The Ariel Helwani Show - Who can stop Merab Dvalishvili? Plus, UFC Atlanta and PFL previews, P4P 'dawgs', voicemails, more | The Boys in the Back

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

The Boys in the Back begin the show with an update about Ben Askren (03:28), courtesy of Daniel Cormier, before discussing Merab Dvalishvili’s dominance and who has a realistic chance to dethrone the champ (05:13).Then, they preview UFC Atlanta (23:05), headlined by Kamaru Usman and Joaquin Buckley, and PFL's next tournament round in Nashville (55:45).Next, they spotlight some Big Hitters from UFC 316 (1:03:32), make their picks, and deliver their P4P ‘dawgs’ (1:13:45), a list of fighters who have that dog in them.Finally, the Boys close the show by listening to your voicemails (1:30:16) and answering your Super Chats (2:07:06).

But boys in the back What is good we are back with another edition of boys in the back I'm just now noticing this that Rick's chair is is low as shit. I don't know if this is on purpose or Or if or if this is just the chair that we have King is this an homage to Al J we have. Shout out to the short king. Is this an homage to Al Jermaine Sterling on the show yesterday? It is, it is.

The chair was a little bit low there. I am one third of the boys in the back, Connor Burks, joined alongside me as always, the now highly seated king on his throne, the man, the myth, the legend. New York Brick. Good to be with you. Thank you.

Eric Jackman. How you feeling, man? I'm not gonna lie. I saw you chuckling before the show. I don't know what you were laughing at, but now I was just so busy, I didn't realize how ridiculously low your chair was. In my head.

This was the thought process. Frank goes, it'd be funny, Ariel's locked in right now. He's watching. He says he's watching. It'd be funny if we did this and see how long it takes Ariel to say something. Then I thought to myself, there's not a chance in fucking hell that you're not gonna look at me and say something first. And so I was anticipating you doing it and laughing and thinking how quickly this would blow up. I have to say it's the wide shot that gets me.

It's the wide shot that gets me. So yeah, that was nice. Shout out to our chairs here at the beautiful. It was a nice squeak right after that. Yeah, man, the chair's not getting any love today. The chair's not getting any. It will work, we're efforting. How you doing back there, Frankie?

The third, the final third of the boys in the back. You can see the jersey, Atlanta Braves, Thrasher's on Tuesday. Pretty nice one. Falcons yesterday, Braves today, Greg Maddux, legend, all time goat. Because it is UFC Atlanta Fight Week, I'm actually jumping on the jet, hopping on the PJ

right after this show to head down to the 404. I will be in attendance after a hefty fee. The price of these tickets are not cheap. I'm gonna be up in the bleeders with Man of the People on Saturday night because it ain't easy to get in the UFC event these days. We're talking like 200, 250. Getting five together, it's not gonna be cheap,

but I will be in attendance. When's the last time they were in Atlanta? 2019, the Gasolum Adesanya card. Oh, I was there for that. When they have the- 48 Holloway card. When they have the Gap, usually it's a hotter ticket when they come back to town.

Yeah, I'm honestly, I'm cool with it. Since I started working on the show, I knew that I would be in attendance for UFC Atlanta. I said from the jump, if they do a card in my hometown, I will be there, I will be going back. Tried to get the rents to go I said, from the jump. If they do a card in my hometown, I will be there. I will be going back. Tried to get the rents to go, said, mom, dad, I know you don't love MMA,

but let's head on down to old State Farm Arena. Join me. We can show you what it's all about. Bob O'Reilly, they politely pass. I understand. They said, yeah, we're not interested in that, but it should be a fantastic weekend, a fantastic Saturday night.

I am very much looking forward to it. We'll talk about that at length. We will do pound for pound. Biggest dogs in MMA. Dogs. The AWG. That guy's a dog in honor of the UFC going down to Georgia. My alma mater, the University of Georgia, the dogs, bulldogs.

So that will be the pound for pound rankings, your voicemails, super chats, bets, big hitters. All the works you get here on Boys in the Back. Before we do all that, I did want to start. Last weekend we saw Marad Devaleshvili become UFC champion. But you wanted to go to something before that. Before we do that, I want to- I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just give an update on the Ben Askren. Not from me, uh, from one Daniel Cormier who was friends with, uh, Ben and, uh, also hosts a show with him. He had this to say,

uh, Daniel on his channel. Ben Askren, our good friend from Funky in the Champ is having a hard time. So that's Sunday, that night that we did the episode of funky and chat the last and Ben was complaining about some issues He had some infections He had a really tough time when he went to that convention in Vegas. He was stuck there for a while I want to report to you guys that he is now back home in Wisconsin he's with his family his beautiful wife Amy and Everybody's just kind of praying that Ben gets better and we can start moving forward with life for Ben. Yeah so we saw that there from from DC a super

positive update obviously. He then clarified some remarks when he says home in Wisconsin what he means is he was not in Wisconsin he has been brought back to a hospital in Wisconsin he is not at his. He is not at his house, he is not at his home, but he is back in his home state. He is in Wisconsin and, you know, conceivably closer to his family and his loved ones. So, a positive update and one that's needed and thinking of Ben and his family. For sure. It's nice to hear that he is back home in Wisconsin, but it will be much better news when he's back at his own home with his family. So thoughts and prayers continue to be with with the entire Askren family as he continues his his recovery. Back to last weekend though,

Murad Diwalehshvili defends his UFC Bantamweight Championship against Sean O'Malley. The man that he took the belt from last September racks up his second title defense, doing it in dominant fashion, this time finishing Sean O'Malley by third round submission. We also saw him beat Umar Namaga Medav in January. His win streak is now at 13.

And just with the names that he is racking up, the wins that he is getting, now two title defenses, the dominant fashion that he is showing. We, the wins that he is getting, now two title defenses, the dominant fashion that he is showing. We wanted to have the conversation, who is going to stop this man? Who is going to dethrone this man?

On Saturday night, after Merab did what he did, I tweeted out basically that like, this is an unsolvable puzzle. Like there isn't a way to kind of beat Merab. And I've talked about it before, right? I've talked about how he doesn't need to be efficient, right? He can whiff on strikes, he can whiff on takedowns and the relentlessness just, the knowledge that they're going to

continue carries the day for him. And it was met with some people saying, well, this person is going to be the one, this person is going to be the one, our very own Ovin. By the way, we should acknowledge the thumbnail for today's show. Another b Another, another banger by Ovin shout out Ovin. Um, he suggested that Corey Sandhigan has the best shot to beat Robin. So that got me thinking of the options out there, a can anybody even do it?

And if, if they actually let's start in the reverse order, who has the best chance and even if, if they have that chance, can they ultimately do it? So let's, let's think about the field, right? The, the Sean O'Malley thing, I think we can definitively kind of say it's not going to be Sean O'Malley, right? He's had two opportunities. He didn't win those. And in the second time, he even looked more comfortable Morab that is. So I'm going to say that one's off the table. Umar, pretty good first fight, right? Like had, had the first two rounds on some

people's cards and seemed like he was doing well against Marab until Marab kind of like turned up the gas and took that over. But Umar did pretty well. In, in my opinion, just looking at, at the people, if you're looking at the age, where they're at in their careers, I do feel like Umar still would probably be the favorite in my head just because of the fact that-

The favorite from the field, right? Not the favorite over Marab? Okay. No, no, no, I am convinced that when Marab does ultimately lose his belt, because he will eventually lose his belt, the sport moves fast, it sometimes feels like these guys are completely unbeatable and then out of nowhere they get upset and then they lose two or three and it's kind of like, I mean we're looking

at it with Kamaru Usman right now. You talk about a sport moving fast. This dude was a 15-fight win streak on his way to getting a 16th against Leon Edwards. So the sport moves fast. Marab will ultimately lose his belt at some point. It's just who's it going to be to and how long was the reign? I do think when he does lose his belt, he will probably be a sizable favorite in the fight that he does lose his belt. It will be pretty shocking. It will be an upset.

So from the field, the fact that Umar is only 29 years old, he won the first two rounds on two judges' scorecards with a broken hand, and I believe he did that in the first round. According to him, yes, first round. According to him, it was first round. We saw the swelling afterward. There was evidence that he did that in the first round. According to him, yes. According to him, it was first round. We saw the swelling afterward. There was evidence that, that he did in fact break his hand.

I think the fact that if, if he went in healthy, having already fought him for 25 minutes, you have to think at his age at 29 years old, he'll only continue to get better while Marab getting into this age at 35 years in January, he's going to turn 35 and we know the struggles of 35 year old champions, especially at these lower weight classes. It feels like it's going to be, you know, two ships passing in the night in terms of where they're at in their career.

If the fight lines up, if they do end up rematching, if it lines up at a proper time, say it's in like a year, maybe like 18 months, I feel like Umar would have the best chance of doing it. It's a compelling argument. And not only that, he was the favorite as we've talked about, like a minus two 50. Yeah.

He was over two to one against Marab. And so you have to think if he was that big a favorite, there was so much, uh, so many people that believed he had the style to do it. Then he actually looked good in the first two rounds before, you know, he unfortunately suffered an early injury, but looked good in those first two rounds.

You have to think of the, of the field. He seems like a good option. The other name that comes to mind for me is Corey. Okay. So I know Ovin mentioned that I did just want to say before we get into the discussion, there are odds now released. Okay. I know we don't have a date or anything for this.

What would your estimate be? On a rematch. This is a rematch between Umar and Marab or Kory and Marab and Kory. Marab minus 215. Marab minus 400 Kory Sanchez plus 330. Wow! Okay that's steep. I think these are the types of lines we're going to see on Marab to Alishvili. Maybe he will finally earn the respect and deservedly so. It's funny like I'm the biggest I've been one of the guys beating the Marab drum and he should not have been a dog to Umar and things like that. But 400 does feel steep and here, maybe here, maybe I'm revealing my hand because here's why I actually think Corey has a better chance to be Marab than

Umar does. 48, 47 on two scorecards for Umar. That is he put in a tremendous performance, especially as we've said, considering what happened in the first, if his hand was compromised from then on, it was a fantastic performance by him. What I ultimately come back to when it comes to Umar is one, now, I'm Rob seen it. And if you give him another chance, we see what happens, right?

Against Sean O'Malley, he looked what, three times better. Like it was, it was not even a competitive fight by that point. Like certainly Sean wasn't getting his doors blown off, but man, it was, it was more of a, it was more of a, it was more of a, it was Like it was, it was not even a competitive fight by that point. Like certainly Sean wasn't getting his doors blown off, but man, it was, it was Marab's control from minute one till the very end.

And then he completely finished them. If you give Marab another chance, I have a feeling he'll do better. I have a feeling he'll do better against you, Martin. That's not to say Umar won't do better, but when he's seen what you have and knows kind of like how that fight can go and also has the knowledge that come round three through five I'm going to be the one pressing forward, I believe that he's going to have a better chance and Umar's path to victory is a difficult one. It's you have to be Marab.

Umar's path to victory is can you do what Marab does but do it better? And that's a very tough task because I think he's singular. I think Marab is one of one. Corey on the other hand, while not as effective in the offensive grappling as Umar is, but I would say not a slouch in the offensive grappling. We've seen Corey kind of go to his grappling,

especially in the Cheeto Verify where he was just like, this is where I want this fight to take place. And he used it while not as good as Umar is good there. And then what I feel he has that is the biggest key and attribute that other fighters in this division may not necessarily have is that flash KO possibility that like Sean O'Malley certainly has power and he's, he's knocked people out, but he's not really the one hitter quitter guy most of the time most of the time He's like he caught a slick angle or accumulation of punches and you're worn down Corey Sandhagen has had these moments of brilliance like the Frankie Edgar knee where

One second everything's fine. And then a millisecond later. You're on the canvas asleep That is to me, the only way that I could see Marab losing. I can't see Marab losing a fight where it's grappling exchanges or striking exchanges because he tends to just win all those exchanges. If Corey Sandingham could do something, the brilliance that he summoned at times, like that Frankie Aguirin and submissions and other things he's done in the past, that would be the way to beat Marab. And so I gave him the best chance because I think he's capable of those kind of explosive moments in a way that

many of the other guys are not. Uh, the Marlon Marais, the wheel kick as well. Insane. He does have those knockouts. It has been several years since those now. Sure. I mean, it's been four years and most of his wins have been, uh, either by decision.

I know the, the Figge was, was nice knee injury accredited to Corey Sandhagen. He submitted him an accumulation of punches damage against Song Yedong and then decisions from there. I agree with you. I mean, I think anyone is alive, especially at this level. You're talking about top five bantamweights in the world, Corey Sandhagen for the last, he said it in an interview, the last five years or so, he has been fighting

the best of the best in this division. Like he is always going against the killer. So I think he's live, but ultimately I think Marab is going to be able to pass that test. And I know it's a fool's game. There is the MMA math of Corey's last two losses, Pyotr Jan, Umar Nirmaga-Madoff, Rav DeVos, Shwili. Guys, that Marab made light work of both. Yeah,, Rob Vashfili. Guys, that Umar. Made light work of both.

Yeah, for that I just go to styles make fights. Of course. But what I will say is the Umar matchup makes the Umar matchup against Corey seem a little bit harder, steeper. I do also think that there's an argument against Corey Sanhigun because you are getting Umar right now in his career.

Still 34 years old, still somewhat early into his championship reign. I think every single time that he racks up a defense, it just gets that much harder to defend the belt the next time. You're living this championship lifestyle. You've become used to being the champion. The satin sheets, everything like that.

I'm not saying Marab is a guy to fall into those traps. It doesn't strike me as that guy. But every defense is harder than the last one. And who knows when, if Umar gets a rematch with him or one of these up and coming guys will get lower into the rankings after this. But yeah, I think Corey Sanhagan will be live in that fight.

I think it's an interesting fight, but I do think ultimately Murab will pass that test. Yeah, and I feel the same way. I don't see either Umar or Corey or any contender that I can kind of like point to right now that is going to be the one to beat Marab until what inevitably happens as you've laid out. Like there's just a point where you get too old and there's too many miles and reflexes are slower and you're just not as sharp as you were and somebody catches you at the right time. And MMA is the type of game where it's like, it feels like right now it's like, oh my God, Marab is in his absolute prime. This could go forever. When in reality, he's probably been in his prime

for three to five years already, right? We're just seeing it in champion fights. On the way up, now he's finally got the opportunity to be the champion and make the money and do the things. But you're kind of all, once you've already hit that, it's only downside from there. He may still be in his prime, but it's the end of the prime

that you're gonna see. And just how many can you squeak out? Can you squeak out two more, three more, four more, before somebody does get that ascent and catch you? I know, like we say he's unstoppable. Right now, maybe today he is, but this reign will end. They all end. At 34 every year and then 35 every year and then 36 every year is much harder and much more significant than when you're 27 and you're a year older.

If you're 28 and a year older. If it's June, 2027 and he's 36 years old and he's still reigning over this division, my mind will be blown. So at that point with a pace like he has has that would be like six, seven title defenses. Yeah. It's like a 19 fight win streak or whatever it would be at that point, 18. He just has the air to me of somebody who's going to be able to do it for an extended amount of time and also because of the style. If the cardio ever starts to slip, right? If as he gets older, all of a sudden the cardio is a little less, 80%, 90%. Now those margins become a lot closer and all of a sudden the cardio is a little less, 80%, 90%. Now those margins become a lot closer and all of a sudden a guy like an Umar who is closer to

entering his prime, whereas Marab is closer to the end of the prime, all of a sudden that becomes more of a conversation. But yeah, like right now, today, for the next couple years, I just don't see a real challenger to Marab's throne. Moving through the next couple years, I just don't see a real challenger to Rob's throne. Moving through the rankings some more, Pyotr Jan, he might get another shot at it, just because there's a shortage of dudes to challenge him at some point.

50, 45, I just don't see him changing enough, especially with him also aging, to be able to make the changes to get it done there. And then sort of the five to eight range are in this purgatory of being proven to not be at that level to be able to beat Murab. Song Yedong, a great bantamweight, but he is losing to the Koreas, the Pyotrs of the world.

Figgy, it just looks like it's probably not gonna work out with him getting a title at 135. Cheeto, I think, has been proven, like he, I don't think he's the guy to beat Marab. Rob Font, I feel the same way. All very elite level bantam weights, just not to the point to where they're gonna get over the Marab hurdle.

Now you get into like Mario Bautista. This is where it gets interesting. A-Fight Winstreak, you know, gets the slander from the fans, is putting on an unbelievable performance on Saturday and is getting booed, like is on fire, piecing up Patchy Mix and like he's getting booed. It's sort of that case with a guy like Marab,

the Belalls, the Leons, the Magomedan Calayas that have to win 10 fights in a row. And people are like, all right, fine, give them the title shot. And then they ultimately win the title. And it's like, oh, it's like, it's almost like they're pretty good. Like you could maybe see that with a Mario Bautista.

He's on an 11 fight win streak and they're like, all right, all right, give Mario Bautista the title, the title shot. And he ends up winning. He honestly doesn't seem that far because of what you've said. Like those guys that are kind of like contenders, but not really able to make that next leap. You beat one of those guys and you're kind of there. You're kind of in that title conversation, especially considering how many of these guys Marab did have have to already face on his way up. He's faced nearly everybody. It's why we're like, all right, Corey, because he's faced everybody else. Like who else other than Corey is there that's interesting

at this point. I could see a Mario Bautista entering this conversation, but like look at the rest of the names on this list. They've all either been beaten by O'Malley, another contender, Marab himself. It's tough sledding. He has wins over the top three. We just went through the five to eight, just aren't gonna get a title shot.

He's got a win over number 10. And then Bautista, it still feels like he's one or two away, but he is creeping into that conversation of just like, all right, there's no one else and this guy is on a 10 fight winning streak if he gets to that point. I think you need to have some of the Jan Figueredo Vera Font guys fighting

and then elevating them and maybe one of them gets a title shot just because they haven't fought Murab yet, but I don't expect it to be a competitive fight if I'm being honest. Then we just said 10, Henry Cejudo, that's not happening. He's kind of down and out. He's also lost to Marab.

Eamon Zahabi is number 11. He's on a great win streak. The issue there is he's 37 years old. Yeah, we're talking about Marab like being on the tail end of the prime. It almost feels like Zahabi, this run is incredible, but it feels like he's going to stumble right before he gets to the top.

Potentially, but I'm open to, let's see it, right? Of course. One of those guys like the seven through nine range give an opportunity to a guy like Eamon and let's see what happens. Kyler Phillips, still young, but you know. Yeah, he's got some time, but. Lost to Rob Vaughn last time out,

but things can turn around quickly. He's fighting someone soon. Kyler Phillips is fighting. Yeah, he's fighting a great one. Yeah. And here I am not able to think of it. No, he's fighting another like all-action type guy. Who's he booked against? Let's see. I want to say International Fight Week. He's... Yeah, Lock Dog. Oh.

Yeah, on the Dustin Poirier card. Oh, be still. Be still my heart. Well, that's what we can get into these last three, which I find fascinating. Marcus McGee is getting the Pyotr Yan fight. He's undefeated in the UFC, but Marcus McGee is 35 years old as well. I know that's a name though.

That's an interesting one actually. If he goes out there and beats Pyotr Yan, then he's right there. Yeah. It'll be Corey next? Of course. But is Marcus, maybe Marcus is just like gonna wait and be next in line after that.

If he beats Peter Jan. If he beats Jan, what else do you really need to prove at that point? And also like, why bother? You know, Merab's gonna, if he gets past Corey, he's gonna fight in two months after that anyway, just wait in line and maybe that's your opportunity. Montel Jackson, very talented, our guy, Montel Quick Jackson

needs to be fighting more, I would say. Like he's only been able to fight once a year, not of any fault of his own, as he told us in the interview, but I think he needs to get more active to get into that title shot range. And then 15 is Lock Dog. Get him over Kyler Phillips

and then book him against one of these dudes, like book him against the Songyi Dong, book him against a Sean O'Malley Book him against a Sean O'Malley. Yeah. Rock dog Sean O'Malley would be crazy. Book him against the Figge to where he can really propel himself up there. If he continues these exciting fights, continues to get on the mic and be a personality, there's potential there.

He's also young himself. This division reminds me of welterweight before the turnover. This reminds me of like Kamaru Usman's welterweight title reign, where it was like Colby's floating around the top, Jorge's floating around the top, Gilbert Burns is floating around the top. And it was the same kind of like five to seven names and they were all veterans and they were all kind of like in that mix and they were fighting each other. Then Bilal versus Gilbert was another one of those that just kind of like

maintains order. Then all of a sudden they started fighting the young prospects and we got the Shavkots up there. We got the Ian Machado Garrys up there. We even got Carlos Pratches up there. Bilal finally broke through, got his title opportunity. Like we're in the moment pre-turnover and I could really quickly see in a year or two that division being like, okay, Marcus McGee is a top contender.

Okay, Lock Dog is a top contender now. All those guys, Mario Bautista is a top contender now. And then we're looking at something legitimate as challengers for Marab. It's going to be very interesting. I think ultimately the rain does come to an end at some point. It's just when it is and who's it against. And we're doing all this and then it's just going to be Corey Sandhagen next fight. Yeah. And, and we'll just be like, well, that's when it ended. Eh? There's some people that believe, I know, I know

Ovin was one of the ones who was thinking Corey would be the biggest challenge. And so I think there are believers who think that Corey has a shot. I ultimately sigh with Murat, but as, as good an opponent as any, I'd love to see Corey get his opportunity. All right.

Let's go to this weekend. Yes. UFC Atlanta. I will be in the building. I can't wait to see you there. I'm excited as any, I'd love to see Corey get his opportunity. All right, let's go to this weekend. UFC Atlanta, I will be in the building, I cannot wait for this one. Main event, Kamaru Usman taking on Joaquin Buckley, and like you talk about, a changing of the tides at welterweight right now. Joaquin Buckley in that long line, ranked number seventh, but in that long line of guys that are gonna be asking for a title shot

after their next win, he could bump into that top five with a victory over Kamaru Usman here. And I think he's getting Kamaru at a good time. Yeah, it seems like you were talking about that kind of like crossing of ships point where it's like one guy's closer to the end than the beginning and Joaquin's obviously on the way up. This feels like one of those opportunities and one of those, uh, those

crossing points. Uh, I don't know what, I don't know where Kamara Usman is right now in his career because I was impressed with the performance against, uh, Hamza Chamayev, but that feels like ages ago at this point, like it has been a long time since we've seen Kamaru Usman in the cage. And so if he can be that version that warded off a Hamza Shamiah that I have in my top five pound for pound, that's gonna be a tough night in the office for Joaquin Buckley.

But he's, what is he, 37 or 38? How old is Kamaru? Kamaru is 38 years old. 38 years old and you mentioned the Hamza Shemaya fight It has been 500. It'll be 592 days. So nearly two full years. Yeah, so like we're talking about like 20 months Yeah, since we saw him last time and he's not getting any younger those knees aren't getting any healthier It's it's tough to know where he's going to be at going into this fight. Yeah The other side of the coin. I know exactly where Joaquin Buckley is going to be at. He's going to be trying to strike in moments that

Kamara Usman allows him to have those opportunities. And if that's getting shut down, he might switch to the grappling and we've seen him do it in the past where all of a sudden he's deciding like striking a wonder boy for a bit switches to the grappling. The fight goes his way. He's very well rounded. I think he's peaking right now.

This is like the best version of him that we've seen. He's defensively sound. If he's busier than Kamaru Usman, I don't know that Kamaru has the like concussive knockout power that we saw years ago in the knockout of Jorge Masvidal that is necessarily gonna threaten Joaquin Buckley. And then I'm just thinking Joaquin Buckley can kind of win the decision if, if Kamaru can't get him out of there.

The wrestling is probably going to be the X factor. If Kamaru goes back to the old ways and is like really on aggressive on trying to get Buckley down, I'd be interested to see how that goes. Maybe Kamaru can be the superior wrestler, but I just don't know. It's almost like I know exactly what I'm going to get from the Joaquin Buckley that goes, maybe Kamaru can be the superior wrestler, but I just don't know. It's almost like I know exactly what I'm gonna get from the Joaquin Buckley side, and I have zero idea what I'm gonna get from the Usman side.

So it could go either way, and it's really dependent on Kamaru. Yeah, I feel like you have to lean Joaquin Buckley just because of what you mentioned. Like his finishing upside is all gonna be with Buckley in my opinion. I think if Usman's gonna win, he's gonna have to really just grind on Buckley

for the 25 minutes and just implement his will. And then the volume from Buckley is a scary thought for Kamaru Usman as he ages. He's never really been like a super high volume dude as it is. And then I just think the striking at range, I just think Buckley has the advantage there as well. It's insane to think, like you talk about the striking at range, I just think Buckley has the advantage there as well. It's insane to think,

like you talk about the sport moving fast, it's insane to think that Kamaru Usman, just like less than three years ago, was this long running champion, and now he's like a plus 250 against Joaquin Buckley. Yeah, the sport moves really fast, and also the time off, the continued absence of Kamaru Usman from this division,

the continued absence of Kamara Usman from this division. And from Jordan Whistler in my ear to keep it together, it was impossible, the crawling got me. But no, I'm less shaky or I'm less, I'm not fading Kamara Usman because I don't believe Kamara Usman still has it or still has something. And I'm not fading Kamara Usman because I don't believe that Kamara Usman

has the skills to beat Joaquin Buckley, but it's a father time thing. It's just 38 years old, that long off. It comes for everybody. And inevitably it's just kind of the reality of what we see with these aging fighters regardless of how great a championship reign you've had, regardless of how long you've been on top.

This comes for everybody. But the last performance still sticks in my mind. The performance against Shumayev is still as good as we've seen people do against Shumayev. Like Gilbert Burns, Kamar Usman really had gritty kind of tough outings with Hamza Chamayev and I rate that but two years off 38 years old I just don't see I just don't see how the young hungry lion doesn't eat the older one here. Gosh I guess and like that's not a bad point by you mentioning Gilbert Burns also having a good outing against Hamza Chamayev but then he just fought the young up-and-comer in Michael Moranis and got knocked out in the first round.

It comes for us, it comes for us, all of us. Yeah, I'd love to see Usman turn back the clock. I think we'll know pretty quickly into the fight whether or not he's going to be able to do so. I think within the first couple of rounds. And I still rate Usman's toughness very large. Toughness 100%. I mean, beyond the Leon Edwards head kick out of nowhere,

like this dude is as tough as they come. He's incredibly hard to finish. Um, so like, I think he's going to be able to hang in there. It's just like you said, man, that father time, it eventually comes for everyone. And I think here is, is where it does come. And at that point, like, where do you go as Kamaru Usman from here? Like now you ain't getting another title shot. You're 38 years old going on 39. You've lost four in a row. Now you're losing to guys that

are ranked number seventh. You have nothing else to prove in the sport. Like it feels like you're approaching that territory where it's time to hang them up. Is there like, is there an interest in like Kamaru versus Colby if they both stick around? Like I don't know. Do we want to see it again? It was great both times. Like it was pretty, the second one was not great. The second one was good. The first one was great. And so, I don't know.

Like I'll say this. I don't think Kamaru Usman has anything left to prove, right? If he loses this fight, of course not. there's not another guy out there that I'm like, if he gets it done against him, like there's nothing else that Kamaru needs to do. He had an incredible championship reign. Um, but I, you know, I feel like people could still get up for a Kamaru Colby.

I know Dana White personally loved that one so much that he was like clamoring for the rematch. I guess I could kind of get up for that if he wants to stick around, but there's not anything that I'm like, I'm dying to see Kamaru Usman fight XYZ person. If he wins though. If he wins, shit man. Yeah. Book him against one of these top guys.

Kamaru versus Gary, Kamaru versus, I mean, Sean Brady was calling for that fight for a while. You do another just young lion and you're just like, Kamaru, you're just, you're going to have to take me out of here. You're going to have to kill me and you just keep knocking them off if you can. I don't mind it. I mean, the dude stepped in on short notice against Hamza Chamayev.

If that was. He ain't scared to fight anybody. This is the bar. Like this is still lower from there. Um, but yeah, there's, there's nothing that I think Kamaru has left to do in this sport per se, but I still think there's, there's fights that I'd be interested in watching Kamaru fight.

I just don't know what the stakes are and what he's interested, what his motivations are. I'm sure he's saved some of that championship money and probably doesn't need to. There's a championship money, movie money. I mean, Brody's a Black Panther. I think he's doing well for himself and now him and Henry Cejudo have a successful podcast. I think he's got other endeavors that he could focus on if this one doesn't work out for him. On the flip side of that, Joaquin Buckley, if he gets it done here, it's just like, unfortunately, you're in a very long line of people who are going to be calling for the title shot, but his next fight will be massive. It will at least be either a main event of a fight night

like this one is, and he'll get another one of those under his belt or we're talking main card of a pay-per-view for sure. You can be talking about Buckley versus Ian Gehry. I know he's been clamoring for that one. You could do Buckley versus Shawn Brady. I feel like Leon Edwards, while he's ranked fourth, I feel like that's not really who Buckley would want to be fighting. I don't feel like that gives him an automatic title shot with where Leon is at in his career.

I guess that would kind of follow his trajectory of wins though, like Colby, Wonderboy, Luke, Kamaru, just like former champions that are kind of past their prime. But like you could really make some fantastic fights and like you'd have to think if he wins this weekend, he is like one away and then waiting for a title shot two at absolute most there's like five guys in the same spot though is the problem it's just a weird it's a weird time for

welterweight it's kind of what I was talking about we were talking I was talking about how bantamweight is in that pre-phase before this phase where there's no it's seemingly no contenders. It's like Corey's the only one who hasn't fought him in the top five. And then Welterweight, it's like, oh my God, there's so many guys here that could conceivably fight for the title. Not pictured Islam Makachev who is going to fight for the title. Look at these rankings. You have Bilal who's going to be clamoring for another shot at the title. If he, especially if he beats one of these top guys. Not Islam, no. He's not allowed to fight him, remember?

Exactly. Right. Yeah. What are you doing, he's not allowed to fight him, remember? Right, yeah. What are you doing? You're moving up to 185 below? Sean Brady, of course, is like right there. Maybe one more or just sitting on it. Shavkat got the title shot, then Fadi and Gary beat him, and you would think would be next in line

to get the title shot after Islam Makashev, but at that point, it's like so much time has passed, he might have to take one more. Leon and Kamaru feel like they're the odd ones out in this list. It feels like they're a step away from the title. Gary is one or two away, Joaquin Buckley is one or two away, Michael Morales is one or two away.

You have six dudes right there that are gonna be clamoring for title shots, and then one of the UFC's biggest stars moving up from 155 to slot himself in against JDM. Yeah, 100%. I mean, the names are very obvious. There's a clear distinction between old guard, nude guard, right?

Bilal's probably the one who kind of floats between, so we'll not count him for a second, but Jack Della, new guard, Sean Brady, new guard, Shavkat, new guard, Leon Edwards, old guard, Kamara Usman, old guard, Ian Machado-Garry, new guard, Joaquin Buckley, new guard, Michael Morales, new Guard, Colby Coventon Old Guard, Gilbert Burns Old Guard. It's like this change is happening. And the old guard is dropping and dropping and dropping down

the list and the new guys are coming up. But yeah, if Joaquin Buckley wins, and I think we're both kind of feeling like at the moment that's the way the wind blows for Joaquin, he's just in that mix. And I would be, we don't have to convince Joaquin. He's just in that mix. We don't have to convince Joaquin Buckley to do some call outs. We don't have to convince him to make some noise. I'd be calling for Ian Gary. I'd be calling for Sean Brady.

I'd be calling for one of them to just kind of put yourself ahead even further in the pack because they're all so bunched up together. And there's going to take some time to resolve. We still don't know. let's say Islam and JDM resolve their business right is Islam or JDM is now the champion JDM defense or Islam is the new champion we don't know if it's gonna be shortcut we don't know if it's gonna be Ian we don't know if it's gonna be Brady we don't know if it could even be Joaquin with an impressive win here over Kamaru Usman

there's so much that remains to be seen if If I was in that pack, I'd just be trying to get a fight. Make myself the most recent example of what's happened and Joaquin has the advantage of being the most recent and then hope that that's enough to carry it into the title shot. Yeah. I think, I think this is all working out perfectly for him. He, when he, since he came back down to welterweight, he's six and oh, I think we've learned, like I think he got enough flack, Like he called out Conor McGregor after one of his wins

and everyone was like, is this the worst call out of all time? I thought that was a little overstated. It was fine. Everybody calls out Conor, who cares? He called out DC at one point, I think, or was that online? No, that was like him and DC had like a little beef

that they squashed, yeah. Get on the mic. If he wins on Saturday night, you beat a legend in Kamaru Usman, you Get on the mic if he wins on Saturday night you beat a legend in Kamaru Usman you get on the mic and you essentially say what you just said Gary Brady Shavkat Balal doesn't matter I want someone I want someone ahead of me and I want them as soon as possible and then I want the title shot. By the way I believe and if the chat corrects me if I'm wrong I think he actually did exactly that in the last fight, which was,

what do you guys feel about these options? And he's like going to the crowd, and then like one of them was Kamara Usman, and he's like, he's like, this guy, this guy, Kamara Usman, and everybody like got excited about it. So like, I think he was watching on Buffalo Wild Wings. I think he was muted. But I think he did like call a response with the crowd and it was exactly that. It's like all these top guys do the same thing. I want any of these one guy. They're all scared of me. I want these guys and then actually try and force them into a fight.

The problem is going to be like, who's going to be the first one to be like, yeah, I'll put it on the line. Seemingly to me, it seems like Ian Machado Gary is the most rare into go. Well, that works out perfectly man because he's always calling out Ian Gary. He's always saying the buck first the cock crap. Like he's always going after him like that. We saw him in Leila, like there was like the video of them

at the presser or something, I forget what it was, or the weigh in ahead of Ian's most recent fight. He's been pressing that button certainly. He'll continue to press it for sure. And it would be smart to do so. Look, you know, we can debate whether the line is being crossed on some of the rhetoric there. But it's smart from a promotional perspective. It's smart for him to kind of try to push those buttons. Bilal has to be hungry for a fight, right? Bilal knows he's probably not going to get the next opportunity, especially if Islam wins. As he said, they've

trained together. I don't want to fight him. And Islam did the whole thing of waiting to see if Bilal wins or loses. Bilal should be somebody who's looking for an opportunity like a Joaquin Buckley to just say, okay, I'm still the top of this division and send it back. So I think he'll be able to find something, but I don't think there's any doubt. He's going to have to fight once or even twice more. Yeah. I think for sure. It's just 170 is too stacked. He's on a great run. Good by the way. Oh, I love it.

This bullshit of like, this guy deserves a title shot. There can't be six guys that deserve a title shot. Let them fight and figure it the fuck out. Well, and in a division this stacked, you're going to have to fight. You can't sit, you can't rest on your laurels, man. You're going to have to fight and you're going fuck out. And in a division this stacked, you're gonna have to fight. Fight, fight. You can't rest on your laurels, man. You're gonna have to fight and you're gonna have to fight absolute killers. Yes, and I love that.

Walter Waite's exciting right now. Walter Waite's really got some juice. Yeah, I mean, Buckley, if he wins this weekend, that's seven straight, man. Fuck. Seven or no Walter Waite. He's got one or two more for sure before he gets that title shot.

I love it. It's fascinating. Shavkat's got on a nice little win streak too. What is it? 19? 20? Whatever the fuck? Almost all of them exclusively by finish. It's going to be a great one. I can't wait for it. I think both dudes are going to hype up the arena on Saturday night. I think it's going to be a full house in State Farm and I think it's going to be great. Co-main event, Rosenami Union is taking on Miranda Maverick, uh, another former champion, um, they used to train together, uh, with Trevor Whitman. Um, taking on Miranda Maverick, you know, another up and comer.

I mean, she's been fighting, uh, a lot as of late. I know she lost to, uh, Jasmine, Jasmine Vichias a couple of years back, but she's racked up four wins since. Um, this is another great name to put on her resume, kind of move her up into the upper echelon of this division. But man, I feel like Rose at range is going to be able to strike, going to be able to land what she wants. I feel like Miranda Maverick is just going to have to make this dirty, make it gritty, force takedowns, push her up against the fence, and that's her best pass to victory. Are you surprised by the line?

Are you surprised, because I have to admit, I'm surprised Rose is this big a favorite, and I only see that from the conversation we've been having this whole day, seemingly so far, about this is closer to the end than the beginning for Rose, right? And Miranda's just kind of getting to the seam in a certain capacity.

I'm also, you know, stylistically, I could see a world where Miranda is able to kind of make it dirty. So I don't know. I thought this would be closer. Can Miranda have the same success that Aaron Blanchfield had in, I think it was rounds three and five of their, of their matchup last year.

I don't know. I kind of feel like Aaron Blanchfield is sort of I think it was rounds three and five of their matchup last year. I don't know, I kind of feel like Aaron Blanchfield is sort of like the step up from Miranda Maverick. I feel like this is a step down and she lost that fight 48, 47. I just feel like in the striking, Rose is going to have a ton of success. It's just can Miranda steal the rounds by using that wrestling, that grappling

and sort of controlling the fight. Yeah. I guess I ultimately do favor Rose, but I don't know. There's something about Miranda and her recent success that I'm like, I think there's a way. I think there is a path to it. This is three rounds, right? Yeah, just three rounds.

Yeah, that's harder, right? Because obviously you're giving a great striker and Rose Nama-Yunas. Or it's easier if she's able to get the take downs because we saw Blanchfield be able to get long periods of control time over Rose. I do feel like the, the shorter fight usually favors like a veteran like Rose who's been there

before and can kind of accumulate the rounds. But to your point, yeah, maybe if she's able to get some top control and keep her there for the first two rounds, it doesn't really matter what happens around three all of a sudden. I don't know. I think it's closer than line to maybe there's a little bit of value on Miranda Maverick, but I don't, I don't know what to make. Like we're going to have to see what version of Rose Nama, Eunice turns up in June of 2025. She's been doing this a long time. Well, she's another one of those ones,

like a Kelvin Gaston, like a Vicente Luque. Yeah. 31 years old. Yeah. Feels like she's been around forever. 31 years. Feels like she should be 45 because she's been around in our lives for so long. I mean, if you look at it, like Rose was able to have

success against Aaron Blanchfield, she ultimately lost the fight. She was really able to have success against Aaron Blanchfield. She ultimately lost the fight. She was really able to have success against Tracy Cortez, who fights a similar game plan in terms of like going, mixing in the takedowns and using that pressure against Rose. So I don't know. This feels like to me, like a step down for Rose Namiunas and a step up from Miranda Maverick's previous competition.

And I do like the striking advantage for Rose in this one. Yeah, I think ultimately lean that way too, but. I think the crowd also, Rose is like a casuals delight. Like she's beloved, she's a fan favorite, people love watching her. She's definitely a name that a lot of people that are just like, oh, the UFC's in Atlanta, like let's just go.

They'll see Rose Namiunas and be like, let's go, Rose. Yeah, of course, the Rose shut up. I think the crowd will be heavy on her side. I think it likely goes to a decision. I think Rose and the striking will create loud, loud cheers. I think it'll be a decent fight, but ultimately I think it's Rose by decision.

Yeah, I lean the same way, but I think Miranda's gonna be live. That's my gut feeling. Okay, featured bout of the evening. We had a decent discussion about this one before we went on the air. Edmund Shabazi and taking on Andre Petrosky. Sneaky, sneaky three fight win streak for Andre Petrosky.

Yeah. Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky. Eight and two in the UFC. When you told me this, my mind was blown. I could not believe that Andre Petrosky was eight and two in the UFC. I you told me this, my mind was blown. I can't, I could not believe that Andre Petroski was eight and two in the UFC. I couldn't believe he had 10 UFC fights. Yeah.

I'm like, didn't I just see this guy like debut? Like it did not feel that long ago. He's been busy. Um, I want to stat on how many times Andre Petroski and Cody Braun did you've been on the same car? And like Julian Marquez and there's, and like for a while, uh, Nick Maximov, like all of these

guys were like the same dude in my head. Yeah. He's just like middleweight grapplers. Phil Haas. Yeah, Phil Haas. Just like these guys that like, they win some, they lose some. And it's like, I feel like I've just like confused

all of them. I've thrown them all into like a cauldron and mixed them all up. And then I was like, oh wait, Andre Pichowski is eight and two in the UFC? Yeah. With wins over Adolfo Vieira, Gerald Mearschart, I believe is on it as well.

Yeah, like other than like we were at that Jacob Malkun fight in Atlantic city, where it was like a hip, a body shot. An elbow, like it was like a, he got shot, he got hit in the body. It was his hip, that's right, it was his hip. It was like the oddest finish, like they just like clenched together and then Pedrosky was just like done.

His head bounced off Malkun's hip, if I remember correctly. I wish we had the broadcast audio for that. We were in the building, somebody can tell us if something else happened, but it seemed like it was his hip that knocked him out. It looked so routine. This is an Edmund Shabazzian fight. It's, it's going to go one of two ways. Edmund is going to blitz him and murder him or

Edmund is going to blitz him and Petroski's going to survive it. And then in round two and three, he's going to take over and it's over. Like it's every Edmund Shabazzian fight. It doesn't really matter who the opponent is. He is definition of, of killer be killed. Yeah.

Just like going back to, uh, after the ultimate fighter making his UFC debut, just like 38 seconds done, minute 12 done, 227 done. Uh, then round three, round two, round two, round three, and then just round one, round two, round one, like he has one decision, uh, on his record in the last six years in the UFC. Like he is just kill or be killed.

I'm with you. I think Edmund either comes out here and he can crack. No, Edmund's power, yeah. And we've seen Petrosky finish because it wasn't just the Malkun fight. He also lost to Michelle Pereira, got finished in the first round in that one as well. Like he can be finished and Edmund can absolutely crack.

So I think he goes that way or Petrosky is able to take control of it, grind on the fight and essentially just win the minutes over the 15 and win by a decision. Yeah, as we get into round two and three, I imagine the grappling is going to take over for Petrosky and he's going to be able to control Edmund, but he's going to have to go through hell the first six in seven minutes. That's just how able to control Edmund, but he's going to have to go through hell the first six and seven minutes. That's just how that goes with Edmund. But yeah, there's a path to victory for both guys. I'm interested to see how this plays out,

but it almost is like, it's the same story with every single Edmund Shabazzian fight. It's the exact same story. Yeah, but I think it's going to be fun for the fans. Oh yeah. Unless it's just like 14 minutes of control time from Andre Petrosky. I find it hard to believe that outcome, but maybe. I don't think it's gonna be fun for the fans. Oh yeah. Unless it's just like 14 minutes of control time from Andre Petroski. I find it hard to believe that outcome, but maybe.

I don't think it's gonna happen. I just think Edmund's too live early. All right, moving on, Cody Garbrand taking on Heyoni Barcellos. This is a fantastic fight, especially if this thing stays standing. I think this one is going to be incredibly exciting, and I actually tend to believe that it will.

I think maybe Heyoni will go for some grappling but Cody will be able to fight it off and if these dudes stand and strike like it's gonna be tremendous. Heyoni, one of the more underrated guys, 19 and 5 in his career, has every sort of accolade you can imagine growing up in Brazil and then Cody Garbrandt obviously aesthetically pleasing striker who has knockout power that can also be knocked out. This is a fan's favorite fight. Do we see a finish? I wanna say yes because Cody Garbrand is fighting,

but Heyone and Barcellos does tend to go to more decisions than not. But I'm gonna say that Cody engaged in a firefight. Is Cody gonna press him and then maybe they get into a firefight and one of them is gonna go down? I think so, unless we see Tre Jones, Cody Garbrandt here. Yeah, that's how I see it too. Man, I don't know, maybe, is it foolish to be like,

I feel like we're counting out Cody? Like is he- I'm not counting him out at all, dude. I've been tempted to play him as a dog. I saw him as big as like plus 170 this week. He's like around that right now. And I'm like, maybe that's the play, honestly. If they get into a firefight, like. And I'm like, maybe that's the play, honestly.

If they get into a firefight, like you, I favor Cody, you know? I favor Cody, but also like Cody does have the off switch. Yeah, he can get caught. We know it. I mean, it's the same, like I talked about how Edmund Shabazzian, there's like a one singular but like Cody Garbrandt, it's the same thing.

Like he's going to come in there and he's going to try and take your head off. But sometimes you take his head off. I feel like Cody's another one. Maybe I'm feeling just like dogs in general here. I like Cody. I think it's gonna be a great fight. Heoni obviously coming off the Peyton Talbot victory as a plus 710 underdog.

He shows that he's still got it. And I think that one is gonna be really fun. I'm gonna be hyped for it. Another one, Cody Garbrandt, sort of one of those guys that like the fans will get hyped around whether they've been paying attention to UFC or not. Very big name. One that is going to be a fan's treat,

a killer be killed is Cody Brundage versus Mansour Abdul Malik. Abdul Malik, all of his wins by finish. Cody Brundage, there's a couple of no contests in there. There's a couple of DQs, but like for the most part, like Cody Brundage. There's a couple of no contests in there. There's a couple of DQs, but like, for the most part, like Cody Brundage is fighting, he's either killing someone or he's getting killed. It's pretty much the only two ways those fights go.

Yeah, there's quite a few of those types of fighters that seemingly on this card. So Atlanta is getting some action, hopefully, regardless of outcome. But yeah, this one, I feel like the favorite is gonna win. I've been on a little bit of a dog, like, hey, maybe we're under-representing here. I think Abdul Malik is gonna be able to get Brundage.

He is a minus 800 right now, if you wanna put some scratch on that. Yeah, that makes sense. No, I'm gonna pass on that, but I do think he'll get it done. And the fight not to go to a decision has now touched minus 1,000. What?

That's pretty crazy. That has all the makings of going to a decision. It's one of those ones where it's just like, oh, there's no way. But I mean, Cody Braun, if you just look back at his record, like the no contents contest against El Hassan, like that fight was not going to finish.

That was 37 seconds into the first round. And then from there, he's got one decision since 2021. Cody Brundage is the definition of killer be killed. Mansour Abdul Malik early in his career. So he's only been doing the killing, but every time he goes out there, he has gotten a knockout, one submission on his record. I think it's gonna be great. I'm very much looking forward to it. Another

giant favorite Alonzo Menafield taking on Umar Sy. Right now Umar sitting at a minus 700. We talked about last week there being some huge favorites. You've got Mansur Abdul Malik minus 800, Umar Sar minus 700, Adolfo Bellotto minus 400, Malcolm Wollmaker minus 1800, Ricky Simone minus 515, Jamie Lynn Horth minus 600. There's some big favorites on this thing, man. Yeah, they're, they're big favorites, but I do feel like what's interesting about these is the underdogs

in some of these matchups have big power and can kind of maybe change the tide in one shot, which makes it interesting. So I'm this is, this is a pretty decent like action card on paper. I'm hoping so, man. I'm really hoping so. Hedolfo Bellotto taking on Paul Craig.

Uh, I feel like we get action from that one. Yeah. I feel like Bellotto will force the action from Paul Craig and when Paul Craig is forced into action, we almost always see a finish. That's right. Yeah. You know, Craig, if, if Craig is not pressed

at times, he can be, you know, like, let's strike, like the, um, the Bo' Nickel fight. They're just kind of like striking with each other and it's not like the most entertaining thing. If you were trying to press Paul Craig, you, you might get him, but he also might throw up a crazy submission. And that's what makes him so fun.

Also, he's kind of talked about like, this is do or die for him and his UFC career. So I expect we'll see Paul Craig go out in a blaze of glory one way or another. You know, shout out to Baird you, uh, that fight was supposed to take place a few weeks ago. Yeah, they had an Apex card or something like that. It was supposed to happen back in May, but now we are getting it on the Atlanta card. A couple more here that I wanted to talk about. Michael Chiesa versus Court McGee.

That's a fun one. It is a fun one. A little bit of like a veterans fight. Court McGee never been submitted in his career. Did they both win? I think they both did win. Did Court win tough? I know. both did win. Did court win tough? I know-

He sure did. He sure did. He beat Chris McCray back in 2010. There you go. Two tough winners, shut up. Never been submitted in his career. Michael Chiesa likes to get his wins by submission. It's tough.

It is tough. Yeah, they were both tough winners. Good call there, Frank. Good call there, yeah. I was slow on the uptake there. I didn't pick that one up. I didn't pick that one up. It was slow on the uptake there. Yeah, I didn't pick that one up. I didn't pick that one up. Little slow on the uptake there, but yeah,

I mean, I'm looking forward to this one. Court McGee, like, sneaky gets finishes. Like, three of his last four have ended in round one. There was a while where he was like decision machine. Decision machine. And now, like, lately it's kind of been the opposite. I remember, I took an over one and a half in the Jeremiah Wells fight, and that's like what kicked off

this run of first round finishes. And I was like, yeah, I'm good on touching those for now. This card has a good mix of like recognizable names, some interesting all action type guys. Like I think they've constructed this pretty well for a good night. Now obviously, you know, best laid plans, but I think Atlanta is gonna get a decent one.

I think there's gonna be some excitement in the building. I think so too, man. You got Michael Chiesa, you got Paul Craig. These are recognizable names. Then you got Cody Garbrandt, Rosanamma Yunus, Kamaru Usman. These are all fairly big names in the sport that fans will identify with.

There's not a ton of guys from the Georgia Atlanta area, but you got Malcolm Wellmaker and Cody Durden on there. Okay, Durden, that's right. Both those Durdens rep ATL. Ricky Simone coming in, you know, went over the champ. Don't forget. Don't forget, don't sleep. Don't forget he's got to win over the champ.

So yeah, like I think this is a decent fight night and I think there's a lot of opportunity for finishes and for exciting fights. None more so than our guy, Malcolm Wellmaker. An honorary boy in the back. If you're going to the fights this weekend and you happen to see a bald dude with a beautiful, perfect beard

running around in a Malcolm Wellmaker shirt, that'd be me. We placed the order and by God, Malcolm Wellmaker came through. I think it's going to get to my parents' house in time for me to be able to go in for the fight. Love it, shout out. It's like a custom Atlanta 404 one. So yeah, we will be supporting the honorary there for the fight. Love it, shout out. It's like a custom Atlanta 4041.

So yeah, we will be supporting the honorary boy in the back, Malcolm Wellmaker on Saturday. You guys discussed the walkout music. Let's see if he delivers on what he said. I know, and like I had this whole plan of being like the diva, being like the superstar walking in with like the nice outfit on right as the main card's starting,

like you know, like they do in boxing, Yeah, yeah, yeah. code, yeah yeah yeah code everything like that fashionably late yeah no i'm gonna be in a malcolm wellmaker shirt and i'll be arriving before this fight starts for sure uh gotta support dude you gotta support the kid uh it's gonna be fantastic going up against chris metino um i just i just am not sure if chris metino is is is UFC level. I know everyone likes to go back to the Sean O'Malley fight and be like, he's so tough, man. Like he's, he's tough as a $2 stake. His next fight, he did get knocked down in the first round by Guido Canetti.

Like it's, I'm just not sure if he's, if he's UFC level. And now he gets a guy on the rise that seems to be getting better with every single fight and packs massive power in his hands. Yeah. And it's, it's a tough return fight, right? Like Sean O'Malley is one thing, but as we kind of talked about earlier, when we were talking about the Marab fight, like the one hitter quitter power is like a little earlier in Sean O'Malley's career against, you know, lower level opposition. Like that's not kind of been the story lately. And so

the Moutinho fight was, yeah, he was putting it on him, but it was, it was really just an accumulation. It was the volume that he was, that he was putting on Chris. Uh, I don't think that, I don't think that him getting knocked out detracts from, I do think he's as tough as, like he really is as tough as advertised. But as you said, like that's not skill, right? Toughness, toughness is, is going to keep you in fights, but that's not the skill. And Malcolm Wallmaker is extremely skilled and it hits extremely hard.

And so I imagine he'll get finished even though we know he is very tough. Phil Rowan, Anj Lusa, Vanessa Demopoulos, Jamie Lynn Horth kicking off the card. I think it's a solid fight night, man. I'm looking forward to it. It looks pretty decent. I'm hoping I can end this streak of like subpar cards,

watching them in person. I also lose my bets. You're a jinx. Every time I go. Three for three, I have had losing nights. There's the card right there. Look at those graphics. Shout out to the graphics department, man.

For sure. Come on, Usman, Joaquin Buckley, headlining this one. Solid main card, man. I think we're in for a decent amount of finishes. Prelims. Shout out Paul Craig. Look at that hairline, man. I think we're in for a decent amount of finishes. Prelims, shout out Paul Craig. Look at that hairline, man. Shout out to Bear Jill. Court McGee, spelled incorrectly, no big deal.

Shout out to Smootherman. Yeah, it's a good card, man. I'm looking forward to it. Blonde Simone, is that who we're getting on Saturday night? Blonde Simone. Is he still with that? I don't even know. Yeah, I don't know.

That is not the only MMA happening this weekend though. It's actually a jam-packed weekend. You've got KSW, what else you got? You got an LFA card, a UAE Warriors card. Ice Wars presented by BKFC. I'm in on that, actually. Yeah, hell yeah. I'm in on it too, man. Ice Wars, Bare Knuckle. You got Glory 100. There's a Ryzen fight. There's an Octagon fight card. Yeah, Glory 100. There's a Ryzen fight. There's an octagon fight card. Yeah, glory 100. There's a lot of fights going down this weekend, but tonight, tonight, tonight at 11 o'clock on ESPN,

PFL continues its tournament headline by Jason Jackson versus Thad Gene. We're getting welterweights and featherweights on this one as we continue to plow through the PFL season, this time happening in Nashville. I'm excited for it only because I wanna see the next step for Thad Gene. Yeah, I'm excited about him as a prospect.

Getting a win over Jason Jackson would be a nice win. And then you'd be fighting for the title. I agree with that, but the problem is he's facing Jason Jackson. And Jason Jackson's been hot lately. Jason Jackson's clearly in the prime of his career right now, and the guy looks really good. He's also somebody who can both strike and grapple.

I don't know, man. Stupidly, I picked against Jason Jackson in this tournament. Actually, why don't we bring up my bracket? Oh, look at Jordan. He's already beaten me to it. I picked against that as well. I picked against Jason Jackson in this tournament like it actually why don't we bring up my bracket? Oh look at Jordan He's already beat me to it. I picked against that as well I picked against Jason Jackson because I just thought Koroshkov might be like better and more experienced and Jackson just completely Brutalized him. I Don't know man. It feels like Jackson's to win. That's that's how I ultimately feel like it just feels like this is

Jackson's world right now and it going to take something special to beat him. I don't even think Logan Storley trying to grapple him the whole fight is going to be enough to get it done. I just think Jackson's a fire. I am interested to see how that gene does, but I do feel like, man, this is a little early to be facing a guy as good as Jason Jackson. Yeah, still very young into his career. Mentioned Logan Storley on the other side of the bracket. Yeah, Jason Jackson minus 162 against that gene. Logan Storley a minus 850 favorite against Masayuki Kikirui. Yeah.

So Logan Storley getting at least by the odds a little bit easier of a path there. And I got the two favorites going to the finals and then got Jason Jackson winning it all so we will see I'm cooked did I have store leak bring it back up for me Jordan did I have store Lee all right all right you know we don't have to talk about that part you need to cheer for Logan sorely to win it all we're also getting featherweights tonight. Jesus Pinedo, Gabriel Braga. That one's a banger. I love that.

Mowlid, Kybu Layev versus Taekyun Kim. Kim got a nasty win over Nathan Kelly, and I was doubting him going into that one. That was a nice win by him. Who do I have for picks? I know I had Nathan Kelly going kind of far. Okay, just to stick around. I got Mowlid and Jesus Pinedo. What are the odds on that tonight? I know I had Nathan Kelly going kind of far. Okay, just to stick around. I got Mowgli and Jesus Paneto.

What are the odds on that tonight? I know Mowgli's a favorite. Mowgli is coming in at minus 200 and Jesus Paneto minus 265. Yeah, we've seen Paneto and Braga, so I'm excited about that one. What's Riggs Bracket looking like? I had Braga, but I didn't have Paneto. I had

Boric. When we were making these picks, I was like, yeah, I like the veterans. I'm going to go with the Bellator guys that are going to do it. Not that Jason Jackson is a Bellator veteran, but I was like, oh, the old guard is going to be able to show them how it's done in the tournament. And it just completely botched. That said, I still do have Mowgli and Habuliyev winning, and I think he will ultimately win this tournament. So we're on the same page with Movli. And then it's kind of like as you go down the card it's sort of tough for some of these dudes who lost in the tournament but are continuing to fight. Like Borix is fighting tonight. Yeah. Jeremy Kennedy. Umoladov taking on Anthony Ivy.

Berkhamov who lost at that. Gene taking on Ken Lee St. Louis. So like these guys who already lost are already back in the cage. I like that though, because then they get their paycheck, right, like they're out of the tournament, they would have gotten another paycheck if they had continued in the tournament, but they're getting the opportunity to still fight.

And even though they lost that one, you know, win or go home type fight, a lot of these guys are still great fighters. And I think that it's good for PFL to showcase them on these tournaments. I like, I've been, you know, there's criticisms about every promotion. My, one of my biggest things was I just didn't see how that season format was working. I like this so much better. This, this version of the bracket where it's winner go home, winners advance one round,

next round, next round. Uh, we're ready. Like we're in the semifinals after this, we're going to know who the championship matchup is and they're going to be in the championship. I feel like this, this part of it has been a success for PFL. I think this is a much easier format to follow. I think it's also quicker. I think it was so fast designed to just, to just keep things moving. There's less rounds. There's no need for the season or anything like that. You get to's also quicker. I think it's designed to just keep things moving. There's less rounds, there's no need for the season

or anything like that. You get to the champions quicker than that and then you can focus on other cards. I think ultimately they should still get rid of the tournaments, but I think this is better than what they were doing. I think there's still just things you need to clean up. Like I think doing the main card,

I know you want to be on ESPN linear, but 11 o'clock main card start is difficult. Like you are shunning essentially the, the European audience, like to expect them to stay up till 4am on a, on a Thursday night is, is far-fetched. You're, you're getting the West coast maybe, but like even like the people in Nashville, that's a 10 o'clock main card start on a Thursday night.

If you're in, in the arena. Yeah. Nashville municipal auditorium, obviously. It's certainly a late start time. Totally agree with you. If there's a strategy and it needs to be on linear for one reason or another, get it. But yes, I think this could be a little more fan-friendly with a different time. Product though, I like what they've done with the tournament. As you've said, like the debate over do a tournament or not do a tournament, I think that can still be had

certainly and there's arguments for and against, but this version is the best version in my opinion. And even if there's tournament fighters that you had seen and wanted to see do some more, now you get to see them in action as well Jordan just said in my ear 11 o'clock time. What were we referring to Jordan? Start time for the main card is 11 o'clock not 10 o'clock Oh, yeah, I mean if you were listening to the show you would have heard that I said for the fans Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. Frank was playing some music over here. So distractively.

No, I appreciate you guys listening back there. Nashville, central time zone. Do you think that they're, actually, do you think that PFL looks at the NBA NHL schedule, sees that it's NBA final time, Stanley Cup final, though we can't go up against that? You want me to be totally honest? I think it's a partnership with ESPN, and ESPN is just like, well, if we wanna go on linear,

we're gonna need a 11 o'clock start time for it. I think that's what it is. That's when we'll slot you in. It's related to the on linear, we're going to need a 11 o'clock start time for it. I think that's what it is. That's when we'll slot you in. It's related to the linear schedule, 100%. Yeah, I think if this was on ESPN Plus, it's probably like an eight o'clock main card start. If not sooner, yeah. I'm very much looking forward to Don Davis' voicemail.

I can't wait. We saw Don Davis yucking it up with Russell Brand, who's going to be in attendance at Nashville tonight. Maybe not the best move by PFL, but that's their decision to make. Yeah, not endorsing Russell Brand over here. So we'll see what happens from that. If anything, it didn't seem like there was anything

official happening, but maybe I'm mistaken, maybe there's something that's come out since, but odd choice there. President of the company, T-Sign's in the middle of the cage. All right, let's go to big hitters, recaps, Parlay Pals, and then it's time for pound for pound of voicemails. Let's, excuse me, let's start with the recap from last week, Parlay Pals and, and my own, a bunch of winners around here.

I got, I got clean swept on the straight picks and even the Devalescivilli by decision. Missed them all, but Parlay's saved the day. This one and then, you know, two wins right there. And then on the last I think there's one more page of this maybe not there it is that's a lot of W's right there checking them all off finish up 2.76 units overall 46.68 and then the parlay pals more green let's go look it. Only down 1.07 units.

We're almost there, baby. Knocking on the door. Knock, knock, knocking on profits door. 33% success rate, baby. Baby. All right, we're all impressed by us. Got some much, much more impressive tickets than those from the audience.

The big hitters. Let's start with Jerry just said, Jeremiah. He tweeted this to me and he said, check this out, but he spelled it CZECH. I don't know if he is from the Czech Republic, but shout out to him either way. He's probably in Yuri's class. I was gonna say, he was like,

someone told me to send this to you. I'm just gonna believe that Yuri was in class with him. I was like, yo, you should send that. Send that to the Mike Iconer. Six-leg parlay, Andreas Gustafsson as a dog, easy. Wow. Walter Cortez Acosta by points, plus 650, easy. Osma Mirzakhanov by KO, minus 250, easy.

Joshua Vann by KO, round three, plus 950, nailed it. Joe Pfeiffer minus 390. And then you've got this insane parlay, go ahead and lop. Kayla Harrison minus 720 on top of it. That gets you to plus $40,601 turns $5 into 2,035 bucks. Shout out to Jeremiah. Jeremiah. Shout out to Jerry just said.

We keep on rolling. AC The Hulk, Andrew Collins, absolute legend. This, if you've been watching since the MMA hour days, this is who the big hitters was named after back then because he hit like the plus 4 million parlay. He turned a dollar into 400,000. My God. These are just a few of his tickets from the weekend.

Plus 16,961. Josh Van by KO rounds two or three. Kevin Holland by submissions round one or two. Mario Bautista by points. That's plus 370, plus 1000, plus 230. Gets you a plus 16,961. He turns $10 into $1,700. Also hit a Kevin Holland by sub round two plus 2,500. And then the cherry on top. Kevin Holland by Darce Choke plus $1,600, $10 into $1,700, ridiculous. Incredible. Absolutely ridiculous.

I know Kevin Holland had another name for it. It was like the inverted Darce or something like that. He was like, it's not a typical Darce, but it cashed for AC The Hulk, so shout out to him. We roll along. Daniel Rodriguez, is this D-Rod? I don't think so. Yeah, that's D-Rod? I don't think so. Hands. Yeah, that's D-Rod.

Hands Spettino. Can we talk about like the absolute sweat on both of these? Marab de Valascivilli to win round three, which I think he won with like 10, 15 seconds left. Right at the end. He catches that, turns $25 into 900, and then the actual buzzer beater, I think there was two seconds left on the clock,

Kayla Harrison to win by round two. That one turned $50 into 425. I like your ability to read the Spanish. That's what's most impressive to me. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I actually didn't even notice it was in Spanish because it's what's most impressive to me. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I actually didn't even notice it was in Spanish because it's just that easy for me. Yeah, Sean O'Malley happened with 18 seconds left

and Kayla Harrison happened with five seconds left on the clock. So, buzzer beaters for our boy, Daniel Rodriguez. We continue. Couple more here. Roland takes, oh no, I'm sorry, Michael B. Gamblin'. Kevin Hollan in submission round two plus 2,500. 50 bucks on that one, turns it in to 1,300.

Do we think his name is actually Michael B. and he's Gamblin' or do we think this is like a Michael B. Jordan? I've always wondered that because we featured him a couple times, he's one of the sharper betters out there. Yeah, I wanna think it's a play on words of Michael B. Jordan. Yeah.

Shout out Michael B. Gamblin. All right, one more. Roland takes, this is an unreal one, shout out to Hard Rock Bet. I think that means this dude is in Florida. $20 into $9,480. Jusang Yoo, KO. Waldo Cortez Acosta, decision.

Josh Van, KO. Kevin Holland, submission. Plus 40,780. Damn. $20 into almost 10K. Shout out to Roland Takes. That is an unbelievable bet. Shout out to all our winners this week.

These guys are unbelievable. Shout out to all our winners this week. These guys are unbelievable. Shout out to all our winners this week. Absolutely insane. Some of the tickets that we get and we can only feature so many. Congratulations to the winners. All right, let's go to our picks this weekend. Parlay pals, I've already gotten Pizzi's pick.

He's going main event. He is going Joaquin Buckley. I like it. Minus 285. Yeah, I feel like he wins. I feel like he wins. Let's throw in the randomizer Frankie. Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do boop.

All right, I will go first. Frank second and Rick will bring up the rear. This one's a no brainer for me boys. Oh, gotta support our guy. Ah yeah. Malcolm Wellmaker inside the distance. Oh yeah. Minus 575 inside the distance. Oh yeah. Minus 575, shout out to Walla.

Walla. I will be taking the maverick, Michael Piesa himself, to just get it done, Moneyline. Get it done, Mike, get it done. I'm gonna go Jamie Lynn Horth. I'm gonna go Jamie Lynn Horth. Okay. Size of it? Moneyline.

Yeah, just bigger, better. Bigger, better? Yeah, we'll go Jamie Lynn.orth. Okay. Size is better? Money line. Yeah, just bigger, better. Bigger, better? Yeah, we'll go Jamie. 600 better? Yeah. This will put us in the green, no? Yeah. This will put us in the green, I believe. If you do the math on it, plus 140 it will.

Come on boys. Alrighty, let me go ahead and cash that check. Hey, okay, this is it. All the signs are matching up. Follow the signs. If you bring that back up for me, nine and 17 right now, there's a man who hails from Atlanta,

Gucci Man. Okay. 10, 17. Wait, is it Gucci Man or Gucci Main? Yeah, it's whichever one you want. Okay. I guess like it's spelled main. His big thing, 10-17.

Whoa. Brick squad, 10-17 records. We're about to have a 10-17 record after we win to go back in the green at UFC Atlanta. The signs are there. I love that. I'm just saying. You just gotta look for the numbers.

You just gotta look for the numerology. Signs are on our side, baby. The signs are on our side. All right, let me run through my bets real quick. Don't love a ton this weekend, but you go into a card in person, you got it. Look at those graphics. Shout out to the graphics department.

I am taking Malcolm Wellmaker KO round one or two. Four of his last five have come by KO in round one or two. And like I mentioned earlier, I know everyone wants to point to Matinio's, the toughness against Sean O'Malley, lasting till the third round. He was KO'd in the first, the very next fight against Guido Canetti.

I just think the skill difference here will be on Wellmaker's side. The power is unreal at 135. I think Wellmaker gets it done. And I think it gets it done rather early. We continue. Mansour Abdul Malik, I'm gonna take Kale under one and a half, all of his wins come by finish.

Cody, I know there's been no contest in DQ, but like if those fights finish, like he is two and six in his last eight, being finished in five of those. I don't think this one lasts long. And I think Mansoor is the rightful favorite in this one. I am gonna ride with the sneaky eight and two vet, Andre Petrovsky.

I'm gonna say he can survive, sloppy maybe. He can survive the onslaught. And if he does, I think he's gonna be able to take control of this fight and get it done. So Andre Petrovsky as a dog in the state of Georgia, will he get it done? And then my last singlerovsky, as a dog, in the state of Georgia, will he get it done? And then my last single, Rose Nama Unis by Decision, I mentioned that I think the striking advantage is there.

I think she's going to be able to outpoint her over the 15 minutes. Then when it comes to her finishing her, I just don't really see it. I know she dropped Tracy Cortez, but other than the Zhang head kick, she has no finish wins since 2018. I think this is a step up for Miranda. I think this is a step up for Miranda.

I think this is a step down for Rose. And I think she's able to thwart the grappling enough to get it done. A couple of parlays, prop parlays, violence. Well maker Matinio under two and a half, Abdul Malik Brundage under two and a half. And then Usman Bakhli, pacifist over one and a half. Bakhli is actually gone.

I know he's very violent, but he has gone over one and a half. Buckley is actually gone. I know he's very violent, but he has gone over one and a half in 11 straight fights. And I believe Usman is 10 of his last 11 over one and a half. So I do think it goes longer. And then lastly, a violence parlay. The under one and a halfs in those. Highly exposed that rarely works out for me, but hopefully it does on Saturday.

Talk about Kill or Be Killed, it's gonna be Penthouse or Cardboard Box on Saturday in Atlanta. Either way, it's sleeping at the rent's house, so it makes no difference. But can't wait for that one. We'll probably throw in some extra dumb parlays before Saturday just because I'm gonna be there in person,

but I am very much looking forward to that card. Card taking place in Atlanta, Georgia, the 404, the Peach State. And because of that, our pound for pound rankings, because of my alma mater, I know it's not in Atlanta, but it is in Athens, just an hour and a half away, the University of Georgia, the Bulldogs, the dogs. Dogs. Which leads us, the dogs. Dogs.

Which leads us to biggest dogs in MMA. Not talking underdogs. I'm not talking dog breeds. I'm not talking like, oh, he's a plus 850. I'm talking about dogs. They got that dog in them. They got that dog in them. After their fight, oh, XYZ's x-ray just came back

and it's the x-ray with a bunch of dogs in the picture. Classic meme, that's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the dudes that they are fan favorites because they are dogs. Like all of these guys are gonna be big names, they're gonna be fan favorites because this is the fighting style that we love. Dudes that aren't afraid to fight anybody,

dudes that when they get hit, they fight back, they never give up. I mean, you know what it is. It's like, there's no- You know it when you see it. There's no textbook definition, exactly. It's more of a feeling. You know this guy is a dog.

Or a girl. Or a girl, yeah, good point. Frank, what's the order, man? Wait, wait, so do the Atlanta Bulldogs spell it, D-A-W-G-O? Atlanta Bulldogs? Fucking get out, get out! All right, the order will be me. Then we're gonna go to Ricky Jack. All right. And Jesus gonna finish this up. My number five is Yuri. The man is going to school. He's

Calling it out. He's doing his thing. He's got that dog in him if I understand the assignment correctly you want you But what is it going to school have to do with it you do? But like you didn't mention anything about like why he's actually a dog like maybe my next one don't watch his glover to share a fight Dude is a doll. He's got that's right at school though Kayla Harrison at number four okay all right Hey had the injury during her debut in the UFC on her hand that she didn't tell anyone I went about Went to the hospital a week before 307 and then got it done even this past weekend If that ain't a dog then I honestly guys don't know what is all right shout out to the new chair

Yeah, I mean even even the weight cut you can credit the weight cut for if there's a dog, bro Yeah, she'll fight through it. She'll go through the mud mud to get on those scales I feel like you're doing a better job explaining this list, but yeah, thank you offer number three Daniel Cormier this guy Fighting against me. Oh chitch one eye down Still got it done. What a dog Alright, you lost the one with the eye, but yeah, did that not not happen No, I think he lost the one where he got poked him out I think go at the list we had a redo it he had pugs at number five Dogs at number four said that's not what those are that's also not a big dog. Oh

All right continue Frank number Two yeah folk. Yeah folks a fucking fuck. Yeah. Yeah, there we go fuck. Yes, and then number one Mara yeah I am no closer to understanding the How do you not get it? I went with fighters that I'm like yeah fuck with them I like that by the way you you got a bunch of dogs on there like you landed on the dog So this is one like you can throw the dart and as long as it's a good fighter, it might.

No, no, no, no, not true. Like who's like a fantastic fighter that I'm not like, that's a dog. GSP? Yes, exactly. That's exactly right. But would... God, deciding these five was so difficult.

So we're gonna move on to Ricky Jack. No, you did you did great Frankie I spent like Volk and Marab those some dogs Especially because again he had to pivot on his list from pugs and wiener dogs. Yeah Your pivot I like I low-key like I feel horrible about my list. There's just feel horrible. There's just so many names There's so many great about my list, but I also have honorable mentions that will last 200 names There's one that didn't make it that I'm just like oh, no putting it on. All right. All right

Number five for me. This one's a dog. This one's One of the og dogs. In fact, I got a lot of og dogs, but this one's one of the og dogs, especially for UFC focus fans Diego Sanchez shout out one of the original tough winners. This motherfucker is a dog. The key attributes, the things that I looked for when I was making this list, when I was constructing it was this kind of just like never say die attitude. Doesn't matter where they are in the fight. They could be getting beat up for 15 minutes, two hours. It doesn't really matter. Battered, bloody, look at his face here against

Martin Cameron. Diego Sanchez ain't never gonna stop. Never ever ever gonna stop. Which is why I love Frankie's Marab pick. Like that dude ain't never gonna stop. Diego Sanchez, unlimited heart, unlimited relentlessness, always coming forward, doesn't matter what's happening Diego Sanchez one of the og original dogs number four That man was just sitting right here recently. He's one of the ogs as well Robbie Lawler the ruthless one Doesn't matter stakes up against them every single fight There's there's lots of like times throughout Robbie's career where it's like is he gonna be the guy is he not gonna be the guy

He's one of the most talented but he's kind of like underperforming He has this incredible UFC championship run never gave up on himself never gave up on his career We get iconic moments like this between him and Rob and Rory McDonald I mean, this is like the definition of two dogs right here. Shout out to the ruthless one, Robbie Lawler, definition of a dog. Number three, again, we're sticking with the, we're sticking with the old guard. We're sticking with the old guard here. Dan Henderson Hendo. For those not initiated, just an all time beast known for going up against bigger guys. Doesn't really matter. He's fighting light heavyweights. He's fighting at middle weight. He's fighting heavyweights. He's fought fador, anybody that's in there against

them, he came to, he came to MMA later in his career. I also shot like, how about this picture? Tommy Lee, like in the middle of a Vandale Silva and Dan Henderson. Crazy. Um, it was a wild time back then in the pride days. Um, fought everybody, never said no to a fight. Came to MMA later in his life. fought everybody Never said no to a fight

Came to MMA later in his life. He's hobbling around just launching rockets at people Never gave up taught one of the toughest dudes walking planet Earth. Shout out to Hendo Dan Henderson number two it Pained me to not be number one But I knew who my number one was gonna be already. This number two is probably number one on most people's lists, if you know, you know. Number two, Kazushi Sakuraba.

If you're not familiar with this dude, I encourage you to go look back. If you're a newer MMA fan, just an all-time tough guy that kind of became known for doing that. There was times in his career where he was in fights that it didn't seem like he had any chance to win and sometimes he didn't and sometimes he did. But with able to withstand insane levels of abuse and still be trying to fight and be mad if somebody's trying to stop the fight. This famous picture here. God.

And shout out to, I believe this is a photo by Susumu Nagao. I think it says that in the right corner from his fight against Ricardo Arona. Dude's just been beat to shit and is still there because he's an absolute dog. Like he, there was a point in his career where he was taking fights against guys that he had no business taking fights against because they were so much bigger than him. And he would lose them, but he'd be so tough in the fights that people were happy to see him try and do it again. Not great for the health, not great for the longevity, although shout out to him, he's still kicking.

But it became his calling card. He's just one of the toughest humans who's ever walked this planet. But my number one is the dog of all time and I don't like the movie Rocky doesn't even compare to the real-life Rocky number one with an absolute bullet Frankie the answer Edgar the dog of all dogs. Nobody is more of a dog than this man Entire career undersized. I don't think there was an opponent he ever had a physical advantage over in terms of length, size, any of that and just put it on people for an entire UFC Championship reign. If you've never seen the fight with Gray Maynard where in the first round he was on the verge of death because Gray Maynard was hammering so hard. And he comes back to win. Frankie Edgar was an unstoppable force

and a guy that could not be kept down and never competed in his actual weight class till the very end of his career. Absolute dog. Knew it had to be Frankie Edgar. It pained me not to be Sakuraba, but I don't think Frankie Edgar gets enough respect for being a real life Rocky.

He's better than Rocky. He's better than the film version of Rocky. Bravo. Yeah, Frankie Eggers is a fucking dog, man. Bravo, fantastic list. You win this list for sure. Nah, you're gonna have some good luck for sure. I'm more of a new age fan.

I'm more of a new age fan. That's okay, let's do the arrows. I came along, yours is sort of an older one and now there's a couple that I'm just, I'm really regretting not putting on. I went more glamour, you know? I went more glamour. Either way, let's knock mine out.

Number five, dog, Max Holloway. Yeah. Just like definition, tried and true. Dude is not quitting. The point of the octagon, did it not only once, he did it twice. The guy is always down for a scrap. Never going to quit.

400 significant strikes in a fight. I'm the best boxer in the UFC, bloodied up. Doesn't matter. a scrap, never going to quit 400 significant strikes in a fight. I'm the best boxer in the UFC bloodied up. Doesn't, doesn't matter. Dog, absolutely dog. Love Max Holloway. And there's a reason the fans love him as well. Number four, all of these guys could be one.

I have like a million guys that could have been one. Dan Hooker, absolutely dog this man is. I mean, like when when you when this sick dude gets in the corner and he's like they're like trying to give him advice they're like oh you know go maybe go for the takedown and stay at range and he's just like guys guys shut up I fucking love this shit man. Bleeding like hell like you know like just the blonde hair is turned red from the blood when he when he did the blocks the takes the head kick from Jalen Turner gets

the face fracture the broken arm and he's just like ah it's just a scratch man I'm ready to get right back out there. Dan Hooker been in some absolute wars over the years dog absolute dog number three a guy that he has been in a war with. One of the most dogs of all dogs, Dustin the Diamond, El Diamante, Poirier. When you got a picture like this in a championship fight going against Islam Akhashev, you got I think a torn ACL in the fight. You're old, you're getting ready to retire, but you're going toe to toe with the pound for pound number one. The dude is an absolute dog. We'll fight anybody, anytime, anywhere.

You know he's not going to quit. El Diamante, absolute dog. Number two, we saw some doggery in the UFC, but we really started seeing the doggery when he went to BKFC, and that is Platinum Mike Perry. Oh, I like it. Absolutely no one can say that this man is not a dog. You don't get a picture like this with the gloves off and become the king of violence in BKFC.

BKFC that we've seen former champions go over to and just kind of wilt to the insanity of the sport without being a dog. Mike Perry, Mike Platinum Perry, maybe the like hardest all time picks of being in fights is Mike Platinum Perry, the nose. Oh wow. Dude is an absolute dog.

Yep. Number one, you had him at number four. He was in here just the other week. Uh, one of the greatest fights of all time. A dude who doesn't believe in ending a fight by submission. It needs to be by strikes. That's Mr. Ruthless Robbie Lawler, absolute dog. All you got to do is look at the pictures of him against Rory McDonald. Just go back to the dude's fight career. He is an absolute mad man. Never going to quit on you. Dog. Dog. Dog. That was a great list.

That was a great list. Robbie Lawler. Honorable mentions. Yes. We you, dog. Dog. Dog. That was a great list, that was a great list. Robbie Lawler. Honorable mentions. Yes, I have a ton. We could go forever. Go. Bisping. For sure.

Nate Landwehr. Hell yes. Dog. If you know him for anything, you know him for being a dog. If he's not gonna lose, he might win. If he's not gonna lose, he fucking might win. This one is the one that I really felt bad about not putting on, he was my sixth. Alexandre Pantoja.

Oh, shout out to Muggins. Fucking dog, never been finished in like 35 fights. Looks like he's like just out there just like wobbled and like he's got your great body. Zombie pants is mad dangerous. Zombie pants when he comes out there just like, people are like, he's gasping, he's gasping. It's gassing he's gassing it's like no I'm just kidding go I'm just kidding go. Alessandro Pantoja dog um Marabdou Vazsvili good shout by you Frank. Brandon

Ravel raw dog. Raw dog. Dog. Absolute dog. Somebody super chatted in I want to read this one early sorry I'm just trying to find our super chat. No We didn't need it just then. Yeah, I did Mike Breeden beat and showed oh, yeah via barking so I bar has that he has to use down two rounds the nun turned To the barking and got it done Some for me Brian Ortega Oh Brian Ortega how many times that dude been? I just found it and just summoned it. Gerald Mearshart dog, dog, Darren Elkins dog,

Korean zombie dog, sneaky one, women's side underrated Misha Tate. Misha Tate is an absolute dog. Joanna. Joanna Korean zombie zombie Stefan Bonner Julian Arosa the Diaz brothers both of them. Yeah, you had Dustin Justin you had him in the picture with me Justin Gagee fucking dog Tony Ferguson, please. Oh, hey respects to a dog and dog Tony Ferguson. I had Mark Hunt

I also had bulk. I also had Max Holloway, but there's a lot of dogs out there. Uh, Danny Gay. Yeah. Dog. Uh, Sneaky? DDP. Yeah. Dog.

DDP's a dog, baby. Uh, Barking, Yoel Romero. Dog. Oh wow, shout out to the Yoel Bark. There are some dogs out there, man. Sean Silva? Sean Silva's a dog, bro. Is he? He's a dog.

Yeah, he's a dog. Loke dog? Who? Loke dog? Loke, oh yeah, of course, he's by name. Yo, I'm looking in the chat right now. Jim Miller, yeah. Dog.

Yeah, I fucked up not even mentioning Jim Miller. Chris Levin. That's a great one too. Did he not wear a dog collar? Like, I don't understand. Is that not a dog? Yeah, he did wear a dog collar, but yeah. You don't get that dog in here.

I don't know, this is a controversy. There's some dogs out there. Dogs, man. It's just so fun to like go back and be like, yeah, these dudes were tough as shit. Chuck Liddell. For sure. Dog. Big Nog, Shogun. It's just so fun to like go back and be like yeah these dudes these dudes were tough as chuckle dell for sure dog Big nog show go big nog big yeah dogs Pride pride just had a bunch of rampage howling yeah, well I'm looking at the chat now the wolf bores oh

Hamsa how's that the dog? He's a wolf he's a clay guida. Oh, not fighting that motherfucker. He's crazy. He's a wolf, he's a wolf, he's a wolf. Clay Guida? Oh yeah. Dog? Damn, there's too many. This was too hard. This was too hard. It was too hard.

I really, I actually think this was the hardest list just because there's so many of them. And it's also like hard to be like, this guy's the number one, this guy's the number five. It's like, they're all, every one of them is one. It's one, one, one, one, one, one. They're all done. Who isn't a dog and had it a little easier?

Who? No, I'm asking. Maybe the list should have been who were the top five that are not dogs. Not dogs? Melvin Manhoef. Well, he used to wear a collar. I think that's where that one's coming from. I'm just reading the chat right now.

JDS. Someone said Irene Aldana, I guess, after that Spirit card. Yeah, probably. That is dog behavior. Like, in fighting you could name a Mexican fighter and you probably got a dog. Matt Schnell? Dog. Yes, yes. Dog.

Oh, I love it, man. I love it. It's so fun. It's so fun. It's so good, man. It's so good. Shout out to the dogs out there. No, these were great. That is my favorite archetype of a fighter.

Yeah. The dogs, baby. They got the dogs. That was a fun one, obviously, in honor of the car this weekend in Georgia, UFC. Atlanta, we did Bulldogs, the dogs, biggest dogs in MMA. Frankie, we get any voicemails this week?

Voicemails! Wow! That was fucking crazy! With the reverb! I love it! Wow! Oh that was sick! That was great. Sup boys. Friggy's like shut the fuck up. Big dogs from Nebraska. I'm really causing the show to call in because I am so offended that GC does not think that I know that Kevin Coleman went to Indiana. I went for you bro. You're a Falcons fan. Obviously you know I'm gonna throw a little shout out for your guy. You know just a random little Falcon that way you know put a little smile on your face. Love the respect. And you come at me acting like you know I don't know where Kevin Coleman went to

college. Of course I know he went to Indiana. I know ball like that. Please don't come at me again. I wasn't coming at you bro, I just wanted to make sure. Oh shout out to Antoine Randall. That is a deep one to the point that I can't even. I only know his Steelers career. I was gonna say. That's quarterback Antoine. Yeah yeah yeah I know, he played quarterback and wide receiver. For who though? He went to, Indiana as well, wow. Good shout, good shout, keep those coming. I love an obscure mid 2000s athlete. I absolutely love it.

Shout out to Algie Crumpler. That's not obscure though, that's the Falcons. You're fucking cheating. What's up boys in the back. It's Jacob from Denver, Colorado. What's up, Jacob? I just want to call in and say I love the show. Love you guys.

Connor, Rick, Frank, you guys genuinely make my life better and I love the show. Wow, that's an amazing compliment. Oh God, here we go. Connor Burks! I think you absolutely suck! You're taking everything I work for motherfucker. I wanna ride against

your fucking ass. You know who's the real ride? Who's the real ride? Me. Not John Brady. You know you already punked him. Ain't nobody wanna see that. You know you can beat them already. It's an easy ride. You want the real shit? Right here motherfucker. if I ever see you around the other on by Connor Smoke you easier than Carlos practice smokes a fucking Marlboro rat

God Unbelievable Jacob from Denver Obviously paying homage to Nate Diaz's call out of Connor McGregor. Incredible. That was incredible. That was a 10 out of 10 voicemail from Denver. The training in altitude, I get it, but at the end of the day if I ever see you on a bike you're dead. Yo, boys in the back. Dylan from a year ago. What's up, Dylan? Just wondering, what are three things you guys learned in the 20s that you wished you knew in your 20s? Thanks. And Frank, do you want to play some Counter-Strike? I'm pretty good. I think I could help you rank up. Later.

I see you. Frank, you a Counter-Strike guy? Huge. Also, was he a... Wait, actually though? No, not really. Oh, okay. Did he ask... what did he ask?

What are some things we wish we knew in our 20s? That we learned in our 30s. I mean, you're fresher to it. Yeah. Patience in your career. Typically, most things do work out, whether it's just working terrible hours, I used to work horrid hours,

thought it was never gonna end. Finances, like they eventually work out, my parents used to always tell me that and I did not listen to them, I wish I had just listened to them, been like, it's gonna be all right. So it's like the patience of like not being anxious about these things.

Yeah, like if you're just starting out in your career and you are 24 years old, you have so long ahead of you. I am 31 and I have, my dad is like, yep, 35 more years so you can even think about retiring. Like, it's just like, I am like eight years, seven years into my career and I am, that means I am like one sixth of the way done with it. Like I have so much longer to go.

Like it's just a patience of like, you're not gonna get there in a day, man. Like just have patience. Yeah, that's a great one. I had a similar thought, which is along the lines of the patience, which is just like the things will work out. Like I also fully agree with that.

But it manifests itself as like, don't put the pressure on yourself in your 20s to like finish the race. Like there's so much time as you said, like don't put the pressure on yourself like, I'm applying for this job out of college, it's gonna be my first job. But it's not gonna be your last job, promise.

Like back in your parents and even your grandparents era, that might've been your job that you stick with for 50 years and you retire with a plaque and all that shit. It just doesn't, yeah, your dad, for example, doesn't happen like that anymore. Don't put pressure on yourself. Your first job is not gonna be your last job. So like, don't think of every move as this like,

set in stone, I can't move on from here, and I have to do this right. Take some chances. Like that's kind of it. Use your 20s. Yes. Oh, okay, I'm sorry, I thought you were done. I have to do this right take some chances like that. That's kind of it use your 20s. Yes Man you have a really bad feel for when people are done Literally stop talking. No, why don't you get one friend?

I needed to learn the importance of Being able to say no that is that actually is a big one man. because every time you say yes, you're taking away time from yourself. And yeah, you don't know everything in your 20s. Like every year of my 20s, I was like, ah man, I got everything figured out. And then the following year, you'd be like, I didn't know shit last year, but now I know everything. And then reflecting back on my 20s,

like I did not know shit. Yeah, you didn't know shit. Still don't know shit, I don't know shit. Take care of your finances, take care of your health. God. Health's important. Take care of your health, man. Health problems just kinda start popping up in your- Yeah, as you get older.

As you get older, I mean, to break the fourth wall, I got a nosebleed earlier in the show. I don't know why, that's why Rick broke, started laughing earlier. I had to crawl under the camera to go get a box of tissues. I was like, yeah. Got the dog in me. Take care of the health, take care of the finances.

As it was all being set up, I was like wondering how this is gonna play. Like how could, because we're on the two cams and then the lights out. So like if I walked across the camera, like this is what you'd see. It's just like, go right there. Can't go grab himself. Had to crawl.

Had to crawl. Another good one that I've forgotten as we were talking about the tissues thing. It'll come to me. It'll work out. Everything will work out. That's the best one. Just have patience and know that it's gonna work out, man. Boys in the back. Eric from Detroit again. Oh, what's up, Eric? The wife and I are going to the first ever BKFC Ice Wars event this weekend. Ice Wars.

Jealous. Wanted to know your interest level on this. Will you be watching? Also, what's the most random live event you've all been to? Shout out to Frank and his Jersey List. Red Wings number one. He knows ball. Love you guys number one, he knows ball. Love you guys.

Or I know Puck. Yeah, you know Puck. Most random event I've ever been to. Are you interested in ice wars? Yes, I am very interested in ice wars. I don't know if I'm gonna watch it. I'll get like a highlight. I feel like it's like you catch the highlights type thing

but BKFC moves quick. You're gonna have a blast in person. That's gonna be absolutely ridiculous. That'll be fun. Put a couple beers back and watch some guys fight on the ice, that's gonna be tremendous. Most random event I've ever been to. Me and Frank went to a like, not PDC darts competition in 2023.

Oh man. Sort of during like the darts fever. We got invited by a guy who watched the show and yeah, it was really random. Like it was just in like a tiny hall, like performance hall. There was probably, what would you say Frank, like 1500 people there?

And like- Not even. When we went to PDC like two months later, there was like one or two guys from it, but like this was like, we're talking about like lower level Darts that me and Frank went to in Jersey City It was incredibly random that that probably is my most random

It was been to because it was our first starts experience like all the costume and stuff just felt so out of place The costumes in like the like one eighty happens going crazy when we went to the theater and there's like okay I get it yeah costume it's almost like there's seas of people that are together but at the bar it was like one guy just wearing a random costume by himself it's like alright yeah that was a random one yeah I've been to some like small amateur MMA shows LFA 123 or 124 I went to in a tiny auditorium in Phoenix Arizona because I was out there for the waste management and LFA was there and I was like, eh, fuck it, I'll go.

That was random. I've been to boxing at ballrooms in Queens and things like that. It's just kind of the nature of the combat sports biz. You just show up to these. I saw the Amarillo Gorillaz play. It's like an amateur hockey team. Oh yeah, shit, I've been to like Hartford Wolfpack games, I've been to like Brooklyn Cyclone games,

I've been to some minor league events, Gwinnett Gladiator, shout out, like I've been to some minor league. Minor league. I feel like we're seeing small time, I don't know what he meant by random, but I think that's it. I feel like, like in my 20s, going back to the 20s thing,

you know, you do kind of random things. I saw this band in the subway There were just some brass band and I just took a flyer me and a friend went to brooklyn to a random warehouse And saw him. We had a great time. That's great. It's cool. Sorry, bro. Wow frank I don't know why frank is throwing shit as he's talking about some armadillos that he watched play All right voicemails hey boys my back slowly against cake hogs hard for blowing your phone up but uh I had a quick question if you could I ask you to take one person for aerial who wanted to interview on a show like just that he

hasn't interviewed before who would it be because I had one guy in mind I thought be a pretty interesting interview. Devin Larratt, the arm wrestling champion. The guy's in the tank of an arm wrestler, and I thought it would be a cool interview. It seemed like a pretty interesting due date. And yeah, mention that to Hellani, would you remember too?

That'd be cool if you'd get that guy in the interview. But yeah, that is all. Have a good evening, bros. Love you. Shout out. Cape Cod, did he say? Yeah. Shout out Cape Cod, love their potato? Yeah. Shout out Cape Cod.

Love their potato shift. I'm aware of that arm wrestler guy that he said because I watched him on TikTok for hours at a time. Ah, okay. And there's tons of arm wrestling content on TikTok. Or at least my algorithm has served me. The big Hawaiian? No, no, no.

Power slap champ? Not power slap. No, no, that's what I'm saying. You're saying you want a Hawaiian answer? I'm always pushing for him to get power slap guys. He never listens. Nah, I'm just you're saying. You want a one and I'm always pushing for him to get power slap guys. He never listens. No, I'm just kidding. Who actually hasn't had on.

That's a tough one. It doesn't have to be a fighter. Who would I want to see how one interview? I mean, there's the obvious, right? There's like the, well, he said he hasn't interviewed him before, cause then I would have been like Dana White, but he's interviewed Dana White many times. I know but like let's let's just say because like the Statue of Limitations have crossed because it's been a few years that would

be a that'd be that'd be a fascinating that'd be a banger that'd be a fascinating who's like a I don't know like you know what I would like to see like Jalen Brunson because I just know Ariel would enjoy it so much I feel like that probably be fantastic. There's probably some like, you know, just like entertainment people or like media people out there that would probably be in the mix. I don't-

Anthony Kiedis? Sure, I think that'd be fascinating too. Like I think Ariel is just a fantastic interviewer. And so I'd almost like in MMA, who hasn't he spoken to at this point? I almost feel like you have to go outside that. Nina Drama? Maybe.

That's not be interesting. Yeah. Is that your vote? I mean, those three, Maynard James Keenan, Anthony Kiedis, Nina Drama, in that order. Fair enough, shout out. Fellas, what's going on? It's Alex from Alabama. What's up, Alex? Keep up the great work. Loving the show.

Love everything you guys are doing. Appreciate you, Alex. Quick question. Okay. So what are you guys all time favorite players from your respective hometowns? And GC, why are the only correct answers for Atlanta? Chipper Jones or Mike Vick? All right, fellas, appreciate it.

Also a quick side note, June is men's mental health fund. So I'll say, hey, we're all hurting a little bit. No need to hurt alone. All right, keep up the good work, fellas. Love y'all. Hey, shout out, Alex. That's a great message to hear in there. I second that.

Favorite player for one of my hometown teams, Chipper's great, Mike Vick, legend. Mike Vick was one of the most exciting superstar where it was like, holy shit, we are really on the map with this dude. Number one overall pick, getting the Nike commercials, everything like that, cover of Madden. Got us to the NFC championship game.

But he also did leave the franchise high and dry. Like when he went to jail. Oh, so there's no love lost with Mike Vick? I got love for Mike Vick in terms of like what he did for the city, but like dude, he left the Falcons in a terrible, terrible situation. Joey Harrington. Like the Falcons were shit for a few years until they got Matt Ryan. Charlie L. G. Crumpler. We were looking like we were gonna win a Super Bowl, and he was like so exciting,

but like he's not the number one. Chipper Jones, I love, he is an all time Atlanta guy, but like Braves were never my number one. It was always the Falcons in terms of Atlanta teams. Falcons were my one. And that's why my number one is Julio Jones. He got drafted when I was like 14, unbelievable. At his peak, man, at his peak,

I'm talking like 135 catch season, 1,850 yards, 10 touchdown season. At his peak, he was one of the best receivers of all time. The 300 yard game against the Panthers, like the dude was an absolute monster. I've never seen an NFL wide receiver, maybe other than like Calvin Johnson, put like a team on his back like Julio Jones would do. And that 300 yard game against the Panthers, if I'm not mistaken, was the year that they were 15 and 0 with Cam Newton.

I could be wrong on that remembering it. I know we're the ones that gave them their one loss that season, but Julio Jones in the 28 to three game, everyone loves bringing it up. He made an unbelievable sideline toe tapping catch to put us into field goal range we had Matt Bryant the number one kicker in the league that year all we had to fucking do was trot Matt Bryant out there put it straight through the uprights and there is a statue of Julio Jones making the

toe tap catch in front of Mercedes-Benz stadiums and we're Super Bowl 51 champions and the guy is an absolute legend. Hall of Famer number one, Waffle House because he's always open, Julio Jones is by far my favorite Atlanta sports player. I love that. I don't root for the New York team, so maybe like New York fighter,

like shout out Alia Quinta, my guy. But, and a shout out to all the New York guys. Aljameet Sterling was here yesterday. But yeah, I don't root for the New York team, so it's hard for me to To answer this what about you Jordan who was like the from Queens for me. It's actually Andy Pettit from Texas it was in the neighboring like subdivision to me when I lived in the suburbs of Houston, but it was funny because While like in junior high Kids would be asked like what do you want to be when you grow?

They're like I want to play for the Yankees and it's like bro That's not gonna happen like that happened to one guy in the neighborhood. We get it but not gonna happen to you. That's a Right now Charlie McAvoy plays for the Bruins from my hometown. Oh shout out. You guys are actually talking about like hometown, dude Yeah, that's like hometown hometown. Yeah, I gotta pay a little Larry Brown hometown coach Same town didn't really last with the next there's no Queens that you could think of Rick are there I don't know I Associated run our test Lamar that I cheer for but those are not like my guys guys Yeah, and also like I see in the chat like someone said no Dominic Wilkins shout out

It's just like I was I didn't watch him play. I was too young. You respect those guys. You don't have actual fandom for them. You have to be there to watch the moments. Oh, I got one. To become like a fan. Wrestler Action Bronson from Queens.

That's my... Hey, shout out. Yeah, shout out to Action Bronson. I mean, Charlie Ward back in the day when I was a kid was just like, I had a Charlie Ward jersey. My dad actually was lucky enough to go to a Heisman trophy like dinner that Charlie Ward got me a sign. I always thought it was so cool that Charlie won the Heisman and was playing for the Knicks like I thought that was like one of the coolest things in sports. It was like I'm not going to be a good football player but I can play point guard for the Knicks.

No wasn't it that he could have been unless I'm mistaken he was going to be a good football player but he knew that longevity was going to be better in basketball, even though he was a worse basketball player than football player. Was Mike Tyson from Queens or Brooklyn? Brooklyn. But he like trained in Queens. I don't know where I got that mixed up. I thought there was a gym. Okay.

All right. Mine's Malcolm Wellmaker. Shout out. What's up boys in the back? This is Matthew Mailman here. Let's go. What's up boys in the back this is massive mailman here, let's go what's up man On a Thursday this means so the boys in the back like I always do Appreciate you some goober call me out. You're being a bro. Oh, we have a mailman war going on here. First of all It's great to know I'm living rent free out there. That's always a good feeling.

But second of all, you want to settle this. I will have my boy GC fly us out. Thank you GC. Yeah, no problem. We can throw on the gloves. The gloves. And we can settle this. I will dog walk you all up the streets of New York City and we can see who the fraud really is. Also Frank, add me back on Clash Royale. I'll go through on some duos with you sometime. Clash Royale. Thank you boys, God bless, see you at the top. See you at the top, brother. Clash Royale.

The Clash Royale was a great shout. I don't think we need to box, I think we need to box. Yeah, you need some mail. Who can box things and get them to the place as fast as possible. Did we start beef with mail? No, they started beef with each other, but as GC said, I'm not interested in you guys fighting.

I wonder if they're both USPS. Who's the best mail carrier? Maybe one's FedEx, maybe a DHL out there, you never know. Like send us your stats. My email is in my ex-bio. Send me your mailman stats. I want to know who's the better mailman. What's up, boys?

Salih from Chicago here calling in again. Two-part question for you here. The two parts aren't related at all. I don't know at all. Okay. Two questions least favorite either sports player or sports team. player, I guess you could say fighter. Top of mind Colby Covington, more so the character I fucking despise him. He's a bum. Team Michigan Wolverines asked asked I'm an Ohio State fan go Bucks second part of the question do you prefer watch the fuck alone or with a

group of people I realized I like plopping down on my couch cuddling up with my dog ripping the pen fucking sit in here watching these fights by myself I much prefer that than watching it in the big group alright peace boys talk to you later least favorite team least favorite who's like hated who's like hated for you not like I don't I don't really have any like vitriol till towards like athletes individually and teams like I feel like when I was younger I really used to like I like my brother went was younger, I really used to like, I like, my brother went to Georgia Tech, my dad went to Georgia.

I was always a Georgia fan. And then obviously I went to Georgia. I hated Georgia Tech for a while, but like, I don't know. I don't, I'm not really bothered by teams. My other brother went to Bama. I don't really have any issue with Bama, even though they have stopped us from numerous national championships.

I used to really hate the Patriots. I used to despise the Patriots and then 28 to three happened and like, I really hated them. But now like, I just don't, I don't really care. Like when people are like- So you softened, but you did. Yeah, I used to. I used to like really like despise them.

I don't know. I feel like I'm just like, as I've gotten older, my fandom has like sort of chilled. Like I'm just kind of like, yeah, I support my teams and that's pretty much it. Like the Patriots also suck now. So it doesn't really, it doesn't really matter. Like when people are like 28 to three,

I'm just like, okay, that's fine. I'm sure 24 inch dubs is loving that. Yeah, I mean, I'm not that bothered by it. Like I'm not, I don't know. Like I actually find it crazy how like Ariel has this like burning fire hatred towards like the Pacers, the Heat, like all of the like stereotypical Knicks rivals. Same thing with like the Bills rivals and all of that.

I don't know, I just like, I don't really, maybe it's just I don't care enough. Maybe I just like am not die hard enough of a fan anymore. Yeah, for me it's Yuri Welsh. Okay. Hate him, will never forgive him. Who is this? He is a player who was on the Boston Celtics

and the Cavaliers traded a first round pick for him in our Lebron era. And he was supposed to be like help. And he proceeded to put up like two points a game on like 15% shooting and was an absolute shit pile. And then was traded for like a second round pick. And I never forgive him for that and hate him to this day I will never forgive Uri Welsh and he was absolute garbage for the Cavs. It's pretty catchy. Watching UFC 316, just seeing Kayla dominate.

Yeah, dominate. Like most of the world expected, but this is Derek from Trinity, North Carolina. What's up, Derek? Originally from Latonia, Georgia. Hey, shut up. You said it, not me. Had to ask questions.

Do you think the UFC gives Macy Barber the hormone treatment? Kind of different situations, but we know how things go and they kind of hate Armand right now in my opinion. And also shout out GC. I always share your memes, every pay-per-view that you post. Appreciate that, bro. And the few times that I've reached out on IG, you've responded a couple of times,

but I know you're really big time now, you're kind of famous. So I know you can't respond to everything, but just wanted to say love you guys, love the show. I'm watching y'all watch party right now and let's get back to it. Many event on the way. Let's go.

I appreciate that, bro. Let the Georgia love for you. You'll see Atlanta fight week week baby, let's go. A, I'm not too big time, I'm just super lazy when it comes to my IG messages. I just get overwhelmed when I open them and it's just like 4+, 4+, 4+, 4+. So if I have never responded to you, I do really apologize. I'm really lazy with it. You want more DMs? Is that it?

Do you want more DMs? I don't think you want, I don't think you want more DMs. Like some dude hit me up and asked if we could link up it. I don't think you can go into my Instagram. Some dude asked if we could link up at UFC Atlanta and I was like, oh sure. And he's like, all right, I'll hit you up. And like, as soon as he sent that back, I was like, fuck, there's a real chance

I just never recheck the messages. So I'm going to try my best to recheck my messages so we can link up. Other one was Macy Barber get the Armin treatment? I don't think so. Yeah. Most importantly wasn't a title fight. Secondly it was just a fight night at the Apex. You can just kind of like just go off into the breeze. Like the pay-per-views are their money makers. It's not the Apex cards. And also she was like deathly ill. Armin Swarukian was sort of like a back

thing. Macy Barbara was hospitalized. Yeah, there was like back and forth with the doctor, can he, can't he, that seemed like a completely different situation than the Macy Barbara one. But shout out to Georgia. Hi, this is Mary Jo. What's up, Mary Jo? I just wanted to represent some of the girls

that live, breathe, and die for all things MMA. And I just wanted to say thanks to all of you guys. Love the show, love all the content and consume it constantly. Don't really have a question, but just wanted to be another one of the girls so that the girl that called last week doesn't feel alone and she knows that We do exist Thanks again for all the stuff you guys do

Keep it up. You're doing great work. Thanks so much. Bye. Wow, those amazing Mary Jo. I constantly see her in the chat I also see her on Instagram shout to Mary Jo, man It's nice to see the the women representation on the voice We love it Go in the sport over here baby. Hello, it's Fraser calling from Manchester, England. Let's go. First of all, I'm gonna say that answering phone message is some of the corny shit I've ever heard in my life.

I absolutely love it. Secondly, I am coming over to Stateside, crossing the pond, taking my wife to, she thinks, Orlando, we're going to go to Disney World and visit a friend of mine in Tampa. What she doesn't know is we're stopping on route to see my beloved Manchester City play in Atlanta in the Club World Cup. Sick. He's not a great flyer, so she's going to absolutely hit the roof when she finds out DC. Hit the DC, I've got 48 hours in Atlanta to convince her it was worth the extra stop off watching my itinerary be.

See you, boys, love you. Okay, first and foremost, the fact that you are going to get to go to a soccer game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is there enough? It is one of the most beautiful stadiums I have ever been to. It has to be one of the most beautiful in the entire world. And watching a game there, I've watched soccer there, I've been to Atlanta United games, watched many of football games there. It is just an aesthetically pleasing stadium, especially if

you get it in the day and the camera lens roof is open. It is just a behemoth of a stadium. You guys are going to love it. The fact that you're going to get to watch your team play there, it is going to be a high quality experience. Concessions are amazing, drinks are amazing. Like it is, I can't speak highly enough. It is one of Atlanta's best attractions. So the fact that you go into a game there is massive. Now you have more time to kill.

If you're staying in downtown, you wanna go to a fancy dinner before the game, take her to the Sundial restaurant at the Westin. It's all the way up top in the Westin. Beautiful views of the Atlanta skyline. It's fantastic. If you don't want to go that high up and pay that much money near there is the Ferris Wheel. Gets you incredible views. It's like sky view. Atlanta, it's a massive Ferris Wheel right next to Centennial Olympic Park. You should also go there, walk through it. A bunch of homages to the 1996 Olympics, beautiful park, especially during the summer,

it's gonna be incredible weather. The ring fountains, the Olympic ring fountains are incredible. You can just continue walking through there, World of Coke, Georgia Aquarium, I've been to 18 billion times. Every time people come to Atlanta, they're like, let's go to the aquarium.

Used to be the biggest aquarium in the world, somewhere in China past it. Yeah, don't they have a huge shark tank? Whale shark tank. Holy shit. Whale sharks there, yeah. It's, people are like, oh yeah, go to the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut,

and I go, I'm just like, yeah, this ain't that great. The one in Atlanta is fucking insane. No better words to describe it. You got the penguins, the belugas, the whale sharks. It truly is, it's an incredible experience getting to go to that. Right next to it is World of Coke. World of Coke is okay.

World of Coke is all right. The history is kind of cool when you get to taste a bunch of Cokes from around the world. It's okay. Being from Manchester, you're not gonna be interested in the College Football Hall of Fame. Restaurants wise, hand-cooked taqueria. I'm going this weekend.

Korean tacos. The varsity, I'm gonnaia. I'm going this weekend, Korean tacos. The Varsity, I'm gonna show you what to get this weekend. Fantastic. Taqueria del Sol, get the lemon cream enchiladas. Flying biscuit if you want breakfast. Low key breakfast spot, Art Thomas, Tom Macentia, absolutely love that spot. Yeah, dude, 48 hours, you're gonna have plenty to do.

It is a beautiful city, especially in the summer. City in the forest, love Atlanta. You are going to enjoy it, I promise. I feel like any of our MMA fans who are watching can use the same tips. Edmont Park, go to the Beltline too. If you got time to kill, go walk on the Beltline. Pop in some restaurants.

It's just a long walking path with just bars, restaurants. Go there, it'll be fantastic. If the Braves are playing, go to the Battery. There's a shit ton to do in Atlanta. You're gonna have a great time, man. Beep. Robert from El Paso. Just wanna say, love watching the show.

Except for Frank, he still sucks. Wow. Question for GC. Do you think you could take Marab on the bike? For some reason he's the one person I think that smokes you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know how I beat Marab. It's a tricky puzzle to solve, not only in the Octagon,

but on the Averon bike. I mean, he trains out in Long Island every once in a while. Let's get him in here. I'm willing to try, I'm willing to try. I mean, I feel like going longer there will not be a benefit to me, so we just have to do the- Sprint. Yeah, like 90 second sprint.

I just, I'd kill my legs, won't be able to walk for a week, but I'd just go balls to the wall and hopefully get it done. Yeah, I have to imagine Marab on any cardiovascular-based exercise is just like an absolute monster. For sure. Appreciate what he said at the front end too. Wow. Well extra dig it Frank.

Now we love Frank. Getting heated back there. Hey, this is Kat. I'm calling from Memphis, Tennessee. What's up Kat? And I'm in like the 1% of your 2% of listeners and that I'm a female listener. Shout out to that.

And also a NASCAR fan. So I was listening to the few weeks with NASCAR banner and updates that we got a little while back. Shout out to Denny Hamlin winning the Yahoo card. You actually invited me to play some NASCAR back. Ah I was really into the NASCAR banner and updates that we got a little while back. Shout out to Denny Hamlin, went into the Yahoo card. He actually inspired me to play some NASCAR back. Oh fuck, I'm sorry.

Because of his enthusiasm and he was absolutely right about how much fun it is. So thanks for that shout. I hope you won. Denny Hamlin's podcast is my go-to NASCAR podcast every post-race Monday. And this week after his exciting win in Michigan, he shared that he'd been competing in the fanatics game and then I hear that y'all be doing a

live show there. Okay. Sounds like an amazing time and maybe your paths will cross and my own little podcast fandom worlds will collide for just a moment. So be on the lookout for the man who beat your favorite driver. The show, BITB, is in my rotation now, thanks to the great MMA content. Cat from Memphis? Yeah. Shout out, that was a fantastic call. More of this!

Yeah, shout out Cat. We will be at Fanatics Fest on Friday, Ariel Hawhani's show on the Coldest Balls stage. Look for us if you are there. It's going to be a great time at the Joseph Javits Center? Jacob. Jacob Javits Center. I knew it was JJ. In Midtown Manhattan, it's gonna be a great time at the Joseph Javits Center? Jacob. Jacob Javits Center, I knew it was JJ. In Midtown Manhattan, it's gonna be a great time.

We'll also be posting a video from that. It's gonna be great. Yeah, Denny Hamlin, shout out, he won in the Yahoo car and gave one of these. After he won, he was in the Yahoo 11, shout out to that. Yeah, if we see him, I'll bring my Denny Hamlin Yahoo shirt to like, if we see him, I'll throw it onny Hamlin, Yahoo shirt to like, if we see him, I'll throw it on and be like,

Denny, I work at Yahoo, man. Let me get a pic, let me get a pic. But yeah, shout out to NASCAR. The betting, I don't advise anybody does it, but it's the best sweat in sports. Yeah. It's fantastic. Yo, what up, boys in the back? This is Dominic from Indiana. This message is for Connor specifically.

Geez. Connor, just wanted to let you know that you were in my dream last night. Oh God. And don't worry, it's not anything crazy or weird like that. All right. I was at some beautiful park just walking around and it was a little windier than I would have liked, but you know, still very nice out. And then all of a sudden I ran into you and asked if you want to play catch and

Then next thing I know you and me are just like throwing the football back and forth for a little while and then I eventually Woke up. It was actually really nice I don't know if that's like an omen or something saying that we're supposed to be really good friends But if you wanted to explore that further, just let me know, dude. Peace, have a nice day, y'all. All right, that was an all-time message right there. Have to say, love a good game of catch. You wanna throw the football around with homeboy?

I'm ambidextrous. Oh, shit. In my car, I carry around a lefty and a righty glove with a baseball in it, just in case someone wants a game of catch. Wow. I'm just like, what hand do you throw with? They're just like, right? I'm like, all right, I'll throw a lefty. If they're lefties, I'm just like, what hand do you throw with? They're just like, right?

I'm like, all right, I'll throw a lefty. If they're lefty, I'm like, all right. Are you a big baseball guy? Like, did you play baseball, Little League as a kid? No, I am dog shit at baseball. You just like the catch. You just love playing catch. I can throw it around with any of them.

Okay. Back in my football days, wide receiver, glue hands over here. I'm talking like, we're getting five fingers on the ball. These are fundamental catches over here. No body catches or anything like that. Love a good game of catch. Growing up, it was just like,

let's just go out on the street and just throw. Frisbee, I keep a Frisbee on me at all times. Football, keep it on me at all times, baby. Nothing like just like floating them around, passing the time with your boys. Just a good game of catch. Honestly, the only reason I wanna have kids is so I can have a son that'll grow up and

play catch with me. He'll be like, you want to play catch? I'll be like, bet your ass I do. Just speaking of Mike Vick, that's the whole reason I'm ambidextrous. He's ambidextrous as well? No, he's lefty. He's a lefty, yeah. I was righty, he's lefty. I was like, God, he looks so sick. You wanted to throw it. Okay. And I was like, nine years old, just started letting it rip lefty. Shout out to catch, man. Shout out to you. It's good dream What's up boys Hunter from Arkansas just want to say I really enjoy the show just want to say I'm looking I don't like this weekend. They're gonna be great Saturday's my birthday. Happy birthday birthday birthday birthday We're gonna have a great weekend. Enjoy the fights. I really appreciate you guys.

Thanks for doing it. Man, hell of a voicemail there. Yeah. Shout out to Hunter from Arkansas. And his son. Happy birthday to both of you. Happy birthday to both of you. Shout out to Arkansas as well.

What's up, boys in the back? This is the one and only shark tech, Steve Bush. What's up, Steve? Calling you from West Central Indiana by way of Chicago, Illinois. And on this edition of Voice in the Back, I had to ask one question in the spirit of the holiday coming up this weekend.

Give me your top five daddest, not baddest, daddest men on the planet. Have a great day, fellas. You're doing great work Appreciate the call. He said daddest daddest. All right, so we actually talked about that is doing a pound-for-pound for Father's Day Holloway's up there DC and Holloway were vying for the title DC super he's daddest man There's there's a lot of great dads out there in the UFC. Does it even have to be MMA? Who are the most dad dads?

Philip Rivers. Philip Rivers is a dad with nine children. Is it a volume game though? I feel like there's dad qualities. Kirk Cousins is a fucking dad. LeBron is kind of dad. LeBron is very dad. He's corny, like he loves his kids He's always I don't know but Holloway in DC. I feel like for the for the MMA crown. Yeah, shout out to Steve Sup boys can't been selling California here. I wanted to give you guys my impression of

Patty Pimba after his win at USC 14 Here we go. I Bullsten Who says dog of the week was done fry Oh fuck that yeah, don's a great call. Don Fry is a great one. Great shout man. Don Fry is a great one. Yeah. Chowwsss. Good. Good shout. Dawston? That's the end of it. Oh alright. What? What? No Don? No Don Davis? I think he was busy with Russell Brand. I can't even tell. Wow. He was so busy with Russell he couldn't even give us a call. I guess he's busy with the Nashville show really no Don Davis no don no Don Davis I'm heartbroken. I'm waiting for the for the for the script to flip here. No

Andy and Jordan that I was fucking around. It's just not there. All right, don if you're listening I guess he's busy I guess he's busy in Nashville. I said, do you have something hitting up your sleeve? He goes, no. Just like, said yet. Like it's still on the horizon here. I mean it's not too late. There's a cutoff when we review these.

And if he called after that. He's busy. I hope Don's alright. I hope Don is alright. They're busy. They got a show. I'm waiting for the deed. Alright, we got any Super Chats, Frank? Damn. They're busy. They got a show. I'm waiting for the deed. All right, we got any Super Chats, Frank? Damn.

CR starts us off with BITB, best in the bitch. Hey, appreciate that, dude. Hey, shout out. Thank you, CR. Or New Zealand. You should be able to identify. They are pretty similar, though. Drew Jiggins.

Jiggins. Whoa, 20 bucks. Appreciate you, Drew. Jennings? God, you really struggle reading. I try to read it on the preview and then it goes to program and I was like, there's eight N's in this name?

The irony is, this guy's asking Frank to read his book. Frankie and GC, my book So Much Heart recently won the Sergio Troncoso award for first book of fiction. It has received praise from Nylon, Southern Review of Books, et cetera. Check it out, much love from Texas, Drew Buxton.

Drew, I'm gonna add this to the list. The list is pretty long, I'm not gonna lie, but I will check it out. I'm down. You buy us two copies, I'll Venmo you. I'm down, I'm looking at it right here. Drew Buxton, so much heart. 4.9 on Goodreads? Oh, I'm looking at it right here. Drew Buxton, So Much Heart.

4.9 on Goodreads? Oh, fucking A, five stars on Amazon. I'm not gonna be left out of that one. I'm in, I'm in. Oh, it's a sick, it's a pretty sick cover. I gotta say, it's a pretty sick cover, Frank. I think you'll like it. Shout out to Drew, man.

Thank you, Drew. Is the giant robot on the cover? No, there's an orca whale with a hand coming out of it. Huh? With a phone. I don't even know what all is going on. It's a cool cover though. So Much Heart by Drew Buxton.

Corbin says, Old take, Stefan Skyscaper, Drew? Scraper. Could have been a champ. He had KO power, good Dutch kickboxing, and decent subs, but he fought like he's 5'1". Yeah, shout out. Shout out to the skyscraper. He fought like he's 5'1", but he's 6'7".

Yeah, he did fight smaller. ZicoGaming, here's some money for the studio guest chair. Thank you, Zico. We needed that. We needed that. We're working on our facilities here. Yeah, shout out. I'll go down with you. needed that. We're working on our facilities here. Yeah, shut up. I'll go down with you, why not? We're getting near the end here. Spencer comes in last saying, Ankh at 230 pounds, beats Aspen Hall, lighter man skill,

biggest threat to Tom, 100. Spencer Labute, if that's a heavyweight bout and Tom can be 265, I will let you believe that. I'll bet you even money Tom wins that fight. I'll give you odds. I'll bet you anything I got. I'll actually take Tom inside the distance even odds. No that's not a good fight. Tom is... I don't see anybody right now that's beaten Tom. And here is the cover to So Much Heart. Yeah it's a good one. It's a cool looking one man man My hit up the strand on the way out of here tonight, and you think it's that strand I mean, I'm hoping it is don't judge a book by its cover. It's not a strand. Let's put it there

Don't judge a book by its cover. I always do it's a good bus honestly that is not a bad Just like when you go get wine Do you judge it by the label don't judge about it's hard does a lot of the heavy lifting yeah? I know I know but that's what they want. See, I go to buy records. Sometimes it's the cover that actually gets me to take the plunge. That's all this. Quick research on Drew Buxton.

Shout out. Also writes wrestling poems. Okay. One named, The Nature Boy Lands in a Helicopter. I'm down. It's about Ric Flair. Sign me up. I'm down.

Wow, Drew's down. I'm looking at Drew right here. I got a picture of him. Shout out to Drew Buxton No more super chats Frankie. That was the last one. All right, then we will leave All the voicemails have been played I'm so sorry. It just feels like Christmas morning. All the super chats have been answered. And you're like, all right mom dad where's the bike I asked for and they're like we're so sorry Enjoy the card this weekend. I thought we were gonna get the prom with But don't miss us out that's gonna do it for us here on the boys in the back tune into the crack tomorrow

They'll have some reaction that PFL a look ahead to UFC Atlanta shout out Shout out shout out shout out shout out my fingers look you oh fucker shout out shout out shout out shout out no more 70 should be oh yeah nice nice that'll do it for us here on the boys in the back watch the crack tomorrow then we will be back on Monday I will be I've returned from Atlanta. Everyone will have celebrated the Bar Mitzvah with Mr. Haewwani. Ariel Haewwani Show on Monday.

That's the next time you'll see us. Have a great week and enjoy the fights. See you next time. Thanks for watching!