if it was another fighter where that was the most devastating moment of their life and they could never recover from that, I'd be considering it more. But with Justin Gaethje, I'm just like,

yeah, he knew that was possible because he goes in there ready to die every single time he fights. So I guess I'm like, I'm kind of not thinking about the Justin Gagey return part of it, and maybe I should be, but I am more fascinated by the Fiziv part of it because I think he's been like criminally slept on right now. And when people, when this fight was thrown on the table and when Faziv was raising his hand and being like, I wanna step in on short notice,

I saw a lot of sentiment of just like, ah, we don't wanna see this. And I was thinking to myself, if you watch that first fight, how could you say you don't wanna see this? Like these two are gonna put on a battle together. It's gonna, look, it's not gonna be Hooker, and we've talked about this, it's not gonna be Hooker, and we've talked about this,

it's not gonna be Hooker and Gechi. Get that out of your mind because there's only one way to do that and that is to pair Hooker and Gechi. You can't do it any other way. Other potential options, right? You can pair Max Holloway and Justin Gechi and you'll get that.

You can do like Dustin and Gechi and you'll get something like that. But there's really not really great alternatives to a Hooker versus Gechi. That's guaranteed war. But Faziv is not some like pity pat type fighter. He is going to come in there and try to put hands on

Justin Gaiji and feet and just really hurt him. And so I think people have in the time since he's been out, forgotten just how good of a striker he is, just how dangerous he is, just how technically sound he is. And what he's going to be able to do in order to press Justin Gaethje and make him make a false move. I'm pretty excited about this fight. And I think Fazeev's being like criminally overlooked

is kind of where I've fallen. Well, I just don't know how you can't be excited for it. I mean, we saw the first fight, it was a great fight. It was very close. I think people remember how good it was. It was an incredibly exciting fight. And then also just like, just look at the statistics in terms of the bonuses, like

Gagey obviously 18 bonuses across his career, almost a million dollars earned from that. And then Fazeev up until the ACL terror against Gamrot, he had six straight bonuses. Yeah. It's just like, these guys are going to come put on a war. I have no doubt about it.

And I think, I know we saw Justin Gaethje like almost jokingly go for a take down, uh, in the last one, like he got like one second of control time off of it. Like it was at the very end of the fight. These dudes are going to stand in trade and they're going to put on a show. I really do have no doubt about that.

But in terms of like who is going to win, and, and it's actually funny, you say like, Fazeeb is getting criminally underrated despite losing the first fight. He opened as the favorite and he's the only who is going to win. And it's actually funny you say like, Faziv is getting criminally underrated despite losing the first fight. He opened as the favorite and he's only grown as the favorite since. Open at like minus 125 has grown to like minus 170.

The difference between like the betting odd adjustment on him and the fan sentiment about like what they think of him as a fighter in terms of like the action, I think is a huge chasm., I'm like the betters here. I think he's going to win this fight. I think Fiziv is going to win the fight. And I kind of left the first fight feeling like he was the better fighter.

I know Justin won it and his grit in the, in the later round, in the third round to be able to get it, I was extremely impressed with, but I did come away thinking like, if they stand long enough, like Fazeve is the better striker, in my opinion. He doesn't have as much power as Gachi. Gachi has, you know, that other worldly kind of power, um, when he's just standing, biting down on the mouthpiece and winging them, but Fazeve is extremely sick, slick, extremely technical.

I like he's, he's a real striker. And so I lean his way and I, and I'm kind of surprised that everybody's like not. Dude's got the physique of like a statue. Yeah. It does. Like it's, it's unreal. He stays.

He's a fire hydrant. He's just like stays in shape year round. Like do you think the short notice is going to have any effect on him? No, cause I think he's been thinking about his comeback for a very long time. I'm, I'm saying, saying like, I just think that he's going to have any effect on him. No, cause I think he's been thinking about his comeback for a very long time. I'm, I'm same, same. Like I just think that he's gonna, he's, he's

gonna be ready to go. As you said, he's been itching. He's been waiting. Yeah, he's been itching. He's been training in Tiger Muay Thai like out in Thailand. He's been riding motorcycles, like just staying in shape, just staying ready.

And like, I think this is just like the perfect thing. He's just like, yep, let's do it. Yeah. Let's fly out to Vegas. I think both these guys are like, these are two guys that I'm not like, and again, maybe I'm like, yep, let's do it. Yeah. Let's fly out to Vegas. I think both these guys are like, these are two guys that I'm not like, and again, maybe I'm like, maybe I'm off here.

Maybe I'm, I'm overlooking something. I'm not concerned about these guys in how they're going to show up. There's certain guys where you're like, I don't know, it was a short notice. It was a rough camp and you certain guys, you go like, I don't know, they're going to give their best performance.

I've never had a concern in a Fiziu fight or a Geichi fight that I'm not going to get the version of that. Like maybe they're not at their best, right? Maybe it's not their best performance, but it will be, it won't be so obvious. It won't be like, oh man, that guy looked really off, right?

Like as an example, that time in Atlantic city, we were like, holy shit, what happened to Vicente Luque? Dude. I don't think I've ever seen a Justin Gagee or Fiziv fight where I've been like, what the F happened to that guy? I'm very confident no matter what happens, they

will show up and they will try to hurt each other. Gagee is going to push the action. There's zero question about that. And Fiziv is a perfect dance partner for him. Yeah. In terms of the fight itself, I really don't know what's going to happen. I don't know what either of these guys are gonna look like

in fighting shape and how they are coming off the injury and the knockout. I'm actually going to say from my prediction, I'm gonna say that Gaiji gets it done. How does he get it done? Like what's the path? I think it's essentially like the same thing as last time. It's a striking affair that's just like razor close

and it's just like in the end. And you just withstand what Fazeev's bringing. Gagee lands some bigger shots, maybe cuts them open again. Yeah. It's just like, but if you're picking Fazeev, I wouldn't blame you either. I wonder if we get a stoppage this time too.

I mean, there were points where we thought we might. I mean, I lean Fazeev, but betting odds wise, I feel like it's a dog or pass situation. That's ultimately where I'm at. Like I think Justin Gaethje had like very high dog odds, probably makes more sense, especially considering how razor close the fight is. But if I get a coin flip, if I'm 50-50, I lean Fazeev.

I just think the slicker striker. And I don't see like, again, I don't think this is gonna be a wrestling affair. Maybe Justin Gaethje like tries it a few times. But Faziv is very good defensively. So yeah, I ultimately feel like Faziv's going to be the slicker striker and lean that direction. But odds-wise, yeah, I don't blame anybody

for taking a shot on Gaethje here. And talk about the opportunity here for Faziv. Ranked 11th right now. We haven't heard from him in a year and a half, essentially. And he gets the number three guy and Justin Gaethje. Huge. A win here would be absolutely massive for him. Can't wait for that one.

Let's keep rolling on the main card. Jalen Turner, Ignacio Bahamondes, kind of like, uh, two ships passing in the night here. Like Jalen Turner been on sort of a bad run, two and three, Bahamondes, four and one in his last five, and also two very big ships both six three fighting at light weight. This is actually the tallest opponent that that Jalen Turner has fought in the UFC he usually uses that size to his advantage. This one's gonna be incredible I mean these dudes like they have knockout power but like I was looking at the stats it's like 13

combined knockdowns throughout their careers like in their last three fights they've each gotten a knockdown like it's I think this is going to be a striking fair Nacio Bahamondis is not gonna shoot a takedown Maybe Turner does but I doubt it. I turn us an underrated grappler, but he's typically Opportunistic I feel as if this is gonna be a striking battle and like just two giant lightweights in there Just like throwing it flicking up kicks. Like I feel like someone might get stung at some point, maybe even get finished. I just think this is made to be a very exciting fight. You mentioned the knockdowns.

He nuked Hinato Moekano, Turner that is, nuked Hinato Moekano in his last fight. Looked like the fight was over. And then did the walk away, and then unfortunately that came back to bite him in the ass, but. Oh, unfortunately for Ignacio Bahamondes, if Jalen Turner drops him,

I assure you there will be follow up shots. He's not doing drops him, I assure you, there will be follow up shots. He's not doing that mistake again. I assure you there will be follow up shots. I was thinking about this fight and I was thinking about how much fun it could potentially be on the feet and how they're both like these extremely long, powerful strikers and going to be game, but I could not help it.

When I thought about it, I was like, damn, there was a point where Jalen Turner was like the super prospect. There was a point where his size and physicality, people were like, this is going to be the next like champion after he subbed Brad Riddell. I want to say international fight week 2022 in like 45 seconds. And he was on like a three or four fight win streak. I was like, this is the guy five at that time, five fight win

streak. I was like, this is the guy. This is the guy at 155. That's like the dark horse. I think you're not alone in that. Everybody started feeling it. And so I thought to myself like, have we fallen that far if you're Dalyan Turner? Then I looked back at it and this is what stood out to me. The answer is no.

Matthias Gamrot. Splitty. Dan Hooker. Dropped Matthias Gamrot in that fight as well. Dan Hooker. Splitty, razor close. Bobby Green. Knocked him out first round. Sorry, King Green. Sorry, sorry. Glad to see your bad intention there Frank. Thank you Frank. Someone's gotta keep an eye out

for King. First round, first round. I appreciate it, honestly I do. Hinata Maikano. Had him dead and then blew it. Then you look at the Ignacio Bahamundes fight, side of it. We're looking at the last four only, right? Trey Ogden, Ludovic Klein, Christos Yagos. Lost the Ludovic Klein. You lost that one. Manuel Torres. The level of competition is like the most it could possibly be,

the furthest it could possibly be. So these are two ships, two giant six, three ships passing in the night, but they are on opposite ends of the canal. 100%. And so to me, when I keep looking at this fight, I'm like, is Jalen Turner not the guy I thought he was? I think he's still that guy, but maybe he just ran into some bad luck against the top, top, top of this division.

I have to lean toward Turner. I I've been, I've been really thinking about this and I'm like, I Ignacio is a super skilled striker, like really talented young guy. And one of the prospects that I'm like, yeah, like I think this guy can be something, but I just feel like the ceiling on Turner is so high and he's just been in there with these guys that are grind. Like this is the meat grinder, Lightweight, and we don't have to get into this debate.

Actually, it's not a debate. Lightweight is the best division in MMA. It always has been, it always will be. You're just in there with the cream of the absolute crop, and I just think he hit a bad little skid. I favor him in this fight, and I've been thinking about that a lot as I've been thinking about this fight. That five fight win streak, not just a five fight win streak, five fight finishes.

Finishes, yeah. Like has serious finishing capability. Actually, all of his finish, all of his wins in the UFC have come by way of finish. Either sub or knockout. So eight no to the finishing. The grappling is underrated, like sneaky, sneaky with him. What's a Jalen Turner inside the distance prop looking like? What's the actual money line on this? Jalen Turner plus 110, Ignacio Bahamond is minus 130. See this is the thing, I'm like I'm looking at that line, I'm like I'm just staring at that line for a second and I'm like this guy was just fighting Hinata Moekano and

had him dead to rights, who just fought for the title in Hinata Moekano. This guy was fighting Matthias Gamrot to a split decision. Yeah. This feels like a step down and he's an underdog. That's just my- Big time step down, big time step down. That's just my read on this. Books ain't doing you a big favor, plus 115 inside the distance, plus 145.

We're not that smart. We're not, we are not that smart. Thought we could, thought we could fool him. The Turner money line feels like a play, but we'll see, by the way, obviously we'll have your picks later in the show, so we'll see where you go, but I just feel like people are writing off Jalen Turner before I'm ready to.

Oh wow, look at this stat right here. All of his wins in his entire career, he's never won via decision. Yeah, 29 years old. Banger. Like this guy's not done yet banger Let's keep it rolling on the main card Amanda Lemmish taking on a Yasmin Lucendo

It's a kind of similar fight from the standpoint of like Lemmish looked like she was rising rising rising obviously fought for the title got knocked down a peg Yasmin Lucendo lost in the battle of the Yasmines and now has put together four straight wins since. Yeah, Yara Gui, she obviously lost that one, has put together Marina Rodriguez, Karolina Kovalkevich, Pollyanna Viana, and Brogan Walker and now she gets Amanda Lemmo. It's like a real test to step up in the strawweight division. An absolutely real test. I'm gonna oversimplify this fight. Simplify it. One fighter is 37 and one fighter is 23.

And I just feel like the, the, the momentum is just on, on Lucinda side. Like I can't, I rate Lemoshe very highly. Like I think she's a very good striker, but I just can't overlook the fact that she's getting toward her later years and Lucinda was just getting into her prime right now. Like she's just toward her later years and Lucinda was just getting into her prime right now.

Like she's just peaking. She still might be like three or four years away from her prime. She's not even like hitting the apex of the prime. And I just feel like that's gonna be the difference in this fight. Like a young, hungry, talented 23 year old, it's gonna be very hard for me to see Lemosch turn her back.

She has the technical skills to do it, but I'm wondering if she's able to do it at this point in her career. Last three, Jean, Dern, Jandy Roba. Those are the cream of the crop, as I was kind of doing with Dern. Lucena's not that bad though. I mean like Marina Rodriguez. Well that's the thing.

Caroline Kovalkevich, Paulina Viana, they both fought Marina Rodriguez, Lemosh, four fights ago. Yeah. Could be interesting. The gap is not the same as the one we were just outlining, but there is a gap, Lemosh four fights ago. Yeah. Could be interesting. The gap is not the same as the one we were just outlining, but there is a gap, there is an experience gap. And Lemosh has been in there with the best of the best,

but I do feel like right now at these points in their career, it feels like it's Lucindos to grab. This feels like another name to add to your resume, and now you're talking about really making a splash in those rankings. Curtin Jerker for the main card, Mauricio Huffey taking on King Green. Uh, Mauricio Huffey of the big four at Fighting

Nerds, Huffey, Jean Silva, uh, Caio Bahalio and. Process. Process. Of those four, they are right now 17 and 0 in their UFC careers. Huffey trying to make it 18 and 0 on Saturday. But, uh, for the breakdown of this four, they are right now 17 and 0 in their UFC careers, Huffy trying to make it 18 and 0 on Saturday, but for the breakdown of this one, we bring in Uncrowned's King Green expert,

Mysterious Frank, what do you got, Frankie? So you know, King Green is just amazing, right? Yeah. And he's gonna get it done. Catch me next time. Wow, oh wow. Just an unbelievable breakdown as always from- Let me get the telecaster out. All right, just circle king.

We're doing the tele-shader. And circle green. And that's it. Underline, underline. Enough said, I feel like- Hard to go against the fighting nerds right now. Dude. It's hard to go against the fighting nerds right now.

I dare say impossible. Right now they are so hot. I've never seen anything like this. There's something in the water, especially between those four. No, yeah, the top guys there are just, they're just on a, like, and it feels like it's like, it feels like it's a compounding effect.

It feels almost exponential, where it's like, one win is worth a lot more than one win, where it's like, they're just continuing the streak. It almost, I mean, not to maybe put a card ahead of a horse here, but like, it almost feels like the Habib, the Abdulmanap thing, where it's just like, we have this unit, and as we continue to just like steamroll everybody, the momentum is growing so strong that it's an advantage in our favor. The confidence that they enter a fight with knowing how prepared they are and knowing

that the guys in the room with them are equally skilled, equally talented, equally successful. They're seeing their success and going, we contributed to that. Now they're, then they see your success and go, we contributed to that. It's this like, it feels like an exponential effect where it's not just one win, one win. It just feels like it's growing. It's snowballing. It's expanding in a way that is like crazy. It feels like at this point, if one of those four does not eventually become champion in this career, it'll just be like a look back like, damn, that's how hard it is to become a UFC champion.

It would be something went wrong, truly. Because they're all so good and so talented and having this incredible moment right now, he's fun, man. I know it's like lazy to just be like, he looks like Conor McGregor, or he fucking looks like Conor He's fun, man. I know it's like lazy to just be like he looks like Conor McGregor, or he fucking looks like Conor McGregor, man. I mean that like, I think he had one left to the body

against James Yontop back in November that was just like disgusting. But this is a nice test for him and Bobby Green, man. Bobby Green's a vet. I know he was supposed to finish James Yontop, right? Like he was a big favorite. Yeah, minus 900. Yontop's tough as hell.

Like there were some finishing shots in that fight that probably would have finished most, but he didn't because Yantop is insanely durable. I'm interested to see how he bounces back from like not just being able to steamroll somebody. Because Yantop was in that fight. Like Yantop wasn't just like taking the damage. He was really throwing back.

He was giving him something to think about. And there was an opportunity for him to lose that fight. Ultimately, he was really throwing back. He was giving him something to think about and there was an opportunity for him to lose that fight. Ultimately he was successful, but I'm interested to see how he rebounds from that. And then the fact that he's rebounding against a guy who in King Green is the veteran of all veterans. This guy has seen every version of MMA, every promotion, every opponent has stood across from him.

He's been in there with Islam. Like this is the like veteran that you can face. And so that is a, not only is it a step up from like a skill perspective, it's a step up from like being in there with somebody who has seen the things that you can do in other people and is not intimidated by that, right? There's no opportunity for this like fighting nerds momentum

and that, and that bladed stance for Bobby Green, sorry, I almost did it again, Frankie, for King Green to be like, oh man, this is throwing me off. He's seen every single thing you can see in MMA. And I think that's gonna be an interesting thing to see if Huffy can get past him. This will be his 27th walk to the Octagon. He also had five fights in Strike Force.

I was gonna say, before that, he's still fighting. This is Huffy's third walk to the Octagon. He also had five fights in Strike Force. I was gonna say, before that, he still fighted. This is Huffy's third walk to the Octagon. So like the experience is obviously there. I think it's a great step for Mauricio Huffy. If he can get this done, if he can get it done in an emphatic fashion, you kind of continue that fighting nerds momentum

and you just continue to carry it. Cause it's like, it's almost like Huffy is the one that still needs to have that like really insane Like Jean Silva at this point is just like creating a meme every time he goes out there same with Carlos proches Bahalia is not really the finisher that they are but Bahalia was fighting at the top of the middleweight division now He feels like a big dog. He also feels like the leader of it. He feels like the guy carrying the flag Do you think that's cuz he was the first and he's at the highest weight class? I think it is Yeah, a little bit of that. I think it comes down to

He was the first and he's at the highest weight class? I think it is, yeah, a little bit of that. I think that's all it comes down to. He is not the action guy that they are, but winning a pure striking affair with Jarrett Candanere, he's starting to put it together in a way that's kind of scary regardless. He's mixed in martial arts, that's for sure. He's not putting up the crazy highlight reels

like they are necessarily. Yeah, I can't wait for that one right now. Mauricio Huffey, minus 425. Your boy, King Green. But. Yeah, I can't wait for that one right now. Mauricio Huffey minus 425. Your boy, King Green. Plus 325, Frankie. Big dog. Enticing? Super enticing.

Interesting? Mortgage the house. Oh boy. I don't know how to mortgage the house. Well, honestly, remember there was a time where Frankie thought he was a favorite and took him as a dog and we were all like, no, what are you doing?

And he was right. I think he has wanted to since that fight though. No. I'm not here to place a point there. You almost have forgotten. I'm not here to place a point there. Not yet, Frank, we gotta wait till after Saturday. All right, then we go to the featured prelim

of the night, Curtis Blades taking on Rizvan Kunev, who is actually coming off Contenders series. Used to fight in the PFL, making his official UFC debut here. Um, it's just, it's just kind of like Curtis Blade's career is just sort of this, this roller coaster, like he's going into the Sergey Pavlovich fight.

And it was kind of similar to this weekend in the sense that it was just like, just wrestle Curtis, just wrestle and you'll beat this guy and you'll get a shot at the title. You'll finally, you know, be able to have a shot at the undisputed heavyweight championship. Unfortunately, he goes and strikes with with Pavlovich and it's sort of been, you know, downhill. I know he beat Jelton Almeida, but now like,

this just doesn't feel like the fight we need for Curtis Blades right now. Yeah, it's unfortunate. Curtis, every time Curtis gets to that point where it's like, he feels like he's won away or he feels like he's on the cusp of it. He suffers defeat and. You know, it's an unfortunate position, but like,'s on the cusp of it he suffers defeat and you know it's an unfortunate position but like look this is one where you can get your feet back under you and in the heavyweight division anywhere but in the UFC at this moment you're not far away you're never too far away and it like even though it feels like Curtis Blades has lost the momentum dude you put together two to three performances and you're literally right there at a title shot. It is, it is not hard.

Like think about how we felt about a few fights ago where Jalton Almeida was after the loss to Curtis Blades and where Curtis Blades was. And we're like, holy shit. They've kind of like flip flop, like now everybody's back like, Oh boy, Jalton's back. He's going to be the champ again. So it's like, it happens quick in that division.

It really happens quick. And so you pick up a, he's a big favorite. You pick up a win here and you get yourself on track and you're not far away. He is a big favorite, man. This, this just feels like, I guess there's, it's just that shallow at heavyweight. It is that shallow.

Like Rizvan is making his debut. He fought on contender series twice. Oh, is that shallow? He, he fought, uh, he fought in PFL back in, in April, got overturned to a no contest. Like, and now Curtis blades is like a minus 330 or something. It just feels odd. Unless I'm crazy, didn't Gotsiev headline his debut?

Against Rosenstreig. Yeah, wasn't that his debut or am I crazy? No, I think it was his second fight. His second fight? I think it was his second fight. Either way, like. That would be crazy. It does not take much to ascend

in the USC's heavyweight division or any heavyweight division out there. He beat Martin Boudaille so then he got the headline against Rosenstreig. Yeah. Debuting against Curtis Blades, that's just heavyweight division shit right there. This division is as shallow as possible. You're standing at the edge of a diving board, you jump off and you're in a kiddie pool.

That's the heavyweight division in the UFC. It is extremely shallow. And so, yeah, like to me, this is like Curtis blades, get a wing, get back on track or. Hey, we've got a new name that we could throw in this division. So, yeah, I favor Curtis blades to get it done, to get back on track and then, you know, just, I

guess, keep, keep fighting to try to get an undisputed, uh, heavyweight title shot. Uh, one more quickly rates, a sura taken on Joshua van Josh van, like as game as they come, just a dog. an undisputed heavyweight title shot. One more quickly, Ray Tsasura taking on Joshua Vann. Josh Vann, like as game as they come, just a dog. Love this fight. Tsasura, undefeated, like this just feels perfect. Like it's just like, all right, you're undefeated,

let's see how good you really are and put you up against Josh Vann. I'm a Josh Vann stan, I'll be honest. Like I love that dude. And I think this fight's gonna be sick. I don't often like like a prospect, like a young guy versus young guy type fight, but I think this fight's gonna be sick. I don't often like like a prospect, like a young guy versus young guy type fight, but I think this is a good,

like this is a good spot for one. And I feel like it's gonna help. And also like neither guy's gonna like go too far back should they suffer defeat here because they're like, they're young, hungry guys who wanna get back in there. They'll get another fight and then they'll just kind of like pick it back up.

It feels like a right time. Like I often don't like these, especially as you're creeping closer and closer to title contention, but this feels like a good one. And yeah, I'm excited about this fight and I love Josh Vann. For Ray, I mean, it's just a great test. I think there are people that are doubting him. I mean, the odds makers have him as an underdog as well. I feel like if he can get a win here, you really start becoming a legitimate guy to get in the top 15 at 125. Yeah, and they need these types. Like they need one of these guys.

Like they pretty much need, and I don't wanna be like too drastic about it. They need one of these guys in this fight to ascend to become an eventual like title contender. They have to keep taking these shots. They have to keep firing the bullets to where we have somebody to challenge Pantoja because they are running out of options in that realm.

And so you need a guy who is like a Josh van or even a Ray to climb up and make this ascent. And so I think this is a perfect opportunity to see like, can these guys sink or swim and then really start taking next steps toward, okay, ranking big fight title shot. Honestly, if Ray gets up into the top 10, top 15, then you'll have Kaya Sokora, you'll have Ray and

you'll have Tatsuro Taira, all representing Japan. Japan Flyweight is on fire. Yeah, that would be absolutely incredible if they can continue to do that. We'll get to the last few fights, but for now it's time to go to our guest, one of New York Rick's close friends. My good buddy, coach Brandon Gibson, Six Gun Gibson.

Thank you for joining us, Brandon. Thanks for having me guys. I'm excited to be here talking with y'all. Yes, man. Thank you so much for coming on. We're really excited to have you. So I reached out to you because I had a very specific task. The thing that we're trying to solve on this show,

we kind of framed it as can Alex Perera wrestle? I think that's an oversimplification. What I'm interested in actually discovering is when you are the striker, when you are in the Alex Perera seat and you are preparing for the grappler, what does that look like? And obviously I asked you because you were part of

one of the most significant striker versus grappler fights of all time in my, in my estimation, humbly, uh, when Holly home defeated Ronda Rousey. And so what is the preparation like when you, when you are the striker and you're preparing for somebody that you assume is going to be having a grappling game plan? No, that's a great question. And it really comes to having a balanced camp, where you want to still be able to focus on all of those dangerous tools that got you to the title fight or have you as a champion while also respecting that opponent's strengths.

One thing I really see in Pereira's preparation and his camp is that, you know, he's trained by the legendary Glover T'Chara, who was trained by John Hackleman and Chuck Liddell, one of the most famous, you know, maybe the inventor of the sprawl and brawl style. And, you know, it's like, can that lineage and the evolution of that really be showcased and highlighted this weekend and I think it can. I think it really comes down to that the pressure, Eric. You know, it's like and Pereira is a very hard guy to back up and I think that would be Ankolyev's key is to get

Pereira on his heels. And so if you're Alex Pereira, what are the key elements to that game plan? What makes him able to sprawl and brawl? What could he do to prevent Ancalaya from doing what he wants to do? I think one of the biggest things outside of his pressure, which I think he's one of the best in the game at, is bringing that pressure. I mean, you know, he's backed up guys like Adesanya. That's a very tough task to do. But I think it's going to come down to the leg kicks. Can Pereira control the pressure and the range and Uncle Ives level changes with not only the leg kicks, but the threat of the head kick. And so as I was thinking about this, I kept thinking about like there's two elements here

and you said it perfectly at the top. You were talking about like, not wanting to lose what you do best, right? We don't want to lose what Alex Perera does best. Cause if you're focused on like, yeah, I'm just sitting here working my sprawl, you're not really trying to get the knockout shot that Alex Perera is known for. And so it sounds like what you're saying is like, his best defense is his offense, right?

By pushing Ankalayev back and being that guy that can do that. If he's in a position where he can't, right, if he, if Ankalayev is in on him and he's not able to do that, what are his options there? And in what you've seen from him, can he be successful in thwarting the defense, the grappling from that defensive position? That's a great question. I don't know if we've ever really seen Pereira tested in these positions.

You know, there's been some scrambles, some takedowns where he was able to get up like Vlachovits, but we haven't seen him just grinding through a five-round championship fight in and out of terrible positions. We've seen or we've heard a lot about his growth as a grappler in his Jiu-Jitsu game, and he's now a black belt and he looks like he's just a freakishly strong man. But will he have the technique to get up once or twice or throughout the whole fight? And what kind of striking does he have off his back?

And how would that impact his cardio as the fight advances? How does that affect his striking? So I think there's some unknown, some areas that he hasn't been tested yet, but I believe that he has, you know, the mindset and the momentum right now to get up out of any circumstance. We were just saying before you came on the show,

like this evolution of the game where it almost feels like Pereira is sort of the last champion in the men's division that is sort of like he is a striker and This weekend we're getting a striker versus a potential grappler, but Magomed on Kaleiwa has a very well-rounded game do you feel like The meta of MMA has sort of evolved to this point where we're no longer gonna be seeing these striker versus Grappler exchanges and it's just gonna be be everyone is so well rounded with their game. Yeah, I think the specialists are becoming rarer and rarer.

We're seeing a lot more generalists in all the disciplines, especially as, you know, the younger generation grew up with MMA as a martial art. But I think there'll always be some outliers and I think we'll always see some of these cases in some of the extreme weights. So like men's heavyweight, I think we'll always see some of these cases in some of the extreme weights. So like men's heavyweight, I think we'll see it. I think we'll see it in some of the women's weight classes, but I think it'd be very difficult to see it like men's lightweight or men's featherweight.

But I think it's a great example. Like is Alex one of the last true strikers that is a reigning defending champion in this game? And that might be likely. If you were, if you were Magomed and Kaleyev's team, and you knew that Alex Perer was anticipating that, you know, you're going to be on a take down heavy approach. Do you, do you try to mix it up?

Do you try to strike? Do you, do you stick to the grappling? Are you almost like shooting relentlessly, like almost a Marab de Valle Shvili style? Like how do you give Alex Pereira enough to think about without putting yourself in too much danger if you were on the other side of it, if you were Magomed's team? Yeah, I think it's going to come down to the pressure. And even Alex off his heels is very dangerous. You know, he's a great counterpuncher. Like I said, he's hard to back up. But I think to really get

Pereira down successfully multiple times throughout the fight, the pressure needs to be there. And Uncle Ivan needs to be using his head movement, his footwork, and some aggressive boxing, keeping Alex tall to be able to get low down under his hips, above his knees. And that's going to be a tough task. Yeah, I was gonna say with probably the understanding, right, that you're entering the danger zone. Is every entry against Alex Pereira danger zone, is that kind of like what he's facing?

I think so. You know, sometimes one of the criticisms of Alex is striking is how low he keeps his hands. But in MMA, the hands don't really hinder them. And it actually has him ready for underhooks. And he just throws these looping punches from strange angles and with a lot of power, he generates a lot of force and he's hard to back up.

So with that said, it's hard to get under a guy like that, even though he has a taller stance. And he's so quick with the kicks, just hammering the calf kicks, but he's also very quick with the high switch kick like we saw against Yuri. You've obviously been in the locker room at the highest level before the biggest fights in the world,

and you need a game plan going into a lot of these. With a fight like this, we're saying how important the game plan is for Magomed Onkaliyev. What do you tell your fighter before you go out there to make sure a fight is a fight? Obviously things are going to get chaotic. Things are going to get hectic. How do you ensure that they stick to that game plan to best put their self in a position to win?

Each fighter, you kind of tap into a different way. Like, um, bones loves to just stay on the discipline and a positive mindset and really work some finite techniques like that spinning back kick. And then other guys, you know, they tap into a different place. Like Carlos Condit, it wouldn't be about the game plan at that point getting ready for the big walk. It would be getting emotionally amped, hyped up, ready for battle, ready for war. So a guy like Anthony seems pretty chill though. Seems like a chill dude. So I, you know, if I was his coach, I would probably be keeping it real technical.

Like let's just keep rehearsing the steps, rehearsing the positions, rehearsing the range and go out there and execute. Don't let the big lights get to you. You know, and Alex is an intimidating guy. And not to say that Uncle Ive is gonna be intimidated, but you know, he just brings a special aura that makes you know that it's a big fight. And Alex is an intimidating guy. And not to say that Uncle Ive's going to be intimidated, but he just brings a special aura

that makes you know that it's a big fight. It's a big night. It's a big moment. Yeah, for sure. I want to pivot a little bit to some of your athletes. Thank you for the breakdowns here. I want to pivot to your athletes for a second. We recently saw Aaron Pico kind of express some frustrations

with the PFL. I was wondering if you had spoken to Aaron, if there were any updates on kind of his situation andrations with the PFL. I was wondering if you had spoken to Aaron, if there were any updates on kind of his situation and what you know of that. No big updates at this point, but I truly believe that Aaron Pico is one of the best 45ers in the world. And I want to see him proving himself

against the best specifically in the UFC. So, I as a coach, I as a friend of Aaron Pico, you know, it's been frustrating with PFL that last year, you know, Aaron came off a big win in Saudi Arabia. Last February, we've been ready prepared all year. We had multiple camps that we trained for that fell through with no explanation. So it's been a frustrating position to be in. But, you know, I just keep Aaron focused on the bigger goal, which is that one day I believe he will be a 145 pound world champion and hopefully he'll be a UFC

145 pound world champion. Yeah, I was going to ask where you want to see him next. It sounds like the UFC would be the potential move. And in the statements he made, it seemed like it's kind of that way, right? He wants to separate from the PFL and be in the UFC. Yeah, we want to be active, Eric. Aaron's one of those guys who's in his prime. He's 28 right now. I want to see Aaron fighting three times a year, if not more. And who wouldn't

want to see Aaron in there with some of the premier names at 145, like, you know, the pit bull fight that we always wanted or Yair. I mean, there's just so many great 145ers that I think Aaron is a great style matchup against. So, you know, I want to see Aaron on that big stage. He's ready for it. Yeah, absolutely. And we saw, you mentioned Pitbull.

We saw Pitbull recently signed with the UFC. He's got a big fight coming up against Yahir. How do you, like, in the position that Aaron is in, how do you keep him motivated? What is, what does that look like? Is it training as if you're waiting for a fight? Is it kind of stepping off the gas and just keeping sharp? What does that look like while you are waiting to see what the resolution is?

Yeah, it's been ebbs and flows, you know, but we stay training and sometimes, you know, I might lower down the intensity or the volume in rounds. Sometimes we have a little more time to just be creative and try out new techniques. And then other days it's keeping Aaron hungry and knowing that he's just like a top tier athlete. So still being able to push him hard,

where his body, his skillset, his mind are all happy with what's going on. So, you know, it's been a long year and I think we've had a lot of different phases and seasons throughout that. But where we're at right now, Eric is getting them primed, like ready for a call, ready for a contract.

And now let's go in there and mix it up with some of the best in the world. We saw Dana White tell ESPN yesterday that there could be a potential return of one of your other athletes, Mr. John Jones. You know, feel free if you want to right now. Do you have any big plans coming up this summer, Brandon? You know, with Bones, we're just, we're ready for the opportunity.

I mean, and if there's an opportunity, I think our team gets more prepared, readier than any other team in history. I think that's proven just like with the fact of 17 little championships, like when it comes fight night, our team finds a way to win every time. So if we get that call, great.

And you know, there's part of me too, it's like if Bones wants to ride off into the sunset, he's earned it and deserved it more than any fighter in history. So I'm brothers with John Jones for my whole life. So whether that means we get another walk, another rodeo, I'm in. If it means he rides off in the sunset. I'm in

But you know, I think there's a lot of great matchups out there for John still and and Alex Pereira being one of them Obviously everybody wants to see Tom Aspin all I Think there's some intriguing matchups left for the fans and for John himself as a martial artist But like I said, whatever whatever mr. Bones chooses man I'm riding with him 100%. I'm glad you mentioned that because Dana White also told Jim Roam that it wouldn't be it wouldn't surprise him if all of a sudden Alex Pereira with a win on Saturday was next for a potential winner between John and Tom assuming that fight gets made. If you had to choose which would you rather see or are they the same to you? Tom Aspinall, Alex Perera,

what would you rather see for John Jones? You know Eric, I never really give my input on those. I'll leave that up to the promoters and it's my job as a coach to develop a game plan and a strategy and a camp around whoever that goal is. I'll leave my personal opinion out of it. I think John matches up great against both of them. I think John gets his hand raised against both those men. And yeah, we'll see if it gets to happen, you know, if UFC comes correct with money, right, for John, that's intriguing. And you know, John, I don't feel like he has anything left

to prove in his career. I think we've kind of accomplished everything we ever stood out for, but if there's more, we'll come harder than we ever have. Yeah, either of those would be incredible. Back to this weekend, do we have an official prediction, any like serious thoughts on one way you think the main event goes?

I think Pereira just has the momentum right now. I've seen that in some of the great champions. They just, they find a way to win. They're used to the bright lights. And we've seen Ankalive struggle on some of the big nights. I think Pereira is just gonna keep doing him and maybe he gets to showcase some of the new skills. I think he's destined to go to heavyweight as well.

And he may be one of the guys that becomes the first ever triple champ. So, yeah, I'd be leaning towards Pereira to get it done. Um, I think he's a finisher and I think he, he'll find the finish in this fight. Coach Gibson, thank you so much. Um, thank you for joining us. Incredible breakdown.

And as I said earlier, one of the nicest human beings I've ever met, nicest person in the sport. Thank you for joining us Thanks so much Guys appreciate it. I have a good one Man, I love the insight there. Honestly. I really was just so curious about like what it's like in the locker room Yeah, before you go out there, I mean especially like Holly Holm Ronda Rousey. It's just like I let's just stay calm Lights are gonna be bright. Yeah, stay calm and stick to the game plan

well It's just like, all right, let's just stay calm. Lights are gonna be bright. Let's just stay calm and stick to the game plan. Well, as you said, and I was thinking about it as you were kind of saying it to him, he's been in the locker room for John Jones' title defenses. The stakes don't get bigger than the fights that he's been in the locker room for. And it's interesting to hear John Jones thinking about specific technique, Carlos Condit, a wild man thinking about, let me just get in there and scrap with somebody.

Yeah. Um, but also something that I had very much considered going into this fight, which is like, we think about the defensive wrestling that we assume Alex Pereira is going to have to do, but if he is pressuring forward, it makes it very hard for you to get in on him. As he said, he's a very big and strong man. Like all the things we know,

we know, but we want to see how they play out because he could just walk forward and then Magomed just doesn't have an opportunity to shoot. If Alex Pereira is spamming leg kicks, just completely destroying his lead leg and walking forward, like you don't, you can't really shoot. There really isn't an opportunity to do that. So will it even to come into play? I was interested, I was interested to hear coach

Gibson kind of like lean into that, that like the pressure is going to be the key in both directions. Right. So it almost feels like whoever's going to be on the front foot might be the one who's winning that fight. If Magame can actually push Alex back with his pressure and find a way to kind of get in on him, he could probably have some success. Whereas on the other side of it, if Alex is just hunting you down and walking you down and hitting those leg kicks, like there's really not much you can do at that point. Man, it feels like he's kind of thinking

what a lot of people are thinking. John Jones, maybe Alex Pereira, if it doesn't work. Yeah, look, he did say, you know, Alex Pereira's name and I was going to go there, but he mentioned it. And for, you know, I, I've been on the record on this.

I don't think this is a controversial take, but maybe it will be for some. Alex Perra versus John Jones is a bigger fight. You have been on record saying this. Then Tom versus John. Well, I agree from a eyeball standpoint it is, uh, but I still, I do still stand firm on the hospital. I would rather see Tom versus John because I, that fight matters more. That fight is more important.

Uh, Tom is, deserves to be the heavyweight champion if he can beat John Jones. He has deserved that for a while. Star power though, like if Alex Pereira walks down a street in any country in the world, he's going to be mobbed and we've seen it. Like he's just in Korea and it's just like, he can't go anywhere.

Yeah. I don't think Tom Aspinall has that same Q rating. I don't think he has that same thing, but what he does have is what I think is like an incredible heavyweight skillset that I would love to see tested against John Jones. So I would rather see that, but it is not, it is not crazy for the UFC to go, man, our biggest star, Alex Pereira versus the goat of the sport, John Jones.

Like that is a mega, mega, mega fight. Well, we're not the only ones thinking. I mean, Dana White told Jim Rome yesterday when he was on this press junket. That. Like that is a mega, mega, mega fight. Well, we're not the only ones thinking that. I mean, Dana White told Jim Rome yesterday when he was on this press junket. That's a potential option as an opponent there. I think it would be fascinating stuff. Yeah, there's no doubt the Pereira could fight the winner.

And by the way, months ago, this was, when asked about that potential, this was Dana White saying, I don't really love that. The more we've worked through the show, I think win or lose, I think it's just like- Heavyweight. Heavyweight. 100%. Roll up the heavyweight.

Now, win and maybe it's title fight. If you lose, I think he takes a different fight at heavyweight, the same way he did when he worked his way up light heavyweight. He took a fight, a few fights, and then got to the title. Or one fight? It was the yawn. It was yawn fight and then title.

I remember 295 came together pretty abruptly. Okay. I can't remember who was the holding champion at the time. Was it Jamal? Jamal had just vacated, I think was the situation. Yeah. But I would see a similar path. You lose, you go up and you get one.

If you win, I think you almost have to roll the dice and just let them fight the winner. You let them fight the winner of John and Tom. Knocking on wood that that one gets made and hopefully coach Gibson has something to do this summer with John Jones. That'd be incredible. John gives us the Aspenall fight and then if he

wins the Pereira fight and then bounces, it's just like, peace man. It's Lebron. You truly did all you needed to do. It really would be Lebron. It would be, you're in year 22 just still putting up the numbers. While we're on the subject of other potentials for Pereira,

with the TKO boxing deal getting made yesterday, this feels like a door is actually open to Alex Pereira fighting Oleksandar Usyk. Like we discussed it briefly on the El Hauwani show, but like the fact that Oleksandar Usyk was like, yep, I want to fight Dubois and then Alex Pereira. And it's like, wait, what was that?

You want to fight maybe a show fight with Alex Pereira? Maybe. Why not? It's just like, that just feels so random. From a guy who's classically like never kind of called people out. From a guy who doesn't like really throw

random things out there. It was a very bizarre thing. And now, as Ariel said when we were talking about it on the show, maybe he knew something, right? Maybe he was alluding to something that we weren't familiar with yet. Because you have to imagine that A lot of the top boxers know

The TKO boxing thing was kind of like in the works like it wasn't it wasn't like some very well-kept secret This is this has kind of been talked about then Shapiro comes out and says it pretty plainly Dana White and Turkey now announced it but then also Dana White was just like, yeah, we'll announce a date when we're ready. And Turkey was just like September 12th. And then yesterday, Pereira was like, how does September 12th against Oleksandar Usyk sound? Yeah, we have that quote when he was at UFC Media Day

for 313. He said, I was happy when I heard the news. Who knows? September, Saudi Arabia, Shama. By the way, the two of them, it's kind of just like. Who knows September in Saudi Arabia, I'll see you guys then. They just so like nonchalant about like the biggest fight

that could possibly be, and it's like, yeah, could be, maybe, whatever, okay. Like they just don't, they don't seem to like get up for anything, which is kind of their appeal. They're just these like extremely stone cold killers. It feels real. It feels like it could actually happen. It feels more real than it ever has

with the addition of TKO Boxing. The fact that- Is that official name by the way? No, I don't think so. We don't have an official name yet. We're calling it TKO Boxing, but I just feel like there's never, like I don't think this even would have been something

Dana White would even like respond to. Like he would laugh at this and be like, don't ask me stupid questions in the past. This now feels like the dawning of a new era where like the idea of boxing crossover is here and can be happening. And a guy like Alex, like who's more perfect than Alex Pereira to fight?

Now, do I think he stands a chance at a boxing match? All right, so I was just about to ask that. No, what is Zusek lined at? Like minus 2,000 in that, minus 1,000. Like he's going to be a massive favorite. Like so if this doesn't- But I've made this mistake before. Yeah.

With Francis Aguinaldo and Joseph Perry. Yeah, me too, me too. I've made this mistake before. Yeah, I guess in like the stopping power. I just guess like how many times can an MMA guy, an MMA superstar go over to boxing and lose before we're just like, we've seen this a million times. But here's what's so special and magical

about Alex Pereira is like, in what he's been able to do, he makes you believe. Yeah. He has this ability to like, just make you believe that anything is possible because he has willed things into existence, right? Is like it can't be stated enough we have we have to rewind the tape a little bit and we've been raving and gushing about Alex Prairie all show but He was a two division kickboxing champion two weights. Yeah beating some of the best guys like

Artem Vakitov is, is this of kick, like this level of kickboxing. And it could have just been his career and he would have been one of the best kickboxers ever. But he's waiting and sees Israel Adesina's success in the UFC and just goes, yeah, I'll try it. Like that's, that's a good path.

Why don't we see if we can make some money doing it. Gets a few fights in, gets to the UFC and just goes, yeah, I'll try it. Like that's a good path. Why don't we see if we can make some money doing it? Gets a few fights in, gets to the UFC, and then just makes this magical run. Like it's almost like, you can't write a movie that like would do that. It's the equivalent of just like, you're some guy who had some college success playing basketball, but really never thought

about the league and then all of a sudden you're on the Lakers and you're the best player in the league. Like it's just crazy what he was able to do in that time. It truly is. So I guess, yeah, that would be the thing. A belief factor in it. So if you see somebody do that, it becomes a lot easier for your brain to be like,

yeah, well shit, this guy was on the bench seven years ago and now all of a sudden he's the best player on the Lakers. Like, yeah, maybe he could be the best player in baseball too, who the hell knows? Because he has done what seemingly is impossible for everybody else and so. Do you think the chance of that fight gets hurt at all if we lose Maga Manon, if he loses to Maga Manon?

No, because I think Alex Perera is above wins and losses as we've seen with like the Israel-Hasana loss. Like, if there is a focus, if there is a way, honestly, it depends actually. If he loses to Magomed because Magomed's a superior grappler, I think he can very easily go, shit, why don't you box? That'd be great.

He's one of the best kickboxers of all time in terms of accolades. Obviously, I think there'll be some debate from the more hardcore striking arts fans who would say like you know maybe wasn't the the creme de la creme but the accolades that he achieved in glory speak to an incredible resume take the take the grappling out of it and let's see what he can do I don't I don't think it would take a hurt at all it take a hit at all because I think you can sell Alex Pereira as like much more dangerous the same way

Francis right like the the Francis versus Tyson Fury fight is sold on unworldly power, not the fact that he's an MMA fighter, you know? Yeah. All right, let's jump back to this weekend, a couple more fights to get into before we finish out the show. Bruno Fajeda versus Armin Petrosian.

I am quite excited for this one just because we've seen Petrosian just in his last fight get cracked. Bruno Fajera cracks chins. I think this is either gonna be a high-level striking match that goes 15 minutes, or Fajera's gonna chin Armand Petrosian. I think those are the two options we got. I'm down.

I think both of us in that last fight were looking like, oh yeah, Armand's doing pretty good against Shara Bullitt here, like this is looking like it's going his way, and then unfortunately he hit the spinning back, double back fist? What was it? Yeah. That was the double spinning back.

But yeah, I think that's right. Alex Morono, Carlos Leal, Leal made his UFC debut back at UFC 308 against Renat Fokhrudinov, got robbed blind in my opinion in that one. Yeah, a lot of people were upset. Now he gets Alex Morono, who's on the tail end of his career. He's a minus 700. I'm sorry, what?

Dude's 0-1 in the UFC minus 700 against Alex Morono. I feel stupid. Minus 800, minus 800 now, Alex Morono plus 550. I think he's going to win, but man that feels steep. Yeah, and like it feels like if he was going to be that big of a favorite, he would be live to finish him because Alex Morano can hang around and fights fight not to go is only minus 180.

Under two and a half is minus one 14. Like it just feels like if you're going to be a minus 800, you need to blast them out of the park. That that's a fight that could get close after, if, if Alex Morano hangs around in it. Yeah. I, I, I think we all was going to win this fight,

but man that minus 800 is insane to me. I still, man, this is just a pass. I did not a dogger pass, but like, I would understand that somebody just blindly threw money on a Morano here. Great white. Yeah. Best during shark week, but, uh, you know,

45, 50. He's a long time vet, like, and, and as you said, like a tough guy, like a guy who's like hung in there and tough to finish. So yeah, I don't, I don't know about that, but I think we all will win. Uh, last one we got an addition of Chris Gutierrez. He was supposed to fight Matsumoto. Matsumoto got booked for the Rob Fomb fight. So now we get Chris Gutierrez versus John Castaneda.

Uh, I think this is just a great fight. Just two dudes who can scrap. I think it's, I think John Castaneda would be wise to go to the wrestling here I don't think he should try and stand and trade with Gutierrez but I think this is another fight that like adds some depth to this card that could be sneaky good yeah we've seen what those Gutierrez leg kicks can do like that's a dude you don't want to be standing too long against great fight look top to bottom pretty damn solid card it's pretty damn solid card. Pretty damn solid card.

It's solid, man. It really is. Marion Santos, Francis Marshall is okay. Ozzy Diaz, Jordan Santos is okay as well. And then we talked about the rest of them, man. It's a nice 12 fight offering. Obviously, Main Event is gonna be the big business. Coal Main is gonna be incredibly exciting.

Could have been better with the hooker, but what are you gonna do? And then I think Jalen Turner, Ignacio Bahamondes, has all the meanings of a war. So yeah, man, I'm looking forward to 313. I think it's going to be a very solid card. Agreed. I'm very excited about it, and as I said,

my excitement kind of continues to grow for this one. Yeah, by the time Saturday rolls around, I will be hype, and by the time Alex Pereira is making his walk, doing the bow and arrow and everything like that, I'm gonna be on 10. I can assure you that. And so because of Alex Pereira fighting in the main event this weekend, uh, me, Rick, the boys hopped in the Winnebago and took our asses down to a proper

churrascaria, a Brazilian steakhouse, uh, and did fight feast episode 18. Enjoy. Zill is the beautiful home of Churrasqueria, serving up meats, Rodicio style on the daily, but it's also the home to the politan, Alex Pereira, who looks to defend his belt at UFC 313 against Magomed Onkalibe. So in honor of the man with stone hands,

we are at Churrasqueria Plataforma in Midtown Manhattan. I got my loosest pants on, baby. I'm ready to eat. Table for two! Fight feast episode 18. Shama. Ah! All right, we start with a Caprinha,

the official cocktail of Brazil. It's made with cachaça, I believe is how you pronounce it, which is a Brazilian distilled sugarcane liquor. This is all coming right off the dome. And then it's muddled with lime and sugar together and then you add the cachaça and you add ice. Thank God it's finally fucking March. We got through February a nice refreshing springtime drink.

It's just that nice refreshing springtime drink. It's just that nice and strong, stiff, drinking a couple of these by the water. All right, here we go, caprinos for the boys, baby. It's good? Chamomile. Chamomile and chamomile? Chamomile. Chamomile.

That's the rating scale for today, one to five chamomiles. Just get a quick look at Frankie. This is how's in his salad and coffee. If it had shrimp cocktail, he'd be eating it, I promise you. Do you? Do you have shrimp cocktail? Brazilian cheese bread, powder de queijo.

I've had this a million times. There's nothing to dislike about this. All right, more dough with cheese in it, pastelinos, these are like mini empanadas filled with cheese. This looks right up my alley. The Paldi Quechua has been downgraded to four shamans, the pastelinos is five. This is just like a better version of the Paldi Quechua.

Listen to the crunch. Here we go. Early today we've already lost the magnet prank. Never mind, I got it. Let's check out the buffet. I'm gonna say something big grape leaf guy. already lost the magnet prank. Never mind I got it. Let's check out the buffet huh? I'm gonna say something big grape leaf guy. Is this the official food of Fight Feast? Motherfucking beets in the house. Gonna have to have a couple of those. Let's get some fajita, rice. Just a touch of the greens, just a touch of the greens. Bread crumbs, gotta have the bread crumbs but first we're gonna get the

bean and sausage stew. Yeah, get the feijoita. Mandarin oranges go with it. The greens, do you mix it all? Like, you gotta have the classic bread crumbs with it. Do you put it on top or on the side? I'm fucking clueless, I'm out of my depth, dude. We're gonna go on top. All right, feijoita, Brazilian black bean stew.

I never know how to do it right. The ingredients are essentially rice, greens, black bean and meat, bread crumbs. Mandarin oranges are supposed to do it right. The ingredients are essentially rice, greens, black bean and meat, breadcrumbs, mandarin oranges are supposed to be here too. I don't know how to assemble it. I feel like I did it wrong last time. We'll find out if I did it wrong again. Mm.

Nothing I did right this time. No, this is great. No five shamamas or anything. Where's shamas? Shama! Better than the last one. Alright boys, start your fucking engines. Gotta take the jacket off. Meat sweats are coming. Are you ready for the meat?

Oh, we're ready for the meats, brother. Born ready. Ready for the meat, my brother. Time for the meat. We flipped it to green. We lose the wash. L for the meat my brother. Time for the meat. We flipped it to green. We lose the watch. Lose the bracelet. Meat sweats in coming. Let's get the sweat bands going. Ready. Let's get the man over here ready to go. I lost my fork. Now we're ready to go. How's the sauces? It's hot. It's hot. It wouldn't be a fight feast anymore, saying how hot it is. Whoa, that's hot.

Did you think the second one was gonna be ice cold? Oh, it might be manageable. Skin on the chicken became crispy. That's great. Sausage is better. Chicken's great. Sausage, I'm going three and a half shamans. Chicken, I'm going three.

Shamans! Yeah, pork loin with Parmesan cheese. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much, man. It's flying fast now, people. Keep your head on a swivel, folks. How's it going, man? Whew, what am I looking at here?

This, cut you there? Yeah, this is good, this is good, man. Thank you so much. Oh, thanks. What kind of meat is this? That's a top sirloin. Top sirloin. We call it Portuguese vegania.

We got pork loin with parmesan cheese. Pork loin, tremendous. Parmesan cheese comes out beautifully. Wow. All right, the pork loin, parmesan cheese, I'm giving that one three and a half. What kind of meat is this? Lamb. Thank you so much, man.

I'm going to be totally honest there. I asked him what meat it was twice. I didn't hear him. I was just too scared. Lamb, lamb, lamb. Let's see, this is the top sirloin, little bit of fat on there, pink is all get out. Look at that pink right there,

I want his worst nightmare. One more bite of the top sirloin. Top sirloin, two and a half shamas. Onto the lamb, Huge fan of lamb. A lot of pressure here. Lamb's my favorite so far. Lamb's getting four shawmas. Mine was pretty juicy, pretty fatty.

I think it was like fattier than yours. That's a solid three and a half shawmas. Three and a half shawmas on the sirloin. I'm also a lamb guy. Big lamb guy's here. I like the lamb. I like the sirloin better. So we're gonna go three and a half.

Shama! Three and a half. All right. I don't like the pork. One shama. Shama! I don't even wanna swallow this right now. You don't have to, man.

How we doing? Anybody getting full yet? Taking a break from the meat for a second, taking a breather, getting some sides. Fried polenta, early review from New York, Rick. And I quote, this polenta ain't bad. That gives me a good feeling about this. Here we go. This polenta ain't bad.'" That gives me a good feeling about this, here we go.

This polenta ain't bad. My intimacy coordinator has ordered an intimate crunch. (*crunching*) Here we go, fried plantains, bananas, latinos, fried bananas. Oh, these are actually fried bananas These are not bananas Right out of my alley, I love bananas

So fried banana, those are 3 stars 3 shamans, 3 shamans, fuck, fuck, fuck 3 shamans If frying makes things better, I already like bananas, it's better All good, thank you so much man Wooo, yeah garlic steak Sign me up Alright, here we go, garlic steak.

Frank said it looked like a cat, but we'll be the judge of that. This actually might be the best one yet. I'm all good, thank you so much, man. Yeah, garlic steak. Close your eyes, I want it. Three and a half chamas from both of us. No meats have gotten the four chamas yet.

I may have given the lamb four chamas. The appetizers were better so far? Appetizers were better so far. Brazil is located in South America. Do you know the adult female banana has three vegettes. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Ready?

Yes sir, thank you. You know Alex Pereira? No. No, Sean. I mean, this right here is just like not cooked meat. Let's just like, let's go. Flank steak. Seasoned well.

Yeah. Very salty, pretty good. Three shamas. Shama. Three and a half shamas. Shama. Solid. Everything's kind of been here. Nothing's really like.

Nothing has broken through to the four, four and a half, five shamans. Run out of real estate here in the old stomach. Frankie recommended the old trip to the commode, make room for more. It's of that move. It's of that move, Frankie. Smaller fucker started this meal

with a 20 ounce cup of Joe. The blackest coffee you've ever had in your life. Clutch of Pearls, Elani. I mean, this is like, this is like blue rare. This part right here, there's no chance it touched even a centimeter of the grill. This is, this is raw. Is that a?

I thought I saw a heartbeat for a second. We'll not be eating that. The bridesmaids moment, as our cameraman said. I'm shitting in the street. Have we had everything? Dessert time. in the street. Have we had everything? Dessert time.

Wow, you ate it. Two, two jellies. Shut up, damn. Desserts, we got the Brigadero, Brazilian chocolate truffles, we got passion fruit mousse, also Brazilian. We got lime cake. There's been some conspiracies thrown around

that this is actually lemon cake because of the color yellow, but waiter insists that it's lime and then we got creme brulee with the Frank Crater taking out of it just right in the middle like some kind of animal. I'll start with Frank's two-shama creme brulee. Two-shamas is disrespectful, that's three-shama. Alright here we go, lime cake. Texture on this is nutty smooth creamy definitely lemon. What is that lime? I think it might actually be lime. Powdered sugar on top

fantastic. Four chamois. I meant nutty as in modern slang for crazy. Yeah keep up with the times there Frankie. Passion fruit mousse, maraschino cherry on top, puddle of passion fruit something, mousse. Here we go. Whoa Wow Little too tart for my taste. Oh a little too tart for my taste Two chamas. Then the brigadeiro chocolate truffles a Brazilian classic. These are heavy. These are beautiful Brazilian classic. These are heavy, these are beautiful. Yeah, just like the creamiest texture you can imagine

covered in chocolate sprinkles. I did not expect it to look that way. Rick did not think it was gonna look like this. He says it looks incredible. It's nuts. I can't believe it's that thick and creamy. Then putting down an order of three is absolutely asinine.

You can only eat one of these. This is like the richest, thickest, like it's just a ball, like the densest chocolate you've ever had. I honestly can't believe that this is a thing. Brigadero, shout out. This is the five for sure. I thought we were gonna walk out of here with no five shamans from Rick. We did it, Brigadero. I cannot believe that they would decided like we're gonna give you this ball of dense thick chocolate, wrap it with some

Sprinkles who could eat this who could eat three of these five easy five Chalmers I go four point five Chalmers. Chalmer delicious number one dessert Number one dessert though and blue rare the heart still beatin place takes her to fight back. Yeah, what do you think man? Chalmer? All right, Chalmers shuffle outside the Chiraz Carrillo. Chiraz Carrillo in the books. My official rating, 3.2 Shamas out of five. Frankie, what's your rating? 2.8.

2.8, okay. You fucking hated it, huh? Ricky, what do you got, what do you got? 3.5. 3.5, we're going with the highest. We're completely out of sync now. Chiraz Carrillo, UFC 313. Alex Pereira of Maga Madangalive, can't wait. Shama, Shama, Shama, Shama no Shama. Yeah, they're like, they're like doing a little twist.

Is that locked? Food's at the delivery room in the door. Am I tripping? I'm doing something wrong, right? Yeah. Damn it. Alright, we were going to eat at the Brazilian Steakhouse, but it turns out it's on fire. Yeah, there's one fire truck. Looks like we got another one on the way. Update on the fire, not at the Tarasqueria. It's just the apartment next door, so we're good.

Let's eat. Hello. Hello! I'm on a show. That's just my station. That was a lot of fun. Yeah, that was, man. That was a lot of fun. The Brazilian steakhouse. I enjoyed myself. Frank did not enjoy himself. No. Hey, it was about the company, you know, more than the food. I mean, it was a lot of fun.

I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun.

I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of fun. Yeah, that was. And the Brazilian steakhouse, I enjoyed myself. Frank did not enjoy himself. No. Hey, it was about the company, you know,

more than the food. I got to a five. You really hated it. You got to a five with the freaking arrow. But I think we were all kind of like, like it just, it didn't hit that like high that I was looking for. I'm not gonna lie, and I hate to say this,

because like that, all the people are so great there That was probably the 12th or 13th Brazilian steakhouse. I've been so probably been a dozen. I've probably been a dozen times. I Almost feel like each time I go. I like it a little bit less is it possible just actually getting worse each time maybe because Inflation prices going up. Maybe. Because inflation, price is going up, maybe the, maybe the price stays the same, but the, all right, we gotta. The stone head stays. Um, maybe the price is

going up, but the quality of the meat is going down because I, like you have had that experience with one exception. And that exception is I went to Brazil and had a chur one exception. And that exception is I went to Brazil and had a terrascarita and that was a life changing type thing. Uh, I did not have a Brigadero. I wish I did because those are incredible. I bet in Brazil, it was probably off the chain.

So I've mentioned my book club a couple of times. Yeah. Uh, one of my neighbors is from Brazil, like speaks Portuguese, uh, born and raised, and she brings snacks to the book club and she brings like pasta lice, she brought brigadeiro last time, and I was just like, oh brigadeiro, and she's like, you know what that is? I'm like, shut up, my beast. But yeah, they're

incredible every time. Let her know that you have a friend who would love to sample her. She's made the pão de cacio, the cheese bread. Appetizers were good too. Appetizers and desserts were great. Yeah. Salad bar was great.

The meat was pretty good. It was right down the middle. If you wanna go and just go in, I mean, you can do that because they do not stop. When they see that green coaster go up, it's go time. It is flying. There were a few times mid-filming where you'd be like, yeah, so, and you're starting to tee it up,

and then a guy would just be standing there with a rack and be like, you want some of this? Because it was green. He's just like a salt in here. I was like, bro, I've already had this. He's just like, I don't know. I don't keep track of your life, man. Shit, do you want it or not?

Do you want another piece of pork loin or what? I see the green. I see the fucking green. I enjoyed it though. Shout out to Tarasqueria. A very fun place to go. There were a couple families in there that seemed to be having a good time.

One dude just solo, just doloing out at the Tarasqueria. That's a wild move. Savage move. Savage move. There's no shade. No, I'm not saying shade, I'm just saying. Pulling up to the Tarasqueria for the, I'm just saying. I'm throwing shade. Like pulling up to the Churroscaria for the Dolos shot is wild. I'm throwing shade.

We were talking about this in the control room. Going to a buffet or going to Churroscaria by yourself, I can't abide. Vegas is the exception. It's business. Vegas is the exception. That's business. That's a business trip, bro. You're not even going for the enjoyment.

If you go to like a buffet in Vegas, that's different because that's just like one of the places that you can find in the casinos to eat. But like if you're home and you just go to the buffet or go to the Tarascaria, like that's, yeah, as you said, that's a business trip. That's not food anymore. I'm there to eat. I'm there to eat. All right, let's do the bets and pound for pound before we get out. Let's recap last week, slight losing week for me. I started out 0-3 on the evening on my singles. Props continue to be my issue, so I'm gonna stay away from props.

All right. 0-2 on props. I said it last week, I was like, man, on this betmmad.tips, great third party tracking website, it tracks single plays, props, and parlays. Singles and parlays, I'm up like 75 units on props, I'm down like 22 or something. Oh wow. So it's like, yeah, let's stay away from the props,

and that's exactly what we're gonna do this week. Slight loss, 1.31 units, a nice little comeback after a rough start, apex cards, you always try to kind of go light on. So that is what it is, you know? We're gonna bounce back and we're gonna win this week. Before we get to that, I do have some big hitters that I would like to shout out.

Um, first up our man. Been following him for a while, studying the game, lock of the week, JT lines. He actually goes to the APEX, these APEX events, uh, bet $3,800 on Cody Brundage, minus 110 to collect $7,254.55. Got to watch him in person, see all the hundos laid out, and then he got a selfie with Brundage afterward.

Shout out, I don't know if they're just boys, and that's what it was, but that's a good night. It's a pretty penny on it. That's a good night, it's gotta feel cool rolling up into the casino and be like, yeah, I'll take my 7,500 whenever you're ready. It's a pretty penny on it. That's a good night, it's gotta feel cool rolling up into the casino and be like, yeah, I'll take my 70 500 whenever you're ready. Let's keep it rolling though. Oh, Smeez 38, a couple of unreal tickets here.

Turns $5 into $1,344. He goes Chepe Mariscal by decision plus 240. Danny Silva by decision plus 187. Nasrat Hakpros by decision plus 240. Danny Silva by decision plus 187. Nasrat Hakpras by decision plus 400. Haider Emile by decision plus 450, turns $5 into $1344. I mean if you just do the math on that, that is something like plus 20 something thousand. I didn't do the odds on it, but he also hit a Sam Patterson money line, Heidermil money line, Nasroth money line,

Cody Brundage money line, Manel Cop money line, turned $9 into 680. Shout out to Smeez. Shout out to Smeez38. We keep rolling along. Bless you. Oh yeah. PJSK7.

This is 15 legs combining NBA, there's a JJ Aldrick bet in there. I see a Chepay Mariscal. I see a Manilop, Manilop, Manilop cop to start fight round two. Uh, Damien Lillard over 24 and a half points. Like this is like, people call me a degenerate because I throw five bucks on a NASCAR race. This is like some degenerate ass shit and it works out. degenerate because I throw five bucks on a NASCAR race. This is like some degenerate ass shit and it works out.

80. 4,000. 81 to one, I believe are the odds on this. If I'm not mistaken, turns a $50 stake into $4,107.39. Wow. 81 to one on that 15 legs. Was Menel Cop the last leg? Cause if it was like, holy shit,

what a sweat that was for those five minutes. This is like, JJ Aldrich getting thrown in there is wild work. Imagine Manel Cop gets de-cued and you're holding this ticket, holy shit. I'll fight to start round two though, so it would have been all right. Oh, okay.

Oh, no, oh yeah, because I guess in round two is when that happened, yeah. Let's keep it rolling, I got two more to shout out here. Gabby Gambles, another insane one, plus 4,600 on this, $20 and a 925. Hydramil by decision, Nasrat by decision, over 14 and a half total significant strikes for Cody Brundage.

Absolutely insane work by him. Shout out to Gabby Gambles. And then last but not least, Mr. Electrocute. We used to shout him out during the MMA Hour days, hit a round robin, hit every leg, 450 Canadian dollars into 9,314 Canadian dollars and he just round robined Cody Brundage over 25 significant strikes, Cody Brundage over 35

significant strikes, Cody Brundage over 40 significant strikes. When Cody Brundage was like up against the wall getting teed off on, he must've been like, no, no, Cody, stay alive. And he did, he did just that. And then he did all the Heider and Neal once as well. So shout out to the big hitters, man.

Glad to show some people some love for some winning bets. Lord knows that I didn't hit any of those last week, but shout out. I don't have the intestinal fortitude for these like big parlays where they're picking like over fortitude, like I just, my leans or my, like I never feel that strongly about more than like one or two things

to the point that I'm like throwing them together. God, shout out to these people. For those, I like tailing them. I like someone to tell me what to bet and I tail it. And you're just like, I have faith in your read. Let me do it. I got faith in you. I like it. Shout out to just like, I have faith in your read. Let me do it. I got faith in you. I like it.

Shout out to Jay Singh. All right, let's rip parlay pals. I've already got the pick from one pizza carrot. But how'd we do? We lost, we lost again. We touched on that on Monday. We have now lost eight straight folks. Count them, eight straight.

The longest losing streak we've ever had is nine straight. Was it pizza? Could we tie that this week? Who was it this week? I think it was pizza. It was one mysterious Frank. Mysterious Frank has been getting all this love and praise. He never misses any picks.

Given a long enough timeline, also wanted to stand in solidarity with Pizzi. Yeah, yeah, I get that. During this streak though, Frank, me and you are both seven and one during the eight. Just saying, you know. Just saying. Gotta give back a little bit to show that, you know,

it's not Completely incapable. Yeah failing. Well PT is taking one Curtis blades against the debut in Cuneve So we have that in the can minus 325. Let me throw it into the randomizer Okay, Rick is actually gonna go first I'll go second Frank will go third easy I expressed my love for this person earlier in the show, Josh Van Moneyline. Oh, the Stan! Josh Van Stan, that's me. The Stan, okay. I'm a Josh Van Stan.

Josh Van is the pick. You see it right there, you see it right here. Oh! Didn't go to the Brazilian steakhouse and eat my weight in various meats. I mean, I had chicken, I had pork, I had beef, I had lamb, I had pretty much any animal they were offering.

I didn't do all that to go and bet on Magomed on Kaleiyev. So Alex Pereira is my pick, minus 115. And to bring us home, I'm going of King Green, the money line. Ah! Gonna take that loss from last week and turn it into a WWW win. Plus 350!

Plus 350 on King green Frank Are we are we in the red if we lose this or already in the red? We're down 0.4 or 5 units and we are on pace. This would tie our longest losing We're gonna be in the green. I won't stand for this be a green. Yes. We're gonna be in the green We're gonna go from the red, skipping black straight to the green, the King Green, we're gonna get it done. If you don't believe me, then don't take the part of the day. But- Okay, I have to say,

Frank loves King Green, he's always been a diehard King Green fan. He called the knockout against Grant Dawson at like plus 375, he was like, yeah, I'll take a minus 375. And we're like, dude, he's plus 375, he's like, yeah, I'll take a minus 375. And we're like, dude, he's plus 375. He's just like, I'll take a minus. I kept him at minus 400, so this works.

And now since then he's gone one and two and now he again get King grain plus 350. Okay, let me just say, and I'm having. Oh, there it is. Plus 1611, plus 1611. We'd be way out of the red if this one hits. I'm having flashbacks because I think we also tried to like semi-talk him out of doing it,

but not really talk him out of doing it, and then it hit and we were like, holy shit, I think we're in the same spot. So I'm hoping the good juju comes our way. And shout out to King Green, get to dog. All right, if we lose this week, a new rule, you have to take a minus 500 or worse next week. The four legs need to be minus money

if we lose this one as well. Four legs minus money. Shout out to the Parlay Pals, I guess. Eight straight losses. Shout out to what? Shout out to fucking losing. Champions of what? Literally.

Everyone likes a comeback story. We're just on the upswing. Well, remember when we lost nine straight at the end of our era We went on a run of like 11 and one or something after yeah So we got very much back in the green, but I don't know back in the green. I love it It's become already every day vernacular. Shout out to King green. All right. Let me rip through my bets. No props. No parlays I actually just have six straight money lines for this one.

We start. No parlay's, which is kind of rare for me. Just didn't really love any of the props and like the lines are all like kind of playable. Jordan Santos. Yeah, I just like the youth. I like the cardio. I like the striking.

I don't really rate Ozzy Diaz that much. I'm just higher on Jordan on Jordan Santos, uh, getting this one done. So I will be backing him in the curtain jerker of the night. I think he can mix in the wrestling. Uh, I think he has better durability. We've seen Diaz been put out on several occasions. So Jordan Santos is the play we roll along to the second fight of the night. We're going to know quickly if we're going to have a good night or not.

John Castaneda, Moneyline, uh, just had the dog odds and with just like such a clear path to victory like Johnny Boy. Let's just wrestle. No need to to get in the leg kicks. No need to try and strike with Chris Gutierrez. Let's just let's just go for the wrestling. You're obviously at a size disadvantage. You have the advantage on the ground. Castaneda man. Let's uh let's wrestle. Next up, Armin Petrosian. I'm gonna take him because I don't think he gets his chin cracked in this one. I think the double spinning backfist would catch anyone off guard. He was winning that fight. He was staying very competitive. He wasn't winning it against Bullitt and I rate Bullitt higher than Bruno Fajera. I think if he avoids the

power shot, he gets this one done and wins the decision. Next up, man, you almost talked me off of this with the Jalen Turner hype, but I'm actually going with Ignacio Bahamondes. I rate the striking, I think the volume can be there. He can also crack just like Jalen Turner can. I think this is gonna be a war. But the younger, not by a ton guy, and also the tallest man Jalen Turner will have fought,

I am going to go with Ignacio Bahamondes. I think he continues his winning ways and gets this one done. To the co-main event, I couldn't resist the dog odds. We talked about it. If it was Fiziv plus 145 I'd probably be betting on him, but the fact that Justin Gaethje already has a win over him, albeit a very close fight. You got Fiziv coming in on short notice. I know he stays ready, but he still is coming in on short notice. Justin Gaethje was preparing through a full camp for one day in Hooker. I don't think the game plan changes much for Gaethje in this one. I think he'll be primed and ready. Faziv coming back from the ACL tear. Just a lot of question marks and you're getting

Justin Gaethje as a dog. A lot of smart people. A lot of smart people I know are on Faziv. I will be going the opposite way of the smart people and be going with Justin Gaethje and I'll be doing the same thing in the main event. Some of the sharpest people I know hammering Magomed Onkaleyev. Not me. Not me. I will be sticking and standing with Alex Pereira and hopefully Alex Pereira stays standing because if he stays standing, I very much like him in this matchup. So Alex Pereira is the bet.

Those are the six bets. Alex Pereira money line minus 110, Justin Gaethje money line plus 145. Ignacio Bahamondis money line minus 115. Armand Petrosian money line minus 135. John Castaneda money line plus 105. And Jordan Santos money line minus 180. I love it. Those are the picks for UFC 313, which you can watch with us right here. Watch us sweat out the bets, watch us watch the tactical war between Magomed Ankalev and Alex Paheda on Saturday night, right here on this very YouTube channel, which will kick off at 9 45 Eastern, 8 45 Central.

6 45 in the West. 2 45 London. It's 12 o'clock somewhere. 2 45 A London? 645 in the West. 245 London. No. It's 12 o'clock somewhere. 245A London? No, because, oh is it? 245A Blanche? Yeah, you're right, you're right, you're right.

It is 245, wow, holy shit. 445P Hawaiian time. Yeah. Daylight savings time this weekend, shout out. Shout out to daylight savings time. Spring forward, not fall back. Cannot wait, cannot wait for that one. All right, that leads us to the last segment of the day.

Let's close this one out on a pay-per-view fight week with pound for pound rankings. It actually isn't inspired by the pay-per-view, though I guess it could because Alex Pereira has been the best at this over recent years in the UFC, but honestly, it's the smacking of the egg with Chris E recent years in the UFC, but honestly it's the smacking of the egg with Chris Eubank and Connor Ben, the smacking of the pancake with KSI and Dylan Dennis, pseudo inspired by Hellwani being like best press

conferences, we kind of branched off from that. We will be going with pound for pound best face-offs that we have seen throughout the years. Oxborough obviously been in a lot of those good ones, especially when he's got the pain on. So pound for pound, best face-offs, top five, gotta list them out. Frankie, what's the order? Jordan, lead us. The order is, Jordan lead us.

Frank will take it first. Okay. Then we will go to Eric Jackman. Okay, Eric Jackman. And we'll finish with GC. Why is this so, what is this? All right, Frank, I'm excited to hear this one. So look, we're doing the face-offs.

I'm not going to lie. I don't have the same recollection of all the different face-offs in combat sports than you guys did. But I tried. But I also just kind of did word association of what I think of when I think of a face-off. So to start us off at my number five,

I actually have Microsoft v. Apple or more importantly Steve Jobs Bill Gates What is this look at these two guys sitting on an Ames chair from like the 50s? Bill got a pill gobs bill I should note that in this picture that we're showing on the screen one guy is literally in Bill Gates not looking at the other person I'm not looking at a soft not looking at Steve Jobs is also barefoot he's been relegated to sitting on the ottoman like Steve is sitting on the actual chair these guys hated each other though shut up through the late 70s throughout the 80s they always tried to save face like I think this was probably an attempt to

say like oh these guys actually like each other they're both you know from the Silicon Valley they love each other absolutely hated each other till till the end I bet To be honest I bet Bill Gates still hates Steve Jobs even though he's no longer with us. He's like yeah I hate that guy okay coming in at number four the movie face-off I Mean look at this poster alone not looking at each other not looking at each other because during the face-off it's all about the pageantry of the people that are going to be watching the

The do they face off in this movie or do I take their faces off they do both? I strongly believe that the name of this movie was Like the concept of the movie was made after the name of the movie had been done This is one of the all-time say the name of the movie in the movie, right? I still feel like when they were doing the pitches in Hollywood. They're like I was having movie called face-off We'll have two great actors like okay. Well, what should it be about and then someone's like I got it Is that Nick Cajon? That's Nick cage and John Travolta But I can't tell you who's who right here because there is a part where they surgically remove their faces and swap them so wow for all I know that's actually John Travolta on the right you should see this movie

I'll take my national treasure Nick Cage they literally like the concept of this movie is they switch faces, but like The bodies don't like John Travolta's body is still walking around and Nick Cage's body is still walking around There is no there is no Special effects like done to this it's it's a Their voices stay exactly the same it's the voices, but they don't explain the super healing. There's no scars Nobody is ever like something feels a little off about you. They're like it to the point So their respective families and just pretend like nothing happened. Yeah, he goes with the wife.

If they did this movie today, it would be laughed out of a theater because of the lack of like, oh, that's just John Travolta. They didn't do anything. They didn't switch the faces at all. Now they would CGI. They'd do like, The aging stuff and it would look so creepy.

It sounds like if I watch it now, I'd be like, wow, this is stupid. It's still kind of like good. It's dumb good. I was it now, I'd be like, wow, this is stupid. It's still kind of like good. It's dumb good. Alright, what's your three, Frank? Three? It's Bombay versus Riley. Is this Mighty Ducks?

Two coaches and Mighty Ducks. The OG. Again, not looking at each other. Because a true face-off is like this. You gotta have... You gotta have... You gotta have... I mean, they're going to look at each other at some point.

I don't even see the word face-off in any of this article. No, but in hockey, isn't a face-off a thing? Yeah, that's how you start it. All right, what's number two? Facing off is in there if you squint your eyes. All right, number two, this is even crazier, I'm sorry, but this is a Gracie V. Shamrock from UFC One. Oh, nice.

Okay. They're looking at each other. There wasn't actually a proper photo of a face-off face-off, but I've always, when I think of MMA, this is what I think of. You got the wrestler, and then you got the guy, I know it's Jiu Jitsu, but he's wearing the gi, so it's just the karate fighter versus the wrestler.

This is gonna be great. What was your awareness of UFC at this time? Did you have any idea? Was it a later Hollywood video blockbuster honestly It was going to like the mom-and-pop top like VHS rental places And then like you go over to the cult classics and the next to that group in Texas So you'd have like the like the crazy movies like faces of death and shit, and then there'd be UFC Yeah, yeah, yeah, and it's like oh man like don't even look at the cover. It's gross cuz there's a guy bleeding or something

It's like but you see something like that, you're like damn, I can't wait to watch that. This is like late 90s though, right? Late 90s. Okay. And the number one, another face off that I grew up with is Tyson versus Holyfield. Okay. Nice.

The first one. Again, in this picture they are absolutely looking at each other. Not looking at each other, once again. I feel like you could have found a picture. You guys have a confidence monitor in front of you where you can see each other, that's all they're doing. They're just like, hey, look at the camera.

You can see each other here. They're looking at the confidence monitor. Face off. Yeah, I mean, I'm like, immediately, all you had to do is literally just type in Tyson Holyfield face off and it just comes up right away. Oh, next time you can grab the asset for me. I actually had to scroll to find this poster.

This is a great poster. This is actually from Tyson Holyfield II, so. Shut up, shut up. All right, Rick, man, what do we got, brother? You know what, Frank? It wasn't great, I'm gonna be honest. It wasn't great. But it was okay, it was okay.

I'm gonna let you slide on that. All right, Here we go. Number five. This is, this is an OG one. This is one that like if you are an MMA fan of a certain age, this one's gonna like speak to you. This one's gonna touch your heart. Okay. If you're an MMA fan of potentially your age, younger, this ain't gonna mean shit to you, but maybe the picture will inspire. Vanderlei Silva, Mirko Krokop, Pride 20. This is notoriously cited as one of the best faceoffs ever.

This is before the fight. This is when, when the referee is giving the instructions, they're meeting in the middle. If you actually watch the video, the referee is like touching them a few times showing avoid the head butts. This is, and so the, the, the key to this one is Vanderlei Silva was like one of the most

intimidating people on the planet. At this point, he was the ax murderer. He'd stand in the corner and do the, the hand roll thing. He was nuking everybody. He was just this, like this, like demon, right. And, and he steps in there and then the key to it is Miracle Crow C crow cops like icy stare in return

Just zero motion and also kind of like what he became synonymous with the notorious for the intensity You can even see like the jaw clenching in like Mirko's face This was one of the like OG like if you look at any like OG highlight video of best face-offs And it's older than five years ago, this is number one, this is always on there. It was an incredible moment. Number four, Alex Pereira versus Yuri Prochaska UFC 295 pre-fight.

I know that there's multiple to choose from. I'm going with the OG. I'm going with the original. Okay. Because this don't get me wrong, could have put the second one, no problem. I could have put the second one. No problem. I could have put the second one. I put the first one because it would, it was

the one that inspired. It was the one that did it first. It was the one that just went, Oh my God, these two are intense in a way that you don't really get from USC face-offs, especially the ones across the cage. Typically one guy's like pacing one guy's doing this.

Sometimes they're getting water. They're talking to their corner full minute locked in icy glare across the cage. Typically one guy's like pacing, one guy's doing this. Sometimes they're getting water. They're talking to their corner full minute locked in icy glare across the cage. Too intense, like crazy people, uh, loved it. It was incredible when we saw it. And then we got a great version again, when they faced off. Number three, Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather. Okay. Toronto world tour. Number three, Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather,

Toronto World Tour. Shout out to the great Ester Lin. Did your head just get bigger in the corner there? Where? In the corner? Oh, over there? Yeah, a little graphic hiccup. Eric's face just looks so good.

His face is off. I thought maybe it needed to be fixed. I took my face off. Ester Lin shot this for Showtime. The surreal, like I can't describe to you at the time as a fan, like a MMA fan primarily, and like the Conor McGregor ascent, and then seeing this, seeing these two on a stage together

in this moment with the point, with the handout, it was just like, it was a cultural moment that I don't think we can recapture and I don't think we can recapture like the apex of Conor McGregor. This was that moment. This was like the holy shit. This guy is doing the things that like nobody thought could be possible and he's staring, he's standing there squaring off with Floyd Mayweather. That world tour kind of like outlived its

usefulness at a certain point. It got kind of trashy, but, uh, that moment, that stare down, that point at each other was just like, it gave people chills. It was just like, Holy shit. I can't believe we're actually like here doing this. Number two, this is going to be on a lot of

lists, maybe on your list. I hope, uh, Robbie Lawler, Rory McDonald, UFC 189. Great call. After round four. Great call. Holy shit. Yeah. Holy shit.

It's not on my list. I didn't even think of it. Yeah. This moment, like, and it's just one of those like fleeting moments, like after this, they literally just go back to their corners. Yeah. But this moment where after, uh, like, look, you

can see, you can still see the blood on them in this moment. After this bloody war, Rory McDonnell, Robbie Lawler's lips split completely open. We've got the Rory on Ariel's desk from this moment. Staring back at each other just soulless, giving everything they had like iconic moment. One of the best ever just like, and the fact that they just stood there and tried to not break and then Big John actually ultimately like ushered them back to the corners,

but incredible. And then my number one, the face off itself was extremely good, like incredibly intense, but the aftermath is what makes it for me. John Jones, Daniel Cormier, MGM lobby, media day. I think it was actually maybe a press conference for UFC 178.

So good. Look at the intensity between these two. And then if you obviously know the story from here, it gets a little physical. DC has his hand or also look at the sweat stains on DC. Uh, DC has his hand or also look at the sweat stains on DC. Uh, DC has his hand around John Jones, his throat at some point. John Jones tosses his ass off the stage.

We've got thrown shoes. We've got people falling down everywhere. We've got Dave Schaller in the middle and an iconic, like, oh my God, what the. Where the fuck am I? Like these guys are about to fight a moment. Uh, John Jones, Cormier, my all time, like real heat hate each other, hate each other. Like one of the best rivalries, one of the

best like face off brawls, the pro the best promo for one of their fights, the best face off brawl, like John Jones and Cormier is everything to me. It means everything to me as a fan of the sport that in particular, that face off, the intensity between those two. Tough to match. It led to the, are you still there?

It created everything and it was incredible. Yeah, that's a great list. That's a great list. I definitely think you took leader in the clubhouse there against the old Frankie for sure. All right, let me run through mine. Number five, I'm gonna start with one. Mike Perry against Hugh

Gu-Lem. He's still undefeated this time. UFC 202. I don't know why this shit is so funny to me. Can we play the audio? Can we track the audio? Can we re-racket and track the audio? Let's roll that one more time. Not prepared. Not prepared to roll it one more time. We're almost there. We'll get there. But anyway, Mike Perry puts the hand out, takes the hand away, screams at the top of his lungs twice, does the neck and then leaves. I forgot what he said.

Something something boy and then screams at the top of his lungs and then walks off the stage but the fake handshake is just fantastic. Next up, it's not just one singular face off. It's a man's face off throughout his career and that is one Sean O'Connell. All of his face offs, all the pictures that we have. Oh wow. I mean it's just, this guy almost feels like he did what I would do during a face-off.

We're celebrating the new year here. Oh, let's get a selfie together up there, why not? Yeah, let's share our shaker bottle shakes and let's intertwine arms. Is he bringing these to them? I forget. Yeah, he literally brings them. He hit the boop on Matt Van Buren.

Just a quick boop. Matt Van Buren just stood through it. This one is rock-paper-scissors. Obviously he knew he was gonna be holding fist so he played paper and just covered it up. Another just stone cold winner gives the flowers and then ends up getting some chips in return blowing bubbles. I mean it's just like every time he went out there like he just like did not give a shit. Wow, what a pull. Brought the props, was really fantastic. Shout out to PFL.

Commentator, like one of the best in the business right now. Holy shit. Got a show on ESPN radio, shout out to him, man. Shout out to him, legend. My number three, you already had it, but I actually went with the second one, Yiri versus Pereira II, UFC 303. The reason I went with this one over the OG

is now Alex is champion, he's got the belt, he's got the custom shorts on and everything, and then on top of that, the UFC knew it was coming, so they just let it breathe. The cinema. Four minutes long. I remember being like, are they ever gonna cut this off, or are they just gonna keep this thing rolling? Like it truly remember being like, are they ever going to cut this off? Or are they just going to keep this thing rolling?

Like it truly was just like, it was unbelievable. It was unbelievable. Tensions were high. Things were, things were, I was feeling things during that one. Anytime those guys face off, I'm down to watch it. My number two is the same as your number one, John Jones vs. DC, the Brawl UFC 178. Can we play this video? I showed you the video earlier. You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, Keep it short. You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you versus DC, the brawl, UFC 178. Can we play this video? I showed you the video earlier. Keep it short. You're the judge, keep it short, keep it short! We got the EP, look at that. Oh, you get the hand on the neck.

You get the shove, and then John throws bro through the partition in the back, they all fall out. At one point, there's a massive scrum, and you can see them on top of each other, they get separated. John gets back up on the stage and he's like, ah! He's flexing. Like he goes ham.

And DC throws a shoe at him at that point. It's intense, man. Like that's as intense as it gets. Question. Yes. Isn't this like a Sports Center interview also? Was this the same event? That's what he was alluding to.

So after that, they then immediately go do Sports Center or was it with TSN? It was with somebody. It was either with TSN. It was an interview regardless. It was when they do the media rounds, they have them doing the remote interview hits. And this is where we get the, are you still

there pussy, uh, from, from John Jones to Cormier. It's so good. And then, then you. You know, I could come in there and kill you. I would kill you. I dare you. I dare you. It's incredible.

It's real hatred. It's like a building of a fight. It's crazy. We don't get that anymore. We don't get stuff like that anymore. I hope we one day do again, because I obviously was not as diehard of a fan as I am now back then,

but that is actually not my number one. Wow. My number one. We head out to Russia. Okay. HFC, Tamerlan Temerov versus Alexander Yanshin. You knew we had to go to a Russian promotion. Let's roll the tape and just follow along with me. We're getting the face off.

Turtleneck is sick. Oh, one swings! One swings! Okay, now we're just dancing up. Security comes in, completely masked security. I don't know if this is KGB or what. Why are they like ninjas? Like they just come in, they break it up.

Yeah, bro feels the shot. He's like, all right, I'll sit back down. This guy's they like ninjas yeah like they just come in they break it up yeah bro feels the shot he's like all right I'll sit back down this guy's just like oh yeah yeah yeah keep talking what man what you what's going on here all right all right let's break it up guys let's just sit down you know what I'm not done sitting down double dropkick through the Ouch! God. Shout out. Shout out to Dameron Timurov on that one. So ridiculous. Sid Saddler's like, nah, I'm good guys, I'm good guys. There's no way that's real. That's gotta be rehearsed.

He just fires back up. Oh my God. Can we just roll one more time? Then we can fast forward to him sitting down. We can fast forward to him. Let me just see the kick. I know, we're putting you through the ringer here, Andy. I'm sorry.

Yeah, they get the face off. Oh, oh, swings on him. Yep, yep, turtle neck, tight jeans, but we're still ready to go. Security comes in, breaks it up, breaks it up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Still John, still talking smack. Wipe it off, you know, that's bullshit.

I can't believe he swung on me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, here we go. Yeah, no, no, no, I'm good, guys. I'm good, guys. I'll sit down. Whoa, you wanna keep going? I'll keep going.

No, no, no, no, let's not keep going. Everybody sit down. Okay, I'll sit down. Whoa, you wanna keep going? No, I'll keep going. No, no, no, let's not keep going. Everybody sit down. Okay, I'll sit down. Yeah, right, I'm not gonna sit down. Dropkick! Okay, love it. Second watch. So good.

There's so much attention being paid to keeping them apart, and then they just let the guy run across? Fake, fake, I'm calling fake. I'm calling bullshit. CapoSA, you tell me, does this promotion do fake face-offs? You tell me if that's real or fake.

Uh, the double drop kick is incredible. Here's the only thing that goes to your point. I couldn't find Temera versus Yanchin. I apologize. I couldn't find that. They didn't even fight. They didn't even fight. I apologize.

Uh, it might not have fought. It might not have fought. I don't know, I don't know what happened there, but the face-off is electric. Oh, it's very electric. Can we just look at a freeze frame here? Uh, Andy has a second here. Do you see the guy in the sweatshirt?

The guy in the face-off? That is Eric at the beginning of every Boys in the Back episode. Yeah. Doesn't quite have that Dana White presence of like, break it up, guys. He's just like, ah, come on. What are we doing here? No, there's a part later in it too where the guys are sitting down and he's just like, he's talking to the one guy they're holding, he's like, come on,

what are we doing here? It's great. It's great. That's incredible. Just the complete drop kick, just going up, just two feet, extending towards dude's face is just absolutely insane. I feel like the Russian random organization face-offs

have, it has become a thing to attack your opponent. Like they just like, kinda want it but kinda don't want it. Also, I watched all the face-offs have, like it has become a thing to like attack your opponent. Like they just like kind of want it but kind of don't want it. Also I watched all the face-offs for that event and like almost all of them scrapped. Oh really? They're all just like... So you'd think they would bring the security out. Some honorary mentions though. Yeah please. John Jones, Rumble Johnson, the fake out on Jane and White. Oh shit, that's a great one. Yeah, where they go up there and they act like they're about the brawl and Dana like freaks out. That's a great one.

That is a fantastic one. Yoel Romero is real out of Sonya, it kind of divulges into a dance-off. Like Izzy gets the belt and he kind of like does a little shimmy and then Yoel does the back flip. That's right, Yoel breaks it down. And starts dancing. Verdun, I should have grabbed a picture of this one.

I think it's against Stefan Struve, and he acts like he's pulling out a folding chair, and he acts like he's about to hit him, and then he just puts it down and stands up on it, so he's as tall as him. Oh, that's funny. Fantastic one. Verdun's a clown, that's funny.

Conor Aldo. Yeah, Conor Aldo. Fantastic one. Anderson Silva, I think it was Vitor Belfort wearing the mask. Belfort with the mask, yeah. Some great ones. Chael Sonnen's had some good ones. I considered the Chael on Tough, I can't let you get close,

but it wasn't really like a true face off. Well, Frank picked like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Yeah, I guess that would've count. He did some picture of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Microsoft. Not looking at each other. Come on, come on. That's how much they hated each other.

Clay Guida versus Diego Sanchez. We like combined craziness and intensity between them. If you've not seen that, that's a good Google. You mentioned a lot of the ones I had, home and rousy was a particularly intense one. Rhonda gets right up in her face. Then they actually push and shove. Who was it, Rhonda and Bech Kahea?

That's also really intense. Oh yeah, Rhonda was like a good face off. Rhonda was a good face off. I thought about going like wrestling direction. Cause there's been some like really like iconic ones, but the one that always stands out in my mind is rock and Hulk Hogan. Oh yeah. They're facing off and they're like walking around each other in the

ring at wrestle me at 18. I know Ariel is going to be like, you fucking idiot. It was whatever. Uh, I think it was one of those. Um, that one was the one that almost made my list, but I like, I felt pretty strong about my five. Yeah. I know Ariel is gonna be like you fucking idiots whatever. I think it was one of those That one was the one that almost made my list, but I like I felt pretty strong about my five Yeah, uh rock Cena is also good good face-offs What else do we have? I mean?

Undertake yeah rockin Four nations face-off That was good better than anything on Frank's list. Oh Damn Jordan taking some shots yeah I think I won I think I won now come on I think Timurov Yan Chan put me over the top not having not having Lawler and McDonald I feel like was the one when even your one I mean you had my one though Sean O'Connell versus everyone was dude Sean O'Connell versus everyone's a fucking banger. Sleeper hit.

I'll be honest though, I really love the movie Face Off, so I do have to give Frank some credit for that. I really love Face Off. I don't know why I said it before, like Face Off. That was very weird. Face slash off? Alec in the Sly said Chandler Olivera one is super underrated.

Yeah, they're saying no, do Bronx face-off is criminal Wow, I've dual 2604 says why did you guys not include beloved shop caught in the cage that was goaded Good point. That's a good point you bang. Are there any serious Ben? I mean this egg slap for sure is like gonna be up there HBK Brett Hart Andre the giant Hulk Hogan face-off is iconic Rock Rock and and and H though is I feel like better. Jake Paul, Mike Tyson. Frank is that your burner bro?

The picture actually looks really cool though. Like if you remember the Tyson and Paul. It does look cool. Paige versus Karate Hati, Michelle Watterson when they did the dance off. Oh yeah they did like a dance off. Okay that's not a bad one actually. Pat Berry versus Stefan Struve was actually good He like literally walks up to Struve and like puts his chin on his chest. Cause he is so much shorter Yeah, literally just looked directly up at him. KaneJDS3. Oh

Shit, that is a great one actually. Hustlebones says I remember that one. I remember him versus Hand Sanitizer Hand Sanitizer boy what he was throwing in the round. Eljuik says Usyk Fury literally lasted 10 minutes. Okay, I actually disagree with the length of it making it good. They were just like, and I know I said that I love Ferreira and Yuri because it was four minutes, but it was just so intense and they were about to fight.

Whereas Fury and Usyk were obviously three. The ones, the boxing ones that are long just for the sake of being long are not interesting. There needs to be like a spark to it. There needs to be some a spark to it. There needs to be some real intensity to it. Wild, I would actually argue Wilder versus Fury is better than the Usyk versus Fury stare down. There was some real, like you could feel

the tension in that one. Colin Avery says, Sasuke versus Naruto. Shout out, he thought I was gonna go with the anime. Yeah, really going for it. Go for the audience. Pandering. Nick Diaz, Paul Daly. Oh go with the anime, go for the audience. Pandering. Nick Diaz Paul Bailey. Oh yeah, Nick Diaz and Paul Bailey.

Anytime Kutalaba Hulk body paints, I thought about that one too. Yeah. I thought about that one too. I feel like we had to, like we were kind of almost required to go serious because there's so many good like serious ones that the goofy ones are kind of like, they fall to the wayside, but the Sean O'Connor one really like cemented it was it was a good one Lawrence Prasad says Hagler Hearns yeah I mean there's a lot of boxing ones okay so I actually thought about going with this one someone said the Easter Island head versus the

thinking one Pereira versus Jamal Hill or Jamal Hill like they're like facing off and prayers just like and Jamal Hills like I don't even like puts his hand back down it's like it's almost like he wasn't sure what to do with his hand and then he like and then he starts rubbing his beard I think he like almost went for a knuckle touch and they didn't go for it so he put his hand up and rubbed his beard it was really it was awkward it was awkward all right it was it was uncomfortable Hank the Tank I knew people were gonna kill me for this I don't watch Naruto people are killing me for the Sasuke pronunciation.

They're just like, damn, this is worse than the RZA pronunciation I had last week. I'm just like, God damn. GC versus the pen. That's a good one. That's a good one. Benjamin Button. Benjamin Button, John F. Penney.

Your weepness has now been exposed, like not knowing the pronunciation. I've never said that I watch Naruto. Yeah, no, but like, you gotta know. You're the anime boy. One Piece, DBZ, Avatar of the Last Airbender, unbelievable, more of a cartoon than an anime. Frank, do you watch anime?

Like the 90s stuff. Okay. I personally would say Connor Berks versus Sean Brady but one side of it's a duck and we know and we never got of it. Should we, I mean do we even address the elephant in the room? What is the elephant in the room? Me going 2-0 yesterday? Yeah. Me smoking on air Jordan? Nah, we don't need to bring that up. All right, all right, we'll just move on. Listen, he had to shamefully go back to Long Island.

It's already shameful enough to have to go back to Long Island and then he had to, after representing the people in that way, that's how he had to do it. If you're Sean Brady, are you sweating right now? Like, I know, look, let's call it what it is. We know that Sean Brady is an elite level athlete. We know that he put up the numbers on the bike at the at the

UFC PI but after the performance that you put on let's you know let's see the video finds its way to him if he saw you smoke Jordan you know let's call it what it is a pedestrian effort but then on the heels of that then smoke are a I mean listen I actually dug so deep in that one I can't even lie like the lactic acid that was building up my thighs I was like legit uncomfortable I was getting a little bit worried at what was going on like I couldn't sit down for like five or ten minutes without feeling Like really really uncomfortable you completely burned yourself out and then did it again. So I'm like legs were so dead

It wasn't even funny. I thought he had it. I thought it was not overreacting when he was like my legs are gone My legs were legit gone. Yeah. And I'll just be that much ready for a big Sean Brady when he's ready for it. I feel like I'm starting to like your odds. Like I feel like the line is moving a little bit. Sean Brady was minus 700 going into yesterday. Now he's only minus three.

Yeah. A lot of heavy money coming in on big C. I'm not surprised. We got any super chats, Frankie? Super chats. Yeah, Slito starts us off with, is Slito? Is Gagey's broken nose from Max affecting him more than we realize?

He's only a mouth breathing in all of his embedded empiricists. This is like the reverse Drichas Duplassis, who got his error enhanced, and then he became super human, and so Gagey is now being inhibited. I'm not concerned about that. I think Gagey's probably broken his nose at least 10,000 times in his career probably probably not Mason Bickner writes will we see Rick v Jordan on the

Averon bikes honestly yeah like a that'd be like a number eight versus number 12 honestly not I don't need to reel in that shark man I was trying I'm gonna say, who can catch the biggest fish? What are we doing here? I'm honestly not- Why don't y'all need to reel in that shark, man? I was trying. I'm gonna go get on that thing and reel in the shark first try. You know that meme online where it's like these two women are having a mid-off? That would be that.

Like I'm not particularly interested in the mid-off at this point. It'd be like UFC Apex. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Y'all are headlining the Apex. It exists, but I mean- Y'all yellowheadlining the Apex. It exists, but I mean. Yellowheadlining the Apex. Is that it?

Is that it? We got some more, just one second here. No, no worries. In the meantime, Abdulu2604 says, it was impressive, but I'm still betting my parents' mortgage on Brady against GC. Good. I mean, that's fair, but. Good, I need the motivation.

I need the motivation. Matthew Penta writes, Rick, did you see the news that Ben the Bean Davis is going to be on season 41 of the challenge? How do you think you will do? CT vs. Ben Hall Brawl? I saw this and I can't even describe my elation because as everybody knows and the reason why this person asked this question, thank you for asking. I am the biggest challenge fan in the world. I love the challenge like I love nothing else. It's the only TV series I consistently watch and I've watched every single season, every single moment, every single episode. I consume multiple things that are shoulder programming to it. I love the challenge. I text everybody about it. I wish Paramount would come in and sponsor something related to the challenge. I love the challenge. The fact that I know now, I now know somebody like that intimately, like we, you

know, we're pretty friendly with Ben the Bane Davis. The fact that he is on the challenge and we could just be like, Ben, you want to come on the show and talk about being on the challenge and I can ask him about the different people in the house on the, like the world is my oyster now. I have now been like, it's via just Ben the Bane's exposure to this, the fact that he's participating

in it now, I have won, I have won. And so I, selfishly, I'm very excited about it. As, as a friend of, in support of Ben the Bane Davis, I hope he destroys everybody. I don't think CT is on the season though. I do know that like Johnny Banana, some real heavy hitters, I think Turbos on it. Like the male cast is pretty strong for season 41. I'm interested to see how Ben the Bane does. I really, I imagine, knowing Ben the Bane,

and I think Connor, you'll agree with this, he's very sharp in terms of his like, understanding of the game and the promotion and the thing. He's not like, he's not somebody who's like unaware. And so I think he will try to stir some shit. I think he will know how to make good TV the same way, like when he shows up to the press conferences for the fights, he knows how to like

push the buttons and do the thing in the promotion. I think he's going to make some incredible TV if he makes it far. And so I'm really excited about it. I hope Ben takes the whole thing. It'd be incredible. And I can't wait to like talk to him about it. This is actually forcing me to watch the challenge.

Yeah. I've watched an episode of it. Now I'm going to have to watch the entire season in support of Ben. I can't wait for you to become hooked on it. Like is actually forcing me to watch the challenge. Yeah, we're watching an episode of it. Now I'm gonna have to watch the entire season in support of Ben. I can't wait for you to become hooked on it like you've become hooked on NASCAR. You're gonna be- Don't get me started. You're gonna be watching the challenge.

Don't get me revving up my engines. Phoenix this weekend. What else we got, Frankie? So Nathan Garcia sent us $9.99. Love it. Wait, that's it? There's no question? Wow, shout out Nathan Garcia, man. A little 9.99 for That's it. Wait, that's it? There's no question? Shout out Nathan Garcia, man.

A little $9.99 for the support, my guy. Appreciate you, Nathan. Who has more aura, Chuck Mendenhall or Politan? Sean Darwin just sent that in. That's obviously the man in the hat. That's obviously the man in the hat. Jesse Laurenti asks, amongst other people, where did you get that sweet cartoon MMA calendar?

Oh, that's a great... Oh, I got that from Dosbrock, my guy. Go follow him on Instagram, there'll be links to his shops. D-O-S-B-R-A-K, one of my favorite combat artists. He does other stuff as well, like he does like pop culture and things like that. But yeah, man, his combat pieces are unbelievable. Dosbrock, it's like a black and green logo.

You'll know it. D-O-S-B-R-A-K, the man. Yeah, shout out Dosbrock. 24 inch dubs, pro crop, face off, I could kiss New York. OGs, no. OGs, no. Look, we're not pandering to this Gen Z bullshit. We're not talking about One Piece and all this anime shit

that like, you know, your younger cousin told you. The guy plays Magic the Gathering and he shits on anime. That's the old game. Which has been around for decades. Which has been around for decades. Yeah, yeah, that's the thing. I'm a classic. I'm a classic and I should be treated as such

and I thank you 24inch dubs for respecting a classic and that face off is also a classic. And then lastly we have Jason Carney writes, Jones v DC at the PR event when Jones charged DC Yeah, that's what we think that's one we were talking about. We I had it number one. He had a number two We love I mean, yes, he wants if we love that one me so good It was it was a I think it was a press conference I keep seeing media day rim, but I believe it was just they were doing like a tickets on sale or something

but it was a press conference for UFC 178. But the, the one you shouted out about the, the pranking Dana, the Rumble John one was actually like a really, really good one. Oh, it's so good. So good. You Dana's the way, uh, Schaller gave Schaller in the, uh, one with, uh, Jones at DC is shitting

himself. Dana almost had that moment because. Yeah. I mean, when Rumble and John want to fight, like what the fuck are you really going to do? I know. Like, what can you do in that moment yes you literally saw John Jones in the one somebody just literally just fling him to the side Dana a little bigger a little stronger than Schaller probably but what unless you have armed security between those two men there's

not there's nothing there is nothing for sure anything else right that's all she wrote oh mr. senior peppy just added in a 199. Shout out Mr. Signor Pepe. He says, Rick's not a classic, just a boomer. I am a boomer and I'm proudly so. Trin Daddy says, imagine a face off on a Langeberger basket. No, no building. The Langeberger basket building is like a giant. Oh yeah, we talked about this on the fantasy.

Absolute fire. Abdul asks, GC, are you gonna tweet the big hitters request earlier? Yes, I am. I'm gonna get better about that. Gonna get the intro back. Gonna get the graphics back. We're still working out everything over here on our end.

But I think that'll do it. I think that'll just about do it. That's a big one. You watching? Yeah, a big one. You watching LFA tonight? No. Cage Warrior Saturday?

No. Maybe. One fight night tomorrow? No. KZW? I'll look for the highlights on all these. Can't wait. UFC 313 this weekend catches on the watch party 9 45 p.m. Eastern right here. Watch the crack tomorrow And until then have a great day everyone. Thanks for watching!