The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Daniel Cormier Show - DC & Ben Askren on White House fights, Jon Jones, Tom Aspinall & UFC heavyweight problem

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

Ben Askren IS BACK with Daniel Cormier to talk all things UFC, MMA, and combat sports! Dana White and the UFC have apparently put together the White House fights, and DC and Ben break down who they think should fight on the legendary card. Plus, hear Askren's WILD THEORY on what the fight card should look like! DC and Askren also discuss Cain Velasquez's release from prison, as well as the problems with the UFC's heavyweight division and why it needs guys like Francis Ngannou, Ciryl Gane, and Tom Aspinall to be more active. And don't miss Ben cracking jokes about Jon Jones being on an Epstein email. #Volume All lines provided by Hard Rock BetSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Turn someday into right now with Body by Jake Radio, nonstop workout music and expert tips 24-7. Hey, head over to iHeart.com. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now.

Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remember, stick to the fight. When your hardest hit, it's when things seem worse that you must not quit. Don't quit. Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and Dream it for free. Have a great day. I heart radio. If you're watching the latest season of the Real House Wives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down.

Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise, the drama,

the alliances and the T everybody's talking about. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The volume. What's up, guys? Welcome to a brand new episode of Funkin' the champ. I'm Daniel Corby, and that's been Asker. Today's episode is brought to you by Total Wireless,

the official wireless provider of UFC. They're in your corner with unlimited 5G data that will not slow you down. Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is a total power move. Ben, that's a total power move. I love power moves. Ben, sometimes, bro, like, sometimes it can get good. It's like, come on, man, you're smarter than that. But you know who's not smart at times?

Uh-oh, who? I love the fans. But there's a section of fans that sometimes they're so emotional. Hey, hey, listen, Ben, you know, like sometimes how people, like a kid might be. want something. Yeah. And if it doesn't work out for them, they get pissed off, right? There's a section of fans that get mad for things that are really out of people's control.

Example, Tom Aspinall in his last fight, right? Yes. Get eye-poked, fight gets stopped. But we all wanted it to keep going. I was mad. But to say that Tom Aspinall just didn't want a fight was crazy. Now we find out, according to Josh Thompson, bro, did you see Josh Thompson? I did his podcast, right? That's your buddy. I did his podcast company.

That's my buddy, man, but he's so stupid, man. What do you say? I did not see this. Bro, let me put this. This dude, Josh, man. Josh is going to go up. So, here's the problem. So Josh always talks to me about moving to Texas. Oh, man, it's so nice in Texas. Probably moving to Texas is, you, uh, you, uh, you start believing in stuff. that just is not true, man. People they really buy it.

I like conspiracy theories, Daniel, but then they all came true, so they're not that way anymore. Josh goes, UFC has Tom Asplano to vacate the title until he's ready to go. He said he'd be willing to vacate the title as long as they released him. It's not true. It's just not true.

Where did Josh Thompson hear that? Could you ever, you ever wonder why? Daniel, did you see who ended up in the Epstein files? Rogan, but that's not true. Yes, he did. Rogan wasn't in, Rogan wasn't in, John Jones. John Jones was his favorite fighter. Bro, you're a liar, bro.

No, bullshit, go type it in. Swear on everything. Swear on everything. You know what, I'll try to send it to the least right now because you can, you can search them yourselves. Yeah, that's John Joe's favorite fighter. Yeah, but that doesn't mean the Epstein Files. He is.

It is. I'm going to find it for you while we're on the show. This is so crazy. I can't even talk to this dude. Anyhow, Tom Aspinall, is still struggling, Ben. Yes. With the eye issues.

What do you make it at? Man, it sucks. You know, I was, I was critical because I felt like, I felt like, you know, he talked about it. And then it just like kept on and kept on and kept on kept on. And I felt like he should just kind of leave the alone and, you know, for a minute. And yeah, it sucks. Do you?

And here's the thing is he kind of accused so gone of cheating. And I'm actually curious to hear your opinion because of a specific opponent of yours. I feel like the ability to poke someone. in the eye from space, like, that's kind of hard. And if you could be that accurate, why wouldn't you just punch them in their eye? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's one area. So poking somebody in the eye, for the most part, is by accident, Ben.

Yeah, because there's things that happen in the octagon and things are moving so fast, right? I was more inclined to believe that it was an accident. Tom Aspenol doesn't believe it. He thinks without a shadow of doubt, Cyril God poked him in the eye on purpose. I don't believe it. But regardless of that, right, on purpose, on accident, he still suffered long-term damage from this. How long does the UFC wait, though?

Hey, Josh was wrong. I don't think that ask has been made yet. If the UFC wanted to, they could just make an interim title fight between someone else while the champion waits. Tom Aspenol fought last year. How long, though, Ben, do they wait before we start to see an interim title fight

or maybe some movement in that division or trying to get some movement going in that division. You know what I was thinking is really annoying about this division is potentially the three best fighters are not fighting each other, which would be John Jones, Francis and Ghanu, who I don't even know if he fights anymore,

and then Tom Aspinall has this injury. It's like, why can't we get these guys together? And that's one of the things the UFC's been so good at is putting the best athletes together in order to fight, and they didn't do that. Hey, I just dropped in the chat. Damn, I'm going to email. I'm going to text you guys.

I'm text you the email from Epstein. Dude, you're so crazy. He wants to watch the John Jones brand and verify it. Dude, I'm trying to leave this man alone, bro. I'm trying to leave this man alone. And you're still on this. Oh, so why can't these heavyways fight each other? But Ben, even if he wanted to watch him doesn't mean that he's in the Epstein.

I know. No, it's emails. There's like 7,000, 7 million emails. So you can, it's an email from Jeffrey Epstein to someone else. saying he wants to watch the John Jones fight. Too funny. That's so funny. But I think that's a great point, honestly.

It stinks. I never thought of it like that. Because here's the deal. Heavyweight is struggling right now, man. Big time. Bro, heavyweight is struggling right now. And I love the big boys. But it feels like when you look at the heavyweight division,

and Luton Rankans in the chat. It feels like right now, the best guys are clearly the best guys. Yes. Because Tyreivas is one of my buddies. He fought in Australia. That wasn't so good for him. It was a bad fight.

It was a bad fight. Him and his opponent got so fatigued. They looked like they weren't ready to fight. They also look like they just, they didn't look as skilled as we have seen fighters look recently. So what you really need is you need, you need the best guys fighting to kind of wipe the bad performances out. Because guess what? Derek Lewis's last fight in Las Vegas, that wasn't good. It just was not good.

I was going to say that guy, the other guy, though, I think he's one of the up-and-comers. I don't know how old he is, but he's newer, and he looked pretty scrappy. Are we talking about... Cortez, maybe. Is that his name? Waldor or Cortez-Acostin. Yeah, yeah, him. Yes. But again, bro, he got beat.

He's good. He's good, right? But he's lost fights. It's just not in a great place. Would you say that if you put Waldo, Cortez-A-Costa in there with Cyril Gahn or Tom Asmodel, he'd be competitive? You're right, so he lost in August of 25 to Pavlovich, who's, Pavlovich is ranked pretty high.

And Pablovich got knocked out by Tom Aspinall in the first round. It just feels like there's a clear separation between the best guys. Luis said he think Waldo would be gone. Luis is the-competitive. I think it's competitive. Yes, it would be competitive because he could move. But Luis is the classic fan of fighting because everybody wants to write zero gone off. And I don't know why.

Because he got choked by John too fast, that's why. but still, bro, you forget that he fought tooth and nail with Francis. You literally just sat up here right now and said, the three best heavyweight in the world are John Francis and Thomas. I do believe that to be the case, yes. Cyril fought Francis Ngano very well. Hey, a mistake caused Cyril Gondi beating Francis Ngano when he tried for the leglock.

So how bad is Cyril Gond really? Because he was looking very good against Tom Aspinall. I think there's, but the problem is it's those four guys. And then if you put anyone else under them against them, you would probably think that those guys would be successful. Yeah, that's true. So what do we do? Oh, man, we got to get these guys back.

Dana's got to go get Francis and Ghanu to fight again, because I don't know what he's doing. You got to talk John to it. John's talking about not fighting again. He's got arthritis or something. I agree. I don't know. Maybe we just throw Gable Stevens in there.

I've been saying that for a while. He's actually fighting now. But Gable needs time. John even said, a year, Gabe will be UFC champ. You don't think he needs a little more time than that? I said throw him in there, so I'm not saying throwing against number one. But I think he's got another fight coming up pretty quick.

Put him in there. I don't know, easy. Hey, give him a couple easy ones, right? Then move him up to someone lower ranked. I think you can make a compelling story by making him have a title run like really fast. I think he could get in and out of there with a few fights without taking too much damage, which means that you can get back in there again, you know? So yeah, I think you could push him for the title in a I don't know, year, year and a half, something like that.

That's kind of crazy. It's kind of crazy because it's crazy because you or you know what happens when all the things that we love to do don't work. That's my only fear with Gable. Do I believe Gable will be UFC champion? Absolutely. I do. Yeah. I just fear because he's so good, so fast that he's going to have to move faster than he probably needs to.

Not many people are ready to go one guy, one guy title fight. Well, but I know it was a different era, Daniel, but you got thrown into the deep end. Kane got thrown into the deep end. I mean, but no, dude, we had fights. We had fights. I had, by the time I fought Bigfoot Silver, I already had nine fights. Yeah, but it was fast, though. It was fast.

I feel like Kane was in the UFC on his third fight, wasn't he? He was in the UFC on his third fight. But then he fought Czech Congol, he fought Ben Rockwell. He fought so many guys. Those guys were kind of good. At that point in time. Yeah, and then against check, he got dropped two times. So there are so many things that you have to learn to get through

before you're ready to actually operate at that level. Can Gabe will do it? I think in time he will. I think we've got to be very careful, though, not to rush him, bro. Because I've seen so many great prospects get rushed and then it doesn't work out the way that we anticipated it working out. That would be horrible if it happened to a guy that says blue chip, as Blue Chip comes in mixed martial arts.

Yeah. The other thing, though, can I push back on that a little bit? The other thing, though, is heavyweight is different. You started way late. I mean, we started the same time, but you were older than me. And heavyweight has been proven you could be successful later. But, you know, the other one, something like Bo Nickel. I looked to him, he's almost 30 years old.

It was like I was done with my Bellator title reign by 30 years old. Like, you got, and here's the thing is, except heavyweight, all the lower weights, you have a finite amount of time. Like, you know, there's someone that was in the chat with us, but, you know, Usman wants to challenge your belts again. He's going to be 39. Like that just, it doesn't really happen. And so it's like if you, you need to get to the title by 30 or something, right?

I mean, maybe even ideally younger than that. But not a heavyweight, not a heavy weight. Not a heavyweight. Every other weight, though. You've got to kind of move. John's 37, 38 right now when he was the heavyweight champion. Tom Aspinall is like 30 and it's a big deal. That's what I'm sorry.

the champ because it doesn't happen that often for a younger guy to win that belt right now it's been uh in old times 32 now times 32 yes yeah Islam's like 33 years old now i believe so yeah everybody's kind of getting up there justin gauchy's 37 or 38 bro he just became champion at 155 that's wow after vote won that belt past 35 everybody's like to hell with that stat if volk did it I can do it. Yeah. I kind of wonder if, I mean,

you know what? Some people are saying about like the heavy division is that there's less prospects, there's less people trying it. And I know if you look at, you know, and this makes us feel old,

but when we started, there was way more regional shows and smaller shows. And now there's, there's almost none. So are like, are less people? And I don't know the answer

but are less people fighting because there's not, you know, a lot of these regional shows where they can get started on? Those wrestling guys, those wrestling guys are getting money

from these RTCs and stuff. That too. If you were, if you were, If you were ever to be the coach at a college, you'd start an RTC and you'd keep the bigger guys and you'd pay them enough to where they felt like they're fine. Bro, I'm telling you. Austin O'Connor was going to be a good fighter. The amount of money he's making at Illinois is crazy.

He's just a coach, correct? Yes, but bro, the amount of money he's making at Illinois is crazy in comparison to what he could have potentially made in this career. You're saying crazy or crazy high. low. But he felt the safety in it, right? Because again, this is a kid that comes off and making $1,500 a month. And all of a sudden, you got a nice little salary, you got insurance, you got all these things. You feel like, hey, man, there's safety in this. This fighting thing is not guaranteed. When in reality, for him, I thought it was about as guaranteed as it's good to do was good, man. He was really, really good. But, um, so I didn't like he's totally done then.

He's totally done. He's just coached in Illinois now. Not fighting anymore. It's crazy. Okay, guys, our good friends at Hard Rock Bet want to remind you. you that you can double your winnings on your first 10 bets on the NBA, on the on MMA, on all the other sports. So while we might be a little bit sad that the football season ended, Hard Rock Beck's like, come on guys, we can still cash in. So on your first 10 bets, you can double your winnings when you sign up. So all you got to do, download the app, Hard Rock Bet app, and go and double those

winnings on those first 10 bets. There are so many sports. Don't be boo whin because the football season is over. Payable and bonus bets is not a cash offer. Offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida. Offered by Seminole Hard Rock Digital LLC in all other states. You must be 21 or older and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Virginia to play.

Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida, call 1-8-8-8. A-D-M-I-T-I-T. In Indiana, if you are someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-9 with it. And if you have a gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler.

Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas, we invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey Jonas.

and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 Headwere

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.

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay.

Genshin won. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open.

Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying,

and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. Hey, I was watching a thing on TikTok the other day.

And there was a guy talking about the White House card. Yes. I think it was the greatest point that anyone has made on the White House card. Because I think it makes the most sense in regards to the White House card. So what he said was this. He said, you're going to see a lot of parallel fights when it comes to the White House. What does that mean, Ben? I don't know what he means by that.

So it means, Like, if Justin Ilya is the main event and they're fighting for the title, you'll see like, Armin versus someone on that card in case somebody falls out of the main event. Oh, that's smart. Right? That's the biggest fear in this. The worst possible scenario for the UFC on the White House is if you schedule Pereira versus Jones and then somebody gets hurt.

Yeah. Because you remember, I don't think, I don't think Jamal Hill was Pereira's initial challenger at UFC 300. That worked and it worked out well. But if you're getting ready for the White House, you've got to make sure that whatever the biggest name on the marquee is stays and he has an opponent. Yes. He has an opponent that is a reasonably big name. Yes, equal to that billing on that card. I thought that was a great argument.

So what he believes is they're not, I think they already said there's only like eight fights, right? He believes that you'll see, like if it's a lightweight fight, you'll see another lightweight fight. If it's a Walterweight title fight or if it's a light, heavyweight title fight, a heavyweight title fight, you'll see another title or another number one contenders match in that spot on the card because then you don't run the risk of losing out on the main event. Didn't they say they are going to be multiple?

titles on that card? But not eight like the president said, man. Yeah, Trump, you can't ever trust him. He just doesn't wild shit all the time. It's amazing. He said eight title fights. Well, then there's the rumor Dana said there's going to be like 700 tickets and then Trump said there's going to be like they're going to build a stadium for

100,000 or something crazy. Yeah, there's a lot of people so apparently, and I'm talking from like as the knowledge I have is what you have. Yeah. Right? Whatever we see on the internet. Apparently, there's going to be a stadium built across, the street that holds a boatload of people.

Okay. To, uh. So like by the Washington monument, essentially, you're saying. Yes. It'll be right close to the White House where you could watch. Yeah. Here it is. Yeah, he said a lot of fight.

A lot of weight class of the White House and I'll tell you what. And he went into what, what we said. I think, I think it's, I think it's a great point that this guy made. And I think it's the safest way for the UFC to book the fight card and make sure that we don't run into those issues. Who would you want to see at the White House? I saw one that day. So I would love to see Ilya and Justin Gachie.

I think that's fitting. You know, Connor, I would want to see him. I don't know that we're going to see them. I think that's a fun one. Who are the other ones I saw that people were talking about? Islam versus Ian Gary. I think that's a good one. That would be good.

Colby. I know Colby wants on there. I know Colby and Bo were trying to fight each other. then Colby said get lost, I'm pretty sure. Well, because you saw the guy in that fight at Raff, right? Oh, that was so funny. Yeah. So then apparently they were going to fight and then apparently they're not.

I think Mosvidal versus Connor would be a fun one. I don't know if, you know, that's a. But do we have to have like American guys on the card? I think you should. It's our freaking birthday, Daniel, 250 years. I understand. You know what we need to do. I know.

You literally listed one American, Justin Gachie. Damn at all. I screwed up. All right, you know what we need to do. We need a bunch of Americans, beating up a bunch of British people because that's how that all started 200 50 years ago. Tell me that's not an idea. That's the way to go. That's the way to go. You don't know if it's going to happen that way because the British fighters are so good now.

No, they're not. We could beat them all up. I said to suggest that I'll text Trump. I'll tell him, hey, Trump, 250 years ago, I don't know if you remember this one, we kicked the British ass and sent them packing. And then we took over this whole country here. Why don't we just do it again for 250 years? You're going to piss off so many people. It's like you just cannot help yourself.

Well, we'll throw some tea in the Potomac while we're at. They're good old St. Boston Tea Party. Let's do it. No text or without representation. People can't even feel good for you because you're just bad. You can't help yourself. You immediately go back to Ben.

Hey, would that be fun though? You're full of ravioli and everything. and you're just going crazy right now. Oh my gosh. I thought you were going to be mad at me actually, Daniel. Why? Okay, good. You don't know.

I can't tell you that if you don't know. No, Ben, please tell me. No, I can't. I don't want to upset you. No, tell me, tell me, tell me. I made his video a little week ago. I thought your guy Cody Merrill stalled a little bit, and I was talking about it,

and I thought Daniel's going to be mad of me. Against the Iowa State kid? Yeah. We outrestled him so thoroughly. It was crazy. Is that one of yours? Is that one of yours? He actually left Missouri.

But Cody got called for stalling this weekend. That's how he lost. Bro, that was crazy. I don't even understand how they go back and watch the video and then give him another point. That was whack. That was wild. That's a real problem, though, man.

Cody needs to just put up more points. He's got to score more points. Bro, he went to that great snap, run the corner action, and never went back to it. Got to get back to that action if you're going to score. Hey, Mike Tyson is going to fight Floyd Mayweather. This is got to stop at some point. I mean, like, you know, I was pumped for Mike Tyson, Roy Jones.

I thought that was a lot of fun. And we had some of these other exhibitions. But at one point do we stop here? Right? It's got to stop at some point. Mike fought Jake Paul and it was not a great fight. Why wasn't it good? Because you could tell Mike was such a shell of himself.

And, you know, it was just, I don't know, it was like, why is he in there? I think I was giving the most charitable interpretations that he loves boxing. I think he's going to help boxing. I think that's the best interpretation you can give him. But yeah, it was just like he couldn't really move all that well because he's old. None of his knees are bad or hips are bad or what it was. So, yeah, I didn't love it. Yeah, my legs are hurting right now, too.

I spart a little bit today. My knee is so swollen. It's crazy. I didn't warm up. It was nuts. Ben, I don't really want to see Floyd Mayweather box Mike Tyson. Yeah. I was the biggest Floyd Mayweather fan.

during his career at the height of his career obviously I was just like everybody else and we love Mike Tyson yeah but we don't need to see these dudes fight today

especially Mike Mike fought Jake Paul when he was 57 or 58 what is he 60 years old now he's got money Mike isn't Mike isn't hurting

for money to where he has to fight yeah Floyd's 49 but here's the thing about Floyd though Floyd still trains all the time and he still looks good But Mike, Mike hit, you know what's so telling?

When he gets ready for these fights, he only hits pads. He's hitting pads and everybody goes, oh my God, Mike Tyson's back because they see Uncle Mike hitting pads. But you can't just hit pads and fight. You can look pretty good on those pads. And you can feel like you're in shape on those pads. The moment those punches start coming back at you. Well, it was also just that Jake could move away from him, right? And it was an inability to chase him down and corner him and boxing.

up and if you can't do that, it's really hard. And Floyd obviously is likely going to be moving better than Jake Paul did. But that's going to be an exhibition, though. They can't possibly be fighting. Yeah, I would hope not. And they're obviously not nearly the same size either. Yeah, I don't know. I feel like interest in that.

Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe it's going to do really well. I feel like interest is waning. When I saw it, I was like, oh, really? But we talked about this like a year and a half ago when it initially came out. Yes. And we both were kind of like, I don't know, man. It seems like, and I have a, look, you don't get more excited about something by it going on

the shelf for a year. Yes. What is making people or making boxing feel like this is more valuable today than it was 15 months ago whenever people weren't necessarily bought in to it? You know, I was talking about that whole thing with boxing the other day. Yeah. Because Giovante Davis and Joaquin Buckley were going back and forth. And I said, of course, you know, boxing.

Boxing was good. This is for my, but this is from our last time the fight was announced. I believe the fans want violence, I said. Maybe they don't, though. Mike is saying he can give us what we want. But what is it that they can give us without promising violence? Because one thing I know we won't see is Mike just starts Floyd Mayweather. Because you imagine if he just knocks out Floyd and Floyd's that much smaller.

The visual, hell, it would be the most viewed thing you've ever seen on television. The clips would be the most viral shit you've ever seen in your entire life. But I can't imagine. Boy would sign up for that, knowing that that was a real possibility. Yeah. So it'll be too staged. Yes. Yeah, no, I agree.

I'm not interested. Yeah, I don't know. I don't want to see it anymore. Yeah, I'm a little bit done with the celebrity boxing. Now Zufa Boxing is going every weekend. We also got Jake Paul finally got his comeuppance. How did they call it? Wait, who's he fighting?

Remember you fought Anthony Joshua? Oh, yeah, yeah, that was wild. I thought you said he had another, I don't know. You watched it? Have you watched it back on? I did not watch it. No, I didn't partake. You didn't see it since you,

came back to this world? Was it when I was unconscious? I haven't seen it. No. Bro, you got to see it. I think it was while I was, I don't think, when did they fight? I think I was like, out of the hospital. It was in December.

Oh, I was well out of the hospital by then. Yeah, but I just wasn't that interested. So you, so you're telling me that you and Jake fought and that happened to you and you didn't want to see him get his ass kick? No, I don't care. It was bad, Ben. Well, I had to assume, yeah. He moved around forever and then.

Eventually, Anthony caught him in. Did he, like, shoot some double legs or something? He shot 50 double legs. That was ridiculous. Did I ever tell you what they tried doing to me? I'll tell you a funny story. So one day, I'm not kitchen, Megan's a food or something. And Nekisa called me up.

He said, hey, man, I want you to sign a contract that if you do MMA moves, you're going to lose $100,000. I said, why? And he's like, because we want it. He said the Athletic Commission wanted. But I'm like, no, you want it. give me a break here. And he's like, I said, okay, give me $100,000 if I don't do any MMA moves. Like, you know, we got to have an upside and downside here. If I do them, I'll, I'll pay you, but if I don't, then you pay me. And he's like, no. He said, no. So I said, no. So I said,

ah, you know what, maybe I will throw a couple of knees or kicks or something. Just, you know, just to those with them. Could you imagine if you did that? I mean, well, Jake Paul was shooting double legs against Anthony Joshua. So I don't know. He was going to made a boatload of money, he would have lost millions. He shot so many times. Yeah. They were bad shots. So he was kind of just falling on the ground and grabbing.

I was like, damn, that's a bad shot, man. I actually thought, you know what? I have, I don't know him well. We don't have a relationship, really. But I kind of have more respect for him that he fought Anthony Joshua and just took to the actual thing. Big time. I had, especially like a real fight.

It was like a real fight. Yeah, that was crazy. I mean, it takes a lot of balls to you. Especially it's not like he needed the money or needed the fame. He stepped in there and he did it and then took an asswapen. I kind of have a lot of respect for that. I would never fight Anthony Joshua. Yeah.

Hopefully he gets a, you know, can start finding someone like even skilled. I don't think he's going to fight again, though. His jaw all messed up. Really? He broke in like 10 places. He'll get it fixed up. Bro, he got his jaw broke bad. You get your jaw broke like that.

Are you really sound enough to get punched in the face again? I mean, listen, he never needed a sign up to get punched in the face anyways. He could just kept being a YouTube star. He must at least like it a little bit. And he's pretty good at it. He's not bad. Yeah, he's not bad. All right, Ben, well, hey, guys, that's another episode of Funking the Champ.

Wait, I want to hear, one question for you, Daniel, before you kick me off here. Oklahoma State or Iowa this weekend. Oh, yeah. Which one? Who's going to win? Oklahoma State's winning. Iowa's a little banged up and down. They're not the team we thought they were.

Once they lost that kid in D. May or whatever his name is. Yeah. Yeah, it changed. It changed. Hey, also, my boy, King, Alaska's got out of gym. yesterday. Oh, let's go. How good was that? I was thinking, you know what I was thinking, if someone announces him at like, oh, I, maybe we're going to try, we're going to try to give a giraffe, I think. But, you know, anywhere, this is Kane Velasco's former UFC chief,

and he shot a pedophile. People are going to go nuts. Like, they're going to be like, yeah. Like, who was really mad at him for that one? Daniel, if you found out the same thing, you'd probably try to do the same thing. I think any red-blooded American male, if they found out something like that was happening, they would go do it. Like, he shouldn't even have got thrown in jail. I love that, Ben. I love that. I'm just happy that he's back out. I am too. All this stuff

is behind him. I've been trying to get to this dude, man. So, guys, Kay, call me. I've been trying to call you for two days, bro. What? I've been trying to reach out. I've been trying to reach out to the cane for a minute, man. Even when he was locked up, I've been trying to find a way to get to my boy. But I haven't been able to do that so far. But now that he's back, I'm pretty sure

we'll collaborate on something. And hopefully I can, like, help him make some money and do everything. I'll do whatever, honestly. I owe a lot of my career. He's the man. And he's even more of the man now since this is behind him. And he did what, like you said, what a man should do to protect his family. Yeah, absolutely.

All right, guys, until next time for Ben, I'm Daniel. Peace. See you. Hey, guys, it's us and the Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what?

We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We get to ask other people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know. Tired and sick.

Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. on Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, S&L'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.

Turn Someday into right now with Buddy by Jake No stop workout music and expert tips 24-7. Hey, head over to iHeart.com. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now. Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remember, stick to the fight. When your hardest hit, it's when things seem worse that you must not quit. Don't quit.

Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day. I heart radio. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro, 1021. And I'm Kunky, his best friend, and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner,

we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.