The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Daniel Cormier TV - Ben Askren gives Daniel Cormier his winner for Leon Edwards vs. Islam Makhachev!

Episode Date: July 20, 2023

Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren are in the same room for a special edition of Funky and the Champ LIVE from the wrestling championships in Fargo, North Dakota. DC and Ben talk Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou, and if Ngannou made the best decision walking away from the UFC. And Askren and Cormier give their hot takes on who should be the next fight for Islam Makhachev if it's not Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira or Alexander Volkanovski. Plus, don't miss who Ben Askren picks to win in a fight between Islam Makhachev and Leon Edwards! #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying.

Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. All right, guys. So we are in beautiful Fargo, North Dakota. We are at the residence inn. Nobody show up with like dolls or anything. You know what happens all the time. Like literal little dolls to like sign and shit.

Add the Fargo Dome, real. Well, I signed some autographs at the Fargo Dome today. I don't know about you. Didn't. None? No. I keep my volume hat on. Everybody goes, what's the V?

Virginia? I'm like, no. It's the volume. There you go. But you know what that means? The volume. I don't actually. Can you tell me?

Yeah. So it's like you have a personality, right? Well, if you want to make it a personality that people listen to? Oh, you got crank up the volume. You crank up the volume. You crank up the volume, right? You got it. Colin Carver.

Smart guy. But then you can't, right? you can't live the gimmick. Like this is McGregor's problem. No, you got to turn it up. But he needs to turn it down when he goes off camera. He just turned that you down, like start twisting it, you know? He is turning the knob. He's not broke.

It got stuck. It broke and then he turned that bitch more. He took a wrench and he started twisting it with a wrench after it was already broke. Turn it back down. Turn it back down. Ben and I are here for the Junior National Championships of Cadets. 16 U is what they're calling it now. six dudes in the semifinals tomorrow we got seven

seven dudes in the semifinals tomorrow oh yeah how many kids wrestling to become all-Americans we got eight other ones so 15 kids to become all-Americans for ben Askron five for me granted Ben brought 100 people here and I brought 15 you can bring the as you want yeah but we're living in California it's expensive

but we figured why not do this face-to-face live in person live in person so Ben here's my question to you Francis and Donald is fighting Tyson Fury and they're saying that he's making eight million dollars has to be more but someone else that eight figures Britain shop yes a Jake Paul both said eight figures which would mean over 10 million dollars yeah I can't imagine that with the amount of money that they are paying in the middies

that it would be less than 10 million dollars and I know Ben yeah would the you have seen who's going to pay him, and $8 million would not be enough. Dang, Dana let you in on the negotiations? Listen, I just have some roundabout way of getting the things. All right. But $8 million wouldn't be enough. Francis has to be making more. Yeah, I would assume, and there's probably a pay-per-view part, which is kind of, you know,

that could kind of be scary because maybe it does as well, maybe it doesn't do well. I actually think, I think it's going to do really well. It will. I think they're going to be all sell Francis. He looks good. He hits hard. You know, he doesn't, outbox him. He has to knock him out, right?

So they can sell that all day long. But the problem is, like, you sold Connor McGregor as having a knockout chance against Floyd Mayweather. You did. And it's still sold. Is Francis Conne McGregor? No. But you still have the two best heavyweights in their chosen profession fighting each other. But here's my thing.

When it comes to the matchup, Francis is up against it against Tyson Fury. Yes. And he knows. I saw a video where Chale said Tyson Fury is nothing but a big bully. But by his friend of Francis, is he bullying him? Well, these boxing guys, they don't do nothing else. We had one boxer ever come over, James Tony. It was bad.

It was bad. So you know what we actually need to do? I was saying was we need to come up with a mixed rule set. So maybe like boxing with clinching or maybe semi-kick, but you get to kick them too. So there's going to be something to give the MMA fighters a little bit of advantage than just hands. Because that was the problem, right? When the whole Fury Jones thing was going on. Yeah.

It was like Jones couldn't box Fury. No MMA fighter can't. really boxed Fury? Not really. He's really good. But Fury couldn't last three minutes with Jones in an MMA fight. Not even close. Could he last three minutes with Francis? Considered Francis doesn't wrestle. Well, he does. He took down zero guns. There you go. Yes. Maybe Francis can wrestle Tyson Fury. He might not be able to wrestle in his turn but this weekend. We see some of heavyways, they move well, but he could wrestle Tyson Fury. Dude, it's such an interesting thing to watch two guys choose to do something like this. And, bro, I was one of the people

when I said, Francis's got to go back. He's messing up. Because it just looked a little dark. We didn't know what was going on. And then all of a sudden, shit came together for him. And it not only came,

it came together for him big. Really well. Because the PFL thing, and now this, it's crazy. Yeah, so hopefully he fights a boxing fight and they hopps in the next season of PFL gets paid well. But there's no PFL season, though. He fights in the paper views.

Oh, the PFL. And there's another thing about Francis's paper views in boxing. I think they're. start to get paid at pay-per-view number one. Yes. So you don't have to hit a baseline like you do with the UFC because they pay for everything. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And then they recoup the money, then you guys start to share the money, which in reality is what most

people do. Yes. Like most people want to recoup their guarantee and then they start to split the money with you. I mean, but that's kind of one where boxing has, and I don't know why it became that way, but it is kind of more advantage towards fighters if they make it that far, right? there's, you know, it's 0.001% of the boxers make it to that level. But once they get there, it's hugely advantage to their payday. Astronomical. Because they're making so much money.

Boxing pay-per-views that do 100,000 buys are like through the route. Yes. Because they're making so much money on the paper. And the pay-per view still costs $70. Yes. It's no cheaper. But I can't. Let me ask you one question.

Go ahead. If we, if we had to make a rule set that boxers could live with, but would give MMA fighters a better chance, what is it? Because it's not MMA. That's not going to be good for. No, it can't be MMA. You've got to be able to clinch. You got to be able to kick.

Clinch and kick. You got to be able to clench or at least knee. You got to be able to clinch and knee. There we go. I like that. Because you can't kick. Kik's too much. You got to be able to get close.

And boxing, they stop you right away. Yeah, too much. They got to let you stay. It was annoying. I got to hold it. Listen, because whoever was fighting before me, maybe Frank Muir, they were just pummelin. They were doing some Greco wrestle.

I'm like, let me do that shit. I'll do that shit right around. So were you grabbing them? I grabbed them twice and they gave me like one second. I'm like, let me pull on this dude a little bit. Get him tired. Get something.

It was bull crap. I'm like, wait, what? That was there for one second. Like, I watched Frank Mier pommel for four minutes. Like, let me go. I'll clinch him up a little bit. Yeah, they don't let, they don't really let you work. So I think that would probably be the thing

that allows for the boxer to at least have a chance until they get need though. Yeah. The moment they get need, they're like, what the fuck is this? Like, I'm going down. Ben, so we can agree. Francis and down and won. He won.

He got a nice payday. I'm going to say, let's let it play out for a few years before I say he won. Dude, what if he makes $20 million in one fight? And then he makes $5 million in people. I mean, this is like, yeah, I guess I don't know Francis. I don't know what his life objective is. He's going to probably make more money doing this than he'll do anything else. And probably the freedom is going to make it happy.

So I think it's likely he's going to. the feel in five years like it's a win because that's where that's what all of us got to think you asked me out the jake paul thing it's like i did it because i wanted to do it i got paid well like it's annoying that teenagers bug me about it but besides that whatever it's just the worst thing like i'm in the this morning i'm in the bathroom taking a shit i hear kids fucking talking about me and john joe they had to know i was in there you know we're in we're in wrestling country now i went to sit down and eat some mexican food last night at el vok caro's down the street and some Iowa kids started chirping.

I said, listen, I know you're a kid, and I know where the Mexican person, I'll put your ass to headlock. He said something else, I went to a game of squeeze. That's illegal. You're not. You're beating kids, man. I beat this kid.

I told him. These are wrestling kids. You know, wrestling kids, they're a little rougher. So it's not like a random kid off the street. He was a big old wrestler for Iowa somewhere. I said, keep it up. You're talking shit. I'll get your ass.

I came and put him in a sleeper hold. That's great. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal. but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you'll say.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people

who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we picket here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill,

waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because, of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence.

Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Guys, as you know, Ben and I always got to do this. Good that we're doing it face to face. But even face to face, you have to pay your bills. So today's bought to you

by the Game Time app. The Game Time app is the worldwide leader in last minute ticket purchases. So whether you're going to basketball, football, soccer, you know, Landau Messi's now playing in Miami, maybe get one of those super expensive tickets at a better price. Use the Game Time app to do that. And use the promo code. DCTV for $20 off of your first purchase. So go now, download the GameTime app. Save money immediately, but save more money by using DCTV for $20 off of your first purchase. Go on and do something fun.

Comedy show, concert, don't matter. Shoot the Game Time app to do it. I was going to mess you up in the promo because you leave me on your live. So I'm like, you know, we're in person now. Why would you do that? Because it'd be funny. Why? Because you're in your zone and then I was fuck with you.

I gotta pay the bills, man. We don't get Ben Asking for free. He's fucking expensive. Dude, you're expensive. Look, Islamahachev. Yes. I mean, Lord knows who he's going to fight. Me and Ryan Clark talked about that,

and we can't figure out who he's going to fight, because you can't imagine Gaichi and Poria are going to be healthy enough to fight again in October. Charles Olivares said he's not fighting again, but Il-Dar-U's just got beat. Michael Chandler, has Michael, did he win his last fight? He lost two. So was a by Connor McGregor.

So if it's not any of those guys, nobody knows who Islam has next. Number seven, number eight. So there's some disappointment there. Well, Volcanozzi wants some smoke. He made a tweet today. Volcanoz had surgery today. But he's going to heal fast.

He's like The Terminator or something. He is kind of like the Terminator. Leon Edwards, I guess I'm down with that, but Leon Edwards needs to keep the 1-7 division moving because you got, I think it should be Ballal, but you also got Colby. Yeah. We've got to keep that division moving, too.

It'll be Kobe. It'll be Kobe fighting for the belt at some point. But why haven't they announced it? Why is it taking so long? Well, I think it's got to be some sort of scheduling thing. Because think about this, right? The UFC has to make fights to end the year. So you have Al Jermaine in August.

You have Izzy in September. You have Islam in October. You got Jones Mealtes in November. They have to figure out who's going in December. It was supposed to be McGregor and Chan. They were tweeting some things that made you think was going to come together last week and then. McGregor Chandler. Both of them, yeah.

Yes, for sure. But then nothing. I would imagine that if McGregor Chandler happens at the end of the year, you might see Leon there was Kobe coming to in New York City. Because, but they can't announce it now because if McGregor Chandler doesn't happen, those guys will probably be

sometimes towards in the year. But what do you think about that, though? When Islam goes, champ for champ, me versus you, you remember his name? I did a check. And he was like, brother, what's this guy's name? You remember his name? Man, you know, Leon Edwards, he got so much better.

I'm really impressed by him. Can you believe that? I think it's a really tough fight for Mahachev. It really is. He can stop takedowns. He can battle. He can strike, too. Strike, really clean.

Yes, it's a good fight. But who would you pick? I'd probably pick Leon, honestly. Really? After the last Uzman fight, I mean, you could just see, like, even from two Uzman fights ago, he did such a better job of, like, battling in the wrestling positions and dictating it to be more of a striking fight

and if you can do it against Uzman Is Uzman a better striker than Mahachov? He's bigger and stronger which you know even if you're the same skill level if you're bigger and stronger it makes you better right so man if if Uzman couldn't push him around I have a hard time

thinking Mahachov's going to do you think that it's like grinding you out a little bit complimenting tomorrow Oh he's good I got no issue You don't like you like Usman up? I wasn't, I didn't say that. I wasn't crazy. I once that

a big funny joke last week on the show. What? We were talking about the African champions. Yeah. But he's Marty from Nebraska. Dude, you can't say that. You went to this whole thing where I'm being disrespectful to this man's heritage and he was going to think it's Marty from Nebraska. But listen. He wanted to kill him.

He did. He didn't like that. You know what? I'm going to tell you something. I never told anyone. All right. You know what? He got so mad at me backstage that one day. He came at me. And he said, keep it. Keep it. I don't keep it real or something. I don't remember. Have you ever done this, Daniel?

I know you've done it. Okay, you're in an unfamiliar place. Yeah. You see a face that looks familiar. It's given the what's up. Yes. So, like, I'm going to the elevator. He walks around the corner, and I just, I used to, you know, because I know this person.

It didn't click who it was yet. What's up? And I think that's why he was so mad. Why? Because you were supposed to go up to him? Because I said, what's up like in a semi-friendly tone versus I was calling him Marty, which I didn't even know, honestly, when I said, I didn't know Marty was an insult.

Like, listen, that dude was at the training center. You know he was there. I know he was there. I don't remember anything. We were all there. I don't remember anything. His name was Marty. That was what I knew him as.

I wasn't trying to be meeting to anybody. I just said, this is his name. I'm like, because I knew, actually, I knew at the time he was good. And it's like, okay, he's going to be a landmine for me. So if I can just like skip over him, it's going to be way better for me. So I'll just ignore this dude. And then he got all mad at me. So I'm like, well, I made him mad.

Now I guess I got to fight him. You know, like, you made, you came to the UFC and you made enemies fast, bro. Well, that's the kind of the point. It really is. Yeah, it really is. I'm still amazed that you went through your entire MM career in like really never really learned. Yeah. Like, really fight.

You were just kind of thinking to do you know, you weren't really fighting. You could beat me and I saw you beat the Ron today. No, listen, listen. You were never like that. Hey, Dan, you know what? I got. You were so good at that skill that you used. Well, no, we're just like an interview, Ben session.

No, no, no, no, listen. I'm at, well, I'm gonna defend myself here. I actually got, I think I was fairly decent striking. And like 13, 14, 15, I was really like getting, putting everything together. Okay. You know what happened to me? Tell me. I watched that fucking movie concussion on the way to.

Oh. So you said no more. I was flying to a fight in 2016. I watched that movie. I'm like, fuck. It's scary, bro. I shouldn't be sparring, huh? I didn't spar after 2016.

Shut up, Ben Asker. I swear to God all my life. You didn't spar one run after 2016. No. So when I saw you in 18. you just came over, you were just like, just grappling and wrestling? I was hitting pads.

I was doing like, like, light, not, I wasn't like, we weren't fighting each other in practice. We were doing like light sparting drills, you know, grappling, wrestling, conditioning. Because I'm like, I'm not going to risk it in practice. I'm like, I don't know if this is real or not. And actually I kind of think it's fake now. Just I read some other studies.

Sometimes you're too smart for your own good. Well, okay, well, the one study says, it said it's like 90, it's like 87% people played one year of football have CTE. And then it's like, It's like, well, okay, well, hold on, Daniel. How many people, and the generation above us played one-year football, like every American male. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

And, like, but they're not all walking around like that. Yeah, for sure. So it's like, well, maybe the threshold, because we can set thresholds really low, right? So maybe this threshold is really low, so everyone has it or something. So then it was like, if I read that and it was too late. But, yeah, I'm like, hey, I shouldn't risk it. Like, I'll still fight people. But even today, though, like, nobody spars.

Like, guys don't spar. I stopped sparring for, yeah, after 2016. You didn't spar no more. None. But like other guys, like people don't spar no more. Like very few people actually Spar. Well, I suppose I sparred some boxing because I figure this is going to be 11 weeks and then I'm done or 10 weeks or whatever it was.

Yeah. So I guess I sparred boxing. But no, in fighting, I, no, I didn't. That's crazy, man. Yeah, because I got, that movie's scary. I don't know if you watch it. I never watched it. It's kind of scary.

I refuse to watch stuff. I don't want to watch it. I'd rather be blissfully ignorant. Blissful ignorance, bro. I know. That was so nice. Because like, before that, it's like, I kind of like, I mean, I just like fighting. I like combat.

You know, man. I wasn't physical. You were losing any, you weren't losing any fucking arms. But like, I mean, you're older now, but like, when you were younger, didn't you like go to the gym to, like, fight people? Yeah, it was just kind of fun. It was fun. You know, so it was like.

It was really fun. That's what I'm saying. But if somebody, like, hit you with some real shit and you're like, man, am I really enjoying this as much I thought I was. No, it's fun. Like, you know, Anthony Petz wheel kick me one time. I was like, okay, let's fight a little harder now. Take his ass down.

This is great. Yeah. You start wrestling them. Yeah. So before I let you go, Ben. that. I love it, though. It's the best. I know you have some studying to do. I got it. We don't watch some matches from our, we gotta win some titles. Need to win. Big old stop signs. Some big stop signs. But if Leon Edwards doesn't fight

Islamahev, he's going to fight Kobe Covington. Yeah. With those improvements, do you think that he has made enough improvements to stop Covington and taking him down? Because that's a very aggressive approach. He's very aggressive. Do you see the stat about Covington? What? It was like he hasn't been, since Robert retired. He hasn't beat an active UFC fighter since like 24. Something crazy, something totally mind-blowing.

And now, Cometon's on this thing where he doesn't really fight. Before George, which that's what was that, year and a half ago now? 18 months. Yeah. When did he fight before that? It was like a long time before that also. He fought Usman. But it was way before that, right? Yeah. No, he fought Usman in the

second fight in New York City. Yeah. And before he fought Mazvedo. But now it's been a year and a half since he fought Mazvado. Yeah. So it's like he's getting older, age is a thing. I think he's like 35 now, 36. Like, he's getting up there. He's going to slow down. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, so I think probably like two or three years ago, I would have been confident and I was that Uzman's going to get him. And now I'm not so sure. Covington, yeah. Well, Leon Edwards, if he can beat all these dudes might be a long-rearing champion at Welterweight. We just got over Kamar Uzman's reign at Walterweight. Yeah.

Man, wouldn't you have loved to fight Leon Edwards when he was before he got the rest? I was totally trying to pick a fight with him. Really? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, just like it would have seemed to have been a great matchup. Yeah. Today's real good.

Guys, it's time to let Ben Ascran go. It's been 20 minutes. You guys know, we're fast. We don't hold you for an hour. I know some of you guys in the comments are like, we just need to be longer. Just take us as you get us. Ben Ascran.

I'm Daniel Cormy. Until next time, like, subscribe. Tell your friend and tell a friend that D.C.'s got a YouTube channel. And me and Funkey, you get Ben Ascran for Funkie and the champ. See you guys. next time. Peace. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.