The Ariel Helwani Show - UFC to have huge 2026? Eddie Hearn takes on Dana White in MMA? UFC Rio talk | The Craic

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

The Craic is back! Petesy Carroll calls on Chuck Mindenhall to talk this week's biggest headlines.They kick things off by reacting to Ariel’s loaded 2026 superfight forecast from Monday’s Helwani Show. Can 2026 live up to its decade-old predecessor, 2016? The guys break it all down (00:32).Also on this week’s programming was Ariel’s interview with Eddie Hearn, whose comments about MMA ruffled some feathers. He teased a potential promotional move into the sport, and the guys discuss how big his involvement could become (32:17).One promotion still struggling to break through is the PFL. Petesy and Chuck discuss the underwhelming buildup to one of its biggest matchups, Paul Hughes vs. Usman Nurmagomedov 2 (53:43).To wrap up the show, Chuck gives the lowdown on this weekend's Ice Wars and the duo answer your Super Chats (1:02:52).

Welcome back to the crack everybody. I hope you're all having a beautiful, beautiful Friday. It's not the biggest of weekends in MMA this weekend. Of course, we have Charlie Olives topping that beautiful, beautiful Rio card we talked to Alarmé Cruz about that last week. But we thought it'd be a good time to scrutinize our fellow journalists on Uncrowned this week. You know, there was a lot of lip from Mr. Ariel Hawaii this weekend.

You know, I don't know if you were watching it there, but, you know, I wanted to jump in. I wanted to scrutinize. And we didn't get the time to scrutinize because of all these wonderful guests he keeps book and they weren't like, Here Pizzi, shit all over my takes for a few minutes. So I'm going to really flesh that out today. Thank you, Ariel. You know, I love you. I don't know if you heard this, but, you know, he's talking about,

He has forever been talking about 2016, as has Chuck Mendenhall who will join me on the show momentarily. But he's saying now that 2016 could be rivaled by what happens next year, 2026. He's talking about the return of Ronda Rousey is potentially happening. We're talking about the return of Conner-Gregor potentially happening. The return of John Jones, who didn't really go away for that long, let's be honest, against Alex Pereira, potentially at the White House. We're also talking about potentially Francis and Gansom. who returning to face Tom Aspinall. And again, another one, which is probably more likely, is Ilya v. Paddy Pimble.

Now, if all those things came together, the man might have a point. But we need to go through this blow-by-blow because we were all high on enthusiasm on Monday when he let this go. I've seen myself losing my mind, as he says, I'm rocking, I'm gesticulating. Chuck Benton, get in here and calm us down here. As much as we all want this to be true, surely to God. this is not all 100% possible, sir. Yeah, Pizzi, I haven't seen a lot of this kind of thing come through for us in the past.

So I'm a little skeptical, but I was, you know, that is a lot of lip from our guy, Ariel Hwani. They used to call him the Syracuse lip, I think, back in college, so that's fitting. But there's a lot there that could happen. I think he actually, I was looking back at his clip, and I think he said, if 60% of this doesn't happen, it would be a huge disappointment.

him he's right in a weird way because you're like man you do have all of this potential that could be made you really you really could do an incredible um set of fights and so many of them would be more compelling than most things we've seen over the last few years i just don't you know it remains to be seen if we can get it done you know i'm not trying to poo poo on it but i'm like i i hope that he's right about this i just you know what i will say like it is it is fun to be excited like you know like we've we've been through the doldrums a bit here as of late and I even heard him on

our former boss Mr. Bill Simmons's podcast and he laid it all out for him but I just, in case anyone missed this brief segment on Monday, I want to play because I want you to see the enthusiasm in Ariel's face here and mine. I'm losing my mind there in the corner.

Give us a go with that please on here, let's get crazy here. We're looking at a scenario 2026, 10 years after the greatest year at MMA history, Sweet 16, where we're looking at Alex versus John, Tom versus Francis, which we just kind of came up with now, but let's just stick with me. The Rumblings of Frumbring.

The return of Connemerreggar. Ariel Holone. The return of Connor McGregor. And oh, by the way, the return of Ronda Rousey, which isn't a crazy thing. I told you this last week. This is a real thing. This is a real thing. This is it.

Oh, baby. Ellison family, you have just stepped in. How many had it quickly there? How many have? It's very quickly there. Look at what they're looking at. Oh, by the way, oh, oh, by the way, I'llia versus Patty to start the year.

I saw some people say, Justin Gatio's. Get out of you. It's right there. Ilya versus Patty is staring you in the face. Yeah. Are you out of your mind? With all due respect to Justin,

he's staring right at you. You know. Oh, by the way, by the way. I tell you guys I'm going to add another one Guess what else Well I can't We could add one right

Like 2016 was the year that That New York I mean we're not going to get this again But like that was the year That New York became a legal You know legalized MMA So he's right about the The enthusiasm about that year

You know being big Replicating it You know Let's like give people an idea of that Of course there's like lots of new fans To the sport now 2016 as you say it was New York

finally opening the doors there was years of conversations about that the culinary union are blocking us in New York Chuck and it happened and it's also

McGregor is in his pump like this is the year of this is the year of his brief retirement before 200 the Nate Diaz fights the Eddie Alvarez fight it is a magical time

and really I always think about that New York moment because what is that Hunter S. Thompson quote from Fearon Loudon where he's like, you could almost see the high water mark, you know, of intrigue in the sport. I was there that

night in Madison Square Garden, which feels like it was like the crowning moment of the whole thing, but it truly was a magical magical time in M.A. wasn't it? Not only did he, like so not only did he win the second belt and he does it in a magical way at Madison Square Garden, right? Like where it's

just legalized and it feels like everything, but he wants equity in the company, which we'd never seen. It was like we're an unparalleled kind of situation in 2016 for these reasons. But honestly, the reason, if you don't have Connor, it would have been a very big year. It would have been big in a lot of ways, but that's what makes it magical. And people kind of forget, if you came into the sport afterwards, just how big of an influence he was, we as a media, we as a fan base, we as a public kind of standing by as Connor was doing this, we're living sort of vicariously through the sky because for the longest time, it felt

like we had a ceiling within the sport, not just within the mainstream, like, could it be accepted into other sports? Could it be accepted in a bigger way on TV? Could it like become that ubiquitous as other sports? Suddenly, you're playing in whole different spheres. And like, As they were kind of going on, you know, and Connor was breaking down the barriers and it was came and Rhonda had already stood and she was using this whole year for her comeback, comeback of the year, I believe, when she came in in 2016 for the Amanda Nunes fight, it just, it carried such a, an active part of our imagination and our will because everything that everybody had put forward, right? everything that we'd fought for for the sport if you loved it was finally coming into fruition

in the biggest possible ways in 2016 that is why it was a collective effort there was still a familial feeling to it with the cell with still the Frita brothers Dana was still a very he was obviously a very

full rising figure still then but I think that most people are still rooting for success because he hadn't taken it where he said he wanted to at this point there was so much going on but that's why it's like if we get anything like 2016 it would have to be a complete you know you're going to have to have some forces that are on the on the come up because the optimism the optimism the faith that was about to pay off and everything that came through with that all came into play at once whereas in these days you know there's a lot of hates around in the UFC that social media has made you know the thing very toxic in a lot of ways that the political things that are happening. the White House event could end up becoming like one of those things where you're like,

ooh, that was a gross thing to have part taken, you know what I mean? Like, it's like, you don't know how it's going to go. But I tell you what, if we can be optimistic and live in that for the rest of 2025 and hopeful that 2006 is anything like that, I'm with it, man. Yeah, yeah. And let's just before, and I do, we are going to meticulously break down each one of these fights. Okay. On the whole, right, like I'm just saying, right, like before we get into eating.

each one. Let's take all scrutiny off the table for us. Just direct question. If Alex and John Jones happen, if Tom and Francis and Gano happens, if McGregor returns, if Rosie returns, if Ilya and Paddy happens, without getting into the weeds too much, do you think that could, in fact, put it up to 2016? I think it would be close because, okay, so you Because you have some of the names that are coming up. The big magic thing, like I mentioned, was that McGregor was at that time, I believe, only 27. We didn't know. We were still.

Half of the enthralment was just like, hey, how far can he take it? Where is he taking this thing? And obviously it ended up being the Mayweather fight the following year. But Ronda Rousey was kind of already on the aisle. I think a lot of people had kind of turned on her. But it was also at that point that you're like, hey, she could come back. there was still like the, and she did come back that year, but like she could come back and reclaim something. I don't think too many of us were optimistic, but the casual audience thought

that, right? So you still had these people whose futures, you could still kind of get behind and be like, man, who knows? There's just so much world left for them to explore. And I think that you got a couple of those names and what you're talking about. The only problem is a lot of what you're talking about is the opposite. Like, because now you're talking about Rhonda coming back. What is she 38? You get McCrigger coming back 37 and he's got. court documents stacked up taller than him you know what I mean like he's got a record and you got and I don't know how much that plays in that will still be big um John Jones coming back but you're like he really voluntarily left in a most frustrating way and it's very fresh on everybody's minds

I do think the matchup in that that you're talking about is what we're trying to get at the or right because if you're talking about him against Alex Pereira that's about as good as it gets I swear that is about as good as it gets If you're talking about Tom Aspinall against Jones Let's just say that Jones won't do it And you're talking about Aspinall against Francis About as good as it can get So like if you put those elements into it

That's what really makes it Because then you're like It's not like you're going to be like oh What's the future for Francis and gone? It's so huge It's not the same kind of thing But it's how rare do you get Two fighters coming together

Who are that indestructible at the same time And that's really what we hope for even patty versus ilia i think there's that has way i've been preaching this for the last year it's like that was way more magnitude than people realize now it actually i think people get it but to get that fight and both guys still intact i mean that would be a beautiful lead up absolutely um and i agree with you um i think best way of looking at this is like let's let's try and frame it from like what's most likely what's least likely first thing you mentioned was the returns of Rousey and the returns of McGregor. And for me, I am very skeptical

about both. Even when... Even McGregor still, huh? Yeah, I'm sticking to my guns at this one. But even on the Rousey part, we all spoke about this earlier in the week when Ariel Forrest did his great sermon about how this will go. And we're all kind of weighing in briefly on it. And I felt my energy and my forecast on her return was a lot more negative than the other guys. Rick, who in fairness has form with Ronda Rousey, we should highlight that yes, he did, in fact, vote for her as comeback of the year. I mentioned that her year. It went right by you, but I did mention this earlier.

Oh, sorry, sorry. Again, he might have a more positive outlook on Rousey. Yeah. But I don't even think, and it's not based on just the Nunes fight when she came, back. It's not just based on how she acted with the media completely freezing everybody out. I think the sport has moved on tremendously since then. And even though she was top of the food chain at that time, she hasn't gone near a fight in nine years, nearly 10 years if she comes back next year. I don't think she can fight anyone in a meaningful fight and win.

And so outside of her coming back and just using the rousy name, I don't know what in this for the fan base for me so you don't think she'll be competitive you mean like against uh against a worthy name like i kind of i agree with you 100% it was not like the way she went out um you people talk about like oh good somebody got exposed they they use this they've used this for years it drives me crazy because yeah fraud checked all this stuff unfortunately in the ronda case there was a little bit stronger version of that right because we were not we not me and you right, we would never do this.

But, like, there was national media. There was big media who was, you know, trying to pit her against Floyd Mayweather. You know, you had to. Dana White was going. Dana White was like, hey, if they're in an MMMA cage, Rhonda would kill him, you know? I mean, we were talking in these ways that you're just like, okay, we've put her on a pedestal now that is almost impossible to live up to. In a weird way, it was unfair to her. But she loses the Holly home in a way that was, you know,

she got pretty outclassed there in the end and like she gets knocked out but it was really it was really that a man to fight because you had all of that time all of that time in between you're like if she's going to come back guns blazing the competitor the things that we have lionized about her like that just to put her back in a situation she'll come back for that fight savage ready and she just got destroyed so the fact was that the way she checked out looked worse and worse and it so when you talk about exposed I think that It was kind of the way that people saw it. And I think the petulance that kind of filled the air from that year, you know, in between, it was like a, you know, a year-long sulk that she went on.

And it was like very, it was really crazy because I think we'd held her up in this high standard, even on that level of just, you know, being this person who was coming in and, you know, getting girls in us, open the doors for the women in the fight game, breaking down barriers all over the, the, and just kind of champion somebody's and then doesn't know how to lose. That really didn't help. But I really, I'm curious, I guess the biggest thing for me would be what's the reception? You know, like, I feel like there's just such hatred. So, like, I guess the biggest curiosity in me is can she even gain back an ounce of that? Or would it just feel completely dead on arrival when she shows back up in the UFC? I don't know how that flares up.

We know that Connor, there will be a fan for, there'll be the same old circus will surround him. And like all of a sudden, it's going to feel like a Connor McGregor fight. I'm not sure what it looks like with Rousey. So there's a curiosity, I guess, that comes along with her. Yeah. And to my point earlier about, you know, I don't think a matchup per se could drive her return. Even though in fairness, some people have suggested Gina Carrano, someone like that coming back, which like, you know, she is a celebrity. She's a massive name.

One of the kind of pioneers of women's MMA. I do think she could be Gina. I think she could be. There's also like Misha type people like this. but to your point and mine this has to be a media driven exercise if she comes back and she doesn't seem like she's up for that at all like it's particularly about fighting and and you know i agree with you i was completely on the the rousy cul-aid and then to hear that she thinks that we're all just waiting to to shit all over at any point i was like wow i you know i didn't really feel that at all particularly from the m-ma media so that's where my shore cummins are with her how would it be but the mcgregor thing different. As you said, like, we know this guy is a huge celebrity. We know people are going to watch him fighting more than anyone in the UFC. Like, that's a fact. That's, he has all these pay-per-view records. It's a different kind of cynicism I have with it, with McGregor. And

obviously, he's just been, um, he has that retroactive suspension due to failing to give his location, one of which appeared to be the day before that, uh, canceled press conference with Michael Chandler, interesting enough. Um, my, my skepticism with him, Chuck is about getting through a fight camp. That's what, yeah. It's about lifestyle, you know, like, I think he has been enjoying himself quite visibly for the last while, and it does not look like a man who can really put himself through a camp at this point.

So I have the same level of skepticism when it comes to McGregor as, as Dana Hoy has for John Jones, I'd say. Wow. So you put, you put it one a billion? What did Dana give the odds at for John Jones fighting? I didn't know he gave a line. He gave the kind of line where the value is actually to bet that underdog in that situation. No, I, you've been so right about this that I almost don't want to dispute you because

No, but please do. I will dispute you in the sense that at some point you've got to save face, right? Like, he's just been kind of, he's been, he's been in this sphere for a long of the space where he's going to come back, he's kept his name relevant. But then it does start to kind of go into, you know, kind of, I don't know, a comedy at some point that you're like, yeah, sure, sure you're coming back, you know. And I think we've went into that space a long time ago. A lot of people don't really look at him as a real fighter. There are people who come into the sport long after, you know, since his last fight.

And I think they don't even know what to make of Connor McGregor. They just are curious. You know, they're just kind of curious. He's a curiosity because they don't know anything about it. They don't even know why he's transcendent, you know, at this point. They just know that people have seen him that way at some point in his career. It's a very bizarre situation. And especially when he starts throwing out, I guess, negotiations, numbers, let's start getting down to the number.

And you're like, okay, wait a minute, because really the biggest thing is, are you going to be able to fight? I mean, and you pointed this out for a long time. You've pointed this out, man, like, until you see him making that walk, you're not, you know, you might be skeptical. cool and you pointed out the very reason being can he make it through a camp and I really think that ties into the lifestyle and it's not just I mean you can point out all the substances

all the things that have been going on man the night life but it's also that he just likes to be seen man he likes to be out like even if he was sober and all you know all these things he just is he going to be able to just like pack it in and stay in one place you know for any amount of time and like

put a genuine focus on a guy and kind of fuel some kind of hunger that long ago existed we know that for fact but like is is it still there can he even find that center in him anymore i mean there is so much that goes into it not to mention we're not even i mean least of all the injury that he suffered and like where's his where's his body at as he's uh enters his late 30s and all that stuff i mean there's a lot of big gifts to that so i want to be less skeptical but i guess that i have a natural skepticism with him that comes with all the things we've talked about in the past and especially in a big spot like this

Yeah. And as well as that, like just in terms of like, and I don't, like, I'm not trying to cast any judgment on the man for this. Like the stress in his life. Like, man, he is in car case after car case. He has one that's been pushed back to December in the US stemming from that Miami. Remember he was at the heat game? Yeah. So that's one, I think that's a. This isn't even the mascot. This is the assault. Yeah, it's a sexual assault and some woman in a bathroom, alleged assault, should we say. And then he's also. He's also. going he's talking about bringing his sexual assault civil case loss in Ireland he's already lost in the court of appeal to that but he's talking about bringing that to the Supreme Court now so like this is some high level of shit like this is not like oh yeah let's hope this gets sorted in the background like this is all consuming stress in people's lives and when this kind of stuff is going down which I think isn't conducive to a good fight can't be there but let's let's try to be what he withdrew his name from the Irish presidency I mean that's one

thing off his plate. Yeah. I mean, we're all devastated over here. I'm sure. See you beaming over there. Oh man. Just for a note on the presidential journey here in Ireland,

a lad has been run out of the game. Like a lad who was favorite, Jim Gavin, the former Dublin football coach, has been taken out of the proceedings because it turns out he owned a former talent of his because he's a landlord, 3,000 euros.

That's ruined him. Like, he's gone. like people are like get him fucking out of there we don't want anything of him i'm like do you realize that's a tuesday morning in february for connor you know it's really like the scrutiny levels of scrutiny are far worse than even we're giving ariel loanna here um i'm gonna my most my most positive note of all aryals um forecast is the illy of he paddy for you i think like if i was going to say what is the most likely thing to happen there that would be mine you had a bigger list than you've went down here.

There were others, right? There was John Jones. John Jones, okay. Alex Pereira. There was Tom Asper. I mean, I want that one more than anything, to be honest. This is not about wanting. This is about reality, Chuck, okay?

We're here to screw or is Ariel O'Anne. Put in my veins, as they say. But yeah, we'll stick to scrutinize and Hwani. I do think that the Patty, I do think that that could happen, right? Like, I think that that's the one. And I think the UFC would love to see that one happen. I think Ilya would love to see that what happened Patty so you almost have all parties

involved that would be like yeah sure let's do this thing I feel like yeah I feel like that's just a win win for everyone right and it would be I have to say man maybe I'm drinking the paddy co he's been so kind of dismissed yes through his career

this would be a fascinating thing for him now imagine if he goes in there and beats the great I think is either one or two on our pound per pound rankings I think you imagine is he Number one. So imagine him doing that guys that like just smoked all these legends and all of a sudden here's Patty Pimbley, who everybody dismissed through every, every stop of his career gets to this big moment and blows it. You want to talk about, I don't know if it would be Connor McGregor, Stentorian Big, like where it's just, but it would be something like that given those circumstances. I think that that would be enormous, like crazy. That would get us to 2016 vibes. I'm telling you, man, that would be huge.

Yeah. No, absolutely. And he's a. guy that has the UK completely switch on to MMA again. In Liverpool, he's been a celebrity since he's a kid, basically. Yeah. And that was why it was so tumultuous for him on the way up. Like, can you imagine a place like Liverpool where they really get behind their guys? This guy's

just walking through the streets every day. Like, people are pulling out of him and dragging out. It's a miracle that he even got here, honestly. Like, I used to say to Paddy all the time, if I was as famous as you were when you were 21, I'd be dead. And I really mean that. I genuinely mean that. Like, it's impossible. it's impossible to live in a situation like that.

Some people are just kind of made for it, you know? Yes. Like some people just wake up and they're fine with that kind of thing. And other people are like, oh my God, you know, there's no way I could have handled that. And I think I'm in the camp with you. There's no way I could have handled that much, you know, attention, scrutiny, all of those things and still come out on the other side looking good or like that you have your better half still to go. Could you imagine the amount of the free booze and drugs you'd be given? I know.

be dead. Like, I'll be dead after two days. I'll be like, what's that? Yes, I will have some. The bigger concern is like, you know, chefs sending out their best specials for him, right? Or like the, the short order cook sending them those extra pancakes. That's the problem with him.

He's on just eat or whatever one of them food. He's like, I can afford everything. Should we just get everything? And he wants it all, man. You're right in terms of like the two, the two most amazing things on this list are Pereira v. Jones and Tom v in Ghanu. Now wasn't there

some other things like you sent me a list wasn't there some other fights or is this are you? No this is it we fit them all

okay all right v. Paddy return to Rouse return to McGregor Tom v. Francis and Alex V. John

I thought there was like I thought there was like you know Amanda versus Kayla these are the ones that should happen anyway right

but I was like I thought maybe these were just kind of stragglers that I looked at these aren't the pie in the sky all right

all right yeah okay Kayla and Amanda is run the mill compared to this shit okay that's true I'm not, hey, I'm not disputing it.

I feel bad for Tom Aspinall. And I wonder, like, you know, because this, it feels like everyone is suddenly like, Alex is now fighting John Jones. And I'm like, wasn't our whole issue with this that he had to fight Tom? And then he, like, Pereira just knocks ankle eye out and everyone's like, yeah, it's John Jones v. Alex Pereira. Alex wants it. Man. Can you complain? I mean, this is just, our sport, man.

it just does this like so much but i i have to admit you know i was sitting there cage side um when perrero's knocking him out and i mean that place was it's been a while since i've heard a place that loud it was so loud in there like piercing as this was happening and as he gets up i looked over at the guy sitting next me for the and i immediately was like that john jones fight would be huge you know straight away you say this straight away it's like two it's not even a minute fresh in my mind unfortunately that's just kind of how it always goes man i mean but you know part of it i think for tom is just kind of getting a fight in again reminding everybody that you know he's who he is like

he's he's been brushed to the side for so long that it's like you almost have to um stay relevant by getting a fight again yeah i feel like you see this is why i think the francis part of this is important i feel like they need to appease aspirin if they're gonna go for this perere v jones thing like you can't just be like, and you're going to be fighting Volkov in August again, you know, like it's, uh, and Ariel's argument is also, little maze coming up to

it. Don't know, Mays has got his way up, baby. He's on a two-fight win streak and he wants your blood. Hawaiianian, in fairness to him, I think one thing that makes sense, but is also a bit wishful is like, if Jones and Pereira

fight, it's going to be a heavyweight. and I believe the expression he used at the time was like a rising toilet of soloships if Pereira and John Jones are in the heavyweight division that's good news for Tom Asmel but my problem is John Jones could just go in and be Alex Pereira and be like I'm retired again

see you later so I can't quite And I mean if I'm Dana White I'm fully like so if you know you're just doing a one-off if this is a one-off we're going to do Alex Pereira and John Jones okay fine but that is traditionally not how Dana White likes to think Now, I know that these times are very different, and you're talking about, especially if this is a White House event, who knows, you know, what exceptions will be made. But generally speaking, if you have a fight of that magnitude, a guys who really are at the top, because John hasn't lost, you know, it's not like he's, you know, it's not like he's in some twilight where he's just like, give me one more fight.

I know I've lost a couple in a row or something like that. This dude has still got the sheen of his invincibility after all these years. and you got Alex Pereira who's like three times has claimed UFC golden like wins it back and this one I mean you would want there to be a future coming out of that fight something has so right so if John Jones goes through him you would you would almost need the assurance that hey man you're going to have to fight Tom Aspinall like you would you would really want that to be the case or Francis and Ganu if that was the case but um can you imagine if that was really the little kind of four-man tournament

that broke out. I mean, that would be the biggest I can't think of anything that could be bigger than that because of where these guys have come from and the journeys they've had to get there, I just can't think of anything that would be bigger. And also, you're talking about a glam weight class that for a long time has been dormant in ways that lack this kind of imagination. But if you were to suddenly have Francis and Ghana returning, John Jones back you know, and you've got

Tom Aspinall, the guy that, you know, has the chip on his shoulder who should be able to beat them all because he's like, you know, and then you've got Alas Pereira coming up who's the, I mean, imagine that. Can you even just begin to imagine how that would seem? No, then you're right. Like, if, John what, even with out Rousey

McGregor, if they got, like, so what did he say? 60% of 60%. If 60% of this comes through. So if that was the 60%, if it's Ilya B. Patti. Yeah, if it's if it's Ilya B. Padi, And it's Alex John and Tom and Daniel. I think it's achieved, right? Yeah.

Or do you need, do you need McGregor and Rousey? No, you don't. I think that those are the, actually, those are the two that are expendable. Because I think that what you're basing, 2016, okay, and I don't mean to, like, keep pounding this home. I don't know if we can replicate it from the sense that we were all in it together in 2016. All of us. We're all trying to lift it to a place, still see it off. there goes our baby you know that was our thing these it's not the same setup but it would feel

in a resurrection sense like you had some of those elements back in place yes because you'd have these people who's you know like where they have their futures are in front of them what happens next where's this all you know i think that those storylines they those all make sense you don't necessarily need mcgregor or rousey for that yeah and look at the image of what is it 36 around Penn Station there outside Madison Square Garden the images of walking out of that event the Alvarez McGregor event and just seeing

seas of people in every direction shut down the block like literally shut down all around that arena for about 30 minutes do you remember were you with us like when we didn't with MMA fighting I was about to join okay okay because we did this MMA fight you know what I'm talking about yeah we did the MMA fighting

like pre-show, which to this day is just a hilarious, like, non-existent thing. I mean, it exists, but the crowd descended on us. It was me. I think it was Mark Romandi. It was, and it was Ariel Hwani, and the crowd descended on us. And all it is is like, I don't know how many minutes of just chaos, where he's just trying to get the microphone back to one of us so we can make a prediction. And as soon as that prediction is made again, it's a swarm and everybody just goes off.

It was a, it was such a man. know if we could ever do that again. That was like, that was at the height of passion for this sport, you know, and that was a lot of Irish passion. They, they, they, you know, that was a big part because of that. Yeah. A lot of boy's remorse there. Uh, uh, the Emerald these days. Listen, we've, we've got to go for a break, but we're going to come back and speak about another development that could shape 2026, which is Eddie Heron, the great boxing promoter. Tickling our balls a little bit about, but, about a potential. entry into the world of M. May, backed by none other than Turkey a la

sheikh. We're going to go for two and we'll be back to speak about all this wonderful stuff. So we will see you then, my loves. And we are back, ladies and gentlemen, myself and Chuck Mennel. I have just broken down and scrutinized our good friend Ariel Hohanni's positive look for 2026. And you know, it turns out we kind of agree with him. Yeah. But there is more things to factor into this potentially very interesting 2026. And can I just say, Mr. Eddie Hearn showed up on Ariel's show on Wednesday in studio, looking fantastic, looking like 007 as usual. But the amount of texts I've got from

fighters based off this interview is pretty fucking crazy. He said a lot of things, including stuff pertaining to revenue splits, you know, lambasted the UFC's payment of fighters, potentially said like, you know, Dana White will not be able to beat him in the world of boxing. Probably the biggest takeaway came when he suggested that he is considering a transition of his own, Honor Jordan, if you will. What time does the UFC fire to go, hang on a minute, how much money is in the pot here?

You kind of need me, don't you? I mean, I'm the talent. Without me, do you even have a show? Yeah, maybe you can put someone else on. But I've just sold this arena out. I'm just racking you up four or five hundred thousand pay-per-view buyers. I'd like to actually see, you know, that's when, when we get a fighter of that size and magnitude, like Anthony Joshua, we'll go, you own the show. So you imagine you said to a star in the UFC, right, it's your show.

And we're going to have open book, and you're going to take 80% of the profit of the show. And we take 20%. Imagine how much the UFC fighters would be making. This slide, Chuck. this slide you know who's i mean we can only see eddie in that in that shot but you know who was sitting there like aerial i'm me oh he loves it man he loves it i mean that's some uh if okay so we've heard things like this in the past right like you hear guys come in they're going to do these things or flirt with the ufc or not ufc mMA they do they do

these things, there's always just an automatic, instantaneous level of skepticism about it because you're like, dude, I don't, you don't get it, man, you don't get it. You don't know what you're up against. The business is harder than you think. And Dana White is more ruthless than you think. Like all of these things will come into play and you, even if you want it again and you won't, you know, there is something different about that because this is a dude who does know what he's doing and he knows a different model and he knows how to do it so that it works. He also speaks fighter language. There's just, there's a lot to that, that like when you hear it and you're like, you know,

I don't know. It's like, it's almost like somebody standing up to a bully, a long time bully, and you're like, oh, wait a minute now, because this guy's been training. And you're like, I think he can beat that, you know, it's one of those type of situations. Obviously, like, it's a whole different kettle of fish when you get to MMA. And if that were to happen, it wouldn't, it would not. be as seamless, you know, as maybe everybody would hope, but I do think that that is, that's something to

pay attention to. Absolutely. I'm like, you know, I'm not messing like so many fighters onto me as they coaches everything. And it's just an interesting battle. Like Eddie Hearn and Dana White are two very different guys. Like if we're looking at this like a fight, like if it's a style's matchup in terms of promotions, you have Dana White who is, archetypal bully is saying on 60 minutes last week he's as proud to be loyal as he is to be

a bully basically they're like two words to describe you one's loyal one's a bully and he's like yeah I love it I love this shit he is the biggest dog on the playground do you know like he's the guy if you're in school and you look at Dana White you're like yeah I'm not fucking with that guy Eddie Heron's very different

he is smiling he is very approachable he does every interview in the sun doesn't block anyone else but he will smile as he cuts your throat like these two guys are promoters neither of these guys is like one of them's a really ethical guy the other one isn't like these are boat lads who know to sell shit and just the just the matchup is so intriguing to me you know yeah maybe that's the big maybe that's the biggest fight of 2006 maybe it fucking is Dana needs it I don't really love the complacency of what I see you know

I was at this fight card out in Vegas last weekend. And I mean, I just remember a time when I would see, you'd see Dana White and he would be, you know, mostly kind of talking to fans. And he's going to do his glad handing with some of the people around there. But just this, you know, this version of him that's won. Well, I've already won, you know, walking around. And, you know, he's got like so many power players around him. Nobody should, you know, I just don't, he was at his best when he felt threatened. And I'm like, so at some point, I hope it happens because I don't really, I mean, there's something about like him being complacent and just, you know, that 60 minutes interview you pointed out is just such a perfect example of the thing that was raised in what it became. And now I'm like, okay, well, what happens when it doesn't seem so easy again? You know, is that competitive fire there? It's so similar to what we're talking with Connor. Like, is he going to be able to revert into this guy who can, you know, play that kind of.

mental chess and, like, business chess against a guy who knows what he's doing. It would be, to me, I'm like, I guess there's something about it that you're rattling a cage that hasn't been rattled for a long time. Every since Dana White went into whatever you said in his cabin and counted as $300 or $400 million after the sale, you know, it's like when he did, once you're doing that, you've already won. And nobody, you know, I think he looks at all threats as, uh, like nothing. And that wasn't the Dana White that we knew kind of coming up, right? And I think that there's something to that.

The Dana White that we knew was like when Affliction was putting on shows and he's like, we'll counter that with Anderson Silva. We'll put Anderson Silva against James Irvin. I mean, those types of things, they became these shrewd business like and just like, you're not going to out promote me. I think that could be healthy for the sport, to be honest, man, to get like to get some of that back. It's such a good point. And he is a competitor.

Like, both of these fucking guys compete. Like they want to be the. best and they've proven that they can be the best so it's an exceptional that that's such a great way to frame it in terms of like him coming out swinging like i'd love to see that day and a white back absolutely but one thing i wanted to ask you about chuck is it's something that we actually flagged and if you go right back to him speaking about this tko boxing with turkey al-sheikh zoufo boxing the thing we we noted at the time was the payment thing could become a big issue based on that and I really

believe that is what's happening here like we just saw that clip of Eddie Heron kind of lining out like how different boxing works to MMA I don't know if one hour Jordan has it here but there was also like Mike Tyson like one of Dana White's heroes speaking about if he could

ever be in the UFC area this week so if we can roll that one place you and your prime you would have been a UFC fighter or something like I am listen the biggest UFC five of the biggest to see fighters

Caban can match my pay oh that's just it wasn't worth the pay no I want to be the biggest fighter the biggest purse

so I want all that stuff my taxing fights he shuts everything down the biggest purse I see I mean I got a point like it is

I was actually reading one of Don McCraise um dark trade where he was with Tyson he's with Eubank and all the guys and the money those lads were getting paid for like events in the UK, like with the likes of Ben and Eubank and then

and then obviously Tyson and the money he was making. Like this is late 80s, early 90s when he's writing this book. And fucking like the payment in MMA pales in comparison to them. You know, like this is 30 years before. And I also spoke to Mick Conlon last week because it, it was a previous interview Eddie Hearn had done with Ariel. And he was like, the way he was speaking about it's so matter-factly from the boxer's point of view and bear in mind Mick Conlin is an Irish boxing legend in terms of why he did at amateur but he only ever challenged for a world title as a professional never was a world champion not yet anyway he is on his third quest for one at the moment but this guy never fought for a

world title and he was talking figures to me and it's like he was saying like francis and ganu was fighting for world titles he was the champion the baddest man on the planet and I was getting more money to challenge for a title in Nottingham than he was making for being the baddest man on the planet like has this all just kind of blown up the the payment issue for the ufcd you think this whole boxing exercise i mean we've had it we've had this going on for a while i think that when you get i guess this is the this is the we kind of outline this when you get the dana white now dipping his toe into the other sphere like he's now boxing zufa boxing all this um this will naturally come to the four really it always comes

down to fighter awareness. I feel like we've talked about it, but the fighters themselves seem reluctant to really do anything about it. But I'm like, if it really comes down to it where it wakes up just some larger notion of like, hey, man, we're getting screwed. I would be like, I would be shocked if it didn't on some level because boxing always produces, you know, these big, like, because of the All-E Act, right? And then because of like the promoters basically give so much more.

of the revenue to the fighter. It's like this whole, it's such a glaring description, like discrepancy that you, it's shocking that in the year 2025, there aren't more fighters talking about. I was, when I did, I did a big interview with Corey Sandhagen before his fight with Marab this weekend. And I'd asked him just kind of offhand, like, hey man, are you, are you part of the pay-per-viewpoints? Just given that, like, I know you're the co-main, but are you part of that too? as one of the guys who's fighting for a tight and I don't know how often they would actually do this area would probably be able to correct me right away maybe this was a dumb question but

he's like he goes I don't know I don't know if I get any pay-per-view and it was just it was almost like dude I mean even if it's a stupid question you should know you should know that you should know that that's definitely not part of it if it's going to be and I just feel like that there's a lack of awareness with UFC fighters that certainly doesn't exist this with boxers right now and how those two things over time play out will boxers start to lose their bearings when it comes to their pay you know i doubt it i don't and it's not going to happen quickly you know it's just it's a weird thing but it's going to be very glaring if the two sports first of all fall under one umbrella and also if you have promoters kind of crossing between

the two it's going to come out and that's where that eddy herons 100% right and i guess that is one of those uh those storylines like if you did come over wouldn't it be just become now the biggest thing, because it would be very clear, you know, what it looks like if that kind of promoter exists in MMA, you know what I mean? And he gets two big names. It would be very, very interesting, wouldn't it? Because now all of a sudden you have a true, um, you know, basis for comparison. Yeah. Yeah. No, it would be so interesting. But it just, it affects so much of the UFC to challenge the structure that they currently have. Because I, like, I think we all agree that.

company would not be worth what it's worth if the fighters weren't getting paid, but they're getting paid. You know, I think that's, that's a given. Yeah. Um, I, I think, I think it's out there. Like, I don't think the UFC have had the conversation with these guys in terms of what's going to happen. I'm talking about the guys. When I mentioned the guys, I mean the champions, I don't think they've had that conversation with them in terms of what is going to replace that pay-per-view money. Um, that is gone now essentially with the Paramount thing. And you're right in terms of like the difference between boxing and it only speaks to like how great of a business

this is from a capitalist point of view for the UFC like they have these guys exactly where they want them like they are constantly you can be the best fighter in the world and we know through Demetrius Johnson be completely expendable right you can just be like do you know what off you go we we don't like the way it's going and it's like from from a point of view of the board directors and the people who are making money off this Goliath, which the UFC is,

they want to keep this as much as possible because the overheads are insane when you don't have to give these 60 to 70% revenue split, as Eddie Heron is pointing out with Canelo and the likes of Anthony Joshua and all these people. But one thing, if you watch that matchroom documentary on Netflix, Eddie Heron ain't living bad, you know? Like, how much money do you fucking need at the other day? You know what I mean? Apparently a lot.

He's got everything, doesn't he? He's got the looks. He's got the money. You know, he's got the life. But he does work hard, man. That's a workaholic right there. He's always out and doing his thing. I don't know, man.

I do think that there's some interesting terrain that we're going to have to see because one of the things the UFC has done, which has always been kind of comical to me is, you know, they want the world to know. Look how successful we've been. Look at this. We're the fastest growing sport in the world. and so like when sometimes they get you know a big deal and or you know they sell for 4.2 billion dollars or are they doing you know whatever it is and they you know they get valued at 12 billion or whatever and it just keeps going they get new rights deals they've got ESPN they had Fox before that now they're doing Paramount play it's like each one of these is such a like smiting of your chest but yet and it comes with an incredible amount of money and if like the NBA obviously like the Olympic the new deal with ESPN that means a lot to a lot of people. people straight down to the water boys but I'm like in the in in fighting you know it's just it's it's just the overlords kind of doing a victory lap I don't really it's it's the craziest dynamic can we get the bonus up to 100,000 I know we still have people this happened a couple times

in Vegas this last one who are like 50 gs man let's give me the 50 gs and I'm like this is crazy that the people are still using their their joe rogan mic moment to be like hey man can you kick me a little extra money for that, you know, I want to put a down payment on a home. I know. Trying to quit the garage job, you know? Yeah, you're right. Like, it's, it's crazy.

I wanted to just wait, like one thing that's, when Ariel says things like this, we have to, we have to take, you have to, you have to look at it with the understanding that this man is hearing more than any of us about what's going on. And we often used to do this with the ring or MMA show when we're doing that,

when he'd make his, predictions for the next year we'd be like, what does this mean? All right, what does he know? What is he in? Who's he talking to? So I see him make this prediction. I see him, you know, Inganu, McGregor, Rousie.

McGregor Rousie, fairly like, you know, straightforward. We see Rousie hitting the pads. McGregor is saying he's back for the way I was thinking. The Nganu piece was like, I was like, I don't know where he's getting that. Is this just simply to, to appease Tom Asmol? Like, like, as in, we're not forgetting about you, Tom. And you'll fight Francis Inganu. Love you, Tommy.

Yes, yes. But when it started making the sense to me was when I saw Eddie Hearn come on his show and Eddie Hearn is talking about Turkey Al-Sheek saying to him that you should get into MMA and then suddenly my mind is cast back to this prediction he's made with Francis Ingano

and then my mind's going back maybe a month or so when Francis Inganu was on the show and Francis Ngano said that he either have one fight or a term left on this deal with PFL. I believe he is the most important part of the jigsaw here if if heron is getting into MMA with Turkey Alashik, I honestly believe that they need someone like Francis and Gannu to launch that ship if they're going to do it.

And for that exact reason, that makes him far more of a commodity to the UFC. Like as in the only way I can see the UFC going for Francis and Gano at this stage is to block someone else challenging. them and then suddenly that starts to make sense for me of course the ufc would move on frances and ganu and give tom asmala that fight if they thought for a second that eddie heron was going to hunch a pay promotion with turkey this is what i mean this is what i mean though like yeah that's that's how i feel like i feel if if they were going to do this francis and ganu would be

the centerpiece or at they at least attempt to make him the centerpiece and therefore the ufc would have to go and get him we're speaking the same language man i'm like This is what I'm saying about Dana. Like maybe a Hearn presence or threat to join, you know, or come over would actually governance because right now, Danny can just be like, I don't like the guy. And it's as simple as that. And he doesn't have to do a damn thing about it. And people are just like, okay, well, Francis, you know, he burnt his bridge, you know, blah, blah.

And I'm like, well, dude, you don't think people want to see him fight, you know. And I think that that would kick something into, you know, that type of scenario might kick. might repair that bridge or whatever that was going on you know what I mean like I feel like that would definitely have people singing a different tune as all so I'm I'm with you 100% I kind of I mean we speculate on these things and then nothing happens sometimes and I'm like a little bummed because I start to believe what I want to believe so I hope that uh I hope it's true I hope like these things happen I the greatest thing that could happen is them to have this magic moment we were talking about with this heavyweight division you know i think that

i don't think it's ever existed i mean the times where we've had you know clear like hope i guess for big things it was like with fadore and they couldn't get a deal done they couldn't bring them over um so you had like some of these guys that they just left forever in speculation like i don't know what happens if brock fought you know him at the time and all this stuff i just want one time where they're like no man we got all of them we're going to do all this at one That would be so crazy to me. And it would really be a return to something about the UFC, like kind of on a promise of putting the best fights, putting the best fighters and all of that. It would be like this kind of honoring of like some system that forever ago was broken, you know?

But it would kind of bring it full circle back to that, wouldn't it? It would just be a great thing. Man, I'm so with you right now. Like, we started off like, oh, let's scrutinize this. And now, like, an hour later we're like, whoa, this is going to be amazing. The other thing I love that Helwani said was this. Got me again, motherfucker. He knew what he's going.

Yeah, I mean, it's all very, very excited. What's up with, like, Turkey, like, just kind of collecting toys on both sides. Now, it's like, that's crazy. He is such an agent of chaos. It's unbelievable. Shitster. For many reasons. Yeah.

I mean, outside of sport, too. Wait, no, what did a Huron say? He was like, he loves the fuckery. He loves the fuckery. I think he's right about that. But I do feel as though. Like, he wants, like, he, I think he has fun being the master of puppets. Sure.

And I do feel like Dana's possibly rubbed them up the wrong way. And what, like, from his point of view with this enormous wealth, what is a funnier thing to do? Like, what is a more entertaining thing for him to do? Like, he's already, hey, you know, he, he wanted to make an announcement at the, whatever, the UFC 319. He was like, Dana will make this announcement now. As soon as he got shut down, game changed, man. the game changed man that's what i'm thinking do i go back to that moment is like that's all it takes and i will come after your whole fucking legacy he's crazy he's like oh you think you're as

powerful as me you know man we are headed for a fucking war of worlds here it's absolutely crazy um we have a few things we're just hyping some bullshit that doesn't even exist now i don't i know but i mean isn't it worth it to get excited about it though like it's oh yeah i'm fucking buzzing it beats the normal crack when we're like uh so what do we think's next for connor after this last court date Peter Peter he's running for presidency how did the people of Ireland feel

no pressure we have a few things to wrap up on the back end we're going to hit you with an ad break now but we're back to speak about ice wars Chuck's favorite and maybe a bit about was Hughes V Usman promoted the way it should have been

Paul Euston didn't seem to think so when he was on Ireland show earlier this week and we will finish off by taking a brief look at the Brazil card this weekend that the boys and black so wonderfully broke down yesterday. So we'll be back after this. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. We didn't forget that the break was ending there

and just talk about NFL for two minutes solid. That's something we definitely didn't do. I was saying that Pizzi should go. He's so close to London. I'm like, go see the Denver Broncos take on the, who they plan, New York Jets? Are they playing the Jets over there? Yeah, they're playing the Jets.

Now they're playing the Jets. Oh, they're playing the Jets. Go check it out, man. I heard that on-air Jordan doesn't really like the Jets anymore because Iron Rogers doesn't fly for them. He just kind of was like, oh, I,

yeah, there you go. Fact. Well, O'N5 tends to do that, I mean. I wanted to ask you, Chuk, because we didn't have you on last weekend. I was forced to get the Brazilian beast on and my Irish duo to form the,

the Trident of Knowledge. But Hughes Viewsman was last week. And one thing, without getting into scorecards, we've talked about this all week. One thing that Hughes said when he came on an Irish show on Wednesday was. And I honestly feel in particular this is to do with the US audience because we were doing the show last week. People didn't know the fight was on. People didn't know where to watch the fight. He kind of said, like, it was disappointed to be like on Fight Week and have people still reaching out to you going, like, when is this?

Is this this week? And how do I watch this fight? Like, do you think they may have fumbled the bag a bit in terms of what this fight meant, how tuned in a lot of people were to a rematch happening, and then maybe not promoting it to the level it deserved on Fight Week? It felt like it fell straight to the diehards out here. Like, it did not feel like it could even possibly be a casual event. I just happened to be in Vegas with some guys in town an annual trip.

That's why I went to the, that's why I went to the UFC fights. And as they were coming on, I'm like, oh, yeah, we've got to go watch this fight, and could not find it. Like, you know, and I mean, you're in a, like, some of the, we went to a couple of the sports book type things where they have just everything on, you know. That's pretty sad, you know, you should be able to watch, yeah, you should be able to watch a fight of that magnitude, especially what it means something to what we considered. And I mean, I guess it's still the case, right? PFL being the second, um, by default at this point, like, maybe they haven't been as big as we'd hope. Maybe things haven't worked out. But still, you have a rematch of a fight of the year that really carried that kind

of import. It was a little disheartening, man, I got to say. So I don't know. Who'd you say was a complaining about it, Hughes? Hughes. Because I think he's, I think he's dead on right. I think he's dead on right. I don't think they made that too easy on us at all.

Yeah, it's a, it's tough, man, because the fight was great, but everything beyond the fight seems to just obscure them a little bit more with the fan base like it's the score cards it's the officiating it's just a lack of promotion as you're kind of speaking to there it's i just feel like within a fight like that when you've got everyone buzzing for it it just it just failed to make the imprint it should have um and you kind of don't walk away and maybe maybe this is me speaking from a from an irish point of view but i don't think it is in terms of i saw so much reaction to the card, so much reaction to how everything played out.

You just kind of feel like you had such an opportunity there and we're coming away with like I don't think you've built this brand. I don't think you've got more people on the PFL train, which an event like this really should be for, you know? Dude, there was their big event

last year, October, right? It was in October when Francis and Ghanu fought. It was a Chris Cyborg. Yes. Chris Cyborg is just now, you know, it took him forever. And we do these rankings, right? Like, we do these pound for pound rankings. And they've got a couple of fighters that are always on there.

It's like just, they're kind of staples. One of them being Larissa, is it Pacheco? Yeah, yeah. So she's, and I keep posting on there as I write these things like, you know, alert. If anybody hears from Larissa Pacheko, please let us know. You know, it's like she's falling off the face of the earth since she fought. And I'm like, this shouldn't happen. And it's not just a matter of matchmaking.

It's just keep your fighters in the, like somewhere in the headlines are like, give them some relevancy through the time. Like give them some kind of push. Very weird, man. It is very weird what happens over there. Yeah. Well, hopefully things can pick up, I guess. So listen, one promotion that is having no trouble whatsoever, Chuck, this has been championed by you for a long time. Yeah, I guess I'm the only one, PT.

But tell us, tell us. I believe Ice Wars is back, baby. Ice Wars is back tonight in Sunrise where they're the I think Amerit Arena it's the same arena where the Florida Panthers So this is a huge like kind of step up Yeah this is this is this is an NHL arena It's a huge step up for them

The first couple that they did Kind of in a soft launch sense was In Mount Pleasant Michigan And then somewhere I think it was on Calgary or in Edmonton They did like another type of casino up there They weren't sanctioned they were kind of they were wearing gloves So they weren't really dropping the gloves. So they were fighting with MMA gloves, which didn't make sense to me, really.

And then they were also fighting and skating on synthetic ice rather than realize. All of that's been rectified. So I guess in my more curious, because I was at the one in Michigan, and I had a great time with it. I guess I saw the potential because I keep talking about it. So I'm anxious to see how this all pans out on real ice. You know what I mean? Given that now they're going to drop the gloves, they're going to be bare knuckles since they're affiliated to bear knuckle. That was important, I feel.

That was important. So now I feel like we'll finally see, you know, how that's going to look in their intended form. And they've got all their big guns out. Even Charles Rosa, you know, the former UFC guy is on the card. He's fighting somebody because he was a hockey player first. They've got all kinds of names, the Leport brothers who, like, the twins who I pointed out before in the pieces I wrote,

are both on the card. One of them, Nick is headlining it. It should be fun, man. man I if you have we lost no please I mean no no he was just pitching ice wars why do you do this internet gods he was just tell us about the ice hockey lads beat the piss out of each other and he suddenly freezes on the crack I mean it's very disappointing I'm looking out now I know you guys can't see him but I'm looking at Chuck menenthal frozen in time full of enthusiasm speaking about his beautiful ice wars which returns this week it is of course an affiliate of BKFC and they will be of course using their bare knuckles this time around. Of course we have Charlie Olives this weekend as well. He is fighting Gamrod and as I said to you guys

yesterday if you are looking for a preview of this fight, get over to the boys in the back. Our Thursday show over here, they did a wonderful breakdown of it. You know, if any of you saw a headline this morning that said Olivera misses weight by nine pounds, fear not. It is a different

Oliverer, Simon Oliverer, who came in at 144 pounds for his fight win with Luan the Sarada, it is a very Brazilian focus card. Hang on. Is that? Do I see the beautiful chuk man and all black? And if they can get by that kind of thing and the ice worse, I really think that this could be the big. I can't even believe I just said that publicly. It was outlandish. We actually had the sandstorm. That was nothing to do with the influence. That was on air Jordan just like, cut him off. Trying to avoid the lawsuit. Sorry, fellas. I don't know what happened there.

I could hear you saying, I could hear you saying you lost me. but I could not respond. Sorry about that. Listen, listen, we took it over. I did a very brief UFC Rio. Are we going to get, you see, one thing I will say about Oise Wars, the feature, like, you know,

that's what we need from this, because you were sitting beside fucking Tommy Herons the last time. Last time, yeah. They hit man Tommy Herons. Who are they going to put beside Menon Hall this week? I mean, they need to... Well, I won't be there. I'm not going to be there, I want it to go.

It's tonight. I mean, what am I going to do? Do you know what I just realized? What? Ben, folks, has been in the white, room for an hour and a half. Oh, Jesus.

We should probably, oh. It's a little late in the game to bring him in now. This and Ben, next week, mate. Next week, I can't apologize enough. This is so embarrassing.

Poor guy. Is he still in there, Jordan, or did he live? Jordan's not even, he's still. Still there. Oh,

well. He's just been Matt Damon. He's going to. sorry Ben we'll get to you next week but before we go anywhere do we have any

super chats two weeks in a row baby come on we don't no oh oh I didn't hear

we have silence here what is happening we can't hear he's got it turned down this is ridiculous what is happening oh oh Brett

I wonder if this is our wonderful Brett yeah it's got to be 10 bucks yeah that's he's that kid had money

he is he he's melt like money he did he used to throw it around that people he looked from a certain profile since he looks like ben franklin you know he does that's your press there jones v perere would would be fun but for the sanctity of the sport john should not be allowed come back until he stops ducking and makes the fight we've been waiting for johns definitely brett jones v stepe too it's definitely it's a good point man like you're just gonna you're just going to you're just going to award Jones, like, you know, for doing that whole song and dance with Aspinall,

you know what I mean? Like, it doesn't feel right. But if you could only get them for one fight and it was, you know, I don't know. I'm torn on that. That's why the Francis thing is important, right? Like, you have to fucking make this right. Like, you, if you're going to do Jones v. Prairie, you have to do Francis B. Tom. If Tom comes away with this, staring down the barrel of Jelton, Almeida, like, well, this is all going on. I mean, I'd feel incredibly fucking. is going to. I was the one when we were speculating about all this before, I'm like, yeah, because we were

like, you know, Tom Aspinall against Jones or Tom Aspinall against Pereira. And I'm like, you know what's going to be? It's going to be Tom Aspinall against Cyril Gone. And look where we are. It's so funny. People keep bringing me on their shows to be like, here's Mr. Europe to tell you that Cyril Gan is actually a great fight with Tom Aspenol. I'm like, oh, for fucks sake.

Here we go again. He's about to lie to you. No, it could be a good. Oh man. Is that all we got, Jordan? What's up? Lads, one fantastic super chat from Brett. We love you all. Have a fantastic weekend. Whether it be enjoying Ice Wars, whether it be enjoying the UFC event from Rio. I have been Pizzi Carroll. He has been Chuck Ben and all. Thank you to on-air Jordan. Thank you to Oscar Losef. And thank you to all you beautiful crackheads.

We'll be back next week and we'll let Ben in if he wants to come. Very sorry, Ben. It won't happen again, mate. We love you.