The Ariel Helwani Show - UFC 314 weigh-in reaction, Bryce Mitchell vs. Jean Silva chaos, Volk’s final fight? | The Craic

Episode Date: April 11, 2025

With Petesy Carroll away from the helm, Uncrowned’s Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes man the ship to preview UFC 314.The duo kicks things off by reacting to the official weigh-ins where all main card fighters successfully made weight (01:15).Then, they break down the paths to victory for Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes (02:30) and speculate whether a loss could spell retirement for the Australian former champ (12:28).Lopes appears to have his sights set on a different opponent — surprisingly, Yair Rodriguez — despite the two not being matched up. Chuck and Ben dissect their press conference mix-up and explore the potential ramifications heading into their respective fights (19:26).Next, the duo turns their attention to Rodriguez’s bout against UFC debutant Patricio Pitbull, before diving into Paddy Pimblett vs. Michael Chandler, the biggest test of the Scouser’s career so far (28:44).Then, it’s on to the most bizarre matchup of the weekend: Bryce Mitchell vs. Jean Silva. Chuck and Ben unpack the biggest storyline surrounding the fight, Mitchell’s wild fight week comments (41:28), before discussing the rest of the card and spotlighting a few matchups they’re excited about (51:27).Finally, the guys address the predictable mess surrounding GFL’s cancelled events and debate whether the organization has a future in the fight game (54:10).

Oh, there it is. We hear the man's music, but where is the man? It's kind of like you like, I'm not Irish. I could claim to be, you know, uh, it's kind of like you hear stone colds, glass breaking, and then you look around and there's no stone cold, the undertale undertaker bell has told the mist rose up and we look around, there is no pizza Carol this week on the crack. Now Chuck, I'm looking here at my notes.

They say alien abduction. That can't possibly be true. Do you have any insight information? I just know that he was posting pictures on his Instagram at 4 AM last night with a pyramid of tennis glasses. So I think that has something to do with it, but I'm not positive. Okay. One of those, a classic moment of a guy who was out all night, suddenly

having the flu the next day, car trouble, couldn't make it in. Yeah. We're here though. It's UFC 314 fight week. We just had our weigh-ins this morning. We are here to break it all down. Talk about all the, the items of interest headed into this one. Now, Chuck, first of all, we got through the weigh-ins, all the important fights, everybody made weight. We only had one weigh-in miss and it was on the curtain jerker in the women's bantamweight division.

What stood out to you most notably coming out of this weigh-in when you get to see everybody pop the top, get to see the physiques on the scales? Some thirsty fellows up there. You know what I mean? They look a little dehydrated to me, Ben. I don't know how you saw them. Kidding. Of course. Now listen, I thought that, uh, you know, Volkanovsky looks a little transformed. Does it? I know that he's, this is about as, uh, shredded as I think I've ever seen him. Um, I don't know what this will translate to, but when you kind of are coming off of a, an extended break for him, this is a guy know what this will translate to, but when you kind of are coming off of a, an

extended break for him, this is a guy who fought a lot of fights in a small amount of time, especially for a champion who, uh, now gets over a little over a year off and to come back in this form, that's intriguing to me. It is. And you know, you never want to read too much into what you see on the scales, as long as

everybody's making weight and not looking like they need help to stand upright, which we have seen before. Oh, yeah. Uh, he's not one of those guys where the weight ever seems to be that big of an issue, making the weight seems fairly simple and straightforward for him, but he does look good. He does look and sound refreshed, which that seems to have been one of the questions because we look back right now on his record and you see two consecutive losses.

And so if you were just looking at it on paper, you'd go, I've seen this before. This is an aging former great. He's over 35. Now we've all talked about the over 35 curse for lighter weight fighters trying to win UFC title fights. He's got two back to back knockout losses. This is it. This is the beginning of the decline.

That's what it would look like. And yet when you add the context of those fights where one is him going up and wait on extremely short notice against Islam Mahatchev to basically save the show and then turning right around right after that one to take on Ilya Toporya a you know at this point still the world's greatest featherweight fighter even if he doesn't want to be a featherweight anymore and that was only a few months after that knockout loss which a lot of us at the time said was a bad idea we said don't turn right around after a knockout jump into a really tough fight like this with another guy who's a knockout artist.

And so you look at it and you could see a decline, you could see that all the signs are there, but then he takes a year off, comes back to face Diego Lopez for a shot at a second UFC featherweight title run. And it does seem like this is where he could put all that to bed, right? He could come out here, have a great performance, beat Diego Lopez and we could go, well, yeah, of course, Volk is still Volk. Yeah, 100%. And it, you know, if you'd said that he could take a year off at any point in

time, and would he be okay with this? Because this is a guy who wanted to have something on his horizon at all times, right? Like he, he's kind of talked about this, um, but to find kind of like, I, I guess a healthier way of viewing the fight game and maybe how to idle like the rest of us and, uh, and just kind of not have something, um, pressing that he's got to get to, I think that that may, you know, th these are the things that you look at. If you follow a fight game long enough as intangibles, like you're like, okay, well, maybe this, maybe this will be a refreshing thing.

I do agree with you, man. If you're going to throw an asterisk. On to somebody in a situation like this, who is 36 and is coming off a back to back knockouts after we held him to the highest standard and, and had him. If not number one in the pound for pound discussion, like right up there, near number one for a long time. You got it. You got to kind of give him the benefit of the doubt a little bit.

I don't think it's the classic case of, Hey, watch this guy. Just, he just finally started getting knocked out. This means he's chinny or this means we're watching the spiral. It could mean that. And I think that that's some of the kind of, you know, the, I guess the subtext of this whole, like, you know, the intrigue of this fight, maybe this is the moment, the Volkanovsky that we really see that he is declining. Or maybe those asterisks

will be even bigger, you know, in the end and say like, well, he was fighting under less than ideal circumstances when he took those fights. This is the real Volkanovsky. Yeah. Those of you, if you're just joining us and you're wondering where Pizzi Carroll is, where his delightful lilting Irish brogue is, we have heard reports that a months long government investigation has kind of come to fruition. No, Pizzi Carroll's out of office today. We're filling in. We're taking over Ben Foulkes here with Chuck Mendenhall.

We are taking over. We got to just kind of like give a different excuse every time as to why Pizzi's not here. That's the only way to roll here. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um, Pizzi detained by border officials, trying to sneak into the United States of America. Uh, the, the other part of this fight, the main event here is if Diego Lopez does go out there and win, I think that we would instantly revise our opinions of him because

so far it feels like he's a lovable fellow. We love that he's had this fallout boy haircut since he was nine years old, according to your story that you did on him a few months back. He seems like a likable guy. He has a lot of really good assets, especially just like his aggression and power on the fee, it makes him an exciting fighter to watch. And yet also we have sort of looked at him as a guy who's consistently overperformed that we saw him early on we said

Okay, this guy is fun to watch but two years ago. We weren't sitting around going He will be in a featherweight title fight, you know any moment now and here he is he's fighting Volkanovsky the Alexander Volkanovsky for the vacant UFC featherweight title and You know, he's an underdog here, but also not as, not a huge underdog, not, not like anybody thinks that he has zero chance to win this. And yet when you try to map out a path to victory, if you're in Diego Lopez's corner and you're saying, here's how we're going to go and get it done against Volkanovsky, what would you say?

What do you think his best shot is? Well, first of all, you know, that I went to, you were mentioning that piece. I went to a concert with him, um, Zach Brian, which is, I would never go to a Zach Brian concert, but this was just a weird circumstance. I was with him and his team and I'll always, you mentioned him being likable. I just remember he has these dimples and every time he's like smiling and, uh, I, we were walking in and he goes, Oh, I forgot my cowboy hat in English. And I was like, it's like, it was like here with a, like a five year old. It was, it was pretty funny.

I think he has that charm a little bit, like this weird boyish charm. It's, it is really interesting. And it'd be interesting to see how far, um, you know, his star power kind of increases. Um, if he's able to go in there and win this fight, but his best approach, honestly, man, because we've seen Diego Lopez, we know that he can be a

tyrant early in a fight. We've seen it a couple of times. He's had a, he had a few first round finishes before this last year, um, is to go in there and put the pressure on Volkonovsky, try to land something, put the heat on him early and let him taste the power and see how he handles it. Because I think that there's a question mark within his camp as well as to like, can Volkonovsky stand up to taking big shots?

And I think that I would want to find that out pretty quickly. I think that, and also there's just the basic fact you've watched Volkonovsky fight a lot of times too. The more you let him hang around, let's just say that there's a couple of close rounds, the more Volkonovsky is going to solve you and start to just beat you everywhere. You know what I mean? Like just all of a sudden he's putting together, he's adapting, he's putting together the right

combinations, he's finding, uh, you know, exploiting little things he's seeing. We've seen him do this time and again. So I would think that if you're the Lopez camp, you're thinking let's try to get him out of there early and if not hurt him early, certainly try to put him in a, in a bad position. I agree.

I do think that you want to be aggressive early on because Volkanovsky, one of his great strengths as a fighter and as a champion was the ability to adapt very quickly and learn and see what you're doing and find the weaknesses and the tendencies really early on. We saw it in those Max Holloway fights and I think that's why, you know, he's fighting like kind of the best version of max Holloway over and over again. And the fights got less and less competitive because the more he sees of you, the better he is at picking you apart.

And that is one thing that I would be thinking about, especially if you're Diego Lopez and you are not as polished all around a fighter as Volkanovsky is and as a lot of the guys Volkanovsky is and as a lot of the guys Volkanovsky has faced. And so you, you want to bring that power and speed and that kind of stuff to bear. And you want to find a way to do it though, without being too overly aggressive early on and opening up counter opportunities for Volkanovsky. He's too good for you to just go waiting after like your Vanderlei Silva in 2002 or something, you know, you need to go in there with a plan, but you also, you don't want to sit around and let that guy have

too many looks at you. He's kind of like a, an old Anderson Silva in that sense, where he would spend the first 90 seconds, first couple minutes of every fight, just getting reads, just seeing what you're going to do, seeing how you're going to react. And then it was like, he was a supercomputer that would just sort of map out a path to victory and go, all right, here we go. And Volkonovsky takes a little more time, but he is always gaining information on you and it's not like he gets tired.

It's not like we've seen him get weaker in fights. He just seems to get stronger when you get into those fourth, fifth rounds with him. I wouldn't want to be there if I'm Diego Lopez. I want us, I want us to, to put, put some heat on him right away, if you can. Was it Anderson Silva you were saying took a while to compute? Was that who you were saying? Yeah. Because sometimes it took him the full 25 minutes to just process everything.

Remember the Damien Maia fight? No, you know, I think you're right. I think if you're Diego's camp and you're watching film, because there's plenty of it on Volkanovsky and just to how masterfully it comes through and almost pretty naturally like starts to gain momentum, which is just, it's not, it's not usual, especially in the championship rounds. I think your, your best thing is to avoid it. And I also think that your biggest strength obviously is to

probably take the fight to him. I j they have to be strategic with this. Um, but I, I can't imagine where they're like, hey man, if we have to get into a points battle, we like our chances too. There's no way that's part of their thinking. If it is, that's a foolish way to go about it. Um, and also, you know, you hear this kind of like, uh, this thing in, in

sports a lot of times when there's a big favorite, and I know that's not exactly the situation, but you can't let the, the, the other team kind of hang around because then they start to believe in themselves. If there's a doubt in Volkanovsky's head that his chin is going or that he may not have it anymore, you kind of want to bring that out immediately. Right? Like you want to go in there and hit him with something and be like, make him feel like he's in a, you know, like an existential mom where it's like, oh shit, I don't have it.

Like you want to put them in that position if, if you can, because the more, you know, if there's any confidence issue, I don't know if there is, but there's always a little mental issue if you've been knocked out twice in a row, right? If any of that exists, it's, it might take Volkonovsky a little bit of time to just be like, you know what, man, I'm back to myself.

I'm snapping back into this, you know, so you might want to try to get to him before that. One question I do wonder heading into this for Volkanovsky is he's sitting here now, 36 years old, he's had that title run. He's kind of getting an opportunity dropped into his lap, you know, with Ilya Toporya deciding I'm going to vacate the Featherweight title, I'm going to go up to lightweight and Volkanovsky is one of the first guys you call. And coming off of back to back losses like that, I mean, there was still a

conversation to be had about does Volkonovsky's title run entitle him to an immediate rematch against Ilya Toporya. But I think a lot of us would have expected more of the same in the Ilya Toporya rematch here. You get to come back, you get to face a young contender who's still kind of unproven, who's skill for skill you should beat and you get to have this opportunity to go on another title run, which not a lot of people get. And yet at his age, at the point in his career, does it seem like if

he can't get it done here, if he goes out here and he loses to Diego Lopez, that's three straight, especially if he does get knocked out again, he'll be even further from a title opportunity then. Do you think that he starts to seriously consider retirement at that point? It's a tricky question, man, because we were already talking about how, how does he see himself outside of the fight game? How much of his identity, I know you did a piece kind of talking a little bit about this type of thing, but how much of his identity is

like I'm a fighter, I need to have a fight, I need to have that kind of outlet. I'm not sure you know like if he how he'll handle that situation it seems to me like he's really he really loves the fight game. I don't know he would be so far behind the eight ball though at that point right like he would off, like all the, all the things that we talk about him as always, it's usually has to do with a title. I just, he would be out of the title picture. That in itself would be really strange. Like how much does he have to prove?

You know what I mean? Like, and how much would you want to see him, especially, let's say he just gets smashed again, he gets knocked out in the first round, how much would you want to watch of this from a guy who's been so vital to that division for so long? There are a lot of questions and I guess it comes down to how it happens. But I would think that it would have to cross his mind that maybe I don't want to be in here, you know, in this type of situation, especially if he

really believes like, you know, Lopez is the step down here, this is my step down. And if I can't get through Lopez, I may not be able to beat these tops in guys. You know what I mean? If it was something, if it's a moment like that, he might want to, he might want to do that. I don't know if he would. Yeah. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would just keep showing up just to be

fighting and collect a few more paychecks and you know, whatever you guys have in store for me, that might be fun. I'll do it. He seems very Ambitious and focused on a goal and if the title is not there the title is not a realistic possibility Then what I think you know, one of the things that came up when I was talking to him He did talk about that identity piece and how having some time off gave him some time to reflect some time to put everything in perspective and that you know when he was the champ as reflect some time to put everything in perspective and that when he was the champ, as many champs do, as maybe you'd argue that they all should, he's trying

to maximize the value of that, that belt while he has it. That's when you're getting points on the pay-per-view. That's when you're the man. You want to be making the most money and really racking up the stuff for your legacy then. And he said basically that he was head down, totally focused on that for so long. And that it kind of took a mental toll after a while. And we've heard this from fighters before where you're so focused on doing this

and you have to be so focused on it. You sacrifice a lot of the parts of yourself as a person and you look up one day and kind of go, wait a minute, who am I without this in my life? And eventually that point's going to come, you know, whether you're, whether you're 40, whether you're 50, eventually you're going to have to stop fighting and you better know who you are at that point. You better have some kind of like a perspective on your life. And a lot of guys don't.

And it's a, it's a challenging thing. I also wonder sometimes when I hear a guy where I'm like, I'm talking to him and going, he does sound like he's in a pretty mentally healthy place. He sounds like he's in, you know, he's got it in perspective. I know some fighters where it seems like when they got into a healthy place, the results started getting worse. And, you know, it's, it's weird. And maybe it says something about the way this sport is, or like the, the

things that drive a lot of the people in it. I remember, uh, Julie Kenzie telling me once when she retired and she says, that, you know, I felt like I worked out all the issues that I had to work out, like all the issues that got me into the sport. I feel like I finally worked through them. And then I was like, and now I'm ready to leave and Volkonovsky doesn't quite seem like he's there yet. He talked a lot about how he wanted to enjoy this win and enjoy becoming the champion again as a person and not just think of himself purely as Alexander

Volkonovsky, the fighter. But I do wonder, you know, if you, if you go out here and you know what everybody will say, if you get knocked out by Diego Lopez, they'll say the chin's gone. And they'll also say the past is the past and this is the future. I mean, you bring up so many good points. I was, I was thinking about, um, I did a, you know, I collaborated with Ben Askren, you know, on his, his biography, his auto, his, whatever, his autobiography, his memoir. And this was a, like this kind of mental thing you're talking about is a, is a big deal.

And I think it affects a lot of people, especially if you've competed in just something your whole life. Even before, you know, obviously even before he was fighting, he was professional rugby player Volkanovsky. He was still competing. He's had something like that in his life for a long time. I just remember Ben Askren, you know, this was the reason he did this because he just had hip replacement surgery. So he had like a month, month and a half where he couldn't do anything. He was debilitated.

So he's like, let's, let's do this thing. Blah, blah. He was done. He'd sorted out the issues, but yet the, the Jake Paul thing came up very soon after this. Yeah. He still had to do it. You know, he still had to do it.

I was like, what are you doing? I still have to do it. You know, I got to take this. And I know that there's like this, it was a big payday and all that stuff, but in the, in his mind, not even in the back mind, in the front of his mind is I could beat this guy. If I can't beat this guy, it'll tell me for sure that I need to be away, you know,

that sort of thing. You work these things out in your mind. Um, and that's a pretty, that's, I think Ben is a pretty like healthy minded guy. Like he's invested his money, all that stuff. You take examples like that and you're like, it's just a very tough adjustment, especially if there's some lingering memory of you being knocked out and you don't want that to be the lingering memory of like all the people like in Ben Asken's case, there was that Masvidal knocked out, knockout.

In this case, if it was Diego Lopez and the other two knockouts happening in succession, you could see a scenario where he'd be like, this isn't the way I want to go out though, you know, and it could just be as simple as that. Again, if you're joining us in progress, Pizzi Carrell swept away by a tidal wave, last seen being pulled out to sea, waving his arms frantically, shouting,

and this is a direct quote, lads, help me lads. So that's a developing story. We're keeping an eye on that. I thought he meant just to do the show for him. So we're helping him the way we know how. This is all we know how to do, Pizzi. This is the only way we can help you.

Now here's one thing I wondered about. We're at the press conference for USC 340 yesterday. Everybody's doing their stuff and Diego Lopez, who is scheduled to again fight Alexander Volkonovsky for the USC featherweight title ends up getting into it with Yair Rodriguez. And it's heated. There he is with his cowboy hat. The one that he forgot for the Zach Bryan concert. By the way, I hope it goes viral, Chuck Mindenhall saying, I would never go to a Zach Bryan

concert. Personally, I think he's got some jams, but that's all right. He and Yair Rodriguez get heated into this. It's always a weird thing, isn't it? When it's like, you want to tell the guy, Hey, you're supposed to fight this other guy. He's sitting right there. Like, let's stay focused here. And yet, you know, Diego Lopez doesn't seem like the kind of guy who has trouble.

Like he can't get mad at two people at once, you know, I'm sure he can compartmentalize that. Yeah. But you're also, when I was watching it, I was just like, this is kind of good news for Yayoi you're Rodriguez. Because 100% was. If he goes in there, if he beats Patricio Pitbull and we've already worked some beef, we've already had taken this moment in the spotlight to shine a light on. There's an angle here between you and a guy who might become champion on Saturday.

You could be sitting in a pretty good spot. Not to mention that this is a battle of Mexico, right? Like they're basically like, one guy's saying like, Hey Saturday, you could be sitting in a pretty good spot. Not to mention that this is a battle of Mexico, right? Like they're basically like one guy's saying like, Hey man, you aren't authentically Mexican. You shouldn't be, uh, repping the country. And I am, you know, and I mean, anytime you get that kind of thing, and this is the, it kind of transcends the, the, the people in front of them, the guys that they have to face and now it's become like this blood feud almost like, uh,

it's beautiful for the game. And especially when it, I really think that, you know, getting Diego kind of worked up at all, hasn't, I mean, he just, he hasn't had a lot of rivalries or anything, like it's just kind of, it puts something in place. This fight came down to two when I was with that same piece who was doing back in December, uh, you know, talking to Jason house and his team, uh, for Diego. And it was like, who's it going to be?

He said it's either going to be Yair Rodriguez in Mexico. And they knew that that would be this electric and possibly polarizing situation, you know, like for him to go into Mexico and fight Yair, or it was going to be Volkonoski, which they very much preferred because they knew that that probably meant for the belt. Um, strategically, I think that there's like something in the back of his mind. That's like, I already knew that we'd butt heads and we might as well do it. He's kind of, you know, this is from Diego's perspective and from the Yair's,

he couldn't be, he couldn't be smarter because if they both take care of their business, everybody's going to want to see that fight now. I feel like besides the Bryce Mitchell stuff, which I know we're going to be talking about, most people are kind of talking about the Yair, you know, this Yair versus Diego thing. And it's, it's fun how that happened. It has to be organic. And that was pretty organic.

I thought. Yeah. And it is interesting matching matchmaking by the UFC's part to put Yair in here to welcome Patricio Pitbull into the UFC. You see now, Patricio Pitbull, speaking of the weigh-ins today, he showed up, made the championship weightins today, he showed up, made the championship weight and was just like, Hey, in case anything should happen. Anything crazy could happen to the main event.

I'll be ready to step in. I will have made the championship weight. That's shrewd. That's a veteran of the game who has seen the way these things can go down. He knows crazy stuff happens in this sport all the time. Somebody could go slip on a banana peel between now and Saturday night. So he wants to be ready. He wants to be a guy who's kind of put his name forward.

And yet this is a tough fight for him. I think at this point in his career, it seems to me we're looking at Patricio Pitbull right now, similarly to how we looked at Michael Chandler when he came into the UFC. And the question is, did he make the move too late? Is there enough lift in there? Because, you know few years ago if he had made this move four or five years ago we would have instantly been talking about here he comes and he should be a contender for the title. I remember doing a story I think around 2020-2021 where I was talking to

various coaches and fighters about the way they approach film study. And I remember asking somebody, have you ever watched film on a guy who one of your fighters is gonna fight and you're looking for weaknesses, you're looking for a potential game plan and you sit down, you watch the film and you come away going,

ooh, we might be in trouble. I don't know if I see too much that is gonna work to our favor. And one of the coaches came back and he was like, actually, this just happened to me for the first time recently. And it was Patricio Pitbull. Cause we're just watching him and we're thinking, man, I don't know. Cause let's, let's throw hard and hope for the best, I guess, you know, and now

you see this version of him coming and it feels like he's still very good. It can still be a lot of people on this roster, but it does make you wonder. Does he still have his best stuff? Can he come in here and beat Yair Rodriguez? Yeah, I do worry a little bit. What is he 37 years old, right? I just did a piece on him, uh, as well that I think is up right now. They, they held it until Friday, but, uh, the piece is up right now on Patricio. And basically it's about his perseverance to be in the fight game as long as he has.

And I mean, to fight kind of the who's who within the Bellator organization, but also to face so many, like you don't get guys who could potentially be this could, if Patricio wins this fight, he could be in line for a title fight himself, which is pretty, pretty nuts considering the amount of times he's lost in Bellator, like he's had multiple times where he's, he's almost in the Sisyphus, you know, pushing the ball to like, he, he's had those moments, especially early in his career, where he'd get to the, he'd get to the top and then it would not work for him.

He'd have to go back to the drawing board. He broke through, he's won a couple of titles, you know, like different weight classes and one back to featherweight. He's done all of this, but I think this is the one big dangling carrot for him. I do worry though, because you're like, he's 37. He hasn't, if you go back and watch the last couple of fights, you can see that you can see that he's got, he's still himself, but at the same time he's not winning all of his fights. And so if we're talking a 50-50 proposition against really good

competition like year, I don't foresee it happening for him, to where he's going to get that shot, but if he does, it'll be a great story for him, but I think he's fighting the uphill battle now, man, like at 37, we're talking about with Volkonovsky and he's been through a lot of wars. This isn't exactly like the Chandler thing where Chandler I think still had enough juice to kind of go in there, even though in Chandler, it's not like

he's been a world beater. He's just, he's been entertaining, right? Like he's given all these guys really good fights. He's only two and four since he came over, but it feels like he's better because he's given all these guys hell. I think Patricio could do that, but I don't know how long he wants to do that. You know? Yeah.

And you know, the, the war, as you mentioned, that part also is worth considering because he's fought so many different people in Bellator. It feels like he lived several different lives over in Bellator, but also he's been in some tough fights and it's, you know, it's not just the years, it's the miles. And that's one of the things that we wondered about Michael Chandler. It's also a fair thing to wonder about Patricio Pitbull. There's a part of you that wants him to be able to come in here

and give a good accounting of himself. Just because if you've been following that guy's career, you know, how good he has been at times and how, how good he was at times in Bellator. And so it would be kind of a shame to watch him come over to the UFC to finally get that opportunity after, you know, all the contractual stuff he was dealing with, trying to get PFL and everybody to release him and let him go. And then if he came over here and it just ended up being too late, it would be kind of a heartbreaker, you know, when we've seen that happen.

And so it's like, I guess my hope is that whatever happens in this first UFC fight, we give them at least a little bit of rope because you know how it goes. We went through this when pride fell apart, when the UFC brought over a whole bunch of those guys at once and we'd watched them in their first fights and then we would make these snap judgments and sometimes those snap judgments had something behind them. You know, we'd see like maybe, maybe the best of Mirko Krokop was left behind in Tokyo, but then sometimes, you know, we saw somebody like Shogun Hua come in, look pretty bad in his first UFC fight.

It looks like he was really struggling to adjust and then go on to become a UFC champion. And so it does happen, but also MMA fans are really prone to just whatever we saw last is pretty much the book on you. Yeah. I mean, and we've changed to like with social media, like the days you're talking about, man, it was, I remember the way it would sweep through. The guys would, you know, whoever we are, who we're a fixed data. And it was almost like we over, uh, mythologize them

by the time they got over to the UFC. We're like, it's almost impossible standards. I don't know if, um, if pit bulls quite in that territory, but the people who've watched him, man. And I mean, you, we we've been covering the sport pretty much parallel since what, 2007, 2008, like all the way through this stuff. And so you, we, we've been covering the sport pretty much parallel since what 2007, 2008, like all the way through this stuff. And so you, we've seen all of him.

You've seen him, the good, the bad, everything he's able to do. Um, when he's really good, he's really good, man. I mean, it's like, it's one of those types of things you're like, if he, if he shows that form at all, it would be a lot of fun because the people who are UFC centric or just didn't know. Or if they just have a UFC bias and they're like,

well, I don't, you know, these guys, they're lesser if they come from these other organizations for his sake. I don't want his legacy, which whatever that legacy is to be tarnished by that. Where he comes over and he looks flat and then everybody's like, see, he sucked. He was at, he was no good. That's what we tend to do these days, right? Like just the whole thing is just, you know, what a charade, you know, I don't want that for him.

Well, speaking of Michael Chandler, you see him here in the co-main event taken on Patty Pinley. And this is another one where it seems like we're still trying to decide what the book is going to be on Michael Chandler for his time in the UFC. You know, he, obviously he came in, uh, he, he suffered some, some losses, uh, feels like he's lost to some absolutely great lightweights and beat the other people. And the other people includes, you know, some, some pretty good people,

some guys like Dan Hooker, but also some guys at the, the end of the line, like Tony Ferguson, but then the list of his losses, it's nothing but great UFC lightweights, every single one of them. And, you know, he managed to have moments in those fights where he looked pretty good and now you see him against Patty Pimlett where it feels like this is a test case for both guys in very different ways. Because for Michael Chandler, we're saying, Hey, do you still only lose to the absolute best in the lightweight division?

And to Patty Pimlett, we're saying, all right, let's find out, are you legit? Are you really going to turn into somebody in the lightweight division. And to Patty Pimlet, we're saying, all right, let's find out, are you legit? Are you really going to turn into somebody in the lightweight division? Or are you just going to be somebody who is popular in the lightweight division? It feels like that's the precipice that we're on here. Patty does feel like other people. The ones that you were mentioning that Chandler does beat, right? Like this is, he's, he kind of represents, um, the guys that Chandler should beat. But this is also, I love matchmaking like this at some point because.

Patty Pimlet for the longest time has just carried some doubt about him. And I think it's almost like, uh, sometimes when guys have reputations from cage wars or wherever it comes from, where, or he's on Ariel's show before he was ever, um, in the UFC. He's got kind of the, you know's on Ariel's show before he was ever in the UFC. He's got kind of the, you know, the mop top haircut and he's doing all this stuff and you're like, people form an opinion of him before ever watching him. So by the time he got to the UFC and remember he went through

some pretty heavy weather in that first fight with Luigi. What's his face? Uh, Vindramini or whatever his name was. Remember that guy, the dude he fought to start, he got kind of clipped. And I think people were just ready to dance on his grave at that point. Like, oh yeah, see. Um, and for whatever reason there's, that's kind of followed up, man. If they're all six fights in the UFC, um, we saw him when he, uh, you know, he had

that very controversial decision against, uh, Jared Gordon, where there's a lot of people thought he lost, but his last couple of fights, he's looked really good. He looked really good against King Green. I think this is one of those things where he moves into the situation and it puts, if he's got haters or doubters about the, his potential of being a contender. We get the answers right now, because I think that's what Michael Chandler represents. He's been hovering in that top five space for so long that to go through a guy like Chandler to me would be like the definitive mark.

Okay. Anybody who says that Patty doesn't belong, you know, in the top of the picture is wrong. This guy does belong there. This would be the moment for him. Yeah. And you know, Patty is one of those guys where when you see him on way in day, you go, who is one of those guys where when you see him on weigh-in day, you go, who is this? This guy, this was a person who was existing inside the person that we were

used to seeing, zips out of a suit, you know, he shows up shredded and he, and, but he does it without looking like he's near death. You know, he doesn't look super skeletal. He looks good. He looks like fit and everything, but he's also a guy who has sort of unapologetically bulked up between fights. He, he, he likes to eat, likes to enjoy himself when he's not in training camp and having to worry about making 155 pounds.

And so when he shows up on the scales and you see him, you go, okay. Yeah, no, this, this resembles the Patty Pimlett we're used to seeing in interviews and on social media before he has a fight booked. Um, but you know, he is one of those guys where it seems like we've had a good time having Patty Pimlett around. There have been those fights where we saw him and we went, woof, I don't know, man. Like the, you know, the fight that really stands out to me is that Jared Gordon won just because you were seeing him get pasted with the same punch over and over again. And you could feel so many other lightweights in the UFC watching that

fight and going, let me at him, let me have this guy next, because they were seeing the vulnerabilities that were so evident there, you know, like you mentioned, even in that first fight, the Luigi Avengermini one where he's there to be hit. There, there is not like a ton of defense going on in the striking game for Patty Pimmelman. I think he's gotten better since then, but also you put him in a fight with Michael Chandler, who that's a guy who can throw some bombs and will. And you know, Patty Pimlet has a

Sneaky ground game Managed to get a whole lot of submissions I was looking at our guy Drake Riggs as preview for this one and he pointed out though that Michael Chandler is a guy who just doesn't really get submitted, you know, he he's been in some tough spots on the ground He's been in some tough spots on the ground against really good fighters, you know, and you still, you look at him over 32 pro fights, he's been submitted once. And that's pretty crazy. And that's after that's for a guy who had, you know, two fights with Charles Oliver. Now, one of those two submission losses was the one that Dustin Poirier.

Uh, but that was another one where he had some moments in that one before he lost. But you, you can see him thinking, all right, I can go in here against Patty Pimlett. I can throw hard. I don't need to worry too much about being taken down and controlled or taken down and submitted. I think my ground game is probably good enough that I can get up if I have to. Do you think that he goes out there and tries to connect with one right away, tries to put the heat on Patty Pimlett?

I think that that's kind of just his thing now, man. You know, I, I think that anything, you know, any title aspirations, I'm not sure he's all about that anymore. Like he's cutting pro like wrestling promos and he's just kind of having, I think when we were talking about just a little while back, like guys who can't stop and enjoy themselves in the midst of their career. I feel like Chandler's a little different. Like he actually, at some point, maybe it coincides with his UFC fights, but I think he was kind of like, I just kind of want to have fun now because he's come

out of his, his shell from whatever he used to be, he used to be like this Bellator company man, he wouldn't give you much in the way of the interview. These days he's just such a completely different guy. I'd be kind of shocked if he dawned a singlet again, if he, if he like did anything that was outside of the norm that we're getting used to with Michael Chandler, where he was the guy trying to, uh, slow down the offense of, of Patty and trying to make it ugly. Wouldn't that be something you'd be like, what, because we don't expect that

anymore and I just don't think that Chandler wants to be in that business. So what, what it ends up being is you get a good fight. I think he's won, except for the title fight, I think he's won the end of the night bonus every single time. I think he likes that, man. I think he wants to go in there and put on a show. I don't, I don't want to say the wins and losses don't matter to him, but. I don't think that it's, I don't think he fears losing, you know, because

I think he's like, he knows his place in the company and how much time he has left. So I think he's going to go in there. He wants to, I can guarantee you he'd love to knock out, you know, and get a TKO against Patty Pimlet to be that guy, but he's going to accommodate him. And however that plays out will be very interesting. What I'm, you know, you were mentioning just kind of the, the idea from Patty's side of it.

I'm like, Patty could possibly, you know, take him down a couple of times. That could happen. Like where he just kind of tackles him and takes him down and just kind of roughs him up as long as he has to, to kind of, to get through rounds. He could possibly do that. I do believe in a weird way, his MMA wrestling is underrated. So I think that he could maybe give us that kind of fight. Well, Patty said during the press conference that he would be talking

to the referee about keeping an eye on Michael Chandler, because it seems like, Oh, right. Yeah. You know, he's developed this reputation, whether it's fair or not. Dustin Poirier seemed like he did a lot to advance it where he was just like, that guy's a dirty fighter. We see what he's doing. And, you know, there guy's a dirty fighter. We see what he's doing.

And, you know, there is some evidence for it. Like there's some of those moments where you're seeing what he's doing and it's not like he's just outright cheating. It's not like he's just going out there and kicking you in the groin and poking you in the eyes right away. It's in these moments where he feels like maybe there's a path to victory right there. And he is not going to restrict himself within this, the definition of the rules, if he sees a finish rub ahead. And that's kind of what we saw against Dustin Poirier. Uh, that's what we saw in that, that last Charles Olivera fight where he had him

hurt, he had his back and he's just going to wail away on the back of the guy's head and trust that the referee is going to do no more than be like, Hey, please stop. Which is. Well, that's all, that's all the evidence we have. Yeah. What we do in this sport is we, you know, we'll watch you committing egregious fouls and be like, Hey, this is a warning.

Like don't do it again. When did you guys first roll out the Dendaso thing? I feel like this has been going for 15 years or something like that. Yeah. Forever. It's been forever. It was back when, when Chad wrote for Caged Potato, he wrote an article, like a now kind of like famous article that laid out the logical case of why you should always cheat in an MMA fight because it might give you an advantage

and it's so rarely results in any meaningful punishment. That could be the Bible right now. Right. It still works. It's be the Bible right now. Right. It still works. It's the same thing. Nothing has changed. It does. And we see it all the time where it's like when there's a pause in the action,

cause a guy got eye poked or, or kicked in the groin or something, the longer the pause goes on and the more restless the fans get, they blame the guy who was fouled, that's the sense is they were like, Hey, come on, hurry up. Let's get this fight going again. And it's not just the fans. Henry Sahudo recently. Yeah. Yes.

Yeah. Henry Sahudo is a good example. And it's the referee. Everybody has a motivation and a reason to want to get the fight started again, because we don't want to dwell too long on what has to happen if this thing stops. And so, yeah, like it is a good strategy. And I think the Dundasso martial art, the always cheap martial art was based on in part because Chad was basically being like, I don't have

a lot of martial arts skills, so I need to poke somebody in the eye. Yeah. Give myself a chance. But you know, Michael, especially it seems like, I don't want to say unfair because he has sort of earned this reputation, but he's not the only one. There's a lot of people who will go out there and do stuff like that. John Jones will take it. Yeah.

I know there's guys way worse than him to point out his examples of this. And there's just such a dichotomy between the Michael Chandler good guy who will see at the top, uh, you know, squeaky clean image, uh, muscle milk, Mike, all that kind of stuff, but also, you know, adopting children, giving them their, you know. Also he's going to, he's going to blow a bloody snot rocket into your eye and grab the gloves and do all that other stuff. Do you think, do you think that it's like, uh, like at this point, it's a, it's a topic going into a fight.

Do you think it's unfair to him? I mean, it's not unfair, but it's, it's also sort of, it's kind of, it reminds me a little bit, Phil Jackson back in the day when he was coaching would always do this in a playoff series. He would see something he didn't like that strictly by the, by the book was probably illegal and he would just harp on it to the, like out, you know, any media, he would just harp on it so that the referees basically, everybody's now paying attention to it. And that even the referees then are like now paying attention to it and that even the referees then are like, hey, we can't ignore this because now we're being scrutinized for this very

thing. In that sense, it's kind of smart by Patty to be like, can we please be on the lookout for any mis-toured behavior because he's done this stuff before and he may do that again. Is it fair? I don't know. It could be somewhat gamesmanship too. Like Patty likes to play these little mental games a little bit, but you're right, there is enough evidence on Michael Chandler and this probably goes back, man, like this is a guy who competed collegiately in wrestling and you know, you learn things, you learn things about competition, the elasticity of the rules and how they're going to be enforced through competition of years and years. You would almost blame him more or look down on him more if he didn't exploit

a few of the things that he could get by with, right? At this point. Yeah. Again, those of you just joining us, wondering where Pete C. Carroll is, I have it on good authority. He is out today because he's auditioning for the real world Ireland. His, his quote that he sent me in a text says, I need this. I can't tell you how much I need this.

So, uh, we wish him the best of luck there and hopefully he'll be back next week. Speaking of the real world, like hell is that even still a thing? I think Pizzi's trying to get on the real world just because he wants to get on the real world rules challenge. That's it's, it's, it's okay, it's taking it one step at a time. Uh, when you speak of narratives headed into a fight, you can't not talk about what's going on with Bryce Mitchell and John Silva and this, you love this shit. I love it.

I love it because it highlights what a weird sport this really is. And I wrote a column about it, uh, today where it's like, imagine you're trying to talk. To somebody who doesn't really follow this sport. Imagine you're at a watch party here. You're showing up, you got friends coming over for USC three 14. You're going over to somebody's house to watch it. Somebody's there, you know, somebody's boyfriend or girlfriend. They don't really follow the sport.

They're like, okay, what's the story with this one? And you're like, oh yeah, no, people are really looking forward to this one because one of these guys came out again on episode one of his podcast and said that based on his own research, Hitler was a good guy and he would have liked to go fishing with him and that did not go over well. He finally found the line where MMA bands will get mad at you and some of them. Yeah. Some of them still had some that were with them.

It's crazy. And then we had this guy, a, you know, a streaking contender kind of coming up the ranks said, Hey, give me this guy. I'll fight him. And so we booked this fight and they'd been going back and forth at each other. And yeah, one of them, sure. He thinks that be ever since he took this fight, he's been plagued by demons torturing him in his sleep.

Uh, and then when it's not demons, it is sexy ladies trying to tempt him to cheat on his wife. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. Don't I know it brother. The, the thing is he seems to genuinely believe all of this and John Silva comes in and he seems like he's having a laugh with it a little, he seems like he's using it as a means to an end, right? Where he's just like, Bryce Mitchell has brought this kind of attention on himself.

I can get attention from myself by beating him up, especially in this moment where there are a lot of people, perhaps UFC executives included, who would like to see him beat up. And it was just, that immediately turned into the sales pitch when Dana White had to respond to Bryce Mitch's comments. And he was just like, no, we're not actually going to do him beat up. And it was just, that immediately turned into the sales pitch when Dana White had to respond to Bryce Munch's comments. And he was just like, no, we're not actually going to do anything to him. I think that he is one of the stupidest human beings is what Dana White said. And he was like, but hey, if you don't like him, you don't like what he said.

This is a great thing about this sport. Now you get to tune in and maybe watch him get beat up on TV and it's working as a sales pitch, as a narrative. Tell me it's not working. Tell me you're not more excited for this than you would be for any other fight where it's like number 13 guy in the division against an unranked guy in the division. This was the Vince McMahon moment. Wasn't it like, kind of like, why you want to see him get beat?

Here it is. You know what I mean? There's so much, there's so much to it, man. It's a, I, I love it too, because at it's rude, it's almost like he's being kind of a dick to me and, uh, you know, and I'm more religious than him, you know, and I'm more of a godly man than him.

And it actually like in talking to Jean Silva a little bit too, like this, this is making him mad that he's being cast as a bad person. Like this doesn't sit well with him. I know that him and, uh and Mauricio Hufi, Rufi, Hufi, whatever they, whatever his, he's go by, I think it actually is Hufi. Um, he's a very religious guy. And so, and, and I know Jean like, you know, is kind of a part of that in terms of,

uh, being with him in that, like kind of, you know what I mean? Like he's, he's, he's getting more into being a religious guy, if that makes any sense. So I think this, this all rubs me around. So, but you've got all this backstory and it's, it's crazy with Bryce Mitchell because he could, like you see his eyes, they're just so like lucidly crazy, like when he's staring at him

and stuff, and, uh, you think of almost like children of the corn or something like that. One of the, and stuff. And, uh, you think of almost like children of the corn or something like that. One of the, like one of these, uh, these fanatics who like, it's just beaming through them, their fanaticism is beaming through them and, uh, and you're like, man, this is crazy. It will, it's such a perfect thing for the fight game. I really can't think of a, another example of a guy like that, or even somebody from Arkansas, there aren't too many Arkansas fighters, like if I'm being honest,

but like a guy like that, who's just like, I know you think I'm stupid. Then he'll say something even more ridiculous the next sentence. You know what I mean? Yeah. So, I mean, the setup for this is brilliant. And then you have the other guy barking at him and, um, and acting like he could possibly be possessed by the devil. I mean, like these, these elements all play together really nicely.

Yeah. That's the thing is that John Silva seems like he's doing it for the bit. He sees an opportunity and he's like, okay, I'm going to lean in a little bit. Bryce Mitchell seems to genuinely believe everything that he is saying and always has, and it's weird because it's like, he came out there, he seemed a little bit taken aback when he first made his appearance after this to hype up this fight after they first booked it, and he was getting booed, getting booed every time he talked. And his response to that was to then quote the Bible where Jesus was talking about how he also

had been hated and it's like, bro, are you really going to turn around from the Hitler Apologia to kind of putting yourself next to Jesus Christ? Like that's not a great move, but that is exactly how he went with it. And then, you know, you see them in this matchup where, uh, it does seem like the promise is, Hey, one super controversial guy, but the UFC sees controversy as opportunity, you know, the, you never want to let heat go to waste. It's like a good pro wrestling promoter. So if people feel some way about this guy, whether it's positive or negative,

then we want to turn that feeling into interest and cash. And so one way to do it is to book him against John Silva, who seems like a guy rocketing his way up, could really be, he could wake up Sunday morning in the top 15, if he goes out there and has a good performance and beats Bryce Mitchell, especially finishes Bryce Mitchell, he seems like he knows that he's really leaning in to all of that. Whereas Bryce Mitchell seems like maybe this is a, he might genuinely believe he's in a fight against the forces of darkness. And that there's just such a difference.

It seems in like how they view the fight, but it is like, you do hear people talking about it. Like people are interested in this fight and you gotta say that's part of it. You know, 100%. And John Silva too, like in talking to him, uh, about a week ago, he was. Embracing, I don't know, he's almost embracing something. I was asking him like, so this Lord thing that you have, you know, and he

was sitting around his team and the team was like, well, you know, you don't really want to talk too much to Jian as he gets closer to the fight because he starts to change into this, this like very grumpy and very like focused, almost animalistic like thing where he becomes, and that's, they're like watch fight week, you'll see what we're talking about. And sure enough, as we've gone on, you know, he's barking, he's doing all this stuff.

Now, how much of that is really the, the case and how much of it is like this strange dark thing that he wants to kind of harness and bring into the, in a strange way, you know, there's some truth and merit to what Bryce Mitchell is saying, like the guy actually, I think does try to bring up like whatever is in him, dredge up like his animal spirit or something to

come into this fight. I love that sort of thing. Right. Like it's just, I think that Silva himself looks at it like he's doing a, you know, a public service, you know, so he's like, he really wants to tap into it. And he, and when I was talking to him, you know, he's mentioning like giving brain damage and all this stuff.

There was a lot of that kind of talk. Like it was a lot of what we'd consider, you know, sometimes like, I just want to beat the guy. This wasn't like that, you know, he wants to retire him. He wants to plant them into the earth, you know, it's one of those things. He wants to really beat them up. Meanwhile, I saw Bryce Mitchell on one of these pre-show things with, uh, talking to Laura Senko with the UFC and she was basically being like, people

don't seem to like you now, how do you feel about that? And he was like, I think people will forget about this and they'll realize that I'm a likable guy. And then the next thing I saw of him was one of these videos where people were asking, Hey, what would your alternative nickname be? And he said white power, I believe. And I was just like, man, there's not going to be a time post saying dumb things for you every time you open your mouth, there's a new one.

It seems, you know, he said the thing after Sean Sylvill's barking, he said the thing about how he's put down dogs before, and you're just like, I don't know, man, that doesn't seem great either. Like what there's, you keep acting like there's, Hey, I said one dumb thing. There'll be a period after like a refractory period where then my image will recover and it's not happening because he's just saying more stuff. Uh, and yet it does translate to this sort of like an interest in this fight that otherwise absolutely would not be there. It would, it would, this is a fight, you know, if you just heard about it, like,

Hey, number 13 in the division versus unranked in the division, that's a UFC fight night bout, you know, that, that's, and yet here it's one of the marquee attractions. Well, it's because if John Silver wins, obviously you still got like the fighting nerds are just like on fire, right? Like this whole team is just continues to roll. is if John Silver wins, obviously you still got like the fighting nerds are just like on fire, right? Like this whole team is just continues to roll. But if Bryce wins, it's almost like now what?

You know what I mean? Because now you're going to have to deal with one of the most existential, strange. Like I was like putting myself into the spot and kind of like sweating. It was, uh, when he went on Ariel's show and remember he wanted to talk to him about guns and all that stuff and he just wanted to ask him, wanted to turn it around and put it all on Ariel to answer all this stuff. And I was like, Oh my God, this is the kind of, this is the kind of guy that you just don't know how to handle.

And I think that it just kind of times 10, right? It's going to be times 10. If he's able to win this fight. I don't know where, where this all goes. Um, but there's a fascination in that too, because where else can it go? You've already kind of, you've already kind of said the stuff that's about as controversial as you can get. I don't know where it goes, but I think that that element only would, uh, expand.

Like whoever fights him next, it would be another big deal. Wouldn't it? Yeah. that that element only would expand. Like whoever fights him next, it would be another big deal. Wouldn't it? Yeah. Uh, I do also, before we move on to other topics, uh, outside of UFC three, 14, I want to point out one of the fights I'm most looking forward to, which is Jim Miller versus chase Hooper, where it looks like a, you know, the dad on the block takes a moment from, uh, turns off the lawnmower, walks

across the street to take on some uppity kid who's been causing trouble in the neighborhood stylistically, two grapplers visually where you see Jim Miller with a little bit of gray in his beard and, uh, chase Hooper, who still somehow looks like he's 16. I love everything about it. I was once on a flight with chase Hooper where I think it was post fight sometime and he had some bruises on his face. And, uh, for one thing, the UFC is going to throw a dude and coach on the way back

from a fight and he was like across the aisle from me and I could hear him, you know, you get on a flight looking like a teenager with a bunch of bruises on your face, your seat mates might have some questions about it. And they did. And I could overhear him trying to explain that he was a UFC fighter. And you could just imagine the person being like, no, you're not. There's absolutely no way you got beat up in junior high. There's no way that you're a professional fighter.

Especially with that baby face. Oh yeah. Dude, Jim Miller, when Jim Miller debuted in 2005, Chase Hooper was six years old. That's just the weirdest, like, you think about that, you're like, that's just a, that's, that's a crazy kind of thing. But the Jim Miller aspect of it, making his 46th walk, the fact that he's still doing this man, owns records that I think will never be broken in the UFC because I don't know if you'll get that kind of longevity.

I don't even know if you'd get that kind of shake anymore. There's just too many, there's too many obstacles for you to, for you to hang around through eras like that. And also just battling through like Lyme disease and things like that through his career. Um, he's one of the most unsung UFC fighters. You know what I mean?

Like there is, and it's a marvel every time I see him, man. So I'm with you on that. And obviously Darren, Darren Elkins is on this fight card too, who's in a similar way. He's like 40 years old now. It's funny. Cause I have a story where he was on a flight all beat up. It was after Vancouver. Um, his face was just a mess.

And I remember people coming up to him, flying coach. I remember the exact same scenarios that you're talking about. But the fact that I think what, 12, 13 years years later that he's still doing it as a Marvel. And sometimes you got to look at these old guys and their perseverance and be like, man, good on you. I wish they were a little more celebrated than they are. Yeah. Well, especially for a guy like Darren Elkins, he's the dude who could show up on a flight.

His face is all messed up and he won. He is the, he could be the winner of the fight and looked like he was absolutely put through a meat grinder. Uh, so I appreciate that. We would be remiss if we did not at some point in this show talk about everything going on over there with the GFL, because the breaking news this week, our own Ariel Helwani of Uncrowned, uh, brokeowned broke that the GFL is canceling its planned first events in California.

Even got some quotes there that basically were blaming it on the investors who didn't come through. Some checks didn't cash, apparently. And now the future of the GFL is uncertain. They're insisting that it will go on, that these events will actually happen. You had a great column on this where you talked about how, yeah, this is not exactly a surprise. We've kind of seen this movie before and we should have seen where this one was headed. What were your first thoughts when you heard like, okay, GFL, their first events are off

and all this, there'd been so much buildup to this. We did a draft, we had the AI video, we had a rap song, we had all this kind of stuff. You had all these fighters like veteran fighters signing on. You had some people trying to get out of existing contracts so they could go over and sign with the GFL, which now may never have a single event. I think it was just that in the fight game specifically, like you've seen it, man. It's like, if, if there's some something that's crazy ambitious, you always have to think, does it ever even happen, even if you have like fighters

fooled or whatever it's going to be a night, who knows, maybe they still are able to pull off at least an event at some point. But you see this happen, man. And, and as soon as you knew that roster kind of w all the, all the people and the kind of ambitious idea and kind of the ideas within those ideas, like basically a league oriented thing. I know that you worked with the IFL.

We've already seen elements of what they're trying to do. And you're just like, so it's not just one red flag, you know, it's like this whole colony of red flags all over the place. And you're like, I don't see how this happens unless they just have an endless financial partner who's like, all right, let's try it, man. We can take hits for as long as we need to until we start seeing money. And that seemed unlikely. So when it, when it came through that the investor and who knows what the situation

is, but that their investor didn't come through for April, whether that's cold feet or something else, who knows, but it wasn't surprising. It's just one of those things I, you know, I opened that column by basically saying that one of the more popular talking points was what are the odds that they ever have an event? Even though they went through the draft and all this and most people, it seemed like when they,

when I have these conversations were like, uh, you know, they would guess, no, they wouldn't. And so in that sense, I guess the forebode, the sense of foreboding and all that was already in place. The fact that it might not happen. And so when you get this news and you're like, ah, it's unfortunate because we cover these people. All these people, we've covered them, all these guys who've ended up in this league or hoping to kind of brush off themselves, whatever years of retirement and jump into this league, make some extra money.

And the purses were supposed to be pretty high. Um, we care about these people, man. And you kind of want them to, you want the best for them. So like as they go through this and they go through, you know, if this doesn't happen and they're just kind of screwed in this whole process, you're like, man, did they really need

to have to go through that, you know, all the people involved? That's what kind of sucks about it. So there was a part of me rooting, not just because MMA always needs more, like it can't just be the UFC dictating the space. You always want to have more, um, promotions out there that people can, and more alternatives. But I really wanted to see at least, I was rooting for it to at least have an event. And I'm not sure that that happens. But I really wanted to see at least I was rooting for it to at least have an event.

Yeah. And I'm not sure that that happens. Yeah. The statement that they posted to X here from the GFL accounts is, unfortunately, we've been forced to postpone our May launch event. Our primary investor was unable to meet their funding commitment. We are working tirelessly to secure the necessary funding to support a successful launch, although we anticipate this delay to be short-lived, any athlete may request an immediate release. We are committed to our mission and will continue to fight forward together.

The support from our athletes, coaches, and managers during this time has been truly inspiring." That's from Darren Owen, the founder and commissioner. It's interesting, isn't it, when you see what the word postpone has meant to various fight promoters over the... We've even seen the UFC do it where we're just like, Hey, we're not canceling this event. We are postponing this event. And then month or two goes by and we go, Hey, by the way, when is that postponed event going to take place?

And the answer is never. Like we're just, we're not doing it. And go look up UFC 151. You won't find it. Yeah. And there was a couple of those, right? And it was just like, and finally, I remember somebody going back to Lorenzo Furtito for one of them and they were like, what about the postponement on this one?

He was like, uh, it'll be going out in the history of books is the one that didn't happen. We just skipped over it and we go right to 152, you know, that kind of thing. Exactly. Uh, and, and here it seems like we have another one. It is, it is a bummer though, especially because it's like, those fighters seemed, a lot of them get really excited about it, you know? It was a big opportunity for a lot of those guys.

They were talking about big money that they were expecting. A lot of those guys were looking at it like, this might be the last fight related paycheck I cash. Right. And it could be a good one. And some of them turning down other opportunities to come over here and do this. And now if it ends up being nothing at all, that's a bummer, man. Like that's, that has real consequences for real people's careers and not just a,

we were trying to do a thing. It didn't work out LMAO, you know, these, these guys kind of needed this to happen. It's just that, that big kind of like puffing up the chest. You know what I mean? Saying like, check it out. This is what we're going to do. It, how has this ever worked? I feel like even like I was thinking about the Triller event where they had all these musical acts spliced through and they have, then you're like, dude, you've spent an extraordinary amount of money on this.

And as far as I know, man, there are still people waiting to be paid from that. So it's kind of, anytime you hear that something's coming through, that's going to require a lot of money. And I don't remember, I know Shani, Shadi had put together like how many different former UFC fighters, how many Bellator, all the people that were involved in this, that's not cheap. Um, and you would like to, if they're going to go to the length of having a draft,

of trying to secure whatever broadcasts and all this stuff and going on shows and basically saying like, we're going to do this, you'd like to think that they had the money secure enough to give that the real shake to actually do it. Like to go out there and put on their initial shows at least to let the action itself and the night itself kind of dictate what happens next. I never liked to hear that, you know, our finance, our finance partner didn't come through because this is, that's the fight game.

I feel like we've heard some version of that. The whole way through this goes all the way back. You're a big history guy with, uh, for the boxing. You can find that kind of story going back to the early 1900s, man. Yeah. And you know, it is, cause like you said, if you're going to try to make a big splash out of the gate, that's going to be your thing that we're going to burst

onto the scene as a major organization right away, then you need to have a lot of money that you don't mind losing for a while, because you need to have a pretty good runway in order to have a chance of taking off. And the other way to do it is to be an organization kind of like StrikeForce did, where you start out as a strong regional organization. You build a fan base up in an area. You have fighters from that area. You, you know, you can sell tickets there and then you gradually become something bigger.

You gradually get TV deals and start to grow. You, not many people want to do that. Like they want to just hit home runs right out of the gate. They don't want to build. And I don't know if you can do it. And if you, if you are going to do it, you got to find some people you can sell on it right away and be like, Hey, give us millions and millions of dollars and wait five years before you ask if then he's coming back.

I would just like it to be a more like enticing pitch though, because give me an IFL team. What was one of the teams from back in the day? Uh, the Los Angeles Anacondas. So, Boss Rutan was the coach for a little while. Okay. So, and they had like, did you, were you at like the events, right?

Like, was there like this huge LA contingent that was like, dude, that's, that's our guys right there. And they're like, you know, 18,000 strong kind of rocking a building and just a home court advantage, you know. The only one who got that. There was one team that got that. Okay. It was Pat Miletic's team, the Quad Cities Silverbacks.

That makes sense. Just because yeah. And like by that time they alreadybacks. That makes sense given the area. Yeah. And like by that time they already were. They're all cousins out there. They all know each other, you know? It's like they, they, people from that area and like Bettendorf, Iowa, they already knew about the Miletich camp, took a lot of pride in how much success that they had had in MMA and the UFC and in other organizations.

And so it was just like, you're kind of just given a new name to a thing that already exists. Plus they were one of the few teams where they actually lived and trained there. Like those guys actually were, uh, Quad Cities guys, where it was just like, we, we had the Tokyo Sabres and it was like Antonio McKee and a bunch of people who lived and trained in LA. Yeah. I mean, when, uh, it was at Te uh, Teron Woodley was drafted to team Dubai.

I was like, I don't know if he's going to uproot and, you know, but my point is that I just, this, this concept of like representing a city, I just, I just don't. It's not, this is a sport that has proudly like existed as Monogamata. Like you talk to guys and you're like, why did you choose fighting? And a lot of them, you know, they give you a lot of different reasons, but one consistent thing is like, you know, I couldn't leave with ball sports where a ball is a metaphor for what

we're doing and I can't literally dictate my will into the situation. I don't want any part of it. It has to be where I'm totally accountable for winning and losing, you know, like I'm the only guy to blame. I'm the only, you know, it get rid of the team. This team concept thing is just, I just don't see the fit.

I don't really, even, even when you get into tournaments, it's a sticky, you know, situation. I know that sometimes they can be fun, but there's, the, that's the one thing I'm like these new places that are coming, like even the PFL, I'm always like, guys, I just don't think the psychological lure, the hook is what you think it is. I just don't think fight psychological lure, the hook is what you think it is. I just don't think fight fans care about that stuff.

Well, we still have one fight event that we actually have reason to believe will happen as scheduled and it's Saturday night, USC 314 down there in Miami. Chuck, give me one, one thing you're really looking forward to out of this one, whether it's a fight, whether it's one of these questions answered, what's the big one for you? Let's see. You know what, man? Like I'll just mention something that like, we

haven't really talked about this, the Krylov, uh, Dominic Reyes fight. Like that's a really interesting fight in a strange way because we were buried Dominic Reyes a long time ago. Like this is a guy who had a claim, a legit claim that he beat John Jones. Starts getting knocked out.

And I mean, in the worst possible ways where you're just like, this guy needs to get out of the fight game and now he's won a couple of fights. He's on the verge of putting himself back into kind of like a, you know, into the picture, into the mix, I guess, of what, you know, at the top of 280, uh, 205. That to me is crazy. Like this, this is like one of those things that's, it's crazier to me in this situation, because of the way he was knocked out in a couple of those fights. Then even the Arlovski ones back in the day when he would resurrect, he'd

lose four and a run, then all of a sudden he was back into being a contender. That's remarkable in itself. And this is one of those fights that nobody's talking about, man. And Krylov is one of those guys that I feel like he's 50 years old, but the dude's like 33 and he continues to win all these fights and has overcome a lot of stuff. It's an unsung fight man, but, uh, I kind of dig it in that sense because both guys have like strange stakes attached to this. Yeah.

For me, I got to say is, uh, Jim Miller and chase Hooper that one, especially when I looked at it and I saw Jim Miller is like a plus 600 underdog in this one. Jim Miller by submission. There's that 20 bucks that you don't want to see again. If you had it laying around, Jim Miller by submission is like plus 1300. And I'd just be like, I get it. I get what people are looking at and how they come to that conclusion. But also haven't you learned anything from watching Jim Miller over the years?

How many of these, well, Jim Miller must be done. He's too old kind of fights has he been in and he'll find a way to win those. Like the UFC has put them in fights before where it seemed like we're trying to boost up the next guy and we're going to do it on the back of Jim Miller and he can come out there and he can ruin those plans for you. Jim Miller's a salty old dog in this sport, a savvy veteran, the veterans veteran, a beloved fighter and you know, there's a part of me just as a gentleman of a certain age myself, uh, who would like to see him, you know, push the youngster back down the ranks and be

like, not yet kid. Um, so that's it for me. This, this has been a fun and unusual episode of the crack. If you've been wondering where Pizzi Carroll is, we have it on good authority that he saw an ice cream truck on his way to work today and is still chasing it. We hope he catches it. He wants that Mickey Mouse ice cream bar. We do have one super chat though, Chuck.

Are you ready? Oh yeah. Wow. The music gets going. I love the little graphics. This is good. Okay. Okay. I see what's happening here.

This one from a guy, I believe it's pronounced Peter Caroll. Okay. He says, great job, lads. You didn't swear enough for my liking, but I think it's still been a fantastic episode. Green heart emoji. First of all, to that, to that criticism, I will say bullshit. Yeah.

That's a bunch of bull shit. I like the enunciation. heart emoji, first of all, to that, to that criticism, I will say bullshit. Yeah. That's a bunch of bull shit. I like the enunciation, but, uh, no, I don't cuss generally. I'm a. Yeah. You, you like to keep it clean. Like Will Smith and his raps. Yeah. That's, but I will say that, uh, Pizzi does add a, an element of the, uh, the

reballed, you know, there's something about it. We miss his energy, his enthusiasm, uh, you know, his, his particular methods of chopping it up, there's, there's only one pizza carol in this industry. Everybody knows that. You got to get on the same hymn sheet, fella. See, this is what I love. If it's, if not for communicating with pizza, there would be so many, just like Irish idioms and expressions that I would never have any knowledge of. It's kind of like whenever

I hear a Brazilian fighter say, in my country we have a saying and I'm focused, I'm dialed in, then I gotta hear it. Pizzi has many of those same sayings and I for one really appreciate it. Well thanks for joining us on the crack. Everybody chuck anything, any last words, anything you want to leave us with here? A song, a poem? Adamus Look for that big GFL event that's going to be happening in June, Ben. It's going to be big.

Ben I'm going to relocate, set our sights on London and the world will never be the same. Thank you to everybody. Thank you to the crack heads. Thanks to everybody who joined us and wonder the entire time if Pizzi Carrol had in fact been killed in a tragic accident. We assure you he is safe and sound. He'll be back next week.

And hopefully we'll get a chance to join him. Hopefully we didn't get ourselves banned from the show for life today. We'll see. We'll see. Thanks, everybody. Thank you.