The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Postgame Show: MMA Hangout Post-UFC 300

Episode Date: April 17, 2024

On this episode of the MMA Hangout - Tony is joined by The MMA Hour's Conner Burks (who was boots on the ground in Vegas) to recap the BIGGEST night in MMA history at UFC 300 including Alex Pereira's big-time knockout in the main event, Zhang Weilei's decisive victory and of course, Max Holloway delivering arguably the greatest moment in UFC history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to Giraffe King's Network. All right, fight fans. Welcome into the MMA hangout presented by Quervil. That man right there was boots on the ground. Connor Burks of the MMA Hour. presented by Cuervo. That man right there was boots on the ground. Connor Burks of the MMA hour. Connor, bro, everything looked incredible from the show to your fight feast, the vibe in Vegas. What was it? I appreciate that first off.

It was high, man. And it was kind of crazy because like I landed on Wednesday morning and like it was kind was normal scenes there and as the week went on, we got more and more hype. It built up more towards like, oh man, UFC 300 is happening. By the time it got to Saturday, it was just like you went down into the lobby of the casinos of the hotels and everyone is decked out in UFC gear. It felt like there was an energy, there was an aura. of C gear, like it felt like there was an energy, there was an aura and like I was getting an Uber

probably 45 minutes before like the card started and I passed T-Mobile arena and I could just see a massive line to get in and I was like, this is crazy. Like this is wild and then you just look over the card again before you get into it and you're just like, we're about to get into some shit here, man. Like this is about to be crazy. Like it really just felt like like it felt like the MMA world was like

getting bigger than itself and it was entering that mainstream. And it was just like it's the energy was just palpable, man. It was amazing. It's funny because you look at the entire card and there were some people that had their reservations about the main event, right? It was like the seventh fight that they wanted to book. But when it came time to it, I sold myself very hard on Panetta versus Jamal Hill.

Very hard. I was like, dude, this is gonna be incredible. My wife was like, I think I'm more excited for that fight than any other fight on the card. And I was like, I don't know, dude, like there's some bangers on this card. There's some bangers. But it lived up to the hype

We'll get to the fight in a second But at all the fights in a second, but um, you guys did a couple shows out there with some huge names Like can you just give us a couple of the names that you guys talked to up there? Yeah, brother So, I mean we did a show Thursday and Friday the MMA or that that being the show We I mean we had we had Mark Coleman on obviously one of the first interviews He's done since since the fire since everything went down in the hospital. It was incredible to hear from him. We had Israel Adesanya.

He really only likes to do interviews in person. The fact that he was in Vegas as well, found out some wild stuff about how close he was to being the main event. Talk about that for a second because people don't realize that that was about to be it until it wasn't. Oh brother, so another guest that we had was Tim Simpson, manager to the Stars, the the chosen few, obviously Max Holloway, Yuri Prohashko, one of those being Israel Adesanya as well. And so we had him on the day before we talked to Izzy and Tim Simpson was like up until a few hours before they announced Jamal Hill versus Alex Pereira, they were still seeing

it as a real possibility that it was going to happen. And it just ended up not materializing. You know, DDP was a potential opponent for him to fight. It didn't really work out. Now it looks like they might do that at a later date. I mean, we had Dan Hooker on. He didn't have tickets to the event and he was like kind of cool with it. He was like, yeah, I'm not really worried about it.

The whole reason I even booked the flight out here was to support Izzy being in the main event. Like that's how close this was to being DDP Izzy in the headliner, which would have just been astronomical. But it is what it is. Cause I was hyped for Alex Pereira, Jamal Hill. I mean, I firmly believe Alex Pereira is one of the biggest stars in the sport today.

I mean, just go look at what happened online. And then in retrospect now, I mean, it was incredible. The fact that he gets the knockout immediately, like he does the Cabila-May hands, the pointer being like, it's a superstar moment. Like it's just a superstar moment. So I had no issues about it. So those were some of the guests that we had.

Marabdhavalesh really stopped by. We didn't think we were gonna get him. Then he just like, he called. So I had texted him a couple of times. He seems like a quirky guy, right? Right, he is a wild one. So he's like, he's in and then he's out and then he's back in.

And then, you know, we're getting to show time and like, we still don't know if he's gonna come. I text him a couple of times, no answer I text him a couple of times, no answer. Call him a couple of times, no answer. It's getting past the time he was supposed to be there. Very busy with Algermayne Sterling, so I completely understand. We are in afterthought for him.

He had to get one of his best friends and training partners to the fight on Saturday night. UFC 300, moving up a weight class, massive implications for him. So I understand as being an afterthought. He calls me like 20 minutes after he was supposed to be on. And we had kind of given it up. And then I just see my phone light up, Marabdawalashvili. I'm like, oh, all right.

I'm like, what's up, Marabdawalashvili? He doesn't say actually say, hello, this is Connor. He doesn't say anything. He just goes, I'll be there in 10 minutes. And I'm just like, all right, Marabdawalashvili is on the way then. So we had Marabdawalashvili as well. We had Eric Nixik coach to Francis Ngannou, to Sean Strickland, everyone on his stream to Couture,

which by the way, he is the man. Like he is just the man, dude. He is so nice, so personable. Just seems like such a genuine salt of the earth, dude. So yeah, if I'm forgetting anyone, I mean, it was star studded, dude. It was fantastic. And the only reason we had that opportunity is because we were in Las Vegas. In sin city, man.

Ten toes down on his toes right there on the strip. Well, I'm thinking of it, dude, bro. From the time we started flying in, I was like, wow, we're really here. Like we are really here. And then you walk up the plane and the slot machines and you're like, holy shit, like fight capital of the world. I stayed at the MGM Grand and it's just like, dude, the history that this building holds is wild.

Like you had McGregor Aldo here, like all the boxing events that have happened here. And then like just all the entertainment that it's been there as well. Just like walking that with Helwani and our guy New York Rick and them talking about the memories they've created there and all the all the things that happened there for for UFC history it was just like and then movies like you got Ocean's 11

things like that like it's just an iconic building so checking in there first time in Vegas seeing the strip you know you see New York New York you see Paris yeah you're like damn we're really in the mix. We're in it. Really? No, it's amazing. Funny enough, you say that because I, I was there for the Super Bowl and it felt big for the Super Bowl, obviously, because everybody's there first time for the Super Bowl being in Vegas. Nobody ever thought that a Super Bowl played in Vegas or any major sport would be home in Vegas. And I remember being there for the Super Bowl and there was a buzz to it, but there's something about being in Vegas for a fight, specifically combat sports.

That's even higher than the Superbowl. It just feels like everybody in Vegas is a fight fan. You look across, there's people that love boxing, love UFC, love whatever it is that the fight is going on. It's there in Vegas and people are locked in. So like just to be there for that moment and correct me if I'm wrong, but it was set up to succeed this, this car just with all of the matches that they had the depth on this card was insane, insane. When you have Figgy versus Cody Garbrand as the first fight at 5.59 PM Eastern, that lets you know,

like the card is set up. It could have not succeeded. We could have had some fights that were kind of whatever, but for it to be billed as, this is the biggest night in MMA history, and then almost supersede that, makes it really truly special of what we saw. I mean, I couldn't agree with you more, dude.

So beforehand, there was like a gift shop in my hotel and it had UFC Merchant and it had like a UFC 300 shirt. I bought a UFC 300 fanny pack. I was like, this is going to age well, like five years. This will be my Jim Miller moment.

Jim, the UFC 100 jacket at UFC 500 when I'm in Vegas and I'm 55 years old. I'm going to have the I'm'm gonna have the UFC 300 fanny pack and be like, I'm there. And after I bought it, Vegas prices, I had to drop a penny on it. After I bought the shirt and the fanny pack,

I'm like, man, I really hope this card is sick. I really hope this card is sick. I went to Atlantic City a couple of weeks ago and it was a decent card. I mean, it's not something you're really gonna remember. Paid $40 for a t-shirt, had like the worst gambling night of my life, just got absolutely slaughtered.

Just like left, right and center got destroyed. And I was like, man, I really hope this is like a night to remember so I can look back on this fondly. And it delivered, dude. It delivered beyond my expectations and I had fairly high expectations. Like you get the finish with Cody Garbrandt, Davidson Figueredo. You get the finish. The Moicano comeback.

Moicano is crazy. I mean come on dude. Bobby Green, Jim Miller was a fantastic fight. Unfortunately Jim Miller doesn't get the win at 100, 200, 300. And it kind of felt like we were ramping up a little bit. Kayla comes out, looks beautiful, 200, 300. And it like, it kind of felt like we were ramping up a little bit. Kayla comes out, looks beautiful, gets the finish. Like, dude, Kayla looks special. The importance of that win,

the importance of that win for the women's bantamweight division cannot be understated. Like women's bantamweight was just a slog. It was just dead. There was no energy at all. Now it's just like, okay, now Kayla Harrison's here. Okay, now is she fighting Rockco Pennington for the belt? Is she gonna fight Juliana Pena for an interim title?

I know Rocco Pennington's dealing with some injuries. And then if she wins, if we get Kayla Harrison as the UST champion, there's a star with a belt, and who's coming knocking at the door? Is that the goat coming back now? Now we're getting Amanda Nunez back? The energy that that just like injected into that division. She needed to come out, make a statement.

And she did. She did, which was incredible. Aljo, I know it was not that exciting of a fight, but we still, I mean, we still got a huge slam and he had a dominant, dominant performance, man. He made Calvin Cater look like a chump in there. He had Calvin Cater throwing like 10 significant strikes the entire fight. And then for me, when the chaos began was when the last samurai, the king of chaos entered the octagon, everyone's automatic answer was Max Holloway, Justin Gaethje

as the fight they were most looking forward to. And I don't disagree with that. It was kind of like, all right, what fight are you looking forward to and I don't disagree with that. It was kind of like, all right, what fight are you looking forward to beyond that? My answer was always Yuri versus Rocket. Just like Yuri is just guaranteed to make fights crazy and he did it again and he comes out victorious and it's just incredible. And then you get in the main card and it just like took off from there. You get the Holloway moment, you get the Pereira with the hands, you get the wildness and the Khomein. It was just like, right when it ended, I got asked, what do you give this on a scale of

one to 10? And I was like, man, I would go eight, eight. And then I started thinking a bit more. And then I was like, nah, nah, nah, let me get a nine, three on it. And then now that I've digested everything that happened and just how awesome it was and badass, and then you get the McGregor announcement afterward and everything and the Mark Coleman giving the BMF belt. It's hard not to say a 10. Like that is peak UFC right there. That is peak MMA. It was incredible.

It's just like, how do they get bigger than what they just did, right? Like let's start in the main event really quick. Yes, please, please. Panetta versus Jamal Hill. Jamal Hills, remember, didn't lose the title, had the Achilles tear, he's out. Young crown king, please. Yes, please. Bayada versus Jamal Hill. Jamal Hills, remember, didn't lose the title, had the Achilles tear. He's out. Right.

Right. All of a sudden he's coming back. We haven't seen how he looks. We don't know what his cardio is going to look like, especially off an Achilles tear. So we're in this wait and see moment. Bayada, I was talking to Danny Segura of MMA Junkie and I was telling him, dude, I think that Bayeda has the best 12 fight run at that point, 11 fight run the UFC in its history. I don't think anybody has had a better debut or has been as good as quick as Alex Bayeda. Two titles, one defense. One defense like headline Madison Square Garden twice twice. The headliner was the headliner for UFC 300 only loss is to long

reigning champion Israel Adesanya who was getting his belt back. I mean the resume is unbelievable. The only thing that I would play Beach on Strickland who for you know, you just jump brother if we just go and look at dudes resume right now. I want to say his last five or six fights have been against people that have held the belt. Jamal Hill was a title holder, Yuri Prohashka title holder, Jan Blachowicz title holder, Israel Adesanya title holder, Israel

Adesanya title holder, Sean Strickland title holder. Last six fights have been against champions. He is five and one. Oh, and by the way, in the middle of that, he moved up a weight class and got the belt up there as well. It's absolutely ridiculous what this guy has been doing. And I love it because he kind of entered this MMA space when I did heavy. I joined the MMA hour in September of 2021. He signed with UFC in September of 2021. I think I have bet on him in every single fight except for the two Izzy ones. Like even like the Andreas Michaelitis fight where if you go back and you watch that Andreas Michaelitis fight, he gets dominated in the first round. They give him like a guy who can actually grapple and he gets held down almost the

entire time and you're just like, oh, all right. So like world class kickboxer, like glory double champion. Like it doesn't work. It's just like all you have to do is grapple the guy and then he comes out and in the first 10 seconds or 20 seconds your flying knee flattens the guy and you're like oh shit he's really that's it okay perfect bro and then they line in minus 110 against Sean Strickland and he just ethers him in like a minute and a half just absolutely insane The only thing that I would play devil's ad to get on on like greatest 12 fight run is that like, you have some deep stuff with guys like GSP

and Anderson Silva when they were racking up title defenses and they were fighting the best in the world. Alex Pereira is really just like, it's his last six fights because before that you have Bruno Silva and Andreas Michaelidis and then obviously before the UFC. We've never heard of these guys Marcus Vinicius Marcelo Cruz who are like under 500 guys. So that's like the only thing I would play Devil's advocate

to but like his UFC career right now is probably one of the most insane things we have ever seen and like you talk about just superstar, even when he lost, it was one of the most viral moments in UFC history with the Adesanya knockout and the bow and arrow into the flatline body. It's just like,

anytime this guy has gotten in the octagon over the last two years, it has just created just a massive, massive moment for the sport. So I love the guy. I mean, I love him. Can't get enough of him. I was cheering for him hard and he came out and delivered,

man, that left hook is the best weapon in MMA right now. Lethal, lethal. And I'm glad you said that because it looks to me, and again, when we watch it on TV from millions of miles away on TV, it's not the same ferocity, It's not the same velocity that he throws it at, but it doesn't even feel like he's throwing it that hard sometimes. And that's the thing. Like he slept Jamal Hill and it looked like he missed.

I've, dude, I've watched the slow motion replay of it. It doesn't even look like he caught him clean, which is so crazy. And it's like hitting a home run off the end of your bat. Yes. Yes. It's like, he's, it's like, he's like hitting a home run off the end of your bat. Yes. Yes. It's like he's like Barry Bonds back in the big juice days. And like, he just like didn't really catch it clean. And it's like, oh wait, that's actually gone. That's a home run. Yeah.

And let's not act like Jamal Hill is some chinny, like glass cannon or anything. Like he is notoriously tough, went five hard rounds with Alex's coach Glover's de Chara. So I mean, it's just, it's incredible what this guy holds. And it kind of makes you think like the left hook he caught Israel Adesanya with that started the end of the fight at Madison Square Garden in 2022.

He caught that so clean and easy to go out. And then like now looking in hindsight, you're just like I can't believe he didn't go out to that. Like that kills everybody now. It's wild. And I mean, you see't go out to that. Like that kills everybody now. It's wild. And I mean, you see how tough Yuri Prohoshka is, man. The shots he was eating on Saturday, like I know he's been finished before,

but you have to dead that guy to get him out of there. And who did it? Alex Pereira. Alex Pereira. Moving on to the co-main event, the Women's Strawweight Championship of the World, Jean-Huyn Lee versus Yan Xiaonan. Toughness, man.

Dude, that was a dog fight. Dog fight for five rounds. That was incredible. Bro, you get the end of the first round where Yan Xiaonan went out, no doubt about it, she was out and limp. She doesn't leaping. She does not like move until Zhang starts pushing her off.

And then she's like, oh shit, where am I? And then like Jason Herzog comes and like helps her up. And then she's like, oh shit, where am I? And then like Jason Herzog comes in like helps her up and she's like stumbling around like, and then the corner's like, we can wake her up. We can wake her up. Like they're dumping water on her. It's just like, yo, yo, yo, like, I want to know, I want to know so badly what the is going through her mind

when she comes out in the second round. And she's just like, all right, like we're still in the fight. Cause she starts coming out and she's just throwing. Like it's just like, lady, you were unconscious 90 seconds ago, how are you back up? And then Jong comes out, takes her down, looks like she's gonna submit her again.

And I was like, please do not put this woman out twice in the matter of like five minutes. But then she starts raining ground and pound on her. And like I was watching it live on our watch party and I was like, bro, hers up, call the fight man. She's already been out once. Like she doesn't need to take any more damage. Fights all the way through that.

And then Jong's gassed and now Yeon Jong-nan is like coming back, like going into the fourth round, it was like minus 160 Jong. Oh my God, I can't believe she's come back. And then Jong dogs it out, gets the next two rounds. Like it was just, that was a, it was almost like we had the emotional dump from Holloway Gagey that like there's nothing

that they could have done to live up to the hype of that. But bro, that was a wild fight, man. That was a wild fight. Shout out to both of them. Like I think that's where Yanjuan had lost, but like her stock still went up. Like the dog in her is wild. 100%.

And it's funny how we're talking about this kind of out of order and we already know the result, right? So we're talking about incredible knockout dogfight, incredible knockout. But as we were watching it, right, we had just experienced Halloween versus Gagey. So we were like, what else can we do? And then it was that five rounder that was just just a battle, just a war back and forth, ground and pound. What we think is a submission, no weight, she's alive. She actually got up. And then she hits Zhang Guoli with a with a kick to the mid section twice. She dropped her twice. Yes, dude. And she dropped

her ass twice. Like that, bro, that that fight really was crazy. I kind of want to go back and rewatch it with the perspective of coming in fresh to it and just like enjoying how good of a fight it was because i was checked out until like at least like three minutes into the first round like i was still just gathering myself after halloway gachi uh but that really was like uh that was a fantastic fight like if that was standalone on a main event on another car, we'd be like great main event. Like, right, bro. Like if, like, if we had gotten like Nikita Krylov versus like Nasruddin Imavov or something, I don't know, like something like that before the

fight. Like, like we would have been like, that was an incredible main event. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The BMF title, which we're going to go to now, happened, which is, I don't know. And Connor, you think too, like, in the annals of time in the UFC, there have been bigger stake knockouts, right? But for something like this, where that could have easily been Max on the floor asleep. Easily. That's what people don't get.

The reason why, when he called to the center of the octagon and said, we're going to phone booth this one out. I mean you're just going to throw for the last 10 seconds. That was such a ballsy move on max Holloway's park cause he was clearly winning the fight the entire time. I pokes aside that, that spinning back kick with one second left in the first round, then not gate cheese nose into the fourth row was insane. And getting to rewatch it in slow motion

is where it really set in because at first I didn't know what happened. And like Gage, they almost time to where Gage almost fell out of the octagon door. Like he was like just flying over that way. Watching it in slow motion and seeing where he catches him, it's like, holy shit, he caught that perfectly. Gage of course just eats it,

has to go right back out there and fight four rounds with just a broken nose, just absolute insanity. I mean, I don't even know where to begin with this fight. Fight of the year? So I just have like a tough time with this because it's like, it wasn't that insane of a fight for the first like four and a half rounds. Like it was like, it was a very good fight

but it was more of like a tactical warfare by Max Holloway. Like he just came out there and just fought a perfect fight. And now hearing him talk about it, it's so wild cause he's like, A, I think it was like a behind the scenes with his wife or something. He's talking about it. He's just like, yeah, every time I heard him,

like an angrier, an angry lion hunts faster, hunts harder. He was like, he got an insane look in his eye. Every time I heard him, like it was like I was pissing him off and I was like, all right, like let's just chill. Like let's just, let's go back to just like, you know, tactical shit. Like he played a perfect fight and he was like, he also said that like some of those punches that missed, he could just like feel the wind coming by. Like he was just like, bro, if one of those landed, like, I don't know if I was going to be upright.

Also, let's give Justin Gagey's credit. Not only did he fight with a broken nose and everything in between and the two eye pokes, like, I just can't fathom being that tough. You get the second eye poke in the second round after your nose just got broken. And like, bro, he's looking at Herb Dean just like, I'm good. And Herb's like, are you good? He's just like, stop asking stupid questions, Herb. I'm good.

Like, let me back out there. Or whoever was refereeing that fight. All of that, just like, the way that Max Holloway bulked up and was able to deal with being a 155er, obviously wasn't successful last time against Justin Poirier was just a feat of just like, it was just so incredible because he was so doubted. And I was cheering for Max.

I love Max. He's one of my favorite fighters. I had him plus 210, was sitting on a ticket for a whole month. So I was like super invested in this, wanted him to win so bad. And like, as the rounds went on, I'm like, holy shit, he's really doing this.

He's really doing this. Then you get to round five. He is up on every judge's scorecard. He was winning that round clearly as well, just out-voluming the hell out of him. And then he calls to the center of the octagon. I will never, I don't think I'll ever see anything cooler than that.

Maybe I'll see something as cool, but like you cannot get cooler than that right there. You have the fight one, you are about to become the BMF champ, you're about to become, you know, certified in the 155 division. Now you're in the title hunt in both of these divisions. It's all there. and you just say,

let's just put it all on the line. I can just get knocked out. First time I ever get knocked out in my entire career because let's not forget, I know the stats don't say it, he dropped Max Holloway, bro. He punched him in the face and Max Holloway's ass hit the mat. He got dropped, dude,

which is a testament to Justin Gaethje. And then to stand in the middle like that and just absolutely throw. So haymakers. Haymakers, no defense at all. And then the overhand right with one second left. Clean. Just clean. So clean.

And it was, the way Gaethje reacted to, made it that much better, slumped, slept out, cold, unconscious. You are in the land of ghosts and shadows. It is there is you are not no longer in T-Mobile arena. Insanity, dude. I mean, I don't know how. I just don't think you can ever top that moment. I think I think you can match it maybe. But like you can just never top that it It was just so, so insane. So sick, so badass.

It was incredible. It's it's incredible because it felt like if Justin could get past Max and do it as well as he did against other fighters. It felt like there was a moment where you would have to say, how can you give a title shot to Dustin or to Armin when Justin beat Dustin with a KO, he's kind of got to be the next in line for Islam. And then this happens and it's like, Oh my God. And then obviously you talk about them offering Armin the fight right after he

gets off. We'll talk about which in a second, but then Dustin gets the fight because Justin gets knocked off. We'll talk which in a second, but then Dustin gets the fight because Justin gets knocked out like a lot of a lot of MMA transcendental math happening behind the scenes. Bro, I think Dustin Poirier needs to send a box of hot sauce to both Charles Olivera and Max Holloway. I mean, Max Holloway ended Justin Gaethje's chance at getting another title shot for the foreseeable future. And then Charles Olivera beat up Armen Sarukin enough that he couldn't accept the title shot against Islam Akhashev at the beginning of June, which would have been just a ridiculous

turnaround to fight one of, if not the best fighters in the entire world. Yes. So I don't blame Armen Sarukin for saying, I'm going to sit this one out and stay on the sidelines. But yeah, I think gonna sit this one out and stay on the sidelines. But yeah, I think thanks is in order because the fact that Dustin Poirier is getting this title shot when he got sparked out

by Justin Gaethje just July of last year and his only win is against the 12th ranked fighter in Benoit Saint-Denis. Yes, I feel like some thank yous are in order. Guy with a worst night, guy that had the fight to go the distance between Max between Max and Justin Gagey or had Max by decision. Well, it's gotta be Max by decision

because that would be a bigger payout. I mean, it's just like that's- The guy that had Max by decision is sitting there like, yes, three, two, one. How do you even react? I mean, it's just like that's the guy that had maxed my decision is sitting there like yes three two One do you how do you even react? I don't even know how you handle that if I'm being honest, like how do you? Cuz like you have to go crazy because it's such an insane moment, but you're also just like damn I just lost my bet Yeah, I mean that was gosh those it was one for the history books you like

I don't know if we'll ever see something like that again, just with the timing, with the call at the center of the octagon. Like, I don't know, like you said, it was a good fight. I don't know if it was a good enough fight from both sides for it to be fight of the year. Knockout of the year, no question. Without a doubt.

There's no question, I don't care what happens for the rest of the year, you would have to do something so absurdly insane, unfathomable to top that, that is knockout of the year, if not gonna end up being knockout of the year, you would have to do something so absurdly insane, unfathomable to top that. That is knock out of the year, if not going to end up being a knock out of the decade. I mean, it's just, it's just so crazy. This BMF thing kind of worked out, right? I love the BMF, bro. There was a subset of people in the MMA community is like, this is a gimmick.

This is bullshit. I feel like it's most of the MMA community. They hate on it. I bought a BMF belt. I gave it to Mark Coleman, man. He wrote out with it. If you saw Mark Coleman in Vegas this week with a BMF belt, that was from big CBC. I feel like it's, I feel like it's worked man, because they've put fights together for that BMF belt that have been.

Big enough to be title fights without having to be a title fight. And I just feel like it worked. We've gotten three BMF fights so far. Nate Diaz, Jorge Masveral, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and Max Holloway versus Justin Gaethje. All three of them have been bangers. Understand that it's a gimmick. Just understand that and just be okay with it.

It's kind of like people that like hate on pro wrestling. Just understand what it is and just enjoy it. We don't have to take everything so seriously. Like just enjoy the BMF belt. It's almost always going to be sick fights. Like I don't think we're going to get Max Holloway, Mosar Avloyev for the BMF belt. Like they're going to match up and make like a bad ass fight. So just enjoy it, man. It's fun. It's fun. It's just like the new shorts. Like it's just fun. It's something cool. It's an addition. The more personality this sport can have, the better it is. I'm waiting on the Sean Strickland Jean short shorts.

Oh, my God. I mean, why not? Why not? It feels like they're giving like either current Max's flowers. We got the Aztec look for for for Politan. We got a John with the China with like the heart of the dragon. We got, uh, uh, uh, oh yeah. Gates, Gates, Gates, these American flag ones could have been so much better. I don't, I don't think he had any creative input in that because when he got him, he was like, Oh word, like he's like, these aren't that cool.

Like, uh, so yeah, I mean, Sean with the pink shorts, we got thug nasty with the, with the camo, the OG by the way, give someone purple shorts. And then just like, if someone has an idea for them, like just, just make them. It's fun. Venom clearly has no issue with making custom shorts. Like that's now proven. Uh, so yeah, I mean, the more, the more creative we can get, the better, uh, lightweight eliminator, Armin, Sarukian, Charles, Oliva.

Uh, I felt like I was, I felt a little bit more biased. I felt like Oliveira, I wanted him to win. Um, it felt like he maybe had done enough to win, obviously split decision. So one of the judges at least saw it my way to, um, it felt like he did enough in that last round to maybe go over the top. What was your read on it? Yeah, I think in real time I scored a 29-28 Armin, but I would have been cool if it had gone to Charles. I mean, he had two submissions locked up tight, man. I thought that... That standing Gilly was crazy. I thought that thing was in, man. I was like, wow, Charles Oliver does it again. This

guy is an absolute savage. I cannot believe he just jumped Gilly and it worked and he's about to finish this guy. One of the most elite killers at 155, just absolute insanity. Yeah, I mean, it was a great fight, dude. It was a great fight. Armand Sarukin is just tough, man. If you can grapple with Charles Olivera

and have no fear of getting submitted, we saw it with Islam, you're probably gonna have success. I mean, his biggest weapon is, A, he's just a psycho dangerous, incredibly talented fighter, and B, he has that aura on the ground of like, if you drop him, he'll just be like, come on down, big boy.

Let's go, let's do it. Like, if I can't submit you, I'm gonna throw nasty elbows until I can get on top, get your back, and then it's done. So yeah, I mean, it was a great fight. I feel that Armin won, but I mean, I wouldn't have been upset if Charles, I mean, I had a parlay die on fight doesn't go to decision and I had Olivera Moneyline, had he locked up that sub at the end, I would have lost my shit. I would have lost my shit, dude. Would have had my biggest

betting night ever. Like, but alas, alas, we can't, we couldn't have a perfect night. Uh, enter the first fight of the main card, Cody Brundage, Bo nickel. It feels like the UFC has a game plan with Bo. They're going to feed whoever to him as of right now until he gets a big time fight. I felt like Cody Brundage, if you want to be honest, fought the best fight of anybody that's fought Bo Nicol. Oh, no doubt, no doubt. Without a doubt.

I think the longest anyone had lasted with him was like two and a half minutes or something. And I think that was Jamie Pickett, who just played submission defense for two and a half minutes until getting submitted. I mean, Cody Brundage is like, he fought. He fought for sure. He came out with a couple of flying knees.

Yeah, it was like a, and I think Bo even admitted that like he came out a little too reckless and like he noticed Brundage was having some success when he was coming out reckless because he was thinking $300,000 bonus, yada, yada, yada. Yeah, man, I mean, he's clearly still like, he's pretty green to the MMA space. Like I still think he's wildly talented.

Like let's not forget,, he's very young, that was only his sixth bro fight and he still did win in pretty dominant fashion and got the second round finish. I mean, he's upset with it. I think he'll just continue to get better. I think if you're the UFC, you continue to slow roll him. I think a few more unranked fights before you get him in there with a top contender. Like he's not

homsotting this like he's not coming in here and just absolutely steamrolling everyone they put in front of them and calling for another fight a week later and then steamrolling them like slow rolling. He's got time he's got he's got the ability to be a star. He'll have a big following in America if he can become a champion has all the confidence in the world. So yeah, it wasn't the best performance, but I'm still excited for the future for Bo Nicol.

Who's the fight in that division, in the middleweight division that you're being like, okay, I could see the UFC maybe giving him this guy. I saw one or two people throwing around Gerald Mearshart, and I don't hate that. A guy that isn't amazing in the striking department is good in the wrestling and the grappling, who's got a million submissions on his record.

So that might be a nice test. I just like, when I watch Bo Nicolai, I just like can't imagine him getting into like a 15 minute striking affair. So like maybe someone with a grappling acumen will like force them to strike more. Cause it just feels like he's just looking for a knockout or two level change as fast as possible.

And it will change submission in that, in that order. Exactly. Exactly. And like his submission game is pretty nice, man. Like he, uh, he gets under the neck fairly quickly. I mean, Brundage was fighting the hands a lot, but, uh, yeah, let's go. Let's go GM three, uh, you know, a vet ton of fights under his belt. Guy thought he was going to stop homes.

I will see if he can stop on nickel. There's a lot of exciting fights coming up. We got 301. We can kind of look past 301. I feel like there's not really much going on in 301. Like, is there a closure? Seg, I guess. Yeah, it's it's a it's a drop off.

But listen, and we have to deal with a lot of Apex Fight Nights as well, but listen, like we were paying the price for 299 and 300. I'll take that though. 100%. I'll take that though. USC wrote a fat ass check and we're now paying the bills for that check and the check was USC 299 and 300. You could even include 298 in there as well.

That gave us the viral moment of Ilya T Toporia knocking out Alexander Volkanovsky. So it is what it is, man. We're gonna revamp. It's all good. We're gonna revamp. We just gotta wait till 302. That's it. We just gotta wait one day.

We're right back in June, dude. Like just like I got it. The thing about being a UFC fan is just like, it happens every week. I understand that. Like this is happening every single week of the year. I think you get like 45 events. But you gotta understand they're not all gonna be bangers.

I feel bad for the people that tuned into 300 that don't really watch MMA. They're like, dude, this is sick. This is fucking crazy, dad. This is the greatest sport on earth. And then you're gonna be like, oh, the UFC has an event this weekend and it's UFC Apex 91, Nicolau versus Perez.

And you're like, this shit sucks, dude. What is this? Where are the fans at? Like I feel for that person desperately because it's a lot about being patient. Like it's kind of like you're just waiting for the storm but man, when that storm hits, when it delivers, man, I like, I tell anyone, I'm like,

I can see why you're not in to this sport. Like I can understand it. It's a blood sport. It's violent. It comes on at late hours. It's it's not for everyone. But man, when it's at its peak, dude, it is tough to top to like when bigger dude, it's a fight like this. There is nothing bigger on the planet. I don't care what happened this weekend. Nothing happens weekend.. Nothing can get that reaction out of me like UFC. It's just, when it's good, it's so damn good, man. It is just so damn good. And like, there's been a few cards while I've been a UFC fan that like they just end and I'm just like on a high. I'm just like that was so awesome dude like 287 in Miami was one.

Ilya Toporia when he fought Josh Emmett. I would say Jacksonville, Jacksonville fight game. When he did a five round beat down on Emmett just watching that I'm like this guy is like an artist and like Josh Emmett is his canvas because he is just f***ing this dude off like this is crazy. Like that was another night, 295 last year at MSG. That was another one where I'm like, yeah, that was like, I mean 292 O'Malley.

There's been so many. And then obviously this past weekend, 299, like there's just like when it's good, it's just so damn good, man. And like, I just, you just gotta, you just gotta go through the mud sometimes to get to pay the bill that's it that's all it is we're just paying the bills man we're paying the bills dude and and in June in June you got June you got Newark which is gonna be

just a beauty a thing of beauty uh you got Newark which is Islam Akhosev and then uh Costa versus Strickland and then you got Saudi Saudi Arabia, which is a headline by Bobby Knuckles, like just like it's bad ass. And then you got a 303, the max back baby. I mean, how can you complain? June's gonna be insane. June's gonna be insane.

And then you go into July and you'll get a, hopefully we get a Manchester pay-per-view with Leon Edwards and Tom Aspinall as the headliners. I mean, sign me up for that. Dude, I got goosebumps when I saw the picture of Aspinall looking at Pineda where he's like heavyweight and then Tom's there looking at him. I was like, can you? There's no way. There's no way they let him. But can you imagine Pineda versus Aspinall? I don't know, man. I mean, Aspinall might just be too big for that. Like, he legit might just be too big

and just like too much of a savage. 65. I met him in person and like, as the kids say, like he just mocked me. He just mocked the hell out of me. His hands look like 10 feet long. Oh, he's just a beast of a man. But actually like, when he did come in studio on the MMA,

or like I was in the green room like wrapping up with them and everything. And we were running the Pereira interview from from a couple weeks ago for it and like they saw him they're like ah there he is Pereira blah blah blah they were like they were like yeah we'd love the fight one day we just don't know if it's gonna happen uh but that would be uh that'd be crazy how about big Tommy A in the background of almost everyone all the fighters like getting the vaseline you could just see Tom Aspinall's head sticking up. And then he's with his father.

Huge head. He's like 6'6", the biggest man on planet earth. And then his dad's just like 5'5". It's just like, how did this happen? Like his dad's like, this is just like older, like 5'5", that's amazing. Hit the lottery, dude. One last thing about UFC 300.

I know I already gave him his flowers, but I just love Yuri Braschka, man. Yeah. I just love that guy. The way that he just says, no defense, no defense here. My defense is my offense. My defense is my offense. Best defense is a good offense.

Bingo. The best defense is a good offense and his defense is you're gonna go unconscious and that's how you're going to go unconscious. And that's how you're going to stop punching me. Cause like he just puts on wars, man. Yuri versus Glover, one of my favorite fights of all time. I was in Europe and I had to watch it at like six 30 in the morning. It was just one of the best memories I have with UFC. Uh, and then the Pereira fight just threw costume to the wind. And now this one, just every talk about him

calling off Herb Dean after a shot that clearly hit his cup. Yeah. Oh my company's like, that was one of the sickest moments in this left hand and then within five minutes within, I mean, within five seconds, small Hill is his back is on the canvas. So yeah, man, I mean, just a special night, man, a special night. It is one I will not soon forget. And yeah, now we just we ride it out until we get another one, man. I'm sure we'll get another one soon. But but for now, it's just a waiting game. That's Connor Burks of the MMA hour. Let them know where they can see all of your stuff. You're the meme god to have. I didn't even mention that as part of your accolades. Meme Lord meme God on IG and Twitter, let them know where they can follow yourself, bro.

Yeah, I mean, I appreciate that, brother. It's just at Conner Burke's my name MMA hour on on YouTube MMA fighting YouTube channel, we do watch parties, all that. Yeah, and it's and it's good shit, man. I'm currently I'm I got Champions League on behind this. I got my BBB. I got the Dortmund. I mean, Dorman was up two nil, went up four, three on aggregate. They've now blown it.

It's heartbreaking, but I've stayed locked in. I've stayed locked in on this interview the entire time as my team just cripples away in the second leg of Champions League. Makes you happy to talk about UFC even more as every goal goes in that you do not want to see go in. Bingo, brother. Thank you for having me, man.

Love talking about this, love recapping it. I could talk about this card for days.